nc211

Thank you guys, yeah I think I was FINALLY blessed with one of those "luck of the draw" wild cards out there! I think I had earned at least one! hahaha Monarch, I grabbed the top part of the solenoid, at the bolt section. The channel lock handle was towards the driver's side tire, and I pushed it foward, towards the front of the car. Basically, I went clockwise to loosen it, counterclockwise to tighten it, the opposite of what we're used to doing for screws. It took maybe 15 lb's of force? Not too much. I'm wondering since I did not allow the system to warm up, if it might have been easier for me due to no pressure build up in the system?? Not sure, just a thought. I think I just got lucky. It did drain a good bit of fluid, enough to drain the resivour dry. After I got it back on, I put some fluid in the resivour, backed it down the ramps than immediately shut it off "pump was making a horrible noise, knew it was low on fluid". I then jacked up the front with (1) my craftsman floor jack on the driver's side and the (2) car's jack from the trunk on the passenger's side. I filled up the resivour again and did 25 side to side turns with the steering wheel, with the engine off. Checked the fluid, seemed to hold steady, so I started the car, and did 25 side to side again, with wheels still up in the air. No foam, no bubbles in the fluid. However, I should say that I did the Lexls flush about 8 weeks ago already, so the fluid was already pretty new to begin with. I have a bunch of leftover fluid from it that I used today. Put the cap on, put the car back on the ground, and went for a drive around the neighborhood, big willey style. Steers great now, but I think I'm going to investigate a new solenoid soon due to that torn screen. Question: That BIG hex plug in the bottom of the rack, is that to drain the power steering fluid? I've circled it on this picture below. Yeah I was thinking about one of those filters too. I'll have to investigate that a little bit....time for me to do a search.. ...almost nothing left to do?? Hahahaha.... I'm just getting warmed up! hahahaha.. Some call me the village idiot around here for a reason! Hahaha!!

Done....it was cake for me! Didn't have to warm up the engine, no need for a punch, just a set of channel locks. The hardest part for me was figuring out the electric connector. I had to remove the solenoid with the electric connector attached before I could get a better look at how it went together. I've also got a hole in one of the screens....does this mean I need a new solenoid, or can I just get a new screen and put it in there? MAN!! WHAT A DIFFERENCE!! Wow, I'm amazed at how easy it is to steer this thing now. I thought it was good before, but now? Night and day difference. Here are a bunch of pictures of the process :D Total time was maybe an hour.

Ok fella's, it's time for the screen cleaning..No air hammer to be used, unless of course i can't get the thing to break loose, then maybe a split second hit with it. Anyway, before I start, i just wanted to make sure I'm looking at the correct part on my car. Is this it in the photo?

Craig, you'll have a new car with all of those updates man! I haven't read this entire thread, so I might be missing something, please excuse my ignorance. How about spark plugs? That might be a big help too. You won't go wrong with the suspension repairs, no matter if they 'appear" to be ok. That soft rubber hardens up over time, and in your climate area, I'm sure the cold air had probably advanced that a bit. You'll love those updates for sure! The rear carrier bushings are probably ready to be replaced. Mine were shot at 90k miles. The pcv pipe, you might actually want to take that one off of the list and do it yourself. It's soooo easy to do, takes maybe 5 minutes and a set of needle nose pliers. They might charge you like $50 bucks for a something that should only cost maybe $5. The cleaning of the throttle body....you'll like those results! It smoothes out the idle, and I've noticed when i did mine, it smoothed out the engines operation in general, including the transmission feel "I have NO earthly idea why???" but it did. It also gave more breathing room for the engine, which perked up the pep a bit too! that windy feeling you get on the highway....have you replaced your lower ball joints and outter tie rods on the steering before? Those two items seem to be the root of that feeling "if not suspension bushing & strut related". I did mine, and I do get that feeling a little bit still, but I know my rack is leaking a little on the passenger side. I'm up to 112k miles on mine, and I think it's getting close to addressing the inner tie rods and internal rack bushings. I'll probably just replace the rack in general, as I tend to like to dump too much money into my car... . That thump into D and R: I'm not sure if the 93 has those two rubber rear differential mounting cushions? If you look under the car, from the back, do you see two round donut sized mounts on the crossmember where the differential connects to the car? If so, you might want to have them replaced as well. I found with mine, the torque of the driveshaft over time will tear the driver's side bushing pretty badly, causing the inner metal piece to "mush" down enough to hit the outter metal ring piece, creating a metal sounding thump. Those two mounts aren't too expensive, I think maybe $30 each? But the labor can be steep because they have to take out the differential to get them out. In short, I think you'll be very happy with the car after the repairs, especially your suspension stuff!! I'd just stick with what you're doing now, and if you have the drifting feeling and thump still in your driveline, then maybe take a look at the ball joints and tie rods up front later on. I'm jealous man, sounds like you're gonna have a new car! I agree on the 300m comments. Depreciation is a tough pill to take. I hate it as well!! And unless I own my own business and can put the car in the business's name to claim all of that depreciation on the tax returns to reduce my tax bill, I will never pay it again!

