nc211

In college many moons ago in a management class we had to start a business and make our presentation to real venture capital investors from London. I came up with a water pollution filter that was driven by magnets in a ball. It was the size of one of those work-out balls, or say one of those blow up volley balls you see at concerts flying around. It would hang from a stainless steel chain under the docks at marina's, by the fuel pumps. It had tenticles that would skim right below the water line and pull in the fuel pollution from over fills. It would pull in the fuel mix into the ball, and spin it at rapid speeds, seperating the fuel from the water. The fresh water would be reinjected back out into the water, and the fuel would be pumped into a tank a few meters away. The centrifuge was a ball within a ball, lined with electromagnets reversing polarity via a small solar panel on top of a dock pilling. I won the contest by a large margin, and actually had two proposals for financing from the investors. Later contacted two attorney's in St. Louis to check for patent infringements...none where found. I attempted to patent the magnetic device, but lowe and behold, good ole' Newton proved me wrong with his 1st 3 theorys. Heat can not generate heat in a conitunios manner, water cannot run up hill on it's own and some other crazy theory. For years I've thought about this magnetic gadget, even ordered a bunch of earth magnets that were the size of a quarter, but could pick up 40+ pounds. After smashing my fingers and erasing my entire wallet by accident, the magnets found their way to the fridge by accident. They have never been removed since "can't get them off". I think if you had two magnets, one polarity stronger than the other, the stronger one would push the weaker one. The closer you bring them together, the harder they push...aka...faster they will spin. It would be easy to control this spin by controlling the distance between the two...... Now if you hooked that up to say a generator...well...you've got free standing energy. If you hooked it up to a transmission....you get the idea. I like the generator idea the most. Imagine your entire house being run by a free standing box the size of a lawn mower engine, with no noise, no pollution. Just sheild the lining of the box, so Fluffy's metal colar doesn't send her flying across the yard at 80 mph by her neck. Not to mention everything else metal. Nothing like pulling all the nails out of your house towards the dinning room. It would look something like this (()). You would have to have a polarity switch so one side would push the inner () to the other side, and vice versa. That's the trick.....making that happen. And *BLEEP* on Newton's theory... Good luck! I decided to abandon the idea, yet not affraid to tell everyone for free. If it worked, and somebody made it work, and the world was better for it...well...that's payment enough for me...

I agree with wwest. My 95 does not have the vsc system, yet if I do a tight U turn on an incline "like pulling out of a parking lot", the car will feel like it's performing a "crab" motion. I though for the longest time something was wrong. But it's just the spinning difference in the rear wheels. The car turns so tightly that your inner rear wheel hardly moves, yet your outter rear wheel is making the entire turn. It makes for a funky feeling. My ball joints, tie rods, control arms, etc.... are all new. In the suspension department, my car is perfect as if it were new. And my car will do this exact same funky feeling in a really tight turn. It's sort of like turning an old Jeep CJ on dry pavement with the front hub locked into 4x4. However, you might consider changing out the rear differential fluid if you have not done so in the past 20k miles. Always a good idea to keep those gears well maintained...

There is a reason why there are so many Camry's out there. But I agree with you about them being just a bit too common to buy. In my opinion, I would take the Nissan over the Honda. I have never liked how the Hondas ride when they age. To me, they seem loud, harsh and have a bad automatic transmission that slams into gear. Nissan really hit their stride in the mid to late 90's, and that 3.0 liter V6 they have is pretty much bullet proof. It's smooth, fast, quiet and dependible. I doubt you would have too many problems with the Nissan, if any at all. But like you said originally, it's what she wants. She may insist on the bmw, which means it's your call on what would iritate you more: Fixing a BMW for a happy wife, or not fixing for an unhappy wife. We never had any mechanical problems with the 318ti, and I think we got rid of it with around 60k on the clock. It was a fun car, don't get me wrong. And they do come with traction control, but the rear end is sooo light, the traction control is pretty much useless. For a second car, one to tinker with and for those twisty roads in the summer, a 5 speed manual 318ti would probably be a lot of fun. But for a daily driver, I don't know. Then again, I'm a guy, who likes big cars with V8's. So my opinion is bias. My wife likes the PT Cruisers. Like I said, we never had a single problem with the BMW 318ti. We also had a 91 325 Convertible which was a !Removed! for a torque wrench and electrical scanner. That car sucked. BMW started to make stride with reliability in the late 90's, and I believe our 318ti was a 97. You will have to fix the 318ti more often though than your other two choices, that's just a given. BMW flex couplings on the ends of the driveshafts are notorious for failing. They have weird electrical bugs in them too. Like your power window switch will break, which will lead to your cruise control quiting, which will somehow short out the fuel pump, that will set off the horn which will lower all the windows, which will turn on the ABS warning, which will blow all fuses for lights, which will all cost you $700 for some $25 plastic relay switch buried down in the dashboard. THAT IS A BMW. They drive like no other, they stop faster than a head on collision, but they can drive you insane with electrical tweaks. But then again, I own what JD Power says is the best car built for 12 years running, and look at my signature.... So it just depends on research before you buy. If you do decide on the 318ti....DON'T buy it off a used car lot. Spend the time to find the one that is sitting in someone's personal garage, so you can see how it's lived and whos' been driving it. I bet if you put some snow tires on it, and really load it down with sandbags in the winter, it might be ok. I mean, it is a car, not a 4x4, and where you live, a snow event is either full on, or full off.

