omee

UPDATE: Just went for a short drive, the lights ARE sweeping now, they go down first, then come up. After couple of seconds the auto level light comes on. Sorry for the confusion

OK so let me explain in DETAIL what happened: First, when I got the car, the headlights were aimed at the ground. They were barely covering 10 feet infront of the car. They used to sweep fine. On startup first go up then come back down. So I adjusted both the headlights by turning ONE of the bolts (in the manual it says to adjust 2). I couldnt find the 2nd bolt (you have to insert the screw driver sideways) . I aimed the lights a bit lower just to get a feel of the level. Everything was fine until now. The lights sweeped up and then down. No auto level light. After 2 days or so of adjusting the lights, the auto level light came on (while I was driving in the day time i.e lights were off). This is what used to happen up until yesterday: The lights would sweep ONLY up and stay there, and then after a couple of seconds the auto level light would come on. The position of the lights is a bit higher than what I adjusted them before. I think this should be the standard postion since it is not too high and not too low. Once this is all fixed I would want to adjust the lights to this level. SINCE YESTERDAY: On startup, no sweep. The lights just turn on. They are at the same higher level like mentioned above. auto level light turns on after a couple of seconds. I hope this helps If you want/need more clarification, please dont hesitate to ask. Omee

Good call, The lights have stopped sweeping on startup now, so I guess I will have to re adjust them and see what happens

Thanks for the quick reply gb, I remember seeing some rust underneath the car. I will take a close look at the rear passenger side. I am just concerned as to why did it happen after I adjusted my lights and not before....or was it just coincidence?

Hey guys I just bought a 02 Es 300 with roughly 100K km (60K mi) on it. It has factory HID lights. When I got the car the lights were aimed at the ground. It was covering about 5-10 feet in front of me. A day or so after I adjusted the headlights the auto level light came on. The motors are working fine. The lights swivel up and stay there, then the auto level light comes on. (before the lights used to swivel first up AND down) Can it be that I just adjusted one screw instead of both for this light to come on? (I couldn’t find the other screw) I cant scan it using my OBD 2 scanner. Any help on how to go about fixing it would be appreciated. Omee

I had the same 2 lights on, It turned out to be the after cat o2 sensor. From what I gather, the computer turns off trac control when the check engine light comes on. might be something else, better pull the codes to be sure -Omar

It has approx 156,000 miles on it...so I consider that high mileage...a few rust spots here and there....but overall in pretty nice shape considering its age...how much do you think it should be worth? I went to another shop as well to ask them about the valve cover gaskets, they also said that you have to remove the intake manifold...i guess it is to make their job easier and make more money in the process...since im not in a hurry to get them fixed..(i know they are leaking)...some lucas stop leak should do the trick...I doubt im going to have them replaced.....so no need to get the intake gaskets. Now I have to find a shop that will flush the P/S fluid for a reasonable price.... tc

Hey LL He quoted me around $ 2500 CDN for replacing both valve covers, P/S pump, rack , labour and tax....the car is worth about $3500 so i dont see the point in spending that much on it anyways...apparently only the gaskets for the intake manifold are $200 !!...labour was alot since he has to remove the intake manifold to get access to the other valve cover....the price for the P/S pump and rack is for refurbished ones.... To put in a stop leak additive I would have to remove some of the P/S fluid from the reservoir ....Ive got this car almost a year and ive never had to top it off...so i doubt its such a big leak...however i myself saw the leaks in the rack...and they are in the rubberised area and might need attention pretty soon considering i drive about 100-150 km everyday.... But after all this i still dont understand how is the air going in all of a sudden...these leaks were there when i got the car.... this has something to do with the rain/water....regardless i will try to take some fluid out and put in a stop leak.. I dont see the point of bleeding the system which has leaks in it...i think i will have it bled once the leaks finish or stablise after i put in the stop leak... thanks for ure help! Ill keep you posted if there is any difference after adding the stop leak

hey guys sorry for the late update... so after the mechanic lifted the car up and inspected the area (after cleaning it thoroughly 2 days before)...he found the P/S pump to be leaking...the rack has a minor leak on both sides...and the culprit according to him is the valve cover leaking oil from the top and falling on the P/S pump....so he gave me a quote to change the valve covers (half the price of the car)...then took me aside and politely told me to sell the car while i still can LOL so verdict is in...there can be an issue with any of the 2 major components....he still cant figure out why the steering is fine now....and what made it go hard....I dont want to spend basically 2/3rd the price of the car to fix such a minor issue.... I really hoped this would be a simple fix LL: No the car dosent overheat at all...however I do notice the RPMs go up when the car is coasting in neutral and i turn the steering.

