monarch

9500 kilometers = about 5,865 miles

There may be 100 or more Toyotas in your local big city junkyard. Would a magnetic oil pan drain plug have saved any of them from that fate? Nope. All those wrecking yard cars got there due to neglected or delayed or improperly performed routine preventive maintenance , abusive driving or traffic accidents.

You previously posted a thread on this topic http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=29110&hl=rings We previously suggested to you that worn rings at 100,000 miles and 6 years is extremely unlikely and your mechanic has no business saying the rings are worn or broken unless her performed a cylinder compression and leak down test. Did you pay for these tests? We also already suggested that you have a mechanic remove one of the valve covers (cylincer head cover) to verify whether or not sludge is plainly visible and whether there are small amounts of sludge or massive amounts. Heavy sludge will result in heavy oil burning and blue smoke out of the tailpipe.

155 psi compression does not mean a Toyota engine has "blown up". These engines can still run good at 130-140 psi, they just lose some idle smoothness and power. The Toyota Red coolant does a fantastic job at preventing rust even in a 100% cast iron block and head engine like my 1974 Toyota 18RC engine. I put Toyota Red in this engine back in 1998 when I bought the vehile and I'm going to drain it out n a few days and will post pictures of what the 8 year old Toyota Red coolant and it's radiator looks like after 8 years in a 100% cast iron block and head engine.

dole2000 some of your intake valves could have loose clearances if the engine emits a tick-tick-tick type noise at idle. Your '90 4Runner engine, if it is a V6, tends to develope tight exhaust valve clearances on some cylinders over time, leading to burned valves. Valves with tight clearances are quiet so the V6 owner can be fooled into thinking nothing is wrong with their engines until valve burning causes a rough engine idle and reduced power output.

I think you should have a compression test done on the engine to see if the engine has low compression on some cylinders. If some cylinders are below 140 PSI then you can figure the engine has some serious wear due to the overheating in which case you might have to decide whether or not to get another car or a new engine. The car would have never had overheating or needed any "sealers" if the various owners(s) had used factory original parts and fluids to maintain the cooling system over the years. Examples: Only used a 50/50 mix of Toyota Long Life Antifreeze and distilled water at replacement time. Only used a genuine Toyota thermostat and thermostat gasket. Only used genuine Toyota radiator caps. Only used a genuine Toyota water pump. Only used genuine Toyota tune up parts and tune up specifications. Independent shops don't use genuine Toyota anything (unless they are Toyota or Lexus specialty shops).

There are a huge number of variables involved like the miles on the car, amount of preventive maintenance car has received over the years and whether or not the owner is a do-it-yourselfer.The budget for a savvy do it yourselfer is very low because such owners save big on both materials and labor. Examples: do-it-yourselfers can purchase their routine maintenance parts and filters from online discount Toyota dealerships, saving 40-50% compared to what a Lexus dealer would charge. And instead of falling for gimmicks like "power flushes" of the coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, fuel injection system, etc., the do-it-yourselfer can do partial fluid changes which are far less complicated and expensive. Likewise a do-it-yourselfer can change drive belts, brake pads, etc. inexpensively.There are some jobs, however, that are beyond the realm of most do-it-yourselfers such as changing the engine timing belt.

Yes, Mercedes is a female Spanish name. Wikipedia has this to day about Mercedes-Benz:"In recent years the brand's reputation once sterling reliability record has been called into question when it was recently ranked rather low in consumer surveys. In one J.D. Powers and associates reliability survey it was ranked below Jaguar Cars, a company historically associated with notorious unreliability, but which has, under Ford's guidance, become one of the most reliable companies in the world, with its XJ model coming in first place in the 2003 British car customer satisfaction survey (Top Gear). In stark contrast, the Mercedes-Benz ML had an abysmal showing."

I don't agree with that article. For example, it says that in the 1970's "Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla continued to gain share not only on the West Coast, but also in small Midwestern towns that traditionally bought American." But I spend 2 months of every year in small towns from Minnesota to Texas and to this very day Japanese cars are a relatively rare sight. In the Walmart parking lots, for example, I typically observe that only about 2 - 4% of the cars are Japanese. Another mistake the article makes is to suggest Toyota didn't introduce luxury cars to the USA until the Lexus division was created in 1989. The facts are Toyota intoduced the large and luxuriously appointed 6 cylinder Toyota Crown back in 1966, then had the Corona Mark II from 1972-1976, then the Cressida from 1977 - 1991. Take a look at the interior of a 1977 on up Cressida and then take a look at the interior of a 2006 ES330. You'll see the 1977 on up Cressida interior is richer and more luxurious looking and feeling. And the small displacement inline 6 cylinder engine of the 1977 Cressida and even the 1966 Crown was ultra smooth - smoother than the V6 in the 2006 ES330. Now it's true the Toyota luxury cars of the 60's and early 70's didn't sell well. The problem was they had high price tags - nearly $4,000 - and for that money a person could buy a much larger and much more powerful V8 American car like a Chevy Impala or Ford LTD.

The metal mesh filter screen is pretty tough and cleans up by spraying with brake cleaner. The screen only needs to be replaced if it has become accidentally torn due to rough handling. There are magnets in the bottom of the transmission oil pan too. Like the metal filter screen, the magnets do not wear out ...they merely need to be cleaned up using brake cleaner and some paper towels. I forgot to mention that if your filter screen is attached to the transmission using a gasket, you must buy a new filter gasket from a Toyota or Lexus dealer. I can't remember if the screen on the LS transmission has a gasket or not.

