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z_johnq

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Everything posted by z_johnq

  1. This is a good idea! But is the dye available in any auto parts stores? I heard of something like that can be put in a cooling system to spot leaking, not in p.s. systemp. Thanks RX400h!
  2. Thanks for the suggestion. But the leaking is around p.s. pump area. What if the pump is replaced, but leaking is not stopped? It is not easy to pin-point the location of the leaking. I checked a few previous posts, there may be quite a few parts that cause leaking. The aftermarket pump cost only around 70 bucks. Let me check the leaking spots first. I guess the leaking on my car won't cause pollution because it's very light leaking.
  3. The alternator has been replaced and everything looks fine now. No more battery warning light so far. No sure how long it will last since the power steering pump is still leaking.
  4. I had exactly the same issues on my 95 LS400 (with about 125k miles) a couple of weeks ago. The battery warning light came on and off for a few days, in fact, it was more off than on. I know my power steering pump is leaking but the alternator pulley spins smoothly and it looks clean. But last week, the car was dead on the way back home. It was dead again after a couple of jump-start. It looked obvious it was the alternator. I bought a brand-new battery so I could drive home without calling for a tow truck. The battery warning light had been on since the new battery installed. It took me about 2 hours to take off the bad alternator. I'm waiting for the replacement to reach me so I can install it. I don't want to fix or replace the power steering pump. Is there any way to keep the leaking p.s. fluid from dripping down to the alternator? Probably the leaking fluid damaged the voltage regulator or other parts, even the mechanical parts working fine. Thanks in advance.
  5. Sorry about the false alarm. The battery is in good condition too but the both terminals are dirty so it's the connection problems. Thanks again for your attention.
  6. Hello guys, Need your advice on it. As I turned the ignition key, I hear rapid clicks from the starter with the battery fully charged. That's the only symptom that I noticed. If the starter is gone, I'll have to get rid of the car. I replaced the starter on my previous 1990 LS400. It was a terrible PITA: spendng almost 2 days with a helper to get the job done. No intention to go through that kind of pain again. The car was in very good condition with 124k mile on it. The interior is in very good condition too. Thanks in advance,
  7. No. I'm not that lucky! One of the caliper pistons got stuck. I'd have to press very hard to push it in, and then let it out, then push it in and let it out. After a few times of pushing in and out, the drag is getting better but won't last long. A few miles, it will go back to where it was. I'm replacing the caliper now. I'll let you know what happens. Btw, I've replace one of the brake hoses and it doesn't help at all. Thanks.
  8. Yes, I did. The hub turns smoothly and no abnormal noise either. The bearings should be fine. Thanks.
  9. Hi folks, I still have a question. I jacked up the front wheel. The right hand side wheel still has much more drag than the left one, after quite some work on it. But I'm not sure when the car is driven on highwy, the drag might be less because after an hour of freeway driving, I touched the aluminum rim of both wheels. They were slightly warm. I was expecting the right wheel would be pretty hot considering the bad drag. But it's not. Why? Thanks again.
  10. Yes. I agreed. But it was like charcoal before I replaced the fluid. Now it's like light brown and half transparent. It's true not to form a habit hang the caliper by brake hoses. It happened to me by accident as the caliper dropped on to the ground. Thanks again.
  11. Yeah, I know what you meant. What would you think of the color of the fluid? It's like charcoal. Yes. I replaced it. The hoses look fine and there is no cracks. I guess the previous owner had replaced them but not sure. As I worked on the brakes, I sat the calipers on the tie-rod end and lower control arms but it slipped and dropped on to the ground. The calipers are of solid steel and heavy and hung by a single brake hose. But the hose still fine.
  12. I don't mind replace the caliper but I'm worried about the bleeding. I'm alone now. I do have a set of bleeding device with a 30 gal compressor but I don't like it. I prefer the way of 2 people.
  13. No. It's not of air suspension. I'm sure about it. No. I did not replace the caliper(s). But one of the pistons stuck in the caliper before. So the brake was very tight and caused shaking of the car as doing 40 to 50. I took a "C" clamp and pushed the piston in and out a dozen times and now it's much better. But it's not perfect and I believe that still has something to do with the drag. No. No work done with the bearings. The bearings should be fine since there is no noises heard as the wheel spinning. I doubt I have a cracked hub since there was no accident on the car before. VBdenny was right about it. I did check the pins and they had quite some grease on them so I did not add more. But I should. Besides, I don't think the "V" shape springs are strong enough to keep the pads from touching the rotors without brake applied. Thank you all.
  14. Hi, As I jack up the car (1991 LS400) and leave one of the front wheel above the ground, the wheel can turn but not very freely with some drag felt. As I take off the wheel and turn the rotor, it's easier than turning the wheel before it was off. I took another test by loosing the lug nuts slightly and then turned the wheel, then I got less drag. It seemed that the tighter the lug nuts, the more drag. Did any of you come across the situation like this? Thanks in advance!
