dropspace

there was a IS430 at the detroit auto show. I saw a television spot about it. they also hinted that toyota may produce it, but they always hint at stuff like that in the media.

96's run 15"x6" wheels with usually p205 60's if you are looking for stock wheels, there are always a pile of them on ebay as people dump the stock wheels to get aftermarket wheels. see previous threads about using GS or IS wheels. there can be suspension/strut problems if you use a wheel with a different offset.

one reason you heard it is that you were going slow and the other is probably the sound bouncing off the narrow walls of the alley. i had two distinct screeching episdoes on my 92 that are exactly like you describe. the first situation was indeed the wear indicators. the 92 i bought had almost no brakes on the back. so bad they needed new rotors. the second screech was because when I put the new rotors on, the pistons were seizing the shoes against the new rotors causing them and the new pads to head up to what I believe were fission sustaining temps (the wheel was so hot after driving i couldnt touch it ). my pads did not like that and would squeal just from the combination of the heat and the fact that the intense heat probably made the anti-squeal compound on the backs of the shoes wear out quickly. so maybe check both of those things. I would guess it is brake related though... also, does it stop when you apply the brake, light pressure or hard pressure?

there are a number of marginally legal pieces of software that will pretty much copy any dvd...macrovision or no. of course, linking them here would not really do, but use google and you can find them

yes, you would be fine with a set of 94 manuals. the es300 changed little from 94-96 I have a 92, which I believe does not have an aluminum block like the 94-96 ones in that body style. I got one of the cd's off ebay for a 92 es and find it only marginally useful. most of it is not structured around maintenance...it seems to be a lot of specifications and so forth. I would go with the actual service manuals rather than the cd's. I think you will find them way more useful. 120 bucks, but that is probably less than having a lexus dealer even glance sideways at your car

hmm, kind of light on the details... make sure you get some documentation on when stuff was done. if he doesn't have the docs, I would be weary. btw, you don't have to do a 60 point inspection at the lexus dealer. much of that stuff can be easily done on your own. try and get the service manual (2 vol. set) off ebay and go through the 100k mi checklist on your own. there are a lot of things that are pretty easy to do. Just get the garage to do the things that you can't do or don't feel comfortable doing.

I have silverstars on the lows and highs. i didn't do the foglights because they have that yellow lens on them anyway and in dallas bad fog happens about once a year. (I came here from san francisco where it is a daily occurance). when you fire the high beams on I think you can see the car from space

smoothing out the pistons on both rears worked. although I agree this is only temporary. I will be getting new calipers eventually, but this buys me some time without rubbing the brake shoes to death and sucking gas mileage. thanks for the help!

read all about it here

the smoke is normal after that kind of treatment. especially if you had a lot of carbon buildup in the intake system. maybe it is not burning oil, but leaking it...what color is the smoke? is it white or does it have a bluish tint? you could have an oil leak that only leaks when the engine is running...

yeah, i slid the caliper up and pulled the shoes off. the rotor then rolled freely so its not the emergency brake.

the other day i noticed a smell coming from the rear brakes touched the left rear wheel and the thing was almost too hot to touch. seems as if the brakes are not releasing the rotor very well and rubbing hard. I had just changed the rotors and pads (for the first time since i got this car) and am assuming that because the old pads were so low, the piston is now somehow stuck and not moving freely in the caliper because it sets further in with the new pads. I took the wheels and brake shoes back off and pumped the brakes to work out the cylinder and used a big c clamp to push it back in a few times. now the piston seems to move easier. I think this is only a temporary fix however...anybody have any idea what the permanent fix for this would be? is it a situation where the calipers should just be replaced? also, would it help the situation if i bled and refilled the brake system?

the moonroof in my 92 es was making crazy wind noise when i got it as well. i got some shims from the lexus dealer that bump up the closed height of the glass back to level with the roof. made all my wind noise go away, so you may want to give it a shot. the shims were only like 3 bucks each.

it's standard...the button is on the key. just for door unlock/lock and security system arming though. there is no trunk or panic button. make sure if you get a 92 es you get it with the master key though. see previous threads for the nightmare that ensuses if you have to get a new master key.

if it's anything like the rotors on a 92, you'll need a 48oz sledge to get them off. you may have to whack the crap out of them but they come off eventually!

if money isn't an object why not just buy a loaded a4 quattro or something? that sounds like a lot of work

the last time the brakes were changed, the person changing them may not have included the shims or put any anti-squeal compound on the backs of the pads. they may be just squealing in the calipers

I just did that job on my 92. I got the oem denso platinum plugs from a toyota dealership. I heard about other platinum plugs not doing so well so why save a couple bucks and take that risk... I did use aftermarket borg-warner slicone plug wires because the stock wires were like 160 bucks for some reason. I was able to change all 6 without removing the intake. it just takes a swivel ratchet and a couple 4" extentions. Make sure you get a spark plug socket (with the rubber grommet inside the socket) so that the plug comes out when its loose. It would be a real pain to fish that out of there wihtout one. the front three can be accessed by removing the lexus cover plate on the front of the engine (2 allen bolts) the only one that is a real stretch is the drivers side rear plug.

you cant put it verticlally through the passthrough?

those are 168 bulbs i just had to replace both of mine as well....

nice, I just saw your flyer...nice to have a source for lexus parts without going to the dealer. and local in DFW even!

so I am planning on changing the plugs and plug wires on my 92 es...went to the dealer (since I am led to believe you should use the oem denso plugs) and they wanted to charge me 163 bucks for the plug wires. The toyota dealer quoted 128 for them which still seems crazy for a set of plug wires. so my question is, being as I have the stock denso plugs, can i just get some good wires from pep boys or something? is there something special about the plug wires on this car that I need to know about that would make them so expensive?

some dude is selling an es with 330k miles on ebay he wants 1000 bucks for it which i think is a bit optimistic considering it has body/transmission issues

can you tell where the rattle is coming from? i had an annoying rattle that i could hear only at low speeds and it turned out to be the wheel caps being loose. I just bent the metal brackets on the back of the caps out and pounded them back on tight....

I had wind issues on the sunroof of my 92. I thought it was the seal as well, but as it turns out, the glass was misaligned and was below the outside roofline of the car...creating noise. i got some shims from the lexus dealer. they come in a couple different sizes. now the sunroof is in line or slightly higher than the outside roofline and the wind noise completely disappeared. to get to where the shims go you just need to remove the plastic trim on the interior side and slip them in between the glass and the bolts. just dropping this on here in case anyone else has wind issues with the sunroof and its not related to seals...