intellivised

You'll have fun. I did Lansing, MI to Laramie, WY back before I had found this forum and knew anything at all about car repair. Leaving my Lexus Certified tech friend behind I had to learn in a hurry. I also did it with my car full of absolutely everything I owned and a pronounced 'wander' caused from a bad drivers side rear tire and it was still great. The only downside was the horrible mileage I was getting, but then again my new job was paying for it. Also: Feel lucky you are coming from the other way, you don't have to drive through Nebraska the long way.

Being in a family of auto workers it's along these lines that the CARS bill really concerns me. I think we might be in a situation where this is a sales bubble and interferes with supply chains in both new cars, used car parts, charity and used vehicle stocks. I think the bill has been successful in the aspect that yes it's moved money through the system and gotten people looking at cars again. It's environmental 'benefits' are... well... probably non-existent; esp. if you think about losing all the manufacturing equity that went into making the car in the first place. Everyone here is making valid points about whether or not the bill is right for them and ultimately it's up to the person involved to spend the money. To add to my 2 cents, I really wanted to capitalize on this deal. I really did. However I came to the conclusion that the best car for me is the one that isn't costing me monthly and I'd be better off squeezing the last little bit of equity out of my car esp. with the $ for work I've sunk into it. If CARS happened BEFORE my I spent $ on fixing my control arms and power pump, well then, yeah - the LS would have been gone. It got a pretty good bill of health after my last trip to Lexus, so I'm in fairly good shape. I could clear a car payment but I'm enjoying my life a lot more NOT doing so. I'll keep kicking my credit balances in the face, grab a new guitar amp I've had my eye on (my current rig for touring is the amp equivalent of a clunker) and get something next year. If my LS400 gives up the ghost before I'm ready I'll walk to work or get a Wyoming beater in the interim.

This is a major red flag buddy. How much is the interest rate on that plastic? Stick with your LS, you have no reason to purchase a new vehicle that will eventually be ruined in the snow and salt. Interest rate? What interest rate? Everything has been moved around with some balance transfer magic. I've given myself some leeway and can comfortably finish things in a few months. I used to not get it and was on the road too much to make an effort. Then I realized I was wasting a lot of cash and got with it in a hurry. And just so I can stump for my new home state: what salt? Wyoming doesn't salt. Sometimes they use gravel but generally it's too cold or too ineffective to use salt (3' of snow on a mountain pass isn't going to be handled by salt); once in a while they use the new fangled chemical slurry on the border roads. I used to work for the DOT so I'm pretty down. I'm from rust country and here is a world away, this place is great for car preservation as being at over 7000' helps slow down oxidation. This place is a dream for keeping cars in good shape if you can keep yourself from skating into a tree, buffalo or mountain. Your biggest worry is road rash from the truckers, and an invisible bra goes a long way to curing that.

Nope, I havent added any coolant... it stays like that and has been like that. Its very low when cold and full when hot. I did have a fan bracket bearing installed 3K ago and he added some coolant when some came out when he removed the water pump, but its still like that- it was full, but its still fluctuating. I have never seen any leaking. My low coolant light is ALWAYS on... faulty sensor and I am not paying $85 for a new one. lol. Temperature always stays below 1/2 way... never above. Same place my other LS400 temps stayed. I am guessing its just these cars have fluctuating coolant levels? $85? I was quoted $250 to remove the Parthenon of Doom logo from my dash.

Just for closure: I took a breaker bar and some free help from the local garage, but we got that stupid thing out. Insult to injury: I was sold the wrong kind of PCV valve.

