Merrill

my o/d light is flashing, the vehicle drives sluggishly, not like there is resistance, just that it takes higher than normal engine speed to get the vehicle speed to normal levels. in reverse, it seems like everything is normal. also, my cruise control will work for a minute or so, then it surges a few times, and the cruise light blinks, and then cruise control goes off. after this happens the cruise cannot be turned back on unless the vehicle is shut off and restarted. i mention the cruise issue because i think it might be related to the blinking o/d light issue. the cruise issue happened first, before the transmission had any problems. i will not drive the car with the transmission functioning like it currently is, so i can't test to see if the cruise issue is still there. i have only driven the car around the block since the o/d light started flashing. also, on a related note, the speedometer will sometimes stick when you first drive the car. it remains at zero. if you smack the dash board lightly, it will pop up and begine functioning. is there a way to check the transmission codes? can someone walk me through this? from what i have read, this might be the vehicle speed sensor malfunctioning. the engine and vehicle seems to be working flawlessly other than these few issues. ok basically i checked the code and got code 62 for the transmission which is 62 - Open or short circuit in no. 1 solenoid valve. anyone have any experience changing the vavles? the transmission is also overly full of very black, very old transmission fluid. i dont want to change it for fear the transmission will never work again.

ok i replaced these axles, and when i drive straight they rattle. rattling stops when i turn. rattling is worse on bumps but also there is some rattling when driving over totally smooth road. what could be the deal? i packed them totally full of grease on the transmission side, and the wheel side was sealed and i cant get into that side. autozone said that side came pre-greased. all bolts are tight. the rattling is slightly worse on the driver side. Ideas?

I very much appreciate that post. I have purchased the axle assemblies already- they are identical for both passenger and driver side. there are two rubber boots, one on each end. I assume this is what you meant by an inner and outer assembly. I have to fill these boots with grease and then install them. What kind of grease is best to use that will not destroy the rubber? i am looking to get another 140k miles out of these axles so i want to do it right.

I would be interested in a part number and detailed explanation of how this mod was done. the bulbs on my instrument needle4s are all dead, this is somthing i'm interested in fixing. thanks, Merrill

I have some questions about replacing my front axles, which have been clicking and popping for about 3000 miles now. I have the parts, but I am hesitant on getting into this project because A. it will take the car off the road, and B. my time is precious and i dont want to mess with it and C. i dont have a step by step guide to the project. Of course I realize that waiting until they snap could cause both A. and B. my questions are: Will i need specilized tools to do this project like pullers and shock/spring compressors? i have heard this is a 4 hour job per axle- which is what the shop will charge me for and what others have said it will take me. Is this true? Is it a complex project? I replaced the timing belt/waterpump/harmonic balancer/shaft seal by myself about 5000 miles ago and i would call that complicated. Is it easy to replace the struts, mounts, and bushings while the axles are being pulled or does it not make a differnce if the axle is pulled out at the time? thoughts, suggestions much appreciated. -Merrill

check your timing belt. pull off the plastic cover and take a peek. it might be a belt that is almost about to fail, and ripped or stretched out. you'll have to turn it around somehow, either by letting it run with the belt in view, or turning it over sevareal times to seel the entire lenght of the belt.

