monarch

If it gets low, do I even need to remove the cap then?

Yes, to adjust the brake fluid level back up to the Max line. At the end of your brake job the level must at the Max line and not overfull or else the brakes might drag and overheat.

I havn't changed brake pads on my LS400, but on my other Toyotas I pushed the piston in slowly using a hardware store "C - clamp". The more you push the piston in, the further the brake fluid level rises in the master cylinder reservoir. If it overflows it's no disaster other than the mess you have to clean up, but remember brake fluid is poisonous and can be absorbed through the skin.

My car is currently at the Lexus dealership due to AC not cooling....

A Toyota dealer would use the same Toyota parts and procedures so I'd take it to a Toyota dealer.

It's also possible that just the $120.00 magnetic clutch on the compressor is bad, but the compressor itself is OK in which case replacement of the expansion valve, receiver-drier and compressor would not be needed, saving you about $1,000 of the $1,300 the Toyota dealer wants.

So if you have the time and interest, I'd take the car to 2-3 shops to find out if all agree the compressor internally burned up and seized or that just the magnetic clutch that's attached to the compressor is seized. The magnetic clutch can be unbolted from the compressor and replaced separately.

Thanks Monarch! I notice your from Sac. Ideas on where to take my 91 LS to charge the AC? What about cost?

No, but since your system is still blowing some cold air, then the leak is likely just a slow one and the system likely just needs a can or two of R12 which can be added in about 15 minutes. The cans cost about $20 each on Ebay and the charging hose is about $7. And for $15 you could get licensed to buy R12 by passing a 25 question on line test at www.macsw.org. An AC shop might want you to jump through a bunch or hurdles like insisiting on finding and fixing the slow leak, which in turn would necessitate labor intensive procedures like totally discharging and recharging the system, drawing a vacuum on the system, etc. In other words, a $300 - $600 repair bill. Meanwhile, don't run your AC system because compressor lubricating oil circulates with the R12 and the compressor will be somewhat starved of oil if your system is low on refrigerant R12. If you live in the Sacramento area and want me to look at your car or teach you how to recharge it, send me a private mesage.

Dragging and overheating brakes, pulls when braking, noise when braking and directional instability on wet or icy roads are potential safety consequences of not knowing what you are doing when changing the brake pads. I think it's better to learn the ropes about brake work using a beater car, not your primary driving car.

Normal and a good sign the AC system is working well.

They quoted $750 for pads and turning the rotors. My Brother owns a shop and his cost is $300 for new pads and new rotors, I figure I will go there next weekend and do it myself. I was just shocked that it needed to be done already

There's no need to turn the rotors unless you have brake pedal or steering wheel vibration when braking or when cruising at freeway speeds. Aftermarket pads and rotors typically will wear even more quickly and could lead to other problems like vibrations or squealing in humid weather or directional instability in slippery driving conditions.

If you start braking gently and gradually when coming to a stop your factory pads could last over 100,000 miles and the rotors over 200,000 miles.

I bought a 2001 Lx470 with 55K miles on it last year. A few months later it needed the 60K service, which I paid for. Now at 64K miles it needs a drive belt @$155 and new brakes @$750. Does this seem right? Wouldn't the certification have at least cought the drive belt wearing down? Looking at the records the brakes were done at 36K miles. I know the brakes need to be at least half to be certified, so what they are telling me is they did not go down more than 1/2 from 36 to 55K miles, but went down more than 1/2 in the remaining 9K miles. My issue is, in 9K miles I will have spent $2200 in maintenence, what was the purpose of the CPO? Is there a chance they fudged the certification?

The scheduled maintenance guide says to check the accessory drive belt for wear at 60,000 miles and, if not badly worn, check it every 15,000 miles thereafter. It's a normal maintenance item that generally needs replacing every 60,000 - 90.000 miles.

Your LX470 probably doesn't really need $750 worth of brake work. Take it to the dealer again or another shop and have them measure the thickness of the front & rear brake pads and front & rear brake rotors. Ask the shop to tell you how worn both componets are in percentage worn. Example: front pads might be 80% worn (80% of their original thickness), with 20% life left, front rotors 30% worn with 70% life left. rear pads might be 50% worn with 50% life left, rear rotors 20% worn with 80% life left. In this example, only the front pads would be approaching replacement time which would cost only about $70 for parts and approx $125 for labor. Beware Lexus dealers seem to want to replace the rotors every time the brake pads are changed. But rotor replacement is only legitimately needed if: a) the rotors are worn too thin (but they generally last 2-3 times as long as the pads) B) the brake pedal pulsates or the steering wheel shakes when you are braking c) the surface of the rotors has deep grooves you can see and feel.

You could start buy buying a Haynes manual on auto air conditioning like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-Haynes-...sspagenameZWD1V

Your local library might also carry an auto air conditioning manual ot two. Try to get an older one that covers R12 systems and one that covers conversions to R134a too. The '90-'92 LS400's came from the factory with R12.

