ArmyofOne

At the carwash, in the light. ^"Workin' at the car wash!, Workin' at the car wash yeah!" -Brandon.

Nighttime Photo Shoot! alot of the pix didnt turn out. but i love the ones that did. First, my buddies 1997 Blazer, after a night of muddin! ^The caption across the top reads, "I wish my Girlfriend was this dirty!" ^"I can still see green...and my liscense plate...IT AINT MUDDY ENOUGH< LETS DO IT AGAIN!" -Brandon...owner, 1997 S-10 Blazer 4x4.

Its probably the rear valve cover. Pay very close atention to your left and right fenders when you stop at red lights. any White smoke? ever so slight? If so, your rear valve cover is leaking down onto your cat/exhaust manifold and the oil is burning off there. If your not looking for the smoke it can be nearly impossible to see. And you cant see the valve cover leaking even if you look for it, unless you take off the upper intake manifold. not to worry, this is a common problem on these cars. the ES250 is NOTIRIOUS for it. and it usually happens ever 65K or so, looks like you are lucky it lasted this long. DO NOT just tighten the valve cover, you will strip the threads on the head, the heads are aluminium. Replace both valve cover gaskets while you are in there. Also the donut seals around the spark plugs. A shop should be able to do both valve cover gaskets and all the donut seals for $300-$350 if they are honest.

It will handle well, the contour always did. My only concern will be its weight. Its alot lighter than the contour was (the contour is a pig by midsize sedan standards, weighing in at around 3450 fully loaded stock). The ZX-2 is not a very heavy vehicle. Comes in at just over 2,100 lbs with me, a full tank of gas and the stereo. therefore, it will be slightly harder to control. I still havent had a chance to really put the falkens through their paces, the weather here has been too nasty. yesterday was gorgeous though! 60 degrees and no wind, sun shining all day long! Soon, my mod list will be too long for the sig. Theres already alot done to this car, with much, much more to come in the spring.

I actually decided to go with 5% ont he rear glass and the rear sides. it looks stunning, i had all tint redone PROFESSIONALLY, with the Llumar High Performance Film. Spared no expense And as of today, Alpine Type S's Before Tint: After: Dont mind the goofball in the pic, he is a knucklehead. ^Dont mind the bungees on the sub box, they are temporary. Im loving the falkens, though they are large for this car, the fronts rub a little. they are 195 65 R15, and the stock tire size is 180 65 R15. but i wanted to go bigger for the winters, come spring, ill get a set of 17" Kazera KZ-V's or something and slap some 215-55-R17 falkens on them. The audio is in the sig. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? the car is coming right along, im almost done.

ahhh! and just in for today, I have 2 sents of Alpine Type S Coaxial Speakers going in to the doors and rear deck!

Anybody got any cheap wheel suggestions without going used?

nah, we are ok, i checked before i did it. as long as i didnt take any pictures of the insides fo buildings and stuff. or the up close pix of the vehciles.

yeah it aint bad, free housing, food, medical, dental, vision and everything else. plus a $20,000 bonus. which i just got half of :) whats not to like? ← Cool. I remember living in WWII barracks that were condemned 10 years before we moved in. :D ← Yep, in AIT at Ft. Jackson, those were home. not anymore. these actually resemble prisons more than dorm rooms, minus the bars and we get to come and go as we please so its all good. hey, its a free place to stay.

yeah it aint bad, free housing, food, medical, dental, vision and everything else. plus a $20,000 bonus. which i just got half of :) whats not to like?

good to hear. and you never did call... :whistles: do you not like me? LOL

well, questions, comments, suggestions? Not a bad little runabout for $6,000. with a 4 year/48K warranty.

