dewana421

I cannot locate the brake booster check valve in my 2008 Lexus ES 350. I brake is very hard to press and I’m trying to troubleshoot whether it is the check valve that is bad or the brake booster itself. I manually try to vacuum on the brake booster, but it did not work however, when I turn the car on the brake perfectly works fine. The only issue I’m facing is that the break is very hard to press as soon as I turn the car off. Which tells me that the vacuum is leaking somewhere. I just want to eliminate the check valve, but cannot locate it anywhere. Normally it’s located on the vacuum hose that goes from the intake manifold to the brake booster but on this car, there is no check valve on that pipe and I did check that vacuum pipe which has no leaks. Seems like it is a pretty common problem on this car, but I have not seen any issues on YouTube or anywhere. Please share what you found on yours.

Hi. I’m having the same issue. Did you ever figure out what harness is needed?

I suggest move the front tires back and back tires front and see if you notice any improvement. Normally it happens with bad balanced tires or worst case a bent wheel can also cause this issue. many specific tire leaking air faster then others by any chance ? also I would suggest swapping each wheel with spare one by one and observe then. when you replaced the axle was it genuine or aftermarket? That could also be the issue. If it was aftermarket.

Your battery is dying. Change it

Don’t know why Lexus IS 3rd. I would put it first however that doesn’t discount the fact that they won’t go bad with age. Age deteriorates everything weather it’s living thing or non living thing 🙂 it’s just a matter of time when things starts to go bad. I also have a 2007 es350 for past 10years with 80k miles and I just had to replace a bunch of stuff including water pump/alternator/thermostat/rotors etc and then my sisters 2007 Camry with 350k and all original without issues as it’s a daily driver for her 50-80 miles daily ever since she got it. a moving body is in shape and performs better then the one that sits around doing nothing 🙂

In all honestly that’s very low mileage and cars not driven much with low mileage cause trouble only in long run with oil leaks as the rubber gasket giveaway if they are not going through heating and cooling cycle. Also the transmission mounts, engine mounts, rubber bushings, ball joints rubber covers all give up and cause issues. I have a lot of bad experience on my BMW with low miles so not just making stuff up. But this is a Lexus so again I’m not sure of quality of materials used. I suggest try carvana. I just sold my 2017 Es350 with 27k miles for $27.5k and I paid the same for this car a year ago and drove 17k on it. and also this offer was better than what offers I got from private buyers. carmax was worst and vroom is another one you can try. 18k seems higher for the year. These cars are reliable so if I have to pay 18k I would get a newer model with more miles and more options but that’s just my personal choice.

First thing you need to check is voltage on battery. I bet you it’s completely dead. I would try jump starting it however if it’s completely dead it may not work. It’s highly possible that the new alternator failed and you were running the car on battery juice which eventually gave up. mid you are able to jump it I would connect the battery to another car and leave it alone for 5-10mins to get some charge and then try starting it. Make sure all headlights are turned manually off and not on auto. if starts then check the battery voltage while car is running. It should be between 14-15 volts DC. If yes than your alternator is good. If it’s around 12 or lower then alternator isn’t working. mid battery isn’t that old you should take it out and get a replacement from where you bought it. It should be a free swap.

WATCH THIS VIDEO...different car but same issue was resolved. i just remembered I made a video when i changed it...this resolved my issue. https://youtu.be/GgzvVNeHE48

Engine mounts definitely. Also check to see if you feel that you feel a sudden jerk when you put the car in drive. That will indicate they transmission mount is also going bad. But engine mounts definitely!

I so agree!!! I have done it once but never doing it again. Retrofitting an original is much harder then an aftermarket one. Just the fact that you have to install antennas wire harness and locate speed sensor to tap in to. A lot of pain but it's doable if you are smart enough but its not smart to spend all that time unless ur into experimenting like me :)

Of course they will say that because they don't want you to install GPS on their own. And some of them don't know what they are talking about. Min 2008 you should be able to get a GPS and install it yourself with no programming needed. I assume your car don't have a screen and you will get the entire GPS system. It's just a matter of installing it properly.

Okay so today finally I did everything you said above. I change the engine oil mobile 5W30 synthetic and bought techron bottles from AutoZone. They were on sale for 2 for $8. Pour one in with full tank and drove about 130 miles non stop. I definitely noticed improvement in pickup but vibration is still there. What is VVT oil line recal?

I could not find blue coral headlight restore anywhere. Do you know where can I buy it from? Water leak is nomore. Somehow it disappeared :/ it's been raining but no water in the trunk.

I ran my car to 50miles after the fuel light came on. It was still running but I decided not to push it anymore and pumped gas. It does have a lot of gas even after the light comes on.

Today I stopped at a red light and noticed that my 08 had a slight vibrating. The AC was on. Could it be engine mounts or transmission mounts? But how can they fail at only 40k? Do I need to change the spark plugs? When are they due? Anything else I need to do? I just sold my 02 es300 and it was so smooth even at 90k miles and had no issues. This 08 is already starting to show problems? Or maybe this is normal for this year?

I have a 2008 with no navigation. Just bought the car and I would like to know when my car engine oil is due. Is there a way to tell?

The car was sold as is so I doubt they will do anything specially when it's not a Lexus dealer. I'll try out the other methods. It's been raining here and ever since I drain the water I have not seen any more water in there even after rain. Weird.

Thanks Paul, what is bothering me is one of the yellowed out headlight and 2nd there is water inside my trunk on the left hand side. other then that the car is absolutely clean. not sure if one of the yellowed headlight can be fixed? there are kits available to clean it but not sure if it will work. Other thing is where did this water inside the trunk came in from? i cannot find any threads or information on this topic. P.S. I did try to get advise before buying the car however it was on a different forum and no one responded. i should have asked here.

I just noticed moisture type of smell in my trunk of 08 es350 so i removed everything from it and noticed on the left side of the trunk there is a deep dip and there was a lot of water. there is a rubber plug that i pulled out to drain the water but where this water came from? and why its not draining? is this rubber supposed to be there or should i remove it? can you guys check your trunks and help me out here please. I'm sure it'll be back if it rain. any of you had this issue? is there a drain thats plugged?

Hi all, i am a new owner of an 08 e350 that i just bought from a dealership yesterday. after searching so much i was able to find this one with 40k original miles, previous 2 owners but with lexus records. clean car fax. checked the car and had no evidence of any accident. real clean interior, the only thing i saw was one headlight is yellowed out but thats small and can be restored. Out the door with tax,tag,registration i paid $16k. Not sure if this was an ok deal or a good deal? Its a charcoal grey outside on black interior. options include heated seats and xenon lights with AFS, TPMS. not sure which ones are standard. i owned a 02 es300 for past 8 years and just sold it and got this one. hope this one runs with no issues. what do you guys think?

Might have to replace the entire unit or take it to someone who can open up the existing unit and replace that tiny switch. it might be a loose saughter wire which fell off and just need to be saughtered again.