monarch

I understand the following dealer will ship fluids via FedEx Ground to your doorstep: Champion Toyota Gulf Freeway - Houston, Texas 77034 · (713)943-9900 www.championtoyotagulffreeway.com There is no exact aftermarket equivalent to genuine Toyota Long Life antifreeze.

VB, the next thing that might go wrong is that you will start the car and find a bunch of dashboard lights lit up indicating your alternator is not charging because the PS fluid has leaked down onto the alternator and shorted it out. The other day LEXIE gave some outstanding advice about dealing with a leaking PS pump. Read all these threads: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...wtopic=8446&hl= http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...topic=6583&st=0 http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread...r+steering+pump

Toyota dealers carry a genuine Toyota Dexron II & III fluid in one quart bottles for about $3.60 a quart http://www.saber.net/~monarch/gtatf2.jpg http://www.saber.net/~monarch/gtatf.jpg It's as close as you can get to the original factory fill PS fluid and should also be used in early ES 300 and SC 300 automatic transmissions that require Dexron II or III fluid. Corporate Toyota cannot control what dealers do in their service shops. So it's not unusual to see dealers installing cheaper aftermarket fluids or additives in place of the more expensive genuine Toyota fluids and lubes. And that's why so many owners complain their cars run worse or shift more roughly after they have just paid a dealer $2,000 for a major 60,000 mile preventive maintenance service.

jbarhorst2, a problem with your method is that you won't end up with a 50/50 mixture in the system because draining just the radiator only removes 50-60% of the old coolant in the system. The other 40-50% is still inside the engine. To drain the engine, the two coolant drain plugs on the engine block must be removed. To avoid all these complications, I just drain the radiator annually refill with a premixed 50/50 solution in order to replace about half of the coolant. On vehicles less than about 4 years old there is no need to flush the heater core or anything else because the system is still clean and free of corrosion and sediment and the drained coolant with be clean like this: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/89drained.JPG

The factory manual is available on ebay http://tinyurl.com/3adkr You need the manual to find the drain and fill plugs and to find out whether or not special air bleeding procedures are needed. Since you car is so new, all you really need to do is drain and refill the radiator and do not need to be concerned about draining and refilling the engine block or flushing the system which in much more complicated. Just draining and refilling the radiator every year or two with a 50/50 mix of Toyota long life coolant and distilled water will keep the entire cooling system looking like new for decades and unlimited miles http://www.saber.net/~monarch/238..JPG http://www.saber.net/~monarch/89thermohouse.JPG Probably only one jug of the coolant and distilled water will be needed. So that's just a $13 expense once a year to keep the cooling system looking like new regardless of time or mileage. Sealers and coolant additives are not needed or recommended It says this in your owners manual.

I think alot of people here are making a mistake thinking their PS fluid is really dirty just because it has the color of motor oil. This is the normal color of the factory original fluid - just check the color of the fluid in a brand new 2004 LS 430 if you don't believe it. For 32 years Toyota has used motor oil colored Dexron ATF fluid in all of its power steering systems. It's just regular Dexron ATF without the red dye added.

You shouldn't buy the car because there is no way a Lexus dealer can tell from an inspection how soon major componets are going to develope leaks or fail altogether. Rebuilt Toyota / Lexus engines routinely have problems because no rebuilder uses genuine Toyota / Lexus parts and gaskets - just low cost imitation quality parts and gaskets. They also don't follow the engine rebuilding instructions giving in the factory repair manual. The only 200,000 mile car worth buying is one that was driven mainly on the highway by a traveling salesman or consultant type person like this guy http://www.saber.net/~monarch/lloyd.jpg or by a long distance commuter AND when the owner has a stackful of service receipts showing oil changes done at least every 5000 miles plus many thousands of dollars spent during the major services required at 60,000, 120,000 and 180,000 miles. If you have $5,000 to spend the most reliable car would be 1999-2001 Corolla, Honda Civic or Nissan Sentra driven by an older adult lady. A car like that would be in virtually brand new condition both mechanically and cosmetically, but such cars are hard to find unless you spend alot of time looking. www.cars.com offers a free way to search newspaper ad listings nationwide and by region and can be a tremendous help. Another good vehicle choice would be a two wheel drive '97 on up Toyota Tacoma pickup as it is the ultimate vehicle for reliability and durability, but of course, is a bit crude comfortwise compared to a passenger car.

