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  1. I was also sold this "invisible" ad on! Only to be told by the dealership "after" that it's not adjustable. So basically it's just a dimly lit thin strip! This should be included. Lexus could and should've done better!
    4 points
  2. Hi. Some friends of mine suggested that I should post this here for more people to see. Hopefully it'll help people for years to come. You will need: About 50 bucks budget for the balljoint rod and the pipe clamp. Height sensor with bracket. 10mm wrench Washers that fit 10mm/M6 bolts. 10mm/M6 nuts Some smaller (8mm wrench) I own a 2001 LS430. The height sensor control arm's slider has rusted and become damaged over the last 19 or so years. The ball joint rod to the height sensor has also seized too. The height adjustment rod there in the red was seized, and the height slider in the blue was badly corroded and broken off. Rather than buy an entire control arm (green) this is an alterative method to repair it The arm is ~26mm in diameter. Buy yourself one of these pipe clamps in 26mm diameter. Or make one. Shouldn't be expensive. The hole needs to fit a M6/10mm bolt. Grind off the remnants of that slider from the control arm, and slide the pipe clamp over, and put your 10mm/M6 bolt and nut through and secure it in place where the slider used to be. Rather than using the control arm as a slider, we can instead use a sliding ball joint rod such as this one; This is a 220 320 00 32 from Mercedes - a height adjustment rod with a 8mm locking and a 10mm/M6 ball joint bolt. You can pick one up off eBay for cheap. Or find some other M6/10mm adjustable ball joint rod. Look at the diagram and try to imagine it in your head. This is what your bracket and rod/clamps should look like. One day I might snap a picture of what my repair looks like, but I hope you can make out what I mean via the diagram. This repair should be very easy. Maybe some sanding/grinding and surface preperation. The clamp will hold on tight and is easy to replace. The adjustable link rod will last longer and allow for easy adjustment, and less risk of corrosion damage. Hope this helps. This is a fairly easy job and took me less than 2 or so hours to do.
    3 points
  3. Did I mention this?..... I don't like the fact that our governments plan to force us to buy EVs. I wouldn't mind having one, as we already have solar panels and don't pay for electricity, but I think we should be able to choose what we drive (within reason).
    3 points
  4. At the part store they run a load test on the battery that mimics a big draw. If it holds up to a certain voltage it means the battery itself is not weakened yet. As the battery ages it will weaken as in not be able to supply a given amount of cold cranking amps. When its cold the oil thickens some thereby making the engine have to work harder to rotate. Hence the term "cold" cranking amps. I'd say you should investigate why the check engine lamp is lighting up. It could be a sign of what is taking place to cause your car to struggle to crank over. The part store can often "read the code" and determine why the CEL is lighting. My gut tells me your voltage regulator in the alternator is hit and miss. A long time ago that was a little box on the fire wall or fender. These days they are inside of the alternator. It determines how much electricity goes to the engine to keep it running and to the battery to charge it. It only has to be off by a little to keep the engine running but not have extra to charge the battery. Another issue could be a parasitic drain. An out of the ordinary draw on the battery when the car isn't running. In my 04 GS 300 for example the CD changer kept trying to change discs and the seat memory kept activating. Now I could not hear the disc changer nor was the seat memory moving the seat, but they were drawing on the system leading to a weak or dead battery if I didn't drive the car every day. Yet another issue may be short trips don't allow the battery to charge enough. Example; start the car, drive to a store 10 minutes away, finish there, start car and drive 10 minutes to another store. Never giving the engine a good 30-45 minutes to charge the battery back up to the voltage used to start the car can also lead to the hard to crank or dead battery issue. Hope you find it soon and it's a cheap and easy fix.
    3 points
  5. No reason to upgrade, Those stock wheels are Classic on the SC 😉
    3 points
  6. But you love the Covid virus? 🙄
    3 points
  7. I just installed the rr racing supercharger. It’s the only way to go bud
    3 points
  8. That one is my son's new puppy. Her brother came home with me Chocolate lab mom, stranger in the night dad Yesterday they played all afternoon.
