nc211

Your avatar picture is offensive and should be removed.

Actually, my drunkard' self did not realize that I can upgrade to gold on the site in general ;) . I love holloween! I'm not too familiar with member's personal names, just know a few. Next payday, I'm signing up. I've gotten at least $50 worth of knowledge from this site, don't cha' think? :D

You should mention which Steve should PM you.

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YOU NEVER ANSWERED HOW MANY MILES YOU HAVE??? AND TAKE OFF THE CAPS LOCK......it translates into YELLING. which is rude.

something is slipping in your engine.....slipping is belt related. only belt in your engine is timing. So, how many miles do you have????? that will tell the tale of your timing belt.

I CHANGED THE OIL AND STUCK IN FULLY SYNTHETIC AS FAR AS I NO THE NOISE WASNT THERE WITH SEMI SYNTHETIC IS IT POSSIBLE THE OIL IS 2 THIN?

That's an awesome site!!!! Thanks VB!

I sent him parts.com and a couple others. Apparently his 2001 lost it's brakes this morning and went straight into a tail gate. Nothing too bad, but needs some hood stuff. Told him 2 years ago to buy Lexus...didn't listen.

Army......man, got your PM. I will tomorrow, got the fiance' and a house FULL of trick or treaters with me tonight. Son...you are the man. You wear boots that 99% of us will never qualify for. Thanks J....if you're 1/2 half as loyal to your life as you are to this website....well...you got my vote!

PS, to all the newbies...if you've just purchased a used LS400, no matter what year. Welcome to the TRUE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION!

Blake....

PS, I think it's time I send in my $50 for the club. Steve, PM me please.

Hmmmm... <_<   Good point on the rebuilt rack. Yeah I want to do this becuase I want to keep this car for many many years...I love it! But, if it looks like it's going to be a mother of a job, then I might just wait. I do think the inner tie rods are bad, or at least on the passenger side anyway. Let me think about this for a minute or two......

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whatever the case, rest asured you will probably fix the wobble too! if you need any help let me know, i will be happy to walk you through it over the phone. did one last weekend on a buddies LS.

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Hmmmm... <_< Good point on the rebuilt rack. Yeah I want to do this becuase I want to keep this car for many many years...I love it! But, if it looks like it's going to be a mother of a job, then I might just wait. I do think the inner tie rods are bad, or at least on the passenger side anyway. Let me think about this for a minute or two......

Yeah, I think when i buy the new inner tie rods, i'm going to order the rubber seals, stopper(s) and such. I've got a feeling the previous owner had a few curb checks with the car. I'm actually sort of looking forward to doing this. I have a feeling once I'm in there, I'm going to find some worn out rubber seals and guides. I'm setting aside $300 for parts. $200 for the actual tie rods, and $100 for fluids, rubber parts, tools that I can't rent, and of course beer.

get the vin, and call your local lexus dealership. ask if they'll run the vin number for you to show maintence history. On the 97, you'll want to make sure the timing belt & water pump has been changed. It's usually part of the 90k miles service, and it's a big one! If it was done, they'll know it.

Stay away from air suspension if money is an issue. Dash might have suffered from the flickering light syndrome that is usually associated with the 89-94 "series 1" models. However I find it strange that this is the case on your 97. The dash matched by the air bag light makes me think accident occurred, that triggered the air bag. Run carfax. Do you have access to carfax?

Get the BMW. MB has been polluted by Chrystler too much. Hope he likes technology though, otherwise he'll hate that I-Drive setup.

Sorry man, didn't mean to frighten you, and quite a few of the senior guys here would probably disagree me on involving the dealership for the tranny flush. There are ways to DIY, but it sounded pretty involved and messy. My personal opinion is that the extra $50 bucks for dealership involvement on power flushing the fluid is worth the piece of mind of knowing you've got the right toyota fluid in there, and that extra piece of mind of knowing that if the powerflush hurts the seals, you've the dealership to blame. Because if the powerflush does indeed hurt the seals, well, they should have known or at least warned you before you gave the go-ahead. Me? I'm just going to drain and fill my fluid 2 quarts at a time every 3k miles and slowing phase out the old fluid with new.

Helping out a buddy with a Volvo here. Anyone know of a good forum similiar to this one for Volvo's?

Tulsa huh? I'm very familiar with Grand Lake and such. My parents are retiring in Grove...Monkey Island by ShangraLa. Anywho...that smell is from mold buildup in the ac evap box, it's very common on all cars actually. If you go by any auto parts store and tell them you need some mold killer spray for your ac, they should have a can or two. This is a quick fix, there are other proceedures that require a bit more work, but start with this. Spray the stuff into the intake vents like dcfish suggests. You'll want the air running to pull it into the system. Make sure the air is set on outside "fresh" and not recirculate.

sounds like rotor or brake pads or both...aftermarket probably. How many miles on the car?

Here are the pictures of what I see...and one of my car in general after a bath. I could not see the tranny pan from the ground, but did take a pictures. I put my hand on the plug and it did not feel wet at all, but the picture looks like it is.

