nc211

hey NC first you have to measure the rotors with a vernier calipher to see if they are still within specs if they arent yourgoing to need ne rotors b/c its kind of dangerous to ride on rotors that arent and any good shop should have a machine to turn rotors its just the amount of money that they want to charge you it shouldnt be that expensve if you take the rotors off yousel but you never know a machine shop would go the cheapest way to go i had 2 rotors turned up here for $11 ← Thanks Sha! I think I've just resigned myself to saving up for new rotors. Mine look horrible and I think they're actually the original rotors, 10 years old. So, I think I'm just going to nurse them along for a little while and then just replace them, and the pads.

Latintxn54, here is the pdf for the strut rod removal. If I recall, you take off the two bolts from underneath the lower control arm, and wiggle the strut rod up. I do not recall having to do the shock tower first, but it was a few months ago I did this. I do remember it being very torque in there, you might want to put a floor jack under the lower control arm and jack it up to level with the strut rod angle. 11.pdf

Or move down south, where there is no salt! Well, except on the rim of your Margaritta glass that is. Just my smart*ss comment of the month :whistles:

I recently did the same on my 95 at 101k. Walmart stripped out the treads in my oil pan doing this, so a new pan and gasket was needed. They paid half, so I was ok with that. Plus, I think it was time for a new gasket anyway, especially with a synthetic oil now being used. Went to get my oil changed again last week for the first time, and was told my lower pan gasket was leaking. I took it back to the dealership to fix it, but turned out it was the seal at the base of the dipstick shaft. So i'm not too sure what leaks you may or may not come across with the change? I think my dipstick oil leak was probably from normal wear and tear over the years. I did this exact same question a few months ago, nobody said anything negative about switching. And now that I have switched, I wonder why I didn't do it sooner. Makes the engine even smoother and quieter. I use 5W30 full synthetic, mobile one. Sidenote: Did you guys know Mobile One was originally used by the military, specifically the Navy in their submarine fleets? I read an article and heard from a Navy sub guy I know that confirmed this. They used mobile one in gearing and so forth for the sub's. The mechanics noticed how good it was in preventing wear, that they started using it in their personal vehicles....and it was born! Good enough for the military....good enough for me!

Well, the fluids were changed. It was easy as pie. Sure am glad I read that tutorial before I did the rear differential. Getting the fill plug out first is crucial! That thing was in there pretty good! The tranny fluid was "stupid easy" When I drained the differential fluid first, I thought "that doesn't look that bad". It had a dark brown look. But, when I opened up the new stuff, then I realized how nasty that stuff really was! The new stuff is a light tan color "Valvoline 80-90w". Much smoother feel. The tranny fluid coming out was a super dark maroon color. I saw some red in it, thought "that doesn't look too bad either". But, as I poored in the new Toyota stuff, I realized how nasty it was as well! The new stuff is bright red. The old stuff was dark dark maroon, if not close to black. The car shifts a lot smoother now! Due to the freakin' death heat down here, I did not attempt the air intake cleaning. Just too damn hot!

No problem amigo. It shouldn't take that long in all honesty. They did all that repair work on mine in 8 hours.

By the way, that car is in California, and you're in Kansas City. 3 hour drive? How fast do you drive man?

carfax looks clean, one owner, private registration, in Ill. Looks like it's been for sale though for quite a while. Makes me curious why? Price doesn't seem to be out of line. Date: Mileage Reading: Source: General Comments: 09/24/1997 NICB Vehicle manufactured and shipped to original dealer 10/15/1997 Illinois Motor Vehicle Dept. Highland Park, IL Registered as personal vehicle 10/29/1997 25 Illinois Motor Vehicle Dept. Highland Park, IL Title #T7302511024 Title issued or updated First owner reported 05/05/2000 21,491 Service Facility Vehicle serviced Lubed oil and filter changed 08/31/2000 21,621 Illinois Motor Vehicle Dept. Barrington, IL Title #T0244258023 Title or registration issued Title issued or updated 02/24/2003 45,000 Illinois Inspection Station Skokie, IL Passed emissions inspection 01/28/2005 60,167 Auto Auction Sold at auction in Indiana Listed as a dealer vehicle 02/18/2005 60,171 Auto Auction Sold at auction in Indiana Listed as a dealer vehicle 03/01/2005 62,777 Auto Auction Sold at auction in Pacific Region Listed as a dealer vehicle

Ed, I didn't see that Mythbusters. I'm curious, better or worse MPG with the windows down? I actually do not notice a reduction in my mpg with the ac on. I do however feel the reduction in power though. Can't wait for fall and I can turn that whining thing off!

