ArmyofOne

it was a gorgeous day, im glad this stuff held off till after the meet!!! http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=16312 SNOW!!!

this was the scene this afternoon as i made my way around my local suburb, doing some grocery shopping, last minute x-mas stuff, etc... ^MMMMM...2000 Contour SVT in Tropic Green/Tan Leather, one of 207 EVER made...yummy. keep in mind that it was almost 70 degrees here this time yesterday (3:00 PM...)

sk, did you miss this??: not trying to be a smartass, really, i was just asking... the rod bearing can be repaired if you have mechanical knowledge, but its probably better in this instance to have the engine rebuilt, since you dont know what kind of damage happened to the other rod bearings, but $4,000 is rediculous, there are shops in my area that will (WITH a 3 year/30K warranty) do one for $2,000.

Blake918's 95LS still does it in 8.5 and its got almnost a quarter of a million miles, imleaning towards throttle cable, which i suggested in a post somewhere in this thread, as did SRK. take it to the dealer and find out. it DOES have a cable.

^SC400's...uhh...well...SC400...LOL. ^Big Joe's Ride looking HAWT!

More pix (thanks Gary...AKA texisportx!) First, his IS. ^I am the nearly bald one in the gray shirt standing next to the fire :)

The rear main seal is leaking (more than likely). Thats the seal between the engine and transaxle. it goes out around 80-100K from what i have heard (if at all). When it does, it drips oil onto the exhaust which happens to be right below it. And the heater sucks air in fromt he engine bay. Are you also getting smoke out of the wheel well on the left hand side? cost to replace: ~$800 USD Parts and Labor, give or take. Hope this helps. :)

that would be Gary's sportcross. sweet cars gys. i think the IS in the pic above it was the Peter Farell Conversion.

they were there, with their HUSBANDS LOL.

The DFW Christmas meet in Arlington, TX was a HUGE success. Thanks to all who participated and all who brought the food (I think that was everyone). Here are the pics, sorry my camera REALLY sucks. Its only 1 megapixel, but it did the job. I left to go drop off my friend at the airport and on my way back, 6 flags over Texas opened up. It took me an hour to go a mile. That sucked, so i didn’t make it back in time to meet up with most of you. Sorry. Next time I’ll make sure my schedule isn’t as packed! It was good to meet all of you. And Blake, your car sounds amazing especially for having almost 250,000 miles. It was great to see everyone together and top put names with faces, although i have forgotten nearly everyones name, because i didnt have my list (left it at the house) and i wasn't there very long. If i got the names wrong, please correct me and i apologize in advance. And now, here are the pix: ^There's Gary with a big ol' texas-sized smile on his face! LOL.^ ^ i dont remember this guys name, but he has a SICK IS300. I think he is Josh, but i cant remember for the life of me. ^This is Jayson, and his one of a kind Peter Farrell Conversion IS300. ^ this is Jon (i think) and his TRD IS300. and this is the last one. a turnout of about 15 cars, (there were a few who werent in the pix). Again, I apologize if i got names wrong. Thanks for showing everyone! I'll see you next time!

usually, it is never less than 65 unless going through a town, then drops to 35, or a school zone which is 25 in the country on main thoroughfares.

Hi,.... You really are such a caring guy; I hope that your family appreciates you! Re: my car, I took it in today to a 3rd mechanic because as you know, I had many different (and conflicting) stories from the last two. I had to leave it overnight because it only acts up (insofar as the shifting) when it's cold which, as I've said, it 'never' did before the timing belt job. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it's not something horrendously wrong. I'll keep you posted as soon as I know the 'verdict'. Shirley ← fingers are crossed. :D

stevie, no need to worry about me, i went through high school in the late 90's and never smoked the stuff. i was never around it. believe it or not, this was only the second time in my life i was ever expesed to it. i steer FAR away from it. its not good for you and i have seen it screw up peoples lives first hand, i want nothing to do with it. thanks for the concern though! B)

thats why i love texas! sped limits on those kinds of roads are almost alwyas 75. props to SW03ES. i agree with you 100%. when i was first sriving, i got a rediculous ticket for doing a rediculous (almost double) speed and i spent a night in the slammer for it. the ONLY reason i didnt lose my liscense was becaus my MOTHER was standing behind me in the courtroom, saying that i was a resopnsible driver and it was a 1 time thing. i also needed my liscense for my job at the time. but that still didnt stop the $654 dollar fine and 25 hours of community service!

hey blake! we would be more than happy to have you if you are willing to make the drive! you have a PM and we will see you there! if you have any questions, you can contact me at my personal #, PM me for it! also, the list has grown to 17 members! 1. ArmyofOne (Josh) 2. JPI (Jason) 3. Trulux (Nate) 4. SouthernSC (Derek) 5. el gato (Giovanni) 6. texisportx (Gary) 7. BigJoeD (Joe) 8. 10SecondIS (Jeremy) 9. crazeazn (John) 10. Toymachine40K (jon) 11. dag (dax) 12. reldliniint (lane) 13. shiznit (allan) 14. jaysonmfk (jayson) 15. is300luver (brandon) 16. Blanco (Michael) 17. Auburn_lex

MAF and IAT? please elaborate for those who are challenged when it comes to automotive acronyms. ← MAF=Mass Airflow Sensor IAT=Intake Air Temperature Sensor. :D

im thinking a Dyno pull would tell us a good starting point. i can almost garuntee your putting out at least 50 HP less than factory. like RFeldes said, it sounds as iof the engien is starving for something. i wonder maybe if you r ECU has taken a crap/retarded the timing permanently??? the fact that it knocks from time to time on premium concerns me...

Agreed! i take 2-3 hrs to wash mine too!

you have a PM craig

that is true, but he said he checked them so i kind of crossed it off the list. chris-make SURE you do not have a nail/screw/rock in your tire before you tear everything apart again. if it is inside the tread pattern, or on the inner edge of the tire, it may be hard to spot.

i passed the UA!! yay for me! phew. well thanks guys for the suggestions. i appreciate it!

glad to hear you got it sorted out. thanks for the update. run a can of fuel system cleaner and some premium (you probably run premium anyway) gas after a few hunderd miles, see how she does.

No, i meant to say that clicking=clunking. It still makes the same noise that it did before i replaced the broken drivers side halfshaft. It only makes the noise when turning left. And as soon as you start turning left, the noise starts. No matter how fast you are going. The noise doesnt stop untill i straighten the wheel out, or turn right. I dont know what you mean by "direct frequency to the speed of the wheel", but the faster the car goes while turning left, the quicker the clunk gets. No nail in tire. Chris ← thats what he meant by frequency im pretty sure. im pretty sure its the CV joints. replace the other one, if it doesnt go away, you probably got a defective one the first time. does it grind at all? or is it only clunking?

i would certianly hope that lexus would know better than that. but whatever. what i meant to say was, the engine might be rebuilt, but its with all lexus parts EVEN if it is subcontracted out. i do knwo that ford doesnt do it, my uncle worked for the company for almost 40 years, retired in 1998. so if ford rebuilds engines with ford parts, lexus will have engiens rebuilt with lexus parts.

or you got the volume all the way up!!!! :whistles: :chairshot: steviej ← yeah, that too, and the windows down, and the moonroof open...