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66zoomie

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Everything posted by 66zoomie

  1. Toysrme - I appreciate the info; the chassis matrix confirms the information I pulled off the door sticker, i.e. the car was produced in June 94. [MCV10 chassis, 65823; June production goes up to 69xxx beginning in July 94] How did you know that the end of the production run had sealed struts? I'm not questioning your statement: I just want to know how you arrived at it!! If sealed struts with new bearing mounts are interchangeable with the serviceable strut housings and new cartridges, I agree with you that it's best to go with new sealed struts to get the most new parts replacing used.
  2. I have a 94 ES300 and I want to replace the struts and mounts/bearings all around. I've talked with the KYB folks as well as Lexus technicians in an effort to find out whether my vehicle has "serviceable" struts - replaceable cartridges - or sealed struts - the whole strut must be replaced as one unit. The answer: "both types of struts were used on the 94-96 ES300s." The concensus answer seems to be that the only definite way to tell is to remove the struts from the vehicle! That makes it a tad difficult to order the replacements and have them on hand; otherwise the down time could extend to multiple weeks. The VIN number is: JT8GK13T4R00658xx, mfg 06/94, and it was not a Special or Limited Edition. Does anyone have a contact number at Toyota/Lexus that I could query to see if production records can reveal whether the struts on my vehicle are sealed or serviceable? [i did a search for "strut replacement" and went thru every post on 14 pages, but this question was never raised or discussed.]
  3. Camlex - You've confirmed my suspicion, namely that the clear vinyl tube (the one paired with the black rubber hose which connects to the bottom of the power antenna) is the drain tube for the right-rear corner of the sunroof. Now, for the $64 question: how can that drain be opened/cleared (assuming it's blocked) or checked to make sure it's open? I couldn't see any way to either get a wire into that corner or get an air hose into the drain to blow it open without completely disassembling the sunroof and removing it from the vehicle...and I'm not willing to go thru all that given that here in SoCal it normally doesn't rain enough to be concerned. If anyone has any ideas on how to clear the rear drains or get access to the rear drains without complete removal of the roof, I'd sure appreciate hearing from them.
  4. I'm afraid you misread my original post: the leak is NOT in the spare tire compartment, it's in the compartment at the (passenger) side of the trunk where the jack is stored. The compartment where the spare tire is stored is dry as a bone, and the car has not been in an accident. I also considered the seal under the power antenna "retaining nut (bezel)"on top of the rear fender. I tightened it - it was slightly loose - but the leak remains after the gasket/seal was tightened. A leak around the antenna mast hole on the pax side rear fender would go directly into the jack compartment, but after tightening the assembly and still finding 3"-4" of water below the jack, I don't think the culprit is the antenna assembly and its gasket/seal. The only other plausible source of the leak seems, by concensus of this forum, to be a plugged rear moonroof drain, but I can't figure out how to get access to the rear drains.
  5. I have a '94 ES300 with ~138K miles. During the recent heavy rains in SoCal I heard liquid sloshing around inside the trunk and discovered 3"-4" of water in the compartment where the jack is stored (along the rear fender on the pax side). I initially thought there was a plugged drain but this compartment doesn't have a drain cap. The weatherstripping around the trunk lid doesn't have any gaps or broken spots and there's no indication that water has leaked under the trunk seal (still dusty all around). I next looked at the drain line on the bottom of the power antenna, but it's connected and routed thru the sheet metal where it's supposed to be. I thought maybe with all the standing water I'd driven thru that water might have been forced back into the compartment around the gasket/seal for the radio antenna drain and the clear plastic hose next to it, but the second time I found water in the compartment the car had not been driven - it had been parked in the driveway when it rained. FWIW, there was no water in the spare tire compartment nor any moisture inside the driver & passenger area - only in the jack compartment at the side of the trunk. Yesterday I searched the FAQ section here and read the leak-related posts. On the basis of what I learned, I tried to check the four corner drain lines of the sun/moonroof. I sprayed WD-40 into the two front corner drain holes and I got a good stream of WD-40 out of the two front wheel wells, so those drains were clear. That's as far as I got: anyone have any ideas on how to access the two drain holes at the rear of the moonroof??!! I have the factory shop manual and the only mention of the drain holes is literally an aside comment and the fact that four drains are shown in a diagram of the power roof assembly when it's removed from the vehicle!! Help! Short of removing the roof assembly, I don't see how to locate/access the rear drain holes, let alone spray WD-40 down them. I live in the Mojave Desert so the rains we've had this year are decidely abnormal; a) given that I live in the desert it's really not likely the rear drains are plugged, but even if they were, b) it's not worth my time and trouble to remove the roof assembly. Does anyone have an alternate [hopefully quick and/or simple!] method of clearing those two rear drain holes/lines? I also couldn't find out the purpose of the clear vinyl hose (~1/2", the one next to the black rubber drain hose for the power antenna). If it's an extension of the moonroof rear corner drain, could I blow compressed air back thru it...does anyone know the purpose of the clear vinyl hose in that compartment? If I can't get access to the rear drains on the roof, the next thing I will check is the seal around the passenger side tail light assembly. That was mentioned as a possible area for leaks in one of the posts I read yesterday, but after that I'm out of ideas. If anyone else has BTDT, please share your ideas (and solutions!!)