Well, the closer tropical storm Irene gets to NC, the more I add to my list of things to do this weekend. Was gonna go fishing about 20 miles out, but forget that! Talk about a ride on a vomit-comit. So, gonna clean out the throttle body. Let me get this straight, I just pull off the air intake parts, get to the butterfly opening, and spray some carb cleaner in there? That's it right? Just spray on, let dry, and good to go? Thanks all

But, if you do need the dealer, they are SUPER nice! And ask for Dennis as your service consultant. He's from up north, heavy accent. I've been up and down that service bay, and I prefer him over all the others. Also, that place has some of the finest looking women in town up there!!!! Hubba hubba. My fiance' hates it when I have to go up there. I would think it would be because of the bill, but no, it's all the pretty girls. Hahahaha :whistles:

I'm your guy. Johnson, good, but way over priced! Do not, and I repeat, do not buy any of your parts from them. HUGE markup! Get to know www.parts.com and drill down to Lexus. You can get anything you want for a lot less. The only thing I use Johnson for is alignments and balancing. They know their stuff. Plus, free loaners, and some of which are actual lexuses "rx's and an is300". Give you an example: Walmart stripped out the threads on my lower oil pan a few weeks ago. They split the bill with me, so I took to the dealer. came out $550 for new pan and gasket. Got oil changed again this past Monday, tech said pan is leaking at gasket. I took it back to the dealer yesterday to correct their problem. Turned out it was the $6 super tiny seal on the bottom of the dipstick shaft. But, cost $105 to install it. Caseinpoint, you'll never get out of there for under $125. For parts replacement, I recommend you buy the parts online, and then take the car to the indi mechanic shop. Do you know where Snoopy's hotdog stand is on Wake Forest Ave, inside the beltline, past southern state nissan, towards town? The store is right on that corner, across wake from snoopy's. Good shop, honest guys, and good knowledgebase. I can't put the name up here, against the rules, but I'll give you a hint...Import is in the name. And they specialize in toyotas, lexus and honda. Ask for steve, and tell him Robert with the 95 black ls400 with all the rear end repairs sent you. He'll know what you mean. They replaced all my rear control arms, shocks and rear differential mounting bushings, plus alignment "not very good though" but not his fault, for $630 labor. That is a steal my man! I had the parts already, I just needed the labor. I also hear somebody's "Toy Store" in Cary is good. I'll probably check them out soon for a runout situation I've got going on.

Hey morg, yeah I did get the differential bushing changed out, no more clunk except the usual lurch when shifting into D when the engine is cold "high idle". It smoothed it out a bit. I didn't do it myself though. When I started the whole process of changing everything, I made it past all the front stuff, but was too whipped to take on the rear stuff. I paid a local indi $600 to change out the rear control arms, strut rods, struts and those bushings. He did say that he had to remove the differential to get them out. I tried a few times to do this myself, but had no luck. You're right, it does look like a lot of work, quite a few bolts to get that diff off. You don't have to remove the drive shaft though, just unhook it from the diff "3 bolts." But I think you have to remove the axles from the diff too, and that looked a little much. Especially if you're doing this on your back. You really need a full lift to do this stuff w/o killing your back. Those bolts I think are set at like 85 lbs of torque. That made it impossible for me to get them off at the angle of attack you have on the ground. I would think if you took them to an indi, and gave him a C note, you'd be good. It did make a difference, and was worth it. But it did not fix the lurch completely. I think the drive shaft's flex couplings play a bit part in that problem as well. I haven't tackled that yet. I'm still trying to get the wheels all dialed in correctly from the major suspension overhaul. I think I shocked the car so badly that it needs an actual dial reading on things.

Hahaha! You better pick your battles SK, women are sneaky! I made a smart comment to mine the other day, and now there is a stray cat in my guest bathroom, recovering from getting "fixed" that she has been feeding for the past 8 months. That thing has crapped all over the place!

