landar

The other week, I noticed a slight ping while accelerating from a stop. I really could not hear it with the windows rolled up. But with them down, there was an unmistakable 'rat-a-tat-tat' coming from the engine. Its not a loose 'something'. I know pinging. I usually gas up with Phillips 66 brand, 93 octane. But that week, I had put in BP brand, 93 octane. I only use 93 no matter the brand. After all, its my baby and I know how to treat my baby right (where's my wife? She's not standing over my shoulder is she? Whewww....). Anyway, when the tank reached 1/4 full, I re-filled at the Phillips station. I listened carefully and within a day, the pinging had stopped. I am going to repeat the process to see if I was just dreaming. Could major brands really differ that much within the same octane rating? Or did I just get some bad gas (like eating at Joe's Diner)?

I created a "Photo show" of the strut rod removal....kinda corny but I had fun! Turn up your sound and you can whistle while enjoying the show. Check it out: http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/Fj9WH6CM

Excellent pictures and great descriptions--in these cases, pictures are truly worth thousands of words! Thanks, mud. I kinda butchered the tutorial and doubled several pics. (Site admin to the rescue?) Also left out the removal of the lower shock bracket bolt, but attached here.

Some more pics for completion. I edited the pics with text.

Landar--did you have to break loose the upper control arm ball joint to free the UCA from the rest, or did you leave that in place? A list of major components you "disassembled" would be great! No, I did not. I went for minimal removal of components. The job is really pretty easy. The biggest deal, as you might have imagined, is breaking free the rusty nuts and bolts. I put Liquid Wrench on all the bolt threads that I planned to remove and let it soak for 15 minutes(longer would be better..like overnight if possible). Here are the basic steps I took: 1) Take out the lower bolt holding the shock in place. 2) Take out the 2 bolts holding the shock bracket in place. One is a thru-hole bolt, the other is a short bolt which screws into the lower arm. 3) There is a small 'snubber' rod and the top nut needs to be removed. From there the whole lower ball joint assembly is free to move. Dont worry nothing will fall or fly apart. 4) Now you can take the two nuts off the bottom of the strut rod. 5) Before you remove the large nut from the forward end of the strut rod, take a sharpie pen (or similar) and mark both the inside and outside cam adjustment washers. You will see that these washers have indents stamped in them. Mark both sides and on the right and left. This will aid in reassembly and keep you from the alignment shop (hopefully). 6) Remove the large nut(22mm) from the front of the strut rod. 7) Using a hammer or mallet, tap (ok, beat!) the bottom of the strut rod to get the rear end of it (two studs) to pop out of the lower bracket. Time for reassembly. It is basically the reverse. However, I found it useful to: 1) Install the front end of the new strut rod with the cam washers. Hand snug the nut and align the cam markings first. (dont tighten hard or it will be difficult to align the rear bolts) 2) Then pull the back of the rod into place and attempt to align the two stud holes. Bet it doesnt just pop in! Gotta live a cleaner life. 3) I tried putting a second car jack under the assembly to jack the studs into place but didnt do so well. However, the rotor and calipers are fairly light and you can easily lift them. I just grabbed the brake rotor and pulled up on it several times...ok, maybe I even "banged" it into the end of the shock... but the studs went right into the lower bracket. Install nuts to studs. 4) Now you are home free. Recheck the cam alignment and readjust if necessary. Mine was pretty close but not perfectly aligned as before and it drove just fine. 5) Reinstall bracket bolts, shock bolt and snubber nut. 5) Recheck and tighten down all remaining bolts. This job took me about 2.5 hours on the first side, then 1.5 hour on the remaining. It all depends on how stubborn those bolts will be. Oh, almost forgot. Get a BIG breaker bar. I used a 3 foot pipe on the end of my wrench handle. You might have to jack the car up pretty high to get enuff room at times. Dont forget to use jack stands for safety(one on each side). NEVER get under the car with a single jack alone! (sorry for preaching...just dont want to see anyone in danger. It scares me when I am under the car). Anyway, the only socket sizes I needed were 17, 19 and 22 mm. Attached is a picture of the shock bracket loosened and rear strut studs popped up. Hope this helps. Lan

ttyR2, Dont have direct experience with this but check out the link below. I believe the claim is less body roll. http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/suspension/

I was not sure whether I really needed to use the Toyota filters or not. I have been using Purolator on my American cars and liked them pretty well. When I called my local Lexus dealer, the parts manager said he had the D3 filters for $8.95 each. I remembered someone on this site mentioning a package of filters so I asked him how much a 10 pack would be. Turns out he sold me the 10-pack for $50. Not bad at $5 each. When I got home and made my first oil change using these Toyota filters, I must say I was impressed. The metal opening is all wrapped in cellophane for protection. When I removed the wrapping, I found factory grease on the O-ring! I didnt even have to oil the seal. And an O-ring instead of a flat rubber gasket. Wow. Nice stuff. Glad I bought the Toyota filters.

