gbhrps

If the wet carpet is on the front passenger side, the culprit is usually the rubber drain hose that goes through the firewall into the engine compartment. When you use the AC the condensation collects on the bottom of the in-car condenser. At its bottom is a bowl that collects the water and drains it out the firewall. Usually that hose can get gummed up at its drain end from engine oil, rust proofing , etc., and the water backs up and drops onto the floormat on the passenger side. Cleaning out the end of the hose solves the problem. If that isn't the culprit, then you have a leak in the windshield sealant or the cowling sealant, and the only way to find is by pulling back the front carpets and have someone slowly run a garden hose over the front cowl area of the car and very slowly move up the A pillars, while someone inside the car checks the floors with a flashlight to see where the water is coming in. Regardless, this is a problem to address sooner rather than later when it will cost a lot more to correct.

Check your owners manual for the factory specs for what the tank will hold, and as to when the low fuel light comes on, the manual will give an approximation. Have you tried putting more fuel into the tank when the filler kicks off? My wife's ES will take more fuel after the pump kicks off. I can still get several litres ( here in Canada) in the tank after the pump stops. My Subaru, on the other hand is all done when it kicks off. If I try putting any more fuel in after the pump stops, it just ends up on the ground. Each car has its own quirks.

As a general rule of thumb, at least once a year, (and more often if you live where they put salt on the roads) or 25 000 miles or so, you should have your brakes checked. You can have the Technician clean and lubricate the slide pins and pads as needed, and give you an idea of how much pad life you still have. Obviously if at any time you hear brake squeal, or the car pulls to one side or the other when you put on the brakes, or the brakes start to pulse when you apply the brakes, get it to the repair shop ASAP. The sooner the problem is fixed, the less it will cost. A person who drives moderately can expect a set of pads to last 2 to 3 years on the fronts and even longer for the rears, if the car isn't driven hard, and is driven often enough so that water and humidity don't prematurely rust pit the rotors. Every 3 years you should flush out the old brake fluid and rebleed the system to clean out the water that is absorbed from the air. A Toyota or Lexus dealer will have needed factory parts on hand (the ES is really a Camry and uses the same brake parts), but you could take the car to any reputable repair shop for the service. Just be sure that they don't put on any cheap rotors or pads that will squeal, wear out quickly, or warp. Your rear brakes have a set of brake shoes inside the rotors which are your emergency brakes. Other than cleaning and lubricating the emergency brake shoes, they should last for the life of the car. Its a treat to run across a car gal who doesn't just put the key into the ignition and hope it starts. May you have many years of happy motoring with your new purchase. My wife loves hers!

You don't give us the year of your car, so I'll add what I recall of doing the same job on the 97 ES we used to have, before our present ride. I believe I used the short bolts that anchor the brake flexhose to the strut, or the long bolts that held the caliper to the caliper mounting bracket. This was on the rears, since I had no problems removing the front rotors after the caliper was removed. I can't tell you what the size of the bolt is, other than for a 97 either of the two bolts I described worked just fine, as I recall. Good Luck!

My wife's 04 is as quiet as a mouse, but I have run across articles in the forums I follow on this problem. If the Techs can't find a problem with the glass seals, try each side, top and bottom of the door seals. I seem to recall that the suggestion was to close the door on a standard 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper, so that when you are seated in the car, you'll be able to pull the paper into the interior. Obviously if you find a location where you can pull the paper into the car with the door closed you have an improperly attached or torn seal that's not doing its job. I've never needed to try this method, but its worth try for what it'll cost you. I also recall a fellow saying that his mirror was the cause of the problem of wind noise. In his case he taped off the various seams in the mirror, where it folds for transport, one at a time, until it showed him which seam was at fault for creating the noise. Sorry, but I can't recall what his fix was when he found it. Maybe he just left it covered with a body coloured tape, which seams a shame with a high end vehicle, but its again worth a try. Good Luck!

Specifically I can't tell you what is wrong, but I would wonder if you could reset the computers to get both functions to start over. To attempt this ( I'm not certain this will do it , but it's worth a try ) simply disconnect the battery and reattach it. Of course you'll have to reset your radio presets afterwards. Get back to us and let us know if it works. Good Luck!