Here are the pictures of what I see...and one of my car in general after a bath. I could not see the tranny pan from the ground, but did take a pictures. I put my hand on the plug and it did not feel wet at all, but the picture looks like it is.

EDIT: I updated these with captions to point out what I see.

yeah, i agree. W' got a little more than he bargained for on just how long this will take. But, time will tell the tale. It'll all level itself out soon enough. Of course, having Blake and Rf's backyards levelled didn't help the situation either. SRK, I think you and I could figure out and write some new econimal fiscal policy

over a 12 pack my friend. ;)

Of course, you'd have to type....My mind goes faster than my fingers.

Oil is the worlds single most valuable and most traded commodity.  It is bought and sold on international markets, independant of politicians and governments, and special interest groups.  Its price is determined by the bids placed on future supplies, in true capitalist and free market fashion.

Too bad so many people want the stuff.  That translates as increased demand, and that drives up prices of crude.  Low refining capacity drives up the price of diesel and gasoline made with that crude.  Double whammy.

If you don't buy the gasoline, someone else will, more than likely at the same price.  If lower, well, they buy it and you don't.  That's assuming you can lower demand so much that the price drops.  Someone else reaps the benefit.

Take solace in that at least half of the OPEC nations cannot agree amongst themselves, are degenerate anyways, and use the oil profits to suppress, control, torture, and otherwise abuse their own citizens, which means we don't have to. 

Take Economics 101.  It's quite fascinating, and will reveal just how much governments can't do in controlling the price in the face of world markets.  They are powerless really.

Remember the fools who shouted "No blood for oil"  prior to the Iraq war?  Two points.  One, going to war for oil is a better reason than most, and certainly better than those used during the twentieth century.  It's just that economically it doesn't work that way anymore. Two, when George W.  entered Iraq, oil was around $28.00bbl, and today is something above $60.00bbl.  I don't think that was his plan, y'know?

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Oh man....Now don't get me wrong, I applaud the idea in general...however...it will not work, infact it will backfire based upon the shear economical prinicple of supply and demand and elasticity of economies-of-scale. If the demand to Chevron jumps up from the absorption rate of the fall in demand to BP, then Chevron will face a Supply shortage to meet the current customer demand increase....this will mean Chevron will have to either A) produce more oil, which costs more money to do and ship, which means costs get passed to Chevron pumps...aka...Chevron customers. Or "and most likely" Chevron must go out into the market place and buy more oil to meet it's demand...and which company do you think will be sitting on a stock pile of oil, due to it's fall in demand? BP...aka...the seller to Chevron, for your gas. And if you think BP won't know what's going on and adjust it's "internal" price to Chevron to compensate...think again my friends. BP will level out the playing field and we'll actually be worse off than we are now. What needs to happen is that people need to understand oil is a commodity, and traded like one in the open markets, which for a commodity, price is determined by "futures" which are fueled by "speculation"...aka...rumors of worries beyond normal tolorance. If it were really as bad as they say...would the oil companies being making this much money? No, they'd be falling like stones. We also need to understand the world's oil supply is control by a Cartel...OPEC. Cartel...as in...drug Cartel. Rules don't apply to the open world in a Cartel, and aren't written to obey the rules of an elastic economy. They're written for the sole benefit of the Cartel Members....the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries....OPEC. I hate to say it, but the only way we bust up that Cartel, is to become one....become a thorn in thier side....and what better way to do that than A) Produce more than we need, which means ticking off the enviromentalists "and my fiance'" by tapping Alaska. Or b ) Invade and control one of thier biggest oil production countries? Under the cloud of terrorism threat to human stability. Osama screwed the pooch on 9/11. He didn't scare US away, or make US suffer under his twisted thoughts. He did it to the exact people he claims to be fighting for....by waking up the fearless sleeping GIANT and giving it the green light to FINALLY take off the gloves and fight! For example: Iran...scared sh*tless now that we're sitting right next door on both sides, beaming our spy microphones across the borders at them, with our stealths circling thier eastern and western skylines. I grew up fearing some man named Kuhmanie from Iran back in the late 70's and early 80's. Now? I don't fear him or his country, he fears me and my country.

It's tough now, yes I know. And I won't go into my own personal political beliefs on you guys of what I think is right or wrong. But I will leave you with this thought....In 36 months, who do you think will be seen as Iraq's ally? Them, or US. And who do you think will be first in line for cheap oil from Iraq? Them, or US? It's an ugly thing to say or believe, especially when good guys like ArmyofOne are heading off to the military. But the truth is to be told in time. And in time I believe we will destabalize the OPEC Bubba's so much so that terrorism cannot grow global, and OPEC can no longer blackmail the rest of the world with their oil production. And those pencil pushers on Wall Street will hear a certain Lynyrd Skynyrd song one day on opening bell called "Gimmie Back My Bullets". And the prices will fall to all-time lows. No more "rumors" on future prices. Until the next wave hits and they go up...and come down...go up...and come down. Oil was cheap so many years ago because we obeyed their blackmailing demands. We had no choice back then, we needed to dig out of a recessionary economy in the early 90's. But all bets were cancelled and the table was cleared on 9/11. Prices will get worse, the closer we get to finishing up the war on a victory. It's OPEC squeezing it's last drop....or should I say...taking it's last gasp, before becoming history.

