blake918

The arm circled in red is the strut rod (and I attached another pic of the bushing end of the arm)...

Have you talked to Carson? I don't believe there is a gasket on the end that connects to the exhaust manifold. The pipe is in two sections. There is a very short one at top, and I hear it hardly ever breaks. The section that runs down to the exhaust manifold is the one that cracks. I remember a post a while back where you asked if any of this is covered in the repair manual, and it isn't (kinda like motor mounts...their going to lump that in with engine removal. no step by step for just that item). I have a tutorial that a LOC member from the UK sent me with pictures that I'd be glad to email to you if you want. He discusses exactly what he did, and it sounds like most of his trouble was because he was dealing with a RHD car. I'd cap it off for $0 instead of bringing it to the dealer/shop. Plus, if you cap it and decide that you want the pipe back in there for whatever reason, you can always have the dealer do it later. I found an old wwest post where he stated that he never had any trouble passing emissions with his capped egr.

I'm glad your wife is ok, and the damage wasn't too bad! I had a similar experience with that undercover on my '95. I was driving from New Orleans to Chicago, and somewhere around Memphis, TN I heard something grinding for a couple seconds, then stop. When I stopped for fuel the first time in W Memephis, AR, I found that the undercover was ground away pretty well. I used the pliers and wrench in the tool kit to remove it and throw it in the garbage. I was glad to finally have an excuse to throw that damn undercover away because it made maint/repairs a PITA, and I never replaced it either (and surprisingly the LS didn't fall apart.). Did yours collect any garbage on the way to the dealer?? LOL.... LOL That is great!

What do machine shops charge to press these bushings in? I just replaced my strut rod bushings only (for about $90), but I have free access to a hydraulic press. It was really something when the old bushings broke free! The old bushings weren't cracked badly at all, but the difference in handling is amazing--it tracks down the road perfectly now!

I thought that the memory had died in my '95 one time, but it turned out that I had disconnected the battery for something a few weeks earlier (and forgot!). I reset my presets, and all was well. Have you tried resetting your memory (if by chance the dealer unplugged the battery for some reason), and testing it to see if everything goes back in to the right spot?

I don't think there's any chance of that happening. I can't imagine that anyone who has spent the 5-7 hours doing this job would recommend leaving 10 year old pulleys, water pump, tensioner, etc in the car to save a couple bucks. I've owned two UCF20s, and the starters in both of them failed at ~150k miles. For my '95 (more hwy miles), that would have been at about 6 years old, and for my '99 (city miles), it was 9 years old. There must be something different about the replacement starters because the one in my '95 outlasted the original one, and it was still starting perfectly when I sold it at 315k.

Yes, please search as this has been covered many, many times.

Sounds like the big 120A alternator fuse that is in the fuse box under the hood. Did you check it?

Thanks! I did it by hand. It really didn't take long at all. Here's the break down for each light: less than 4 minutes of wet-sanding, 1 minute of polishing with rubbing compound, and then 1 minute applying the sealer coats.

Lookin' good! B)

Cool....saved me the trouble of searching (thanks Golfdog!)! I heard a quick chime when I hit a series of pot holes the other day, but when I looked down, I didn't have any error messages. I refilled the fluid, and all is well!

Congrats! B) Any pics? I wouldn't say that. I can't imagine labeling any $55k luxury car as inexpensive to maintain. The OEM parts are quite expensive.... $70 for a lower ball joint, $50 for a tie rod end, $250 for a front lower control arm (the control arm bushings aren't available by themselves unless you want poly), front upper control arm is $300, $125 per shock, $115 per suspension spring, 8 platinum or iridium plugs aren't cheap either, a set of plug wires is $120, and so on. The good news is that the parts are going to last for quite a while & the quality of the parts is excellent!

Great mods and outstanding detail job....the paint is dripping wet!! B)

Updated pics due to polished headlights and cleaned leather (with Magic Erasers). How I polished the lights: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...mp;#entry346917 .... Doesn't look too bad for 172k! B)

Thanks! I certainly thought it was $20 well spent! This is the first time I've washed the car since polishing the lights, and they are still looking great....

I never tried any plastic polishes, but I did try SSR3 and a 3m rubbing compound, and they did almost nothing. I think the wet sanding is what made all the difference. Thanks for the compliments! I couldn't believe the difference! B) A couple pictures with the headlights (looks like I need to get whiter high beams and fogs) on...

Continued.... Fog lights Before: After:

The headlight lenses on my '99 LS were getting a little hazy. Jim (1990LS400) recommended that I try the Crystal View headlight kit on my car since he had great results using the kit on his car. I picked the kit up at Advance Auto today for $20. The tips that Jim gave me were basically to follow exactly what the directions tell you and mask off any painted areas so that you don't accidentally sand them too. I heeded Jim's advice and did exactly what the directions told me, and it worked even better than I had hoped! I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be sanding the headlights. My headlights almost look like brand new except for a spot on my passenger's side headlight, but I think that spot is burnt in on the inside. I did my fog lights too, and they improved drastically. Unfortunately, it was raining, so I couldn't pull the car out from under the covering to get better light for the pics. The pics..... This what the kit comes with: Driver's side headlight Before: After: Passenger's side headlight Before: After:

Sound advise on all counts. Let's keep the most current gas discussions (since there are 100s of them) together in the thread that blacktop linked us to.Closed.

Enter the part number that I posted above, and the tranny mount will show up. ;)

Wow, what an awesome PDF!! Thanks! I pulled my driver's side OCV, and it did have some grime on it. It appeared that the passenger's side OCV is blocked in by the throttle body, so I'm going to save that one for another day. In case anyone is wondering, this is what the OCV looks like: And, here's where the driver's side is (with a dot on the one 10mm bolt that holds it in.):

Let's get this to the ES forum... I agree with JC, I highly doubt that a part as common as a mirror is unavailable. Search the forum for links to online Lexus parts departments such as Sewell, Park Place, Carson, irontoad, etc.

My brother had a '91 Toyota Pickup (4wd sr5, it even had a factory sunroof) with the 3vze. When the headgasket went at 85k miles, he had the heads machined when he changed everything, and the truck ran like a top even when he sold it at 185k miles about 8 years later. I have no idea what headgaskets they used or any of the repair details. What an anemic engine though; the guys on the Toyota forums don't call that engine the "3.slow" for no reason (his truck even had the manual transmission.)....not the case with his replacement car, a '00 Mustang GT. B)

I really wouldn't waste the time with this unless you are going after a specific transmission problem. I changed the tranny filter in my '95 at the ~250k mile range (for good measure), and the filter was clean. The magnets had the most minimal, microscopic amount of shavings (more like dust than anything) on them; really quite amazing for the year and mileage (I've seen pics posted from other cars, and the shavings are so dense and large that they look like cactus plants.). If I turn my head just so and look at the pic I posted, it is 12371-50060.

Can anyone point out where the OCV is? I also have a 1349 code and intermittent 300-307 codes. It idles horribly at stop lights, but acts perfectly normal on the interstate. I know there is nothing seriously wrong with the engine since it purrs like a kitten when I turn the light off with my scanner. Timing belt was done about 30k miles ago by Lexus, so I really don't think that's the problem. I read in another VVTi failure thread that seafoam in the oil might work to move the sludge from the OCV filter, so I'm going to try that first. Here's an engine pic for reference... PS Any ideas for getting the 6qt writing off the intake housing, well, that would be nice too!