Eric Cheung

Oh! I actually own a copy of that Haynes manual. I bought it from Amazon a few years ago. I did not realize it contains the information and I've forgot my owning a copy of it until you mention it. Thanks for reminding me of that. LOL I'm now out of town and will take a look at it when I get home. Thanks!

Hi BoaR, thanks for your response and the information. By sound quality I mean the details of vocal and the sound of musical instrument, not the booming power. My car is a 97 model and I believe the stock amp is a Pioneer. Do you think the stock Pioneer amp will sound better than a Sony headunit's speaker output? Thanks again.

http://www.carstereo.com/help/ Paul, thanks again for your responses. I am looking for better sound quality. Since the wires of the stock amp have been cut by the previous owner, I am wondering if it is worth the effort in figuring out the wiring and re-connecting the stock amp for the rear door speakers. It somebody had experience with it and thinks the stock amp is of lower sound quality than the head unit output, then I will probably not spend the time in making the stock amp work again. However, if the opposite is true then I am willing to spend the time.

What type of improvement are you trying to get? More/deeper bass? Smoother bass? Louder, more pronounced mid-range? More intense treble or smoother highs? More punch? Kindey punch volume? What model/year Lexus do you have? My experience has been with the standard premium system from the factory is that the amp is under powered compared to a custom installation of a 20 year old but not bad for an old geezer like me. The weak link in the Lexus sound is the door speakers and the sub. I have a seperate sub in the trunk running of an Alpine amp. This gives me nice surrounding, smooth bass that fills out the bottom of any music. I am trading my 05 ES for a 2010 ES tommorow and will move the sub and amp to that car and am putting two new 6x9 coaxial speakers in the front doors. I feel the tweeters in the dash are quite good. Paul Hi Paul, thank you for your response. The reason I want to see if there will be improvement is that my stock am has been idle since I bought the Sony head unit and the Alpine F250 amp. Now the front door speakers and the sub are being powered by the Alpine F250 amp. The rear speakers are being powered by the Sony head unit direct. That is why I am thinking if powering the rear door speakers by the stock amp will be better than powering direct by the Sony head unit. I have already changed the door speakers to Polk Audio speakers.

Hi, I am using an Alpine F250 amp to power the front speakers and the sub-woofer. Rear speakers are powered by Sony head unit. I am thinking about using the stock OEM amp to power the rear speakers instead using of the head unit's output, but am not sure if there will be any improvement. Any comments? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I changed the fuse, but it did not fix the problem.

Very likely to be related to IACV. Cleaning likely to fix the problem.

All of a sudden the 12V power to cigarette lighter socket of my 97 ES300 was cut off when I was using an electric air pump which was taking power from the cigarette lighter socket. I thought it was caused by a blown fuse so I took out the 15A fuse labelled "cigar lighter" to inspect. It looked intact. I replaced it with a new one anyway, but still no power to cigarette lighter socket. I looked inside the socket to inspect the metal contacts, they looked fine. Any suggestions on where else to look at? Thanks in advance.

My car is having the whirling sound after a timing belt change. Can it be the timing belt not up to spec, or the tension of the pulleys or something like that being too high? If so, is the tension adjustable? Thanks

97 ES300 speaker grilles are not removal. You need to remove the door panel to reach the speakers.

I cleaned my IACV without removing it. Just sprayed lots of throttle body cleaner deep into the little cavity in front of the throttle plate until it overflew. Repeated this several times until the cleaner overflown looks rather clean. Hope that helps.

This is a common problem and can be fixed easily with no or little cost. The IACV is dirty and needs cleaning. The dirt blocks air intake during idling, causing the stall. IACV stands for Idle Air Control Valve. There is a cavity just in front of the throttle plate in the air intake path, which is the opening through which the IACV supplies air during idling. To clean the IACV, I sprayed lots of throttle body cleaner in the cavity until it overflew. The overflown liquid was dirty black. I repeated this process several times until the cleaner overflown becomes clear. You can search the forum for "IACV" for more information. Theare are lots of posts about the topic. Hope that helps.

Mike, there are lots of discussions on this topic in this forum. The fixes are various, some are as simple as lubricating the bump stop. You can find lots of posts if you do a search. My 97 ES300 did the same thing. I was able to fix it by spraying silicone lubricant from the top of the suspension mount. It has been 2 months and the noise has not come back. Please see my post below for your reference. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=35502

Thanks for the info.

No, and NO. You can't make it any cleaner than those 800F exhaust gasses do. Thanks for the info.

The connector might be that for the A/C compressor. Best if you could post a picture showing the location of the connector and the socket it is supposed to go into so that others can give you more specific advice.

Does the noise goes away when the A/C is off? If so, then it seems that A/C compressor is about to go. If the noise is there with the A/C off, then it might be the alternator or power steering pump.

I want to get an OBD-II cable to hook up to laptop via RS232 serial port. What specific things do I need to look at to ensure the cable will work for my 97 ES300? Thanks.

I have just cleand my MAF sensor and observed noticeable acceleration response after cleaning it. I have read many posts about O2 sensors and am thinking cleaning it as well. My question is: Can it be cleaned or needs cleaning at all? Thanks in advance.

Yes, it worked for me. It has been 2 years and idling has been perfect since. Good to hear that. Any performance change?

Glad that your problem is fixed. :)

I'm looking for improved sound clarity over the headunit. I'll be listening in the car with doors closed and loudness is not a priority. I'm planning to first add an amp and change the speakers later if necessary, or the other way around depending on whether the amp or the new speakers will improve the sound clarity better.

You're welcome. Please let us know if cleaning IACV fixes the problem.

Thanks Toys for the detailed explanation. The reason I'm considering Alphine is because I read many good review comments on the web about Alpine F450 and F250, they these models are readily available in my area. What amp would you suggest based on my case? Thanks

Ok I spayed some silicone lubricant to lube the alternator axle/bearing. Now the high pitch sound it hardly noticeable. However, there is still a lower pitch sound going on which also changes with engine revolution. Maybe the power steering pump is about to go?