ArmyofOne Posted January 20, 2005 Posted January 20, 2005 Most of you here know the legacy of my ES250, some may have wept ( ;) ) when you were told/saw how she was neglected. Well, not anymore. She now has a caring onwer, one who is willing to put forth the time, effort and money to bring her up to speed. Thus far i have completed the Following repairs: -Front Brakes; Rotors and pads -Air filter, PCV valve, oil changes. -CV Joints and Axles; left and right. -Rack and Pinion (soon) -Lower Ball Joints (soon) -Control arm bushings (soon) -Fuel Filter -Cleaned Throttle Body -Replaced A/C Compressor (previous owner did it) -Power Steering belt (a P-I-T-A). -Serpintine Belt -Fixed Broken Headlight aim mechanisim (right headlight couldnt be aimed, spring broke, thank the Lord for Zipties!) -Fixed broken window switches inside car, on drivers door. -Turned tire around (thanks discount tire ...idiots) -New Windshield Wipers (arms and blades) -New Front tires (a condition of me buying the car) -Replaced all rear bulbs and liscense plate lights. -Fixed warped center console -Replaced light bulb in shift indicator on shifter. -countless hours on paint restoration I really have done alot to this car. But the work is not finished yet. Just wanted to give special thanks to all who have helped make this possible, JP Imports and all the hlpful members of LexusOwnersClub, ClubLexus, and ToyotaNation, Thanks. You all keep giving me info I need to get things done. Thanks ESPECIALLY to JP Imports for the excellent service and prices. They cant be beat! The plan thus far is for me to have Jason replace the Rack and Pinion and related components. Then i will let it leak until i return from Active Duty. I will buy another (newer) more relaible car when i return, and i will do 1 of 2 things, pull the engine and tranny and buy a rebuild kit for $600 and rebuild them myself, or take it to JP Imports and let Jason have a go at rebuilding the Engine and Transaxle. THEN i will keep the car for many many more miles, and start restoring the exterior with paint, new plastic cladding, etc, etc. I'm thinking this will be a fun project car. Anyways, I just thought I would update you all on the progress. As usual, comments and questions are welcome. i have gaind a sort of shadetree expertise as it were, because the ES250 is a forgotten car, and i have been tinkering nonstop since i got it, learning the ins and outs...feel free to ask questions... Questions/comments are appreciated.
Lexusfreak Posted January 20, 2005 Posted January 20, 2005 Weren't you considering selling the car a short while back?
SW03ES Posted January 20, 2005 Posted January 20, 2005 Cool! Glad you're having fun. We need new pics! Your polishes are on the way BTW. Might take a while mailing anything from/to Washington takes a while.
ArmyofOne Posted January 20, 2005 Author Posted January 20, 2005 Cool! Glad you're having fun.We need new pics! Your polishes are on the way BTW. Might take a while mailing anything from/to Washington takes a while. ← i will take new pix when i go to school tonite. sheas a beaut. i was consideringit. but since i have owned this car i have only seen 3 others, and they were all beat to hell. if you cinsider where i live (one of the biggest cities in the US), you will see that 2 cars in 5 months, with ~2.5 million people in 1 area, they are pretty rare.
vcv10guy Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 Yes it is a shame that the ES250 is a forgotten Lexus considering that it was one of the first cars (the other being the LS400) to wear the Lexus emblem. Speaking of rare, I barely see any ES250 around. Even if I do, they're in bad shape. Except one ES250 in my area, it looks brand new still (glossy looking paint and good interior). Glad you're making good progress on making your ES250 100% like new again. Oh ya did buy/order that black dash cover yet? Look forward to seeing your ES pictures.
ArmyofOne Posted January 21, 2005 Author Posted January 21, 2005 Yes it is a shame that the ES250 is a forgotten Lexus considering that it was one of the first cars (the other being the LS400) to wear the Lexus emblem. Speaking of rare, I barely see any ES250 around. Even if I do, they're in bad shape. Except one ES250 in my area, it looks brand new still (glossy looking paint and good interior). Glad you're making good progress on making your ES250 100% like new again. Oh ya did buy/order that black dash cover yet? Look forward to seeing your ES pictures. ← Unfortunately i have not ordered the Dash Cover yet. i need time to call them and see if they even make one for my car. The one for the camry wont fit. pix are uploading and resizing as we speak...they will be along in a minute. B) EDIT-PIX: Ziptie Rig!: 2.5 Liters, 156HP of solid Muscle! Interior Shot, worthy of a Lexus Brochure...minus a few things, can you spot them? Restored Paint, when i bought this car, the only wax it ever got was from the touchless carwash. Dont mind the paint bubble...it was repainted in 1994 due to hail damage, but not very well... most of the pix were taken at my University, therefore there are events in the pix that are beyond my control (hence half naked person running in the background...) in this pic, you will have to excues my friend Jake's prelude, its wayyyyyyy faster than my ES250, but wasnt fast enough to move its red !Removed! out of the way of my pic!! A decent pic of Lexi, however, if you look close, you can see how toed-in the front wheels are, thanks to the wonderful worn rack and pinion, lower ball joints and tie rods...
vcv10guy Posted January 21, 2005 Posted January 21, 2005 Hey nice pictures you uploaded. It looks really good, and your engine bay is really really clean looking. I need to clean mine more, but at least most of the engine was cleaned when I had the valve cover gaskets replaced.