*SIGH* i got the car running finally. not smoothly, (fast idle, slightly rough) but obviously the belt is on okay. the timing needs adjusting most likely, and the rest of the belts need to be put on. ok here's a summary of what i have learned... and i'll post pictures as soon as i learn how to do that. 1. the crankshaft seal can be pulled out with a hook shaped wire of about 3/32" diameter. it has to be very strong spring steel or piano wire or equivalent. slide the hook in against the shaft where the seal seals (or leaks as the case may be). there will be room there for the hook to slide in and then rotate the hook and pull out the seal with vice grips on the wire. this will destroy the seal, but be careful, VERY careful, not to scratch the driveshaft. if you do, carefully sand it out with super fine 400 grit sandpaper- but good luck since the seal surface is inside a recess in the side of the engine and it would be hard to reach in to sand. a new seal should be coated lightly with oil then pressed in with either even tapping (if you are brave) all around the edge, or with a peice of pvc pipe or a real seal driver to evenly seat the seal in the aluminum housing. if you mess your seal up by bending it or pounding it in wrong, kiss it goodbye. pull it out get a new one and start over. 2. the waterpump is self explainatory. plenty of how-to's out there for that. 3. the timing belt goes on as follows. the left camshaft is the one closest the radiator, the right camshaft is the one closest to the firewall. the crankshaft sprocket has 2 marks in it. one is a dot on the face of the sprocket close to one of the gear teeth, another is a SMALL notch in the back of the sprocket closest to the crankshaft seal. there is a mark on side of the engine at 12 ocklock above the crankshaft seal that corresponds to the notch on the sprocket, and the dot on the face of the sprocket will correspond to a white mark called CR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with a line accross on the belt. when the belt is lined up correctly, the cams will line up EXACTLy with the marks on the belt and on the cams themselves and on the engine. thats 3 things to line up on the left (radiator side) camshaft and 4 things on the right (firewall side) camshaft since there are 2 marks on the belt and 2 marks on the camshaft pulley. when the belt is lined up correctly, the distributor rotor, which is geared directly to the right (firewall side) camshaft pulley, needs to be lined up with spark plug wire number 1. this is approximately 12 ocklock. you have to pull off the distributor cap to see if this is correct. now with your right camshaft, left camshaft, distributor rotor, and crankshaft all lined up wiht eachother, its time to install the tensioner. just put the bolts in and tighten them down, and your belt will be tensioned. i had to do this 3 times before it finally worked, even though each time was identical... why? i dont know. here are some self explainatory pictures: best of luck. now all i have to do is wait for the plastic timing belt covers to arrive in the mail from ebay, put hte belts on, adjust hte timing, and roll.

*SIGH* i got the car running finally. not smoothly, (fast idle, slightly rough) but obviously the belt is on okay. the timing needs adjusting most likely, and the rest of the belts need to be put on. ok here's a summary of what i have learned... and i'll post pictures as soon as i learn how to do that. 1. the crankshaft seal can be pulled out with a hook shaped wire of about 3/32" diameter. it has to be very strong spring steel or piano wire or equivalent. slide the hook in against the shaft where the seal seals (or leaks as the case may be). there will be room there for the hook to slide in and then rotate the hook and pull out the seal with vice grips on the wire. this will destroy the seal, but be careful, VERY careful, not to scratch the driveshaft. if you do, carefully sand it out with super fine 400 grit sandpaper- but good luck since the seal surface is inside a recess in the side of the engine and it would be hard to reach in to sand. a new seal should be coated lightly with oil then pressed in with either even tapping (if you are brave) all around the edge, or with a peice of pvc pipe or a real seal driver to evenly seat the seal in the aluminum housing. if you mess your seal up by bending it or pounding it in wrong, kiss it goodbye. pull it out get a new one and start over. 2. the waterpump is self explainatory. plenty of how-to's out there for that. 3. the timing belt goes on as follows. the left camshaft is the one closest the radiator, the right camshaft is the one closest to the firewall. the crankshaft sprocket has 2 marks in it. one is a dot on the face of the sprocket close to one of the gear teeth, another is a SMALL notch in the back of the sprocket closest to the crankshaft seal. there is a mark on side of the engine at 12 ocklock above the crankshaft seal that corresponds to the notch on the sprocket, and the dot on the face of the sprocket will correspond to a white mark called CR>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> with a line accross on the belt. when the belt is lined up correctly, the cams will line up EXACTLy with the marks on the belt and on the cams themselves and on the engine. thats 3 things to line up on the left (radiator side) camshaft and 4 things on the right (firewall side) camshaft since there are 2 marks on the belt and 2 marks on the camshaft pulley. when the belt is lined up correctly, the distributor rotor, which is geared directly to the right (firewall side) camshaft pulley, needs to be lined up with spark plug wire number 1. this is approximately 12 ocklock. you have to pull off the distributor cap to see if this is correct. now with your right camshaft, left camshaft, distributor rotor, and crankshaft all lined up wiht eachother, its time to install the tensioner. just put the bolts in and tighten them down, and your belt will be tensioned. i had to do this 3 times before it finally worked, even though each time was identical... why? i dont know. pictures are pending... stay tuned.