I just called the lexus dealership, and they too sell them at $5.34 a quart! Go figure that one? My car is over there right now getting the oil pan gasket leak fixed. They replaced the lower pan a month or so ago due to a stripped out threading that walmart did. Apparently they did not do a good job, because I was just told Monday when getting my oil changed, that it's leaking pretty badly. Some new tech is using my car as a learning experience, not too happy about that. Everything this guy has done, has needed to be redone. But anyway, got 2 quarts of the stuff, think that should be good to go!

....$70 for an alignment? Take it to the dealership for that! My dealership here charges that for a 4 wheel alighment, and it is perfect everytime.

you did notice that they quoted you over $100 more for the parts than you can get from the oem dealer online?

You can, but it is a chore! Take it from me, and look at my signature below, it's not as easy as you would think. You have to remove the back seats for starters to gain access to the top of the shock towers. You need spring compressors to hold down the springs, which can be a real back breaker to tighten, and tighen, and tighten, tired......keep on tightening. You also need a breaker bar to get them loose from the lower control arm, and it can be a difficult and clumsy process to get them out, and back on. There is quite a bit of torque in these suspension parts. I did the fronts myself, the control arms, shocks, ect.... It was enough to motivate me to shell out $600 for someone else to do the rear work. I suggest you buy the springs yourself from the online vendor, and then take them to a toyota / lexus indi shop and ask them to put them on. That way, you're not paying full retail + for the parts "as they will charge you that". All you'll be paying for is their labor. I'd say probably $250 worse case on the labor for both sides.

Thanks guys! Much appreciate the feedback. I think I'll stick with the non-synthetic stuff. Any recommendations on manufacturers? As my tag gives away, I live in North Carolina, but sometimes it gets pretty darn cold in the winter, no sub zero stuff, but close sometimes. I think I'll go with the 80-90w set up instead of the straight 90w. Interesting on the gear oil pump, I was wondering about how to get that stuff into the differential. Blake, know any good threads on drain n' fill for the transmission fluid as well? It's looking like my weekend of fishing at the beach might be down the tubes thanks to tropical storm Irene heading our way. So, good time to do some maintanence on the road warrior. I'll be picking up some tranny fluid from the dealer later today, won't even think about anything but oem on that stuff. If it's bad, I want Lexus on the hook for it, not Napa.

edit: but I would not have a problem buying one from the guys on this board. No doubt in my mind that they wash and maintain their cars religiously!

Kind of off topic, sort of. In connection with the mileage / age of the car and maintance, I look at where the car has lived. If it's a northern car, I tend to shy away due to the constant winter road salt conditions. I've owned only 1 northern car, and won't ever own another one again. It had rust bubbling under the paint 3 years and 30k miles into it's life. Although Lexus tends to use better materials to prevent such an event happening, still that road salt is just as bad, if not worse, on a car than running it along the beach in the surf. I've seen those Jeep ad's where they show a Jeep splashing along the beach, and just think to myself "well, that car is done for." I sort of feel the same way about winter cars.

Hey guys, I think it is time for the rear differential fluid to be changed. I've never actually done this, but it doesn't look that hard. It's just drain and fill, right? Any suggestions on oils to use? I know the oem stuff is oem stuff, but was wondering if there were any synthetic blends on the shelf that might be better. I'm very impressed with the mobile one 5w30 synthetic in my engine now, and think synthetic gear oil might be good too. I saw something from Penzoil that was synthetic and the right weight the other day. But, outside of oem stuff, I have learned to ask those who know, before doing anything on my own. Thanks guys,

Thanks amigo! Interesting article. I know my brake rotors are toast, just hope they can hold on a few more months. Dude, that is one hell of a muffler on that car in your picture!

Thanks SK, much appreciated! I'll pick some up this weekend and scrub away.

I've got a 95 LS400 with the original rims "MB look a likes". In the vent holes there is this black, rough, grime that's bonded itself to the wheel. Any suggestions as to how to remove it? I was thinking about taking a dremell tool with a polishing wheel to them, but don't want to mess anything up. This grime is on there too! I've been washing this car for a year and a half, I always use bleach-white with a brush to clean the tires, and that hasn't even effected this grime. I hit it with a pressure washer...no luck. 10+ years of brake dust build up. I've hit it with just about every chemical on the shelf from autozone, napa, sears, you name it. Any good tips on this? Thanks all