Eric Cheung

My car doesn't have cruise control, does that mean this wire does not serve any function in my car?

The throttle wire is attached to a small black flywheel, which when the accelerator is stepped on it rotates due to the pull from the throttle wire. As this flywheel rotates, it pulls another, thinner, wire below it. This wire seems to go into the transmission. I notice this wire is kind of slack. Do I need to tighten it? What is this wire for? Thanks in advance. A picture showing the wire and the throttle wire is attached.

I was able to locate the PCV valve at the rear valve cover, took it out, cleaned it and put it back. I am thinking of doing the same for the PCV valve at the front valve cover, but could not find a similar parts at the front valve cover. Is there a PCV valve at the front valve cover? Thanks in advance.

Here's your PCV: My 2 cents... ** Cheap aftermarket PCV valves are a waste of time and money - they leak and are generally pieces of plastic crap, in my experience. Use a Toyota one, the difference in quality is worth the extra $$$. ** ALWAYS replace the rubber grommet and the rubber hose when you replace the PCV. They will both get hard and will leak over time if you leave them. The grommet can be a PITA to get out. Don't try to "save" it - just get a new one when you buy your OEM Toyota PCV. I just cut through one side of my old grommet, grab it with some pointy-nose vice grips, and rip it out of there. A bit of oil on the new one, pop it right in. ** It's amazing what a cheap and easy to change piece like this PCV (+ hose and grommet) can make to the operation of your engine. Well worth the minimal effort!! tck... Holy old thread batman! I agree with all the above statements, excpet that a PCV valve is a PCV valve. as long as its metal, it will last. Excellent! I have read many posts with text description but still was not able to locate the PCV value. With these pictures now I know how the PCV valve looks like and where it is. Great pictures!

Did you changed the rear gasket yourself? Was it a lot of work in doing that?

As far as I understand, bump stops are not strut plates (strut mounts?). You might want to download the factory service manual which shows a picture of almost everything of the car from the link in the text below that I copied from another post: Program Name: 1997 Lexus ES 300 FSMs File Link: http://www.turbotoyota.com/FSMs/1997%20Lex...20300%20FSM.zip Category: FSM's Description: 1997 Lexus ES 300 FSMs Author's Name: LEXUS Author's Email: Lexus@isreally.cool Filesize: 40,315,130 Version: 1.0

I called the mechanic to ask him to change the water pump as well. He told me the water pump was not in perfect condition after he inspected it after removing the timing belt. Yes, it must be changed. Thank you all again for the good advice.

My 97 ES300 had similar problem. I was able to remove the noise by simply spraying silicone lubricant. Please see the link of my fix below for your reference. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=35502

Thank you all for your good advice. I'll change the water pump as well then. :)

I am having the timing belt of my 97 ES300 with 110,000km changed as per manufacturer's recommendation of changing timing belt at 100,000km. My question is whether I should change the water pump as well while changing the time belt? Typically when will the water pump fail under normal use? I was told that the labor involved in changing the water pump is comparable to that of changing the timing belt as many things need to be removed in order to change the water pump. I am thinking whether I should change the water pump as well as a preventive measure, or leave it to save the money. Thanks in advance.

Gary, I read your post before I came to the conclusion that the strut mount/bump stop need to be lubed. I searched the forum to find related posts and to find similarities between my problem and the problems of others and their solutions, including yours. Without these posts I would never have tried to lube the strut mount/bump stop.

I got the silicone lubricant from a local hardware store. It should be a common lubricant, I guess.

I thought about spraying white lithium lubricant, but was not sure whether its thickening after spraying will block lubricant from flowing down the strut mount and/or bump stop. So I tried the silicone spray first. If the noise comes back soon, I think I'll try the white lithium lubricant.

My 97 ES300 had the famous fornt end rattling noise problem. The noise was very obvious when going over bumps or uneven roads when the car was cold. The noise was less obvious when the car warmed up. I read many posts in LOC and concluded the culprit of my car's problem to be the strut mount and/or bump stop. I fixed the problem last night and want to share my fix here. I was able to fix it the simple way - by spraying silicone lubricant spray from inside the hood. Now the noise is gone. Here are the steps: 1. Jack up the car until the left front tire is off ground 2. Remove the left shock absober cap from inside the hood by removing the 3 nuts (if the suspension is the non-adjustable type it may not have this cap and this step probably can be skipped. My car is with adjustable suspension and has this cap) 3. With the top of the strut mount now exposed, spay silicone lubricant inside the strut mount along the edge from the hole at the top of the strut mount. That is, spay around the boundary between the inside wall of the strut mount and the round-shaped rubber piece at the centre of the strut mount. Spray slowly and give time for the liquid lubricant to flow down the strut mount. Repeat the spay many times. I did it about 10 times for each strut. 4. Lower the car and repeat the process for the right side. Problem fixed. Noise completely gone. Very happy Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for the reply and the information. I have learnt more.

I have always thought the cylinder of the shock absorber (strut?) is filled with oil, until I read the FSM service manual which says it is filled with gas. If this is the case, why do people say the suspension leak oil? Thanks in advance.

My 97 ES300 is also with adjustable suspension. I was told that the regular suspension will fit. I think there is no need to disable the adjustable suspension, the adjustability will just cease to function if the new regular suspension does not support the function. For your information and reference, there is such a thing as the "Power Cushion Buffer" to remedy an old suspension. I installed it in the rear suspension spring of my 97 ES300 and the rear of the car rises by 3cm or so. Also, the rattling sound afrter driving through speed bumps are now gone. I'm thinking of installing for the front suspension as well. If you want to install it, please do your own research on the subject to see if it is justifiable for the money. See the link below for the picture of a Power Cushion Buffer. http://ttc0999.en.ecplaza.net/product.asp Hope that helps.

I have done searches but did not find the information. I'm looking for the diamter and spiral spacing of the font and rear suspension coils of 97 ES300. Does anyone know the figures? Thanks in advance.

Oh really? I didn't know that. I thought the front and rear outputs were the same. No wonder the rear speakers seem to sound more bass even without the external crossovers. Thanks for that. I have finished putting in the passive crossovers: - a 4.5k Hz 2nd order high pass for the tweets (by-passed the original built-in 2.2uF cap of the tweets which act as the 1st order high pass crossover) - a 800Hz-4.5k band pass for the front speakers - a 800Hz low pass for the rear speakers - a 250Hz low pass for the sub I'm not sure if this is a good arrangement. But now it does sound with better clarity.

Thanks for the note. My car did not come with the stock amp when I bought it. The speakers are powered by a Sony head unit without external amp. That is why I want to put in crossovers to separete the frequencies for the tweet, front and rear speakers to improve the sound clarity.

Thanks for the confirmation. I am thinking of putting in crossovers for the front and rear speakers.

I read from the FAQ that front speakers are 5.5 inches and rear speakers are 6x9. Are the front and rear speakers fuctionally the same or different? I would have thought that the front speakers are more specialised for human voice and the rear speakers are more specialised for bass due to the bigger size of the rear speakers. Are I correct in thinking this way?

I am wondering whether the front and rear speakers are the same or different. Are the rear speakers designed to produce more bass than the front speakers? Thanks in advance

Thanks very much for the information. I notice there is still some vocal voice from the tweeters. Would an external crossover improve the clarity of the sound coming out from the tweeters? Is it worth putting in an external crossover? Thanks again.

I cannot find the connection wires for the tweeters. Do the tweeters share the same wires of the front speakers. If so, are there built-in crossovers for the tweeters and the front speakers? Thanks in advance.