ok i'm getting desparate. i had the belt on how i thought it should go but it wouldnt run.. i need to know this: there is a little dot on the timing belt sproket on the crankshaft. when both cams are lined up with thier marks on the belt and on the engine, does this dot on the crankshaft sprocket line up with the CR>>>>>>>> line on the belt?? this would place the dot at about 6 oclock? (at the bottom) or does the dot line up with the tick on the actual engine, which would make the dot at 12 ocklock?? i'm trying to find out how to set my engine to piston #1 at TDC. keep in mind that my harmonic balancer is not on the crankshaft at this point in time. please get back to me this is day #4 of doing this stupid repair.... i've had the belt on and off so many times now trying different things i'm just at the end of the line.

ok guys so i got my crankshaft seal installed, i got the new waterpump in, and i got the new thermostat installed. i have the crank and cams lined up at thier marks, but i was looking at the distributor, and it shows the rotor at the number 2 position, not number 1 like it should be. now i'm stuck because i cant figure out how to get the cam to move over 1 position. i have bought a new distributor and rotor, because the stock one is quite worn (i'm sure this car is all original at 131k miles-- absolutely amazing) another question i have is the timing belt tensioner. i cant for the life of me press that spring loaded pin down. i need to know 2 things. 1. how do i make the rotor and timing work correctly when i'm installing this new timing belt. 2. how do i install the tension pulley with that spring which is seemingly impossible to move. i have pictures of htis installation and i will post them when i'm done so that i can save you some of the headache that this has been.

the part (main crankshaft pulley ) is called a harmonic balancer. they run about a hundred bucks. mine fell apart at a stoplight. the outer ring just fell off, leaving me without an alternator or an air conditioner, but the car still drove fine. the rubber is supposed to dampen the shock placed on the crankshaft by the torque of each piston firing. the wrench required to get mine off was a huge 750 footpound impact wrench. not something found at your average home tool kit since those run more than 600 bucks.

ok here's the update. i starting pulling everything apart in my engine compartment today. i looked for the schrader valve ion hte front fuel rail but didnt find any. is there one no the back rail under the manifold? besides this, here's what i found: 1. the timing belt was broken into 4 pieces... shredded. i pulled all that out. what a pain. thats why my engine woudltn start (duh) and its what first went through my mind when i heard the engine trying to start but didnt seem like it was timed right. which it wasnt. 2. the thermostat housing has 2 metal parts, a part that bolts to the engine block, and a tube to which the lower radiator main hose is clamped. this metal tube fits into the metal thermostat housing with a rubber seal. this was leaking quite profusely. any suggestions? will reseating the seal fix this? what about RTV? i'm not going to buy another one if I can avoid it. 3. the water pump/timing belt thing was all full of both oil and radiator fluid. the radiator fluid that drained out of the engine when i took off the thermostat housing was green and in perfect condition. where does the oil come from that was inside the plastic cover? 4. i scratched my arm on my tire. the driver's front was partially delaminated with wires poking out all over the place. what are the best/widest tires i can get that will be reasonably priced? 5. the passenger's side axle boot covers are totally shot. one is totally peeled off at the tranny end and the other end is cracked almost in half. the drivers side only has a slit in the wheel side boot. can i get these boots without an axle? should i replace the axle? does a new axle come wiht boots? thanks in advance for replies to these questions. oh and one more thing, i checked the tranny fluid level, it was waaaay above the hot level (engine was cold, had been for some time). it covered the name of the type of fluid required. i havnt done anything to the fluid level this must have been the previous owner. is this bad?

dude... i very much appreicate your awesome post... although, i'm 28. not some 'old man' that said, i will post side by side pics of the engine compartments just for reference. if you only knew how easy my jeep (basically a farm tractor) is to work on... *sigh* i actually put my feet inside the engine compartment, rest them on the frame, and sit on the fender when i work under the hood... there's that much room... and the only vacume hose (from a cam actuated mechanical vacume pump) goes to... yep, you guessed it, the windshield wipers. but i digress. ok so i'm going to get all up into this car this weekend. hopefully by tomorrow night i'll have fixed it. no i'm not going to flush the tranny, although i'll check the fluid level. i'm going to pull off the distributor, pull off the timing belt cover, (if i think it slipped, which way would it have slipped? maybe i can notch it back to where it was) check the fuel pump like you said from the air cleaner, check the fuel pressure, check the sparkage, etc.... we'll see where this leads. I VERY VERY much appreciate this forum and this post. thanks.

