lexis lexus

Kevin, Firstly, I can't quite understand how you concluded oil is coming from the head gasket. The exhaust manifold attaches to the head above the gasket line, and so oil leaking there would not likely end up on the manifold. The valve cover gasket seems more likely. Maybe a pix of the oil leakage would help clear this up. Having just been in, out and back in again on my '94 1mzfe, I can comment on your questions: - Do you think changing to a high mileage non-synth oil and putting in an additive would help/cure the probem without a tear down? ----I believe synth is a bit thinner, especially when hot, more likely to leak through opportunities to do so, plus "dino" oil tends to get thicker during the 3k to 4k miles it runs before you change it. Not sure about the additives, but might help as a low cost attempt to fix your leak. -Can you access the head bolts without actually removing the cams and the gears from the top of the heads? --- No. -if so, do you thing re-torquing the bolts might help? --- might, but after you've gone to all the trouble, (10.5hrs labor according to the book) why not replace the gaskets, etc. -if I tackle the gasket replacement process would you do both heads? --- Interesting question. Half the labor in a head gasket replacement job is due to having to take off the intake side (air intake, throttle body, plenum, intake manifold, water inlet) and of the remaining 50%, I'd say the rear head removal is twice as labor intensive as the front, given it's positioning and difficulties w/ exhaust manifold. It would save you some time and hassle to just do the front head gasket, but again, after going that far in.... If you decided to do just the front head gasket, you should think about replacing spark plugs on both sides, and might also want to replace the timing belt, as you'll have to take it off of the front cam pulley at a minimum. Btw, I bought a full head gasket set from Erista (ebay), for $55, you prolly can't get even one head gasket for that price from lexus/toyota or autoparts stores, and quality seems pretty good. The kit comes w/ all the gaskets you need for the intake side, as well as valve cover and spark plug hole gaskets. -would you pull the whole engine and replace rear seal along with gaining good access to rear head. ---You don't need to pull the engine to get to the rear head, althou if you had the time, extra money and equipment to do so, the head removal part would be easier. In place though, rear (left) head removal is just more difficult than the front. I unbolted the distal end of the the rear exhaust manifold from the exhaust pipe, underneath, and then removed the head and exhaust manifold together. I think it might be possible to unbolt the exh manifold from the rear head before removal, but you'd either need some fancy wrenches to get up and under, or have to take a lot of stuff off from underneath (frame member?, rack and pinion?) as well as have the car fairly high up in order to do so. Rear head removal is also made tricky as some models have an egr pipe coming off of the exh manifold and attaching to a cooling plate on the block below the head (removal by brail method..) I hope this helps. LL

I'm more familiar with the 1994-07 es 300's, but believe the "bank 1" location is buried on the back side of the engine, on the exhaust manifold. Replacements sensors are typically expensive at Lexus/Toyota dealerships (> $100), less so at auto parts stores (<$100) like advance or autozone. If you're handy with a soldering gun, you can by a universal type and splice on the connector from the old one; this might only cost about $35-50, easy to find on ebay. On the older es 300's, getting to it is tricky, requiring taking off a good bit of the intake. Not sure what labor charges are but I bet at least 2 hrs, unless accessability was greatly improved in the 2000's. LL

Ok, I finally got an answer from a mechanic I hired to help straghten out my situation. So the answer to my question about setting the cams is: there are two very small dots on one of the cam gears (not the same as pulley) and one dot on the other, and you have to match them up. That's it. Why isn't this in the manuals (not in FSM, not in haynes)? (Ranting). Once the cams are set and as Lexlogic correctly indicated -- then it's jut a matter of lining up the marks on the cam PULLEYS w/ the marks on the rear timing cover, setting the crank for tdc and then slap on the timing belt. Turns out both of my heads are warped so they're off to the machine shop. LL