Damn straight about that! I was up there last week to look at two properties, one about 2 miles from the White House, the other in Chevy Chase, MD. When we would go out to dinner, you couldn't find a parking space to save your life! It was as if the whole entire town was one big Valet scam. Probably unionized.

I agree with SWO about the 3 series. They are really nice cars with that 2.5 6 cylinder. I don't care for German 4 bangers at all. But the 6 makes it. The ti is definetly not the traditional bmw, that's for sure. It's like BMW was trying to compete for the Civic Si market, with a little MG spirit in there. Fun little car, but I would be hard pressed to buy one, especially with all the other alternatives out there that offer more power, less repairs and way less rattles. Our 318ti was one hell of a rattle bucket, and yes, it is loaded with plastic everywhere! In the winter, that car would sound like it was going to fall apart around you. We had the automatic, which also just killed the power. That thing was down right scary when trying to merge into highway traffic. You really had to hammer down on the engine and put it up against redline to get moving. Also felt like if you pushed it a little too hard, you were going for a non-recoverable spin. Lost control of it once in a lite rain and wasn't even driving hard, just spun out on me for no real reason. Ended up in some lady's front yard. Had to replace about half a dozen sprinkler heads. I found, and do this everytime I own a different car, if you take the car to an empty lot and really push it, you'll learn it's limits. I definetly suggest this for the 318ti, even if it's going to be a grocery getter. You might need to know that stuff in an emergency. I did this with my LS a couple years ago and came to the conclusion that the tires would just roll off the rims before it really lost control. So I drive with that in the back of my mind. The 318ti will slide sideways and with no real trunk overhang "weight", the rear wheels had a tough time gaining grip to recover from the slide. Oh, almost forgot, you might as well forget about driving it in the snow. It...won't....go. Don't care how much weight you put in the back, it won't go. We had the car when we lived in Kansas. Had about 4 inches of snow, and it was stuck at the enterance to the neighborhood. Had good tires on it too. With no trunk, the weight you put in the back just weights down the car in general.

Very interesting indeed!!! My manual does not have that information! Well, in another 80k miles when I'm due for another round of components, I'll give you a buzz for a copy of that page! Just put it on my tab.... LS400GUY, I agree with Alsalih, becareful with this part and aftermarket parts. The strut rod bushing is a major player in the car's overall feel. It is my understanding you can really stiffen up the ride with this bushing replacement. Just my $2 Dollars "in a world of $3.34 a gallon, 2 cent$ ain't worth much anymore"

SEAFOAM... Run a search for Seafoam and all of it's uses. It's great stuff! It's best to use on an empty tank, pour in, then fill immeaditly to mix it. Then hit the highway for a few hours and let it burn through. I use it every few months right before I go to the beach "130 miles". Great stuff. Works wonders in the oil too, and throttle body cleaning, but you need to read the other threads on how to use it first before messing with it at that level. Can't say enough good things Seafoam has done on my car's engine operation. Just understand how to use it first if you plan on using it in the oil or intake. Using it in the fuel system is no different than any other fuel additive. Just pour it in, fill up the car, and drive on.

Hahaha...another one added to the list.. You'll find it VERY TOUGH in the coming years to convince yourself to ever sell, or even purchase a different type of vehicle. It can get very painful if she ever needs a hefty repair, and I'm sure you'll ask yourself if the bill is worth it. You'll test drive other cars thinking it might be worth replacing. Then, one drive after driving others, you'll hand your credit card over to the cashier at the repair shop and be happily on your way. It's just sooooo hard to replace these cars for something that is designed to do the same thing "cruise". Look at CanadaCraig and all of his problems he's had with his. He just purchased a fully loaded 300C with some sort of mega HP package, and yet he is still on the fence about getting rid of his LS. They're addictive as hell.