I would not suggest that you start pushing and prodding the sunroof. There are small plastic parts that can be stripped resulting in costly repairs. First off, the only way to effect a repair is to see what is going on mechanically, and to do that the headliner must come out of the car. I've been there with the dual sunroof in my Subaru Outback and its not a lot of fun. I removed the headliner to save the dealer costs of doing so. As it was, it took an hour and a half to remove the rear view mirror, the sunvisors, the overhead lights, the A, B and C pillars on both sides, the overhead assist handles and the door mouldings on all four doors. Then it went out the tailgate opening. How you remove it from a sedan I can only guess would involve reclining the front seats and see if it'll go out the front passenger door. At that point the dealership unbolted the entire sunroof assembly including its attached motor, glass and tracks from the interior roof reinforcements, and removed it entirely from the car to make repairs. In my case it was an entire front track replacement was required .(someone forced it open and stripped off part of the plastic drive assembly from one side of the roof.) Once reinstalled in the car I replaced the headliner and other parts myself. As it was I still parted with about $400, half of which was new parts. You have my sympathy because I know what you're up against. Another solution would be to remove an entire working assembly from a mild wreck in a recycling yard. Pull its headliner and remove it, motor tracks and all. Place it in your car, bolt it up mildly, hook up the four draintubes, hook up the electrics and cycle it several times to ensure its not going to bind and will open and close properly, then tighten its mounting bolts, and reinstall your headliner and all. As I said, its not for the timid. Good Luck!

Two things come to mind. One: You seem to be getting much less range than I would expect your car to get. My wife's 04 ES 330 has a longer range than yours, even though its measured in km here in Canada. As such, even when I do the conversion back to miles you are at least 75 miles shorter than I can calculate the car to be capable of. Two: I wonder if this because your car's computer has learned how you drive, into the accelerator quite a bit I suspect, and has calculated a correct end result based on how hard you drive. The engine, the transmission, and I suspect your trip computer, all learn how you drive and set your tranny shift points, etc. accordingly. To reset all of these back to their starting point, simply disconnect the battery from the car overnight. When reconnected the tranny, the engine and maybe the trip computer as well (this is only a guess on my behalf) should all reset themselves back to their original factory specs. Maybe you'll see a difference in your range estimates then. If not, this is a problem for your Lexus dealer to get to the bottom of. My comments are all based on assuming that your car is in good repair, with correct tire pressures, no brake drag, etc. Good Luck!

Since you already have had a mechanic replace pads and rotors, and had him bleed the system, then your problem has got to be your Master Cylinder or a leak in one of your brake lines. You can assume that the mechanic would have checked each one of your brake lines and flex hoses for leaks, but it wouldn't hurt to check them again, easily done when the car is on the hoist. Then change that MC now! It is not safe to drive the car hoping that the last half inch of travel of the brake pedal is going to save your life in an emergency situation. And if not your life, maybe someone else's. Changing a MC is easily done and is fairly inexpensive, as car repairs go. You should be back to good pedal feel once you do.

Assuming that the changer unit still works and will play and change CD's( its a trunk mounted unit?), the problem could be in the ejection switch (its dirty and might be cleaned up with electronic contact spray (get it from Radio Shack), or it could be that you have a broken drive belt that operates the ejection system, or a stripped gear on its gear drive, a burnt motor, or a jammed system with a CD not properly back in its cassette. Removing the entire unit from the car and opening the case up is the only way to find out for sure, and even then it may be beyond you to narrow down the problem and an audio repair shop may be your only solution. Who knows, a look at eBay may get you another unit cheaply, and then you can break the old unit open to get you CD's. Good Luck!

Its too many years since we last had our 97 ES for me to recall specifically, but if the latch is broken, and you can't open it using the electric release (does the 97 have an electric release?), then you might be able to get at the latch by removing the rear seat bottom cushion and then the rear seat back. Using long extensions, bars with wrenches fastened to them, etc. it may be possible to reach through the rear framing to unlock the latch by pulling its control rod from the lock assembly, or remove it entirely by unbolting it or its floor mounted latching hook. You may have to destroy some of the trunk interior panels in the process. Good Luck!

If everything is working fine other than the buzz, I wouldn't be too concerned. If it still bothers you, take it to a dealership and let their technicians give a listen. They should be able to set your mind at ease. What I can tell you is that if there are parts on the way out, the repair can be very expensive, but you can reduce the cost significantly by removing the headliner from the car and replacing it yourself, if you are so inclined. I had the dual sunroof of my last Subaru Outback go bad and saved hundreds by dropping and replacing the headliner myself.

I would wonder if you have some piston rings that aren't doing their job, or a clogged PCV valve that has upped the crank case pressure sufficiently to be pushing oil past the rings. Just a guess.

