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Sorry I did not see this reply until now. Dealership cleared the light for free. Problem has not resurfaced for 3 months now. Thanks again. Bill Harrison

OK, this was the problem. The owner admitted that he had cleaned the engine and had sprayed water on the engine. He took it to a mechanic and the mechanic found problems on cylinder #3 and told him to drive it a few miles so the water would dry out of the wiring/spark assembly. In a few miles, the problem disappeared. I drove the car this morning, it was perfect, and I bought it. Thanks for your help. If the problem returns, I will check the coil/plug in #3. I inquired about a fuel filter, and Sewell Lexus in Dallas indicated that this was in the fuel tank and not a recommended replacement item. I think I ran into a similar situation on a Honda Civic once and found a replacement filter. Thanks again. Bill Harrison

I have a 1999 GS300 that I am new to. It has 143,000 miles and seems like it was well cared for. There is a vibration/shudder in the drivetrain when the car is accelerated slightly, whenever the accelerator is pushed in gently about a half inch or an inch. I think I heard a slight thunp out of the exhaust as well. This problem just appeared, and when the car was driven about an hour or so, it disappeared. I am expecting it to return and wanted to get any ideas on causes or remedies. I did a search and found two links that mention similar problems: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...mp;hl=vibration http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...c=14406&hl= Unfortunately, there was no resolution or solution found. Thanks for any ideas. Bill Harrison

abrarcool' is ur airbag malfunctioning. I had once turned my airbag light on by mistake by wrong battery terminals i took it to a toyota dealer and he cleared it for 45 $ abracool, Not malfunctioning other than light. I broke down and took it in to dealership. They turned off light, said I needed an new computer ($1200 + tax + labor), then said it might turn light back on in 2 miles or never. 100 miles later still OK. Thanks. Bill

My Mom's 1995 ES300 has the airbag light constantly on. I searched past posts and found the procedure for turning off the light on a 1990-1994 LS 400 which looks pretty easy. It is at http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/lighting/airbaglight.html Does this procedure apply to the 1995 ES300? If it does, I cannot find the plug described as the TDCL port on this car. Where is it? Thank you for any help with this. Bill Harrison

I thought I had made a report to this thread, but my reply must be on some other thread making no sense to the readers of that one!! :chairshot: Many thanks for all the ideas, and I have begun to track them down. I found that I had set the timing wrong by misreading the marks on the flywheel. It was 3degrees instead of 10 degrees. That alone has improved the situation, but I am still getting some thump and a rich smell of gas on morning startup. I will continue to troubleshoot. I have cleaned the idle air passageway pretty, and had cleaned the throttle body not too long ago. Possibly my idle air solenoid is shot, but it is making the click noise it is supposed to. Will check the book about the temp sensors, but they should be enriching the mixture as it is pretty cold even in Mobile. Thank you very much once again, and I am confident this is solvable. Bill Harrison

My 1993 SC300 has a 75,000 mile engine, runs great, minimal oil loss, good mileage, smooth, etc. For the last few months, it backfires once on first startup of the day. At least that is what it seems like, kind of a thump (not a bang) right before the engine starts. This has been in warm weather, and cold as well. There is sometimes a brief hesitatation when it is first put into gear, but then the thing runs great the rest of the day, only to repeat this annoyance the next morning. I have tried to clean the fuel system with SeaFoam gas treatment a couple of times. It is no big deal, but I thought there might be something to check before pulling the injectors and getting them tested--my first hunch is a leaky injector, but I hate to just go off of a guess if there is better information out there. Thank you very much for your help. Bill Harrison

I have an 01 IS300 Motor and transmission and would like to find a car to go around them. I think they will fit in a GS as well as an IS. Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks. Bill Harrison

I have a motor and transmission for a 2001 IS300 and would like to find the a car for it to go in. If anybody has anything will fit, please let me know. Thanks a bunch. Bill Harrison

I have an SC300 and do not look forward to changing the plugs, but I am sure it will be easier that when I changed the plugs in my mother's ES300! Good Luck! Bill Harrison

I apologize if this thread is getting stale, please disregard if it is. Just wanted to let you know that I finally think I have a diagnosis. I ran radiator flush through the system and the bubbling bacame rampant. I think a previous owner had a head crack or a head gasket leak, tried to seal it, and left the confusing symptoms I have been trying to figure out. When the flush went through, the sealer came out and a more clearcut pattern came out. I can even see a leakdown with a radiator pressure tester now, even though there was no leakdown before. I will still pursue changing out with a low mileage engine if I can find one, otherwise, the head comes off. Thanks. Bill Harrison

I have done a lot of buying over e-bay and have had good luck with honest people. The only time I have run into a blatantly dishonest person was when I won an auction for some Mercedes parts and they demanded a Western Union wire transfer for payment. Fortunately only $32, but I refuse to bid on an item that has only the Western Union form of payment. Bill Harrison

Many thanks for the replies. The engine heat an flow of oil into the differential must be the reason I thought I had it all full, but two days later I was showing low fluid even though there were no leaks. I filled it again when hot, thought I had it full again, but the level would drop again. Finally got a stable reading. Thanks again. Bill Harrison

Well, yours truly is back to Square 1. My dream engine arrived and it looked great! Before I did a compression and cooling system leakdown test on it, I removed the drain plug to get out any old oil, and water came out of the pan. Leakdown was OK, Compression was bad on one cylinder, and Cam lobes were corroded, and rust residue was all through the engine and in the pan. The seller agreed to take the engine back, after telling me that I was just not familiar enough with engines to know that these were not serious problems. Twelve hours work and $200 in shipping down the drain. The reason I bought this engine was that the history was supposed to be known and an expert had checked it out. It probably was a great engine before he cleaned it, got water in it, and let it sit in his shop for a year. Will consider head gasket replacement. I am concerned about the Japanese engine sources because they do not know anything other than average miles on a Japanese engine. Have others had good luck or bad luck with these sources? One of them is engines-r-us, but there are a lot of others. Thanks. Bill Harrison

Well, yours truly is back to Square 1. My dream engine arrived and it looked great! Before I did a compression and cooling system leakdown test on it, I removed the drain plug to get out any old oil, and water came out of the pan. Leakdown was OK, Compression was bad on one cylinder, and Cam lobes were corroded, and rust residue was all through the engine and in the pan. The seller agreed to take the engine back, after telling me that I was just not familiar enough with engines to know that these were not serious problems. Twelve hours work and $200 in shipping down the drain. I will give one more try to backflush the engine in case the problem is a water port blockage, then run 6-hour radiator flush through it. Might pull the head or might get another engine if these do not work. Will ask for engine suggestions on another thread I am running on engine replacement. Woe is me! Bill Harrison