obergc

a mineke shop should definitely be able to check the runout of your rotors, of course that takes time and time is money. $15/rotor to have them turned isn't a bad price, you just have to watch out that they don't go below the minimum allowed thickness of the rotor after machining. The amount that they machine off the rotors will depend on how badly it's warped. You would think that a warped rotor on your front wheels would give you some feedback in your steering wheel. Without driving your car and feeling the vibration I can't tell you whether the problem is front or rear, it's just that the front brakes work harder in stopping the car and normally problems show up there before on the rear. Good luck.

In re-reading your post, I'm sure that you misinterperted what the mechanic said. He didn't tell you that your rotors needed to be rotated, he told you that your rotors needed to be "turned". Big difference. I would tackle my front brakes first because they do most of the work.

If you have a warped rotor, any reputable shop should be able to isolate a bad rotor with a dial indicator, a device that rides against the rotor surface when rotated and it will measure the runout of the rotor. If you have a warped rotor, only solution is resurfacing/machining or replacement of the rotor and I would recommend doing that in axle sets. Never heard of rotating rotors to find a bad one. You also can't tell if a rotor is slightly warped by an eyeball inspection which is what it sounds like you got. I think I would take my car elsewhere if I were you. You could end up with a big repair bill if you're not careful and informed.

You should check to see that the evaporator condensation drain hose isn't blocked or somehow preventing the draining of the water to the outside of the cabin. If you run the a/c on a hot, humid day, I'll bet that you aren't seeing a puddle of water on the passenger side of the car, near the firewall where the drain is. If not, your condensate is draining into the cabin instead of outside.

Sounds like a dead battery, quite possibly an open cell. Check across your battery terminals with a DVM. If your lights were flashing you should get your alternator checked also.

Sounds like it might possibly be related to the common break in the ground wire that is routed through the left trunk hinge area. You might check the wiring in the trunk hinge area to make sure you don't have a broken wire there.

The battery itself is enclosed by a plastic cover that has an opening on top that connects to the ram air scoop near the battery. Supposedly this will give you some ram air flow around the battery and since this is outside air it will be cooler than the ambient hot air inside the engine compartment, it will help cool the battery some and protect it somewhat from the underhood temps. Perhaps the cooling shroud didn't fit one of the replacement batteries and someone just threw it away. See the attached pic for a picture of my battery installation.

You haven't said what type of battery was in the car and that makes a difference. A standard, run of the mill battery usually goes 3 years easy enough and I have had some Delco's last me for over 5 years. The new cars run a lot hotter under the hood than the cars of years ago and heat is hard on the battery. Do you still have the cooling air shroud/ducting around your battery? That can be making a difference if someone installed a battery that didn't fit the cooling air shroud and threw it away. You will find some cars have the battery relocated from under the hood and have placed them in the trunk or under the rear seat. Make sure your alternator is up to snuff and then get yourself a good quality battery and you should be ok for several years.

I would get the alternator checked out ASAP, those high voltage spikes are not doing your electronics any good.

You don't necessarily have to put in a security code with your radio, that's an option you can choose to do or not. I bought my LS used and have had the battery disconnected many times without affecting the radio except loss of presets. Of course I lost all of the seat, mirror, steering wheel presets as well but no big deal. I think that if a security code is set it will go into the Security mode as soon as the battery is disconnected.

Your problem sounds vaguely similar to problems reported by other members where there car was stalling after driving at higher speeds and then coming to a stop. I believe that there was a problem with the ECM (engine control module). I don't recall if their problems was with your vintage LS or not, you might want to check it out.

I replaced the expansion valve on my 93LS and it involves removing the evaporator from the car. You have to remove the lower subpanel (easy job), the glove box (a little tougher because you have to deal with the passenger air bag connectors to the left of the glove box), the a/c ducting that passes through the area, disconnect all of the electrical connectors in the area and there is a major electrical junction point in that area. It is naturally pretty tight working in the confined space under the dash but I was able to do it without any problem. You also have a/c gas lines to disconnect in the engine compartment. It is actually easier than it sounds BUT, I would never, never attempt the job unless you have the shop repair manuals at your side. You need the shop manuals to tell you where all the hidden bolts, etc. are and I think that anyone who would try the job without the manuals would butcher the job. From start to finish, it took me slightly over one hour to have the evaporator sitting on the ground. Installation is more difficult than removal because of the confined space and having to guide the gas connection fittings through the firewall. To tell you the truth, $800 to replace the evaporator sounds like a fair price to me considering that you have to vacate the system, refill the gas, leak check, etc during the job. Are you sure that they're not talking about replaceing the expansion valve instead of the evaporator? $800 sounds too cheap for a new evaporator including labor.

