Thi

Glenn, So far, I don't have any problem with Silverstar bulbs in my cars. You must got a bad batch or something. Check for moisture in the light housing. Thi

SKperformance, Do you buy your HID system from EBay or some other sources. I may get one in the future. Currently, I have the Silverstar bulbs. Thi

You can go to http://www.alldatadiy.com/ and subscribe. It costs $24.95 for one vehicle /year, and $14.95 for additional vehicle/year. I views it as part of investment on my car; it comes in handy. Thi

If you suscribe to the AllData system, you can see the part # & dealer's whole sale price. Thi

Thanks Doug. I already placed an order for OEM radiator through the web. Hope it's up to standard of Lexus. I found a web site: carpartswholesale.com which does not have all of the parts, but they have good price on radiator. Thi

Thanks George and Andrew. Next one my list would be a new radiator. I used an infrared thermometer for a rough test of the temperature. It seems to have some blockages. The truck has new fan clutch and thermostat. Andrew, good to hear that your truck is running better/like new. I bought the LX450 for its reputation and reliability; I plan to keep it for a long time. Thi

I just start using my 97 LX450 for towing a boat that weights around 3000lbs. It seems fine on highway, but when I get off onto inner roads that have some hills, the temperature starts to climb up. If you do some towing with your LX450 or Landcruiser, do you have any problem with the temperature? Any recommendation? Thanks. Thi

Beside the pressure test, I heard that there are some devices for testing gasket leak. The device will sniff the coolant vapor, or exhaust gas. I also heard that you can open the radiator cap when the engine is COLD, turn on the engine, and check to see if there are any bubles. That's unsual amount of oil for the truck to consume. Thi

Andrew, Sorry to hear about the problem that you have with your truck. Here's some information that I read about cylinder head gasket: . Gasket cost $127.88 . Standard labor 9.8 hours. If the labor is $60/hour then it would cost you $588 for labor You should call around, even Lexus dealer. Ask them how many hours does it take and how much for one hour. Thi

On my 97 LX 450, the fan clutch has the same resistance when the engine is cold & when it's hot. When the engine is hot, should the fan clutch have more fluild coupling so that the fan rotates more? If you have an LX 450, could you do me a favor and test the behavior of the fan clutch? When the engine is cold, rotate the fan blades and notice the resistance; after some driving (engine hot), rotate the fan blades and notice the resistance again. Is there any difference? Thanks in advance. Thi

Ellioh, A Lexus dealer checked the Freon and fan clutch before. The car does not overheat in heavy traffic. After a long highway cruising, if I get off to a smaller road, sometimes the temperature gets above the middle mark a little. That's when the AC cuts off. Thanks. Alaska_LX, I will get a tool or have someone pressure test the radiator. Thanks. Thi

Charong, I'm still monitoring and finding a fix for the problem. I will post a solution for the problem when available. Thi

Thanks Andrew. I'll check/monitor the coolant temperature more closely. I brought it to a local Lexus one time and they was not 100% sure of what's the cause. It's an intermittent problem so it was hard for them to debug also. One theory was the evaporator valve is frozen; but when the outside temperature is around 85+ or in the evening, the A/C seems to work OK. I would think that if it's frozen than it would happend in those instances also. However, I will look ino the evaporator valve, & receiver drier side also. Hope your truck is running better now. Thi

Thanks Doug for the suggestion. I checked the outside & inside of the radiator and it looks clean. The temperature is usually pointed to the middle of the scale. When under load & not enough air flow, it rises a little above the middle level; then the A/C goes off. It seems like it anyway. I looked in the manual and found a coolant sensor cut off switch. As I remember, it is shorted when the temperature goes above 226 F. It's opened when the temperature gets below ~180 F. The A/C uses several parameters in order to turn off the A/C clutch; that's one of them. As I understood, the A/C will stop if the switch is shorted. They show another coolant sensor somewhere inside the cabin. It's hard to determine the exact location from the pictorial drawing. From what I can gather, it may be located somewhere on the passenger side. In the past, the truck had problem with water leaking in the passensger side. I wish that there's a data port for each major component such as A/C, transmission, emission,... If the input parameters for a given component is easily monitored, that would make debugging problem easier. ODBII port provides some information, but not enough and pretty generic sometimes. I start to use the datalogger again in order to track the characteristic of temperature vs. A/C cycle. If you run across some others clues, please let me know. Thanks. Thi

I agree with you. If I put on an electric fan, that's just a bandaid solution which does not solve the real problem. I bought the truck used so I don't know its original characteristic. It would be ideal if I can find someone with a 97 LX 450 & datalogger so I can compare the data & have some reference point. Thi

Summer is comming and my 97 LX 450's cooling system could be better. After a good highway cruising with some passengers in the car, if I pull off to some side road, the temperature climbs a little bit, and the A/C cuts out. If you have a 450, does your car behave the same? Does the A/C stay on all the time (well beside normal A/C clutch cycle)? The A/C works fine when the ambient temperature is below 90 degrees. The thermostat on my truck was replaced last year & the system was flush also. With the later model LX470, Lexus equipped them with electric fan. If you know some after market solution for better cooling, please let me know. I'm open to any suggestion. Thanks. Thi

When you saw the water leak, did you have the heater on? Check around heater hose and see any wear or tear. Can you still see the water leak now or just that one incident? If you go on a long trip, you can bring along some antifreeze and fresh water just in case. Thi

Doug, The color of your Lexus looks like mine. Very nice pictures and adventurous on your part! For me, off road are those speed bumps around parking lots :) Have fun. Thi

With my 97 LX 450, I need to get pretty close to the car (10 feet or closer) in order for the remote to work. Thi

Beside what Steve mentioned above, the paint code is usually embedded in the VIN of your car. You can bring the VIN to a local dealer or professional paint shop and they should be able to tell you. Some service manual give you a way to decode the VIN also. Thi

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. The color of my car is white with tan trimming. Sometimes, I'll swing by Lexus dealer and see if they have any gold touch up paint. Thi

Nelson, Beside the fluid, you may want to check the tension of the belt also, just a thought. Thi

Thanks Nelson. The hub cabs got a lot of scratches before. Now, I need to scrub/clean the wheels! Thi

Robert, I took some pictures of one hub cab. Rookie, You went the easy route! :)

I'll take some pictures and post them. Thi