Trying to Learn

We have a 2002 LX470 with 108,000 miles. Last month the VSC lights and Check Engine light came on. Took it to Longo Lexus in El Monte, CA. They said a "wire was cut" and replaced the wire for $300. Last week the Check Engine light came on again. It runs fine. I checked the gas cap to make sure it is on tight. Took it in on Friday. Longo suggested it might be $800 charcoal canister or we can pay for a $250 test. We took the test. The result was the gas cap was not on tight enough and we should really tighten it down. Thank you $250. When you close the gas cap, it clicks. How can you really tighten it down? Good money maker though.

Thanks for the information. Now I feel silly having asked that question.....

I searched under the hood and in the manual but can't find the power steering fluid reservoir. In the Warranty and Service book, there is no mention of changing the ps fluid. Do you check it? Do you change it? We have a LX470 and we do the incremental change method (pump out the reservoir, put in new, drive around, repeat until the fluid looks red and cleaner). Do you do this with the LS460? Thanks.

I have a 2008 LS460. The other day I was vacuuming the floor and happened to notice a panel above the pedals just below the steering column that seemed to be lose. It is attached on the front with 2 philips screw and in the middle towards the front of the car by hanging on to a tab. Anyway, on the right side above the accelerator pedal is a button with an outline of a tire and a knob with a white dot on it. You can turn the knob and it will click on one end of the rotation. Does anyone know what the knob and the button with a tire outline is for? Thanks.

Hi Jim, My wife's 2002 LX470 has 100K on it. Noticed the outer end of the inner boot is leaking. These seems to be grease sprayed on the wheelwell too. Question is you have to take off the axle to replace the rubber boot so should you replace the axle assembly at the same time? Second question is new vs rebuilt axle assembly. Price difference is around $150 (less than $100 for rebuilt and around $250 for new)?? Have you heard anything about rebuilt axle assemblies? Do you also repack the inner and outer wheel bearings at this time too? Thanks Jim.

My wife's 2002 LX470 has about 85K on it. We had the water pump, timing belt, serpentine belt and 4 shocks replaced. We asked the dealer to look at the timing pulleys/tensioners to see if they were ok and were not replaced. Here is something we found out last weekend. I have my oil changed at the Big O Tire instead of the dealer. The mechanic called me over and shined a flashlight into the AHC reservoir and it was empty with about half an inch of fluid on the bottom.! I thought it was because I had the shock setting on sport so I put it back to comfort. I drove it home and put a flashlight against it and it looked empty again. I took the cap off and pulled out the plastic filter and it was empty with half an inch of fluid.! It always looked ok because the bottom half of the reservoir is darker due to staining by the AHC fluid. It was only when the Big O mechanic shined a flashlight into it that you can see it was empty. It was Sat morning so my wife took it back to Longo Lexus in El Monte, CA. The Service Advisor called me on the phone and said it is never filled to the top. It is always half full to the middle where the seam for the reservoir comes together. I explained to him that it only looks half full because the bottom is darker due to staining by the AHC fluid. He tried to explain and argue again. I asked him to please have a mechanic check. My wife called back in 5 min to tell me the mechanic came out and said it was empty. The reason they gave is that they didn't bleed the system when they replaced the shocks a month ago. I hope there is no damage to the shocks. Now I am wondering if Longo even checked the pulleys and tensioners for the timing belt!!

Thank you Whitster and Burnaby. My local garage just puts the floor jack under the seam. Do you think I can bend it back out?

I have a 2008 LS460. When I get an oil change the garage lifts the car right below the door sill with the floor lift. The left front point just below the driver's side door is starting to bend inwards. I am afraid the weld points will split. The Owner's Manual show the front and rear points to lift the car but with a picture of a hydralic floor jack. Can these points be used with the floor lift at a mechanic? Thanks

Jim, We just got our brakes done on a 2002 with 60K miles. Longo Lexus did not mention anything about repacking bearings. I have to assume they were not done or the outside ones were done as you had described. Is this something we should worry about and have the inside ones done, will it cause damange? Thanks. No, but I'd at least recommend having the rotors turned. New, quality aftermarket rotors like brembo's or powerslots run about $105-120 each. Pads are about $50/axle for OEM. They should replace and regrease the anti-squeal shims (about $40 per axle). If you just slap new pads in, chances are, the brakes will start pulsating due to the new pads not distributing pad material evenly on the worn (not flat) rotors. The rear rotors are easy to do...maybe 15 min each wheel. Fronts are a different story, as it's 4wd. You need some special tools...large brass bar and hammer, snap ring pliers, 54mm 6-point SST socket, fish-scale for tension, torque wrench, 17mm deep 6-pt socket, misc other sockets. You need to remove the wheel, brake caliper mounting bolts and hose bracket bolt (don't disconnect brakes hose). Then remove the dust cap, 4wd flange (use brass bar and hammer to pound the 6 studs). With the flange off, remove old gasket, then use snap ring pliers to remove snap ring. Use large screwdriver to bend tabs on aluminum lock washers back straight, then use 54mm socket SST to remove outer and inner axle nuts. Remove hub & rotor unit, unbolt rotor from hub, replace w/ new rotor. If you haven't repacked the inner bearing, do so now. Use a seal driver, plastic hammer, or stack of wood to set the brass seal for the inner bearing. Repack outer bearing and torque inner nut to the spec'd torque, turn wheel back & forth, loose nut, tighten to new torque, then install lock washer and outer nut. Use fish scale to test tension on lug nut. Reinstall snap ring, then 4wd flange. For each wheel, you'll need one inner oil seal (~$22), a new aluminum lock washer (~$5), a flange gasket ($2), plus grease. A bearing packer helps. Figure about 4 hrs to do the job if you've done it before, 8 hrs if you haven't. Labor is typically $250-300 for a front bearing repack, so I'd figure that much to install rotors up front alone. I glossed over the steps just to give you an idea of how labor instensive it is, and how, if you can get the dealer to do it for $200 in labor, it's a steal. :-) It's a labor intensive, messy job that no one wants to do, even for a pro. BTW, you are supposed to repack the front wheel bearings (in the above method) every 30K mi.