john_letour

It seems that when I had my tires rotated last, one of the lug nuts was incorrectly installed, so now the thread is effectively destroyed. How can this be fixed ? Can I do it ? Thanks !

The new liquid (ATF) is red... ... the old one however is honey colored. Can they be mixed ????

:D :D :D @Lacebug and blk - you guys are good on the coffee and JDPowers survey front but don't check dates !!! Well, maybe it is my fault :chairshot: for adding a message to such an old post.... Since one of the original issues were additives I had hoped to find out what "WW" additives are ....??

Ok, I know this is an old post but my question fits in and I did not want to open a new post: My dealer here says he adds someting called "WW" to everything. Say: "WW Power Steering Conditioner" "WW Trans Conditioner" "WW Oil Fortifier" (I like that - "fortifier") etc. for every liquid, he says he adds some WW something... Does anyone know what this WW means ? Thanks

Hey Lacebug Stephen, I am a recently implanted American and I can guarantee: today you can find good coffee in the States ! (and even Starbucks is a huge improvement over the old time diner dish wash stuff...) Now, you may get that kind of service, that you mentioned, in Australia or countries where the technical aspect of cars is valued. But here in the US, especially the south where I live, I get the feeling that the biggest contribution to cars that American engineers made is the cupholder. (I cannot even begin to recall how often my question about the best/most appropriate component/liquid etc. was answered with "oh, anyone will do, they're all the same anyway..."). As far as the "shocking build quality" and "dubious reliability" of European cars is concerned - I do hope you do not compare your Lexus with any VW car. Now I drove a few Mercedes before my wife convinced me to buy this Lexus - and it's true, in the first couple of years the Lexus drives/feels great. But just about once it's out of warranty, things start to go downhill... And when you do some work on it yourself, you realize for yourself that it is true that japanese manufacturers make everything that the 'normal' customer sees, look great, whereas everything else (under the hood) looks as if Takeshi came and shoveled it in on a rainy Friday afternoon... (ah, my Merc 300E, man, after 200K miles I could still undo every screw and bolt with a flick of my wrist...). Anyway, sorry for the long rant... To everyone his own, I guess. greetings mate

Thanks for all the input guys... I decided to talk to lexus first - if nothing works out with them I'll do the bar thing.... Here - you can have a good laugh: I decided to call the Lexus 800 number because the dealership (Lexus of Kendall in Miami) is a total catastrophe (they were the ones that gave me a wrong information about a component twice, even though I gave them the VIN). - So I call Lexus on Monday and tell them the story - they tell me a "specialist" will contact me by Wednesday. - By Wednesday nobody called, so I call back - they tell me by tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon the "specialist" will call. - By Thursday nobody called, so I call back on Friday(today) - they tell me that the specialist will call, but don't know when. - Today at 6 pm the "specialist" called, listened to the story again, said that they will contact the dealer, but without a guarantee that the dealer will do anything because there is no guarantee that nobody else has touched those wheels in the meantime... - So now I am supposed to get a call back sometime next week... I had bought this car new, and have watched the quality of work done by Lexus decay with every year that passes. The same with their response to complaints or queries. One thing is sure: when I buy my next "luxury" car, it will be manufactured by a German company.

I tried to unscrew my wheel lug nuts so I can rotate the tires... But I try with all my wrenches and all my weight and force and they won't come off Still, I remember I changed a flat once on the street and they did come off much easier :cries: What do I do ? Put the wrench on and hammer it ??? Or what ? (I even tried that but with a rubber mallet...?)

Thanks everyone for your input ! As I mentioned in my messages above, replacing that faulty af sensor took care of my problem... Happy New Year Everyone !!!

@ Steviej The problem is not the search - the thing is that you almost HAVE TO read those 30 threads to get the COMPLETE information you need - I think it would be great if everyone sums up the steps to solving his problem in one-two final posts once he is done - that would give much better info to the new newbies ... (or, once a post like these is complete, as far as the info is concerned, it could be moved to a general maintenance section)

Well, regardless of what the dealer told me over the phone (twice !) - once the sensor was out, the connector of the replacement oxygen sensor (Bosch, from advance auto parts) did not fit... so I checked the part no. (now that I had it) with the dealer - and it turns out to be an air/fuel sensor after all !!!! (it turns out my car has 2 af and 1 ox sensors) (one of them moments where I wonder about the decaying quality of hired help... and where I miss my mercedeses !!!) Note: interesting enough - I sent www.lexuspartsstore.com the VIN nr and asked about the sensors - and they got it right !! (it took them 3 days via email though). They sell it for 165.50$ (plus shipping). So I found a replacement on densoproducts.com - for 162.50 Plus shipping - but since I'm getting itchy about the time that I've had this malfunction (over a week); and since with the shipping the price difference is not that big anymore - I'll go ahead and buy it from Toyota (they charge about 6 - 7 % less than Lexus) for about 200. (interesting enough - all auto- zones and -parts, and so on, stores sell the (cheaper) ox senssors but not the af sensors - seems that only denso is making them...) As far as consulting the Lexus FSMs on this issue - Toysrme was right - the 2001 manual reflects the codes + set-up of my 2000 model (which was manufactured in '99 - with tons of electrical tape, if I may add sheesh!)) PS: Anyway, I've noticed that no one but blkonblk has answered to this post - probably because this issue of faulty sensors has been discussed a lot. Nevertheless it is not easy for a newbie to navigate the old posts - so I added these comments, in case someone else finds them helpful.

