monarch

No it would not be a good idea switch for two reasons: 1. At least three people on the forum have reported serious engine oil leaks (serious in the sense they'd cost over $1,000 to fix) after switching to Mobil 1. 2. Hundreds of members of the Toyota 400,000 mile club have used a wide variety of brands and types of oil. Most used conventional oil. So what practical benefit does Mobil 1 really offer? Especially compared to the risk of $1,000+ oil leak repair bills.

I'd use a slightly heavier oil - a 10W-30 or 10W-40 and a high mileage oil since these oils have a seal swelling additive. In tropical countries where there are no government fuel economy standards, Toyota approves of the use of these higher viscosities so they shouldn't hurt the engine and will help slow the leak.

Maybe the clutch master cylinder reservoir is low on fluid. If low, inspect the slave cylinder for signs of a possible leak. A new Toyota slave cylinder costs only around $50 from 1sttoyotaparts.com. If you order one, tell them you have a 199x Camry V6 (don't tell them the part is really for a ES300 V6)

Your "mechanic" sounds like he either incompetent or dishonest. The ECU is designed to last in the neighborhood of 30 years / 500,000+ miles (unless it's damaged by floodwaters or if an incompetent mechanic shorts it out) The ECU in my '92 Toyota pickup has lasted 469,000 miles and counting.

Tar remover products are just kerosene.

The 2003 on up RX's and ES's have a newly designed valve cover & PCV system that makes the engine more resistant to sludge build up.

The LS400 has the heavy duty 340 series automatic transmission that Toyota designed in the early 1980's for heavy, powerful vehicles such as Cressidas, Supras, Toyota V6 motorhomes and so forth. Heavy duty Japanese transmissions,like heavy duty American car transmissions (e.g the famous Turbo Hydra Matic 400, Chrysler 727, Ford C6?automatics) can better withstand severe operating conditions and maintenance neglect., plus the fluid may not deteriorate as fast, From 1973-1982 the bandless Toyota automatics in all model lines were highly durable partly because they used Type F fluid which provided firm shifts with minimal slippage. Witness Bicolini's 1981 Celica with over 438,000 miles on its Toyota A40D 4 speed automatic. Toyota front wheel drive automatics have been highly durable when fitted to lightweight Toyota cars. There are, for example, several front wheel drive 1984-1995 automatic Corollas in the auto wrecking yards around Sacramento with over 300,000 miles on their odometers.

In the 1970's Toyota didn't have a "normal" and "severe" transmission service schedule and simply specfied transmission fluid changes at 18,000 or 24,000 mile intervals for all driving conditions. Then later in the 80's and 90's Toyota specfied 15,000 mile transmission fluid changes for "severe" service only. This is where the owner confusion began, because owners wrongly assumed the fluid was good for the life of the transmission when in fact Toyota instructed owners to periodically inspect the fluid level AND CONDITION and change the fluid if inspection revealed it's CONDITION was deteriorating. In any case, modern transmissions slip more and wear more during shifting (to meet American car owners smooth shifting expectations) and thus actually potentially need more frequent fluid changes than transmssions of the past. Fluids have become more durable, but not enough to fully mitigate the effects of increased slippage. Thus, even 2006 RX owners could be making the same mistake all over again if they assume their fluid is a "lifetime" fluid. In some other countries Toyota isn't faced with owners that have the attitude "15k tranny fluid changes in a modern auto is laughable" and the owners manuals of Toyotas sold in those countries specify periodic fluid changes for all driving conditions. Basically, Toyota and the other Japanese car makers are faced with a cultural delimma in the USA. American car owners expect a modern transmission to be both maintenance free and durable at the same time, yet fuel economy considerations require the transmissions to be lightweight, light duty designs that potentially need more frequent fluid changes. Savvy Japanese car owners understand and accept this situation and periodically change all the fluids and lubes in their cars regardless of what the owners manual says. Savvy Japanese car owners also understand the maintenance frequency intervals listed in the manual are merely minimum frequency intervals required to keep the powertrain warranty in effect, but aren't optimal if the owner expects the powertrain components to last well beyond 6 years or 70,000 miles. Toyota and the other Japanese car makers know that even the unsavvy owners who end up with powertrain component failures due to maintenance neglect are STILL usually going to end up buying another Japanese vehicle because the American car makers have and always will lag behind the Japanese when it comes to reliability and durability.

Check the fluid level in your PS reservoir. If the level drops over a period of days / weeks, then you know idle speed control valve for the p/s (toyota part# 17630-16040) needs to be replaced. These valves commonly fail after about 12-16 years.