I assume that you bench-bled the master cylinder before you put it on the car. If not, this is most likely where your problem is. Generally you put the new master cylinder in a bench vise, put the provided plastic plugs (or in some cases plastic plugs with rubber tubing that go back inside the fluid reservoir, fill it half way with fresh brake fluid, and using a rod or wooden dowel, slowly push in the valve assembly of the MC, using short/one inch strokes until the fluid flows without any air bubbles, and your push strokes become firm, and generally can only move inward about an eighth of an inch or so. If after mounting the bled MC and reconnecting the brake lines, you still cannot get fluid movement at the farthest bleed screw, you must have a leak somewhere else in the system. Its been several years since I bled the system on my wife's 97 ES ( we have since have moved on to an 04 ES), but I don't recall having any problems with the ABS system, or having to do anything special because of the ABS during a system bleed. It was all very straight forward. You bleed the farthest wheel from the MC first, then the next farthest and so on. With someone in the car, have them push the pedal to the floor and hold it there while you open the bleed screw and then close it after the pulse of old fluid and air bubbles passes. ( You have to have some clear plastic tubing on the bleed screw and have its other end empty into a one litre bottle or similar) Then have the person in the car let the pedal up and then repeat the procedure until there are no more visible air bubbles when they push the pedal down. Then its on to the next wheel and so on. Be sure to top up the MC between wheels. HINT: Use a good six point socket on the bleed screws when you open them for the first time. This will prevent damaging the bleed screws if they are seized somewhat. Slide your plastic tubing through the box end of the wrench you'll use for locking and unlocking the bleeding screws and then slide the tubing onto the bleed screw and then slide the box end wrench down the tube onto the bleed screw, and then start your bleeding procedure. When you finish each wheel, use that six point socket to tighten the bleed screw one final time, but take care not to over tighten them or snap them off. Good Luck.

Your best bet is a wrecking yard and used parts, because new parts may be very expensive. Check the phone book yellow pages and I'm sure you'll find wrecking yards in California that specialize in import cars. A few quick phone calls and I think you'll find your problem easily fixed. Some yards even let you use your own tools to remove the parts from their wrecks and you save even more. We have several such wrecking yards in my neck of the woods and I've had very good success coming up with what I need. Good luck.

Love the forum! I've learned a great deal and appreciate everyone's hard work to keep it up to date and on track. I have a suggestion , based on the other 4 forums I follow for each of my other cars. They each have a Message Preview Window that opens when you slide your mouse over each thread topic. It gives the first paragraph of the posting made by the person who started the thread, thereby giving the reader more information than is allowed by the thread title, and effectively gives the reader more of an idea of the direction the thread is going. You can very quickly decide whether or not you should open the thread and read further, or skip the topic and continue scanning the rest of the forum. I'm sure you'll know what I'm referring to, and if not, check out TwinTurbo.net, or ultimatesubaru.org., www2.mgcars.org.uk This feature really makes a forum easier and less frustrating to use. Many thanks!

Removing the stick on base for the Garmin Nav unit has to be a bit**. I have the same unit and elected to use the suction cup on the windshield, as I see you are now doing. Bummer! A few years back I had a fellow repair the leather seat in my 84 300zx. The vinyl side panel had lifted from its cloth backing over an area of about 3 square inches. The guy applied a flexible plastic base layer in the repair, and then placed a piece of grained leather (similarly grained as the leather on the seat) over the patch and heated it with a small iron. This smoothed the area out and put a closely matched grain into the base plastic repair panel. He then airbrushed the entire repair with a colour he blended on the spot. The end result was almost invisible! As I hung onto the car for another 2 years, the repair, from constant brushing upon entry and exit from the car, was starting to need attention again. On a dash I would think that a similar repair would last a lot longer, simply because it would get almost no wear. Check with the dealerships in your area. Someone must do these kind of repairs to seats and dashes. I have 2 guys locally. The one business is called Fibrenew. I don't know if its a franchise or not, but its worth a try. Good luck!

First off, your saleman is correct - the dash panels for the nav equipped and non nav equipped are completely different. My wife's es330 has the nav package, whereby the screen rotates down to reveal not only the dvd slot for nav upgrades, but a single slot CD player as well. The non nav car does not have the opening for the screen nor the mechanics behind it, but I suspect that the dash behind its trim pieces would be hollow. The nav unit is above the radio/HVAC and completely separate from it. If you can find a source for the dash trim pieces, the nav unit itself, and the windshield mounted antenna and associated wiring harnesses, go for it. If not you might be better off going with a portable unit.