Well, I 'done' it! Replaced the strut rods on my '98. The dreaded 'clunk' is now gone. Took lots of pics along the way so that I could put together a good picture tutorial. It really isn't too bad of a job. You might need copious amounts of beer however, depending on your disposition. I am going to try and figure out how to put together a tutorial and also where it should reside. The Lexus 'workshop/knowledge base' seems to be a UK based site and I dont see any pictures. Am I missing the obvious? (wouldn't be the first time )

I have stock chrome wheels on mine. Looks nice. Dont know if I would shell out the $$ if it had not come with them because the other stock rims that I have seen also look nice. Yes, its bling. Now, can you have too much bling on a Lexus?? That be the Q.

Here's a pic of the new ones....

jaed2, Sounds like you are on the right track. No tax? Better check your state form. Cant believe the good ol' Commonwealth of PA does not want their tax! :whistles: Hey, wonder if the state inspection would catch worn strut rod bushings?! :chairshot: I made the following posting back in April but didnt get any tutorials. I think now is the time to put a good strut rod replacement tutorial in place for the 95-00 models. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...mp;#entry249166

ok, you inspired me to order the strut rods. But as I was placing an order at LexusPartsOnline.com, I thought I would call the local dealer one more time to verify the price. To my surprise, they now had the strut rods for my '98 in stock for $117 each. So, I decided to just buy off of the dealer and be done with it. The $20 difference is in the 'noise' for me. Anyway, when I went to pick up the parts, I struck up a conversation with the parts manager and just happened to mention to him that I had been thinking of ordering the strut rods on LexusPartsOnline. He asked me their price and I told him $95. What happened next pleasantly shocked me. He sold me the rods for $95 each. Appearantly they have room to move. I also picked up a 10 pack of Toyota oil filters for $50 and he threw in a package of oil plug gaskets. I am a happy camper. The strut rod part numbers are 48670-40011(LH) and 48660-40021(RH). They come complete with bushings and 2 pressed-in bolts. I plan on installing these puppies this weekend if the weather is permitting(supposed to be nice in N. Indiana) and I will take lots of digital pics for you. Actually my teenage son is my camera man. BTW, I am replacing my strut rods because I have a pretty sharp 'clunk' when going over bumps at low speed. I have already looked at the strut rod bushings and verified that they are all cracked. I am hoping this will take care of the clunk but it may be something else. Hey, it 'only' costs me $200 and a day of labor to find out. What a bargain!

jaed2, I was also initially confused by this. The 90-94 has a strut rod design that uses rubber cushions on the end of the threaded rod. The 95-00, use a rod with a hole with rubber bushing. The picture in the manuals is for the early model stut rods, hence the confusion. The manual illustration is wrong for your year. Though I have not yet purchased them, I was going to get strut rods from LexusPartsOnline. Heres the link to the parts..(I hope it comes thru the editor) The dealer can also get them for me but will have to order. They quoted $115 per side(rod only) and about $700 for the completed job. The LexusPartsOnline picture also shows the wrong design because they just used the manual illustration, but I have been assured that it is correct when delivered. http://www.lexuspartsonline.com/index2.htm...p;siteid=214281

If you are a reasonably good DIY, you should be able to do the strut rods. I am planning on changing mine out soon. The bushings are almost as much as new rods with bushings, so I am going to just order the whole assembly and not mess with pressing the bushings out and back in. Cost per side is ~$100. This search link may help you get started: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=strut+bushings

persi, see the following threads. Or just do a search on "smart keys" Congrats on your Lexus purchase. Awesome cars. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...hlite=smart+key

Well, I did find other posts on tinting which were helpful but the quick question is whether there is some color film that would look really nice on my 98 LS400 with antique bronze mica paint (say what? its a brownish-goldish color). I would have the work done professionally. A shop already quoted me $150 (about 2 hours labor). State law allows a 35% tint and I would like to have all windows (except windshield) tinted. My only dilemma is whether extra tinting would look right with my car and color scheme. The windows have a very slight bronze factory tint but I dont believe it is a film. What color film should/could I go with and still look nice? Or scrap the idea altogether? Does anyone have a tinted antique bronze mica Lex and could post pictures? All comments invited.

