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Lex2001

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Everything posted by Lex2001

  1. Drummr, You have to get into the car differently. Most of us face forward (toward the front bumper 12 o'clock position) as we get into the car. If you face sideways (like you are looking out the drivers window 9 o'clock position) sit down, then swing your feet in you will minimize wear on the seat and left side of the seatback.
  2. One tube of epoxy around the bottom of his recycling bin then watch the old !Removed! when he tries to pick it up! Quick, easy, and cheap!
  3. Gents, I replaced the antenna on my son's 1994 ES. The antenna comes attached to the nylon toothed retractor/extender. I purchased one on Ebay. The one I purchased came with directions on how to install. It was pretty simple. A second person is helpful. As I recall you have to slide the nylon toothed part in the right direction or the motor gears won't grab it. While one of you holds the antenna have someone else start the car and turn the radio off. That should retract it. When you take the motor apart to remove the broken nylon toothed part make sure you wipe it out and put new lithium grease in. The ebay antenna was easy to install and inexpensive.
  4. You might not need new rotors. Here are the two camps on rotors. One side says replace or have your rotors turned every time you change pads. This gives your pads a perfectly flat surface to push on whenever you apply your brakes. That certainly makes sense to me. However I am in the other camp. My philosophy is that when the rotors get turned they lose thickness because metal is ground off of them. Less thickness means increased chance of warping under high heat (braking) conditions. I changed the pads on my LS this summer (the rotors have never been changed). I ran my fingernail along the rotors feeling for grooves or imperfections and couldn't feel any. My pads had not yet worn down to the point that they could damage the rotors (metal on metal). I replaced the pads with new ones and bedded the brakes. It drives and stops like new. I also did my son's ES brakes. His rear rotors were not to spec (turned by a previous owner?) so I replaced them. The fronts were perfect. I got parts at Irontoad.com. They are Toyota factory parts with quick shipping and good prices. The rotors were purchased on Ebay and were original Toyota parts. Be careful with aftermarket parts. I recommend always buying Toyota parts to maintain the quality we originally purchased these cars for.
  5. Discount Tire stripped the outside of one of mine when I was getting new tires. They offered to pay for new ones but said it would take two days to get them from Lexus. I was going out of town the next day and wanted them changed so I bought them myself. I took one of the them off and drove to the dealership. Gave the lug to the parts guy. I bought new ones for $30.
  6. Yep. I have a 2001 LS. My driver and rear right passenger windows have that problem. It is from alcohol in window cleaner. It weeps up into the window when the seal is bad and gets into the laminate. The good news is that it won't continue. The bad news is that it is expensive to replace. I have switched to alcohol free window cleaner by Turtle Wax. I have read of others having this same problem.
  7. I would second the suggestion of a used cluster. I purchased a 1994 ES 300 for my son last spring. It has problems with the needles not illuminating well. I purchased a cluster from another 94' for $45. To remove it you first take off the inner plastic ring that goes around the display. There are two little "doors" on the top that you pop open with a small flat screwdriver to access screws. When that ring is out you can easily see the four screws holding the cluster in. Remove those screws. The wiring harnesses attached to the cluster do not give you much play. I found it easiest to disconnect the one on the bottom right first and then rock the cluster top out to reach inside and unplug the others (I think three more). Once the cluster is out you can replace the backlighting. You can also take the odometer module from your current car and put it in the new cluster to maintain the correct mileage. I used two needles from the $45 cluster, bought new bulbs, and put a dark blue piece of plastic in front of the odometer inplace of the amber one. It is easy to remove but you will want to go slow to avoid scratching anything.
  8. Glenmore is right, it is delamination. I purchased my 2001 LS two years ago and have a small patch on my drivers window and passenger rear where the windows meets the door. After a lot of research I discovered that window cleaners with alcohol can cause this if there is a defect/opening in the laminate. When you spray cleaner on the window and it runs down to the rubber seal on the door it can sometimes get to the edge of the window through the seal. If the edge of the window has an imperfection it will wick into it and cause delamination. The good news is that it doesn't continue to spread if no more alcohol based cleaner gets into it. I now use a Turtle Wax product for cleaning the windows that is alcohol free. Your only option is to replace the window if it bothers you too much.
