TomWoodLexus

I'll try that today, because my stupid tranny stopped shifting again. I think my computer is bad as well....

Yeah, I have actually mastered the pin removal on that connector, but not before I chunked alot of the plastic! I am actually on Jameco right now, but they have too much stuff! Hard to find what I need.

Okay, My transmission now shifts. I found that the connector from my ECU had 50 ohms of resistance from the pin on one side, to one inch down the wire coming from the connector, so the pins were bad! I still need to test all the other wires, but today I tried to figure out how to get these pins out. I really screwed up the connector. It still works fine though, but I want a new connector. The question is..... where on the internet can I find one? I will check out a price at my dealership tommorow, but it very may well have to come as a pigtail or harness assembly, and that means major money, even at employee pricing!

oh yeah, I don't mean that in a negative way towards you, just keep these things in mind. It does sound like a bad alignment from the fact that your steering wheel is not centered. Also, worn parts will make that happen, but that is why a pre-alignment inspection is done.

Was the steering wheel straight before the alignment? I see this sometimes in the shop. I do an alignment, the specs are nearly perfect, and someone comes back in a month with a pull, thinking that alignment is the only thing that could have done this! But alignment happens to be the least likely candidate for a pull. I have found these things that have been responsible for a pull in the past: Tire pressures tire sizes, tire tread depth unusual tire wear tire pull- it's how the cords in the tire make the vehicle pull roads (yes, road crown can screw with you!) alignment seized brakes

make sure to get original parts (toyota brand) for the belt, pump, ans plugs to avoid the chance.

Just read a fe posts on the earlier deal you had a LINK FOR. BTW! The tech won't lose any money himself, but the shop did. If he is a good tech with very few mistakes, he may get away with nothing said, if prone to accidents, he will get a firm talk about it! I once scratched a plastic plate (under the shifter on an RX with the letters for the gears) Cost the dealer like... $130 so it wasn't too bad, and my only screw-up (so-far) (knock on wood) and the Manager said he would take care of it! We ordered a new part, and he never said anything like "try to be more careful" mostly because there isn't a tech in the shop that tries to screw stuff up! Stuff happens, and all we can do is make it right! Sounds like a cheap bill after getting a new engine!

9 time out of 10 it is unbalanced wheels. The noise is most likely a strut. Make sure to replace mounts and bearing as well! They are seperate parts and can leave noises.

Cold feet? All car makes have their problems, there will never be a perfect car. All we can do is keep trying to make them better, it is the pursuit of perfection-- not perfection itself, there is no such thing as perfection. The closest thing to perfection is the LS. Fewest number of problems per 100 cars, and number 1 in reliability, let alone Lexus is number 1 in reliability.

I am guessing you mean A/F sensor. It iscalled that because it mean Air/Fuel sensor and can most certainly cause this problem. Most likey needs sensor replacement. Most likely tou have coated them in a bunch of crap with the over-use of the injector cleaner. I have yet to see a wiring problem with an O2 sensor, but I have only been in the field for so long. There is a bunch of other crap I was going to add, but you are a technician and you know the ins and outs and tricks to the repair process. good luck! Hope it works good after the replacement.

wheel runout, bent rim, unbalanced tires. Most likely unbalanced tires.

When doing a service (on a lift mind you) I unscrew a few screws for the underside body plates and pull the filter. I don't care what spills because at the end of every filter change I spray everything down with brake cleaner and wipe it all down. Gets everything cleaner than before the change! Other technicians prefer the power washer, but brake clean does a better job. If it is the environment-friendly cartridge filter, oil get EVERYWHERE!!! But brake clean it. What sucks is the older styles where the filter is right ontop of the front motor count, you have to use the power washer for that, and the IS250's from a few years back... worst filter position EVER!!!

I hope, very much in fact, that you are joking! If not, then I don't know what to say!

How much for what? A cleaning is one hour, which at my dealership is $100. VERY good sevice and well worth the money.

Yeah, insurance companies will have it fixed as long as it is cheaper to do so than replacing the vehicle to whatever value they find for it. Note this: insurance companies do some weird stuff at the end of a month due to certain quota's, they will total out cars when it is cheaper to fix! Yes, it is weird, but they have their reasons!

Exactly. This is why I find sequential shift to be pretty much useless, because even in manual mode the transmission is still an automatic with planetary gears and not with the gearing assembly of a real manual. But the thing is you can do a few more "sporty moves" with it. I don't care for sequential shift, but that is an opinion.

Hopefully the tech was able to get paid for diagnosis. What they did was hooked up a scan tool to the car, and commanded the module to unlock or lock the door, if they did not hear the relay, they check for voltage coming out of the module, no voltage= bad module. If the relay did click, than they know that the latch assembly was bad.

Any time the system looses power, you must naturalize the windows and sun roof. This is done by outting the windows all the way up and all the way down one time, at the switch at wach window. It lets the modules know where the open and close positions are. For the sun-roof, hold the close button in. The glass will tilt up, then go all the way back, and will close... all of this by holding the close button the whole time. Then the auto-window features will work, and you can use the master switch to operate them again.

