wwest

I didn't bother but the shop manual indicates opening the PS reservoir inlet line and running the system dry and then putting in new fluid and bleeding the system the same way you would the brakes. Inlet tube into a container until no air bubbles and repeat as necessary.

One more thing against the 1990 LS. I seem to remember that as of 92 they had upgraded the front rotors and claipers as a result of having replaced too many warped ones on the earlier models.

"Okay, the car's..........." Which one? You seem to be talking about a 1990 with air suspension. If the 1992 has struts then I'd buy it over the 90 without hesitation. Air suspension can be really costly when it comes to repair time............

I have had the A/C evaporator freeze up solid in two separate LS400s while traveling over a mountain pass on a HOT day. Helena MT west over the continental divide back in 1992 and in 2003 from SFO into southern OR. If thats what is happening all you have to do is turn off the A/C for about ten minutes to let the evaporator thaw out.

Don't hesitate, if the 92 checks out pay the man the $6,900.00 and ENJOY.

I was told recently that many salesmen "doctored" the preorder list, if you expressed any interest at all you were put on the list. Apparently a way for them, traditionally, to be sure of high allocations on a desireable model. Methinks they overdid it just a bit.

I suspect that might make the alternator a bit too tightly wrapped. It can generate 100 amps at ~12 volts, 1200 watts of power, and probably gets pretty hot doing so. Besides which no one has yet convinced me that PS fluid can do any permanent damage to the alternator. The only damage I could think of is a thin coating on the slip rings and that can be easily wiped away if it doesn't disperse naturally.

Instead of removing the radiator I removed the fan guard shroud.

The new battery "acted" the same way the old one did. Of course a BIG clue was the fact that when I disassembled the alternator to install new slip ring brushes I discovered that the slip rings themselves were worn completely down to the insulation covered the shaft. If the PS does continue to leak at least my knuckles will likely be healed before I tackle it again.

It was pretty obvious that the only leak was at the top of the pressure bypass spring/valve channel. Shaft bearing looked and "felt" okay and no leak from there so I decided to not pull the shaft. I did replace the rear o-ring. Strange thing was that the copper slip rings in the alternator had worn completely down to nothing yet it had significant slip ring bush life left. Looks like the PS leak had nothing to do with the alternator failure. Unless PS fluid softens copper.....

1. jzz30 and Lexus shop manual. 2. Have to pick up rebuilt alternator at parts shop this morning so not complete re-install. 3. Air control valve, no, why? 4. Mainshaft bearing looks and feels fine. So no. 5. Wasn't able to pull the mainshaft so those two o-ring seals left over plus two others of unknown use. But kit clears says for two different pump models.

Well, DAMN! Pulled the PS pump and installed the $44.00 rebuild kit (Lexus), no sweat. Alternator was a different story. Slip rings trotally worn through, buying rebuilt.

Well, first of all the PS fluid isn't under pressure when the car isn't running. Of course the PS could have a "gravity" leak but the more common one is when it is under pressure. The alternator does charge the battery, slightly, when the engine is above idle but not at idle as it should. I'll replace the slip ring brushes today as I do the PS overhaul and I guess we'll see.

Look at the suspension at the rear, the distance between the top of the tire tread and the bottom of the spring plate. Now look at the minimum distance between the tire sidewall and the strut. I installed 1.5" wheel spacers (all around) on my 2001 AWD and upgraded to 17X8 wheels. The spacers are there primarily to allow me to use snowchains at the rear during adverse roadbed conditions but alos provide enough clearance for the 8" wheels and tires.

The boots haven't necessarily failed, although that is a very distinct possibility. CV joints aren't under much "stress" when you moving straight. It's the ball bearings inside the CV joint that are failing and making nthe noise when you turn. I woild have them checked right away as a sudden potential wheel lockup might result otherwise.

I'll be in memphis, and tyronza AR over the 4th. Driving my Porsche C4 home, finally. I could stop in Vegas safely, but I dare not with my wife along.

Sorry, I don't have to guess, your CV joint(s) are due for replacement.

The only times I went WOT was out on the freeway already at a substantial speed, 55MPH or more. But certainly impressive.

Toyota...., "other reasons...." My suspicion is that the 2.4L I4 could not be used, certainly not in the Prius' detuned form (atkinson cycle, etc), and still provide a satisfactory level of performance given the size, weight and Cd of the RX series. And I think it's pretty clear that the battery/electric system could not be used to make up the difference "full time", say during highway cruise. So a bigger engine than the I4 had to be used. And on that note I just can't get it out of my mind that the need to keep the catalyst fired up resulted in not using the atkinson cycle. I drove an RX400h today, just briefly, city streets and freeway, and I cannot say that I felt the acceleration performance be all that great over my AWD 2001 RX300. It was definitely quieter at speed. I was told that with a $5000 deposit I could have one of my choice, my specs, in as little as six weeks but not greater than 10 weeks.

BUMP? As in Speed Bump....?? If you happen to be on the brakes as the rear wheels "climb" over the speed bump I could see where the ABS might see the slightly disparate F/R rotational rate as a momentary wheel lockup and activate the ABS system for a very brief period. As your rear wheels "climb" over the speed bump they must rotate slightly faster than the front, already over and now traveling on the flat. To the ABS ECU, brakes applied, the front wheels going slower than the rear just momentarily might fool the ECU into thinking front wheel lockup is impending.

The blend door determines how hot or cold the air coming out of the system will be. ALL system airflow comes through the A/C evaporator to be cooled first, and then a portion, or all, is routed through the heater core and then remixed with the unheated portion to get the proper air temperature outflow. If you open the hood and look near the top center of the firewall you will see the hot water control valve. The servomotor that moves the blend door inside the car has a cable attached which at the same time controls the hot water valve. If you warm the engine and with the A/C and then select Max cold, the lowest temoperature setting, the cable should move the water valve to its fully closed position. Move the temperature selection to max hot and the hot water valve should be fully opened. In max hot ALL of the system airflow goes through the heater core and at max cold none will.

"That ol' boy's got a lot more money than sense...." I often wonder if that was said to Edison during his many tries to make a functional light bulb.......or the Wright brothers when...... Back in 85 when I first proposed developing our company's current product set that is exactly what several of my key employees were saying, mostly behind my back. Absolutely none of our customers, even to this day, will believe our product really works absent an actual face to face show and tell, dog and pony show. Anybody out there want to buy a modern day implementation of a legacy minicomputer, say a PDP-11, a DG Nova or Eclipse? Or how about an HP-1000? (above stated as a joke, not an actual offer.) Such is life, the burden some of us choose to carry.

No, the engine's MAIN purpose is to provide motive force for forward motion of the vehicle. Ideally the engine would NEVER be used to recharge the batteries so it is only used for that purpose as a last resort. If you drive, continously, for any reasonable distance at a constant speed you will find that the engine's use as a recharge source will be delayed until the batteries are quite low. Think about it, if the engine is used to continuously recharge the batteries then where would the hybrid "put" the free energy to be recovered from regenerative braking on that next downhill slope or the next time you apply the brakes? Conversely, on the highway during cruise the batteries are only used in a SC, supercharger manner, to make up for the lack of HP from the detuned engine when you need to accelerate to a higher speed, or quickly speed up, say to pass someone on a two lane road.

The question is.... Is the alternator truly damaged or do I simply need to clean the power stearing fluid out of it, off the slip ring(s)?