When your ES was brand new the interior and exterior of the radiator was sparkling clean. The exterior of the AC condenser in front of the radiator was also clean. When these components are clean you can drive in Phoenix, Arizona with the AC on in 110 degree July heat and the car won't overheat. To effectively clean these components you need to remove the radiator and wash the accumulated bugs and dust away from the exterior metal fins with some detergent and a garden hose. Wash the AC condenser in the same way, but don't remove it from the car. Look inside the radiator through the radiator cap opening. The interior core tubes of the radiator should be clean and free of white mineral deposits like this http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/rad89.jpg If the core tubes are partially clogged with deposits the most effective solution is to buy a new radiator. Made in Japan replacement brands like Koyo are sometimes available on ebay for around $125.00

I'm 52 and this is why I have used OEM EVERYTHING since I was in my late 30's http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/add.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y189/mastertech/89.jpg I admit that when I was a 16-35 year old I'd cruise the asiles of auto parts stores and wonder what all those cool sounding filters and additives would do for my cars, not realizing OEM parts could take my Toyota up to 600,000 miles. And not realizing that the reason there are hundreds of thousands of Toyotas littering the nations auto wrecking yards is due to owner use of aftermarket store parts, filters and fluids.

It's a trick. "Nippon" is a trick name some aftermarket company is using to fool the unsuspecting public the filters are Nippondenso filters. They're not. Many, many aftermarket companies are recklessly using "OEM" in their ads to fool the public. If you want genuine Toyota filters you must purchase them from a Toyota dealer. They're inexpensive at some online dealerships like Bob Bridge Toyota: 1sttoyotaparts.com

Doomed to run hot under some driving circumstances. But the owner can at least partially mitigate the potential consequences by changing the fluid more frequently and checking the transmission filter screen for blockages every 2nd or 3rd fluid change. By contrast, planned obsolesence is engineered into most American car automatics built since the late 1970's (via inferior quality internal seals, inferior clutch friction material, inferior gear metalurgy, etc.) and no amount of fluid or filter changing will enable them to last 300,000+ miles like all Toyota automatics can.

Many Toyota 4WD/AWD vehicles have had ATF overtemp detection lights on the instrument panel since the late 1980's.

ko90ls, I'd love it if you could post just a few pictures of how you loosened the steering rack solenoid. Ideally, an action type picture showing where you placed the loosening too and where and how you used the tool to loosen the solenoid. Thanks in advanced if you get a chance to do this.

My belief, based on 33 years of Toyota specific automatic transmission experience, is that failures would be zero if owners drained and refilled the 4.9 quarts of fluid in the transmission oil pan and differential every 15,000 miles AND removed the transmission oil pan every 2nd or 3rd pan drain to check the filter screen for signs of clogging. In other words, I believe an RX AWD transmission that is always properly lubricated with fresh fluid AND never suffers from lubrication starvation due to a blocked filter screen will survive 300,000+ miles because wear of the internally lubricated transmission parts will be minimized. I believe the internally lubricated transmission parts of the AWD transmission are the same design and quality as the FWD transmission and therefore have the same durability potential IF, and that's a BIG IF, kept lubricated with fresh fluid. More frequent fluid changes appear to be necessary on the AWD model because the fluid temperature appears to run hotter in some driving situations such as (apparently) when stuck in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic. Historically, Toyota's AWD models (which date back to the late 1980's Camry and Corolla models) have needed more frequent transmission lube changes in order to = the durability of the FWD and RWD models.

Sayonara to your car's resale value if you install an electric fan in place of the fan clutch.

Toyota doesn't import brand new long block engines from Japan. So the dealer can't give you a new long block engine. All the dealer can do is install a low mileage used engine or an engine rebuilt by an American rebuilder. Since American rebuilders don't use genuine Toyota parts, gaskets and rebuilding techniques, they aren't as good as the factory original engines. So the low mileage used engine is your best bet - just be sure the compression is like new (up in the 180-200 PSI range on all cylinders)

Maybe at 106K miles the independent shop installed American car transmission fluid instead of Toyota Type T-IV fluid.

If the system already has 50% Toyota red Long Life Antifreeze and 50% distilled water then there is no need to remove the engine block drain plugs or to flush the system. Instead, all you need to do is drain and refill the radiator every year or two with the 50/50 mix. A partial coolant change like this will keep the cooling system clean and troublefree for decades because the 50/50 mix is 100% effective at preventing corrosion and deposits.

No one has reported a RX transmission failing before the 30,000 mile mark - when the fluid was still in good condition. Therefore to keep the fluid in good condition at all times it makes sense to drain and refill the 4.9 quarts in the fluid pan and differential every 15,000 miles.

Changing the post cat sensor won't help your gas mileage. Only the pre cat sensors are important for mileage. My guess is you've got a serious fuel system fault that's causing way too much fuel to enter the combustion chamber or a serious ignition system fault that's causing an ignition miss on one or more cylinders. Pull the plugs to help gain some clues.

If the motor has decent power and runs and idles smoothly without missing and the motor is GOOD !!!! Lots of blue smoke at start up is a classic symptom of a bad power steering air control (idle up) valve. A bad valve causes power steering fluid to be sucked into the combustion chamber. On the LS400 the Toyota part number for this valve is 17630-16040 and it costs only about $68 at 1sttoyotaparts.com. I'm not sure if the SC400 uses the same part number. Another sign the valve is bad is that the fluid level in the power steering reservoir drops over a period of days.

ko90ls, are you saying you removed the return hose then just jacked up the front end of the car and then WITHOUT starting the engine you turned the wheel lock to lock 20-30 rotations and it emptied the PS fluid reservoir?