    3 points
  9. Purchase has been made!...I could not turn down the deal I got & the actual ES...2020 ES 350 'premium' with only 11k miles in Nebula Grey Pearl (windows are already tinted)....over 2 years of full factory warranty remaining; 1 owner, full service history & Lexus CPO. Our 'premium package' in Canada is equipped quite differently than our friends south of the border....with more features / standard equipment. Originally I wanted the UL package....but in these parts, they are very rare (I reached out to 17 Lexus dealers in a 400 mile radius of me...the UL units that are available are 5 to 6 k more & only about 20% are actually at Lexus dealers...the premium pkg checks 95% of the boxes I was looking for....as the expression goes 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'. I literally have a 6 minute drive to work... I pick the car up this Saturday.
    3 points
  10. I like it when I'm trimming a rose bush, grab one to place in a jar and while heading indoors the Mrs arrives from work so I hand her the rose. Or when I come from work and the dog greets me at the door, tail all wagging-like. And the parrot says "welcome home"…… Or when a nice breeze blows just as the grass cut chore is over and the Mrs brings out a tall glass of ice cold spring water. Or when a new baseball cap fits my noggin just right without adjusting it. Or I step on the bathroom scale expecting to have gained weight but the scale shows I actually lost a little. Or when my son and I went to do the first start after an engine swap, expecting a hard to start issue but ole bessy fires right up. Or when the lawnmover starts first pull……again. Or helping out old people. Or thanking a soldier/veteran. Or tipping the person at the toll booth. Yes I stop and pay in cash so I can do that. Or when the voicemail on your phone was not a robo-call and instead was a friend telling you "hello, here's my new phone number" Or when you sneeze and a perfect stranger says "bless you". Life is short. But smiling makes you live longer. Trouble with being dead is it lasts so long.
    3 points
  11. The cost of dental work, especially deep cleaning by laser and periodontal surgery, but also including implants.
    3 points
  12. That's the view when I pull into the driveway after work. Unseen in the photo is the dog wagging his tail "it's that guy, he's back, yay!!"
    3 points
  13. Update: I think I have got it after all the work, time, and money spent. I started checking again I found an unbelievable vacuum leak around lower intake manifold. replace gasket today runs great thanks for all of the support. something that simple fix. when the engine was swap the starter was replaced. The gasket moved or something apparently cause a vacuum leak. I had no idea a vacuum leak could cause random misfires. I was sure it was an ignition problem.
    3 points
  14. The Lexus brand cell phone that was a dealer installed option lowered the HVAC fan speed and muted the audio system while a call was in progress. I even connected an aftermarket Nokia CARK-91 phone system I installed in my second (2000) LS400 to mute the audio system but I didn't bother to connect it to lower the HVAC fan speed. Even when a Lexus phone system was never installed, corrosion of the factory installed cell phone harness in the trunk can cause HVAC and audio system issues.
    3 points
  15. 20 years ago I swapped a domain name for a Lexus. The love affair started and I am now on my 10th Lexus
    3 points
  16. My Lexus is my weekend car. My daily is my 2009 Mazda 3i.
    3 points
  17. If you really want to know what is not to like about it: I would like a car that drives without polluting. I do not at all mind if it is powered with a battery as long as it is not made in a factory in China using slaves and where the power to the factory come from burning coal. Of course it should not be a battery that would make the car having a much limited range when temperature get down to zero, or some days below that. It would also be needed that the materials to make the battery can be obtained without destroying the planet searching for the materials. Not to forget that there got to be so much of these materials that there is enough to make batteries enough to convert all cars to electric cars. The materials we use to make batteries now are not available in such quantities and the batteries we have now have very limited time where they are holding charge and when no longer really great very expensive to get the materials the batteries are made of out for reuse. That the batteries should be able to keep the power without losing too much when not used a couple of days just like a gasoline car is also useful. Of course it would not be funny if driving through Europe to visit family I would not be able to charge the battery more or less at same speed as filling gasoline on the one I have now. If I am asking too much maybe a battery powered car is not for me. Or anybody else that would like to leave the planet in as good a condition as we received it so our children will not have to repair all the damages we have made to the planet while we were searching