Buying Advice -- Es-300

[FredParoutaud]

Here's our new baby, what do you think?

:)

Fred

[Lexusfreak]

Sharp looking car Fred! B) congrats!! Give us some specific details on the vehicle like year, mileage, service history etc. :)

[Lex3486]

EXCELLENT color, very rare and very desireable if you ask me. I see you settled with the 95-96. Good choice, although there are things I think me and everyone else like about the 92-94, but really, what it boils down to is that the 95-96 are just better cars, and not really that much different anyhow. Only to us hardcore Lexus people , or freaks, whichever you think sounds better :P

[FredParoutaud]

Good call on the color, we love it! Shadow Rose Quartz. Well, it's kind of grey, or brownish, or roseish -- depending on the light. And the interior is something like "plum." But I'll tell you, it's impossible to tell it's not a new car, except for a couple of little things. 3 annoying tiny dings on the LR door...do these "dent doctors" really work? It might be worth it, since the rest of the body is mint.

Car has 87k miles, and feels pretty good. Interior is perfect. Car was from Thousand Oaks (Los Angeles area) so it's dry as a bone, no rust anywhere.

Now, for my questions:

- Moonroof whistles ever so slightly when the slider (?) is open. I can shove up on it and it stops whistling. Any cure for this? With the slider closed, you can't hear it.

- Every so slight metalic-like rubbing sound (faint) from the belt area. Nobody can hear it but me (yay me) -- I'm figuring something like tired alternator or ps pump bearings, but I don't really have a clue. Anything common like that with these cars?

- Sadly, a cracked passenger-side headlight cover (clear). Looks expensive -- any resonable source for this?

I think that's it, maybe I'll have more tomorrow, but I can't find much wrong with it at this point. We're going to get it checked out by a Lexus mechanic tomorrow, I'll give you a report.

Man, this car is nice on the road!

Fred

[Lexusfreak]

The slight whistle can be helped by getting a sunroof wind deflector & by checking the weather stripping around the sunroof (I'm pretty sure it's the same one as on the same year Toyota Camry) but there is much debate if it looks good on the ES or not. Mention to the mechanic about the noise coming from the belt area, see what he/she says......has the timing belt been replaced before? You might try either an auto wrecker or ask some of the members in these forums or in CL (Clublexus) who might have or know of where to get a reasonably priced headlight cover......perhaps even e-bay. Glad you like your new ride......ENJOY! B)

[os2]

Hi Folks,

Just looked at a couple of es-300s, and I have a couple of questions:

- Is it "normal" to hear a bit of belt/bearing noise from the right front of the car as you drive? Kind of a whispy, metallic sound -- nothing really bad, but it's there. I ask because I've heard it on 2 of the cars now. Might even be power steering or alternator bearings or belt.

----------------

mine make this noise too, after replacing the belts it's not

that loud as it used to be nut it's mostly caused by

ball bearings. power steering pump and air cond. compressor in my case. use a stetoscope or use metal pipe/rod between a pump body and your ear, you'll hear clearly where it's coming from

- Do most of the cars have some oil on the frame rails on either side of the motor? Again, not bad, but enough to make things wet. Is there any typical place it's coming from?

-----------------------

mine did have from leaking power steering pump and rear valve cover gasket. I rebuilt the pump, replaced the gasket and degreased lower frame rails to see if there are still leaks, still dry and clean so far.

- One of the cars we looked at was having motor mounts replaced -- is that typical? It had a "klunk" when changing from park to drive, and they said they had one more motor mount to replace. (Back I believe)

-----------------

clunk is mostly caused by torn dog bone bushings (stabilizer bar between right strut mount and the engine)

$70 bucks to replace

- How about cracked headlight covers (glass) -- is that pretty common? Are they expensive to replace? (same with tail lights)

----------------

if it's a web like tiny cracks it's some clearcoat lacquer that cracked. I baked the head light in 250F for 10 minutes, separate cover from the headlight and polished inside and outside with autoglym pastic polish and dremel tool.

put new silicone, backed and it's shiny and new again

We're down to 2 nice cars, both around 80k miles, both a little pricey at almost $10k, but both straight, clean, very nice machines. And I guess we could negotiate down from there.

Thanks,

Fred

see my responses above

[FredParoutaud]

Ok, coming down the home stretch. Had the car checked out at A+ Japanese Auto Repair today, which seems to me an excellent place. 780 Industrial Road, San Carlos, CA 94070

They basically concluded that a major service was due (my summary). The car has 87k miles, and it looks like maybe the 60k service was done, maybe not. There are no stickers for a new timing belt, so assuming for now that maybe it hasn't been replaced yet.

I'll go through the FAQ and look for info. But I have a couple of questions first:

- Power Steering Pump. Is it somewhat normal for them to leak? Is this a common problem? Looks like ours is. Is it hard to replace? And about what should one run and who sells them? (assuming that toyota will be expensive)

- How tough is the timing belt? I can do stuff like that, but if it involves special tools, I'd rather not make the investment. Is there a sheet on this site describing the procedure?

