nc211

GKLCPA, thank you for those nice comments . It is always nice to know that your efforts are appreciated. I have no doubt that you too will be posting up your lessons-learned-along-the-way soon as well. I really just pass along the knowledge I have learned from guys like bicolini, blake, sk, srk, threadcutter, dcfish, swo, and the countless others that have posted up their knowledge as well. I can honestly say, that if it had not been for this website and these guys, I would of sold this car long ago, and came close once or twice. But now that the wobble from hell has been fixed, boy am I glad I didn't! Blake has more toys on his car than mine, all I have is my ipod hooked in to the tape player. I can't recall the last time I turned on the car phone in the arm rest, i'm not sure if it even works anymore. I've thought about tinting the windows, but my eyesite at night isn't that great anymore, and don't want to chance it. Plus, it's not quite as hot here as it is down in Blake's neck of the woods. You want to talk about hot! Good Lord, LA in August is one of the hotest, most humid places on earth! Anyway, thanks for the warm comments! I'm glad to help, and pass along the knowledge that has been passed along to me. Owning an older LS400 is like fraternity, knowing how to maintain it on a shoe-string budget, is the secret handshake amongst the club of owners.

Take a crow bar, head to Fashion Island, and shop til' you drop!! Hahahaa..

Barf.

Blake, do you think I would be able to pass inspection if I did this as well, in the future of course "god hoping not soon".?

Falcoitt, yes, they're just as easy! You need a wratchet, a 2 inch extension piece "the bolts are set back a bit", and hammer to hit the wratchet with to loosen them, and you're good to go. Just be gentle on those brass centering screws, as they will strip faster than Britney Spears at a tatoo parlor. Today was my only day in the coming weeks to work on the car, so I had to go with aftermarket rotors again for the rears. I upped the ante' though with a more premium metal rotor, the autozone duralast with the 2 year warranty, for $95 (e). I figure, get 18 months out of them, worth the money. Although, I must say, I'm a bit ticked at the shop that told me the others were out of spec. They obviously just didn't want to turn my rotors, but rather tried to sell me their new rotors instead. They weren't out of spec at all! They were the same as the new ones, just covered in rust. Oh well, not worth the $89 bucks to turn, $90 dollar rotors anyway. BUT, here's my question: The slider pins on the back rotors. The pins that have the bushing notch at the ends, the ones that go into the bottom slide rail. Are those notches supposed to have a bushing on them? Mine have never had those bushings around those rings, but manual suggests that they should. I'm confused?? Also, just curious, what difference would it make if they were installed on the upper slider rail, instead of the lower? Thanks amigos! PS, today's chores were the replacement of the rear rotors, oil change, tranny fluid drain and fill, replaced burnt out marker lights, new wipers and a one hell of lump on the top of my head, thanks to the rear wheel well, OUCH! Nc, I haven;t done the rear rotors yet, and hopefully I don't need to do them in a while, but are those bad boys just as easy to change as the front rotors?

stop going to the dealership, that's the 1st suggestion. Especially now since you have the list of repairs. Buy your mounts and stuff from one of the online vendors from www.parts.com... I like www.lexuspartsonline.com myself, but there are several to choose from. The EGR tube I hear is a pain in the butt to fix, as it's pretty tough to get at. Your steering repair, did it include the outer tie rod ends, and inner tie rod ends as well? It better have, for that amount of money. Your outer tie rod ends are usally the first to go. If you buy all the parts from the online vendor, you're probably looking at: Strut rods - $95 each, need two of them Motor mounts - $89 each, need two of them "labeled as the front months" Motor / tranny mount - $31 each, only need one of them "labeled as the rear motor mount". The rear carrier bushings..aka..rear knuckle bushings... these are actually an after-market repair that the dealerships have endorsed. They use a bushing kit called the ASUS... Call the parts counter, and tell them you need the carrier repair kit for your car. I think it's the ASUS 530, or 505. I can't recall, but they're only like $50 bucks for both. EGR Tube - $87 bucks, only need one. Total for your parts online = $536 Find an indi mechanic who's able to work on Lexus, bring him the parts, and expect to pay around $600 in labor. Grand total....$1,136. These are true lexus parts, the same ones your dealership is selling. REserve the dealership for those repairs that involve the dna of the car, the true specalist with the backing of the corporate office. Suspension parts are not at that level. To give you an indication of how easy they are, I replaced my enitre front set up, every single piece, including the outer tie rods, by myself, and at the time, I was no DIY type. I suggest in your repairs.... front lower ball joints, stabalizer bar mounts all around (4 total), timing belt "was the 90k service done on the car? This includes timing belt, water pump, plugs, wires, fluids, etc.." The timing belt and waterpump repair gets pricy. Indi's can pull it off for around $700, the dealerships are more than twice that amount. Also, expect with these repairs for your older parts to show their flaws sooner. What happens is that you install a new part, and the older parts that aged with the part you're replacing, show thier age a little. Nothing major, and you'll be fine for another year or two, but expect your lower control arm bushing to show it's age a little. Point of my advice..... buy online, take to indi. Or, do it yourself, as it's not hard to do. Ask us what you're working on, and we'll find you the Pdf. instructions, as most of us have the entire catelog of repairing the car, from the antenna mask, to the headliner, to the pistons...... headlight to taillight. Got any pictures of your car? We like pictures here! Here is a picture of mine...and Blakes, we're twins! http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=27799

