lexuseng

I've got a puzzler, have had my GS for 1 1/2 years now and have had water leak from the garage door opener/courtesy light panel 3 times after hard rains. I live in Seattle so it has rained a hell of alot more than 3 times in 1 1/2 years. The first time I figured I must have left the sunroof slightly open, the 2nd time, the same thing. The 3rd time (yesterday) I figure something's fishy. After the first time I removed the panel to dry out the area but only found a few drips in the head liner, checked the drain holes and they were clear. The drain holes are way below the center area where I'm having a leak, very strange. Can't find any suspect welds or voids where water can be getting in. There is a rivet that does lead into the headliner but it would be very difficult for water to get there so I don't think that's the entry. Anyone experienced this? Also there are 2 copper pipes right above this panel. They look like some kind of plumbing but not sure what they are for. Could this be what is leaking?

Depends on what kind of ride you're looking for. I have a 2001 GS and recently bought a 2001 IS. Same engine but drive and feel completely different. The IS is a sports ride and the GS is a luxuruous ride. Should be pretty obvious. The IS is a much stiffer ride, low profile tires, suspension, etc. I would expect the same kind of difference for 2006.

When I bought a 2001 IS, it also had a rattle that came from the glove box area. It turned out it was a loose battery hold down bracket in the engine compartment. The battery is right behind the glove box and I think is the same on the GS. Tightened that up and never heard another rattle. Just goes to show, noises are hard to pin down.

Are there instructions to clean the evaporator core for '98 and above GS? I have a 2001, drain is clear but still smells. I was investigating under the dash and it didn't look possible without removing the entire dash. I'll try the spray soon if I can't get to it.

Thanks for the offer but already have a CarFax account. I was thinking more in the lines of more stringent CA emmission meaning less performance? Many years ago I think it was wise to avoid cars with CA emmissions but not sure if that applies anymore. I agree, it looks like the body part stickers can be carefully removed and replaced. While looking at some used cars, some stickers looked like they were barely on. Guess it's not a reliable way to tell if a car's been wrecked and I don't think hood or fender replacements show up on CarFax.

I've settled on buying a 2001 IS and the one I'm looking at happens to be from California (I guess that's better than an East coast used car, do they still use salt on the roads back east?). Is there still a "California emmissions" difference for cars sold in CA? Also, if you compare vin # tag on body parts to the vehicle vin # and all match but suspect a part is not the original, can you trust the vin # tag or can a body shop get a identical tag if they buy the replacement from Toyota? Anything to watch out for on this model year?

You can also go to a Toyota dealer and get the refills for about half (just did this). Don't go by just length as the cross sections differ. Just take off the insert and go to the Toyota dealer and compare. Make sure not to lose the metal strips. I believe the OEMs do last longer. I have also bought after market wiper blade assemblies but more and more, you cannot buy refills for them. I guess they can't make enough money by selling the $3 refills.

1. It was pretty apparent that the deep scratches were not actually in the paint. 2. The instructions from Langka stated that almost all cars within the last 20 or 30 years (memory is failing me) have clearcoat. 3. When I did the wet sanding and subsequent polishing, no black residue showed up on my rags. That is probably the most significant evidence. I guess it's possible that the previous owner had it done when they bought it, maybe the dealer was pushing the paint sealing (but normally that isn't a clearcoat).

Regarding the clearcoat issue. I have a black 2001 and when I bought it, it had serious scratches on the trunk. It came from Nevada and looked like it was in a sandstorm and someone had dry wiped it across the entire trunk. Very noticeable and deep enough they could not be polished out using typical auto store polishes. I found a product from Langka Products that advertised a clear coat scratch remover using a wet sand technique. I was very leery of "wet sand" but my scratches were deep to consider wet sanding. It worked as advertised! It basically replaces the hundreds of deep scratches with thousands of shallower scratches. Then the polish that comes with the kit will remove those scratches so they are barely visible. This is not for the feint of heart, the first time you touch your paint with the sandpaper, you wonder if you just ruined your paint job (follow the instructions carefully!). So I can positively say that black does come with clear coat. And yes, having a black car has re-trained me on my car washing schedule. From twice a year to twice a month (at least!) but damn, it looks good!!!

