rtd111

Sorry for the delay; I've been away. I do not know anything about code 45 or about the suggestions to fix it. I did not have a new TPS so I did what I could by way of investigation/isolation. I was not expecting the code to go away -- though its hard to tell if its really gone. I have not driven the car since my last posting. And I just took a lint-free cloth and rubbed the leads carefully for a few seconds to clean off any deposits (or my fingerprints :-) -- kinda std procedure. I am not even sure what cleaning means: perhaps some solvent to really dissolve anything that might be on it but I don't know. Can't be of much help to you.

You did not mention year of your vehicle. For me, the OBD codes are in the FSM, or check http://www.troublecodes.net/Lexus/ BTW, the TRAC light came on towards the end of a (~15 mi) trip. On the way back, nothing. I should have mentioned that I changed the wires, plugs, dist and rotor earlier in the year after which the TRAC warning light started appearing as described.

91 LS, 152K miles. About early 2006, my Lights (indication for headlight/tailight/halogens/etc issue) warning light came on. I checked the lights and noticed one of the halogens was not working so I attributed it to that. However, one day I noticed that it was working but the warning light remained on. I ignored it. About the same time as the Lights, my TRAC light had also come ON. The TRAC light was intermittent: sometimes it would come on when starting, sometimes after I drove a few (tens) of miles, and sometimes, though rarely, never came on during a drive. About 2 months ago, the check engine light (CEL) popped up as well as the Traction Control ON/OFF light. These would come on within a mile of driving. So at first opportunity, I ran some diag and got code 41 (this was the only code), which indicates a Throttle Position Sensor issue. I removed the TPS, cleaned the leads and put the same one back in. Cleared the codes. These CEL and Traction OFF lights went away. I ordered a new TPS in the meantime, which till today remains in the box. When I cleared the codes after the TPS cleanup, all warning lights were gone. However, afer a couple of days, the Lights and TRAC warning lights came on as previously described. This continued for about a month. About a week ago, these disappeared. So now, I have no warning lights. This is a little bothersome. Any ideas? Any suggestions for further diag?

91 LS400, 147K miles Short of it: should I do something special or what's the down side of switching back from synthetic to regular engine oil? The long of it... I changed oil about 1500mi ago, changing from regular to Mobil Synthetic. That was the first time I switched to synthetic in this car. Sure run smoother (or maybe because I also have done lots of other work around that time). Perhaps by coincidence, perhaps due to thinner synthetic (and other posts about questionable sealing capability of synthetics) I have had a small engine oil leak for about the last 600+ miles. It may have started sooner given the drip has gotten increasingly noticeable to a small puddle every 2 out of 3 times I drive the car. I checked under the car and sure enough, there is oil seeping thru, a drop at a time, from the rear main seal (kind of like the first pic at http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/transmission/removal.html). I want to delay the work a few months plus am wondering if going back to the thicker regular oil might help slow down or even stop this problem. Anything special I should do before I switch back to regular oil? I plan to drain, put new oil filter, and fill with 5W-30 MaxLife. Many thanks.

You mean this does not give you enough of a hint? Turn the belt tensioner and remove it. In case you don't have a picture attached under the hood, first make note of how it winds around the various pulleys.

If it was the Toyota red, it had turned almost purple. I could see that it needed to be flushed. I did painstakingly finish this job and I am glad I did. Got a fair bit of crud out in the flush. I now have a 60-40 coolant-water ratio (recommendation is 50%-70% coolant). Its just plain peachy now. (BTW monarch, I also cleaned the solenoid screen on the SC: quite a task but well worth it. Steering is super smooth now.)