for easy found solutions that are actually not solutions. EV cars, the way they are made now, are not polluting less – yes they are – in the streets of my town, but making the batteries, transporting them, charging them with the very “in no way at all” green power where we live actually make EV cars more polluting than driving a well kept little gasoline car. I sure wish that we could find a material that could make batteries last a long time and not just the 6 – 12 years with steadily losing ability to keep charge. It would also be nice if the battery was light and not hard on the tyres that deteriorate more the heavier the car is. If the new batteries were so light that they could be used in air-planes that would really help reduce pollution as the private cars we talk so much about actually are not a major polluter. Why can politicians not understand that even with all they do now for the environment pollution is not going down but increasing? EV cars the way they are now - are for people not thinking about environment: 60% of the electricity in Spain is made from non-renewable s coal, oil, gas; 35% from nuclear; only 5% from renewable sources; just saw that in the electricity bill today. That the 35% from nuclear are not damaging the climate now could put that figure up to 40%. Still 60% of the energy put in electric cars is dirty and utterly polluting. Worldwide numbers are not even that good. This explain why charging an electric car is not really doing any good for the environment. And when the factories making the batteries to electric cars are not informing from where the energy that is used in the factories come from: mean it could be quite a good deal not green, more grey or even black. Considering above-mentioned numbers driving electric cars pollute between 15 and 60% more than if we continued to use the gasoline cars we are driving in now. Would not need new cars with new batteries, just new oil in the engines now and then. https://www.asoc.org/learn/antarctic-ice-and-rising-sea-levels/ But as it maybe already too late to change the way climate is going now, we can just continue the headless way we are used to: https://abcnews.go.com/International/late-prevent-significant-melting-west-antarctic-ice-shelf/story?id=104144755
    2 points
  18. I like to check when hot and one has gone through all the gears and back in park, Engine off and wait a couple minutes to settle :)
    2 points
  19. According to Car & Driver magazine, Side note: I have a Samsung 23 Ultra and would NEVER switch to an iphone. My night photos are amazing, I have up to 10X optical zoom, and my stylus can be used to: Remotely advance PowerPoint slides Remotely take photos and videos, up to 30 ft away Translate embedded languages Zoom in to very small text that cannot be pinch-screened Create instant hand-written notes and drawings alone or within photos. I am thoroughly spoiled!🙂
    2 points
  20. It's cheap in the view of things. I don't want to have to replace this motor. I shopped for 9 month before buying my SC430. I have done maintenance that it turned out had already been done. I'm not going to call the prior owner with these types of questions. I save those calls for important stuff. So I did all the fluids a week ago. engine oil it was due and I knew it from the miles I had put on. Transmission fluid was perfect when I dropped the pan, no burnt smell, no metal on the magnets in the pan. Cleaned it all anyway, changed the filter and gasket and added 6 quarts back in. But perfect fluid should have been my clue that it had been done. LOL Get back to the differential, and you guessed it, dumped out perfectly clear, like new gear oil. Let it drain anyway and refilled with 2 quarts. I think most people with these cars keep the maintenance tip top. That is a plus in my book. I intend to keep this car so I like knowing where it stands maintenance wise. Yes it costs a little money but I do believe it helps the cars last. And that's why I picked a Lexus and not a Mercedes or other cars of this type of styling. If you want to gamble on maintenance there are plenty of other models of Lexus cars or others out there to do that with. But I bought this car because it's becoming a classic and its got the Toyota drive train. I plan to keep the car the rest of my life and enjoy it for all that time.
    2 points
  21. https://youtu.be/vnOM7RfgP1A this is about as easy as diy projects come. No tools needed and instant results!
    2 points
  22. Hi everyone, I want to you my latest addition to my RX330. A custom design and fabricated prerunner bar with a skid plate. Going to add lights in the future.
    2 points
  23. I hate the common cold...
    2 points
  24. I figured it out! Apparently the car was reading the old sensors (some still had battery life) which were downstairs in the basement on the opposite end of the house. I had no idea they could transmit that far. I disposed of the old sensors and the problem is gone.
    2 points
  25. I'm not sure tbh. I didn't look that close. I did find where it plugged in, and the engine seems to be running fine. So I'm choosing to assume I guessed and got lucky.