Lexlogic, Thanks for the pix. I got all of that I think (recall seeing your prior posts). My prob is that when I took the cams out, the crank wasn't set in tdc, and althou I marked the cam shaft gears, pulleys, etc pretty well, when I put it back together, something wasn't right and after running for a minute roughly, the timing belt walked and shredded and it stopped, never to start again. So my problem now is that I'm not sure the intake and exh cams were matched up correctly, not having the tdc position to use as a starting point. I'm taking them off again, will put the crank in tdc and try to match them up, I guess by having the cams over cyl 1 fully disengaged and symmetrical, but this won't help me on the front (right) bank. I'm hoping someone will tell me about a way to match/set/mesh the cam gears that's simple and relatively fool proof. I've read something about lining dots up on the crank gears, but only on line, w/ some debate, and not in manuals. Thanks LL

That's a good start. At least for the 90-00 models. I have a 94 es300 and got a used haynes camry manual off amazon for about 10 bucks. They're closer to 20 new. Pretty good for a non factory manual. Not sure about the later years. Go to Autozone and get them to read the check eng light. That'll point you in the right direction. LL

I think my cams weren't put back in right (don't ask me...) and engine not at tdc now. Anybody know how to put the cams back on correctly, and then spin them to the right position once the crank is at tdc? LL

Hi, I know your pain. Not a lot of action at times here. I had some confusion about the obdII plug, but it might be located behind the fuse panel just above your left knee. I also have that half moon plug hanging down below the steering column but never use it. Strange problem, not occuring at night. Red herring? p1300 is an igniter circuit problem, and I suspect that's where your trouble is. I've a 94 and there's an igniter on each plug, w/ flimsy wiring coming off of each feeding into the wiring harness and eventually leading to the computer. It's the computer that sends impulses to each igniter. Problem could be anywhere from computer to igniter and will require some electrical diagnosis. As the car runs, wires heat up and marginal competency becomes major. The rear igniters are next to impossible to get to without removing the intake which takes a few hours minimum if you like to wrench. This is a link to a description of the igniter circuit malfunction (p1300) description: http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/rogersb/DTCP1300-1.jpg And this is a link to a diagnostic flow chart: http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/rogersb/DTCP1300-2.jpg These aren't mine, got them from another string on automotive forums for a camry. Hope they work. LL

Hi all, Well I've been working slowly on my '94 es 300 112k which was giving me knock sensor codes, and was overheating every 400 miles. I took off the top, replaced the head gaskets, knock sensors, plugs, fuel injector o rings, intake and plenum gaskets and put it back together (took about 6 weeks to do this due to work, weather, travel, and broken bolts). Tried to start it up today, ran poorly for about a minute then died. No codes showing now. I'm thinking the timing belt is off. I goofed initially and never put it in top dead center position before disconnecting things, and so when I got to taking the timing belt and cam shafts off, I found I couldn't put it in neutral as re connecting the battery did nothing. So I just painted lines all over the place, on the cam shafts, timing belt, cam gears. When I put it back together, I made sure everything lined up just so, but.... Other theories I have include some problem in the fuel lines. I also had problems reconnecting the egr pipe from the exhaust to egr cooling plate, and ended up sealing it with jb weld (there is no f-ing way to get to that w/out pulling the block!x#%) but I doubt even some leakage there would cause it to run so roughly and then die. I walked away disgusted, decided to think about it and send this in for any thoughts or feed back. All help welcome. LL

Hi, I'm working on the 1mz-fe of my '94 es300 w/ 112k, trying to fix the knock sensor codes and intermittant overheating. When I last posted I'd decided to lift the heads and replace the gaskets while I was down there. Front (right) head was first and was not a problem, just step by step. Rear (left) is posing a problem. I can't seem to find a way to get the ex manifold off. The ex man to head bolts seem inaccessable, and altho the exh manifold to downpipe nuts are accessable, I can't seem to budge them at all (multiple drenching w/ l wrench, and one application of heat). These nuts don't appear to be welded to the flange but do look sort of strange (for nuts). Has anyone had success removing the left head? If so, how did you get the ex man off. LL

Manny, What a micky-ficky code, covering all those things! Is the car not doing well? Does it miss? Is mpg going down? When were the plugs changed? (major job, requires pulling off the intake) Could get a maf on ebay or a u pull it used, fairly cheap. (not too difficult to swap) Can get new aftermarket o2 sensors cheap ($25-50) on ebay, as long as your good with a soldering iron. (bank 1 will require getting under the car, but the front is easy. I suspect you'd be getting 02 sensor codes (131?) if they were bad though. Might want to put a meter on the o2 sensors to see how they function, I believe they should bounce from 0.1 to 0.8 volts. Might also want to measure volts on the maf, althou I don't know what that should read. FWIW, my bet is you need new plugs and got a misfire. Miss can be caused by bad plug or bad injector. Clear the code and see if it comes back. I'd use techron, not the cheap stuff, if you're trying to clean the injectors. LL