conclusion....it was the thermostat housing seal, again. it was leaking from the back, down the backside of the front of the engine, through the grooves. when it was fixed before, it was fixed with an adhesive to the original seal, which didn't hold. new seal on there now....$217. THANK GOD it wasn't the water pump after all. I just got my heating bill today "natural gas"...how much can you get for a pint of blood again?

then you want the michelins. explore with others if you like, but you'll want the michelins. not to knock the goodyears, bridgestones, yokos...etc... but it seems to be that the michelins are the ones that fit what you're asking for. they were "are" what i wanted too. i explored with a set of continentials, of which are sitting on my back porch waiting for ups to pick them up and ship them back to tirerack.

It's normal.....do a search and you'll see a ton of posts about it. ;)

SRK, the exact same thing happened to me when I was test driving a 1998 GS300 before I bought my LS400. We pulled out of the lot, went about 300 yards and the lights came on, throttle went dead and we drifted into the center median of the road. I thought it was out of gas "less than 1/4 tank". Turned off the car, let it sit for a minute, then turned it back on, and it was fine. I filled it up, and had it all weekend "one of our lease turn in's". Never happened again. To answer your question about has anyone had to replace the ecm on their lexus? Yes, I had to. It seems like quite a few 95-96 LS owners have had to due to either the car stalling out after a highway cruise, or an off-throttle-shock syndrom around 40mph "mine had that". If I recall, not a cheap part. Something like $1,200-$1,500??

I used the high mileage stuff for about 10k miles on my car. I then switched over to mobile one full synthetic at 100k. Made the engine a lot quieter and have had no problems other than the walmart tech stripping out the threads in the oil pan. Sweet, I think you'll like the mobile one synth 5w30 stuff. I love it!

I cannot tell a lie....I have no life.. It's all work, wedding and LOC. I wonder if lexus is selling the bushings for the control arms now too for the 95-00 models??

Holy crap, they are selling just the bushings now for the 95-00 strut rods!! That's a bushing for our strut rods. How much did that cost?

I have replaced all the control arms on my 95, which is identical to yours. I paid just shy of $1,600 for all the control arms, outer tie rods, struts and strut rods. Listen to bicol-ini's advice, he knows his stuff. Don't buy them at the dealership, you'll pay way too much for them. You want to order them online, and then take them to an indi mechanic shop. It's not that hard to replace them, I did the front of my car myself in a weekend. I'm a banker, not a mechanic either. It wasn't easy, but it's not impossible. I would figure a local indi at $65 an hour would probably cost you around $400 in labor to replace your lower control arms and struts. I would also consider replacing your strut rods too "the part that connects your lower arm to the car as well". I shop here: http://www.lexuspartsonline.com/ #4 is the lower control arm @ $190 each #11 is the strut @ $60 each "you don't have air suspension right?" #10 is the strut rods @ $92 each. However, that picture isn't right, that is the strut rod for the 90-94 model years, not the 95-00 models. You may not need the strut rods. However, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND if you're going to replace your struts, that you also replace part #17 in the other picture "strut BUMPER" @ $13 each. I wish I had when I did all of my repairs, but simply forgot it.

