New Es300 Questions

hern · January 5, 2004

Hey guys,

My father bought me a '99 ES300 for Christmas, which I'm working on getting some pictures uploaded. I had a few questions for you guys.

First, I believe the oil it takes is 5W-30 or 10W-30 I do not recall which I read from the manual. I heard it is good to put it on synthetic. What oil would you recommend purchasing for it. I don't recall seeing "synthetic" oil in the local autozone. Is there something special about it?

Second, my tail light malfunction light came on, and I was wondering how I can remove the brake light in order to install a new bulb on the back left brake light. Is it correct that when I turn my lights on there should be two light lit on each panel. If someone knows how to easily take it off I'd greatly appreciate it.

Third, would anyone recommend getting "angel eyes" for bulbs for head lights. I've seen them on the BMW's didn't know if anyone here had them and enjoyed them better or made the ES look better.

Fourth, does anyone know where I can get my hands on a factory repair manual?

Finally, let me just say a 99 ES300 can out race a '98 prelude that has a vtec. I beat it by a car and a half. Lexus is pure quality. Just thought I'd throw that in there for the board since I asked awhile back if a ES300 could beat the prelude and I was told no.

Thanks guys, look forward to your responses.

bbsal · January 5, 2004

First, I believe the oil it takes is 5W-30 or 10W-30 I do not recall which I read from the manual. I heard it is good to put it on synthetic. What oil would you recommend purchasing for it. I don't recall seeing "synthetic" oil in the local autozone. Is there something special about it?

yes its 5w-30 but you can use 10w-30 it wont hurt.i like synthetic moble one.that seems to be the best choice everyone uses.

Second, my tail light malfunction light came on, and I was wondering how I can remove the brake light in order to install a new bulb on the back left brake light. Is it correct that when I turn my lights on there should be two light lit on each panel. If someone knows how to easily take it off I'd greatly appreciate it.

its just a few bolts inside your trunk lid.just remove the cover on the back of the trunk and you will see the bolts that hold in your tail lights.remove them and replace the defective bulb.

Third, would anyone recommend getting "angel eyes" for bulbs for head lights. I've seen them on the BMW's didn't know if anyone here had them and enjoyed them better or made the ES look better

you can do this but its a bit of a project.try a search because i think someone did do it once on here but not sure.

Fourth, does anyone know where I can get my hands on a factory repair manual?

try ebay they seem to have them from time to time.

good luck with the car!

SKperformance · January 5, 2004

angel eyes where done on a 92-96 es 300 which have a clear front lens the 99 is a regular diffuser and lens.

I personally think the angel eyes aer amazing looking........... on a bmw.

that is where they are and belong.

i feel the same about altezza lights on civics

and bmw z3 fenders on accords.

VW roof mounted fubu antennas

all these parts have been massaged into other cars.

It is like the guy who replaced the "h" on his hyundai with a "L" and lexus script.

sorry but

to each his/her own.

hern · January 5, 2004

Would you use 5w-30 or 10w-30?

SW03ES · January 5, 2004

I'd stick with 5W30 thats what Lexus reccomends...

I agree with sk on all counts also BTW ;)

Welcome to the LOC!

steviej · January 6, 2004

I agree on the oil, 5W-30, unless your ES has over 75,000 miles then move over to the 10W-30. As always I suggest the use of synthetic oils. The 10W-30 weight oils are usually directed to higher mileage cars. Most have something in the mix to help rejuvenate and soften hardening internal seals.

Inadditon to the oil, use a good quality oil filter (Toyota OEM, Mobil 1, K&N Gold in that order).

I would say the others have covered your remaining questions very well.

Welcome to the club. ;)

steviej

zeta · January 6, 2004

i personally have 10W-30... but then again my ES3 passed 110,000 a while ago without me even knowing heh. this is what i get for leaving the odo on the trip computer to watch how many miles on the tank...

the tail light is simple and was described by bbsal pretty good.

the angel eyes... different type of headlight housing. 97-01 uses reflectors, which would be basically impossible to install angel eyes on, since they are specifically for projector housings more.

for the repair manual... ebay's the way to go...

about the lude... the '99 ES300 has 210 hp whereas the prelude has only 160hp? on the base engine but 200 on the SH engine. a big difference. vtec will only kick in on higher rpm's and this battle would also depend on off the line or running start. the ES will completely smoke him in running, but off the line, the SH could take it off the line with a good driver and good responses.

kev

bbsal · January 6, 2004

i dont know what milage you have but when i seen 99 if you do the math you most likely have somewere from 50 to 70,000 miles right?i hope im in the right ballpark so thats why i say 10w-30.

i allways started using 10w-30 at around 50,000 miles just for insurence but 5w-30 will work.also keep in mind if you use regular oil (non synthetic) then it tends to get thicker in the colder months so 5w-30 is fine but in the summer i would use 10w-30.but if you take our advice and use synthetic then you dont need to worry about it getting thicker or thinner.either way good luck!

zeta · January 9, 2004

synthetic is really the good way to go. i've had synthetic royal purple and mobil one since about 70k miles and the car runs smooth and it's quite worry free about its viscosity. i would say everything would depend on your area temperatures. texas is constant really hot n really cold, so i find it a lot safer with synthetic. but if you see what bbsal is sayin 'bout high mileage... changing to synthetic would be the best for higher mileage cars... 110k n still rollin strong =)

kev