- Same question for the drive belts -- are they easy to do?

- Plugs. Are they tough to replace? Or is most of the cost in the plug? I have a buddy with a superbird (supercharged thunderbird) and even though he's a darned good mechanic he's prefers to have the shop do this job (I think maybe it was actually wires...?) cuz it's a toughie.

- I guess I asked about the headlight cover already. :( Anybody have a cheap source?

BTW, I am a mechanic, so I'm sure I can do this stuff. But I'm a lazy mechanic ;) and I'd rather hand something off to a pro if ultimately it's cheaper (timewise) for them to pull off.

Thanks!

Fred

[os2]

Ok, coming down the home stretch. Had the car checked out at A+ Japanese Auto Repair today, which seems to me an excellent place. 780 Industrial Road, San Carlos, CA 94070

They basically concluded that a major service was due (my summary). The car has 87k miles, and it looks like maybe the 60k service was done, maybe not. There are no stickers for a new timing belt, so assuming for now that maybe it hasn't been replaced yet.

I'll go through the FAQ and look for info. But I have a couple of questions first:

- Power Steering Pump. Is it somewhat normal for them to leak? Is this a common problem? Looks like ours is. Is it hard to replace? And about what should one run and who sells them? (assuming that toyota will be expensive)

- How tough is the timing belt? I can do stuff like that, but if it involves special tools, I'd rather not make the investment. Is there a sheet on this site describing the procedure?

- Same question for the drive belts -- are they easy to do?

- Plugs. Are they tough to replace? Or is most of the cost in the plug? I have a buddy with a superbird (supercharged thunderbird) and even though he's a darned good mechanic he's prefers to have the shop do this job (I think maybe it was actually wires...?) cuz it's a toughie.

- I guess I asked about the headlight cover already. :( Anybody have a cheap source?

BTW, I am a mechanic, so I'm sure I can do this stuff. But I'm a lazy mechanic ;) and I'd rather hand something off to a pro if ultimately it's cheaper (timewise) for them to pull off.

Thanks!

Fred

theres a used ps pump 4sale on ebay right now for $40 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...ssPageName=WDVW

new from internet should be ~ $160-180, Toyota just rebrands them and sells for more

timing belt is not tough really, with average mechanical skills it took me one

Saturday to to id for the 1MZ-FE engine (including reading the factory manual

and ride to Sears to get some sockets) you'll need 10/12/14/17/19/22 sockets

you would need some tool to hold camshaft sprockets to loosen and tighten the bolt, vise or press to compress the tensioner. I made this tool in half an hour out of stuff you can get in home depot. to remove a crankshaft pulley

you'll need to remove small metal cover on remove one of six torque converter bolts and put long M8 bolt into it's place to prevent crankshaft from turning

having inch/lb torque wrench is highly advised, since engine block is aluminum

you don't want to strip a thread...

with timing belt removed it's a snap to replace ps pump. Also white at it replace

coolant pump just as a precaution because if it's ball bearing seizes timing belt goes kaboom and valves meet the pistons :(

drive belts are real easy and cheap

good Bando belts are $ 10-12a piece on intenet and it takes less than an hour to change them, to replace ps pump belt front passenge wheel and plastic cover better be removed.

plugs - Denso iridium IK20 are the best money can buy period

I got mine on sparkplugs.com

http://www.sparkplugs.com/cart.asp?manID=3...Denso%20Iridium

rear three plugs are _real_ pain in the a55 to get to, you can have iridiums

installed in rear, thay are good for 100k and cheaper NGKs or whatever on a front

cylinders since they are really easy to replace and that can be done more often

wires are cheap, like 40 bucks for 3 wires (since your's is 94-96 it's distributorless engine)

congrats on purchase , I've got a '96, same rose/taupe color.

color is awesome, like nothing else, glowing at night and changes color like chameleon. also this color shows less dirt/dust than others ;)

[FredParoutaud]

Thanks for the info, very good!

-- Are there torque numbers on this site? I have all the tools, no sweat.

-- I thought this was a "non-interference" motor? ie: if the timing belt goes, the valves won't hit the pistons. Si? Non?

Cheers,

Fred

[steviej]

dent doctors or paintless dent removal work great but it is dependent on the person doing it.

I had a small dent from another car's door, removed while my car was at the shop for the damage from the drunk driver. You could even tell there was ever a ding there.

Good luck with the new toy. Sorry......Lex.

steviej

[tundra-lover]

It is Non-interference.

[branshew]

Sounds like you're almost there. As to the oil in your previous posts, it could be the PS pump as advised, or it could just be residual from oil changes. The filter is in the worst position on that engine (for both access and oil drainage/spillage) and I make a mess every time I put in a new filter. Some of what you see could be from that.

[FredParoutaud]

I'm goign to jack the car up this weekend and to a tranny service, that'll give me a chance to clean up around the filter and ps pump and see what's going on down there. I have to say, I'm not terribly concerned about a ps pump leak. I can just keep adding fluid for now, and deal with that later. But I would like to know what's going on.

Thanks,

Fred