Well I'll-bee, I did not know that! Looks to be much cheaper at $34 bucks on lexuspartsonline than the whole control arm assembly too. Alsalih, are you sure they're for the gen2+ models though? I can't seem to get a diagram chart for that part number on the website. I think someone on here a few months ago ordered just the bushing compnent, and received the bushing for the 1st generation models. If it is for the gen2's+, then by all means, just buy the bushing and save your money for more important things...... LIKE BUYING BEER FOR ME AND DCFISH!!! DC, you still owe me beer! Hahahaa... If it is for Gen2's, then I'm happy to see Lexus starting to answer the consumer's request for just the bushing components now, instead of having to buy the whole freakin' arm, like I had to do. Guess I'm getting a little outdated on the parts stuff these days.

The whole rod, it's sold as one unit. www.parts.com drill down to lexus and you can navigate to an online vendor and save quite a bit of money v. buying at local dealership. They're NOT hard to install, any indi can do it if you don't want to do it yourself. you'll most likely need an alignment afterwards though. Judging by your photos, you'll notice a substantial improvement of the car's driveability with new rods. These are one of the most common replacements on our cars, ranging from the first generation, all the way to your year model.

we use to have the 318ti "the little hatchback right?" It was a fun little car. it was VERY buzzy on the road though, not a good highway car. but for around town and zippy roads, it was very fun. had zero problems with it, but it did rattle a bit. not very powerful at all!

Michelin MXV4...worth the money...trust me...went through this myself recently. search for nc211 in the tire section, you'll see the thread. Blake has some Goodyears on his I believe that he likes as well. But I think the overall votes are for the Michelin's on these cars. Might be pricey upfront, but as I learned, you get what you pay for in tires. plus, with a car that is soooo sensitive to ride components, I recommend the michelin's to keep the true composure of the car's ride.

Rx.... Do yourself a favor. Write a little mental note to "not speak when you wake up". Trust me, you can save yourself the potential embarrasement of saying stupid things, especially if the nurse is hot! I had all 4 of mine pulled 4 years ago. I woke up, the nurse asked me who the girl was in the lobby waiting for me "just a friend, way to ho-ish for my taste". I don't remember much, but I do remember complimenting the nurse on her "bodacious ta-ta's". She was not impressed. I also CLEARLY remember the head wrap they had on me. They wanted to walk me out the front door to the car, but I threw a fit "still in a daze" and said "I look like a freakin terrorist with this rag on my head, someone will shot me out there!" Loweandbehold, there was a middle-eastern family in the lobby....they were quite offended. They walked me out the back door instead. Woke up the next morning on the couch, blood on my shirt from drooling, and a note pinned to my sleeve "call the dentist and apologize". I later was reminded what happened.

Nice looking car! Give her a bath, a little wax, and you'll be in good company for many years to come! Here is a link to Blake918's car, and mine. We have identical 95 LS400's, just like yours. Mine has 117k miles, Blake's has 280k... http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=27799

I agree with the guys..... you have two options here: 1) follow the mechanic's advice, sell the car and walk away. 2) put some money into it and enjoy the car. SRK's theory is exactly why I have the signature below. I'd rather invest a few thousand dollars into a luxury automobile rather than loose a few thousand dollars to own one. Just my opinion. If you are dedicated to the car, you really like the car, then you will not be dissappointed with fixing it up. When most engines are nearing their end at 100k, the LS400's 4.0 Liter V8 is just getting warmed up. But take caution: You cannot take the cheap route with fixing these cars. You will not be satisfied with the results for long if you take that route. Trust us. These are fine automobiles, built with some of the finest materials on earth. If you replace a component with a cheap replacement, it will show in the car's operation and ulitmate owner satisfaction. Just a lesson I've learned myself along the way.