  9. Wheel2, I did a lot of research on brakes and it is DIY job. I have an LS430 and replaced front and rears on it and a friends SC430. There are two camps on rotors. One side says replace or have them turned every time. The other side says if there are no deep grooves or warping just replace the pads. After reading comments from both sides I went with the do not replace camp. Here is my reasoning. You are looking for maximum pad and rotor contact to stop your car. You will definitely get that when the rotors are turned or replaced. The pads are softer than the rotors. Under normal driving conditions the pads will be the only part that wears. If you replace the pads before you get down to the metal backing there will not be any scoring of the rotor so no need to replace them. I ran my fingernail across my rotors and found no discernible damage. I then bedded the pads. This was done by driving at 40 mph and quickly braking to 20 mph 4-5 times. You then drive at 55 mph and brake to 10 mph 4-5 times never coming to a complete stop. Drive around for ten minutes to let the brakes cool. There are probably minor blemishes on the rotors and this gets the pads to conform to them. If you have a lot of hilly driving or you are always coming to quick stops from high speed that would stress the rotors. I completed my brake job about 3,000 miles ago and they feel great. Cost me $110 in OEM parts.
  10. Turn the brightness down. Mine flicker if I have them at full brightness. I turn them down and the flicker goes away. Some guys drive with their lights on all of the time to compensate. I can see the needles just fine when they are turned down. However at night the radio and climate control are harder to see. The dial is on the cluster to the left of your steering wheel.
  11. Try a local junk yard for the needles. I got a used cluster from Southwest Auto Parts in Lockport. Had to take it out myself. I think they charged me $70. If you can find a better price with needles guaranteed to work on Ebay buy it. To remove the needles you pull them straight up and off the cluster. I have removed three and they didn't come easy. I replaced the fuel needle and it works fine. There is also a place online that repairs the needles for $150. You send them the whole cluster. They take your old needles off and replace them with repaired needles.
  12. Check the post for "1994 ES300 FUSE PANEL". March 27, 2008. I posted a link to the complete repair guide for a 1993 ES300. Maybe that will help.
  13. What does your guy charge to fix the needles? Can he change their color? Thanks.
  14. I'm a new owner (1994 es) also. I have done some research and repairs already. I can help you with the door panel and cluster. I replaced both the driver's and passenger rear left panels. Here's what you do: 1. With door open you will see some plastic caps on the latch side. The caps are in two pieces. They break with too much force. First pull the cap back about 1/8". You will see it sticks into another piece. Pull the other piece out of the door. When depressed the plastic button locks the other piece into the panel. 2. In the grab to pull the door shut there is a small piece of cloth. Take that out and you will see a screw. Remove it. 3. The plastic around the inner door handle pops off. Pry the front off first. There is a hook towards the rear. 4. You already figured out the stereo speaker cover and front screw. 5. Carefully pop out the inner plastic pieces along the bottom. 6. Lift the panel up and out of the window channel. 7. Now the window controls and trunk/gas door wires have to be disconnected. That should do it. The cluster needles go bad because the led's burn out. I have taken my cluster out and replaced the backlight bulbs with led's. You have three options with the needles. Buy new ones at Lexus $$$, turn the dimmer switch down, or try to replace the led's. I am currently working on replacing my led's. Trying to change the color to blue. There is another Lexus forum that has info about it. I don't know if it appropriate that I link from here. Do some searches and you will find it.
  15. Jeffry, I posted a link to ES300 1993 complete repair manual yesterday. It is a free download. It is in the post for "1994 Fuse Box" it is a couple posts lower than this one. That should get you on the right track.
  16. Go to this link. It is the entire service manual for ES300 93 for free. Should be the same as 94. What you are looking for is in the first 10-20 pages of "Body Electrical Systems". I tried to copy just that page but could not get it to work. When you get to the download page you have to type in some letters at the top and then wait 45 seconds for the free version to kick in. After the 45 seconds is up click download! http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FMIKNGG0
  17. It sounds like your gas line is not connected. Does gas only come out when you try to start the car? That would be the fuel pump pushing it through. The spot it should be connected is very close to where you see gas coming out. Gas lines don't move very much. I'm guessing your car isn't at the service garage. Maybe the gas line was not connected correctly and vibrations from driving the car caused it to work loose. There should be a compression fitting on/near the open end of your gas line. Re-attach the line from where it came loose.
  18. Siping is a process that puts small grooves or cuts in the tread, supposedly for better traction. I read somewhere that siping actually decreases the mileage you get from a tire. When I purchased my last set from Discount Tire they offered siping for $10 per tire. I told them no thanks and they offered again at $1 a tire. I still said no. If it is a benefit and can easily be done in the shop why don't manufacturers include it on tires from the factory? Reduced life?
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