An poorly cared for and/or abusively driven SC400 with 200k miles is one of the worst possible choices you could make because it will be unreliable and cost a fortune to keep fixing all the expensive componets that will soon fail. The prior owners(s) had to have done something very abusive or neglectful to ruin the engine. And whatever abuse or neglect that ruined the engine likely caused alot of heavy wear and tear on other expensive drivetrain componets as well. The most reliable used Lexus's are generally those driven by 55-85 year olds because these owners generally drive their cars gently and unhurriedly and have been responsible about getting the required preventive maintenance done on time at a Lexus dealer or Lexus specialty shop. Their cars generally have little suspension or drivetrain wear and therefore will be alot more reliable and durable.

The main difference I notice when driving a Lexus as compared to an ordinary car is how much more respectfully and courteously other drivers treat me in various traffic situations. Like if another driver and myself arrive at an intersection with a stop sign at the same time the other driver will expect the Lexus to move out first and will even hand gesture me to move out first. Or if I'm slower than other drivers on a 2 lane highway, the other drivers will cautiously pass me and never do anything rude like !Removed! or beeping their horn.

It's not real critical. Just moderately snug is sufficient. Error on the loose side rather than on the tight side. It's much more important to be meticulous about not getting dirt into the engine when changing the oil and filter. So wipe the oil filler cap, filler opening, dipstick tube and dipstick cap clean of all accumulated dirt so that none accidentally falls into the engine.

The muffler and exhaust pipes can get hot enough during a high speed passing manuver to burn off any rear axle oil that has accumulated on the metal. I live in a hilly area with long 7% freeway grades and once in awhile I see cars smokin from under the rear axle area when the cars crest the grades. In the 70's I owned a Chevy Vega that had this problem.

Well at one point you said there was no benefit to using premium in an engine that is designed to have a minimum octane requirement of 87 like the 1FZ-FE inline 6. I just wanted to point out that some owners may notice benefits. Not necessarily better power or gas mileage benefits, but improved starting, overall drivability, engine responsiveness and engine smoothness. I even use premium gas in my lawnmower because it will start with one pull instead of 2-3 attempts like it would using 87 octane. If you do a Google search for "inaudible pinging" or "inaudible denotation" you'll learn more about it. The 1FZ-FE has a knock sensor and on some engines knock sensors are sensitive enough to !Removed! the ignition timing (hurting engine performance and gas mileage) when they detect the earliest stage of pinging (which is inaudible to the human ear). However, I do not know specifically whether or not the 1FZ-FE's knock sensor is sensitive enough to detect inaudible pinging and !Removed! the ignition timing before it becomes bad enough to be audible.

I'm kinda wondering if it might be rear axle fluid that's leaking and burning on the hot rear muffler. Inspect your rear axle for signs of fluid all over the place. You should be able to tell from the smell of the oil that was deposited on the back of the car whether its engine oil, rear axle oil (strong pungent odor) or power steering fluids (typical auto trans fluid smell).

Wow Lexie, thanks for the detailed instructions. I have a first generation LS 400 and am faced with BOTH replacing or rebuilding of the PS pump and the alternator as well since the alternator was ruined due to PS fluid leakage. Yes, if you can direct me to tutorials for rebuilding the PS pump I would be most grateful. One thing I am debating is whether or not I need to remove the radiator, fan shroud and fan assembly in order to get to the alternator and PS pump. It's alot of extra work, but I'm getting the feeling removal would also help provide alot more working room. On the other hand, maybe removing the PS pump would help provide alot of access to the alternator below it. What do you think?

dougjohn , 87 is the MINIMUM recommended octane to use in a 6 cylinder LX450, but is not necessarily the best octane to use for the smoothest and most responsive engine performance. Millions of Toyota owners use 89, 91 or 92 octane gaoline in engines designed to run acceptably well on 87 octane. Why do they do this? Because they notice the engine starts quicker and runs more smoothly overall with sharper, more instantaneous throttle response. Little annoying hesistations in some situations vanish. All traces of engine pinging, both audible and inaudible dissappear. And any tendency of the engine knock control sensor to !Removed! ignition timing (which hurts power) to compensate for pinging is eliminated as well. In some cases, premium grades have more sophisticated detergent packages as well and cleaner fuel injectors and intake valves contribute to better fuel economy. Finally, petroleum chemists tell us the smooth, less violent burning characteristics of high octane gas promotes longer engine life. Some owners, like myself, think the drivability benefits of premium outweigh the cost.

Lexie, how much of a chore was it to get the power steering pump off the car? What componets had to be removed just to get access to the pump? And once you were able to access the pump, were any special tools needed to remove it? Like special tools to remove the hydraulic hoses? Thanks for any help of suggestions along these lines.