Grazie, Welcome. I agree w/ Paul, that answers are variable and based on your level of skill and/or willingness to get involved with your vehicle. Firstly, milage would be helpful, as a low milage lex will require less than a high one. Whether you're like me and enjoy wrenching, or not, it's useful to know as much about maintaining your car, the better to help you avoid being victimized by expensive repair shops. I suspect they see a lexus and think it's gonna be worth more to fix than a camry, and that you being a lexus owner will be expecting and willing to spend more.... The oil change thing is generally a total rip off at the dealer, costing 2-4x's as much as jiffy, etc, but you have to be careful about the oil swap shops as Paul is right, they can really screw up. BEst bet is to do it yourself, or find a local mechanic whom you either trust, or can obtain a reference. Another option is to assume the Walmart kid is ignorant, and watch what he does, and then check engine oil regularly and check for leaks that night by putting cardboard under the car for the next few days. Lexus parts tend to be pricey, and are rarely different than less expensive but identical parts branded as Toyota. Seeing as the es series is very similar to a camry, there are tons of aftermarket parts available and are a good value. For instance, spark plugs at the dealer are usually well over $10 a piece, but I just bought comparable NGK iridium plugs for $7. Other things to be checked: brakes (can usually get a free brake check at sears, precision tune, etc, althou if told you need them, have the mech show you why, just don't take his word for it, remember, its a Lexus....), belts (can be visually inspected for wear), tires (visual..), suspension and steering linkages (can be checked on a lift for wear in ball joints/tierod ends/axel joints), exhaust (on a lift, visual). If all that checks out, you should be good to go. At 100K you should get a transmission oil change, and probably ought to get a timing belt as well. A good $10 investment on Amazon is a Haynes manual (not sure if it's for an es300 or a camry in '03), which has a chapter on routine maintainence. Again, the more you know, the less you're gonna get ripped off. LL

Lex, A little more info would be useful. How soon before fixing the hydralic line/cooling fan, did the overheating begin? Did it ever boil over? Have you verified that the fan is working now? Have you ck'd for loss of coolant? Have you replaced the rad cap (<$10). Have you replaced the radiator? (not sure if rodding the rad is an option....). Does it always overheat or just episodically? Overheating in city/traffic, implies not enough cooling via the fan/radiator system. Less likely to be a tstat,which might be episodic, or if totally closed would happen every time the car warmed up. Usually when a tstat goes bad it remains open, and would lead to problems getting it hot in the winter. If the problem was a head gasket or cracked head or block, overheating would tend to occur when engine is under load such as high speed/hwy driving w/ rpms above 3500. I can tell you, getting the tstat out of that engine is a major job, as it is buried almost beneath the intake manifold right next to cyl 6. Even after taking off the top (8 hrs minimum total, off and on), it was still difficult getting to the bottom of the tstat housing. I've never replaced the rad, but suspect it's not that difficult. Hope this helps. LL

pw, I feel for you. I've got similar probs on my '94. Overheats every 400-500 miles. When I drove it home the day I bought it in July, the seller had the dash lights turned off and I didn't realize it was burning up till I saw steam coming from the overflow. Filled it up w/ antifreeze, replaced the rad cap. Ran fine for the next few weeks, but then overheated again. I started carrying a jug of water around and watching carefully. The inside of the oil cap looked a bit milky, so I threw in a can of copper based stop leak. The oil cleared up. But overheated once again several weeks later. My radiator looked fairly new, so decided to replace the tstat while I was replacing the knock sensors. Then said, sh**, since I've already taken off the top of the engine, I'll just do the head gaskets. I just got through with the front bank, moving onto the rear. You hit many of the likely suspects -- radiator, water pump, thermostat. Try a new rad cap, cheap and easy. If that doesn't work, may need to go for the head gaskets, especially w/ wisps of white smoke which might suggest water in the oil (look for milky oil residue inside the oil cap). Good luck and keep us posted. LL

