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Where would I start? At the beginning, of course! B) If you can (sorry to hear about your stroke, btw), jack up the front of the car and try rotating each tire by hand. There should NOT be any significant resistance or grinding/grating noises other than perhaps the faint sound of the discs rubbing against the rotor, which is normal. Then jack up the back and try those tires/wheels. My thinking here is that you may have a dragging brake(s) or bad wheel bearing.

Mike, first off, congrats on the 300k mark. I had to read that twice. You did say "miles" and not "KM". My '02 is just about to turn over 36k miles....still a baby. Now then, don't you just love these intermittent problems? They can be a real bugger to find as you well know. Just a couple of thoughts: you have swapped the COP and plug but have you carefully examined the low tension connector? Just a small amount of patina or corrosion on the terminals could cause your problem. And perhaps there is some chafing of the wiring harness going on over the miles and years and sometimes the low voltage signal grounds out momentarily. Seemingly unrelated to the spark, I wonder about your valve timing. Is your timing belt in good shape and changed recently? I would think a slippage there would signal a cam timing related code but perhaps it shows up as a misfire. While on this subject, I wonder about sensors misbehaving. Like Crank and Cam. I do not advocate going in there and replacing those "shotgun" style however. At least not without further detective work. I also wonder if cylinder one is really the misfiring cylinder despite a P0301 code. I would be wanting to hook up some instrumentation to capture several (or all) of the spark timing signals and log them to see if one "hiccups" occasionally. This would however, require an outlay of cash for a real-time data logger that you could hook to a PC. I like your idea of a compression test, especially @ 300k miles. I fully admit, that some of these things seem like a long shot, so feel free to dismiss them.

You really do not need an "overhaul". At least nothing as drastic as pulling the engine. Do not think of it as "if I spend thousands, it will last years". You do not need to spend thousands, nor should you. I understand the hyperbole and frustration when saying "...basically if oil can come out of it, its coming!" But step back, take a big breath and re-evaluate. I will bet it is not that bad. I really think your best move is to locate a reputable mechanic to look at the engine.

First off, that terminal appears to missing the right half (with bolt) that would pull the clamp together. However, it is difficult to tell from a picture the exact nature of mechanical clamping that is employed. There is obvious corrosion around the area that the cables are crimped so that might be suspect as well. Now, despite the look of the clamp, I doubt the battery or clamp are you immediate problems. IF the engine cranks robustly and starts, I do not see how the clamp suddenly opens up to kill the engine. You most likely have other issues and more info is needed. When it dies, can you immediately restart it?

Leaks do not, in general, require an engine rebuild. That is a major undertaking and does not seem justified in your situation. As Billy mentioned, the leak(s) are probably not as bad as you believe. The first thing to do is to identify each leak. Start by getting the engine cleaned. You have to be careful when cleaning an engine and it is not always advised for the amateur to tackle. However it can be done and will help you or a mechanic understand the extent of the leak(s). You can also learn what is leaking by checking fluid levels over time. Those that leak will need topping off fairly often. Also be aware that a squeaky clean, leak-free engine is not always that important. Most engines DO leak to some extent and it is not the end of the world. After you understand the leaks, you can develop a plan(with cost) for replacing gaskets or snugging down bolts(sometimes thats all that is wrong). With that said, a power steering leak is very common on your vintage of car and should be addressed ASAP because the unit sets right above the alternator and can drip fluid into the alternator and cause it to go bad quickly.

Thanks for the explanation, fsuguy. I think it does help. Gives us background context and perhaps we can provide better assistance. Seeing that none of us are being paid for our time or advice, I think it reasonable to ask 'why'. You mention perhaps a most salient point, that is, the car seems to run fine with cruise control. Makes me almost think it is still TPS related. Apparently the TPS is a temperamental beast and requires some adjustment to get it working right. See this tutorial and ponder -> http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/EFI/tps.html As concerns grounds or any electrical connection for that matter...yes, they can become intermittent and cause all kinds of hair pulling results. It does not even have to be a ground connection. Every electrical connection on the engine can become intermittent over time. The mechanic that worked on your vehicle may have inadvertently left a connection loose or not fully pushed back together. The TPS connector could even be suspect. You might want to re-examine the connectors in this area and take them apart, examine for dirt, corrosion, squirt some contact cleaner in there and put them back together. I have seen all kinds of connector problems over time. Even connections that you would swear are fine and that look fine from the outside, may not be.

I actually have a 92 that is fairly unmolested so maybe I could open the hood and take a look. In general, all cars have at least two or three ground straps. There is a fairly small cable, usually a wire weave attached to the back of the block and to the chassis firewall. Then there is a much larger cable (like #2 or greater gauge) bolted directly into the block. This ground cable supplies the much higher currents needed for the starter which has inrush requirements > 100 amp. This larger cable must go directly to the (-) battery post. Another important ground is to the alternator. This ground can come thru the mounting bolts or more directly thru the wire harness. Out of curiosity, why do you ask? Are you having some problems?