I have the same problem with my 93 LS, several of the holes have torn through and for those fasteners, I fabricated some oversize plastic washers from an old plastic tub and it works great. I agree with Bob in that it's probably aerodynamic more than anything and you'll certainly have a different airflow around the engine without it. I personally think it's worth keeping on. It does make the oil changes a bit of a pain and I think that's how mine got damaged, by someone trying to replace the oil filter without first removing the liner attaching bolts in that area.

I bought the shop manuals for my 93 LS here. Good service from these guys. http://www.lexus-parts.com/partlist.asp?Su...D=26&ModelID=60

I would definitely be checking the wiring through the trunk hinge area before I would do any other troubleshooting

Here's a URL for a tutorial on how to reset the airbag warning light. Follow the instructions exactly and you should have no problem. It may take you several attempts but it works. http://www.lexls.com/airbaglight.html

According to the 93 Shop Manual, the belt tensioner is removed by removing a bolt and two nuts and simply removing the tensioner. There is also a note that says the bolt that holds the pulley on the tensioner in place is a left hand thread, you torque to the right to remove the bolt. Sorry, that's all the info in the shop manual regarding removal of the tensioner.

Your mom is probably wiser than you in matters like this. You have nothing to gain by confronting an idiot like that, they will drag you down to their level and then beat the crap out of you with experience. Ignore the idiots and keep a cool head.

Lots of opinions on this subject, here is a link that talks about it in great length. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread...&threadid=85470

Are you sure the bolts were over torqued at some point? If so probably will need a 1/2 inch breaker bar to loosen the bolt. If the bolts are corroded in place, a few raps on the head of the bolt with a hammer sometimes helps loosen a stubborn, frozen bolt. Get a good, 6 point socket to use with the 1/2 inch drive breaker bar to make sure you don't round the corners off of the bolt head. The wrenches, vice grips, etc. that you are using are probably too short to give you the leverage you need to break the torque of the bolts. Last but not least, make sure that the bolts you are trying to remove are not left hand thread bolts. I can't believe that these bolts would be left hand threads but you need to check it out. Good luck.

That does not look like a fresh leak to me or at least it is not a huge leak. You might just have a little seepage that is caking up with road grime and it has probably been building for some time. You could try cleaning it off and watching it but it doesn't look like something that I would be too worried about. If you're not adding oil between changes I wouldn't sweat it.

Do you hear the retract motor running when you turn the radio on and off? If so, the flexible nylon rod that extends and retracts the mast is probably sheared. If that is the case, you need to remove the entire antenna assy and remove the coiled up nylon rod from inside the cannister. If you don't hear the motor running when you turn the antenna off and on, then you need to check fuses, electrical connections, etc. If all the input voltages are good, then you will probably be looking for a complete antenna assembly. You will probably need the electrical schematics to determine if all the input voltages are good. I had the same problem as you describe and the nylon rod was sheared. I just replaced the antenna mast and it works great now.

You have ruined the compressor by putting the R134A in without purging the old mineral oil that was used with the R12 freon. The R 134A uses synthetic oil and the oils are not compatible. The blinking light means that your compressor has now seized up and has probably pumped a lot of metal filings and debris into your a/c gas system. At this point you need a new compressor, a new receiver drier, you need to completely purge and flush your system to get rid of the old mineral oil that gets trapped in the evaporator, the condensor and the lines of the system. You also should replace all of the "O" rings in the system since the "O" rings in a R134A system are made of a different composition from the R12 "O" rings. You would be well advised to take your car to an a/c professional to repair the damage and get the system converted the right way.

I paid $7400 before taxes and registration fees exactly a year ago for a silver taupe LS 400 with 99K on it. It had a new ps pump, new alternator, new ball joints, new brake pads and the timing belt and water pump were replaced and verified by Lexus at 85K. I will say that the a/c crapped out within the first 500 miles after buying it and I had to replace the power antenna mast. I've also had the normal problems with the instrument cluster and some of the other little nit noy problems that seem to be common with the 1st Gen LS but overall very pleased with the car. The quietest and smoothest running car I have ever owned.

I've had real good luck with this company. Very reasonably priced and good service. http://www.auto-air-compressor.com/