gbhrps

Yikes!! My wife's 97 hit 96 000 km (60 000 mi) 2 years ago and we had her timing belt done at the Lexus dealer in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They did the timing belt, minor tuneup (new platinum plugs, filters) but no oil change (I do that myself), no water pump, but flushed and bled the entire brake system. Hold on guys! The total bill was $340 .00 CDN, and that was back when we had a 50 cent Canadian dollar compared to the USD, and they washed and vaccuumed the interior of the car as well! You guys must be paying for a motor change at the prices you quoted! After all, the engine is just a retuned Camry. $840 and $1194 USD? And no, I didn't hold a gun to anyone's head.

My wife's 97 develops a rapid left turn signal about every 6 months. The darn thing will work fine for half a year and then suddenly one day will blink like a mad fiend. I have found that the problem with her car is in the front turn signal light. Pull the whole light assembly from the front of the car (you have to take out the one mounting screw found under the black plastic panel that covers the radiator support, right next to the extreme right top corner of the driver's headlight). To get the turn signal assembly out, once the screw has been removed, can be done by taping up the blade end of a large screw driver (to keep from chipping the paint) and inserting it in between the black gasket of the turn signal light body and the fender, right at the back edge of the light closest to the driver's door. Be careful, and patient, and by grabbing the screw driver head in one hand and the blade itself, near where the tip is inserted, with your other hand, pull the whole unit towards the front of the car. It will pop out eventually, but you will have to work at it, being carefull not to scratch anything. When out, and the bulb removed from the light assembly, I was able to restretch the spring shaped contacts that are inside the light bulb socket. Reinstall the bulb and my problem was solved, for another 6 months. Apparently the contacts lose their shape, don't really contact the bulb well enough to make a good electrical connection, change the resistance on the circuit, and the whole thing speeds up. Hope this helps someone!

My wife's 97 with 130 000 km has a sluggish driver's seat belt retractor. I pulled the B pillar trim panel and removed the anchor bolt for the belt. Closer inspection revealed that the retractor assembly has explosive pretensioners that I did not want to mess with, as I am rather attached to my eyes and fingers. I shot some silicone lubricant into the retractor spring areas wherever I could manage, and it did help the problem somewhat, but not entirely. I rather expect that the dealership is going to say "new seatbelt" and it will be major bucks. Has anyone found a fix?

Go with the narrowest tire size that will fit the width of your rim. I recently traded a 97 Subaru Outback Wagon that ran stock sized 205/70/15 Bridgestone Blizzaks. That setup with the all wheel drive was absolutely amazing! There was simply no white-knuckled driving in any road conditions other than whiteouts. In 02 I bought a new Subaru Outback Wagon with a stock tire size of 225/60/16, and again put on Bridgestone Blizzaks for winter. BIG mistake! I should have put on the narrowest tire size that would fit the stock rims, because in slush the wider tire size aquaplaned and pushed the front end all over the place, at the same speeds that the old car was able to cope with. To prove my point, check out Speed Channel WRC ralleye races and look at the skinny, and I mean skinny tires, that those ralleye cars race on when in the snow. They're studded tires, but boy are they skinny!

I've had excellent success with using silicone spray on all of the weatherstripping on my cars. Use it on the window tracks as well and cycle the glass up and down several times to lube the tracks. Wipe the excess off of the glass and your windows will never freeze shut, and your doors will never freeze shut if you do the same with the door, trunk and hood seals. An added bonus is that it will rejuvenate older rubber weatherstripping as well. A few years ago I bought a 71 Mustang convertible and the rain just poured in over the top of the windshield, due to a compressed and hardened top windshield weather strip seal. Repeated sprays with silicone and hand massaging it into the rubber returned it to an almost new like condition. It was amazing to say the least. I now use the stuff on all of my cars in the fall before the winter freezeups to keep them supple and to keep them from freezing to the body.