After you learn the general principles of auto air conditioning, you should learn about Toyota specific air conditioning systems. This involves reading the Toyota / Lexus factory manual that covers air conditioning repair and (if possible) reading Toyota technician training manuals about air conditioning and about conversions to R134a. The latter are sometimes, though rarely, available on ebay. Toyota, as usual, has its own way of doing things.

Out there in Illinois where Japanese cars still aren't that common (in rural towns) or respected, few people in the air conditioning business know much about the "toyota way" of servicing air conditioning systems and some of the ones that do could care less about abiding by Toyotas directions. Factor in widespread dishonesty in the auto air conditioning business and it could be a long, potentially expensive uphill battle to get your system working again.

For example, the Union 76 Station that claimed your compressor was seized may not realize that if the system pressure gets too low due to a refrigerant leak, a low pressure detection switch prevents the magnetic clutch on the compressor from activating the compressor. So one of your first tasks is to determine if the compressor is actually sized or not. Seizure is rare unless a big, massive refrigerant leak causes all the compressor oil to leak out (the oil is mixed with and circulates with the refrigerant). Usually on a high mileage Toyota like yours its the magnetic clutch itself (which is bolted onto the compressor) that is seized and it can be removed from the compressor and replaced without removing the compressor from the car (if there is sufficient working space). But in that case you run into the dishonesty factor again where an AC shop may tell you the whole compressor is bad or that they refuse to just replace the magnetic clutch.

So I guess you'll have to do alot of reading and research and then get multiple opinions from local AC shops. If it turned out that just the magnetic clutch was bad, then after replacing it, you would just need to draw a deep vacuum on the system for 30 minutes using a vacuum pump to remove system moisture, then charge about 3 cans of R134a into the system (charge the R134a into the vacuum). Before vacuuming, the receiver-drier (contains dessicant) would also need to be replaced, but only if the system was totally empty of R134a (had no residual pressure at all).

If the system had been properly converted in the past from R12 to R134a, then the system should now have R134a specific fittings for adding refrigerant and the sight glass on the receiver-drier should be blacked out with black paint and a sticker of some kind should have been glued somewhere under the hood identifying the fact that the system was converted.

I have a 2004 RX330 AWD that I frequently manually down shift when comming to a stop to save brake wear.

How about gentle and gradual braking instead? The front brake pads are capable of lasting 150,000 miles if you brake gently and gradually instead of hard and abruptly like most drivers do. The rear pads could last even longer. And the brake rotors could last over 300,000 miles.

If you learn how to replace the pads yourself, they cost only about $20 per wheel.

In sum, you could potentially drive 300,000 miles without spending more than $80 for brakes. Cars with manual transmissions should also not be downshifted when comming to a stop to save brake wear.

Get new tires and a wheel alignment and rotate the tires every 5,000 miles.

However, I am still loosing oil. One mechanic says the rings are worn. He said he found "blow-by". Before going for a second opinion, I thought I would check here to see if there is anything else it could be.

You havn't done the things we suggested back in April:

1. You havn't had a valve cover removed to verify whether or not the engine is sludged. Sludge is a leading cause of high oil consumption. If your engine is sludged, then a Toyota dealer will know about how to desludge it (assuming the sludge has not caused serious engine damage)

2. You havn't had cylinder compression and cylinder leak down tests performed to verify whether or not the piston rings and engine valves are sealing well. If your engine is not sludged, but still burns alot of oil then the cylinder leak down test might reveal high percentage (over 20%) leakage on some cylinders. The cylinder leak down test can pinpoint whether or not the leakage is due to worn or damaged rings or burned valves.

We still don't know any details about the ownership and preventive maintenance history of your car. Like how often did the former owner change the engine oil and oil filter and the air filter? When was the first tune up done and what parts were replaced?

I ended up buying NGK Platinum's. "Platinums are now irrelevant" - as in totally horrible waste of money?

Platinums are good because that's what your owners manual recommends. And using what the owners manual recommends is the least risky (but boring and unexciting for some owners) way to maintain your car. Specifically the '98 ES300 owners manual says:

"Use only twin ground electrode platinum-tipped spark plugs" and "do not adjust gaps for your engine performance."

DENSO: PK20TR11

NGK: BKR6EKPB11

I don't know what the official sales figures are, but out here in Calif. - which is probably the ES's strongest market - I've see substantially more '03 & '04 ES300/330's on the road than '05 & '06 models. My guess sales of the '05 &'06 models were hurt by by a number of factors such as: a) the hesitation, B) the sportier appearance and harsher ride of the '05 &'06 models turned off conservative senior buyers, c) some potential buyers purchased the all new, more conservatively styled, more roomy and hesitation-free Avalon.

2000 RX300, one previous owner, $26000 in 2001 from Lexus of Colorado Springs. So, that makes it just about five years of ownership. Got 90k miles, mostly from driving CO-FL about five times. Transmission went out last year... $4k from the dealership. Timing belt, water pump, and I believe tensioner? went out about two months ago, that was $750. And now, supposedly, I've got a 'spun connecting rod' which will cost $6k to replace (an entire new engine). If anyone knows a cheaper fix for the connecting rod than a whole new engine, please shed some light on me.