    2 points
  26. OK, All looks good now...Thanks a Mint ^^^
    2 points
  27. Id like to believe im an engineer but thats not the case. From the late 60's to the early 80's I worked for GM as a factory technician (we were called mechanics in those days because we did everything) and, for a few years as an apprentice machinist working for a speed shop blueprinting small block chevy motors (primarily for drag racing). So i do have some experience in the automotive field and im usually very careful in examining wiring schematics and other important data before i start cutting into factory wire looms.
    2 points
  28. A vehicle with salvage/rebuilt title has historically been valued at 50-60% of a "clean" title vehicle of same or similar make, model, trim level, and mileage. Based upon my conversation with a very experienced auto body shop technician, try to stay with those vehicles that had rear damage, not front with air bag deployment. The "before" repair photos can be very helpful. If possible, take it to an auto body shop for inspection. I bought a 2008 Mazda MX5 PRHT, back in 2012. It was a salvage vehicle with slight front and mostly rear damage. It had 42,000 miles on it and it has been almost bulletproof for all these years. One suspension component had to be replaced but everything else was fine. Check with your insurance company to see what value they would place on your possible purchase.
    2 points
  29. 2 points
  30. I like cherry Pepsi on occasion. That's about as close to whiskey as I'll go these days.
    2 points
  31. Before pulling the bulbs, you should look for a change in voltage on the meter with and without the lights/audio on. If fact, what I typically do when performing a quick test, observe the meter as you switch each component on...one by one. If the brake lights are showing a large dip on the meter or with everything on together you are dropping below 13 volts...you have a problem. It's rare, but you could have a bulb that's not lighting up and instead shorting out. If the charging system stays above 13.5 under full load than I'm leaning towards a problem with the wires coming from the battery or loose/corroded battery terminal. Most of the situations that I've worked on where there seems to be an electrical demon and all the tests are good...It's usually something like a poor body ground.
    2 points
  32. Generally, this sort of info isn't going to had just from vin#. The build sheet is where this would likely be found. Not sure how easy it would be to get on a 7+ yr. old car. Good luck.
    2 points
  33. The cost of gas and food...Thanks o'biden
    2 points
  34. But then again, the RZ 450e with a 0-60 of 5.2 sec. would be great for mountain climbing, but the rumored range of only 225 miles and an out-the-door loaded price north of 70K would qualify it as a novelty. But, then, there’s a lot of money floating around California, where Lexus would be pushing / sending expensive electrics anyway.
    2 points
  35. Very nice! Is that a metal cup? You should also be able to find T-shirts with the Lexus logo. I have a Mazda one. There's a custom t-shirt store nearby. They can apply any kind of image to a shirt or shirts of your choice. I had them make a couple that are super-soft 100% cotton.
    2 points
  36. I just did an install of a Metra kit on an RX300. This has the capability to include backup camera, navigation, and of course the climate control is also included. The deftails are in this video. We went with Metra because it is a known name in this space - not some AliBaba special. They produce similar kits for other Lexus vehicles with similar setup of climate control/navigation/stereo.
    2 points
  37. Recently purchased a 2004 SC430 - black with saddle - 157k. Have wanted one since 2002 when I saw one in the showroom. Long story short, I located one in Texas and after speaking with the owner, decided it was a worth making a deal. While waiting for the car to arrive in Colorado, I signed up for Lexus Owners Club and read as much as I could about the strengths and weaknesses of the car. All I can say is LOC is a fantastic resource for any Lexus owner, but I found it particularly valuable for my newly acquired SC. So far, I have replaced front and rear shocks/struts, both upstream O2 sensors, front brakes and rotors. Within the next month I will replace water pump, tensioners and timing belt. (previous owner did it around 95k) All repairs have been done based on recommendations and information obtained from LOC forums. The suggestions for aftermarket parts were invaluable - as were the recommendations for OEM parts. Repairs were accomplished by a local independent Toyota mechanic I have known for awhile. Cosmetically - the car is in very nice condition. It was garaged most of the time and it shows. Bottom line is a HUGE thank you to all the other SC owners for sharing your knowledge and resources on this forum. Thanks to you, I am enjoying the hell out of this car and plan to have it for many years to come. Here's a photo:
    2 points
  38. Hey bykfixer, thanks for the input. Ken
    2 points
  39. The 4th of July is upon us once again. While most folks frolic about on the 4th doing the typical American thing……you know, drink beer, eat too much, get sun burned and watch fireworks, one of my coworkers has set out for New York. He is a young engineer from Afghanistan who helped the US forces rebuild stuff over there after things got destroyed after 911. At first he said it was not so bad. But at one point his life was threatened by hostile forces for siding with what he says they call "the great Satan". He said members of his family were brutally killed in order to teach him a lesson. The US government gave him the opportunity to bring his wife and kids to America. So this 4th of July he, his wife and children are going to travel to New York to witness the statue of Liberty. He told me that after being in America some 4 years his wife no longer fears running over explosive devices or being hit by sniper fire and wants to travel to "the big apple" he said in broken English. I will raise a toast of apple juice this year to him and folks like him who truely know life under tyranny. I hope everybody reading this enjoys the 4th this year now that the pesky virus seems to be largely under control. I'll stay home and help keep a labrador calm who gets nervous when the fireworks explode. He's 11 this year so he doesn't have that many more days left and I sure don't want him spending any of them in panic mode. I'll hook him up with a hot dog off the grill while we sit out back and watch a small bonfire. Happy 4th everybody.
