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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!

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.

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).

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.

No reason to upgrade, Those stock wheels are Classic on the SC 😉

But you love the Covid virus? 🙄

I just installed the rr racing supercharger. It’s the only way to go bud

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.

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.

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.

The cost of dental work, especially deep cleaning by laser and periodontal surgery, but also including implants.

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!!"

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.

My Daily 😀

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.

20 years ago I swapped a domain name for a Lexus. The love affair started and I am now on my 10th Lexus

And Because We All Love Pictures 🙂

My Lexus is my weekend car. My daily is my 2009 Mazda 3i.

Just acquired a 97 LS400 with 5 keys, second owner, all original paperwork from the dealer including the peel away handbook that came with the car. Have the original window sticker even! Crazy come up from working on the car for a neighbor during the plandemic. Just like to say hi and start helping where I can here, been a tech for over 15 years professionally, 26 cars owned probably more including bikes. Hope to help out and be helped if inrum into some issues here on this new venture. Hope to add an air ride system in the future, tint, visors, etc. Who knows..

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

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 :)

Typically, a flashing CEL means that engine damage is eminent (usually catalytic converter damage). In your case, probably due to overly rich mixture or misfires. Perhaps the plug wire repair was temporary? As far as no communication with a scan tool, read here. Not saying this is the problem but it should be towards the top of the "should be considered" list: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-1st-and-2nd-gen-1990-2000/656360-all-my-crazy-lexus-issues-solved-ecu-leaking-capacitor.html Of particular interest from link: MODELS/ENGINES AFFECTED: This issue affects all Lexus & Toyota models with the following engines: 1JZ, 2JZ, 1KZ, 1UZ, 5E, 1G, 3S The following are some of the models affected: ● Lexus LS400 - 1990-2000 (in 1997 and earlier models, the problem is extremely common) ● Lexus SC300 - 1993-2000 ● Lexus SC400 - 1992-2000 ● Lexus GS300 - 1993-1996 ● Toyota Celica GT - 1985 -1998 ● Toyota Supra Mark III (JDM) - 1986-1993 ● Toyota Supra GT - 1995-1997 ● Toyota Supra Mark IV - 1993-2002 ● Toyota Supra Twin Turbo - 1993-2002 ● Toyota MR2 - 1990-1999 ● Toyota Camry - 1987-2001 ● Toyota Soarer - 1992-2000 ● Toyota Aristo - 1993-1996 ● Toyota Celsior - 1990-2000 SYMPTOMS: Please understand that any one of these symptoms can be a sign of ECU capacitors beginning to fail. - You do not need all or most of them to have this issue! Your ECU capacitors are strongly suspected if you have at least one of the following intermittent issues on your Lexus or Toyota: ● problems in getting into diagnostic mode or scanner says "no communication" ● random dropping into "limp home" mode ● weird shifting problems ● OBD port is unresponsive, seems dead ● throwing random fault codes ● engine won't rev out/rev limits at 2000 or less rpm ● engine runs like crap, then suddenly runs fine again ● random not starting or cutting out ● low idle or erratic idle ● often very hard to start, requires starting fluid ● transmission will not automatically shift, only manual shift is possible ● transmission jerks from 1st to 2nd gear, and kinda slips from 2nd to 3rd ● no A/C compressor operation ● idle speed rolling up and down, or sometimes too low and sometimes too high ● speedometer not working reliably ● speed (cruise) control not working ● tachometer not working sometimes ● air bag light flickering intermittently ● A/C going into reset with flashing front defog light (front defog light typically flashing 10 times) ● check engine light on sometimes, but no codes stored, often in concert with ECT light ● ECU not communicating with scanners or not displaying codes with jumper installed ● bad sulfur exhaust smell in concert with not running right above

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.

Fixed! Put the transmission in neutral, took off the bolts and rotated the driveshaft. Tightened everything down and drove it and it was connected back the right way. Thank you to everyone for your help!

From what I've read the resale value of a Mercedes is really bad after year 3. Not so much for the Lexus. The Mercedes might only command 45% of its sticker price in year 4 where the Lexus over 70%.

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.

The first thing you should have done is to look at all the codes. That would be easier if it has OBD II and not OBD I which flashes to indicate a problem area. Simply guessing and buying parts can be very expensive. You might want to spend $150 to have an expert look at it. That way, you'll have enough information to determine if the car is worth fixing.

My goodness. Haven't read all the back and forth, but 50 years plus of being a mechanic means you should RUN, or have it towed asap from the current shop. Reasons: No car in the history of the planet has 3 coils go bad all at once. Not possible to diagnose injectors unless they are pulled and flow tested. Head gasket problems are relatively easy to diagnose on the V6. Since head gaskets don't blow simultaneously, unless you SERIOUSLY overheated the old girl, the sparkplugs on either bank will be utterly absolutely clean, cleaner than the other bank. Really, the best way to QUICKLY check a bad head gasket is to smell the exhaust. A sweet smell, obvious as hell. Timing problems, more than likely. Car can easily be saved with a competent mechanic. Don't be afraid to pull out of the shop -- money spent is money gone. Which is why is use YELP, etc. Good luck.

