Spiike32

due to some idiot hitting my car and totalling it, I'm parting out my carpc which I fully recovered. If u're building a carpc and interested in the wood bezel I made (perfect match to the walnut trim and fits 7'' widescreens) shoot me an im on aim. sn is same as forum handle.

Well all fixed. Tools needed were a couple family members to rock the car up and down and I "scientifically" diagnose the problem lying under the car. The high pitch squeek came from a plate that connects to a sensor and goes around the back right lower suspension arm. I dunno what the sensor does (maybe someone here knows) but it was rubbing against the arm making a ear piercing metal to metal squeek. Edited for Liability reasons. I'm going to claim this and have firestone fix my HID sensor that they broke.

I went to my local firestone the other day because my shocks are bottoming out and needed an oil change. I got the struts replaced for a $900 all 4, but I have a problem. They said the spacer on the sway bar is worn and will rattle. To get this replaced will cost me $350. I was like screw it. I drove to work today, it's like a freaking bird is under my car. A very high pitch rattle/whine after every bump. So my question is: Edit: new question Can you install a sway bar link kit without a hydrolic compressor as firestone claims you need to have? Or can I just have the car lifted and unscrew the current end link and install the new one?

My 2000 es300 was $31,000 7 years ago. 130k miles and still running strong (knock on wood). 2006 es330 was $36,000 fully loaded a year ago.

ya my first thought was probably not done at dealer or someone that knows what they're doing. When I had my old bimmer I took it to my friend's "connection" to get a cheap belt change. I got the same noise you were getting and when I took it to the dealership they said the belt was put on completely wrong. Car still ran at the time, but I contribute that to the transmission dying a year later.

thanks djspawn. u're so helpful. I was doing some research and came across post 19 in a benz forum which has side by side 6000k ultinon vs stock 4300 philips. I dont know if I want ultinon lights anymore. I was shocked. Your first two links as well as lextasy makes it sound that the higher kelvin will produce a brighter light, but the guy's actual pic is making me hesitant. http://forum.mbworld.org/forums/showpost.p...mp;postcount=19

Are these genuine philips ultinon bulbs? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/85126wx-PHI...sspagenameZWD1V or other set of ultinons I'm scared of the knock off that claims 6000k 2400 lumen but is more like 6000k 2000 lumen from what some people have received on ebay.

thanks for all the replies! the forum is so helpful. I tried disconnecting and connecting the wires and it didn't do anything. So I did a lil switch-a-roo with the left bulb and right bulb. After removing both headlight assemblies and that stupid black cover that goes across the front of the engine bay. When I took the right bulb to the left headlight it worked fine. The left bulb into the right headlight still was purple. So thank God it's the bulb. I'll post up some pics shortly. You can tell it's the bulb right away after it is removed because the left bulb has some kind of foggy residue inside the bulb. The right one is clear and looks brand new. I was actually at the dealer in Naperville today and was quoted the following: $354 for 1 HID D2R bulb, and $960 for 1 ballast. That's CRAZY!! The manager also said he's never seen this problem before where the light turned a dim purple. So I guess I'm at a stage right before the bulb burned out but is hanging in there. Lifetime per bulb was quoted at 5 years, so since my car is 7 years old now, I guess this was expected. Ok I have to put my car back together and order a set of bulbs. blk blk thanks for the post on ballast link. I was actually looking at the same one during work and was going to buy that one if it was indeed the ballast problem. Djspawn. xtralights makes it look like higher the temperature the brighter the light. So this isn't true? I'm tempted to get the 6000k blueish upgrade but I'm afraid it will look ricey.

I really wish it was a problem on the 2006, but it's on my 2000. =(. I'll try the swap tonight and report the results. How much of a difference in quality is there in denso ballast and Phillips HID from something from like prolighting.com or http://www.xtralights.com/index.asp?PageAc...&Category=5

Thanks for the quick replies! Yes it is the OEM hid option. The lexus dealers in my area are asking for 350 PER bulb, but I didn't ask about hte ballast which I'm sure is obsurdly expensive as well. I dont know how to check the ballast or where it is to find out if that's the problem... Can anyone give me some tips? I'm thinking of just disconnecting the right one and connect it to the left bulb to see if it still gives a nasty purple light.

