ArmyofOne

Unfortunately without the master key the entire car must be re-keyed and the ECU must be replaced. No way around it, thats how the system is designed.

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pardon me, but that seems to be the stupidest design ever. what would be the point of that?? anti theft??

If you paid Lexus all that money for a brake job they definately should not squeal. Take em back.

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SW03ES, new brakes usually squeal for a little while, sometimes up to 1500 miles. drive gently on them for at least 500 to avoid glazing the rotors, until they are good and worn in. ;)

if in 500 miles, the sqeal is still there, then use the stop squeak. B)

Hi UCF3!! :)

My 1993 LS400 only has about 68,000 miles. So I would hope that an engine-rebuild is NOT in the cards!! I'll talk to my dealer about the torque converter. Thanks.

I genuinely appreciate all the help. Any other thoughts? PLEASE don't hesitate to share them with me.

Craig!! :)

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Sorry for the delayed response. I believe there's a way to increase and decrease the TQ Converter. I remember Cureline.net writing something about it. When the site is back up, you can check it out.

BTW I never asked you if you had any pipe or oil leaks.

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I brought my car in yesterday. [as most of you know] A Lexus 'tech' and I went for a drive. [he drove] He noticed the lack of power. He tested the torque converter. That was fun - I felt like a punk as the rear tires screached while we were stopped at a light!! [not only did I feel half my age - but half as smart - too!!]  He didn't feel anything was wrong with either the torque converter or catalytic converters.

he said that the mechanic said it wasnt a problem LOL. seems to be the fuel pump..that i would believe, definately not a TQ conv at 68Kmiles.

I tried the 3M product, the cleaner and polish.  It seemed to work well.   :)

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try brasso, it seems to work well.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=15868

Zymol is a funny product. I've never used Zymol but I know a lot of people who have and most of them aren't as impressed with it next to other neauty waxes like P21S or Pinnacle Souveran. Zymol is almost a "status" wax. They have a line of waxes that costs literally thousands of dollars a jar in their Estate line and they're sold by luxury car dealership which gives the "appearance" of being a great wax but when in reality there are many as good or better.

Is it worth a try? Sure the Japon wax isn't terribly expensive.

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i prefer NXT on all of my cars except the lex... lexis paint is peeling off the doors and rear fender on the left side, so i pretty much just use gold class by meguiars. works pretty good, lasts much longer than NXT.

I just purchased a 95 gs300 and the outside lens were so faded, you could not see the bulbs inside!  Years ago, I heard about people using Brasso, a metal cleaner you can find just about anywhere.  They used this stuff to clean plastic faded lens, so I figured I'd give it a try.  After 3 applications, they came out 95% clearer!  I could see my 300's pretty eyes! ;)  The previous owner had the rear painted and some overspray of clear coat got on the rear lens.  This stuff disolved it and made it like new.  Afterwards, I applied Mother's Gold Class on all the lenses to give it a layer of protectant.  I really thought I was going to have to buy new headlight lens due to the drastic fadeness.  I did this to the fog lights too.  Just a tip for you all that really amazed me.  I don't have before pics, but I will post some 'after' shots soon.

DISCLAIMER:  I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE DONE TO YOUR VEHICLE.  THIS METHOD WORKED FOR ME AND MAY OR MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU.

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Meguiars PlastiX will do the same, but maybe not to the same degree of effectiveness. thanks for the tip!

Thanks again. No, I still can't get it out. All I did was break off alittle more of the plastic piece and it is now dark, so I can't see anything. I will try one more time early in the morning. I guess I can put some tape on top of the broken valve for the 4 mile drive to the mechanic, so the oil does not splash around.

I puchased this part from Park Place Lexus (along with others) and now have noticed they did not include a rubber gasket. Hopefully the one in there will be able to be re-used (since I will not be near a Toyota or Lexus dealer) at least until I am able to get by one. That would mean "I" would need to take out the new PVC value to put in the new gasket!!!!!

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mine didnt need a gasket, or atleast, i didnt put one in when i changed it...

yeah, best to let the mechanic handle it from here, if it comes loose and falls into the valve cover, you would have soem serious issues, as you woudlnt even be able to start the car until you got it out. and that means removing intake manifold and valve cover.

did any of those chunks fall into the inside of the valve cover?

i wonder how hard it would be to relocate the PCV valve to the front valve cover...hmm...i may look into that...

