brybo86

you get the prize ^^^dumbest thing I have read all year. change the belt already

how could i test the shocks to see if they are the culprit?

little background when I go over a speedbump(or when they chew the blacktop to put a a new layer on it and there is the abrupt 3 inch jump) any faster than a crawl I get a loud clunk in the rear end i was underneath trying to figure out what is going on today. These pics are of the bushings directly behind the differential they dont look torn to me but they definitely flex to the extreme when the diff is jacked up. #1 weight on wheels #2 weight on wheels #1 jack under diff #2 jack under diff

yes, i had to push pull as hard as I could given the limited space and being careful to not tweak the fuel lines in the process as i was turning the connections I thought for sure something was getting stripped I broke the fuel line connections loose while the mounting bracket was still connected for a little more stability

Not fun... why does the filter have to be located above the exhaust and all the suspension components? really tested the flexibility in my wrists. i wasnt having any issues with fuel delivery but changed it for fun i guess Tool used were 14mm and 17mm flare nut wrenches 17mm combo wrench 19mm combo wrench jack jack stands catch pan new filter was a WIX The day before I sprayed a bunch of penetrating oil on the connections new filter installed ONLY lost about 5 quarts of gas.... ROFL took forever, with gas running down my arms and neck... sucked old filter, i couldn't find any markings on it other than "KUG" ?? cut open... didn't seem very dirty.

OTC 4754 Universal Pulley Holder http://www.amazon.com/OTC-4754-Universal-Pulley-Holder/dp/B000Q8GVPY I used this to remove/install the crank harmonic balancer as well as the cam pulleys. It comes with the different sized pins to remove both pulleys. The holes on the cam pulleys are SO small like 8mm. There is no way that some random 8mm bolts can take the 80+ ft/lbs to remove the bolt. The pins included with the pulley set fit perfectly between the "spokes" of the pulleys allowing a much more firm grip on the pulley. Trust me. Here is a link to my thread with a picture of how I positioned the tool. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/topic/81797-got-a-1995-ls400-172k-and-need-some-advice/?p=476013

possible solenoids didn't i read that these go bad? they are change by removing the tranny pan not too bad

yes my vote would be leaking rear coolant bridge gaskets

you sure it is the pump and not the o ring under the reservoir? the o ring cost like $1 takes maybe 10-15 minutes to change

if you look closely on the pics of the old starter gear you can see it was only touching the flywheel about halfway on the teeth...?

I put everything back together yesterday and it works GREAT! Starter turned over strong and quietly and most importantly with any high pitched chime (delayed disengagment) of the old starter. I went to the dealer yesterday and bought new coolant bridge gaskets, they were acutally cheaper local than from sewell even before shipping. It took me FOREVER to reconnect the lower EGR pipe to the back of the coolant bridge. Like a few hours just for that one step. SO frustrating. I used new gaskets for the head to manifold and manifold to surge tank, as well as a new throttle body gasket. I also used the reman DENSO from amazon per sha400's recommendation. although the reman denso from rockauto was cheaper and they will take the old core back for like a $32 refund I did not test before reintalling everything... :0 dumb/lucky me I bought rebuild fuel injector kits for $2 each from Napa. worked great. The old injector grommets were rock hard and cracked each one I changed the PCV valve, grommet, and hose. The grommet was literally rock hard, I used pentrating oil to loosen it and then stuffed a towel into the hole and then pryed/broke it out with some screwdrivers. THen pulled the towel out with all the pieces caught in it. I bought another set of distributor rotors from sewell since if you recall I put the first set of new ones in backwards when doing my timing belt last month and have been using the old ones until I opened up the engine again. So last night at 11pm I opened the "new" distributor rotor boxes and they look just like the ones I put in backwards last month. The rotors wiper friction material look to have been shaved off and it is missing the sandpaper like material. They are very smooth without grit. I emailed sewell today, Even so now I have to go in AGAIN with new rotors at some point, this will be the 3rd time I change them... I have it down to a science. I gently pull back the timing cover and slip the new ones in. Only requires draining a tiny bit of the radiator and taking off the bolts from the upper timing covers. I leave the serpentine belt on too. old on the left and "new" on the right, someone must have returned the rotors and they repackaged them and gave them to me.... GRRRR. it was the icing on the cake of frustration yesterday.

