mrag

My apologies, but I am a little confused on the final recommended solution for replacing the High Mount Stop Light in a 1992 ES300. I only have the stop light in the center and then speakers well to the left and right on the rear ledge. The speakers are no where near the stop light. It seems the basic idea is to pull the cover away from the rear window and pry it up while hoping to not break any tabs. This is now 18 year old plastic and I suspect brittle. It there a better way than just pulling and praying? Thank you.

I've never heard of an "exciter ring" before today and the 1/4" could be 1/8" or something else-I was just repeating a phone conversation with my local mechanic on using a remanufactured half shaft or boot. He said he thought a half shaft was about $120 and I said I thought I could get it on Ebay for about $60. It was then he relayed the story about the "1/4" and a problem with the ABS brake light. Maybe he made it up or got it from a mechanic's magazine on what to tell picky customers that want to buy their own parts, but he volunteered it without any coaching and I had just read your situation-kind of eery coincidence. My experience has been (and it is not necessarily wide experience) is that there is nothing better or cheaper if you are keeping a car a long time than a Toyota replacement part specifically water pumps and exhaust systems. When you get to $500 OEM alternators versus $150 auto store's remanufactured ones though, I change my tone a bit. Keep in mind that bit of wisdom and maybe a $1 might get you a cup of coffee.

I just spoke with my local mechanic whom I've used for 10 years on my "cheap Hondas. He was saying (off the the top of his head ) a remanufactured half shaft is around $120. Ebay looks to be around $60 ! However, he then told me a story of someone that brought a shaft in and when he went to install it, it was off by about a 1/4 " that didn't match up against the "exciter ring." Apparently this "exciter ring" is tied into the ABS system consequently causing the light problem mentioned above. I note he volunteered this out of the blue. He also said that the guy was able to get a free replacement of the shaft BUT, he had to charge him twice for the labor. (Labor is minimum $150) Based on my "low" mileage, the recentness(?) of the boot tear, and seeing what Skperformance did in his case, me and my mechanic agree we'll go with a replacement boot from Toyota this time. If much higher mileage with a longer period on the torn boot, I'd probably go with any remanufactured shaft my mechanic buys and pay the $60 premium over Ebay. The labor cost is my factor here. If so, I'd also try and exact some "warranty" on the mechanic's choice of shaft. My $.02 on the issue anyway.

I can see the question on replacing the cv axle boot or the while cv shaft has been fully discussed although some time has passed and I wonder if there is any additional feedback on remanufacture shafts (and if one remand stands out more than others). I have a problem like SKperformance. 75K miles on 13 year old car, ripped outer passenger boot, NO contamination (it just recently ripped). Toyota boots are going to be around $40, a "completely new" half shaft (done by Drive Tech America via Ebay) with boots is about $65. And I suspect labor would be a bit cheaper on remanufacturer since you don't clean, repack, unstall boot, etc. BUT, which one is going to last five years? If car had 175,000 miles or selling in 6 months, remanu. is way to go, but I really wonder how long the remanu. hold up.