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.

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.

Japan

A new one can be found here.... I have used this supplier from their Japan located warehouse. worked well. https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/8174050080

You should try this for a month: Terra Kai USDA Organic Juce Super Fruit & Veggie Powder, 12.2 Ounces | Costco

...talk about waiting until the last minute!😏

For Myself it was upgrading from a 1996 Toyota Camry to a 1998 GS 300...Loved the car so much I bought a LS460. I drove the GS for 21 years as a daily driver, The car was sold locally and is still on the road today, Got To Love Lexus ! What is your Story ?

Hey bykfixer, thanks for the input. Ken

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.

Happy Independence Day All, Make It a Great One, Be safe and Enjoy This Beautiful Country.

I agree gamalot. I have family who get their bamboo toilet paper delivered cross country via fossil fuel powered truck. As I type this it is highly likely that every room in their house has a light turned on. They come to my house and comment how hot it is in summer or cold it is in winter. They arrive in three compact hybrids instead of one sedan. They live by the ocean and complain the sea is rising. They fertilize their landscaped lawns then complain about plastic straws polluting streams. They moved away from areas run by high tax and spend politicians then vote for high tax and spend politicians in their community. I grew up when air conditioned cars were for the neighbor who had loot. Back then they had little wings you could dial in to circulate air throught the car so the vinyl seats weren't so uncomfy.

problem solved after 3 weeks of on and off diagnostic. it was the crank sensor that failed and this was very difficult problem to diagnose because the crank sensor did work " to a degree ". previous owner sold me this car for 1200 with only 89k miles because 4 or 5 shops that she took this ES300 to couldn't figure out the problem including 2 Lexus dealerships and 1 of them even suggested a new/rebuild motor because they thought somehow, the compression loss after engine warm up while running. I've been turning wrench as a master tech since 2001 and never encountered this problem before. not sure as to unique problem, only for Toyota or not but it was hard problem for sure. if you want details of how and what way the sensor failed or any questions about leading up to my findings, let me know.

Sorry, I didn't understand exactly what you wanted. It is common for forum software to be configured to turn on "follow" by default whenever you post. If you don't want to follow a thread after you post, then immediately turn off following after posting. I assume that this is a forum software configuration setting that could be changed by a forum administrator but many people prefer to automatically follow a thread after posting.

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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.

Several Toyota models (e.g. Highlander, Sienna) used the same brake system that the 2010-2015 Lexus RX used - rotors, pads, everything. I don't remember about the RX but I do remember there being a service campaign that addressed brake disc warping and vibration on the generation 3 Sienna. I have a 2014 Sienna but mine never developed the problems. I did modify components under the vehicle that directed brake cooling airflow per the service bulletin "just in case". I've wondered why I've never had the problems reported by many others especially since my Sienna Limited is heavier than any Highlander or RX and likely stresses the brakes more. One reason might be because I've paid extremely close attention to lug nut torque. Uneven and/or over torquing lug nuts is a known common cause of brake rotor warping. The correct lug nut torque on the RX, Highlander, Sienna and most other vehicles manufactured by Toyota is only 76 ft. lbs. An air wrench should never be used to tighten these lug nuts and they should always be tightened with a manual torque wrench. I've had both Lexus and Toyota dealers tighten lug nuts to over 200 ft. lbs. on too many occasions. One service manager swore that his mechanics never used air wrenches on lug nuts but I then watched as one of his mechanics had to use an air wrench to remove the lug nuts that one of his mechanics had just over-tightened. I've learned to always check lug nut torque with my own torque wrench after someone else messes with my wheels. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to change a flat tire on one trip. So ... my 2014 Sienna that has the same brake system as the 2012 RX and is on the original brake rotors and pads front and back at 94,xxx miles. Based on the wear rate, I'll have the original front and rear pads replaced at the same time and the original rotors turned at a little over 110,000 miles when the pads will by then be worn down to the 1 mm minimum specification. Yes, only 1 millimeter of pad thickness is the minimum specification for most Lexus and Toyota vehicles. 1 mm looks scary to the uninformed which is why so many people get scammed into premature brake work. On Lexus vehicles that have electronic brake pad were sensors, the low pad warning in the instrument cluster starts when a brake pad is worn down to about 1.5 mm. My recommendation is to buy a torque wrench if you don't already have one and check and re-torque lug nuts after each time someone removes and re-installs your wheels.

Did something today...

Well I hope the German brand you have now isn't Mercedes, BMW or VW/Audi! If so, then your troubles are just beginning. The vehicles I've owned that were manufactured by Toyota have been infinitely more reliable and of higher quality than the German vehicles I've owned. My last Mercedes, purchased new, was on its 3rd engine when I finally dumped it and bought a new Lexus LS.

The general rule is that if a repair or repairs within a short period of time are equal to or greater than 50% of the value of the car, then it may be time to buy a replacement vehicle.

Fixed!! This is the Idler Pulley which is only attached to the front of the water pump. This water pump is driven by an internal idler pulley that operates from the timing belt. The Pulley was $80.00 at Lexus dealer, and I changed along with new serpentine belt. Took all of 10-15 minutes. Thanks for all who helped!!