NikNak

i have an injen cold air intake on my lexus is300 and it made a world of difference. Not only in the sound but in the horsepower/torque. I took mine down a 1/4 mile drag strip when it was stock just to see what it could do (MAJOR DOGGISH SLOW!!!). 2 weeks later replaced the air intake and it shaved almost 1.5 seconds off the time. yah i know 1 or 2 secs. no big whoop but in drag strip world that is a huge difference. So they do make a slight difference if you ask me. But you have to be careful when it comes to the oil that most cold air intakes use because that oil down the road could cause some problems with your stock parts ie, clogs,buildup,ect. Not common but can happen.

For some reason its make my car slower rather then faster, most on the take off feels realy heavy. Any ideas anyone

do i need a diff intake maker, I have a weapon R secret on it...

that one sounds familiar. same thing happend to me when i had a bad charcoal canister. but also the evap was bad too. take it to a shop and hope it throws a code. good luck they are pretty expensive parts. Ran me around 750.00 to fix them both.

A couple of days ago I noticed that my car (03 Lexus IS300) was taking longer than normal to crank. The starter is fine and the engine turns over it just seems like it doesn't fire to get the engine started up. Usually it takes a couple of seconds to start but now it seems like its taking 3 or 4 seconds longer than normal.

Also when this first started I would smell a gasoline smell after the car cranked. Now it has gotten worse to the point where sometimes the car won't crank on the first try and usually I am successful on the second crank.

Any ideas on what might be causing this? As of recently I feel like my car is starting to fall apart at 100k miles.

the battery is an optimum yellow top. battery tested completely fine, alternator tested bad bad bad. it was at 11 volts and below the battery on the other hand when it was tested by itself was measuring above 13. although it has been 3 stereo systems and 5 years later since I replaced the battery. The self adjusting light leveler signal that comes up on dash is only occasional and started way before I had the issue with starting the car. Appreciate the comments this glorified toyota has been nothing but problems since 2 years after buying it. And the parts and labor are sooo darn expensive. I should have thought that one through before I went for a import. Maybe next time I wont be so eager to spend 38k on a knock off toyota supra, and just buy the supra for half that. I should have done my research because I'm finding more and more and more wrong with this lexus is300 when it comes to electrical. What a waste of 38k. I will be sure to check out those sites you posted. And again thank you.

I would start with when was the last time the battery was changed? If you have a meter the voltage on the battery should measure around 12.8 volts with the engine off. When the engine is on with the headlights on you should read 13.5 to 14.5 volts across the battery...If you read only battery voltage of 12.8 than your alternator is diffinetly bad. As for changing it it should be easy enough for most diy folks...Look on Rock Auto for a replacement or several of the other sites including Sewell Lexus which gives us a discount. Another is Partgeek.com...Good luck By the way a low voltage condition in the battery could cause many of the indications you had.

when my trac light came on it was because the evap sensor and the charcoal canister were both bad. When you live in a place with lots of snow, salt, wetness, ect.... the canister is completely exposed in the undercarriage so it will after about 3-5 years go bad. Both parts combined plus shop labor fees ran around 750.00 to repair. No one said imports were cheap to work on unless its a honda civic of course...

I was cleaning my car today and the TRAC OFF light came on while the car was in idle with the stereo playing. A second later the TRAC indicator inside the speedometer came on as well. I was putting back on the dash panel to the left of the steering wheel right before this happened (I had to check some fuses yesterday but now the problem is most likely a ground wire somewhere) Could I have pushed something that turned on the TRAC OFF light on the cluster itself? - I looked but I didnt see any button for traction so I figured something's up.

Also, I've been reading up and it seems that there could be a something that is preventing the alternator from charging my battery. The alternator itself's been replaced 2 (warrantied) and it was the first thing my mechanic suggested. However after the second alternator the problem persisted and now I'm on my third battery.

Any idea whether the TRAC lights and my car dying every month have anything to do with each other? And if not, then should I even bother fixing the TRAC light for the winter? I plan to get rid of this ride in April (hopefully it lasts until then) because my mom's '01 IS300 lease will be up and I'm gonna buy it out for me :D My car's got 293K on it and it's a 92 SC400. I am the third owner and the first two weren't very nice to it. There is a whole list of problems but it seems that they are never the most obvious.

The car runs pretty smooth with very minimal engine noise and according to the mechanics the engine is in excellent condition (unlike everything else lol). I am hoping to junk it or ideally sell the parts. Except I am not really sure how to take apart an entire car :D So for now I need to make it last at least through the winter.

Anyway is the TRAC light and the TRAC OFF going to affect my winter driving at all?? I'm assuming it controls the car's traction since it's rear wheel drive but that's all I know about it. We get a loooot of snow in Toronto so I'm kinda worried it might not last the winter. And should I be checking for any other serious signs of wear n tear since it's soo old?? This is my first car, so I am welcome to any ideas anyone may have. Thaaaaankss guyys

I have a 2004 lexus is300 sd, 6 cyl auto/techtronic on steering wheel,around 68,000miles. about 8 months ago every time it is moist, damp, rainy, humid my dash lights up with that funny little headlamp self adjusting leveler light comes on. about 1 month ago we started having problems starting the car and when putting the car in drive it doesn't catch. It used to idle fowards on its own at almost 3 mph with out stepping on the gas, now it doesn't move at all. I have to mash the gas to even get it to move a lil above 10 mph. Then it bucks and finally catches after about 60 yards of driving it. We had an alternator test done and the alternator is def. bad it has a doid (?) in it. Are all these issues related??? or is my car just hexed with some serious serious electrical gremlins???? Also does anyone know how hard it is to change out the alternator by yourself, because I am a Do It Yourself'r and would love to save a few hundred bucks if its not too difficult.