Lex3486

yeah, the ES is a fairly quick car, but i've learned from stoplight-experience that it is no sports car (you should try racing a few Preludes or V6 Accords sometime!) Sure, it can beat almost any economy car or even some midsize and low end sports cars and trucks, but its not a hard-core luxury/sports car by all means. but, it can definitely hold its own, within reason. B) speaking of sleeper Lexi, my best friend has a Suzuki VX800 streetbike, and he got spanked by an LS430 the other day! man, what i'd give to be able to have the 4.0 liter V8 in my ES! wouldn't that be sweet?! :D

i can give you really detailed instructions on how to do it, if you want. just email me @ erock34986@aol.com. hope i helped somehow!

ive had two ES's and have gone through about 5 or 6 antennas. all you need to do is take the motor and antenna shaft out and take the motor apart. chances are, the plastic rod inside the antenna shaft has broken. if thats the case, you can go to Pep Boys (if they have those where you live) and buy an antenna shaft for a Toyota. its an exact replacement and only costs $15 unlike the Lexus one, which will run you $60! if you put a new one in, i would suggest putting some white lithium grease on the plastic rod. this allows it to move more freely and keeps it from breaking sooner.

Thanks for ansewering my question SWo3S, aka Steve. I agree about the black older generations with 2 tone and chrome, which is why i bought one black and added a little extra, although tasteful, chrome. B)

hey man- do you want the 4 stock speakers you replaced, or did you get them back?

wow! im surprised to hear your opinion about the stereo as comparted to a 99 Camry! we had an 03 as a rental for a while, and the only thing I thought it had up on my 93 when it was still stock (i now have 2 10's) was bass, but hey- to each his own! hope youre happy with your new setup. what'd you get anyhow?

ive had the same problem and found out it was, in fact, one of my brake lights. when the bulbs get old, they start to short out on occasion, like when you hit a bump or just drive normally, which is what set off the warning light. I'd keep a close eye on them, maybe even have someone follow you, until you find the guilty party, but i doubt your car's crazy! also, check the license plate and corner marker lights (on the bottom far sides) they could be bad, and theyre easy to overlook!

NeiLtYme- you're right about the RPM's, its more like 50 mph though. also, you have a 96 right? my mom does too, and ive noticed it seems to push more rpms and shift higher than the older 1MZ-FE powerplant, but anyhow. I looked for a coach edition after i totalled my 92, but couldnt find one for the right price. i wish i had leather though- my new one has cloth. its more sporty i think, but i still like that tan leather! thanks for the comment about the 2-tone. i would consider goin all black, but i think id rather paint the wheels a matching gray color insted. anyhow, i cant afford to do either right now b/c im gettin new Yokohama AVS ES100 P215/60's this weekend, and hopefully windows too! i dont know if you saw, but i asked you on one of the forums how your light project went, b/c i was thinkin about doin it myself. just cant get up the balls to risk my expensive lights, but im gettin closer every time i see a pic with em, cause DAMN! anyhow, get back at me. later. oh, and i found a digital camera, so hopefully pics soon! we can compare our ridez!

NeiLtYmE- im with you on the black. mines a 93. how'd the clear headlights go for ya? or did your mom ever let you use the oven!? i was thinkin about doin my taillights, but not the headlights b/c i already took care of them a different way than anyone else

well, the upper torsion control rod (the thing that runs from the engine to the left fender well) was worn out when i bought the car (this being a common problem with the 92 and 93 models), and i have since replaced it. but it didn't help much with the smoothness. i guess it could be attributed to the actual motor mounts, but i dont know how to check them or what to look for. you have a 94 right?

Hey guys and gals. My 93 ES has a strange transmission; sometimes it is so smooth, you cant feel it shift, while other times you find yourself looking in the rearview praying to God that its not rolling down the road behind you! My mom recently bought a 96, which has the 1MZ, which had come to be known for its smoothness as i understand. It never acts like mine does! I'm jealous, but more importantly, i'd like to know if its a common thing with the first-generation ES, or if i can easily fix it, or, heaven forbid, if my car's just getting old! I've also had a 92, and it was the same way, so i'm hoping its fairly common (even though thats still not a good thing). Could it be a motor and/or transmission mount even? I dunno, but hope someone does!

Hey, wait a second here! The poll was supposed to be over what the best year of ES 300 is, not what color is the best (altough, i'll have to go with either black, which is what i have now, or the red that was available only on the 92 and 93 models- cant remember the name right off, which is what color my first ES was). Someone please explain this to me?!

