lenore

You know it could just be valve stem seals, but as long as it is running, just keep changing the oil. It wont hurt anything unless it gets real bad, do you get blue smoke out the exhaust? If so the Catalytic converter is not burning the oil off. I had a old mercedes that was doing this, had the valve stems seals replaced and everything was fine for awhile. Good luck in your job quest.

Agree with code58, By chance did you check the oil level, and is the oil clean?

well it has happened again. about 3 weeks ago I noticed a nail in one of the Cross terrains. No big deal Costco repaired with a combination patch/plug. TodayWhile driving down highway the plug blew out. Temp was 108 degrees outside and while negoitiating off the freeway the tire was damaged. took to costco and they no longer have Cross terrains. The tire has only 15k miles on it and is just over a year old. Looks like brand new. The tires have between 9 and 10 /32 on them. new I believe they were 12/32. so the first deal was prorate and offer a Michelin Latitude. I dont know the specs, ie revolutions per mile etc. but am concerned. I had to buy four tires last time because of Coscto policy. The battle starts tomorrow.

do you change oil yourself? What weight oil are you using? what kind of oil filter are you using?

Ok, still a really unkown to me, never heard of this oil producer.....

Ok what is Wolfs Head(Amalie)full synthetic fluid? never heard of it....

It is a rip off, widely posted on the news, and Clark Howards show. Beware

I used the Akebono pads, and they did not make quite the distance of the originals. they went 55k miles versus 80k miles on the originals.

Check out the motor mount positions, my neighbor had a highlander and got a engine, had to return it, the block was not drilled for the extra motor mount on the Crankshaft pulley end of his highlander. Same engine, but apparently they are not all motor mount interchangeable. May have something to do with the AWD versus FWD. Be careful. Returning the engine is a pain, and you might have to eat the cost.

Yes in ca the plate stays with the car unless you have a personalized plate and want to transfer it. They of course charge you to do that. And yes it is illegal to only have one plate, but they do it all the time...My son uses that as a reason to stop gang bangers (Stockton PD)

check your fluid on the dipstick, does it smell burnt, and look muddy brown? The is the code I got when my tranny died. Also it would not go into overdrive.

When the front was wrecked He probably took the front plate off. kept it and than found the car with the duplicate plate. Lots of folks take their plates off the front (for camera intersections etc) However it is illegal in CA.

The tranny dipstick does smear, but look at both sides, one side will have a fluid level, the other side will be impossible to tell. The side with a proper look is the side you want to read. Sorry I wish I had a picture.

I used Jiffy lube for 20plus years on my company cars, however they are not always the best as for techs. Oil changes are not rocket science, but the folks in some of those places are not the sharpest I have ever seen. I never had a problem, however I always checked my car afterwards to make sure things were right. Same goes for Walmart etc. But quite frankly I have received poor service from Lexus dealerships also. Just be careful. A good independant is probably the safes bet, especially after you build a relationship with them.

I used Jiffy lube for 20plus years on my company cars, however they are not always the best as for techs. Oil changes are not rocket science, but the folks in some of those places are not the sharpest I have ever seen. I never had a problem, however I always checked my car afterwards to make sure things were right. Same goes for Walmart etc. But quite frankly I have received poor service from Lexus dealerships also. Just be careful. A good independant is probably the safes bet, especially after you build a relationship with them.

On a 17 year old car I would replace the hoses, I am sure they are getting aged and brittle... He already replaced the calipers, the next step are the hoses....

I believe the real issue here is the dealership, not everyone is knowledgeable to know that you are supposed to take it back for leaks with the detector, however it should have shown up while they tested it. The dealership is clearly at fault, as they did not diagnose the problem correctly. The condensor can break, especially since it can get a micro hole from a stone,etc. As for filing a complaint with the Bureau, that is to protect the dealer as well as the consummer as they will arbitrate the sequence of repairs and determine who should pick up the tab or what percentage. Sorry SW03S I think you are coming down a little hard on this person. You and I know that if they had to charge it there was a leak, that the dealer didnt diagnose to fix. A good dealership would have told him to come back and check it. This person is frustrated and they are not taking care of their shoddy work. I know problems are hard to find, but when they are found, there should not be further charges when he has been there more than twice for the same problem.

My friend had the exact same problem on a GMC truck. The brake kept hanging up. replaced the rotors, calipers, etc. still happened. The right answer was the rubber brake line as mentioned above. What happens is when you apply the brakes the fluid pressure is enough to actuate the caliper, but the hose is expanded on the inside, kind of like coronary artery plaque, and when you release the pressure the fluid doesnt back up the hose. Kind of like a one way valve. Replace those lines on the left and right side and you should be fixed....Hard problem to diagnose, but a cheap fix....

Since you are in California I would report this to the Bureau of Automotive Repair and get assigned a case. Have all of your records available. Give them your complaint to be investigated....

Have you looked at your exhaust hangers on the rear muffler? Also is the Spare tire hold down screwed down tight?

I believe that harness runs along the bottom of the car near the spare tire. Look down there and see if the wire got pinched or damaged. follow it to the driver side of the car and there are some plugs there. reseat the plugs.

And May I remind everyone, Mercedes and BMW reliability is a disaster. I guess when the East Germans took over the cars became Old Soviet tanks....As for what I have seen on the Mercedes styling, it sucks, reminds me of the Chryslers....

sorry just so u know....the napa tech really doesnt know...they just a part puller truthfully. A lot of the Napa filters (gold) are made by wix....a very good filter.

Lenore- Not very timely, but I wanted you to know I communicated with rdragoo directly with a detailed list of tips that I hope made the job easier for him, if he has done the job. Roger thanks roger, I am going to do mine next time, especially since I did the Sequoia one. I helped my neighbor do his on the highlander when we rebuilt the engine.... Yea Lenore, but you cheated, you had that thing on an engine stand. I took all the pictures when I cut the parts that I removed from my DIL's RX apart the last time, but I still am technologically disadvantaged about thumbnailing and posting them. I wanted to share what I learned from that experience, but maybe someday when I find some of those 48 hr days. I think it would benefit some of those regulars here even as well as those coming asking for advise. If you remember, I was concerned about a squeal that had come up occasionally in the immediate time before I replaced all of those components. The squeal had nothing to do with the experience of the drive belt squeal that I had dealt with several months earlier. I hope rdragoo was able to benefit from the tips, I did it back when you mentioned I had done it (3 times, no less!). I passed along tips that I wish I had known when I did it the 1st. time. It's not really that bad (yea, I can say that now! ) I communicated with him by e-mail because the list was rather lengthy. Appreciated your post on General on F-150 online! Thanks Roger, Yea the response on CL site was interesting, than they shut it down and then re opened that forum....yes do timing belt on engine stand is kind of cheating (big time)

Well said NC kind of like the lull before the storm....something is a brewing and I dont think it is going to be kind to us...