DO NOT put tape over that hole, itscalled positive crankcase ventilation for a reason.. the valve clogs, it will cause an oilleak. if the whole its covered, same thing...

so while it may be ok for the 4 mile drive to the mechanic, i wouldnt reccomend it. the pressures that build up inside of an engine are extrodinary. leav it open and just clean up around it when you get it back.

*bump*

any update craig?

the PCV valve is a $7 part but they will get you for a minimum of 1 hours labor.  It actually takes about 20 minutes from start to shutting the hood.

Have done as part of the valve cover gasket repair.

steviej

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the las ttime i ahad a place change a PCV valve, it was 56 dllars.

i wouldnt lose faith in all mechanics just yet.

the only reason i havent done mine is becuase that snot the only place mien is leaking. i have every seal onthe motor dripping oil except for the rear main seal.

speaking of rear main seal, is it possible that thats what is leaking?

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS (YES, ALL ARE WELCOME)

There is a Clublexus Meet scheduled for Saturday, December 18th. discuss a start time amongst yourselves, somewhere around noon would be good though. Meet Details:

Where: River Legacy WEST Park, on the corner of Greenoaks Blvd and Cooper st, North of I-30.

When: Saturday Decmber 18th, 2004.

Time: 12 noon (tentative) i will edit start time accordingly, as people post their opinions on the start time. as of right now it is 12 noon. that can change if its noot a good time, so its not set in stone.

post here to RSVP.

1. ArmyofOne

2. 1QWKLEX

EDIT: turns out that its not a good day for me, but i can stil make it, i have to drop a friend off at DFW around 430pm, so i will have to come out there for a few hours, then go drop him off, then come back.

EDIT # 2: 1qwklex cant make it, hes leaving for cali that day...so...

add to the list! all peeps are welcome if you are in driving distance!

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C'mon guys! LOC is welcome too!!

1. ArmyofOne (Josh)

2. JPI (Jason)

3. Trulux (Nate)

4. Southen SC (derek)

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EDIT#2: IT IS OFFICIAL, THE MEET DATE IS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18TH . THE START TIME IS NOON!

Directions:

Take I-30 to cooper St.

Head N on cooper St.

Turn L on Greenoaks Blvd

you will see the park entrance. It looks like this:

Enter the park. It will be a right turn if you are coming from my directions.

Here is the park:

Once inside the park, take the first left. the very first parking area you come to is the meet. you will see my car there.

c'mon guys! i know the DFW gang wants to do this. 5 peopel isnt a very big turnout.

The PCV valve is on the left side (pass) facing the engine on the rear valve

cover. It will be sticking straight up with a hose attached to it. Fuel filter ?

See my thread from a few days ago.. I gave up.  Look straight down next to the air filter box. You'll see the top of it with a fuel line going into it. It is mounted vertically...

Bob

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actually, i think its on the right (passeneger) side, but i havent seen one in person.

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I guess that would depend on where you are standing and what country you are in. Joking aside, the right side would be the passenger side in the US. But as described, facing the engine, it would be the left side.

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heh, i was joking LOL, i forgot my smiley!

I think he was agreeing about the part where the PCV would not throw a CEL.  :D

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sorry i was referring to this comment:

Mechanically your engine will get worse definitely not better with an oil leak

yore mechanic is full of *BLEEP*. 

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lol i agree.. i would think twice about going back to these people. find yourself a shop who knows what they're doing.. and saying!

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khhoang, you rpost is not entirely accurate...my car has had a MASSIVE oil leak for arund 35K miles, and its motor is perfectly sound.

driving with an oil leak will not decrease the reliability fo the engine, so long as you keep oil in it.

i asked about the reverse question becuase it has been my experence that when you put it in reverse and u have a bad cv joint it makes a clunking sound and thats how u know they are starting to go

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yes, they wil make a noise in revers SOMETIMES. not always, but thats still a good question.

also, on left/right turns at low speeds, you will get a CLUNK. you should be able to feel it in your floorboard.

the inener ones usually are responsible for the ticking noises, whiel the outer ones are usually the culprit behind the clunks. it can work the other way around sometimes though.