I agree, I was disappointed with Lexus since my last 2 Toyotas ('86 & 96) had oil filters pointing at a downward angle so when you removed the filter, it was drained and you didn't have any spillage. Easy access too. I thought, finally someone got it right and then to go back to the old messy way was definitely a step backward.

I've never driven a 400 but if you want quick, you will be disappointed by the 300. Smooth as silk but definitely could use a few more ponies.

I have had mine for about 2 months and its great except for the noise coming from the front brake pads when changing directions. IF they fix this, yes for sure another GS430 would be great. BillH2, please PM me, as I am curious if your 2001 has the same problem with brakes as mine. I guess its normal according to Lexus, but would like input from some one with same year and model. Curious about the 4 corner alignment too, as mine is also noisy, from tires I am sure. ← I bought my 2001 GS300 5 months ago. My only question is why I waited so long ($$$ has something to do with it, never thought I would spend that much for a used car but it was well worth it).

I finally remembered to look at the tires that came on my 2001. It had 49K on it and was on it's 2nd set of times (spare was Bridgestone). It is a Yokohoma YK420 model, a M & S model sold by Discount Tire. Looked on their website, it is a H rated tire in the size I have 225R16 but comes in V rated in the low profile sizes. Says it supposed to have good wet traction and long tread life. I agree with the good wet traction, will find out about the tread life. They do ride quiet but that is such a subjective observation. ← I'm a bit confused lexu from your posting, what is the exact size tire you have on your GS? & they are Yoko's YK420's? B) ← Oops, that should have been 225/55R16 which is actually a V rated tire. Got a little mixed up when I looked up the tire sizes from Discount Tire. Just proves that old saying "a dull pencil is better than a sharp memory".

You mentioned chromes so it seems that you are not using original wheels that came with the GS (1998). The original wheels came with a special cylindrical tool to unlock the the wheel nut on each wheel. This tool fits in the empty space in the foam tray. ← No, I am using OEM chromes and Lexus?Toyo nuts. I do have the nut wrench in the tray. On the driver's side of the spare tire compartment there is black foam (kind of like the disposable coolers) tray and the center slot is empty. It is a rectangular shape. Any thoughts? Thanks for the feedback. ← I was just checking my spare and at least in the spare tire tray of my 2001, there's a space on the left side for the jack handle, the lug wrench and there's a small rectangular recess for a small tool kit. Also, on the left side wall, there's a first-aid kit velcro'd in. Now my question, in the compartment with the jack, there's a plastic web shaped housing that is mounted to the inside of the fender. The plastic web is a cover of some sort but it does not open. It is roughly 4" X 6" and 3" deep. It looks as if it would be the inside shroud of a side tail light, but there is no side tail light. What is this for?

I would have stayed away from those tires personally due to reasons I mentioned earlier in this post. But if your happy with them great! Good Luck! B) ← I finally remembered to look at the tires that came on my 2001. It had 49K on it and was on it's 2nd set of times (spare was Bridgestone). It is a Yokohoma YK420 model, a M & S model sold by Discount Tire. Looked on their website, it is a H rated tire in the size I have 225R16 but comes in V rated in the low profile sizes. Says it supposed to have good wet traction and long tread life. I agree with the good wet traction, will find out about the tread life. They do ride quiet but that is such a subjective observation.

Yes ;) ← Agreed! B) Now the question is, what tires are you going to put on the 17's? ;) ← Just wondering, what happens with the speedometer/odometer when you swap sizes. Programmable at the dealer?