No cheaper fix unless you can find a used, low mileage 2000 RX300 engine from an auto wrecking yard. These engines have lasted over 300,000 miles when properly driven and maintained.

Genuine Toyota Spark Plugs are always made by Denso and the correct Toyota spark park number for the '98 ES300 is 90919-01194 (Denso number PK20TR11) These cost only $6.94 each at Bob Bridge Toyota https://www.1sttoyotaparts.com/partscat.html You pay no sales tax so that offsets most of the 10% FedEx Ground charge.

sparkplugs.com charges $7.16 for PK20TR11 Denso plugs, but since they are a generic version of the PK20TR11 spark plug (for many makes and models of cars), they may come set to a wider spark plug gap than the genuine Toyota version of the PK20TR11 spark plug. A wider plug gap typically results in reduced low and medium speed throttle response as though the engine lost around 10-20% of its power.

So ordering from sparkplugs.com offers no price advantage + there are possible unpleasant surprises when you order from them because they don't sell Toyota specific parts.

Your owners manual tells you the exact part number of the exact NGK or Nippondenso spark plug to use. Then drop by any Toyota dealer to get the plugs. If you don't have a manual then tell the Toyota dealer counter person you need spark plugs for a '98 Camry V6 engine.

ok tranny went on the ES grinding noise from pan...dropped pan i had all sorts of metal shaving pyramids on magnets...anyway not to long before i had changed fluid and screen.

Are you saying you personally changed the fluid and screen prior to the grinding noise developing and subsequent transmission failure?

Okay Monarch, lets see some stats OTHER than Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports only polls its members, its not an unbiased source of information. Look up some JDPower stuff and come back to me.

To my knowledge, JD Powers doesn't provide 8 years worth of data on the reliability of powertrain components, cooling and air conditioning systems, brakes, etc. The CR data may not be 100% unbiased, but its been good enough to the extent that the Toyota based American cars like the Pontiac Vibe and Chevy Prism have earned good mechanical component reliability scores just as one would expect if the CR data was mostly unbiased.

The long term reliability and durability of American cars hasn't improved substantially in recent years

I'd like to see you back that statement up with some data.

I have access to 31 years worth of Consumer Reports. In all that time, the frequency of repair records of most American vehicles, as compared to comparable Toyota models, has looked like this:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/cr.jpg As you can see, even after the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th years of ownership, the various mechanical components of Toyotas tend to remain reliable whereas American car components tend to reliable only during the first 3-4 years. I'm not aware of any substantial changes the American car makers have made in the various mechanical components to change this trend (except in isolated cases where new government regulations mandated better durability standards for certain components like some of the emission system components).

I had a 14 oz. can of R12 freon. I would not use the hose without a guage inline. I have a guage set. I did quite a bit of research to determine the correct PSI on the low side. I topped of my AC and stopped when the guage read 35 PSI.

No gauge set is needed. You could have added R12 until the stream of bubbles in the receiver-drier sight glass dissappeared.

IF you knew what you were doing, you could recharge it in 10 minutes at a cost of about $30. But if you are a beginner, it could takes days / weeks of library / internet research to get to the point where you could do it yourself without making mistakes or hurting yourself. I'm not aware of any tutorials on the subject for Toyota / Lexus vehicles.

My personal call is it will turn around like every other thing.

Since I'm 53, I've been hearing and reading about "turn around" predictions for decades that never materialized. Like in the late 1980's Tom & Ray Magliozzi - the auto repair shop owners who host the "Car Talk" radio talk show - predicted GM would return to its former glory in the 1990's. Bottom line is I think the only way I think the Japanese car makers could ever lose market share is to start giving us much less reliable and durable cars with ultra cheap interiors, paint, etc that would hurt the customer appeal and resale value of their vehicles. Or if the American car markers started giving us durable cars like they offered in the 1960's. But to this very day we never see any American car maker advertizing long term reliability and durability. The latest Ford commercial, for example, ephasizes "safety innovation" and the latest GM truck commercial "remotely controlled power folding seats".

The long term reliability and durability of American cars hasn't improved substantially in recent years, hence neither has resale value. The powertrain warranties are still short too. Conversely, the long term reliability and durability of the Asian car makers hasn't worsened substantially, hence neither has resale value. Asian powertrain warranties are still long too. Net effect of all this: American car makers have and will likely continue to lose market share for the forseeable future.

I read that using synthetic oil can increase your gas efficiency by 4%.

I've been reading "Fleet Trucking" and a similar long haul trucker trade magazine for 20 years and in all that time the industry has still not widely embraced synthetic oil. It's benefits, including fuel savings, have been too miniscule to offset the 3x extra cost.

If I accelerate in anything other than a timid manner, the engine shudders as if it is stalling and the check engine light comes on. If I remove my foot from the accelerator, the check engine light goes off after a few seconds and shuddering stops.

How many miles are on the spark plugs, plug wires, distributor caps, distributor rotors, oxygen sensor, and air filter? Have the throttle plates ever been scrubbed clean?