ArmyofOne

Git r' dun nc, let us know if there is anything else we can do to help. i cant believe 5 mechanics, yourself, myself and the thousands of members on this site totally missed the brakes. you are your own best friend here, not me or anyone else here. and if lexus dealer(s) ( i cant remember if you took it to one or two) missed it, there is a problem there as well, because this could have had 3 disastrous endings: 1) you found out your rotors were loose on the freeway at 65-80mph, when the rotor being loose chewed its way through the lug studs and your wheel(s) popped off. 2) You lost all braking because your rotor had enough play to rum the pads and chew them to bits. 3) your ibration shakes so much it works something else loose and causes detreimental suspension/brake damage... there is no end to the possibilities. I am thanking God you found this flaw out the easy way, in the driveway with the wheel off and the car on jackstands, which, quite frankly is where your car belongs until the problem is corrected. (but you know this :D ) I would never take my car anywhere for service again were i you, because you are your own best mechanic. you know how your car should and shouldnt perform.

nc211, if what you suspect is realitity, as I suspect it is, then 5 other mechanics did miss it, including a lexus dealer, and I would write a LONG LONG LONG letter to corporate about the issue, as this endangered the lives of you and yoru loved ones, and other motorists to boot. read my typing clearly as i say this: ANY PLAY IN THE ROTORS WILL CAUSE THE PROBLEM YOU DESCRIBED. Coming from a mechanic of the shadetree variety and now one of the US Army varieity. The "direction bang" in the brakes is that feeling of late catch when turning while braking am i right? a kind of, "slide" feeling in the brakes? If so then the rotors are 90% of your problem, the rest is probably running around with 2 lbs of weight on each wheel! I have seen direction bang with brakes many times, humvees are different, but the concept remains the same, something round rotating that many times per second WILL, not might, WILL wobble if its not torqued to a certian spec. In the army that torque spec is "As tight as you can 'effin turn it, then when you have turned it that tight, get the next biggest guy around you to give it a turn, then have him get a bigger guy than him to give it a turn." With your lexus, or at least the brakes, I suspect this is not what is nessecary, but there is something night tightened to spec. there should be ZERO play in anything in the braking system. PERIOD. I suspect someone put the wrong rotors on your car nc.

no...todays the 8th

dont rebuild you wont want to afford the parts. pull the heads, replace with steel headgaskets, shave the head to spec (as it may have warped) and throw her backtogehter. total cost if done yourself, $200 MAX. Toysrme will tell you, he has done both gaskets on his car repeatedly and he can probably tell you word for word how to accomplish this.

Let's visit europe :cries: and buy one galon of gas for 4,50-4,70 USD :cries: one litre, thats a about quarter of a gallon

What you have described sounds like a rack and pinion, possibly tie rod ends. My ES250 had a bad rack and pinion, when i turned the wheel to the meft, the wheel was off center to the left, if i turned right, it came back off ceneter to the right.

you would be surprised...the hot marks in my ES250 were never accurate. if i went by them, the tranny woudl slip the fluid was so low. fi i went by the cold marks, i got it perfect every time. usually though, yes the cold marks are more accurate. i think to this day something was deathly wrog with my ES250's trans.

2 years ago today, 2 of my best friends were killed in Iraq. Their vehcile hit an IED that killed 3/4 occupants. I heard a sad song today by Tray Lawrence that REALLY hit home. This song hits home, because i heard my friends Brian and Jake say that stuff right before they left. Now, i hear myself saying the sae things to my friends. and it kills me to know i may not come home, but, If the time comes, i will give my life freely for my country, no questions asked. I have been prepairing my family, my girlfriend, and especially by 18 year old brother. he is takin it really hard. If anyone wants to know how hard it really is for us, PM me, ill be happy to tell you. Here's to Brian, Jake, all the soldiers who gave their lives, to all my fellow soldiers their now, and to the ones who will be going: Fight hard, Make it home safe, remember your training and never leave a fallen soldier. You are backed by the best team in the world. Climb To Glory...Hooah.

thats not that bad, i dont think...it is an older car...maybe have the intake cleaned/seafoam it. Blake gets 28.5MPG in his 1995, and he ahs 270K, but thats highway mileage.

hmmm...possible power steering pump brandon? cause the pump has to build pressure back up from idling?

have you ever driven a FWD car before? Im not making fun, im serious, because the extra weight over the drive wheels (engine/tranny) will produce this feeling if you arent used to a FWD car. its totally normal. the car gets harder to turn the faster you try to whip around the corners. the only way to get that feeling all the time will be to approach corners ant rediculous speeds on a regular bases and then mash the brakes as you get close and then throughout the turn...the problem with a FWD is you cant mash the brakes through a turn, or the car will understeer. you have to do almost all of your braking before the turn, then acclerate out of it, at least in a racing situation. most drivers dont feel these effects in everyday driving. if they do they are WAYYYY exceeding the speed limit. i suspect your ES wont produce this feeling until about 45-50. and if you regularly corner that car at that speed, be ready for a few purchases: Ball joints Rack and pinion (eventually) Struts tie rods.

check it with the engine off, and see where the fluid sits. then check it again with it running, compare the 2.