^My Barracks. they arent bad rooms. about 12x14 with a sink and kitchenette. share a bathroom with the room next to you. ^4th Armored Division road, my motor pool is around that bend. ^Thats clark hall, where all In-processing and welcome briefings are held. its conveniently located all in one spot, instead of like most bases where you have to drive around to different buildings and stiff, but finance, transportation (for moving), ID cards, Medical, SGLI, its all done here. good stuff. ^North Memorial Drive, took it int he sunlight, i guess it didnt turn out. ^took on eof the interior, while i was driving, i shouldnt have dont that probably, but hindsights always 20/20. camera was on already, so all i had to do was pick up and snap the photo. Just a random pic i thought was good. Its next to the Library.

^this is part of the Rally Course here on post. they hold scheduled weekend events. its sanctioned with emergency crews and military police standing by. its really fun. all cars are welcome to enter but you race at your own risk. I have only driven the course, never actually raced on it. ^more of the rally course, with a nice view. and my temp. registration. ^the 4-wheelin trails. if you dont know what your doing...dont attempt. the road i was on was gravel (part of the rally course), no i did not attempt to go through that in the escort. crazies. ^more of the beatiful view, and the rally course. ^Part of the motor pool where i work. Humvee anyone? and dont laugh at the chains, my dad brought them back from saudi in desert storm. They are up there as a tribute to his service. ^My parking area, all muddy...ewwwwww. thats my motor pool int he background. ^the motor pool again. :)

Yep thats right folks, no camera phone pix this time. shes clean and ready to show as of friday afternoon. not much to look at yet, but with what i had done fronday afternoon and saturday, she is now :) First, the list of mods: -5 angle Valve Job -Ported and Polished head -steel headgasket, running 11:1 compression ratio (original ratio is 9:1) -Gutted Cat and Precat -Sylvania Silverstars (love em) -Falken Zeix ZE512's New mods this Weekend: 1 JL Audio 10" 10W2 Subwoofer Ported enclosure 600 Watt Kenwood Amplifier 50x4 Mosfet Kenwood Cd Player Not much, but she bumps enough. and she sounds clean! no rattles at all, just crisp, clear bass. oh, i also had window tint applied to the front and rear side windows, nothing on the rear glass yet. the guy that did my sides wasnt keen on attmpting a rear window with thsi kind of curve. and thats fine, i will pay a little to have it done locally. the tint was free, its 3m film, 20%. ^thats my buddie's green blazer across the parking lot. He has 2 13.5" JL Subs and a Rockford Fosgate T1001 amp pushing 840 watts to each speaker...its gorgous. his HU is a Kenwood Excelon. ^What REALLY counts: the 2.0L DOHC Zetec with Variable Cam Timing :) The stock HU and HVAC controls. ^all the audio stuff waiting to be installed! This one i took tonite, right outside the BOSS (Better Opportunites for Single Soldiers) Center. they have an internet connection with USB ports so i can show you all this stuff! next post, the tour of Ft Drum.

whatever the case, rest asured you will probably fix the wobble too! if you need any help let me know, i will be happy to walk you through it over the phone. did one last weekend on a buddies LS.

Buddy in alaska was paying $4.25 a gallon last i checked. Parents in Dallas are Paying $2.50 and me up here in watertown is paying $3.35 a gallon, and thats on post, where its $.20 cheaper!