  15. Hi guys, Thanks to you guys' help and ideas. I got the problems fixed. I was in a hurry so I did not rebuild the calipers: just replace the brake fluid. Still have some drag as the wheel jacked up but I think I can live with that. I tested drive for an hour on freeway. There was no shaking at any speed range. After came back, I felt the front wheel rim: slightly warm. I guess I can live with that too. I'll rebuild the calipers anyway but not now since it's cold in my garage. I also fixed the right upper control arm on the clearance of the ball joint. I injected some grease with a grease needle through the rubber anti-dust. Now, it's full of grease and unable to feel the clearance at all. I know this is a temp fix but now it's just a makeshift. Haven't got the chance to fix the PS yet. At least it's drivable now. Thanks again for your help! I'll remember the tips of rebuilding the calipers you provided.
  16. Do I need to take the PS off to clean the screen/filter or leave it on the car and do the cleaning?
  17. Thanks for the explanation. Let's leave it for now since at least I can let her warm up and free the steering wheel. I tried to fix the shaking problems. As I jacked up the front end with the right wheel above the ground, first I checked the tranny mount visually. It looks fine: the rubber sort of soft and elastic. Of course I will take it off to check further. Guess what I found: 1) the brake was stuck: it was almost impossible to turn the wheel with hand; something wrong with the brake for sure. Long story short, the piston (one of them) did not move at all in the caliper. With a C clamp and brake pedal, and some brake cleaner, it got pushed out and pressed back in a few times, it's getting better. With the wheel on, as I turned it, still feels some drag but at least it can turn now. I guess I need to replace or rebuild the caliper(s). 2) the upper control arm has problems. With the wheel above the ground, I held the top and bottom of the wheel pushing it in and out, I heard clear sound of metal contact. The clearance is not tiny. I found the problem as I bought the car 9 years ago and did not want to replace it with the cost over $300 the part alone. 3) a small piece of hard rubber torn off from the shock probably from the shaking. Not sure but the shaking mainly comes from the stuck brakes. But I guess so. Let me checked the left brake and keep you guys posted. Thanks again.
  18. I didn't even know there was a filter for PS pump, or a filter close to rack & pinion. But I'll check it out. The point is if it can cause the shaking I was talking about. I just suspect. Thanks.
  19. One more symptom I'd like to tell you and I suspect it have something to do with the shaking. When it's cold and start the car in the morning, I cannot turn the steering wheel until it's warmed up. It feels like it gets stuck. Is that a problem with the rack & pinion? Sometimes, I cannot wait so I turn hard to break loose. It may hurt the system too. Thanks.
  20. Thanks for the tip Exhaustgases. My 95 LS sat in my garage for about 2 years because of the problems with the EGR pipe. I tried quite a few ways of reaching the pipe (mostly from under) but failed. I had been busy so left the car alone. Yes. I can weld. I have MIG and O/A equipment and more. I replaced part of the exhaust pipes for my 96 Land Cruiser and some welding involved (the replacement of the converter (bought from Ebay) had no heat shield; I found one and welded on top of the device). I guess MIG should be fine. I'll keep you guys posted.
  21. Sounds the right thing to do. I checked RockAuto online store and they do carry them. But before I do it, let me rotate the tires first because I found a not-too-big bulge on the wall of one of the front tires. Probably comes from hitting pretty hard on a pitfall or something. One more question. My 95 LS400 has a cracked EGR pipe (lower part). It's extremely hard to take it off and replace because the gap between the pipe and the tranny is too small to get my hand/wrench in. If I take off the tranny mount, can the tranny be lower slightly so I have more room for my hand to reach the pipe? Thanks again in advance.
  22. Thanks for replying. I did not try OD button on and off. I did try shifting to D2. It got much better and almost no shaking. I checked the web around. Someone mentioned that it might be the problems with tranny mount, which probably turned bad and needed replacement. Can I check it by the looks or I need some tools without taking them off? Please advise. No, there are no bent wheels since there was no accident lately. Thanks for the reminder: I will rotate the tires to see what happens, even though I doubt they have something to do with the problems. They are not new tires but in pretty good condition.
  23. 1991 Lexus LS400. The car has about 180k miles on it. The car starts fine. Basically idle is fine too but I can feel very minor miss as putting my hands at the tail pipes of the muffler. But as driven, when doing around 45 miles/hr to 50, the steering wheel starts to shake and so does the gear shifter. It feels like the suspension is about to break. But as I downshift to D2, it feels just fine. But the RPM goes sky high, which should be normal. I checked the tranny's fluid, it's pink and no odor of burning. I also checked the plugs and the ignition cable, nothing is suspicious. The water pump and timing belt are about 2 years old. I guess the tranny's life is almost up. What would you guys think? Thanks in advance.
  24. HI, I know this is not a new subject. But I still have the same problems with my 95 LS400. I remember someone talking about "lower rear engine support" to get access to the upper bolts of the pipe. I'd like to try but not sure how. Can I have some input from you guys who know. I tried from underneath of the car by taking off the converter and so on; I don't want to do it from the top of the engine by taking off the intake manifold, unless I have to. As I took off the converter, I had to use oxy/acetylene torch to heat up and remove the bolts since impact wrench had no luck. It did not look quite rusty but just wouldn't come off. Thanks in advance.
  25. Thanks Billy. I'd try those you recommended if I found out mine are really bad. I've already contacted a few garages but they told me they did not have the equipment for the old models (OBD II won't work on those cars), to check if the sensors and cats are OK. I'll keep trying. Thanks again.
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