I had a similar problem with my 300zx a few years ago, when the passenger window would not come back up. I pulled the driver's door panel to remove the window switch, carefully took the switch apart (tiny springs and contacts in there) and cleaned and assembled the switch, and the problem was solved. This may work for you, or you may have to pull the offending rear door panel to get at the wiring connectors and the window motor, and go from there. It could simply be a corroded connector. If you have the time and patience, you should be able to fix it yourself, even if you need to track down a wrecked car for the parts. Fixing it at the dealership would be my last resort, and would probably be expensive.

If I were you .... and I'm not ... I wouldn't buy the extended warranty for 3 reasons. One ... Toyotas have a great reliability record, and Lexus models even more so. Two ... you know the previous history of the car and know it has not been abused but cared for properly. Three ... say you buy the $1500 warranty and 2 weeks later some bum runs a stoplight, broadsides your car and it gets written off. Will Lexus give you your extended warranty money back, or transfer it to your next car? I'd put the $1500 in a bank account for repairs down the road, if needed. And if you don't need it ... put it towards your next set of tires or the next car. But that's just my 2 cents worth.

This is a common malady that is traced back to resistance in the voltage to the turn signal bulbs. In my wife's 97 ES300 every 6 months I had to pull the left front turn signal bulb, reach into the bulb socket with a dental pick, and stretch the folded metal contacts that touched the bottom contacts of the bulb. Once stretched, and the bulb reinserted into the socket, a good contact was made and the turn signals on that side of the car went back to flashing at their normal rate. Our local Toyota dealership told me it was a common problem on Camry's in the same years as well.

My wife's 97 did the same quick flashing routine on the front left turn signal every 6 months. A trip to our local Toyota dealership (no Lexus dealership near us) said that the Camry's had the same problem, and the solution was to pull the bulb ..... and stretch the two contacts inside the bulb receptacle. The contacts are really strips of metal that have been bent into an "S" shape (when viewed from the side). After a time they tend to compress too much, lose their intended length, making less contact with the bulb, adding resistance that increases the flash rate on that side of the car. I used a dental pick to hook onto each contact and stretch it back up towards where the bulb base would contact it when installed. Each repair would last about 6 months in our case. It got to where I could remove the radiator top finish plastic panel, remove the screw that held the turn signal body, pop out the entire signal assembly, remove the bulb, fix the contacts and reinstall the whole thing in under 5 minutes. Good Luck!

marfu, Your sunroof has had a malfunction in its drive motor, its computer, its drive cables and mechanisms, or may have come unaligned. You may be able to solve part of the problem if your owner's manual describes a method whereby you use a special allen key from the toolkit and insert it into the sunroof drive mechanism (I seem to recall it was under the overhead light lens). I can't be sure since it was so long ago that we had the 97 ES, or it may well have been the Cressida's that were before even that car. Regardless, to get at the sunroof itself requires that the headliner be pulled. That means that the A, B and C pillar mouldings must come off, as well as the sunvisors, overhead assist handles, overhead lights, door weather stripping halfway down the doors, B pillar Seat belt mountings, etc. Been there, done that. It is time consuming .... read several shop hours to get to the sunroof, and then several hours after the repair to reinstall everything removed ..... read expensive, if you have the dealership do that work for you. I saved a bundle by pulling and replacing the headliner myself, leaving just the sunroof repair to the dealership. One word of advice if you choose to go this route ... keep your hands clean and clean them frequently to keep from dirtying up the headliner and pillar mouldings. Cleaning it afterwards leaves unsatisfactory results from dirt that won't come out, and from rub patterns that stand out noticebly when dry.

woody71, Your rears are really just a normal brake caliper, just like the fronts. You disconnect the caliper and you can pull off the rotor. Inside is a standard setup for a very small set of drum brakes, whch are your emergency brakes. The brake material on the drums are only 3 mm thick when new, and since you only use the emergency brakes when stationary, they should not wear or get thinner for the life of the car. On a 4 year old car, just clean and lube the apropriate parts and you should be good to reassemble everything concerning the emergency brakes. You shouldn't need new parts for the life of the car, if you clean and lube them regularly, and don't drive with the emergency brake on. Good Luck!

Cutter, Thanks for the info. I think its safe to assume that the new update in January of 06 will include the other information. I'll wait until then and cover all of the bases.