Check www.lexls.com: caveat that this site is all LS400 and some SC400. So all you can get is hints for your vehicle. Download the PDFs from the techinfo link first or get a hard copy factory svc manual before you do your work. If you follow the steps and are patient, you'll find these cars are actually quite easy to fix. Its hardly ever easy to work on just the part in question: alt, PS Pump, rack solenoid, etc. Even if you unbolt the alt, you may not be able to pull it out without removing a bunch of other things. Good luck. and I mean that in a positive way :-)

Any ideas where to find lower control arm bushings for gen1 SC400? Prefer OEM, rubber. Not interested in Daizen/poly. Looks like the lower ball joint and the lower control arm are one piece, unlike the LS400. So we really cannot just replace the lower ball joint. Is that correct? Thanx in advance.

Can you tell us where you got the part, cost and how easy? Can you provide instructions?

Search for "solenoid filter" or ".. screen" on this or better, the LS400 forum. There's plenty out there. Check the saga at: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=24775

While the pump itself may have deteriorating rubber parts, which is mainly the o-rings and bearing seals, the rotor, and pump cavity is all metal (having opened more than a couple of these pumps). Realize that there is fair bit of rubber tubing in the system and there's fluid swirling thru those tubes as pretty high pressure, as one would observe when flushing the PS Fluid. So there's plenty of oppty for inner linings to erode away. The solenoid screen is the first filter on the return line. And for a total of 4 cents, in response to lexlover's request: in fact threadcutter is a proponent of removing the screen and flushing, which probably is fine. I generally clean the screen, reinstall it then flush because I am curious what's circulating in there. After a good flush, clean screen and reinstall again and flush only about 1 qt worth for final rinse. The link in TC's post for PSflush is great -- I wouldn't flush at the solenoid: you'd have better control at the reservoir and the return line there. For another DIY on this topic, see Soarer)

94 SC400 The right and left coolant drain !Removed! are quite difficult to get to. Even when removing the tires, and using a universal joint, these are hard to access and loosen. Is there some trick to making the flush job easier? To flush, I have to fill-drain-repeat about 3-4 times and putting car on - off jack stands, on-off tires; etc is getting to be quite painful. (I have to get it off the jack to drive out of the garage to run the engine until the coolant heats up to circulate it thru the system, and can't quite do the job in the driveway.) Thanx in advance.

Any pointers to DIY instr for replacing the engine and tranny mounts? Pics? Thanx.

While working on the steering rack, I pulled it a bit awkwardly and some grease came out of the boot connecting the LCA and the tie rod end. There isn't any visible damage to the boot itself. Could I go another 500-1000 miles: I plan to change LCA & UCA bushings in about 3-4 weeks anyways. Thanx.

I am not sure where you read about the 3 screens. For what its worth: - there is a screen in the solenoid on the steering rack, which you're replacing -there is a screen/filter in the PSF reservoir: this must be cleaned and generally has the most gunk. I assume you cleaned this when you replaced the pump: in the SC400, its not quite attached to the pump like in the LS400. Don't know about the third. BTW, are you replacing the whole rack because the pump is "grinding"? Or is there something else going on as well? How much did you pay for the rack and where did you get it? Thanx.

SC400, 94, 101K miles Long story short, I removed my steering rack but had the tie-rod ends still attached to the wheel/LCA. While tugging the rack out of the steering column, I caused a leak (yellow-brownish grease) from the right bushing there (actually the boot). The boot itself is not torn; on visual inspection, doesn't even seem damaged. Just a particular weird angle of the tie rod end caused the boot to open up a bit under the LCA. Is it okay to leave it be or must I change the bushing / boot? I'll try to post a pic if I can in a bit. Thanx. BTW, the longer story is to get to the solenoid & screen, which I now have very accessible. Some recent postings have someone replacing the rack, and another lucky fellow got his channel locks to work just fine -- like monarch, I too am curious what the plier looks like because I tried plenty with a set that reaches but wont turn because of the cramped space. And had to resort to removing the rack.