Can't speak for AzHotLS but for me the lever is the release lever. The one above the pedal that you pull to release the parking brake.

I have had this happen on ocassion and I believe it is fairly common. On mine, it was always the parking brake lever switch. I just needed to pull the lever out again to reseat the switch.

That is exactly what I have done too. Same for the oscillating vents inside the cabin. Looks neat but I don't need excessive wear on those high dollar, gee-whiz toys. I will occasionally tuck the mirrors in if in a tight garage space or when going thru a car wash but that's it.

Actually you can probably get your purchase price back very easily w/o reselling. If you purchased it locally and do not have the receipt, just take it back and they may have the sale on record. Even if you purchased it online, you might be able to get a store credit at a local retailer like Autozone, Advance, Pep boys, O'Reilly's, etc. if they carry the part. I have done this before and it worked out beautifully. I always need things like oil, filters, shop rags that I can purchase with the credit.

Jimmie, You've gotten some good advice so far from Santa Jim. To throw a couple more issues in there, I would mention the possible replacement of rubber bushings throughout that may have rotted over the years. If the car has been a Southern car all of its life, you should be ok on the rust issues. However, many vehicles do spend considerable time in the salt belt and end up in the South. A car fax might show that bit of history. The gen 1's also had notorious problems with the trunk wiring, where one or more wires would eventually break due to the flexing. The car would also be prime for the clock display blanking/blacking out unless it has already been replaced. I wonder how many owners this car has had. I would ask you WHY you want to buy this particular car? If you think it is a bargain and you can afford it, that's fine. If you can afford to go a bit more money, you might want to consider a newer generation with less mileage. Sometimes a (relatively) small amount of additional money will get you a much better (maintained and/or features) vehicle.

I have the same question...why do you want to replace the struts? They are, most likely, still good. If you do change them, be very careful with the brand. Lots of cheap stuff out there that is not even close to the OEM quality so your ride will suffer. If you do have leaky shocks, I would recommend keeping the original coils and rebuilding the struts. Or buy the OEM from Sewell. If you do not feel that is within your skill level, you can have a shop install the new parts. But keep things as close to original as possible if you do not want to compromise the ride and handling quality. Its a Lexus not a Ford. The momentary savings of money will be soon forgotten but an inferior ride will live on for what will seem like an eternity.

Glad to hear you got it fixed. Time for a beer. Cheers.

Is that the "King's" English? I know, "sent from my iPhone". ;)

Just wondering if you changed Bank 1 or Bank2. It makes no difference which side the drivers seat is on. Bank 1 is the "left" side of the vehicle as viewed from inside the cabin. Is that the one you changed?

Did you follow step 6 (post #1)in the link above? "6. Clear the codes, and take a ride if you get the VSC Off light on your dash immediately and the display says Check VSC ( Vehicle Stability Control I believe) it has to do with your code scanner when you read your codes, you'll need to get something to jumper between 2 pins on the obdc connector under the dash the TS and CG pins (see picture courtesy of FYOUNES on another site) dlc.bmp (57.69K) "

Well, it could be a number of things. Depends upon the mileage of your vehicle and how it was maintained. The first thing I would do is replace the serpentine belt if it has not been replaced in the last 50k miles or 5 yrs. Actually, the first thing I would do is open the hood and use a mechanics stethoscope to try to pinpoint the noise. You might try tugging on the steering wheel very slightly when it is whining and if it is the pump, you may hear the whine increase or change pitch. I suppose it is possible for the PS pump to whine simply because the fluid level is low. Yet other reasons for cold weather whine is because you are drawing heavy current from the alternator with the rear defroster and seat heaters on. BTW deadguy, welcome to the forum. Apparently you have met our other member, DEATH. B)

I have also used a Gates unicoil to keep the hose from collapsing on a bend. -> http://www.gates-unicoil.com/

Good job, Jim! Looks fine.

I believe that you meant "collapse internally" but yes, you are absolutely correct otherwise. I have had it happen on several Chrysler brake systems which resulted in stuck/dragging brake calipers.

So the bottom line cause for the PS pump whining was a restriction in the system which was caused by a pinched return hose which, in turn, caused cavitation and air bubbles in the system. Good post.

Well, I would kind of like to know what you did to get it started. Might help in the diagnosis. No reverse, huh? Have you ever investigated the trunk wiring that is notorious on this vintage? I do not know if it would affect the operation of the transmission but its worth having a look.

The drain plug washers that I use on my LS are a hard fiber-like washer. Definitely not copper.

Now you start tracing back to coils, ignitor, fuses, connectors, sensors, ecu. If you replaced the ECU and have the original, I would put it back in place first. What timing checks out?