Here ya' go. My experience with those ebay shaft bushings.... didn't work in my car, i thought, but ended up being the U joint of the shaft. Blake has these ebay ones at his house now. We swapped spark plugs for flex couplings. To me, they looked, felt, and appeared to be the exact same quality, size and density. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...l=flex+coupling

Just a quick note. If you do the seafoam in your oil, right before you change it, after you let it idle for 10-15 minutes, let the car sit for an hour or so, to let all the dirty oil drain down into the pan. Then, after it's drained out, have a quart or two of extra oil to flush out the dirty oil still in the pan. I have done this a few times now, but never let it sit for a good while after shutting it down "usually I let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes". It has usually taken only an extra quart to flush out the dirty oil. But today took twice that to get it all out. So I would suggest letting the car sit for a bit, so ALL the dirty oil can drain down, and you can get it out of your engine. Car's smooth as silk.

Today was my only day in the coming weeks to work on the car, so I had to go with aftermarket rotors again for the rears. I upped the ante' though with a more premium metal rotor, the autozone duralast with the 2 year warranty, for $95 (e). I figure, get 18 months out of them, worth the money. Although, I must say, I'm a bit ticked at the shop that told me the others were out of spec. They obviously just didn't want to turn my rotors, but rather tried to sell me their new rotors instead. They weren't out of spec at all! They were the same as the new ones, just covered in rust. Oh well, not worth the $89 bucks to turn, $90 dollar rotors anyway. BUT, here's my question: The slider pins on the back rotors. The pins that have the bushing notch at the ends, the ones that go into the bottom slide rail. Are those notches supposed to have a bushing on them? Mine have never had those bushings around those rings, but manual suggests that they should. I'm confused?? Also, just curious, what difference would it make if they were installed on the upper slider rail, instead of the lower? Thanks amigos! PS, today's chores were the replacement of the rear rotors, oil change, tranny fluid drain and fill, replaced burnt out marker lights, new wipers and a one hell of lump on the top of my head, thanks to the rear wheel well, OUCH!

Just curious if anyone has had to replace their stabalizer bar links, especially in the front. I'm getting some wandering around on the road, especially on grooved pavement where the tires are being directed by the grooves. Have a little slack in the steering wheel, but not much. I think the U connecter bolt is loose, but not 100% it's not the rack, or inner tie rods. I am also getting a popping noise from the front over slight bumps at the 40mph and under speeds. When backing out of my driveway in the morning, and roll over the connector piece from my drive way to the street, I get a horrible crunch noise. I know it's not the control arms, or strut rods. I'm thinking stabalizer bar, but the bushings only have 35k miles on them. I wouldn't think they would wear out that fast. I'm wondering about the links, as I do recall they seemed a bit loose when doing the front suspension stuff a coupe years ago. The bolt wouldn't tighten very easily, it just spun the ball. Anyone ever have to replace those yet? If so, what were your symptoms that led you to them?

Just a little note on using cheap rotors. I put cheapo' Napa's on the rear of my car about a year or so ago. They have maybe 15k miles on them, at best. Went to the shop today to finally get them turned "warped due to former freeway commute, several stops and gos in heavy traffic".... Well, they're already out of spec, too thin to cut. So, you do get what you pay for in the rotor department. I think I paid $45, each.

We have to meet up soon. I just finished up my Boston deal, and now focusing on my two DC deals, I'll be up there a bit this spring, no doubt about it.