These are 4 (pairs) for just the upper control arm; doesn't the Daizen kit really come with 6, for the lower arm also? Is it okay to replace just the upper and not the lower bushings? http://www.daizensporttuning.com/products/...m_bushings.html

Too bad about your experience, harippa. I am sure you spent big bucks with the dealer, multiple times. I am curious: did YOU not simply ask them to clean the solenoid, no matter what THEIR recommendation is? I've had shops do what I tell them after they give me their caveats ( ). Arguably, they will want to remove the rack (and maybe just one side, which I am considering) to do this, but cost of that within the ballpark of the work you may have already done. Finally, rebuilt racks are available in the range of $250, which I have also considered. Now to the general situation, how hard is it to remove the rack. Doesn't quite look to be hard, so my question should be how hard is it to put back? Any readjustments or auxilliary work needed when reinstalling? Any pointers to DIY instructions? I know that the PS Fluid is quite bad and I am now inclined to not ignore cleaning the filter.

This forum is where the action is on this topic. I posted couple of days ago to SC400 and got no response. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=28165 Any thoughts? The solenoid is in a really crammed in there. Need to put stuff back together but waiting on this one. Many thanx.

Car is 94 SC400, 100K miles. The solenoid on the rack is quite difficult to access :cries: . I am looking to clean the filter / screen in there. There are several threads on the LS400 forum of why this is important after a PS rebuild / flush. Has anyone done this on a 1st gen SC400? The hex nut on the solenoid is hard to reach: cant quite hit it with a screwdriver-hammer at the proper impact angle, and a channel lock wont reach in the cramped space. I am doing a 100K maintenance on it: all the standard stuff first. Have had this car since 76K miles. So: a) any instructions or other pointers on cleaning this screen? B) any other options to explore to flush out the screen or do as much cleaning of the PS system as possible without messing with the solenoid? I do plan to do a flush after I put the system back together. c) should I just ignore the solenoid (though I suspect the screen is clogged given the PS fluid was filthy: I doubt previous owner did anything on this front). PS Pump had started to leak and got me going on this. And given other threads, a flush is only as good as the dirt left on the solenoid screen. Thanx in advance for your help.

Yes it is. Be sure to a) use plenty of Kroil / PB Blaster / etc at least a couple of hours prior to starting work, AND B) drive it around to warm up the system (of course, let it get to a workable warm before you begin) Let us know the status of your filter / screen.

I have replaced the filter and gasket on my LS400. So I know what you are talking about. And I do have the FSM (for both cars). I just wanted to confirm the part number because I am planning on using a seal instead of a gasket and therefore I only need the filter. I am not going to clean it and replace: for less than 30-40 bucks, I might as well get a new part.

What is the part number for the transmission filter for the 94 SC400. I suspect its the same as for the LS400 (35330-50010) but want to make sure. Also, is there a list or link on the web which lists various manufacturer part numbers for the different models? I have the PDF manuals but there doesn't seem to be a list or a consistent reference to part numbers. Various aftermarket part-sellers have their own numbers. Thanx in advance for info / pointers.

Enlightening, as much of this forum is. I have these squealing brakes, generally on light braking as described on this thread, on my SC400 for the last 8 mo or so which is when I got the brakes done at a local "Japanese Car Specialists" shop (not the Lexus dealer). I've taken it in couple of times and talked to the guy several times that something is not quite right but he swears the brakes are fine and the squealing is normal. When asked why I did not hear it before, I get some incomprehensible excuse. I wonder if he threw away the shims, as you guys have explained here, and the cause of this noise. So, a) a novice question: can anyone post a picture or explain further what this shim thingie is. B) since I don't want this guy to touch my car again, can I get this part and go the DIY route? Any pointers to online vendors? Thanx.

Don't know what the status of available parts its but would love to get the Air Intake Connector Pipe. I am unable to attach a pic but the sequence of parts around it are the Air Cleaner (air filter housing) followed by the Air Flow Meter, followed by Intake Pipe (this is what I want) which is connected to the Throttle Body. Contact me at rtd111@gmail.com if this part is available. Thanx. Less important but desirable is the solenoid on the steering rack.