blake918

Not to worry SK, you should be getting a break soon since his bedtime has got to be comming near! lmao Keep up the good work with this little *BLEEP*er. ;)

I bought a set of brand-new OEM hood struts on ebay for like $75...deal of a lifetime! I paid the dealer $100/strut when they went on the ES, but I didn't want to do that again. I've very pleased with my find!

You don't need to change the indicator sensors unless your brake wear light is on. I've had (and continue to have) great luck with OE pads. They're something like $50 at irontoad.com and be sure to lube up that shim on the back of the pad.

Michelin MXV4+ @ 30psi...roughly 45k-50k miles on the tires. Sometimes I like them at 40psi to firm things up (especially on long trips or when I travel outside LA since everyone's roads are smoother than ours.).

When I get the energy, I'll put that cooler in there too! ;) It's simply remarkable the way my 260k mile LS shifts. I can't notice them, and I have a borderline case of OCD when it comes to the LS! :D It's always fun to give the LS some gas, huh? lol

I've had an independant locksmith cut a Lexus key for me. He raped me on the price to cut it ($40), but the key worked well.

This is interesting! I've always considered the yellow fog lights on my ES just a cosmetic feature as their light out put is pathetic. Perhaps, I've been living in the dark! They probably need new bulbs or better aiming. The fog lights on my LS though are superb; I'd say they account for at least 30% of my lighting

That was probably 3 weeks or so ago (a few days before the 4th I think). I didn't even make a post about it since the damage to the ES was so minor. The body shop had it back together in just a couple hours. I think the world of the ES's safety after this incident. Of course it's her fault, and she caused this entire thing because her attention was diverted to her cell phone.

Fair enough! ;) This is the real deal though.... My sister+moderate rain+VZW LG 6100+new text message from best friend=one big mess. While she was reading her message, she noticed that she was comming up on the person in front of her too quickly. She slams on the brakes, jerks the wheel, loses control of the ES300, side swipes the Corolla next to her, the Corolla careenes off the road in to a tree, and the ES ended up stuck in the mud in the median. She was ticketed for careless operation. I don't think any researcher would know what she was really doing as it wasn't noted on the ticket. Luckily, no one was hurt. The ES is a tough little car.... Excuse the camera phone. This is where the ES side swiped the Corolla... This is where the Corolla slid in to the tree... As you can see, the roads weren't even that wet...

That's bizarre. I would try some graphite lock spray in the locks first...perhaps some of the interal parts of the key cylinder are frozen. I had a valet key that would not work in the trunk lock cylinder on my ES. The dealer thought the keys weren't cut properly, so they kept making me more and more of them at no charge! After I got tired of the free keys (at #4), I took the car to a lock smith, and he recommended graphite grease. Sure, enough it worked. It's a long shot, but it's cheap and won't hurt anything!

Carl's got you covered (he even used Walker sensors too): http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/EFI/

Don't let it get to you. $hit like this happens when you drive Lexus cars during high school. It happens to the best of us....I've been keyed, bottles thrown at me, cans, glared at, harassed, etc., and my car is never the fanciest or newest in parking lots. Except for getting keyed, none of it damages the car which is the most important part. Unfortunately, we have to deal with some idiotic people in the world.

What a car!! Perfect colors and perfect year! Enjoy B)

I would agree that a lot of times they are just status symbols, but I want a '00+ S500 becasue I am 6'4, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I test drove one....I pushed the seat all the way back and as low as possible (out of habit since most cars require me to do that to even think about fitting in there.), I plop in, and I'm absolutely speachless that I can't reach the pedals. People over 6'2ish need MBs. Even a '00 E320 I drove had better driver space than my LS 400. I wish Lexus would spend $50 extra on extra seat and steering wheel (telescoping) track to allow extra travel for tall drivers. It's a shame....I have to pick B comfort and A+ reliability (Lexus) or A++ comfort and D quality (MB). The current S class is simply a gorgeous machine, and I've always loved the way that Mercedes cars feel very heavy on the road.