No problem bud, couldn't remember what size you purchased. You'll be good for a long time then. :) Just for a note.... my daughters car has the falkens in a 205x55 16 and I am taking them off with 43,000 miles on them . They are on a corolla and she is now 21 ,and they were rotated but not as well as I would of liked. I am happy with that though.Thats all 4 seasons also. Which tire did you replace them with? :) Same thing army!!! Why turn away a good tire at a good price that can handle the wi. winters.. :) glad to hear it :)

Agreed! And the hood ornament too lol. A car in that condition [ in my opinion ] is not worth rebuilding, Even if it was given to me. I would part the rest of it out and put a down payment on a 98+ LS. After further review, Why would this soufside guy want to put headlights in the car first??? Wouldn't you want to make the car sound first??? [ doors/quarter panel etc... ] <_< Myabe those are all he could get ahold of at the moment. i mean come on, how likely is it to find an 05 withaset of good doors?

the guys who dropped your tank, did they check the black plastic valve on top of the gas tank? I have seen it stuck closed causing gas not to fill up, I think the valve is called an ORVR valve, what it does is it vents the fuel vapor created during refueling into you charcoal canister via a balck plastic line. another quick check you can do is to disconnect that line at the charcoal canister and try to pump gas into the tank, if the tank fill up with no problem then you have a clogged valve on the charcoal canister side. hope this help.... My contour did this too. all cars made after like 1990 have a flapper valve on the fuel filler neck that closes in the event of a rollover. if it has stuck half closed, it will cause the filler neck to fill before it can drain into the tank causeing the pump to shut off.

A borla catback is the way to go. not too loud until you get on it.

the number on the rad is not the year built. if your engine did not have a miss before you changed plugs, then you probably didn't push down a plug boot enough or maybe you damaged a coil pack- Toyota 2004 is the year of manufacture on the radiator, chuck.

No problem bud, couldn't remember what size you purchased. You'll be good for a long time then. :) Just for a note.... my daughters car has the falkens in a 205x55 16 and I am taking them off with 43,000 miles on them . They are on a corrola and she is now 21 ,and they were rotated but not as well as I would of liked. I am happy with that though.Thats all 4 seasons also. Which tire did you replace them with? :)

so why are you worried about anything? especially the price of the part? no disrespect but...im not understanding your logic here. :D EDIT: OH, thats your logic LOL nvm :D

lift up the piece in the center console, its holding the piece with the radio and everything in. then grab a screwdriver and CAREFULLY pry out on the sides fo the HVAC panel, it should pop out enough for you to slide upwards and remove it. beware the plugs connected to the center console piece though.

So dont tell em. you have the right to remain silent. Its YOUR car, you have the right to have whoever you want look at it. :)

they dont have the same tread ife. the ZE512 i have is a 60K treadlife, the tires above have a 30K treadlife. and they WILL NOT WORK in the snow. i have a friend who has them on an AWD eclipse, and that car is essentially parked for the winter. no can do with those in the snow. the ZE512 is a better all around general purpose tire. if you want GRIP in the summer and ONLY the summer... the ST115 is better. i find the ST115 is more suited to Hi-po RWD cars, like supras and the like. Agreed Army. B) I am sure they will not work in the snow but I know I saw them rated with the same tread life in dtd I believe.Both are 360AA. the ZE512 comes in 50,000 miles and 60,000 miles (400 and 420 treadwear rating) I havent seen those ratings army at least in my size tire.. 215x50 17's I just went off of dtd ,I hope it is longer. I just bought my daughter 4 more ziex 512's ,she got over 40,000 miles out of them. i didnt know you had the 50 series, once you drop below the 55 series sidewall, treadwear rating drops to 360 (30-35K miles) if you are an easy going driver, its possible to squeeze 50K out of a 55 series or less, providing you never squeal the tires. they are simply too soft at that tread depth. but you will still be hard pressed to find a 50 series tire that wears as well and as slowly as the ZE512. Sorry for the confusion, i assumed we were talking about non low profile tires here in reference to the ZE512.

I'll just say this steve. If you arent happy with the falkens, I'll stop modding my ZX-2. :D Im THAT sure you will be impressed. they made my car go from riding/driving like a tincan econobox to driving like a damned decent sports car, plenty of grip, and quiet as the dead on the freeways. Rough roads are no problem for the 55 series sidewall and up, it will smotth out the road ahead like a cloud. even on city streets, they are the tamest tire i have found. 60,000 mile treadwear and a SOFT silica compound. from what you have told me about your driving habits, you will likely stretch 65-70K out of these tires. I would almost go so far as to say i will buy the set from you for what you paid if you arent impressed, but i dont have enough money to do that, but if i did, i would. Im just that confident there isnt a better tire, especially for that price.

Life will be at risk? Oh please. that means you and i are really REALLY endandgering ourselves when we drive our COMPLETELY FWD cars in the rain/snow/slush. LOL. sorry, i just had to say it.

yeah that too. i just thought it may be just as likely that he/she accidentally hit the button. is there even a button on the ES3? there was on moms Chrysler..