I wanna see some fightin up in herre! Represent! (I'm not really ghetto-just try to be!) Oh, and tell why, but not to my e-mail!

thanks bbsal. i was worried that the urethane may string and get all over the inside and i wouldnt be able to get it off. also, you mentioned grill marks- will it leave them on the back, or is that just a precautionary measure? im really nervous, obviously, but im seriously considerin it, as long as im not the pioneer of it, ya know? if its been done, then im pretty sure i can do it, being that im pretty crafty. just want to do it right thanks alot. oh, and what about the little rubber grommets on the drain holes? they okay, or should i remove them?

bbsal- i was lookin to do the same thing to my 93, but i hadve a few questions before i go into it. first of all, is the glue really stringy when you get it apart, and is it pretty easy to put back together without using any extra silicone, or should i go that extra mile to ensure they dont leak? also, how did you hold them together when re-assembling them? one more-did the heat cause them to warp any at all? in other words, did they go back on as good as they came off? i dont have the money to go screwin them up, so i wanna be sure and do it right. thanks

I had the same concerns with my stereo in my ES, but it didnt really bother me until i blew one of the front speakers. They are 6.5 inch, which is fairly common, but the bad part about it is that they only recieve bass input, due to the stock amplifier. Not knowing this, i went to Best Buy and bought a set of Pioneer 6.5 inch two way speakers. I put them in, and they sounded worse than the stock ones! What im gettin at is that in order to get better sound quality for the front speakers, you're lookin at a lot of money. The only ones i found that i was told would even be comprable to stock sound were polk audio or other such expensive brands, and i dont know about u, but i wasnt willing to spend that much. I would suggest just going with some really good 6x9s in the back and maybe a head unit and leave the front alone. Or, you could do like i did and install some subwoofers and run them off of the rear speakers and leave the rest alone! It certainly sounds better, and still has that clean Lexus look to it

oh yeah, and about the CD changer- my 92 had one, but my 93 didnt, so i bought a used Alpine and put it in my glovebox. It fits nice, and I can even still fit the owner's manual in there! I hated it being in the trunk, plus it was closer to the head unit, so it was easier to wire up too. A few weeks ago, i removed the cigarette lighter and ashtray and put the control unit for the CD changer in their place. makes a great place for it, really easy to see and use, and it goes away when you dont need it. again with the sleeper thing. guess im big into that.

I had the same concerns with the factory stereo in my ES. My biggest concern was that the dang thing had no bass- my dad's company Chevrolet put it to shame! But like you, i didnt want a big gaping hole in my dash, plus i didnt want to mess with rewiring everything, so i ran an amp and 2 10's off the rear 6x9's and used the stock head unit. I've been really happy with it, even though its not the most professional way to do it. But hey, I did a pretty good job, and everyone i know thinks it sounds good, so... The biggest advantage to this is the money saving issue, plus it has a certain "sleeper" appeal- everyone's like, "wow, is that the stock radio?" i play along occasionally

How did y'all do this? I wanna do it to mine, but i'd like to have good, proven instructions so i don't screw up my expensive taillights-have you all ever priced those suckers? $250 from what i recall after i got rear-ended in my old 92!

Hey guys. Changed my plugs today, and im gonna run injector cleaner soon as i run out 1/4 tank of gas. I'm pretty sure that fixed it. Found out that some shady mechanic had changed the 3 front plugs, but the 3 back ones were still original NGK's. Hard to find a trustworthy mech these days. Thats why i do these things myself. Anyhow, it made a huge difference in how the car behaves! (whew-that was an easy fix!) It not only doesnt "serge" anymore, but it shifts gears alot smoother now. Another thing i was worried about. About plug wires- i looked at them, and from what i could tell, they seemed fine. Who knows though? Probably would pay to replace them, but i didnt feel like it since they seemed okay, but i had thought of that before. Anyhow, thanks for the input! I'm sure i'll have more questions as time goes on-you know how cars are! Oh, and NeilLtYmE, just wanted to let you know youre my role model- i love your car! Mines black/gray two tone with a chrome stripe i just added today between the two colors. Gettin the windows tinted next week, and hopefully a spoiler soon. Im tryin to find a webcam so i can post a pic, but no luck so far. Anyhow, thanks again!

I'm on my second ES300 now. The first was a 92, and this one is a 93. Anyhow, i've had the same problems out of both of them, this one in particular. At around 60 or so in fourth gear, if the rpms are at or below 2000, the engine starts to jerk very harshly. On the first car, i replaced spark plugs (Bosch Platinum 4+), the upper engine torsion rod, ran injector cleaner, and did some jerry rigging on the intake pipe, and that improved it greatly, but i dont want to do ALL that again. Has anyone else ever had this problem, and if so, what is it and how'd you fix it? FYI: the car has 126,000, and as far as i know still has the original plugs, so that could very well be it. Just haven't had time to replace them yet. Also, where could one find the clear replacements for the amber turn signals on the sweet !Removed! of my 93 ES? I've seen them everywhere in pics, but just not for sale. Thanx!

'Sup y'all? I had 92 ES (i now have a 93) that did almost the same thing- it would start and as long as i gave it gas, it'd rev up, but it wouldn't idle or move without dying almost immediately. Found out that my air intake hose had a crack in it right after the mass air flow sensor, along one of the "expansion joints" (or whatever you'd call them). This caused air to enter the pipe and bypass the sensor, which i guess confused the ECU and shut off the engine. Fixed it with electrical tape (cheap, but effective; Lexus wants $80 for the pipe alone). Check your hose- it could be as simple as that. Hope I helped!