ArmyofOne

i hope thats all it is,thats a weekend project, unlike a tranny swap, which would have my car out of comission for weeks. besides, according to discounttoyotaparts.com, the Auotmatic Transaxle for the 1990 ES250 is $2,263new... :

Most auto supply stores carry this product. ← i still prefer invisible glass. Step 1: Clean Glass Step 2: Armorall Dashboard/door panels etc. this ensures that you dont leave the invisible glass on any interior parts. the only drawback to this is that if you get armor all on the glas, you have to do it again. ivisible glass will not harm the interior...it doesnt have the ammonia, like windex does. EDIT: didnt mean to offend you SW03ES, that wasnt directed at you...it was just a general satement, i didnt mean in any way to make it as if it was directed it you. my fault entirely. i edited the post.

i had a drain and fill done on the tranny 3 days ago the technician said he couldnt flush the fluid because it was black and burnt. if he does, it will make the particles that are holding the bands around the shifting mechanisims pistons in the tranny together, disentigrate. he said the only thing he can do is a partial drain/refill. it took 2.8 quarts out of 6.9 (according to the owners manual). now, when i am at less than >5 MPH or so and coasting (such as when pulling into a parking space), the tranny downshifts, but it feels like it doesnt know where to downshift to. like it tires to downshift, instead it just falls flat on its face. its a very intermittenent problem. i also get a "clunk" on shifts sometimes. i feel it in the gas pedal. my manual contour did this, butit had a bad rear rol restirctor, which i replaced, and that cured the problem. inside the car, she isnt shifting hard, but i have a buddy look at the motor from outside, while i drove with the hood up, and he said the motor rocks badly when the tranny shifts (with no resonator and a high flow cat, you can hear the exhaust pretty good, to know right about where it changes gear). could this be a bad mount?? or is it the dreaded "hard shifting before dropping out" syndrome?

when i wnet and had my tranny drained an refiled (only), the used a hose connected to a tank, marked ATF. im assuming its Dexron III...but my ES250 owners manual says to use Dexron II...is there a difference??

no problem, its the can on the far left in this photo, with the yellow cap (just in case people cant read LOL) B) eDiT: plus it smells good too,

heh, i knew that, but i didnt realize that the car had parts falling off of it. with the exception of 3 key areas on my paint where its lifting off the metal due to in adequate paint coverage, the paint is in PRISTINE condition... and it wasnt any of the detergents that did it, it was the blower. i heardit blow off, but in my old car, i had a pop can dent in my roof that used to pop all the time when i went through this car wash( which want very often), so i didnt thinkanything of the p"pop" sound. the main reason i wanted to go through this carwash was so that i could pinpointany leaks...there were none (cool!) so...yeah... unless your point was never go through a car wash at all, in which case point well taken, i dont usually. 2 or 3 times a year maybe. the rest of the time my cars are washed by hand.

there are "butter like" moisturizers that go on in cream form, maybe these will help??? im fogetting the names at the moment, but i think Zymol makes one...i think...

man, i had no idea...that cant be the way it is...if i can get an INFINITY/CHRYSLER dealer, to change my timing belt ON A FORD CONTOUR, i damned sure better be able to get a toyota dealer to do an oil change on my lexus...if i EVER got the reply beginning with "We Dont Work On": i would be so *BLEEP*ed they would be very unhappy when i left. i would out there at the entrance to their property telling ever customer coming into the service department about it...thats totall bull*BLEEP*. ^that only goes if its not posted or politely stated. if they say it politely, i may not liek it, but at least i'll understand. and JP's shop is a different scenario, because he doesnt sell the cars, he is ONLY a service center. any car dealer that has a used car lot, better have mechanics on hand that can repair any car on that lot, weather its a hyundai, nessian, toyota or ford. it doesnt matter. BTW, dealers that dont have the parts for a certian make of car, will order the parts from either said car manufacurers warehouse or dealer. thats what they did on my contour. Grubbs Infinty/Nissan/Chrlsyer/Jeep had no problem doing Water pump, Timing belt, IAC valve and a few otehr things on my 1995 Ford Contour. they just called up Sam Packs Five Star Ford and orderd parts from them, had them sent over via courier and they installed them...simple. now with something as simple as an oil change...(IMO, if you cant do an oil change yourself (except in the cases where oil filters are an SOB to get at, then you dont belong behind the wheel of a car.) if you really have to do it and dont have time/skills to do it yourself, take ti to a freakin Speedy Lube or something...they service every make, model and freaking year on the face of the planet. a basic oil change will include all fluid levels checked and the interior vaccumed and windows cleaned for $29.99. QUITCHERBITCHIN LOL. do what it takes, but dont !Removed! because a dealer wont do an oil change on a car they dont have a part for, take it to your dealer if its in the service. (that only goes for dealers thatdont sell that make of car...im sorry, but deep down, the lexus is still a toyota, and things liek oil filters should be interchangeable, so theres no excuse. i could see it if its a SC400/430 or an LS400/430, but eve the SUV's share the paltform with Toyota SUV's and i know for a fact that the ES series uses the same platform as the Camry. if they are a toyota dealership, and they dont have an oil filter for a camry, then they have bigger problems than picky customers.) /rant