ArmyofOne Posted January 22, 2005 Author Posted January 22, 2005 Hey nice pictures you uploaded. It looks really good, and your engine bay is really really clean looking. I need to clean mine more, but at least most of the engine was cleaned when I had the valve cover gaskets replaced. ← Heh, no its not...There is 3 or 4 years of oil leak sludge on the outside of the motor, i just keep the top clean. LOL but thanks though. BTW, total bill on the rack and pinion, ball joints and outer tie rods is going to come to $1,042.97. This is using aftermarket parts everywhere except the ball joints and maybe the tire rods. Jason was very hesitant to agree to install these on my car, because they are aftermarket. I can understand this, but after a few times of reassuring him that i wasnt going to sue him if the parts failed (unless they failed due to improper installation, which wouldn't happen, but IF (a big if) it happened because of that, he would fix his mistake im sure, even then i wouldnt sue him.), He agreed. I understand Jason, its your business, your hobby and your life on the line, and i thank you for making an exception. I only need it on long enough for me to afford the one from lexus, (but even that one is remaned ). Lexus wants $789 for the remaned rack only, I would still have to buy the inner tie rods at $100 a pop, the pinion gear for $250 and then i would have to pay Jason to install them still. the Aftermarket rack is $270.99, and after core return, its $165. And it comes with inner tie rods. So the better deal here is that route, for a year or so, till i can rip into her and change it myself... As Jason was looking, i heard the words: "man, i would park this car Josh...till you can come back to fix it". The tie rods are about to break. As a result the car will be parked, and i will use the concorde daily for a few more weeks. (the parts wont come in for awhile) i will also bike to work, i need to get back into shape before my next physical ;) (i'm in shape, round is a shape, ) also, the leaks seem to be holding steady. *Knocks on wood* maybe Valvoline Max Life works after all? I saw 2 other ES250's on the way home, both white and gold, one was beat to *BLEEP* and had beige leather, and was blowing smoke out the tailpipe, wrecked pretty badly at both ends, and one had Navy blue cloth interior and the outside was IMMACULATE minus a few door dings, the inside however, had a dash worse than mine, apparently, dash warp is common on these cars.
ArmyofOne Posted January 22, 2005 Author Posted January 22, 2005 man that ES250 looks great!! ;) ← got the hookup on lexus parts, saved almost $450. thanks for the compliments!
blake918 Posted January 22, 2005 Posted January 22, 2005 Great pics...especially the interior and engine!! B)
ArmyofOne Posted January 22, 2005 Author Posted January 22, 2005 Great pics...especially the interior and engine!! B) ← thansk man, you will have to come drive it again once i get the suspension fixed. i would come to you, but with almost 145K on the original timing belt and spark plugs i would rather not push my luck any more than i have to! LOL. you say you are only 4 hours away from the metroplex, i may make the drive out there after i get my plugs done, i just am afraid that the timing belt may snap. i hope not. i could just see the following conversation: Me: "Hello, Triple A? i need a tow." them: "where are you sir?" Me: "The Middle of nowhere between Shreveport and Ruston Lousiana...i think im at the 8th bayou past the TX border..."
blake918 Posted January 23, 2005 Posted January 23, 2005 you say you are only 4 hours away from the metroplex, i may make the drive out there after i get my plugs done, i just am afraid that the timing belt may snap. i hope not. i could just see the following conversation:Me: "Hello, Triple A? i need a tow." them: "where are you sir?" Me: "The Middle of nowhere between Shreveport and Ruston Lousiana...i think im at the 8th bayou past the TX border..." ← LOL! Too funny! There aren't many bayous here in the northern part of the state-a lot of nothing really(Ruston only has 1 zip code! Blink your eyes, and you might pass right through! lmao), but New Orleans is a different story-the entire city pretty much is a swamp! The roads are the worst because of that; we are about 10 feet below sea level. :o Yep, 4 hours or so. A lot depends on the traffic in DFW. I'll definantly come back when you have the new steering rack put in!
VBdenny Posted January 23, 2005 Posted January 23, 2005 Your 250 looks great. I have seen a couple around here but not many. I saw two in the U Wrench It junkyard last year with most of their parts, but they were gone the next time I went as they rotate out rows after a month. Anyway, keep up the good work, nice looking engine compartment too!
ArmyofOne Posted January 23, 2005 Author Posted January 23, 2005 Your 250 looks great. I have seen a couple around here but not many. I saw two in the U Wrench It junkyard last year with most of their parts, but they were gone the next time I went as they rotate out rows after a month. Anyway, keep up the good work, nice looking engine compartment too! ← yeah, she was a gem. i dont think ill ever get rid of her. ill just add to the collection. when i get another car, she gets engien and tranny rebuild. (i keep tossing up between whether or not i want to get a trailer and a jeep or an IS300) if i get the trailer and the jeep, i can put the lex on the trailer to get it to places it needs to go when broken...i just dont know... thank you very much for the compliments guys. so far she has $2500 sunk into her, and i pait virtually nothing for the car (you will recall i got refunded most of my $$ when my lawyer found out about the steering being a saftey concern). $1800 to be exact. so i paid $200 for this car. so she has $2700 wrapped up in her after the steering rack replacement.
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