hyperopt

My rack & pinion is leaking fluid around the solenoid (the same solenoid many folks removed to clean the screen) and I figure it's the O-ring on the solenoid. I went to Lexus dealer to get the O-ring but was surprised to be informed the the O-ring wasn't sold. No parts for the solenoid except for the entire solenoid assembly for $600. :o I am so disappointed with Lexus. What was Lexus thinking? Has anyone located and replaced this solenoid O-ring?

Oh yes, I cleaned to UCA spotless and applied more silicone grease than bushing can hold and still squeak in short time. I am not the only with polyurethane squeaking.

LS uses shims & buckets and Lexus calls buckets as valve lifters. These so call bucket valve lifters are not the same as the traditional hydraulic valve lifters found in other engines.

Don't know what PB Blaster is but you should not remove the TB until you're ready to replace it right away. Remember, this is a four stroke engine which meant the crank turns 2 revolutions for every 1 rev of cam. As long as the cam marks are on the spot you will be fine with cams but not so with crank - only every OTHER revolution of crank is correct top dead center. With that in mind, here are my tips in regard to TB which might save you headaches in the long run: 1. loosen both cam & cranks bolts but don't remove them 2. manually crank the crank shaft until all cam & crank marks lineup 3. remove the cranks bolt again (which should be easy now) but try not to get the crank off its mark 4. replace TB and other parts and make sure all pulley marks line up 5. before you put back everything (but ofcourse after you replaced the idlers & tensioner), manually crank the crankshaft (clockwise when viewed from front) 2 revs and make sure all pulley marks lineup. Repeat step 5 again to make sure you're not imagining things. :o If I hadn't perform step 5 on my last TB change, I would probably hung myself as the cam was spring loaded and rotated itself out of position without me knowing it.

No need to unhook the compressor, but you'll need to remove the return hose on the power steering pump reservior, otherwise, you'll break it when you fully jack the engine. You must lower the crossmember as low as it safely can go, otherwise, you won't have enough clearance to remove the mounts. I picked the jack points closest to the engine mounts to avoid having to lift up the whole engine.

Depending on how tight the bolt was when it was last torqued, I say you would need at least 200-250ft*lbs to get the crank bolt off. As the the cam bolts you can use the existing heads of the bolts, which fasten the cam shield plate right behind the cam pulleys between the pulley's spokes, as anchors to the bar to hold the cam still. For example, I used a 10mm socket on the end of the long socket extension and place the socket between the pulley's spokes and on the cam shield plate bolt, as if you were to remove that bolt, then firmly hold the socket extension while undoing the cam bolt. Some old school mechanics (including me prior to having air tools and desperate) used the starter to crank and undo the crank bolts. I don't advocate this method but I performed a few times as a last resort so here it is but you're responsible for all your actions: use a long breaker bar with the bolt socket attached. The breaker bar must be long enough to lean against a sturding fix point to hold the bar/socket still when you crank the starter. I used mother earth as that fix point. Use that socket/bar to manually crank the engine clockwise (when view from the front) until you cannot crank further and the breaker bar rest upon the fix point you selected. Then get out of the way and give the starter a short 1/2sec crank burst and hope for the best. Starter method only works if your engine rotates clockwise (when view from the front) when run.

I used a screw driver to pry out the thermostat at near the center of the thermostat (near where the conical legs converge). It took some force but you would not break anything except for bending the old thermostat.

I used air tools to remove crank & cam bolts in seconds on my LS' without issues. I wouldn't attempt TB job without air tools. Alternatively, you can use prethreaded holes on the pulleys to fasten tools to hold the pulleys still. Tip: Loosen the cam bolts before you remove the TB.

That is unwise business practice in long terms as failed products will return to haunt the producers, and if your opinions are correct, such business would not survive for long. Fair minded consumers will quickly know which products are good and which to stay away from. GM and Ford has been producing automobiles for a long long time. Their cars were once great but then they faltered and recently regained some ground and now they are in deep red inching closer to bankruptcy. Rather than creating jobs and generating more businesses, GM have plans to layoff thousands, closing plants, and ditching pensions and Ford will soon follow.

...or simply to milk more from the cow.

Judging the cost of living in Japan vs. USA, I don't think they pay anywhere near $2/hr for folks in Japan. Both design and manufacturing are critical for long term performance. Back more than a decade ago, Nissan trucks had problems with some of their transmissions and it turned out the majority of those transmissions were built in the USA. When they compared same model transmissions that were built in USA vs. those that were built in Japan, they found that machine parts from USA had poorer tolerance than from Japan, which led to premature breakdown.

$400 to change alternator? Not much of a bargain.

Domestic car reliability has been improving and last year (after 25+ years of trying) domestics surpass Europeans in terms of reliabitity, but still not good enough for me to put one in my garage.

Daizen bushing kit comes with lubricant, but like all lubricants, it eventually dry out and lose its lubricating properties with time. I am sure those bushings are good when lubed, but I wouldn't want to have to remove those bushings to lube them every few months as that would not be cost effective. Those who have had Daizen bushings on their vehicles for awhile please share your thoughts. lsrxlex: Do you know if the mechanic lubed those bushings at installation? Sound like you have had bad experiences with Daizen bushing so go for OEM. The price for lower control arms isn't too bad...$75.77 at newlexusparts.com.

Daizen has bushings for first generation LS front suspension arms and I wonder how good they are in the long terms. Some reported that those bushings are a bit too stiff and would squeak with age. What are your thoughts?