damn, now that just sucks! I'm sorry to hear that man. What color was the smoke? White, black, brown, blue...?? Any strange noises, grinding sounds, bad smells? Did the gas mileage start to suffer, loss of power, hard shifting in the transmission?? Tell us more on the symptoms you had and maybe we can help. If you had no grinding noises, hard shifting, etc...then I would think it would be in the engine and not transmission. Man, I'm sorry to hear about your car. I wonder since it's all wheel drive, and you live in the snow belt, that if you didn't hit a slick spot, the wheels started to spin fast, then it hit a dry spot, got traction and put too much torque in the system? I used to have a subaru outback many years ago, and I know some of those cars would have major problems when a driver would goose the gas on a slick spot, then the wheels would hit dry pavement and would torque out the drivetrain and engine. Sort of like redlining your engine in neutral, then slamming it into drive. Maybe you didn't know you hit a slick spot and this is what happened? either way, i have confidence that Lexus will take care of you. they're famous for taking care of their customers. My car is 11 years old, and they treat me like it's a brand new car. have faith, they'll make it right by you...

....and the fitment kit...shims and fitment kits are two seperate pieces...I have no idea why other than profit makers, and frustrating as hell too!!

yeah man, it should be just 1.5 quarts coming out. The tranny hold something like 6 or 7 quarts "don't quote me on that though" but it will only drain 2 quarts, leaving the rest. It's an easy way to make sure you're at the right level, not too much, not too little. HOWEVER, our model years are different, and I'm not sure what the drain and fill measurements are for the series 1 models are. A quick call to the dealership would tell you that.

Mine will do that sometimes too, especially after I've unhooked the battery and cleared the memory in the computer. It's most likely normal and I wouldn't worry about it. But it could be that your throttle cable is a little too tight. Do a search on here, there was a posting about this a couple of weeks ago. It can't be too far back in the list. Or you could have too much tranny fluid in there as well?? I always do a "drain and fill" when I do my oil changes. I know it pours out exactly 2 quarts. And I put in 2 quarts. If there is too much in there, then it will drain out more than the 2 quarts "excess". Once it's done draining, just put in 2 quarts, and you should be good to go. Too much fluid can create too much pressure in the tranny, and can put too much pressure on the seals and bands. It just depends on how hard it's shifting. Are we talking about a 1987 Honda Accord type shifting where it rattles your skeleton, or just a little kick in the pants every now and then? If you floor it, does it pop into gear harder or softer? Mine is super soft when I floor it.

I think Kewlguy has the Bridgestones on his 93. I know my spare tire in the trunk is the bridgestone tire. It's never been used, came with the car back in 95.

http://www.sewelllexus-fw.com Alex, are you sure the email address isn't XXXX@sewelllexus-fw.com "fort worth dealership"? And not just XXXXX@sewell.com? They also have one listed as just sewelllexus.com too. I would think the "lexus" part would be in the email address part too??? I say this becuase my local dealership email adresses always end in @johnsonlexus.com, not just "johnson". Just a thought ;)

Ohhhh man, I think I hear the call for my air hammer!!! :D

Max, there is a tiny wire with a black piece of plastic that is attached to the inside pad on the front of the car. Mine is just on the passenger side, front, inside, pad. When the pad wears down past this tiiny plastic piece attached to the pad, the rotor will grind off the plastic sensor which in turn will trip the system and give you that light. Look at the front struts, one of them has a wire, and this is your pad sensor wire. Usually right below where the uca connects to the wheel hub you will see a black connecter piece. This is where you reconnect the new sensor into the car's system. Once the sensor goes off, it's toast and needs to be replaced. I would figure they'd run about $20 +/-

You clearly have air suspension, or have a case to file with the better business bureu in your state. The stuts aren't but $50-$60 each for a normal set up. But the air suspension cars are 100-200% more. So either you have air suspension, or you are being RIPPED OFF BIG TIME!!!! So...did you rebuild your LS Suspension? I'm in the process of rebuilding my 91 LS front suspension and found the cost of front shocks literally a "SHOCK" at $1,000 each. Did you find the same thing? Let me know how it went. Steve