Ok for some reason my left hid headlight has turned a dim purple. Right one is still white. Is this a sign of dying headlights? First time I've seen this or heard of this happening and google provided no results of course.

wow. that's a deal compared to the guy at the dealership. I really wanted to kick him after I left. I'll stop by Advance autoparts tonight cause I dont trust ebay. thepartsbin looks like a good choice too which I will consider. Thanks for the quick responses! <3

actually it's for the 2000 es300 which has 128,000 miles on it. It is also still running original plugs to my knowledge.

Ok I think it's quite ridiculous that platinum plugs are $15 a piece at the dealer near chicago. So I did a search and read through posts on all 15 pages and concluded I needed either one of these from sparkplugs.com. Now the question is which one to get? I thought iridium is better and longer lasting but it is cheaper than the platinum tipped. I dont know why and wanted to consult before I place the order. NGK IX iridium 3764 BKR6EIX-11 0.044 DOHC $6.95 --iridium NGK Iridium plug 4589 IFR6T-11 0.044 DOHC (Original Equipment Manufacturer, and/or Original Equipment Service Part) $8.07 -- iridium core with platinum tip

Do you guys know of a reputable place I can get fuel injectors that wont cost a grand for 6? Also are remanufactured injectors ok?

Thanks for the fast reply blk. Maybe dampened is not the right word, but there are decreased vibrations when the car is out of gear. Your post however almost gave me a heart attack cause there are so many things that could be wrong. I'll check what you listed after work tonight. Are fuel injectors a hard install? I looked at the service manuals and the change doesn't look that hard. It looks like a pricey replacement though.

To improve overall handling, would the 2000 Camery v6 sway bar and strut bar fit my 2000 es300? Also how much of an improvement will there be? I had a strut bar for my old bmw 318 and it made no difference in handling, so I'm not sure on the response the es300 has to these upgrades. Global Performance Link Thanks in advance for your knowledgeable input

Hello everyone, My 2000 ES300 is acting kinda funny as of late. When I'm stopped at an intersection the steering wheel vibrates and you can feel the car vibration through the seat. But this is only in drive. If I am stopped at an intersection and put it in neutral then the vibrations are damped. I had an oil change, timing belt change, transmission fluid flush, and transmission belt change all done this past fall. The car was never like this in the past 7 years of car ownership, and has started this winter. I did a search on hard idle and many people post that the idle control valve which I believe is the same as the butterfly valve needs cleaning. Thing is, this happened on my old camry and first we replaced the engine mounts (spring like mounts that hold up the engine) which solved it for awhile and later just sold the car cause it got so bad. So is this problem what is meant by hard idle? Or is there a different term? And would the cleaning of the valve be the correct solution?

I do use the carpc for music. The antenna was spliced into tv wire and plugged into my hauppage tv/radio tuner. The stock head unit is only temporary. i drive knob is very versatile. It is a volume and mute button. Also changes songs, zooms in and out of the gps program, scrolls and goes through playlists. It is user bound so what ever you want it to do, it will do.

I dremeled and sanded a plank of maple and varnished with walnut varnish. It took 2 hrs every night for a week to get everything to look right. If you tap the obd-II you can get speed, oil/fuel, etc etc. It's a lot of work though.

Hello everyone, here is my post from mp3car.com, but since so many people here helped me I'll let everyone see what I've been working on here as well. I tried to get it to look as factory and professional as possible. The LCD is a lilliput that was gutted and refitted to fit the area. Computer is a HP laptop which is in the trunk in a custom box. GPS is a bu353 with iguidance 3.0 which works great but noticeably lacking in POI's. Stereo is actually the stock stereo for now relocated into the glovebox and the cd changer removed. Here are the pics: The car: Car gutted The finished product: Griffin powermate for idrive knob. Works like a charm (knock on wood) Here is the BU 353 gps receiver. I love this thing. I had to take apart the backseat to get the wire through. It was a pain. If anyone has a lexus and needs to take apart the backseat I can give some pointers. Here is the blue devil skin for roadrunner. With custom logo. Let me know what you think. Thanks also for the es300 service manuals. They were a huge factor on getting this accomplished =) Spiike

Hello all, Questions answered prior to reply. Spiike