1. Use only genuine Toyota pads and rotors. 2. Become a calmer, gentler driver who avoids abrupt stops and who turns off the overdrive or uses lower gears to control vehicle speed on long downgrades. 3. Buy a torque wrench and check/adjust the wheel nut torque every time the wheels are removed for any reason. Many shops overtorque the nuts or torque them unevenly and this can lead to warped rotors.

The 2004 LX owners manual says: "For improved vehicle performance, the use of premium unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 91 or higher is recommended."

No you havn't wasted $$. Try 87 octane for several days or maybe a few weeks. At some point you may wonder "boy my engine is acting like it needs a tune up or some fuel injector cleaner." When you get to that point, have someone remind you that you switched to 87 octane several days or weeks ago.

At tirerack.com look at the all new Goodyear Comfortreds. They're designed to produce the smoothest, quietest ride possible and yet still offer good all season traction. Reasonably priced to boot.

The original Toyota part# was a Denso filter# 90915-YZZB9, but this filter has been discontinued and replaced by another Denso filter part# 90915-YZZD1. The Toyota #08922-02011(USA made by Purolator) has also been available since 1993 for use on the 1MZ-FE and other Toyota engines. Yes there are some websites that claim the now discontinued Denso resin element filters were alot better quality than the paper element #08922-02011, but the authors of those websites have no real world evidence to back up their claims. The authors just cut open the filters and arbitrarily assumed the pleated paper element used in the #08922-02011 doesn't flow as much oil or doesn't filter it as well. The truth is the #08922-02011 was tested and approved by Toyota engineers and Toyota required Purolator to build the #08922-02011 with certain heavy duty design features that are not found on the Purolator filters you see in auto parts stores. So the #08922-02011 is not merely a relabeled and reboxed existing Purolator filter. How well does the #08922-02011 protect a Toyota engine in real life? I've been using it for 436,000 troublefree miles on my '92 4 cylinder Toyota pickup http://www.saber.net/~monarch/436.JPG. The engine still has like new compression and very low oil consumption. So the #08922-02011, in combination with a Toyota air filter, has done an outstanding job at preventing serious engine wear.

The USA made Toyota#08922-02011 oil filter is another one that is approved for the 1MZ-FE V6 engines. All Toyota dealers carry the 08922-02011 and it retails for about $6.00 but is available at discount Toyota dealers like 1sttoyotaparts.com for as little as $3.76

Toyota Long Life Antifreeze is 100% silicate free. It's not merely a low silicate antifreeze. Whereas Toyota has had silicate free antifreeze since 1987, there isn't a single person on this forum that could buy a silicate free antifreeze at NAPA, Pep Boys or any other auto parts store until the mid-1990's when the Dexcool coolants came out. And to this very day auto parts stores still don't any antifreezes with the same hybrid OAT chemistry as Toyota Long Life Coolant (i.e. Organic Acid Salt combined with Hydrated Inorganic Salt) You say flushing is "needed to clear passages, channels of dropout and contaminants." However, Toyota & Lexus owners who always use the factory original 50/50 mixture of Toyota Long Life Antifreeze and distilled water don't have any buildups of solids, gels or anything else in their cooling systems that could interfere with the heat transfer capability. Example: Here is a photo of my '89 Corolla thermostat housing after 16 years of doing only partial coolant changes by just draining the radiatorand never flushing the system: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/89thermohouse.JPG And when I drain the radiator, the old coolant is transparent and still looks like new: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/89drained.JPG So the whole cooling system will stay super clean for decades and unlimited miles when using a 50/50 mixture of Toyota Long Life Antifreeze and distilled water.

Flushing is not needed because genuine Toyota Long Life Coolant is silicate free. Says so right on the bottle. The radiator and cooling system of my 16 year old Corolla with 238,000 miles has never been flushed and it's crystal clean to this day: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/238..JPG. The engine block has never been drained either. Just the radiator was drained and refilled once a year with a 50/50 mix of genuine Toyota Long Life Coolant and distilled water. Also, look at how cool my '92 Toyota pickup runs after 428,000 miles using a 50/50 mix of genuine Toyota Long Life Coolant and distilled water http://www.saber.net/~monarch/428.jpg Take home lesson: The Toyota/Lexus factory engineers know what's best for Toyota vehicles; i.e the genuine Toyota Toyota Long Life Coolant antifreeze they developed way back in 1987 - years before any American antifreeze company offered a silicate free antifreeze.

If you just drain and refill the radiator yearly, with a 50/50 mix of Toyota Long Life Coolant and distilled water, no flushing is ever needed, because the cooling system will stay clean for decades.