Different models have different positions for the switches. I can't remember the position of the switch for the GS exactly, I usually find most of them under the dash on the drivers or paddengers side. 2 positions, either in or out. Why is this button there? Some people have a spare set of wheels they keep at the dealership to have switched out in winter. When the wheels are switched, the different sensors with different ID codes won't be picked up by the computer until the button is pressed to switch between the 2 sets of wheels. The sensors are the valve stems. If it is a metal stem, it is a sensor. The sensors have ID codes that are registered with the module for the sensors (yes a whole module dedicated to tire pressures) They detect pressure and temperature. There are certain pressure thresholds that switch the tire lights on. If not correctly set at the dealer, they will go off if the tires are only a few lb's different from each other. When set correctly, they will go off at 28 PSI. Here is how to tell if it is a sensor: 1.) First check and set pressures of the tires. I usually reset the thresholds at this point. To set them, locate a tire button (not the tire set switch button) that is under the drivers side dash. Hold it with the ignition on. The tire light will flash three times. Thresholds are now set. 2.) check the main/ 2nd switch, main is the outermost protrusion of the switch. 3.) If the light is still on, you may have a bad sensor. ALWAYS take to a dealership, you get free soda and snacks, free wi-fi, exceptional service with exceptional service consultants (those people are so nice and friendly, the guys and gals at my dealership are some of the nicest people I have ever met. They will put themselves in your shoes everytime you come in because they understand what it is like to have a problem with a car.) and you get a free car wash anytime it comes into the service shop. It is basic procedure at Tom Wood Lexus, your vehicle is ran through a wash, pulled into clean up where it is hand dried, interior vacuumed, and interior side glass cleaned. At Tom Wood you also get things like touching up a small scratch or chip in the paint at no charge. If you have the time, bring in a tire light situation to your dealer ANY time it comes on, we get paid from warranty (0.3 hours, really we spend more time on it than thay, warrenty time is always too short) and you get all the benifits stated above. Can't really say on the loaner deal, over-night's are for approved repairs, but I know that when people go in for small things and we can't get it done for a few hours, you can get a loaner for that time. You would have to ask the consultants, I am not too knowledgable on loaners.

Yeah, those screws are pretty seized up, I've one so mayn that I know now to put all my body weight into them to unscrew them. It is good that you cleaned that out anyways! It is a great service to have done. Keeping the build-up to a minimum is always good. Another good service would be to clean your MAF sensor. Just get a spray from a local auto parts store. There is such thing as a mass airflow cleaner out there. Sometimes people have cars than run a little rough at times, or hesitate from a stop. A good way to test this is to put the car in park, quickly depress the gas pedal and let off, it should go up in RPM's almost instantly, if it hesitates than that is a dead give-away of a dirty MAF sensor.

I don't know how long ago you had any of your maintenace done, but there are things like: Electrical system check(includes battery check, alternator output check, starter draw check) fluid exchanges such !Removed! coolant, trans fluid, power steering fluid (if it is old) and brake flush!

Shoot. I am an idiot. I guess I never read how many RPM's you said it was! 1500 is perfectly normal. It is like that by design, colder engines need higher RPM's. Not only to be able to run itself and not stall, but to warm the engine quicker so that the cat heats up so that emmisions can be FiReD sooner by the cat.

120K and needs tranny work. A 1994 ES300 came in the shop 2 weeks ago, it had 550K miles on it and came in with a coolant leak. Everything under the car was soaked, everything under the hood was soaked. I could not pinpoint the leak because EVERYTHING gave way. The head gaskets, the water pump seals (both the pump and the bearing, close to smoking the bearings) and when I drained the oil, it was half & half. I could only do one thing... upsold a new LS 460. Mostly the saleman who did the upsell though.

I do not have my advanced engine diagnosis smarts yet. Here is an exerpt and link to a website that can help. Failed both CO and HC! If the HC is very high and the CO is close, you probably have an ignition/compression related problem. If the CO is very high and the HC is close, than you may only have a timing/mixture problem. Use the above procedures accordingly and you should be able to resolve your emissions failure blues. Next time, we will talk about all that infamous junk they put on our cars to control the emissions. I will explain the purpose of these devices that you can better troubleshoot your cars and also to help you decide which equipment is worth maintaining or discarding when searching for more performance. One thing to keep in mind is that much of this equipment is put on our cars because we don't maintain them http://www.type2.com/library/exhaust/comix.htm

Okay. Where is the knuckle? I always disconnect by lower ball joint & tie rod end and move the knuckle out of the way when doind CV axle work. That also makes it so you don't have to get an alignment. It doesn't look too low, the axle will hang lower as well as all the compnents when the vehicle is jacked up. BTW, what is making the axle stick straight out? It should hang low as well. It looks like the inner joint is stuck or something.