Ooops, sorry scott, I missed this thread, and cutter's request for me to post up how I did mine. I followed the lexls site's recommendations as well. BUT, I did use one additional tool, lockable clamps, to hold back the other caliper pistons that's you're not trying to pop out with the air hose. I found that the one with the least resistance kept coming out, and I couldn't get the other's to come out because of it. So I have some craftsman lockable clamps that I use for my woodworking that worked great! You just lock in the ones that you've already done, and the one you want to come loose, will POP out...actually, SLAM out. Use the block of wood inbetween the pistons, and WATCH YOUR FINGERS! If one hit your finger, no doubt in my mind it would break it.

This one is for all those Ohio State fans, who had their a$$es handed to them a few weeks ago! You really need sound to get the full effect. Trust me, this one is a riot!!!! http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/?p=3141

Is he the original owner? What kind of oil did he use? Synthetic or regular? Synthetic has a lower sludge potential. Really and truly, there isn't that much to be done on the car anyway, at that mileage and age, except for fluids and normal wear and tear. Even if he didn't do the tranny fluids and such, you could do them now, and probably be fine, especially if you think he was not a hot-rod driver, like SWO is "congrats on winning the beltway 500 last weekend." Hahahaa... But, it is a crap-shoot with a car that has no receipts. He can't provide a bank statement or credit card statement that would show you that he at least bought the stuff? I mean ask him to black out the card numbers and stuff like that, just some sort of proof would be nice. But, again, these are the most realiable cars on earth. And he sounds like a Lexus fan, so he's probably quite knowledgable of the "insider tweaks" and schedules. I would focus on the transmission fluid, make sure he used Toyota OEM Type IV fluid. But if you want my opinion, if you have a good feeling it really was taken care of, not abused by some real estate big shot in the District type, then I wouldn't be too frighened. In all honesty, sometimes the shade-tree mechanic serviced cars are in MUCH better shape than the dealership maintained cars. Simply because the shade-tree guys enjoy working on the car, and use the good stuff because they're saving a ton of money on labor. I'm a shade tree guy myself, and have no problems buying the most expensive oils, filters, parts, because I'm not paying for labor charges, at $106 an hour, and am able to service the car as the car calls for, instead of waiting to find the right time with the dealership's schedule, dropping it off, and making sure my financial condition is prepared for the bill. It's much easier to spend Saturday morning changing my oil, with my cup of coffee, then it is to drive over to the dealership, and spend hours waiting around for the car. But, Steve's right, you could end up like he did. I'm curious though, Steve, what kind of car was it that burned you like that?