sp, Welcome. Year would help. The 3mz and 1mz v6's were non interference engines and this meant that a broken timing belt wouldn't do any damage, but the car would definitely stop running. Most of what I've heard, 100 k is the time to change the belt. OTOH, having this done is at least $500 and closer to $1000, so.... Reference to a screen on your radio suggests late model vrs the early/mid '90s. Not sure how to help you there. FSMs tend to be pricey, retail. On ebay you can get 'em for less, but frinstance, I've not found a '94 (my year) for less than $130. Can get fsm on cd, or better yet pdf download -- both via ebay -- the good news is they are cheap, the bad news is that they often have no table of contents or index. The one I got was for 92-96, but failed to demonstrate any change in engines (from 93-94). Good luck! LL

Lexlogic, I read your "reply" on previous post yesterday or the day before. No need to repeat yourself. But do let me know if you have any thoughts about the questions related to taking the heads off. LL

I finally began surgery on my 94 es300 110k, to get to the knock sensors. Like recent poster, took me 4.5 hrs to get down to them. I found it was easier to remove the egr pipe from the rear of the egr assembly, rather than going under to disconnect it from the manifold. Both knock sensors were bad! The plastic stalk of the rear one broke as I carefully plied off the connector. The front one looked bad too, w/ the plastic base of the stalk looking deformed (from heat?) and pressed into the metal base. The wiring harness came off intact and continuity was good on both lines. I still plan to replace the harness as I'd already bought one. Unfortunately the intake bolt nearest to the rear above cyl 5 broke off. This was the only fastener that did break, and I was so happy that none of the plastic connectors were broken in disassembling the intake array! I've been working on that bolt, and finally f-d it up by breaking off an extractor in the hole I drilled (I'm gonna try to return the extractor kit to Harbor Freight, wish me luck...) This helped me decide about replacing the head gaskets. I'd had 3 overheating episodes since I bought this car in July, and suspected a head gasket breach. Had some milky looking oil on the oil cap which went away after using some $9 copper based stop leak, but I'd been debating doing the head gaskets while I had the intake off. I had definitely planned to replace the thermostat and transfer hose, but the broken bolt in the rear head now necessitates me taking it off and to a machine shop to get it out (unless seomone has an idea how to get it out w/ a busted off extractor down the middle, or if there's someone who's put the intake back w/ one bolt missing. Thought briefly about using a small c clamp but that seems a poor solution (albeit cheaper). I suspect someone had previously been in there and put a mis-sized bolt into the hole, as it looks like it should have been a post w/ a nut as the others further forward on the head. Looks like I've got more work cut out for me. Supporting my decision to remove the heads are the dark colored spark plugs (not brown/ashy as they should be). Althou this may just be due to running rich in no-knock-sensor-signal default mode, I'd like to take a look at the valves. The plugs were autolite platinums (cheapies) and didn't look old. I bought some ngk irridiums at advance auto for 6.99 a pop. Bought one new knock sensor off ebay for $55+7, will be looking for another in that price range. Decided to buy a full head gasket set from eristicgaskets($55 I've bought other head gasket sets from them for other vehicles with good results). This set was only a few bucks more than an intake gasket set. Also bought a new pcv valve for a few bucks. I've reviewed the haynes and now have some questions that folx may be able to answer: 1. I was told by a toyota mech that sometimes its easier to unbolt the rear manifold from the exhaust pipe and then remove it attached to the head as a unit vrs trying to unbolt the manifold from the head before removal. Has anyone had success doing this? 2. Do I need to remove the camshafts before pulling the heads? If the timing belt looks good, can I just slip it off the cams and leave them intact? Or do I need to take off the cams gears/shafts/bearings/lifters to take off the timing belt back housing before I can remove the heads? 3. What's the best way to mark the belt and cams to assure that they are returned without f-ing up the timing? I think I can figure out top dead center for cyl 1, but w/ removing the cams I'm sure the chance of !Removed! up the placement is there. 4. Do I need to take off othe timing belt, with the required removal of the crank pulley, or if the belt is good, can I just let it hang? 5. If I do pull the cam assemblies, should I replace the lifters? 6. So far I've my parts expenditures have approached $200. Trying to keep the cost down, but are there some other things that I should consider replacing while I'm in there? This has been quite a learning experience for me, first time I've worked on toyota engines or a v6. Not particularly user friendly! Thanks for any replies. LL