Let me just start by saying that this job is a SLEEPER in difficulty...It SEEMS easy but oh boy.. it isn't. The issue that I was having was that immediatly after starting the car it would make a high pitched chime or high pitched grind for a half to 1 second that sounded exactly the same as when you turn the key on a car that is already running. Bascially like the starter was not disengaging quick enough. I read about it every day for the last week, thinking everything was going to be very smooth.... It started off very well Here is the back of the throttle body, definitely in need of a good cleaning The upper manifold/surge tank came off relatively easy. The EGR pipe on the back had 2 different sizes of bolts? one was a 12mm and one a 13mm?? This is when I began to suspect something was up. My game plan was the take off the upper manifold/lower manifold and fuel rail off in one piece... failed There was no way that was happening... I took them all off separately. gaskets between surge tank and lower manifold is metal, i got new ones but i bet these would be fine to reuse. As you can see in the above pic, the upper manifold is off I removed the injector clips with a small U shaped pick/hook tool, didn't break any :) false hope I removed the fuel return hose and took off the rail mounting bolts then simply flipped the rail intact over to the driver side of the car. Felpro manifold gaskets...as I suspected with the different EGR bolts. Someone had been in here before. I guess what do you expect at 172k... ? lower manifold off, starter in plain sight now, It had been about 3 hrs, but i was apparently just getting started I thought i was going to use the harbor freight tool ratchet/t handle tool and remove the starter bolts without removing the rear coolant bridge... YAH... impossible, at least on a 95-97, you see that heater core and heat control valves up there? no way the tool is getting in there. After trying for 2 hrs, and numerous colorful words I was losing hope. I removed the upper EGR pipe to try and get the HF tool in, nope. OK so I guess Ill just take out the rear cool bridge... easy right? no The lower EGR pipe is bolted to the back of the rear coolant bridge, those bolts cannot be accessed from the engine bay as the coolant bridge is in the way. Ok then so I read online that I might need to remove the passenger cat to access the lower EGR pipe bolts on the rear coolant bridge,...not happening.... thought about it for 30 mins, impossible, not only were the cat bolts old and locked on there. There is no way for a socket(maybe a special sized swivel socket, i dont have one) to even get around them without hitting the cat and there is no way a simple box wrench is getting those suckers off. After more words and tow truck contemplation i had genius idea, loosen the lower EGR pipe bolts on top of the exhaust pipe and then hope that it gives me enough clearance to pull up on the coolant bridge. I used the harbor freight t handle thing to remove the 2, 12mm nuts on top of the exhaust freeing up the lower egr tube from below. This allowed me to pull up an inch or 2 on the coolant bridge and then I could get the HF tool in there again to remove the bolts holding the lower EGR tube to the back of the rear coolant bridge. finally the coolant bridge was free and I had much better access to the starter bolts. I put some serious torque on that HF tool to loosen the passenger starter bolt... It flexed and i thought it was snapping for sure but it thankfully broke the bolt loose, I removed it using the same tool while jamming a screwdriver against the bolt to keep tension on it so it didn't spin backwards. I broke the driver side bolt loose with a 3/8 breaker bar and shorty socket( nothing fits in there even with the bridge removed) then finished removing with the HF tool. Finally got it out Some wear/chips on the bendix, this starter was definitely not a denso, probably a duralast (I found some pieces of autozone receipt down in the valley) another shot best shot I could get of the flywheel, there was a tiny bit wear but nothing like the starter drive, no chips, or missing teeth as i cranked the engine over via the crankbolt I did manage to break the little connector for the starter solenoid signal, wrapped it up with a bunch of electrical tape... :/ new starter in, bolt reinstall was a breeze by hand, I had ran them through the new starter threads a few times to clean them up and tightened as hard as I could with a 3/8 shorty ratchet (all that would fit) Now I need coolant bridge gaskets from the dealer and since i didn't plan on removing it i didn't buy them... dumb, if they dont have them in stock maybe I will add some rtv on top and reinstall? they are the same part number but different names on the sewell parts diagram. Now i just need to put everything back, clean up mating surfaces and manifolds, and rebuild injectors with napa kits, then hope it starts, oh joy Not recommended for the faint of heart, this really is a big job. I just did my timing belt and I think this was much more difficult. In conclusion, that harbor freight 98484 "Tbar with flexible 3/8 ratchet" saved my !Removed! many times.

^^^ really good to know, thx

was there any sign of tranny problems before this happened?

you need to take another pic, turn off the phone flash and use a separate light, if the phone screen isn't clear before the pic is taken it wont be after. If it wont focus try backing up more, and/or using zoom after backing up.