its only if you have tinted windows your not supposed to use it. i use Invisible Glass. it comes in an aresol can. autozone, $2.99 it works better than any other glass cleaner ihave ever seen, for half the price.

you other mounts, specifically your roll restrictors (otherwise known as horizontal transaxle mounts) can and do cause hard shifts. the horizontal mounts help stablize the motor from "rocking" on its mounts when the transaxle shifts. if those are bad, you will get a clunk, you will feel it in the gas pedal, and you will tear up the transaxle if it goes long enough. it puts added stress on things like Input shafts, etc. ;) at elast your tanny fluid wasnt charcoal colored...mine was, it looked like charcoal water, seriously. i can neveer flush my tansaxle now because the previous owner only had it done once in 140,000 miles. i had a drain and fill done and it only replaced 3 quarts of fluid, the rest is still that charcoal color. what happens if you let your tranny fluid turn this color??? the bands on the cylinders get sludges up and thenm begin to disentegrate. when thios happens, particles in the old burnt fluid adhere to the bands, holding them together. when you do a flush with new fluid, it will flush all those particles out, and then you have no more bands, because you flushed out all the gunk that was holding them together. as a result, your tranny slips...and its time for a rebuild. IF YOU VEER LET YOUR TRANNY FLUID GET ANY DARKER THAN A BURGUNDY COLOR (DARK WINE RED), THEN STRAT SHOPPING FOR A NEW TRANSAXLE...OR CAR. you will be changing it in the next 50-80,000 miles. anywasy, i have done roll restricters on many cars, not that difficult. and if you get ones with polyurethane bushings, you wont have to do them again for at least a half a million miles. :) IMO, your hard shifts are due to the bad mounts, as are the clunks. i wouldnt hold the trans as dead just yet, these toyota trannies can take alot of beating. my fluid was black and it still runs fine...i have been lucky so far.

thanks for the offer, but JPI here in Dallas is probably going to do the work. besides, i dont have ANY Money right now, so for now, its just gonna leak. this is my only car (dialy driver) so i also need someonewho can do it in 7-8 hours on a weekend. if you are still around when the time comes and you feel like treking to DFW, we can talk. BTW, JPI is offering me a really good deal.

THATS *AHEM* HALF of my PCV valve. i went to a mechanic today nearby. i had that done and my tranny fluid drained and filled (needed it..Tranny fluid was BLACK) he said that he was anex toyota tech, and that was a OEM toyota PCV valve, availble only from the factory...great <_< ...no wonder my cam seals are shot!!! he drained about 3 qts of tranny fluid and then refilled. he culdnt do a flush because the tranny fluid was burnt, so the particles had probably burned to the bands and cylinders...and if that was the case, and he flushed it, it would just sit there and slip. he also said there was a 25% chance or so that if he jkust did a drain and refill, that it would do the same. but i told him to go ahead and do it anyway. as soon as i saw what color the tranny fluid was, i immediately thought i would be byinga new one...soon. i figured i would go with his reccomendatiion not to flush i. he said as long as i do regular drain and fills ONLY, i shoudl be good for anywhere between 80 and 100K more on the tranny, before it even starts to slip. and the car idles so much smoother with the PCV valve replaced...much better. anyway, just an update. i can now wait a little longer before doing the cam and crank seals. you cant imagine how nervous i was when i drove lexi away...i was praying for no slip. i pushed down the gas...and away she went, smooth as a babies !Removed!....but we wont know for sure until i get the tranny fluid sitting in there for a few days. is it true that the tranny in this thing takes more ATF than the motor does oil??? h said about 10-12 quarts of NEW fliud... :o