Monarch, there was only one tiny spec of dirt (the size of a small a crumb) in one of the holes on one of the solenoids. I don't know if the new filter or the solenoids did the magic, but she shifts better than before, and she already shifted wonderfully. My fluid is also spotless as I do pan drains roughly every 5k miles with Toy T-IV fluid (as per the RW maint. plan). After Bicol did this, he inspired me to do the same. My hope in doing this was to eleminate/lessen the P-->D lurch which it didn't; as it turns out, an even smoother transmission shift was a byproduct of my origional intent. After I found original wires on my car @ 235k, I knew that the trans filter had to be original also, so I figured why not do this! I was hoping for a lessened lurch, but I ended up with smoother shifting, and I'm sure it did some good for the trans. I consider it a success!

After removing the 20 or so nuts, we took a flat-head screw driver and hammered at the seam until it broke loose. Later on, we sanded and wirebrushed (on the bench grinder) the minor, minor imperfections from hammering, and it looked great. There is no traditional gasket for the OE part. I don't remember what kind of sealer we used...I wasn't going to pay the dealer $30 for some $5 tube of sealer. I don't know why, but the thing that gave us the most trouble was the bolt for the dipstick. It just didn't want to get back in there! I'm having a hard time picking the names of the solenoids from that repair manual PDF (they switch orientations 10x). After you get the filter out, it's the 2 solenoids nearest the rear of the car. You don't have to take the valve body off! My filter was about 90% spotless. I chose to replace rather than clean. I think springing for a new trans filter once every 260k is not a bad thing.

One of my friends has this FM transmitter in his car. I was very impressed with the sound quality for a FM mod.!

We can go back and forth all day since anyone can find university research to support just about any theory. Here is an interesting little story from the Insurance Information Insitute they cover a little of both sides. I'd have to agree with the findings that cellphone usage is a big distraction since I was nailed by a young woman yammering on her cellphone all the while she didn't see my big, black LS stopped at a redlight. Luckily, neither I nor the other driver was hurt, and the LS walked away with just a minor, minor scratch. I hate to admit it, but I was thumbing through my phone book in my phone and nearly slammed in to the rear of the car in front of me. It scared the hell out of me as I was going just under 80, and I learned from the situation. Needless to say, shortly after that, we installed a Nokia carphone in my LS which I don't use all that much from that prior experience. Just today in the toll plaza, some guy in a truck was on his phone. In a 5 second period, he pulled in front of two vehicles going probably 40mph while he was going 5-10. It's a good thing those drivers were paying attention since they honked and swerved out of the cell user's way. Anyone see that episode of Mythbusters where they setup a road course and gave it a go while talking on their cellphone and once more when legally drunk? They recieved a better score when they were drunk. The fact of the matter is there are drivers on the road that aren't paying attention-cellphones or no cellphones (and trust me, I know a lot about stupid drivers since I live in Louisiana, home of the most moronic drivers on the roads.), so be careful.

I'm 1000% positive my LS is a 95 (UCF20L)! :D I got my filter from my local dealer for something like $50. I'll find the post on the solenoids for you. Here's the link for the transmission service-filter and solenoids. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...mission++cooler

Don't take it personally, Broeux! This forum is heavily moderated, and is great for that reason. Please do stick around! Where are you posting from in LA? Welcome to the club! :D

Someone delete this please!

I would bet your connections are ok...my '95 does the exact same thing your car does, Hampton, but I don't care all that much...it's all water under the bridge at 260K miles!

There is a filter! ;) I just changed mine and cleaned the solenoids as per Bicol's recommendation. The trans shifts much, much better after the servicing. After everything was put back together, I refilled with just a hair under 3 quarts.

I agree. Thanks Steve! :D What's so bad about things form a junkyard? Before: holy $hit: wow: sheesh: Torn at the top: After with JUNKYARD parts: Use car-part.com to do the searching for you. I bought all of these parts from a good ole country-bumpkin in Arkansas (last place I would have thought they would have Lexus parts) for less than $600 and shipped for free to an industrial address (the seat weighs over 70lbs). Find some contacts on car-part.com, demand some pics, and buy the best looking pieces...that's what I did. It was painless and cheap. Installation for all of those pieces was just over an hour with an air ratchet and steering wheel puller.

I really enjoy Meguire's #26 for a good otc(as in you don't have to order online.) wax. Easy on and easy off with a good shine for a novice detailer like myself!