Exactly same situation with me...altough the whole thing was covered in P/S fluid...never had to top up the resorvior

Hey guys Sorry i dont have a fix for u ppl...yet...Took it the shop today...jacked it up...removed the FR Wheel....removed inner liner to expose the pump.....and saw that the whole thing including the pump is covered in P/S fluid....so instead of fixing the washer/seal he suggested that he clean the area thorughly and have me drive it around and bring it in tommorow to see exactly where it is leaking from...according to him it could also be leaking from a seal in the pump itself (but it wouldnt explain why the P/S fluid is covering the pipes ABOVE it)....so he cleaned it and thats about it....on my way home from work it was raining cats and dogs....and it is forecast to rain tommorow as well....so lets see how that factors in steering feel is still the same....it becomes hard intermittently but the majority of the time its normal...ive noticed that it becomes better after the car has been standing for a while...i think it gets a chance for the air/moisture trapped inside to escape... will update u guys on what happens tommorow! tc Omee

Hey LL Sorry for the late reply First off thanks for your response...I found out the hard way that there is no place to lube in a steering rack..LOL...well over the weekend the problem got progressively worse (steering got harder)...The car sat for all of mon. today morning I started up the car and the steering was 80% normal...compared to 10% the day before....and after driving for a couple of min it became 90% normal.... Still i took it to the shop..they lifted it up and found a leak in upper pipe connected to the P/S pump...I forgot if it was the return or sending pipe..but it has a washer/seal ...80% chance that the washer/seal is leaking... Since this is really close to the passenger side wheel, the guy reckons that a little bit of moisture got in while driving thru a puddle and contaminated the system.....so tommorow he will replace the washer/seal and flush the fluid and see if it improves.... He inspected the ball joints, rack, P/S pump and belt and determined that it is fine...so gonna take the car tommorow to him Will keep you updated on what happens fyi..you were right about the rack being expensive to replace!...he said changing the rack is atleast 8-9 hrs in labour !!!

Hello I have a 1997 ES 300 with roughly 250,000 km (156,000 mi) on it. Two days ago the steering of started becoming stiff intermittently....for example while turning, it would turn halfway without effort and then become stiff for the remainder of the return....it would sort of get stuck in place and effort would be require to move it back to center....this was more prominent when the car was cold....this started happening right after there was heavy rainfall (5 days straight) during which I drove thru big puddles..... So i assume that it has something to do with constantly being wet for 4-5 days.....the power steering has a very minor leak (couple of drops a week...never had to top up the reservoir) From what I have researched i think the power steering pump is fine since the steering is not hard all the time....i read somewhere that you can lubricate the u joint....i called a mechanic and he said that there is no place to be lubricated in a rack and pinion system...leaving me no where. So from what I gather any of the following things can be an issue as well: Rack and Pinion Ball joints Strut bearings U joint ...right? i would appreciate any help to solve this issue Thanks in advance

1) You can find remotes on Ebay too. The car is programmed to accept the remote. The remote only sends a signal and is never programmed. This means that on cars like yours and mine, multiple cars can be unlocked with the same remote. The programming instructions are on this forum. Do a search, and if you search my username they will come up somewhere. 2) The Nakamichi system wouldn't be able to control your cd changer. Do you have a changer in the glove box? We have the Pioneer system and I've always been happy with it. The subwoofer makes a big difference. Otherwise you should be able to install the Nackamichi system and hook it up to your speakers. The connectors may be different though. This may have been covered elsewhere on the forum, so I suggest another search. 3) Converting from the fruity metric units, you're getting 19 mpg, which is a little low. We typically get 25 mpg, which is around 9.5 l/100km. 4) We'd have to know more about the specific conditions. Under light conditions below freeway speeds, what you describe seems typical. Thanks alot for your help. I still have a couple of questions to clarify: 1)hmmm, so that means that any ES can be opened by any ES remote? Correct me if im wrong 2)Yes I do have a CD changer. Does that mean that I have a pioneer system. I do like the sound system. I just miss not using the CD changer. 3)I do tend to drive over the speed limit but I doubt that it should have such a big impact. I just poured fuel injector cleaner. hope to clean out the gunk and improve gas mileage. I guess points 3 and 4 from my previous post are inter-related. What I meant in my previous post is that in any gear, the RPM is around 2000. On gentle accel, 1st gear changes at 2300 RPM, 2nd gear at 2000 RPM, 3rd at 1900 RPM and so on. At around 70 MPH the RPM is 2300. Which I think is fine. Mind you that the accel is really slow. I was thinking that cleaning the throttle body might help. Also I will look into the downshift cable. Maybe its stretched over the passage of time. Thanks again for all ure help Cheers!

Hello guys, This is my first lexus. Just baught it a week ago. Hoping if you can help me with some of the questions that I have. It is a 97 Es 300 with about 230,000 km (143,000 mi) canadian spec. It runs and drives perfectly until now (touch wood) Here Goes: 1)The previous owner lost the keyless remote.I asked the dealer and he quoted me upwards of $300. I looked online and found used ones for around $70. Im wondering if I can program these used remotes to unlock/lock my car? Are the remotes that they are selling erased or something? 2)I want to figure out which audio system I have. The previous owner took out the OEM head unit and put in a Sony Xplod.I dont like it. It says 'lexus premium sound system'. I looked under the sub on the rear deck, It says pioneer? so im assuming I have a pioneer system not a nakamichi one? Can I install a nakamichi head unit if I have a pioneer system? 3)Im averaging about 12 L/ 100 km. with mixed highway and city driving and with the A/C on. That is a bit on the higher side considering my Nissan Murano with its 3.5L V6 gets about 10 L/100 km. What kind of gas mileage do you guys get 4)I feel that the gear ratios are a bit high. Engine RPM is almost always around 2000 RPM regardless of speed. Is this normal? Thanks in advance. looking forward to your replies and I apologise if I asked any 'dumb' questions. Never baught such a high mileage vehicle before. Cheers