amf1932

The above quoted post is your best alternative since there will need to be extensive rewiring, plus a new harness and other parts that has to be ordered from Lexus parts...expensive. Save yourself the aggrevation and expense by trying to do this modification and buy a portable GPS, as said above.

2000 Posts on this thread. Yay!!!

Beef Roast :) Roast Beef

Einstein

Jason- I think that the bulb you're looking for is considered a specialized part and the best place to buy one is from a Lexus dealer. :)

Read this> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air-fuel_ratio Than you can change it to suit your hairbrained ideas like you did before. :)

You're a real wise guy! :chairshot:

Maybe I misunderstood this statement, "Timing is not longer used to adjust for fuel octane, not unless you have a carburator." This statement was dead wrong. If you said that the ECU controls both timing and fuel/air ratio to compensate for variations in octane...then I could understand that. You're the one that was told by a Porsche tech that ignition timing was not involved with making these adjustments by the ECU. I guess you were misinformed.:whistles: Timing adjustment was NEVER a satisfactory method of preventing engine knock/ping due to low grade fuel or the driver "lugging" the engine down beneath the power band for some reason. But with a carburated vehicle the more satisfactory solution was/is simply not available. Nowadays with such powerful ECUs, highly sensitive (non-resonant type)knock/ping sensors it simply makes a lot more sense, and provides a much larger adjustment range, to change the injector timing period to adjust the mixture ratio and thereby more easily avoid knocking/pinging. No, I was NOT misinformed, I have a full and complete set of Lexus shop/repair manuals for the 1990 LS, 1992 LS, 2000 GS300 & RX300, 2001 RX300, and the 2003 Toyota Prius, along with a set for almost every other vehicle (mostly Fords), airplane, tractor I have ever owned, own. The Lexus/Toyota diagnostic sections never bring up the issue of ignition timing in relation to the use of "improper" fuel grades. As a matter of fact when I bought my very first Lexus I had been unaware of the Premium Fuel ONLY requirement but I was subsequently assured that I could use regular fuel for the entire life of the LS and the only problem would be degradation of HP/Torque. Think about it in a little "more" depth. The reason you get knock/ping with a "too" low octane in a carburated engine is because the compression ratio along with the octane/mixture is either approaching the point of dieseling or due to the engine output torque requirement being lower than needed (lugging) to do the "work". In the latter case the explosive, EXPLODED, flame front is moving faster then the piston will/can move downward and so you get knock/ping (rattle??) And what can you do with timing to overcome dieseling in either case, advance? !Removed!? NOT...!!! In the olden days enrich the mixture by changing the carburator jetting...... Nowadays...... Oh, in them olden days the only real reason, cause, for adjusting the timing, fixed or dynamically, using mechanical or ECU techniques, was to get to, keep right on the "cusp" of dieseling/detonation/preignition without actually reaching it, I.E, get the MOST performance from the engine given the fuel grade its jetted for. And yes, there was sometimes an exception, pre-ignition due to engine over-heating, superheated carbon particles and the like remaining, lodging, within the combustion chamber. And while the timing could be retarded to alleviate some of the adverse effects from this and thereby lower (maybe) the explosive "rate", knock/ping from this source could not be in any way overcome via timing adjustment. All I can say to you is read this>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_Contro...Ignition_Timing

Do you realize how many times the word "Cold Beer" has been used in this thread?? Lot's!! How about becoming more original since this thread is becoming very repetitious! :chairshot:

Maybe I misunderstood this statement, "Timing is not longer used to adjust for fuel octane, not unless you have a carburator." This statement was dead wrong. If you said that the ECU controls both timing and fuel/air ratio to compensate for variations in octane...then I could understand that. You're the one that was told by a Porsche tech that ignition timing was not involved with making these adjustments by the ECU. I guess you were misinformed. :whistles:

Your car is probably one of the last 2001 LS models manufactured for that model year. Checking with Edmunds.com, with your equipment and mileage, and assuming that your car is in outstanding condition, you got a very fair price. The price they quote is normally over $27K.

Wrong information!!! More advanced ECUs found on most modern cars also control the ignition timing, Variable Valve Timing (VVT), the level of boost maintained by the turbocharger (in turbocharged cars), and control other peripherals. Your statement beginning: "More advaned ECUs found..." is perfectly correct, but the way it was explained to me by the Porsche tech when I picked up my 2001 Porsche at the factory is that the adjustment to prevent pinging/knocking "under power, load" with lower grade fuels is done via controlling the mixture ratio. I was surprised when I was told that in my travels throughout europe all I had to worry about was to not fuel with leaded. Well, we're discussing Lexus ECU technology, NOT Porsche, so in effect, am I right to conclude that the information that you posted was wrong?

I don't know whether that trick works with the ML system, because when you have the CD playing the cassette controls are disengaged.

Wrong information!!! More advanced ECUs found on most modern cars also control the ignition timing, Variable Valve Timing (VVT), the level of boost maintained by the turbocharger (in turbocharged cars), and control other peripherals.

Yes, it is definitely an oversight on both the ML and the standard CD players. It's still the same on the '07 ES's.

OK.....If Chrysler doesn't survive, then give me back my Oldsmobile.

The Chrysler Brand will continue.....guaranteed!

I always had the feeling that this partnership wouldn't last. :whistles:

The only way I can answer this is to tell you that my daughter, who lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and drives an '04 RX330 also switched from 91 octane to 87 octane, and found NO difference in performance or mpg either. I might add that these tests were done at sea level, in mostly non-mountainous areas, with 1 to 4 passengers in the car, so the various load conditions in normal driving shouldn't be a problem.

There will probably be a slight difference in HP......but I sure as hell don't notice a performance difference. It'll still accelerate from 0-60 in less then 6.5 seconds! When I bought my ES350 over a year ago I ran 91 or 93 octane gas for about ½ a year. I than decided to try 87 octane fuel and have been using it ever since. The car runs very happily with this lower grade, but I might add, if the performance suffered I would once again go back to the higher octane. There was NO difference in the mpg. The main difference is whenever I fill up, my wallet is fatter. :)

Steve was driving down the road when he saw a pig. Surprised at his find he coaxed it into his car and decided to take it to the nearest police station to ask what he should do next. The officer at the front desk thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t you take it to the zoo?” Steve took his advice and left. A week later the same officer was patrolling the streets when he saw Steve & the pig driving down the road in his ES300, both dressed in summer attire. The officer stopped Steve and asked, “I thought I told you to take the pig to the zoo?” Steve replied, “I did. And we had so much fun that today we’re going to the beach!”

Was that guy driving on MD-189 N or I-270 LOCAL N? :) LOL

I don't have any problems that some people are experiencing. :)

I don't have any rattles or squeaks.

The only people that have the information you're looking for are only the higher up's in the Lexus Corporation. Most probably though, the '08 ES350 will be released to the general public sometime in September '07.