...So I called the LExus dealer and gave him my VIN number and they confirmed for me (twice - I called twice) that my car has supposedly 3 oxygen sensors. So I bougt an oxygen sensor from advance auto parts (a "Bosch OEM") - but the plug doesn't fit !!! I searched this forum but couldn't find anything related to "plug" issues - is it possible that it is the correct sensor but the plug doesn't fit ??? Do I have to cut and crimp - or is it maybe that t is not a oxygen but a af sensor after all ??? [since this was the first time I hugged my car so closely (I did the operation from the top) I noticed the tremendous amounts of electrical tape that are on all type of wires - and I am the first owner (all that was ever supposed to have been done was the regular maintenance). Is this possible - new cars that look as if some 2-nd rate electrician trained on them ....??]

Thanks !!

...and for the 2000 ES300 - use the '97 or '01 manual ?

Weeeell - Thanks for all the input, but I disagree with some of the things you guys said: Speaking of "thick" - now as we know oil does not thicken when it heats up - it thins. So you have to agree that a 5w oil is pretty "thin" - designed for cold winters. And it doesn't get "thick" to 50 weight when it heats up - so it is NOT 5 weight when cold and 50 weight when hot - what happens is that because of additives (certain polymers) it maintains the viscosity of a 50w oil (is there such a thing ?) - that is, it behaves like an oil that was 50 weight when cold and is now hot. As far as its flow is concerned, it flows at least like a 5w. (If Iremember correctly, they way they test it, is by checking at what temperatures the film, that is the coat, of oil breaks = is no longer continuous, meaning there would be no longer any full lubrication.) I stole this quote from here http://www.repairfaq.org/filipg/AUTO/F_oil_facts.html: "Multi viscosity oils work like this: Polymers are added to a light base (5W, 10W, 20W), which prevent the oil from thinning as much as it warms up. At cold temperatures the polymers are coiled up and allow the oil to flow as their low numbers indicate. As the oil warms up the polymers begin to unwind into long chains that prevent the oil from thinning as much as it normally would. The result is that at 100 degrees C the oil has thinned only as much as the higher viscosity number indicates. Another way of looking at multi-vis oils is to think of a 20W-50 as a 20 weight oil that will not thin more than a 50 weight would when hot." Anyway, thanks for all the input and @Toysrme - thanks for the offer with the measuring tool - I am really not that deep into all these things. So I am not all thaaaaat interested - but I can of course do the measuring should you or anybody else want to know...

Ok, got it - thanks ! @Toysrme - what do you mean 1957 ? I thought the second number indicates a better protection film at high temperatures. Is it a question of damaging the engine ? Anyway, with my previous car, I had the feeling it was nimbler and used less gas with xw40 or xW50... And it's done now - synthetic Castrol 5w50 it is - Indy here I come.....

Thanks blk_on_blk for the info! Anyone else anything on the other questions....? Anyone please...

Thanks mburnickas! As far as the oil baffle is concerned - can it be cleaned somehow ? I guess I'll go aahead with the 5w50 oil - see how it runs...

Model: ES300 2000 Ok, there are plenty of threads about CEL + TO lights: a.) I understand that P1135 indicates that one has to change the bank 1 sensor 1 oxygen sensor (correct ?); is this the UP- or DOWN-stream sensor ? b.) in addition to that I also got a P1130 ("Manfacurer Contrl. Fuel Air Metering") code. What does it refer to - the other oxygen sensor or do both codes refer to the same sensor ? c.) is this an oxygen sensor or air/fuel sensor ? Is there a difference ? d.) on the list of pending codes there was also P0440 (EVAP Emission Control System Malfunction) listed. Was does it refer to ? e.) - do I need any special tools to do the replacement work ? - can I use replacement parts I buy at, say, autozone ? - what is a O2 socket (I read about in some other CEL post) and where do I get one ? Thanks in advance - I really appreciate any input !

Hi, a.) what do you think of using Castrol 5w50 in the ES300 (2000) ? (I live in Florida) (in Europe I was even using 0w40 in a '86 6 cylinder Mercedes) b.) what is that black thing that is under the oil cap and that one has to pour the oil through ? Can it be removed? c.) you guys often mention "drain-flush-refill" - am I correct in interpreting that as: drain the old oil - put new oil in and drive around a bit (how many miles ?) - drain that oil - put new oil in again... ? d.) where is the socket for the odb tool ? How do I reset the error codes after I made the repair ? Sorry, if this sounds stupid - I am TOTALLY new at this ... Thanks, john