I agree with Swo on getting better service from the indi's, for most things. When it comes to the real dna of the car, or a repair that, if done incorrectly, would most likely result in complete failure of the car, I prefer to pay the premium prices of the dealership, simply because I have them on the hook if the repair was done incorrectly. Like the lower oil pan that had to be replaced because Walmart stripped the drain plug threads. I wanted it done right, so if the pan came loose and the engine oil drained out causing the engine to blow, I had them on the hook to correct it. BUT, the other 99% percent of the stuff, I think an indi is fine. I must admit, I am starting to wonder if the dealerships aren't instructing some of the mechanics to "don't fix it too good, we want him/her to buy another LS". I say this because of some really basic rookie mistakes and misquotes I've seen come out of the dealership's shop. I have my car, because the previous owner was told the 90k service was like $4,000. Which we all know isn't true, but the owner decided to trade it in for a new LS430. Stuff like that.... The LS is an easy car to work on, lots of space under the hood to manuver around, simply designed drain plugs, etc... If you're a beginner DIY "like I was when I bought the car", it's a GREAT car to learn on, and build up your confidence. I am actually not affraid of european cars anymore, due to my learning curve experience with my LS, which by the way, runs better than anything I've test driven over the past several months while looking for a new car for my wife. I don't completely agree with the analogy that an indi shop will just charge you an extra hour of labor to make up for the lost sale on the parts, but I see where you're coming from. Most shops will quote the labor based by the book estimate, as assigned by Lexus. They have the same knowledge as Lexus has. The way to know if you have a GOOD indi mechanic, is if they realize they have to remove that part anyway, to get to the other one, and combine the labor. Case in point, two years ago I replaced my suspension components. I did the fronts myself, and ran out of time to do the rear components "and was too freakin' tired". I found a shop that calculated each part replacement by the book estimate of time. It came out to be like 20 hours. But, they said "I can't really justify charging you 3 hours for the struts, and 3 hours for the control arms, since I have to take the control arms off anyway to get to the struts." That is an example of a GOOD shop! I can't recall the exact price they charged me, it's on here somewhere, but I believe it was around $600 to have the entire rear suspension components replaced, all parts. Match that to the $1,600 it cost me in parts for ALL control arms, struts, ball joints, outer tie rods, etc.... and $2,400 isn't bad considering it brought the car's suspension back to brand new, oem standards, as if it just rolled off the showroom floor. Did I over do it? Oh hell yes, the car just needed struts, strut rods and lower ball joints at the time. But do I regret it? Nope..... Because I've got a new driving LS400 for the price of a Kia Spectra. With the LS, once you repair something, it's repaired for another 100k miles. That's the beauty of the car. It's not like you're putting on bandaides, just to get to the end of the car's life. You're actually repairing / updating, the car. The engines are just perfect! Ask JIBBY, he knows these engines like nobody's business! If you don't want to take on the repair bills, then I suggest not taking on a decade + old car in general, no matter who made it. Honda Accords blow tranny's, Nissans blow gaskets and modules, VW's just blow,etc.. The LS isn't your basic transportation, and if thought in that light, it will dissapoint you. But, with a handful of little tricks, tweaks and maybe $1,500, it's not hard to bring nearly ANY LS400 back to near showroom status. For $3,500, you'll have showroom status, and then some, for many many many more miles and years. EDIT: Also, the thing about the LS, is even when they're not running well, or have problems, they still give you just enough of a hint as to how good they really are, to drive you insane enough to want to fix it up. I just replaced my plugs last weekend, and came to realize that I had a really bad plug, and I mean BAD! It looked like burnt toast, covered in barnicles. It was bad. Other than a wierd thump at start up, I had no idea the engine wasn't running in top shape. But now, with 8 new plugs....HOLY MOLY!!!! Is this car quiet, smooth and fast! Match that with the seafoam results, clean throttle body and clean air filter, and I can't keep the car under 75mph to save my life. I have to drive with the cruise control on my way home, just to stay 9 mph over.

Nice, thanks amigo! I will give him a call this weekend. I've seen that dealership before in passing, and they do have some nice cars on the lot! The tough part is selling her car, she is impatient and doesn't want to mess with selling it. I DO want to sell it, since it's a perfect civic with perfect history, I figure it will sell fast. But, she's against it, thinks it's not worth it. We'll see what happens. I pushing the GS300's at the moment "finally ditched the PT Cruiser, MB's, and 3 series BMW's...no european cars!" Although I was shocked to find that BMW parts were a lot cheaper than Lexus, still not sold on those cars like I am on Toyota's. They have the quiet and smooth thing down pat, which is my top requirement. We're going to look at a G35 tonight, asking too much, but don't they all!!

That, I do have.... I actually have a burnable copy of XP Pro from when I went back to get my finance degree. I was one of the computer guys for the business school, and we had a burnable version of XP Pro, with unlimitied licenses...so...I made myself a copy on the side, and have had it "and a dozen back ups, just in case" ever since. However, I have to rely on third party anti virus protection, since it's only the Service Pack 1, not the 2. If I try and update it via microsoft, they figure out from the key that it's old, burnable, and won't let me update it without paying for it, like $300 bucks! I don't even go on the microsoft website anymore, and have turned off all "auto updates" within the software. It's worked beautifully for 7 years, until this spydawn thing got me. Luckily, I have two hard drives, one acts as the operations, the other acts as the library "pictures, music, documents, etc..", so I just have to fix the operations drive. The library one is extrememly well protected, and there are no viruses or spydawn crap in there. Infact, unless I point the machine to it, the machine and all programs simply don't know it's even there, until I hit the magic button. I'm on the home computer now, and just have this stupid pop up on my tool bar left. I think it rewrote the explorer to include it.