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I guess i should have said that it "still clunks" instead of clicking. My fault. What im trying to say is that when i turn left at slow speeds i still hear the same noise as i did before i replaced the cv shaft that had a ripped boot.

You're right about feeling it in the floor boards. It gives you an uneasy feeling.

Glad to see you are restoring your es250. I would too if i had the cash or skills.

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thats a bad CV joint, classic. check the other side.

otherwise you got a defective part.

also, check your balljoint bushings and all that good stuff, could also be a problem with the steering rack, but we wont go there yet. ($$$$). those tie-rod and ball joint bushings are easy to change while you are itn here, and they are cheap as well.

yore mechanic is full of *BLEEP*. the CEL will not come on. the rear valve cover does have a gasket.

have you considered the thought that it could be a rear main seal? thats the seal between the engine and trasnaxle, about $800 repair P&L.

The PCV valve is on the left side (pass) facing the engine on the rear valve

cover. It will be sticking straight up with a hose attached to it. Fuel filter ?

See my thread from a few days ago.. I gave up.  Look straight down next to the air filter box. You'll see the top of it with a fuel line going into it. It is mounted vertically...

Bob

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actually, i think its on the right (passeneger) side, but i havent seen one in person.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...&cmd=si&img=217

I'm trying to find out how to find and remove the steering rack solenoid filter screen

http://www.saber.net/~monarch/solenoid2.jpg  Am I on the right track?

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why is this here? LOL.

anyway it looks like you got it. i have never seen one, but that looks liek a steering rack solenoid.

well this is good to hear. i had rolled down the window and was breathing out of it until h stopped at the light. i didnt ant to get him in trouble though, so i didnt oll it all the way down.

i agree it was very rude and irrespnsible.

Yes, you can install an aftermarket alarm even though your car is equipped with a factory alarm.

Yeah, Armor-all is crap. Try Lexol leather products.

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^^I'm with stoopid^^

I have a cowoker named Sal. Well today, I got in his car with him to go around the corner on the lunchbreak, to a gas station to get some munchies. On the way back, he lights up a pipe! i (not knowing he smoked weed) was surprised and very unconfortable. I have a Unrine Analysis on monday for the military and this dude is fixing to give me a contact high! He offered me some and at that moment, i was like, no, this aint gonna work. At the next light, when he stopped, I got out and told him i would walk back. I said i wanted no part of what he was doing. I also said that it makes no difference to me if he does it or not, I just dont want to be around it. and i proceeded to walk the 3 or 4 blocks back to work. i arrived ~15 mins. late, and was asked to give a reason as to why, (it wasnt a big deal, my boss, john was worried about me more than anything.) I told him i just lost track of time. He was like "oh, ok, no biggie, i just was kinda worried as you have never been late to work or back from lunch. "

Sal didnt talk to me the rest of the day and kind of scowled at me.

now, i know i shouldnt have covered for him, but its his business. i dont want to get him in trouble, but damn, he could have just ruined my military career.

What should i do? If i tell john the reason i was really late, He could lose his job. And if i say something, he doesnt lose his job, it will make working there much more difficult, for lack of communication...

and whats more, if i fail this urinalysis because i have grass in my system, my career could be totally ruined! help! :cries:

Once again - I really appreciate all the help!!

Hi ArmyofOne!! :)

On the first 'rev' - I hesitated. The second rev is how it always sounds. I appreciate the offer of allowing me to use your name - but an oportunity to throw 'names' around didn't come up. I appreciate the info on the torque converter - too. Thank you. We often think of the Beethovens of the world as being geniuses - but whoever invented the torque converter is obviously pretty darn smart. As for 'creeping forward' - yes it does. [but it's supposed - isn't it?!]

Hi KY350!! :)

I appreciate you taking the time to see just how quickly your car gets up to 100 kph - AND for letting me know the results.  All of this helps!!

