VBdenny

Good idea DIY I'll do that

When I bought my car about a year and a half ago, the previous (original) owner had just installed 4 new Good Year Aquatred III tires. They are "S" rated and not appropriate for the car. I intend to reinstall "V" rated tires. I have Michelin X-1 Pluses on my other car and I love them. I keep them at 35psi. This is my second set, the first set still had half the tread after 65,000 miles. Excellent in rain, snow and high speed travel. My 1990 LS uses P205-65R-15 tires, but I am changing to P215-60VR-15. I am leaning toward the MichelinPilot XGT-V4 I can get them at Costco for $132.99 which includes everything but sales tax. Several people on this forum have said that it isn't a very good idea to use tires rated below "V" as the cars was designed for these tires and switching changes the handling characteristics. Money isn't that big and issue for me, but I really didn't want to spend 150 a tire either. If you don't go fast, I saw some BF Goodrich "S" rated T/a's for about $87 that looked good. You also might considr at least an "H" rated tires. I have no idea where the A/C filter is and I guess I don't care since I am ususually a window down driver anyway. From what I know about the Lexus, I'm sure it's buried deep somewhere and almost impossible to cahnge.

They make paint additive especially for plastic. I painted some plastic peices for my friends RV and there is an additive available at automotive paint retailers you mix in. I just went out to the garage and looked at my grill and it seems like the grill is powder coated metal, not plastic. It looks to me like a tough job as there are a lot of places the paint to collect and drip. Let us know what you find out.

Well Craig, That is the first time I've ever heard of replacing a gasket on a fuel cap. Maybe you should just "inspect" it and pocket the $50 Lexus would charge you for the inspection. The charcoal cannister is a tank where the fuel vapors from the fuel tank are run through acticated carbon charcoal. If they go bad you will know it because you will smell gasoline fumes. I don't know where it is. As for tires, I've started looking around as well. Why do you favor the Bridgestomes? I am leaning toward Michelins as I've always had great results with them. Good luck Denny

Thanks Curt, As I suspected, it requires removal of the whole assembly. Lexus usually makes sure to really put things together. I didn't know about disconnecting the battery so I will be sure to do that. The "bulb out" indicator is illuminated, but I'm fairly certain it will reset automatically since the bulb is intermittant and sometimes works and the indicator goes off. No biggie, I can figure it out. I'll jump on that this week after my family heads off. A far cry from the old days where you removed a couple of Phillips screws and put in a new bulb. Denny

I noticed I have a taillight out. How do you gain access to replace the bulb?

I used acrylic enamal reducer. I didn't seem to hurt anything and I've used it sevral times. Get it off as soon as possible as it will eventually etch itself into the paint.

Use a California Water Blade before you get the towel out.

Hey y'all I'm not BSing you. The Collinite is most excellent. I gave all my other waxes away. Check their website http://www.collinite.com/ I use the #845 Insulator Wax. You have to buy it by the case which is about $100US + 20 s/h for 12 bottles. It makes an excellent gift by the way. My brother drove he Chevy pickup through a Syracuse winter and it still looks like he just waxed it. I can believe they make stuff that good.

But I'll get them back

And I thought my memory was going. Thanks for the explaination

Be careful. If they get wet they freeze in the winter. I read something in the detail forum about car covers and how they can damage the paint if the car is dirty. In Penna. cars do get rather dirty in the winter.

Check under the car and see what you see. I once had an annoying plastic smell which persisted for awhile. I imagined all kinds of terrible things but it turned out to be a plastic grocery bag which had stuck to one of the exhaust pipes. Since you are noticing an idle problem at cold start up, I's suspect the throttle body is kind of clogged up. Look at Curt Oberg's slide show on how to clean it in the workshop forum.

I have saved several posts on different topics but I don't recall ever seeing the one with the capacitors

It may be a good buy but it is so damn ugly! all humpy rounded and stuff. I'd rather have my car.

Strangly enough, as I was driving home yesterday iinto the bright afternoon sun, I noticed how pitted my windshield has gotten. My main concern would be that it wouldn't leak. I've had several windshields broken over the years and have had more than one leak. It is amazing how clear new glass can be.

forget the wax. Use a sealer glaze. The stuff I use looks like you just put it on after 6 months and many washings. I use Collinite's #845 Insulator Wax. Wash it, California Water Blade it, dry it and it looks like you just finished waxing. Just the other day a guy in a store said, man your Lexus looks clean and I waxed it 3 months ago. I got tired of using carnuba every three weeks.

You might want to read some of the links on the PINNED posts at the very top of this forum. It explains quite a bit about how they work.

SRK while I'd like to believe you are correct, I am more inclined to agree with Todd. Even with a dealership, your chances of getting the service done correctly and/or at a fair price is 50-50. When I took my Lexus to the Lexus dealer they: changed my oil which I speciffcally said not to do, and left off the bottom splash pan ( I happened to notice it when I got home) and charged me a whole lot more than they quoted to do the work I wanted done. When I took my ccHevy to the Chevy dealership to have a front spindle replaced after a bearing burned up, they stripped the lower control arm bolt by turning it off with the cotter pin still inserted. The the idiot technician screwed the same bot back on. A wek later as my wife was getting onto the Interstate, it separated and the whole front end crashed to the ground. Imagine what would have happened at highway speed? While a great deal of technicans are good, just as many are bad and DGAS about your car. The SM's are even worse as they ignore your calls, and make excuses for delays. Unfortunate, but true. I worked as a technician while in high school and college, so I understand why it hurts to hear this. But experiences speak loudly.

Thanks Matt, I'll be happy to do what I can to help. I'll be pretty busy this weeks as it looks like the hurricane has lined up directly on Virginia Beach. I've been through a Cat 1 before, but never a Cat 5. I have to decide to stay or leave by Tues, but I'm sure they'll make me work Weds at least. Wish us luck! Denny

Let me start by saying that this is one of the best organized forums I've ever used. My compliments to your management staff and moderators who have made this a valuable tool which has saved me in excess of $1000 in the last few months. Perhaps one of the reasons why the workshop forums are not utilized as heavily as I expected is because all of the models are lumped in on. It might be an advantage to have sub-catagories under each model. I mainly use the LS board since that what I have. It is time consuming to surf through all the various models when looking for a model speciific question or solution to a problem I am having. I would like to see a well organized board where PDF formats of presentations such as the one Oberg did for the tilt wheel gear posted in such. Many of us feel more confident actually seeing pictures of what things look like when they are disassembled. Lastly, perhaps with all our members, we could hook up with a couple of particular Lexus dealers who would sell us OEM parts are wholesale. A LOC discount. They'd make money, we would be happy. Just a thought on somethings I've thought about Thanks Denny (VBdenny)

Say, what kind of sticker price is there on a 2004 LS400?

Manufacturer recommends at 90,000 miles. From what I've read on her they will usually go past 150,000 before they actually break. With the early cars, the symptons is.... the engine stops. Should it get really bad and skip a notch, the car will run terrible if at all because the timing will be disrupted.

Look on EBay. I saw quite a few brand new replacements listed. Around $120 if I remember correctly.

No BS there Todd. When I got an estimate from the delaer they quoted me $1600 and you know they are always low. They did smile and were very friendly. I drank some coffee and left.