Craig, here is my story with these items, except for the EGR: 1) I don't know, haven't had a problem with the EGR...yet.. 2) I think it also depends on how old the tires are, and how long the car sits in one place. I know for a fact "dad has 12 cars" that older tires that sit for a long time will flat-spot, which can lead to cupping. We have an old Caddy "73" that sits for months at a time "only has 13k original miles". The tires flat spot, then after driving, will cup. Also have a 85 MB 500 SEL w/ 38k miles, that does the same thing. But, you seem to drive your car more often. Do I think they could cup? Yes. It is quite possible they just have worn out to the point where they cup. I have the Michelin mvx4's on mine now, and love them. I have had zero problems with them. The car sat at the airport for 3 weeks back in May, and there was no sign of flat-spotting when we got back. Just a ton of bird crap, looked like a pack of Terridacticles used it for bomb runs. 3) Yes... New struts will improve the over all control, stability and level ride. Take caution though, as you already know from others on here, you can over-stiff the ride with aftermarket struts, but just depends on your taste. I know Blake recently installed new oem struts on his 95', and he said it lifted the rear of the car about 3/4 inch. If you're leaning, I bet you're ready for some new struts. I've noticed the "bounce test" is useless, in my opinion. It doesn't take into consideration the fact that the car is MOVING when it's bouncing. 4) Yes, it can create that feel. It would also make the rear of the car feel like it's lowering when you drive. Just like if you apply the e-brake, put the car in drive and let it surge forward. You'll notice the rear end drops a little. Easiest thing to do is remove the rotors, clean out the inside, the e-pads and turn the little metal spindle a few clicks to adjust the e-brake setting. But, take caution again, don't turn the spindle too much, as you'll completely eliminate the ebrake option. It takes a few test runs to make sure it will still work. But, yes, you are correct, a dragging ebrake can give you that feeling, especially if only one side is dragging. 5) I would think the ebrake theory would be the most likely canidate to the reduced gas mileage. The worn struts would contribute a little, but mostly in control ability on the highway. It sounds like to me you have a problem of operation, which is creating mechanical drag. Question: Have you had the driveshaft looked at? I recently learned that the LS400 can suffer from a binding center bearing in the driveshaft. Mine was recently replaced, and it made a world of difference in the operational smoothness of the car. I had a surging feeling too, especially early in the morning when I would pull out of the neighborhood and head up the hill. But I also had a very fast vibration under my seat that tipped me off to the problem. It is unusual for the driveshaft to be bad if it doesn't give off some sort of vibration... I'd check your rear ebrake first, sounds like a likely cause. It's obvioulsy taking a hell of a lot more gas to turn those wheels back there. PS: My rotors are warped too. I have new Mountains on the front, and cheapo' Napa's on the back. All are warped. I'm going to do the caliper rebuild kit soon, have the front rotors turned, rear rotors replaced with OEM, and flush the system. Just waiting for it to cool down below "hell+20 degrees".

Curious: Has anyone had a bad experience with the ASUS bushing replacement for the rear carrier bushing replacement? The do these at some dealerships now when the oem carrier bushings wear out. I'm just curious if they wear out quickly....

You should come down in my neck of the woods SK. We could catch a Duke Lacrosse game...well, if the team wasn't on parole, and according to the Durham County DA, all guilty of everything the evidence says they're not guilty of.

It was explained to me from my agent when I traded in my 92 Nissan Sentra SE-R "loved that car, should of never gotten rid of it" for a '94 GMC Jimmy SLT "my rates jumped up quite a bit" back when I was 24 years old like this: SUV's pose a higher damage risk due to their aibliity to travel off paved roads in a more aggressive manner than automobiles. Basically, if you damage it off road, you were still using it w/n it's intended manner. As were if you do the same in a car, then you were simply abusing it, which gives them wiggle room to deny the claim. SUV's also pose a much higher roll over risk, which bumps up all categories of insurance. 2wd suv's are lower than 4x4 suvs for the first reason mentioned. It was also explained to me the historical cost to repair the vehicle, up to a certain threshold of just totalling out the car, which plays a huge roll in determining premiums. Remember way back in the day Mitsubishi had something called the Conquest, and I think Eagle had the same car, just different name? I remember my brother looking at them, both were identical in respect to engines, colors, transmissions, etc. But the Mitsubishi was something like 40% higher to insure "don't quote me on my numbers exactly, I was still cruisin' on my Schwinn, stealing the Victoria Secret catelog w/ my Miami Vice shoes." It was higher because it cost more to fix it, according to USAA. Don't know why, same cars...but it was. Now I cruise in a Lexus and instead of stealing my mom's Victoria Secret catelog, I steal my wife's! Some things you just don't give up on. And those BABE'S are addictive!

India, I don't know you either, nor your family's financial position. But I can tell you this: Next to a turbo engine, SUV and V8 engine w/ 16 year old behind the wheel, makes policy writers very nervous, especially if it's an expensive V8 SUV. Some won't even write a policy under those terms. my advice, follow Lexirx330 advice and go with a used, dependible and cheap car for your first car. Make it a 4 banger too. The less sporty the car, the less risk seen by the insurance guys for operator trouble. When I was 16 "right around when electricty came out", my 1st car was 1987 VW Golf GT. It was basically the 85-86 GTI w/ the 8 valve, 1.8 liter 4. They had just come out with the 16v engine, so they bumped the "i" off of the GT for a year. The 8v and no "i" dropped my insurance premium by $45 a month. None the less, it was still $200 a month for me, and that's in 1989 dollars. I'm 33 now. Have a perfect record "for the past 14 years", drive a 95 LS400, $250 deductible, fully covered for everything....pay $40 a month for insurance through USAA "dad was airforce". 16 + V8 + SUV + Lexus = $$$$ to insure.