What other parts did you replace besides the coils? Where did you buy the coils and other parts? How did you determine the correct Toyota part number of the coils?

What exactly did the Lexus dealer say? What was the maximum amount of time and miles that ever elapsed between an oil change?

Available at your local Toyota dealer Part's Dept http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/tbclean.jpg

wwest wrote in January this year: "Well, first of all I didn't change out the factory "red" coolant in my 1992 LS400 until about two years ago, at about 90,000 miles. And I only did it then because while it was still pickish it was starting top look somewhat murky. Ph and freeze level were still within the proper range. I don't think my brother's 1992 LS400, now well over 100k, has had its coolant changed out even to this day." There are no chemicals in the factory original red coolant mixture (50% distilled or deionized water and 50% Toyota Long Life antifreeze) that can gel or form mineral deposits even if the coolant is not changed for 15 years.

If you found a '93 that never had a coolant change, you'd find the factory original coolant did NOT "turn corrosive & eats parts, while gelling in the coolant system". Auto parts coolants do that, but not the factory coolant. For proof, see wwest's post about what he found after changing the factory original coolant on his '92 LS400 only last year.

I got rid of my so called "state of the art" Goodyear Comfortred tires because they are so prone to vibrations and because they transmit every tiny road imperfection to the passenger compartment. I wouldn't be surprized if the"state of the art" TripleTreds have this problem too. Ironically, to get my bump smothering and vibration free luxury car ride back I bought low tech, low priced Uniroyal Radial A/S tires from Walmart !!

All newer Toyotas are designed to downshift automatically on hills when you hit the brakes. Even at freeway speeds.

High oil consumption due to worn piston rings is almost unheard of in a Toyota engine at only 100,000 miles But high oil consumption due to sludge formation is fairly common on V6 engines where the current or previos owner(s) extended oil changes beyond about 7500 miles. Even once. Have a mechanic remove one of the valve covers to determine if clumps of gelled oil are visible in the valvetrain.

Check http://www.lextreme.com/

I'd tend to go for the low mileage, older car, especially if it was senior owned. Time and time again I see senior owned, 15 year old Toyotas that are in excellent condition both cosmetically and mechanically. Seniors drive so gently their cars don't suffer much mechanical damage even if preventive maintenance is delayed / neglected.

Almost every gas station in California carries 91 octane.

Here's a real life "Quicky-Lube" shop story from a Toyota 5 speed manual tranny truck owner on another forum: On February 25th, I took my truck to a large national chain of lube/oil/filter shops (because of pending litigation I'll call it Quicky-Lube). On this particular saturday, the store was very crowded & hectic.....rather than wait in the crowded lobby I stood outside the bay and watched them work on my truck. The kid in the bay wasyoung, new, and overwhelmed...He couldn't find my oil filter and began removing the belly pan to look for it. I had to intervene twice; first to show him where my oil filter was and second to help him re-install my belly pan. I felt a bit bad for him....could tell he was nervous and doing his best but, still learning. The next day, I noticed 3rd gear having a new "whining" noise. Over the next two weeks and 300 miles, 3rd gear progressively whines more. I mount a thorough search for tranny oil leaks....nothin'. On March 25-26, I drove 400 miles on a trip with my son.....200 miles into trip...bad transmission noises happen and I experience difficulty shifting. Never-the-less, I limp my truck home in 4th gear doing 40-45 on the freeway...stopping every 30 miles to look for gear oil (I thought my tranny case housing had cracked or something catastrophic had happened). Upon arriving home, I crawl underneath and remove tranny fill plug. No detectable gear oil. I didn't pull the drain plug...but, pumped in about 3 quarts which didn't quite fill it. It is at this point I realize with horror that young man @ Quicky Lube probably drained my tranny. "Probably drained" becomes "Certainly drained" when I check my engine oil and it's 2.5 quarts over-full. I drain some engine oil out...bringing it within the normal range on dipstick. I go to Quicky Lube the next day & report my problem. ..they added a little more tranny oil and gave me a card for a free lube. The only problem is; my tranny, although a lot quieter, is still howling in 2nd, 3rd, and 5th....and it does not shift well from 1-2 & 2-3....other gears shift ok but, howl...loudly. I write Quicky Lube a letter describing the defective service and my experience in the store that day...I respectfully request theyassist me in repairing transmission. They tell me to go pound sand up my !Removed!.... I'll be installing a another tranny this weekend & likely drafting a small claims court summons and complaint for Quicky Lube soon after that.

I've driven two Toyota timing belt engines to 234,000 and 250,000 miles, respectively, without any problems from the seals, pulley and tensioner. I believe these parts are durable enough to need replacing only every SECOND timing belt change. The failures you occassionally read about on this forum are likely due to a leadfoot driving which puts a heavy mechanical strain on the timing belt and it's components.

I agree with yes250 that it's self defeating to file a claim for minor bumps or other minor issues regardless of who was at fault. The secret to obtain the lowest possible insurance rates is to not have ANY claims or accident history on your record for 5+ consecutive years or more. This can mean, in the case of minor collisions, working with the other party involved to pay for the damage out of pocket and thus avoid filing police accident reports and avoiding all contact with the insurance carriers altogether. I'd rather pay a body shop $400 out of pocket for a one time minor incident than risk soaring insurance rates and the associated risk of policy cancellation.

You still havn't told us the driving conditions under which the car overheats. Example: does it run hot when crusing at a steady highway speed or only when stopped or creeping along slowly in traffic.? What are the temperature gauge readings under the different driving conditions? What does the gauge do when you idle the car in the driveway for 30 minutes?