I would not assume it is oil until proven. I have heard that synthentic oil is notorious for finding the smallest cracks. So, I would keep a careful eye on all fluids, especially the oil and coolant to determine if levels are decreasing. Also, clean the offending area well and make sure you are not being fooled by something flowing down from above. The good news is this is not 'life' threatening to the engine...yet. Now, what's a college student doing driving a Lex? I had a beat-up old Mustang in college. I am jealous!! Life just aint fair. :cries:

My radio display will sometimes refuse to light the lower leg of the last digit in the radio frequency number. For instance, 88.1 looks like(not the greatest rendering but hopefully conveys the issue): _ _ |_| |_| | |_| |_| . <----lower segment missing The odd thing is that sometimes it works correctly. I thought it was heat related but that does not appear to be the case. Any one had a similar problem? All-in-all, its really not a big deal but just bugs me like the occasional rattle in the door or dash. 98 LS400

Been burned before, Joe. Just a personal opinion, that's all.

Ford, I recently purchased a 98 LS400 with 62k miles from the original owner earlier this year. Dealer maintained and in cream puff shape. He wanted $14,700. Short story is I let him "sit" on it for 3 weeks and offered him $14k and ask him to have the 60k mile service done and front brakes replaced at the Lexus dealer. He agreed to the deal. The service cost him $850. Now, I have never owned a Lexus before and this car has impressed me beyond belief. So was it worth it? You bet! Even though I really wanted heated seats, this was originally a Phoenix car shipped to Indiana (because of a job change) and does not have them. Oh well, you give up some things for others. I'll live. Your original question: "Is it a good price?" Yeah, probably. I would ask you if you have actually seen, smelled, driven the car? If not, caveat emptor! It gives me the willys just thinking about buying a car on Ebay w/o driving. If you can verify w/o doubt everything about the car, then you will not regret buying this vehicle even if you "could" have gotten a car a bit cheaper. All my 2 cents, natch(and worth every penny)

vltjr, I would think that in Austin, a local rebuilder would be easy to find. Personally, I would be leery of Ehay. Also, check out this link..... just interesting info: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...amp;#entry49350

At 1500 RPM, your voltage should be around 13.5 vdc +/-, so it appears as though your alternator is indeed bad. I would back Jerry on staying away from the el-cheapo's at Autozone and the like. The lifetime warranty isnt worth the paper its written upon. I second the advice of getting a Denso or having your existing unit rebuilt. Below is a link to a tutorial on replacement. Not sure if it is for your year but you can take a look. Might be of help. It cautions of a leaky power steering pump leaking onto and ruining alternators (the pump is above the alternator). http://www.lextreme.com/alternator.html

Lights dimming(slightly) when the engine stops is normal and doesnt necessarily mean you have a bad alternator. Sounds like gremlins have taken up residence in your Lex. I would find the nearest priest :whistles: Seriously, this could be an electrical problem with the computer, a bad sensor, bad connection, etc. With the engine acting this erratically, do you have a check engine light coming on and/or codes you can pull? Mileage and maintanence history on the car, please? Depending on the history, could be time for an old-fashioned tune-up to begin with.

Whoops, hit the reply button prematurely in the last post.....sorry Jify, see this thread: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...;hl=cold+intake I agree with Jerry and wouldn't mess with the OEM but I am older now and don't do as much 'experimenting' as I once did.

Jim, Yes, on the Subaru, the wheel bearing in the front would make a grinding/howling sound only when decelerating. I really dont recall exactly what it did on cornering, though I believe it aggrevated it in one direction and not in the other. That might be something to try if you could be taking a slight corner while decelling at your 25 mph. Try right and left noting any difference. I think you are wise taking it to a mechanic. Even though I am a DIY'er, I occasionally take my cars to a specialist for an opinion as to what might be wrong and I pay them for their time (sometimes its free). I then take it home and do the work myself. Now, the best mechanic for your car can be found by looking into any mirror in your house (make sure your wife is not standing next to you!). The good thing about your situation is that this is not "life-threatening". You can take your time(and save money) by carefully studying and deducing/determining the problem. BTW, mechanics can be fooled so if you have doubts about the diagnosis, try a second opinion. I even do this with doctors and its amazing the differences I sometimes get. One will be 'experimenting' (practicing medicine actually ) and the other will have seen it before and know exactly whats wrong. You didnt really mention any sounds in the orginal post. Are there any associated sounds with the vibration? And if so, can you describe?