Just my $2 cents. Personally, I like Texaco anyway. ;)

Right, it's not the shock. This leak is more centered under the car, a good 12 to 18 inches away from the shock. It's right up against the rack housing tube on the passenger side. SK, can you recommend anything else I should do while I'm down there? I've replaced the rack mounts already. Any other internal rubber cushions or such I should buy for the rack / tie rods?

Looks like it's coming from my passenger side inner tie rod boot. did it again today, twice, and badly. took pictures, will post them later. If it were coolant....wouldn't the plastic engine cover under the car be wet at all? I checked all edges...dry. Looked through the engine bay with flashlight....dry. tie rod boot was wet right at the seal seat next to the rack housing.

Update: I no longer feel it is the tires. Car was leaking something a few weeks ago, went to shop, said they couldn't find anything wrong. Today, backed car down to end of driveway so I could blow off the leaves. Took 20 minutes. Pulled car back up drive way & found fresh new leak stain where it was just sitting at the end of driveway. Looked under car now sitting at top of driveway...fresh new leak stain again. Plastic under-engine cover is dry, nothing dripping down onto it from engine. Looked at tie rod boots....bingo..passenger side is wet. Now, who wants to bet that my inner tie rods, especially the passenger side one, are worn out and are the culprit of this wobble? I just don't think the two problems are not tied together in some fashion. I took pictures and will edit this post soon once I get my camera software reinstalled onto my computer. I can't find anywhere else under the car that is wet. I dabbed the fluid in the driveway with a white paper towel...looks brown with a very very slight tint of red, and watery. I checked my power steering resiviour, it's dark brown, with maybe 1/1000% hint of red. They both match. It's leaking right at the boot clamp next to the rack housing. The driver's side is dry as a bone. So.....here I go again.... Army, or Blake, I need Homer again. I lost his number. I also need suggestions on tools, additional parts like rubber seals and so forth. Well, before I get ahead of myself here....do you guys think I can pull this off myself? I did all the front suspension parts myself, this doesn't look too bad in comparision...but is unchartered territory for me. Ohhh, forgot, also looked under car while running, and turned steering wheel to the left. It looks like the passenger side inner tie rod not only slide outward like it should, but looks like it is sliding Upward inside the boot too??

I'm thinking Nov. 11 weekend, since it's a 3 day weekend for me. I'll start looking around the site on info on how to flush the power steering system as well, cause I'm betting it ain't supposta' look like !Removed!-water.

Tires my &#33;Removed&#33;. I bet there is enough freeplay in those inner tierods to allow the tires to wiggle around. Anyway...I'll post up pictures soon of the evidence and see what you guys think.

I have that too, but was curious if I did this at an angle if I could get more of the dirty fluid out, instead of the standard 2 quarts on level ground.

Guys, my driveway is at about a 45 degree angle. I was wondering something. If I did a tranny fluid drain, which way would I park the car on the hill to get more fluid out? Front end high, or tail end high? Or neither? Obvioulsy I would messure the amount that came out and match that to the new stuff going in. I did a drain and fill about 4k miles ago, and want to do it again. When I did it last time, that fluid was in some bad shape, even though it was supposedly power flushed with the 90k service, 16k miles earlier when I bought it @ 84k miles. It's soooo easy to do, I'd like to do it every other oil change cycle to keep it fresh. Thanks guys!

$350 doesn't sound that bad. It's not a very hard job if you have the right set of tools, of which most shade-tree mechanics "like me" don't have. So really what you're paying for is access to the tools.

Screw the dealer. There are only one or two items you would ever want your dealership to do...period. That is unless you're covered under warranty, then always take it to them. But if not, then screw 'em. My personal preferrence for a dealership to get involved is for the transmission power flush. But, I would make damn sure you have it in writing that THEY recommend the flush. That way, if the seals start to leak in a few months due to the high pressure "as discussed a million times on this site" you have them on the hook. You simply say "YOU told me I should do this!" A week later, some ugly phone calls, and you've got another pwerflush and all new seals in the tranny....for the original price of the first flush. That is of course if you choose not to do the stuff yourself as suggested on this site from the guys who know.

I think I paid like $600 for my carrier bushings to be replaced at the dealer, but this also included a diagnostic, and labor to replace my strut rods that I brought to them from Sewell.

Um..cough, cough.. ;) post #7 I believe... :whistles:

what's that noise? oh wait...it's me tooting my own horn. Hahaha. Just kidding...

Glad you got it fixed man. I remembered water problems as a teenager living in kansas during the winter in my old VW. I let the gas get so low the water condensation build up actually FROZE up the gas line and stopped me dead in my tracks.

If she's concerned about repairs....well...she's looking at the wrong country(s) for automobiles in general. Jag's are nice...NIGHTMARES in terms of reliability. Brother's got a 94 with 38k original miles...electical cluster******. Father in law to be has 01' S-type with 40k miles...battery always dead, steering problems and a cruise-control with a mind of it's own. Audi? Heck, you'd be better of buying a used Landrover with 200k off-road miles.