Dole: When you bleed the lines, there should be a consistent amount of fluid that comes out of each line (relative to the others). If one just "piddles", then you could have a pinched brake line on that wheel. That will cause the caliper to drag on the rotor, which will cause the rotor to get excessively hot, which will cause rotor warping. After driving for a bit, stop the car, get out, go around to each wheel and feel the wheel. If any of them are hot to the touch (particularly after NOT using or lightly using the brakes), then you have a dragging caliper. The caliper can drag because it needs to be rebuilt or because the brake line is pinched. Whatever you do, don't let anyone talk you into buying new calipers. It's easy and inexpensive to rebuild the stock ones. I second that!! Thread, would you think that a rim with excessive brake dust on it could also indicate a dragging pad? When I redid my fronts last month "thanks to your awesome advice!" I noticed a lot of brake dust on my front, driver's side, which was also the one that was squeling in reverse. Now after the rebuild, no brake dust what so ever on the front wheels. I actually have more dust on the rear wheels now, than the fronts... haven't serviced the rear ones yet...

one problem with the restore thing...it only lets me restore to the current setting, right now, in real time.... no historical settings are given :cries: i can't go back a month, week, day or hour, i'm stuck with right now. this is probably due to me following symantics advice online over the weekend to turn restore off and then delete the registry items that were infected. damn norton, i've about had it with them!

She has decided it is going to be the Infiniti G35 sedan, probably an 04 with under 40k miles. We're looking for the right one. Looked at one at the VW dealership, but was a little too rough around the edges to get comfortable with. Might have another one in our sites though at the honda dealership..... It won't be coming from my local dealership, I can assure you of that!!! Read the last posts in this thread for my reason why... http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...mp;#entry228329

I would, but to be honest with you SWO, I've had to pound on that dealership one too many times over the years to get the kind of service one would expect from a Lexus dealership in general. I mean I nearly had to sue them to honor their 90 day / 3,000 warranty when I purchased the car for the engine computer, had to write several harsh emails to finally get a top mechanic to quit telling me my wobble problem was due to tire balancing. They have easily recouped their losses for the engine computer with all the tire balancings, alighments and such they charged me for during that 18 months of frustration. I just don't have the fight anymore to care. I've got the best mechanic there now, so that's all I really care about. They won't be getting my wife's next car purchase. After that experience, we've decided to go with an Infiniti G35 sedan, probably an 04'. Which they have up there, but refuse to deal with them for it, we'd rather keep looking. You would think they would understand that buying a car is a person's second biggest investment, next to buying a home, and to make your customer feel uneasy about making that purchase is just a recipe for failure.

dole, when you come to a stop, especially if it was a heavy stop, pop your car in N, and take your foot of the brakes. Let some cool air get in between you pads and rotors to prevent hot spots on the rotors. Several warped rotors weren't warped due to the actual stopping of the car, but due to the owner keeping the pads pressed against the rotors while he/she was stopped, which prevented the heat still in the pads to be displaced through the turning rotor, but rather directly into that one spot on the rotor. So, just pop it in N, take your foot of the brakes and let some cool air get in there, and some of those super hot gases to escape!

You can put Johnson Lexus of Raleigh on the crap list now too. The used car department has lost my business for good. Short little man named Bob was rude to my wife and I, lied to us about a 03' MB C320 over the weekend, made us sit in his office "in the far back of the showroom" for 30 minutes before we even got to look at the car in general, was bossy on the test drive, stared at my wife, gave crap numbers on the trade in, and didn't even shake our hand when I told him "nope, that's not the car for us", as we left. He was one rude dude, and really P*ssed me off something fierce. And to boot, this fat little joker of putz ARGUED with me that the car was in perfect shape!! When clearly the rear rotors were warped, severly warped, parking light on the bumper was falling out, and RUST was bubbling up from under the paint on the tops of the doors, the lower bumper and the hood by the windshield wiper. Not to mention the funny little "tick" it had in the engine, super super super heavy steering and busted ashtray cover. Get this, the car was an 03' with only 16k miles. The sales lady on the phone said it was listed at 23,000, but was not a solid price, they were willing to negotiate. Salesman would NOT negotiate, cheaped the trade value on the Honda to an insulting level, and basically told me I didn't know what I was doing, and we don't need THAT kind of car. When I asked him if the car was from the North, he said "not to my knowledge"....aka...I am legally lying straight to your face. I could of punch that looser dead square in the face! I'm not a violent man at all, I avoid fights, haven't been in one since I ate the rear view mirror of a 78 camero when I lost a fight back in the 5th grade. But that man had me mad enough to deck him, espeically the way he was looking my wife up and down, AND HE KNEW I WAS WATCHING HIM!!!! I don't know what's happened to that dealership, but I was SHOCKED by that experience! I was shocked at the car's quality, the pricing games, the attitudes of the sales force, and the overall rude experience. Definetly not the same place I bought my 95 from 3 years ago. Something changed, and I don't care to find out what..... I won't be buying my next Lexus from that dealership, that's for sure! I'll travel to Charlotte before that happens!