Even if there is a slit does that explain why it only does it on < 1/4 of a tank of gas? I'm still waiting for this tank to empty to see if the problem surfaces again. did you ever figure out what the issue was? i am starting to have slightly the same issue, on my 1993 es300.

Hi guys, new member here. this is my first post, hence the length. I have a '93 es300 that is loaded. and loaded with problems. i'm a jeep guy personally, but my wife doesnt like my 1957 cj-5 because... well.. its not a lexus. so i got her this nice piece of... work. i paid 3000 for it. i am the 3rd owner. it has 131,700 miles. we've owned it trouble free for about 3 months(except for the harmonic balancer -- main engine pulley for those who dont know what that is--- with vulcanized hard rubber that decided to just fall off at a random stopligth with anice clunk ching ching ching sound. --a 90 dollar part, HUGE air wrench, and 20 minutes of shop time fixed this). here are its current problems, but i only care about the first one. 1. it wont start. i was backing out of my parking space 4 days ago and it just quit driving. it turns over fine, with a few random 'pop' ignitions occasionally but nothing that starts the car. the random pops have since ceased. i think its either the fuel pump just quit, the timing belt broke, or something else... what does it take to replace the fuel pump? what does it take to replace the timing/waterpump/seals? i usually do all my own work, but not on these space age complicated things that they make on jupiter or mars or japan or wherever. (i'm a jeep guy...) does the fuel pump whine when the key is turned on like other cars? i hear no whine. also i checked the skinny fuse/relay box on the drivers side fender under the hood. there is a felay slot marked 'fuel pump' with no relay in it. did someone break into my car, pop the hood, and take out the fuel pump relay while i was in walmart, causing my car to die shortly after starting it on presumed residual fumes? do you guys have that relay there? mine is missing, along with a couple other relays from the adjacent relay/fuse box in front of that. not sure if whats missing shoudl be, or not. 2. the water pump needs to be replaced. it leaks about a gallon a week of radiator fluid. this also indicates the age of the timing belt, see above. 3. needs a new seal on the valve cover, which drips a bit of oil onto the exaust manifold (not much, just a few drips). 4. when i steer, i can feel a slight jiggle/wobble right to left when its in the sweet spot from just starting a turn or just pulling out of one to the 'straight' steering position. it is more noticeable when braking, but less noticeable when accellerating. could this be the front CV joint axles going bad? its getting worse with time. alignment possibly? 5. the tires are almost bald. (maybe this is causing, at least in part, the above problem?) 6. the dash red LED's on all the gauge needles are bad. they flicker occasionally but mostly remain in the 'off' position. with black needls its practically impossible to read the gauges (speedometer, fuel, tach, etc). what a great feature. 7. the trunk/gas open button pair in the drivers door 'popped' through the hole it is clipped into. it now sits conveniently inside the door next to the speaker. how do i undo those door panel clips so i can pop it back in (with epoxy)? 8. the antenna mast is broken, every time i start the car, the antenna buzzes for 20 seconds but nothing moves. 9. its missing the remote. and it only has one key. how much is a new remote and a new spare key? 10. the rear view mirror high/low thing is broken, so the mirror just dangles swinging up and down when you accellerate or decellerate. it is mounted through the glass and the glass has a crack starting wher ethe rearview mirror mount hole is. presumabley this mirror was hit, breaking the mirror and cracking the windshield. 11. it needs a new passenger side taillight, the outside cover is cracked off. 12. it needs a new front fender, passenger side, which has a decent dent affecting slightly how the headlight is mounted/aligned. 13. the lexus logo hubcaps rattle all over the place, but seem intact enough. nothing some epoxy wont fix. 14. the tranny (auto) likes to ''lunge' when it shifts under load. my 50 year old jeep shifts better, although that may be because its a standard.... 15. i thinkt thats it. can you guys tell me how to get my car started so i can at least drive it to the shop to fork out my non-existent life savings to get this thing fixed?