When you have your heads done, a Port and Polish is a must providing you have the cash. It will cost around $400 to have done. when the heads are off take them to a machinist, i know those guys are evrerywhere in portland, i spent 3 or 4 summers there when i lived in Anchorage Alaska. a 3 or a 5 angle valve job is also a must, since the heads are off anyways. as you can see i have done this to my Escort ZX2, you should gain around 40 HP just from the Port and Polish. your blue smoke (also known as "Blow-By") is caused when oil drips down into the cylinders through the valves after the engine is shut off while its cooling down. its a normal occurance on older engines. i wouldnt worry about it too much right now if its only on startup. it wont effect emissions. BUT, if i may suggest an oil change. Although Mobil one is a FINE FINE motor oil, it doesnt do much for higher mileage engines unless they have been "Run in" with mobil one. Next timne around, i suggest a 10w30 weight Valvoline MaxLife Synthetic. It contains an agent that helps those seals expand back to normal size and it fills them in. prolongs their life for a little bit anyways. I have seen instances where it has undone the damage caused by wear and due time. as a normality this is how the "smoke color scale" GENERALLY works (I say generally because there is always an exception to the rule): Dark Blue=Oil burning Light blue or Gray= Oil mixed with coolant, the shade will vary depending on the mixture (blown headgasket, cracked head or cracked block) ratio of coolant to oil. if there is more coolant than oil, it will be more white, if more oil, closer to blue. Black= Usually means ALOT of oil, or too much fuel. White=Coolant Burning* There are cases where a car running too rich or lean will emit white smoke too, but it will be hoards of it...liek enough to call the fire department. believe me, you will know if its a fuel problem. in any case, it sounds like you have done your research. Welcome to the club. Enjoy your stay. Pm me anytime, for anything, if Brandon (Toysrme) cant help you, i probably can. and vice versa. if we cant help you there are TONS of people on this board who probably can too, just ask any one of us, and if we dont know, we will find out. and in case your wondering, yes i am a mechanic. Im a wheeled Vehicle Mechanic in the US Army, and i have been a Shadtree mechanic since i was old enough to turn a wrench (thanks dad!) :D In any case, welcome to LOC and enjoy your stay! :D

probably not, cause some of it would still be ont he end fo the pan thats higher than the plug. where si the plug located in the pan? center? off to the left or right? on a corner? if its on a corner, jack up the corner fo the vehcile on the front opposite to the side that its on.

Roger that! . its easy, what is it brandon, like 6 bolts? pop off ti comes. clean it, change your plugs and your PCV valve since you have it off, and "Charlie-Mike" (thats "Continue Mission" for you civilian types). :D

dude, sorry to hear about that. does it at least have a dash installed? maybe not the new one. even if it does, the bottom line is in the states of new yourk, texas and alaska, (the 3 states i have resided in for any legnth of time in my life) it is ILLEGAL to sell a vehcile to ANYONE that will nto passa State inspection, emissions or otherwise, this applies to private party as well. file a police report, possibly for vandalisim (at the very least) if the car was not recieved in the same or better condition that it was in the first time you saw it, and then get with yoru attorney and get him subpena to small claims court. take him for all hes worth, cause he took you for alot!

Would that happened to have been blake?

yeah, those 1uz's are expensive. he must have bought a brand new one! i can see here they run $13,555.34 on discounttoyotaparts.com, and this doesnt include any electroncis or manifolds. its long block only, cylinders, block, heads.

Gumart, I must say, remember that its a Lexus, treat her well. you remember my ES250? I still see her on the road today, even after $4,000 worth fo parts, $2000 worth of labor and THEN an accident with damage estimated by an insurance company at $2300. dad fixed it after the wreck (you do remember when i had the wreck right). and then 2 weeks before i came back from Basic, he sold it to a coworker who needed a good car for hsi daughter to drive to and from school. the guy offered him $3800. we took it and ran!. so you never know what kind fo deal you might come across. I still have all my parts contacts, however, those air struts are cheaper through Arnott, they will run $650+tax and shipping through my guy...each.

does it feel like the car is skipping across the lane? if so, that is ball joints, its a signature sign. if it doesnt than its CV joints. remember, on CV Joints, replace the entire shaft. and any shaft you gcan get at o'rielly's auto parts, advance auto, or autozone will work just as good as the original in this case. i think i paid somewhere around $150 for all the parts. not sure though cause its been awile. from lexus (if you can even find them, i had trouble fidning lexus OEM Axles on my 1990 ES250) they will run about $300 EACH. so get the aftermarket. they come with a lifetiem warranty...and a good mechanic should only charge $250-$300 labor or so for Removal and install of both sides. as for the ball joints, if this si the case, they are $36 a piece here from toyota: http://www.discounttoyotaparts.com