fuel pump? LL

Impressive amount of work. You've covered 2/3 basics -- spark and fuel. I frequently don't like to ask the question if I don't want to know the answer, but....have you check the compressions? The throttle position switch adjusts the opening of the butterfly in the throttle body at idle. Have to measure resistance across the contacts, under various clearances between lever adn stop screw as follows (taken from pdf FSM 92-96): clearance / between terminals / resistance (k ohms) 0mm / vta-e2 / 0.28-6.4 0.35mm / idl-e2 / 0.5 or less 0.70mm / idl-e2 / infinity throttle wide open / vta-e2 / 2.0-11.8 " / vc-e2 / 2.7 - 7.7 the contacts in the open connector are in this order: vc, vta, idl, e2 Another thought has to do with the cold start injection device, but I know next to nothing about that, just the name and its suggested function which isn't (i.e. cold starting) in your '93. Hope this helps. LL

Hi, The knock sensors are located in the valley under the intake manifold. Usually the code occurs when there's no signal coming into the ECM. This either means the knock sensor is dead or the wiring has broken. Having seen how crisped the wires get in the harness connecting the two knock sensors to the connector located just behind cylinder #5 (the valley is like a small blast furnace, no ventilation at all to speak of there...), it's more likely to be wiring than the sensors (which are mucho expensive new and solid state piezo electric vibration devices, generating a signal when they vibrate). As recently discussed (July), by George. You can jump the front sensor wire to the rear one near the connector and see if the code is relieved. That'll help decide wire/sensor question and help avoid a several hour job of replacing harness/sensors. Might want to check continuity between the connector and the ECM as well. Not sure what the 0171 code means but leaning out the mixture, or not being able to lean it out, may cause the stumbling. Need to read more about that. Like to hear what others experience has been w/ this code. LL

Hi, I've taken apart 2 of these in the junk yard, trying to get to the knock sensors, but only gone as far as getting the plenum and intake manifole off; takes about an hour to dismantle, and yes there are some tricky bolts on the EGR and stuff attached to the throttle body. I've not tried to take off the valve cover, but I have the same problem w/ something dripping by cylinder #1 by the firewall. Not sure it's the valve cover gasket, could be the pcv valve and might be something else (head gasket?). Seems it would be tricky to get the downside fasteners off the rear cover. I've had the thought about losening up the top motor mount and then jacking up the engine a tad to lean it forward. Not sure it would move enough w/ the exhaust manifolds attached, but has anyone tried this? I also recall about folx removing the plastic attached to the firewall, but haven't looked hard at this possibility. LL

M, Wow. I can't believe the difference between the '94 and '95. Did not mean to mislead, but the instructions were in my (micky-ficky) pdf FSM which reportedly covered the '92-'96 (mark 2?). Glad you got it off. Did you find the problem? LL

Altho it's recommended to change timing belt at 100k, the 1mzfe is a non interference engine and if it breaks, the car stops but no damage. Anyone, who's gone the longest before the belt broke? LL

94 es300 w/ 110K. $2000 in July. Was a FL car and needs paint and interior work. Knock sensor problem and it tends to overheat unpredictably. I'm having fun on this project, but it has deflated my belief that an old lexus was bullet proof... and I wonder about the logic of some of the engineering. LL

Got to autozone and get them to read the code(s). Then tell us. LL

Miz, The piece of fabric I refer to is more like a small oviod insert of material not unlike cheap carpet, it's about 4 inches long and 1 wide, and is often not there as it's not glued in. What's important, is that under that is a bolt that has to be taken off, as it holds the center section of the panel to the door frame. The cap up front is about 1/2 inch in diameter and covers a screw that holds the front of the panel to the frame. Run your tape covered screw driver up the gap between front edge of the panel and frame pry out a little and you may find the resistance of that screw if it's there. (it was in my '94 and is in the diags in the FSM). Did they replace it w/ more door panel studs like on the bottom edge? Let us know. LL