Blaxus

ES owners, I am a LS owner but I have a friend who has an ES 300 with keyless remote trouble...I see by the postings that this problem is not unusual. Hopefully someone can help... Scenario: About a year ago my friend noticed that the signal strength on his remotes seemed to be getting weeker. Then finally remotes stopped working aprox 10 months ago. Symptoms: 1) Push the remote multiple times before it would actually engage work. 2) He noticed that the distance between himself and the car was getting shorter and shorter before the remote keyless would work. Unsucessful attempt: 1. Replaced batt's in remote keys. 2. Cleaned the connections in the keys themselves. ( He is a wrist watch technician so I assume he knew what he was doing). Any further suggestions, cheapest and easiest first appreciated??? Jeff-

I just nappen to come across this if anyone is interested?? http://leatherseats.com/

That's what I wondered too. But I wanted to thoroughly clean and inspect the unit itself., so I just took it out. alot easier to put in and put back together once you're removed it first. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Mig25, I understand what you mean about airflow. I noticed no real possible depreciation in airflow when I fabricated and attached the shoud. Remeber, there is still a 1/2 clearnce at least between the shroud and the alternator air openings. My main concern is heat and melting. So i will I will probably remove and replace with an aluminum/sheet metal shroud later. Jeff-

VBDENNY, I mentioned that I used Barr's p/s Stop Leak in the first post. Jeff-

Well to address the last two posts. 1. The shield appears to have no noticeable effect on the ventilation of the alternator itself. The factory shield covers the lower passenger side quarter and the new shroud covers the the whole passenger side to protect from the leak. As far as the alternaotr having an internal fan - I've never heard that before. In any case the shroud itself is displaced about a 1/2" or so from the actual alt unit - so no interference. 2. The actual removal of the alternator was actually not too difficult. It was all of the previous leakage from the pump and accumulated dirt and particualte matter that needed to be cleaned that was the killer. But here is how it's done. Remove/install: 1. Put the car on some ramps. 2. remove the batt cover and neg batt connection, air intake, and air assmbly. 3. remove the engine undercover...note that whe I did mine I noticed that alot of the bolts holding the cover and side covers were frozen w/ rust and broke off. Need to still remove these with a tool or drill out to rplace the covers properly. 4. Disconnect the drive belt. Using a 14mm box wrench turn the belt pretensioner to the left, use some leather work gloves and the muscle you have built from going to the gym- it's easy but req's some strength. While you turn the pretensioner countercolockwise the belt will loosen, you can then slip a side of the belt over the top roller. 5. Then locate the top alternatr nut and remove using a 14mm socket. 6. Go under the car. Locate the bottom alternator mount bolt and remove. Note* you may need to remove some assortments of brackets, and other misc. nuiscnaces. 7. after the lower bolt removal the focus on the electrical connections. A. one needs a socket or box wrench 10 or 12 mm? B. the other is a clip that needs to be unlocked and then pull. Here's the fun part!!!!! 8. Now you enjoy the "birthing process" as I call it. this is where you have to slide that alt assembly forward off the front mount bolt and then, much as a doctor would, manipulate the assmbly to come free and remove down thru the bottom portion of the engine compartment. 9. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! you have yourself a slimy, grungy baby alternator in your hands. 10 lbs, ? ounces. 10 Clean real well. I used Simple Green sprayed directly on a rag to clean. 11. Fab a shround from a clean plastic jug as pictured in the gallery pix # 187/188. 12 Then reinstall in the reverse order. and Voila, Success. * I used a Chilton's Import Manual avail at Pepboys for about $30 for the somewhat helpful 4 or 5 step instructs they gave. Good Luck!! Jeff-

Well I managed to remove my alternator from my 92 LS. I then proceeded to clean it thoroughly. I also fabricated and fitted a plastic shroud to help prevent any further contamination from, what seems to be all to common a problem, a leaking power steering pump. I have also thrown some Barr's P/S stop leak into the pump reservoir and will monitor any poss. improvements. Great thanks to whoever posted pix #187/188 in the pic gallery of the shroud. I really hope it works well. Thanks again, Jeff-

I don't believe you would have much luck ever changing the seating postions with the controls facing the middle console. An altrenative to "switching the seats would be to check the 'net for new leather seat packages. I'm not sure about pricing for the kits but I have seen them advertised. BTW - I asked the Lexus dealership how much an '03 ls 430 seat would cost and they are $2,500. Jeff-

Thanks to all who responded to my issue. I did find the pic in the gallery section of the plastic shield for the alternator. However, with the shield made of plastic (apparently from some sort of jug?) are there any heat related melting issues??? BTW - Being the son of a Detroit GM auto engineer, I have had grease under my nails since I was 7. That's just another reason I enjoy this forum. I love the DIY aspect of just about any situation. Thanks Again,- I hope to contribute in the future. Jeff-

Well, Here is my first posting. I recently bought a 1992 LS 400 with 182,000 mi. on it. It is a beautiful, powerful quiet dream of a drive. I 've been reading these posts for a week now to try and decide wether or not to post here. I have been very pleased at the level of maturity and helpfulness offered by most of those who post. That being said,...Only after I went to the local Lexus dlr did I discover that they would want to charge me $1,600+ for a new p/s pump and then poss $700 for a new alternator. This site has given me some better ideas of how to deal with this issue. However, has anyone successfully fabricated and mounted a drip shield for the alternator?????