AN UPDATE

I brought my car in yesterday. [as most of you know] A Lexus 'tech' and I went for a drive. [he drove] He noticed the lack of power. He tested the torque converter. That was fun - I felt like a punk as the rear tires screached while we were stopped at a light!! [not only did I feel half my age - but half as smart - too!!]  He didn't feel anything was wrong with either the torque converter or catalytic converters. [based on the test drive] He said that a smooth rev out of gear doesn't really prove anything because it takes relatively little fuel to rev an engine out of gear. He thought it was particularily slow off the line but felt that it was ok once it got going. I suggested to him that is was still slower than it should be. It was odd being in the passenger seat. I think it was probaby the first time I've been in a car and NOT behind the wheel  - in YEARS!!

They still have my car. I got a phone call today letting me know that the problem seems to be the fuel pump. When they 'pinched' the fuel line - in an attempt to force the fuel pump to work harder - it didn't. Also - the fuel pump filter [i.e. 'sock'?] was quite dirty. A new pump is on order. Might get it tomorrow. [saturday] Wouldn't it be odd if I was right all along - and the problem WAS caused by 'bad gas'? If I do end up being right - I'm not sure how I'm going to handle that!! lol Oh well.. there is still plenty of time to prove me wrong. [and I'm sure they're working on THAT as we speak!!]

In the meantime - I have a nice silver with black leather 2002 Lexus ES300 to drive. Not sure I like the looks of the car - but it's very nice to drive. And the leather is so soft. [can't make my leather that soft - can I?!]

Thanks again.

I will keep you all posted.

Craig!! :)

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Yes Craig, it is supposed to creep forward. thats a good thing. :)

It doesnt take as much power to rev an engine when not in gear, but it does still take some. A major internal issue with the engine will usually surface revving out of gear as well as when in gear.

The tech was right on the money. While it may have seemed like he was only looking for an excuse to do a few burnouts, he in fact is testing the torque converter the only way it can be tested without removal. The TQ Converter is not your issue.

Usually a dead or dying fuel pump will cause hesitation, or stumbles, not a smooth transition from low power to normal power, however it is not unheard of.

This tech sounds like he knows his stuff (and he had better for what you are likely to be paying him). Unfortunately, the fuel pump on most cars is in the fuel tank, and that requires you to drop it, which in turn means labor and more $$.

I would count on no less than $300 USD Parts and Labor for this repair, and thats a low-ball estimate from me.

more than likely, the problem originated with the bad gas, it just tooka little while to surface. when you go back, ak the tech if this sort of fuel pump failure can be caused by fuel varnish. if he says yes (and my hunch is he will) go and buy a can of slick 50 and put it through your fuel system like i originally suggested. this will help clean out some of the varnish.

microsoft terraserver

http://terraserver.microsoft.com

pretty cool!

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/GetImageA....21690200\

thats my house in Anchorage.

its the really light tan roof in themiddle of the pic. LOL.

You bought a porter cable? Cool! What kinda pads did you get with it? Also what kind of polish do you have to use with it? I just bought a set pf polishes from Poorboys that did a great job with the PC on my car when I did it a couple weeks ago.

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not sure, not sure, none that i know of.

i didnt buy it, its my dads, he has had it for years. uses it on the old charger since the repaint. i may be able to steal it. :D

mine is just a noname. i think it turns at like 500 RPMS max or something liek that. not sure. but it did the job on the hood. you cant see those ones at all.

the stragest thing is, the winsheild washer fluid etched the paint. though the water spots themselves are gone, you can still see the "imprint" they left behind.

sorry for getting off subject and thanks for answering my many ?'s sw03es.

i asked about the reverse question becuase it has been my experence that when you put it in reverse and u have a bad cv joint it makes a clunking sound and thats how u know they are starting to go

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yes, they wil make a noise in revers SOMETIMES. not always, but thats still a good question.

also, on left/right turns at low speeds, you will get a CLUNK. you should be able to feel it in your floorboard.

the inener ones usually are responsible for the ticking noises, whiel the outer ones are usually the culprit behind the clunks. it can work the other way around sometimes though.

Ah I gotcha, I thought the coats of NXT were fresh. Thats exactly what happens when swirls are filled, get a good week of rain and the filler washes right out.

Thats actually good news though, if the NXT hid them then they weren't that deep and should be easily fixed.

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cool. i have aporter cable, i will hit them with it the next chance i get. i will give it a fresh coat of NXT rightbeofre the meet and post the difference. B) i wont hit it with the buffer though till at least after the meet (oh and check the meet forum for details on that LOL)