92-ES300Dave

Thanks for your help.... My son and I were able to replace the radiator in about 3 hours last night. We found that you were right, these hydraulic lines running to the fan should not be removed. We unbolted the fan housing from the back of the radiator (after disconnectins the coolant hoses and AT fluid hoses) and removed the radiator only (without the fan). This took a little but of manipulation to clear some of the fittings, but we got it out. It turned out that the fittings/connections on the front of the radiator, were really connections to the front of the radiator cover. Almost looks like 'fake radiator fins' are put on the front of the radiator itself. My only guess is that these are to help control the airflow and keep the real radiator from being damaged. Never saw anything like this before! :o When we puilled the actual radiator, this fin assembly stayed in place with these other connections. My guess is that they are some sort of temperature connection? The only remaining problem that we have is that when we test drove the car, the Temp Guage keeps going up (close to the red) and down drastically. I though that iI had 'Bled' the system enough by running the engine with the radiator cap off and the heater on. I did this for a few minutes after the thermostat kicked open and I saw the coolant start to flow thru the radiator. Guess I didn't do it long enough? Will try re-bleeding the system tonight. Any other ideas? :( One other question.... we have an additional 'radiator cap' on top of where I would expect the thermostat to be (where the upper radiator hose connects to the engine block). What is this other cap for, and where is the thermostat in these cars. I removed this second cap and looked into what i thought was the thermostat housing and there isn't any thermostat here????? :o :o

Need to replace the radiator and have a new one being FEDEXed to the house. Looking at the car, it seems like the replacement will be fairly simple, but I have a few questions simce it's been quite a few years since I have replace a radiator. Looks like I need to disconnect the upper and lower radiator hoses. I also need to disconnect the transmission cooler hoses. 1. Can these AT hoses be disconnected by just removing the hose clamp or do I need to remove the entire bushing into the radiator housing? :o 2. Looks like there is some sort of cooling hose (possibly an oil cooling system) that goes to the fan housing (not the radiator). What is this??? and can I pull the radiator without messing with it (possibly pushing the fan back and pulling the radiator out by itself). How do iI disconnect it if I need to? 3. There is another connection to the front of the Radiator housing that goes to a small canister that sits to the drivers side. What is this and how do I disconnect without messing anything up.

Including the Owner's Manual info would be pretty hard (it has a lot of Pix and stuff). Are you sure that you are reading the actual Owners manual. This may sound dumb, but our car came with a manual that was called something like 'owners guide' and included a lot af reference information for servicing the car and warrany info, but wasn't actually what I am used to as a true Owners manual. I called lLexus thru their Web Site listing and was sent (free) a true owners manual that had all of the stuff about the radio, dash controls, how to adjust seats, use the power accessories, etc. This was the manual that had the radio information in it. If you still can't find it, let me know and I'll fax you the pages from mine. :P

:P :P :P Replying to my own posting for others that read it... I got lucky !!! I just asked Lexus for an owners manual (which didn't come with the car), and when I received it, it showed very clear instructions on how to set the radio code. I was lucky in that the previous owner(s) either never set these codes or they unset them before the car was sold!!! I now don't need the Lexus dealer to punch-in the code (saving me $). Note... if you ever sell your car, remember to un-set the radio code. This will keep the new owner from going thru the expense. of getting it unset thru their dealer.....

I am finding out more about Lexus ownership now that I am starting to fix-up this car. Recently bought a '92 ES 300. Plan the replace the dash lights.... When reading info in the 'Haynes repair manual' for the '92 Camry (since there is no similar manual for the ES300) it often warns that when doing interior/electronic work, to disconnect the battery negative cable. Just make sure that you first have the radio codes since it is an Anti-theft radio. I bought this car used from a dealer, and can't get this radio code !!!! :o :o :o Contacting my local Lexus dealer, they told me that they will enter this code for me for $97.00 each time. I don't need this expense, and aggravation !!! Is there any way around it or is there some place that I can get this code? Review of the forum doesn't indicate an answer.

Just purchased a '92 ES 300. This is my first experience with a Lexus and so far we have found it an extremely enjoyable experience. The car has a lot of miles but is extremely 'Tight' (engine/handling/suspension, etc). We do however have a few questions: 1. None of the needles in the speedometer cluster (speedo, tach, gas, temp)light up. All we have are black needles on a black background that we can't see. When I called my local lLexus dealer, they said that it sounded like the cluster needed to be replaced and would cost $1500.00 ! This is way too expensive for my wallet. Since all of the needles don't light, I am hoping that it may be a bad fuse or loose wire. Where do i start looking? 2. Is there any place to get an ownewrs manual for the car? Never got one as part of the sale, and we need to know simple stuff like.. what is "ECT" next to the automatic shifter (it has a Power and Normal modes) 3. Is there any way to clean the inside of the headlight lens. One is dirty, the other is clean/clear. A quick look last night shows that these appear to be sealed units where I'll need to break the seal to get to the inside of the plastic/glass cover or replace the entire lighting assembly (probably again too expensive for me). Any help would be greatly appreciated......