How else would you push the piston back in whether you used a C-clamp or brute strength? It's gotta push back in (unless it has a screw-in type piston). I also was told to clamp off the brake line to prevent brake fluid going back into master cylinder AFTER I finished replacing pads on my Honda with ABS. I opened the bleed screw and used a C-clamp to push the piston back in. I thought it a little odd that nothing came out of the bleed screw and then my master cylinder overflowed with the brake fluid I was pushing back. Sounds like I did everything wrong but I've had no problems with my brakes since. With metal re-inforced brake lines I couldn't have clamped off the line anyway.

When I bought my 2001 GS300 used I thought the parking brake did very little so I thought I'd adjust it. I've done rear drums many times but this is the first car I've had with 4 discs. I took the rear wheel off and the adjustment is on the front of the rotor/drum (not in the back like I'm use to) which is nice. I adjust it about 10-12 clicks max until I feel some pressure. Put the wheels back on and that night drove it to dinner. About 1/4 mile down the road, I knew something was wrong, very bad vibration and turned around after a mile. Got out and my rear wheels were too hot to touch. Luckily the adjustment is not one-way like in many cars ( I was wondering why there wasn't the positive click when I was tightening the cable). Lexus must have known some weekend mechanics would tighten it too much and left the ratcheting mechanism out. It was hard for me to believe 10 clicks (which at the most is 1 1/2 turns) would have made it too tight from barely holding. Anyway, definitely different than adjusting the park brakes with rear drums. Don't tighten too much!

I'm finally going to tackle the rust on my rear hubs with G2 paint recommended here. The instructions say to remove excess rust with a steel brush. The rust on my hubs is a little more extensive, probably steel brush, sandpaper, lots of elbow grease. If I paint over some rust, I imagine it will eventually come through or does G2 act as a de-activator? Will also be replacing the rear pads with after market ceramics. Any bad experiences with NBR ceramics?

I wrote about 2 months ago where my 2001 GS300 surged as I was coming to a stop. It was about a 1-2 second surge where the engine rev went up to about 1500 where I had to press on the brake hard to stop where I expected. Initially I thought maybe I had pressed on the gas pedal at the same time as the brake (new car for me) but it happened a couple of times more so I know that wasn't it. Air conditioning was off and it seemed it might have had a relationship with the passenger unhooking the seat belt as we were coming to a stop but after trying to get it happen, I could't reproduce it. Hasn't happened again for awhile now.

Sometimes missing segments are caused by a bad connection between the printed circuit board and the LCD. Some LCD assemblies (and I’m not saying Lexus displays use these because I’ve never torn into one) are built with an elastomer connector that make the electrical contact. These contacts can become intermittent for a number of reasons and sometimes can be corrected by simply disassembly and cleaning the contacts of the printed circuit board and the connector itself. I have revitalized the LCD on my home thermostat a couple of times. This does mean removal of the unit from the dash and disassembly of the entire unit and unless you’re an experienced tinkerer, not something I’d recommend. And let me disclaim again, I do not know if the Lexus units use this type of connection method.

On my black 2001 GS300 with chrome wheels, I was wondering what it would look like to have rear mud flaps (small ones like the Camry). Sure seems it could use the protection there when I wash it. Lexus doesn't make one and I have never seen one with them. Would adding mud flaps be sacriligious? Has anyone done this? Speaking of sacrilege, has anyone found a good cloth seat cover for the GS300? Mine didn't come with heated seats and it's been damn cold around here.

Thanks for the info. Picture is always worth a thousand words. Looked up the instructions for the G2. Sounds pretty simple. I guess I know what I'll be doing when it warms up around here.

The 2001 GS300 I bought a few months ago came with nice chrome wheels. They look great but the bad thing about them is, on both of my rear wheels, you can see rust stains on the inner hub. I know it will take much elbow grease to remove the stains but what can I do to prevent the stains from coming back?

That's what it was. The drive mechanism was in snow mode and the previous owner or factory had mounted the wiper arm in the normal position. I'm glad I trusted my instincts when I stopped pulling the arm up to the snow position (it was already there). To set it to the normal position I had to lift the hood and pull down on the wiper arm. Then just had to remove the arms and reset the stored position. Thanks for all your help!