This is a very common question. You will find a lot of helpful information by running a search under the keywords. it is my understanding the arrnot's are the better of the two. Strutmasters I've heard are a little stiff for some people. you know, you can buy true lexus oem struts for like $50 each from the online vendors. check out www.parts.com and drill down to lexus. YOu'll find several offereings. I like lexusparts.com myself.

do a search for this one, you'll find a lot of helpful information on it. It is most likely in your starter, the slider pin connector. It's a pain in the butt to get to the start though. Trust me, do a search, you'll see one fairly recently with pictures.

Somehow I knew you'd pop in on this one ;) Hahahaha.... Ohhh Swo3es...where are you? Hahahaha I agree about the mpg, for sure! But I think the main reason why the suburbans are selling like that is due to incentives by Chevy to move the inventory. Price always dictates inventory. I've actualy thought about selling the LS for one of those Infiniti QX4's, simply because you can haggle the prices on suv's down so low, that it balances out with the current gas prices. I agree with you on the weight of our cars. It sure does make me feel a hell of a lot more safe behind the wheel of my 11 year old LS400, than behind the wheel of my wife's 3 year old civic, that's for sure! If I had the choice of being the bug, or the windshield.....well, I'll take windshield for an extra $1,000 a year in gas, Mr. Trabeck. :D

I think you get what you pay for, and to each is his own. I think buying an American car "the general mix, not corvette's and such" right now means one big, nasty, ugly wack of depreciation the second you sign the sales contract. America's true strength in the automotovie world has been in the SUV and truck markets. Too bad $3 bucks a gallon doesn't sit well when you're pulling down 10 mpg. Funny how just a few years ago you had to wait for your Tahoe to show up at the dealership, now, you can have it delivered to your house w/n 45 minutes. Historically in my opinion, it's been known as: Japonesse cars = percise construction, extreme dependibility, but buzzy, cramped and sub average mpg "V6's." German cars = Over engineered, but when they're right, man are they right! Tight, fast, percise and quite comfortable in a firm way. But tempermental beyond tolerance for the average consumer. Glitched beyond reason for some models. The Germans engineered their tanks in WWII so well, that a few grains of sand would lock up their engines. Some say it's still that way.. American Cars = Quality driven by the EPS "earnings per share" of stock only. Basic plastics, rude and basic elements of components "ie, brakes on chevy trucks", but you could toss a gernade in the engine bay of the 5.7 350, and still make it across Kansas. True, you won't have lights, power steering, or anything like that, but you'll limp across the finish line and still have enough power to do a few burn-outs. In today's global economy, as long as it's not a N. Korean made automobile, you're pretty much standing by American whenever you buy a car in general. American workers in Tenn building Nissans, Layfayette Indiana for Subarus, etc.... Our problem isn't the workers building the cars, our problem is the management and engineers who tell the workers what to build. That's where the American's have fallen behind. We can build anything, better than anyone. We just need to design it to compete with the others. I hate to say it, but to me, I think the management of the big 3 are just now coming out of the hangover stage of the IPO crash of 2000.. Two hours late and two buck shy of a happymeal.

The one thing to watch out for on American cars, is the philosophy that when you're on the bottom, there is only way to go. If I were an investor in the automotive world, I would be hard pressed to not buy shares of GM, Ford and Chrystler. They've been around long enough to ease any concern I would have of bankruptcy and elimination. I bet we'll see some pretty neat cars from these guys soon, and I bet the platforms, reliability and overall quality will be pretty top notch. The numbers tell the tale of the market's appetite, and the market it not hungry for junk food. I have a feeling the American boys will find the dislikes of the Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, etc... and exploit them for their gain, all the while uping their quality in the process. Interesting times, that's for sure. Toyota just took the #1 spot. The thing about being #1, is #2,3,4,5,6,etc... are gunning for you. Getting it and keeping it are two entirely different things. But as it stands now, in my honest opinion, Toyota has earned #1, they deserve #1 and I bet they'll keep #1 for quite a long time. People just don't have the money, or the patients to deal with the American "bugs" in their cars. Gas is too expensive to worry about other problems of a car. Plus, you can't really compare the feel, operation, ease of use and overall quality feel of Camry to a Cavalier type. But my money is on the American boys to come back to the show, with some very strong offerings. They're already working on it by stripping down their production philosophies to the bare bones, going back to the drawing board. Just depends if they can convince a new generation that they've really made the change, or just put more lipstick on the pig.