    2 points
  40. I am having a difficult time wrapping my head around any All Electric cars. I get the feeling we are being duped into the belief that electricity is a cleaner and cheaper source of energy. I do of course get the concept but I also must look at the entire picture of where and how electricity is produced, transported and stored which brings us to the actual cost. IMO solar is a wonderful source but not yet up to the full time task where geographical and weather conditions come into play. Wind is also wonderful however when we consider all the costs to build from scratch, erect and maintain windmills it becomes just as costly or more costly than the fossil fuels required to build them. I am no expert here but I have read numerous accounts stating that windmills so far cannot produce enough energy to cover the return of investment over their lifetime. Both sources have their advantages and disadvantages, cleaner in some ways but often more costly when we look at the total picture of initial cost Vs return. An All Electric vehicle will not work here where I live with the high cost of electricity from the power company to my home. Replacing batteries in such vehicles is another daunting thought when they have reached their life expectancy. I think we seem to forget that all manufactured goods, no matter what, cars, computers, gadgets and just about everything else all begin in the ground and must be mined, transported, milled and smelted and this all takes fossil fuels and electricity at every step. Folks here are highly against windmills, solar farms, pipelines, electric transmission lines, cellular towers, and nuclear power generation plants. The complain about the rivers being dammed for Hydro power generation and in the very same breath they complain about high costs of energy, lack of cell service and internet connectivity for all their gadgets. I get the feeling those who are narrow minded expect all this stuff to simply fall from the sky. I have a continual and ongoing debate with a buddy who is an absolute climate activist, the type who thinks cows should be eliminated and all energy should be from renewable sources while he does drive a Prius he also wants milk in his coffee, Leather seats in his cars and SUVs and steak on his table. All electric vehicles are for sure coming along but they are a long way from refined enough to have one parked and plugged up in my driveway. I believe about 75% of all electricity is produced by fossil fuels at present and we have a long way to go for us to rely on other sources before we leave the oil, coal and gas in the ground.
    2 points
  41. I get to drive my Lexus past my neighbors house while fixes his beamer (again).
    2 points
  42. I know this is an old thread but I dare write this for those who suffer and try to fix it inexpensively as a DIY job. Recently a friend of mine mentioned about Mark Levinson's amplifier and I posted this to the Clublexus. According to him, the popping/cracking/static noise is mostly caused by the oscillation of the voltage booster at the power supply block. All you need to do is just to replace worn electrolytic capacitors used there.
    2 points
  43. A few new pics in the sun. Quite a few updates including LED lighting inside and out and the LED yellow fog lights, and of course, the new wheels. Need to tweak ride height a little more, but nothing drastic. Loving this LS430 more and more every day, with 205k miles on the clock now.
    2 points
  44. Welcome to the Lexus Owners Club Charles! Pearl white is one of my fave colors.
    2 points
  45. Trevor, Thanks for the info. You were correct, I had not connected the temp sender wire. It is a bugger of a thing to locate and even more difficult to fit the connector when the entire loom is in situ. The sender unit is tucked in behind the plastic spark plug channel. Done now, so everything is fine. Thanks again, Alan.
    2 points
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