i went through a touchless car wash on sat night, and i came out 1 body panel lighter! the plastic moulding panel (the grey panel along the bottom of the doors that comes halfway up) flew off when i went under the dryer...apparently it had 2 broken clips, and the 3M adhesive tape was old and nto sticking anymore. i got home beforei realized it was gone, at that point i was worried, cause i could have lost it anywhere between the car wash and my house (a quick jaunt down I-35 at 80+). i ver quickly turned around and went back to the car wash when i noticed it missing...and there it was... a quick stop on the way home for some 3M andhesive tape and it looks good as new (i re used the 2 intact clips and then 3M adhesive taped the HELL out of it.) anyway, thought i would share...check all your exterior parts to make sure they arent falling off, before you enter the wash. LOL.

:D i got 2 words to say... SICK PUG! (that means cool to us yanks!):whistles: ;) oh and welcome! EDIT: are those Morette Headlights??/ they are pure s*x... :D

i am running dino Max Life 10w30...i dont think itll help, but we will see. here: thats a list of everything i know of thats wrong with the car.

oh i have no doubt in my mind thats what caused it. but i cant fix it at the moment. i dont have time, and i dont have $$$$ to pay someone to do it. so for now shes just gonna have bad seals. the guy that had it beofre me knew nothing about cars (obviously). to say the least.

glad to hear it.....if only mine were that simple. :(

your salesman is the ditzy one :D ...just plain old D is fine.

its official, Jason at JP Imports in Dallas says that the cam and crank seals are bad on my 1990 2.5L 2vz-Fe V6 (he is 95% Sure)...ok, i can live with that. for what it will cost to repair, i can probably come right up to the value of the car...im still ahead considering what i paid. and if i am not, ill consider it a lesson learned. . however...the thing is, im totally broke. i have no way to pay him at the moment. is it ok for me to drive with these bad seals, providing im putting the oil in it that it needs?? i do check it every day, before i leave for work and then before i leave work to come home...adding if nessecary. thougts?? facts??? opinions?? i have driven cars with bad seals before for quite some time...they never had issues, but i dont know much about toy's...please help. Car is in Sig.

it appears as if the PCV is not my only problem... cam and crank seals are my enemy at this point. i hear that...

no, its not just you, photobucket deleted my account for some reason. i now hosted them in the gallery. starting on pg 38. in the ES gallery.

my light is on, no matter if the lights are on or not. i think i may just pull the intrument cluster out and remove the bulb from the socket. it drives me nutzo... before i do though, imay repace all of the bulbs in the rear of the car, just to be sure. they need it anyway, being 15 years old and all.

But if he was going to have it hauled off... ← true, true, im saying as a seller, if he was selling it to make money, than i would have fixed it first if i were him. BUT, he was doing me a favor and i was giving him some cash. dont get me wrong man, i mean i paid $2,000 for the car, i fully expected to have to do some work on it. im very impressed with the car for the price, i dont htink i got screwed. he told me about the leak before i bought it, i told him that it was ok. it actually wasnt leaking that bad when i got it, but then again, i put over 100 miles on it that day. it has steadily gotten worse as i have increased the driving distances on it, and i expected that. once i get it up to par (not leaking, window switch fixed, etc) i can turn around and sell it, and make alomost a grand...if i wanted to....but i dont think i will. i will keep it for awhile, it is soon to be a classic, we willseeif the value drops any lower. she drives real good despite the leak and a few other querks. look at it this way. most people that pay $2,000 for a car, get a beater. i bought a $2,000 car and i got a LEXUS...whats better than that?? was it you SW03ES that said once i have Lexus ill never want anything else??? cause you were right, i just dont think i can bring myself to drive anything else except lexus/toyota from now on. i came into this deal fully expecting to have to lay donw some cash...im not upset about it at all. long story short, dont listen to the above comment made in the quote...i had had a bad day at work and i was upset, my bad.

my dad thinksi shouldnt have to change them for a quarter million miles since they are on the rear... ...yeah...right...

unfortunately, i cant get there...i will be in class...next time..sched. for a weekend Dood!!! lol. and what do you mean, you woulda never boght that car??? i like a challenege... heres some more: if i didnt buy it, he would have had it hauled off, and i NEEDED a car. it has its issues, but thats not the fault of the car, its the fault of the previous owner. personally, i think he should have had the damned valve cover leak fixed before i bought the thing...whenever i sell a car, i make sure that it doesnt leak. even my contour thats for sale, its front end is bashed in, but it doesnt leak a drop of oil.