  6. I also have a '94 ES300 and I would be interested in the instrument cluster if the price isn't too bad. My speedometer needle has the infamoous "Lexus flicker" and seems about ready to head south. 66 Zoomie
  7. I have a '94 ES300 with the same symptoms: noticeably louder "growl" when turning right at 25-35mph than when turning left. Since my vehicle has 135K miles, a front wheel bearing going south is a definite possibility. Branshew had a thread of this subject with four replies back in April 2004 but there was no followup/ending: did you (Branshew) have one/both front wheel bearings replaced, and if so, was the work done by a shop or is the job relatively simple enough for most owners to do themselves? Since I may need to replace the bearings in my vehicle, I wanted to get a ballpark idea of what's involved and how $$ it is to replace these bearings. I've replaced several sets of front wheel bearings, but not on a front wheel drive vehicle. Any inputs from other Lexus owners who have "been there, done that" will be appreciated!
  8. FWIW, three (3) of these plastic assemblies have cracked on my 94 ES300, all at the same point: the forward ~2" of the assembly. Original and replacement assembly cracked on the driver side door, the original on the passenger door. The replacement assembly was something like $85-$90 about four years ago...which explains why my vehicle has two cracked assemblies that have NOT been replaced (again!)
  9. mburnickas - Synthetic oils were not readily available back in the '80-'82 timeframe when I owned the Saab, so I used what most Saab dealers suggested for the turbo: Castrol 20W50. I doubt that's what they would recommend now, but it was then. Not sure I agree with your conclusion about rate of cooling for the turbo on the Saab vs. the oil filter on the ES300. The turbo was inline in the exhaust but was physically about 12" from the engine and exhaust manifold, so the turbo cooled down fairly quickly. Unlike the oil filter on our ES300's, which is directly underneath the exhaust manifold and on the block - a far bigger heat sink than any turbo will ever be - and which cools down at a (relatively) glacial pace.
  10. I mentioned the possible correlation between the oil filter location directly underneath the exhaust manifold and oil gelling because I once owned a 1980 Saab Turbo. Saab emphasized the importance of letting the turbo "spin down" for 30-45 seconds before shutting the engine off, and although this was mainly a mechanical consideration, it was also a way to counter the tendency of oil to "coke" [i.e. to cook at high temp until it literally turned to carbon particles]. According to Saab, letting the turbo spin down allowed the unit to cool down somewhat and resulted in a thinner film of oil in the bearing races. If the turbo was not allowed to spin down, oil pooled in the bearing races (of the hotter unit) and the result was "coked" (or cooked!) oil, which was more abrasive the next time the turbo was fired up. Although the turbo was directly inline with the exhaust, it probably didn't experience much higher temperatures immediately after engine shutdown than the oil filter does in our Lexus engine bays, and the turbo probably cooled faster in the Saab than the oil filter in our Lexus.
  11. Has anyone talked with Toyota/Lexus to see if there's a correlation between this gelling problem and the location of the oil filter [directly underneath the exhaust manifold?!]
  12. I have a 94 ES300 with ~125k miles, purchased "new" as a dealer demo with 1400 miles. Since ~60,000 miles I get a very pronounced "low pri clicking sound," one click/second, which is not speed sensitive [same rate of clicking regardless of vehicle speed] but only when I have the cruise control engaged. Disengage the CC and the clicking noise stops; tune to the high end of AM and the noise is still in the background but much less noticeable. Most noticeable from 540 up to about 750, which is heart of the envelope for KFI 640 here in Southern California. I've called several Lexus dealers but none have encountered this problem, and I've also checked with local audio shops and none of them have heard of this problem either. Have any other 94 (or other years) ES300 owners encountered this problem? If so, what causes it, and more importantly, what corrects it?
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