Welp, she's at the dealership, again. Man I tell you what, I'll have driven nearly every one of their loaner cars soon! hahaha. I sent my tech advisor an email yesterday with these same pictures. They seem to think it is definetly the water pump too, and agree it should not have failed this quickly. Therefore a "good will" warranty will be put into place. I checked the p/s fluid yesterday as well, and it's fine, no loss of fluid in the cannister. I thought the same thing, as I recently flushed the system and put in the correct atf fluid, which is red like that as well. The tranny fluid too is that red. In all honesty, we can try and diagnois it all day long, but none of the hoses are leaking, the thermostat isn't leaking either "just went through that mess last month" the tranny fluid doesn't seem to be leaking, nothing that is red in color except for coolant seems to be low. The leak is coming from within the engine compartment itself, and can't be seen outside of it. The coolant that is in there now is less than two years old and under 26k miles. It was flushed and filled at the dealership when I purchased the car. So, we'll see what happens...... NC211, standing by....again. We sure these things are made in Japan and not Italy?? Fiat doesn't own any part of Toyota do they? Hahahaa

Not to say that I don't agree with you SRK on the probability of the water pump going out that fast, but as you said, it was replaced under warranty. I'm hoping for the same result, either for a defective part, or for the fact that it was not replaced at all. I must admit, if the waterpump goes out every 20-30k miles now, then there is a design flaw somewhere, wouldn't you agree?? I have the original "we owe" ticket from when I purchased the car. It says "we owe you a 90k service, to include a new timing belt and water pump." I also have the invoice siting that the waterpump, thermostat, water inlet gasket and about 15 other items were replaced. However, one of the items that it says they replaced was air refiner element "877139-YZZ02". I believe this is the in cabin air filter in the glove box. I can assure everyone that it was indeed not replaced, not even cleaned. I found this out right from the get-go when I realized I had a car with the bad engine computer and went snoopin' around in there. I pulled that filter, and it was dirty, very dirty. I don't know man, I just don't know. I'm not too happy right now with this thing. Yet another several hundred dollar bill coming my way on this car. We'll see what they say. If they say it's a full retail repair bill, then I'm screwed. It also says "Idler S/A, Timing Belt, part # 13503-0F010" I can't find that part number anywhere, and what does "S/A" mean?? Did they replace it, or did they just inspect it??

We'll see what they say. My concern is that since the job and the parts were on their dime when I purchased the car, that it was not done, since there is no sticker, and the water pump should only be 19 months old with 26k miles on it. Doesn't that sound a little premature to have to replace it again??? Especially being a Toyota product? I'm not saying it wasn't done, I'm not throwing fingers around here, but you have to admit, it sure does make more sense that a waterpump would fail at 110k miles & 11 years, than at 26k miles & 19 months. I'm starting to get the feeling the timing belt wasn't replaced either. But not going to make accusations either. If indeed this is the new water pump, then I would think Lexus would pony up on at least some of the repair bill, wouldn't you guys think so? I mean my $69 Walmart lawnmower still has the original oil in it from day one, nearly 3 years ago, and it works like a champ! Edit: Is that the actual water pump I've got circled? Is that the outside housing of it, like the back of the one wandawoods posted up earlier? Edit #2: Is there a serial number that is easily visable on the waterpump that one can see to check to see what the manufactored date was for that part?

Whew....well not a big deal, except when I purchased the car 26k miles ago, it was based upon the "we owe you" the 90k service, with expressed written agreement that it include the timing belt and waterpump. I don't know man, I feel kind of bad for the dealership, they're really nice guys and gals up there. I've been a royal pain in the !Removed! for them lately over the wobble thing. But, there is no sticker on my engine indicating the timing belt and waterpump were replaced, just a stamp in the book. We'll see what they say, it's on it's way back to them tomorrow hopefully. Man...when does it stop? She finally rides great, but now at the cost of blowing up the engine? Geezzz, not my month.