Listening to all this back and forth on this forum and several other sites/blogs has been fascinating especially as I have an LS400 that could be sent off tomorrow. I have so many compelling reasons to ditch the thing: - My car is at about 150K. The water pump and the starter are ticking time bombs. - It's eligible for CARS. - There are a ton of little things wrong with the car that really aren't a big deal (seat leather tearing, A/C doesn't blow cold, window motors are starting to fade) and I'm actually enjoying fixing them but it's nickel and diming me. I'm also doing this during the *very* short summer here and getting a false impression. Ask me sometime about when I had to disassemble my Lexus's passenger side door when the mercury was sitting at -30 and my garage was at -10. However! I have just as many compelling reasons to keep the thing. - I live a mile! from work. I don't leave town that much in the fall and winter because often it's crazy to do so. Renting a car for a day or taking the bus to Denver International is way cheaper than sinking $20K+ into a new vehicle. Pitching in for gas when my friends head down to wherever is cheaper. In fact, I'd be willing to wager that most of my friends owe me favors anyway, so I could always cash in. I really am not put out much when my car is out of the count. Even on the worst of Wyoming winter days I can put on a parka and trudge it up to my job. 9 times out of 10 small town rules kick in and someone from my building picks me up anyway. - Even with lower car payments associated with an economy car you need to factor that anything you buy will rapidly decline in value, has a higher cost to insure, etc. vs. 'make once' repairs. And eventually... that new car will be an old car. When my starter goes it'll be fixed once and done. Same with the pump. My PS system is fixed. My upper control arms are brand new. I have poly bushings on it. Timing belt is done. All that money would be a wash if I scrapped it; according to what I've been told by Lexus mechanics, independent sites, etc. I'm only halfway through the usable life of my powerplant that is filled with forged and not cast parts. If the timing of CARS was different then maybe I'd feel different. Like if this happened the week before I ordered my control arms. I'd like to extract the value of the work I've already done BEFORE I get rid of the car. If I have to miss out on incentives, oh well. I've stopped the upgrade train, but I'm still taking care of it. - Right now the Lexus costs me nothing in monthly payments and insurance is super cheap. I'm currently dumping what was my 'new car' budget into paying off all the consumer debt I have from a few years of the college version of myself not really understanding credit cards. When it's my time to get a new car I'll have a way better credit score and be able to command a better deal (and afford a better car). Don't get me wrong; I really like the IDEA of a new car. You should see the stack of brochures I have, the magazines, the piles of business cards. When CARS was announced I went on a test driving binge and have gotten behind the wheel of: - 2 Mazda 3's (a base and Sport) ['09] - Honda Civic & Fit Sport - Hyundai Genesis Coupe (This car was great, it was my favorite) - Cobalt SS (Also really fun) - Impreza 2.5i (runner up) - another Impreza 2.5i - Impreza WRX (my top pick) - Legacy (forgot the trim, it was a high end model) - Ford Focus - Scion tC - Scion xB - Scion tC TRD 2.5 - Corolla XRS and I'm also counting driving the drummer of my band's brand new Cobalt 1LT all the way home from Denver after a gig. I turned down test driving a Caliber. But it all came down to the idea of taking on debt in an unsure economy when I could eliminate the bulk of my consumer debt in under 6 months unburdened with a car/insurance combo. The idea of being shouldered with credit cards AND a car payments if I became unemployed terrifies me. I will say: I had a close call Saturday. I caught myself heading towards the Subaru dealership. I actually live right kitty corner to another Subaru dealership. I can see the home of car I want from my porch! and have to drive by it on my way to Checker (not my store of choice but Napa closes EARLY). If I continue to live in the mountains, I want a Subaru. The Lexus is hard to deal with on mountain passes in adverse conditions, even with dedicated winter tires. Way better than my Ford Ranger but still not great. If I moved somewhere warm the Genesis really appeals to me. Keep talking about it, though. It's an unprecedented time in the world economy and a really bizarre stretch of time for America. I'm sitting this one the sidelines though. Just my $.02. I'm glad people actually have opinions on this bill and are making decisions either way and are talking about it.

I was going to do this on my 1992 LS400 and get an Impreza or even a WRX. I balked though. My 1992 has a rough drivers seat but I already took care of the upper control arms, p/s pump, timing belt. Mechanically I'm in great shape and am either upgrading or fixing one thing a month (with a focus on cold weather type things). I mean now that I'm out of the woods credit wise and can afford even the more higher end repairs with a month or two of smart saving have taught myself to do the little things so now I'm... holding on and learning. I mean: I only have 130K on mine. It just... seemed silly to me to get a loan for a new car when I live a mile from work. Even if the car is 17 years old. That's the thing, I have an ace in the hole: If the LS is misbehavin' I walk! I don't want to add 5 figures of debt when I have a paid for car that gets me around a small centralized town and costs me very little to insure. Admittedly it handles not so great on mountain passes in the winter... but that's one trip to the airport a year for the holidays on snow tires. I also don't like C4C. I just don't understand a lot of the tenets to the law or the cost/benefit of it. The environmental help angle seems to be bunk and a lot of cars that could be a boon to impoverished families are just... getting ruined. It seems more like a get people into the dealerships thing. We'll see how many people default OR go upside down on their new cars while the one they had lost all its manufacturing equity in a scrap yard somewhere. Nope. Keeping mine. When I can swing a Scooby with at least a 20% down payment and clear the loan in under 48 months, then I'll jump. I'm not going to jump the gun and get myself into debt when the supposed clunker I have now gets me around town just fine.

Under the light of day I think I can see what happened. The PCV I got at Auto Zone was the non-black kind and when it fell it fell into one of the two areas formed by the exhaust manifold (drivers side) that are... cups? Trays? The manifold has a metal bottom with holes on top that form a sort of tray. It was hard to tell in the dark last night. That's where my PCV landed, three point shot from downtown right smack in the tray. I'm guessing there were some impurities in whatever was used to make the valve as when it to touched the presumably still hot manifold it... well... melted. I can't wiggle it, I can't budge it, I can't do anything. It's flash bonded/melted onto the outside of the manifold... but... just barely. It's not deformed. But you can look and it seems to be melted (i.e. no visible line between edge of manifold and where this is). I'm officially 'not worried about it' since I went on a 100+ mile road trip today and the thing hasn't moved. I even got the business end of a small crowbar down there and it ain't moving. It has bonded with where it landed and there it shall stay. Unless someone out there has some genius science idea (dry ice? ha) to get it out it's officially going to 'stay there'. I have to schedule an oil change this week and have a good relationship with the Lexus techs at a place in Colorado so I'll just ask them what's up. I mean - doesn't seem to be in any danger of getting sucked up into anything or even getting loose.

Additional info: Through some really serious contortions on my part I was able to get my fingers in the hole and onto the PCV valve. I can't move it. It's either hardcore magnetized, stuck or melted. I can't even wiggle it! At least it's not going anywhere and the car *should* be safe to drive. I wish I could get to it with a camera but I can't. I'm going to do a lap around town just to make sure this thing it really stuck. Any input is greatly appreciated!

Photo is near impossible to get. There is no good angle and I have the worst phone ever for this (seriously, the take picture button is on the other side of the phone as the lens....) so no picture. I think this is actually BELOW the manifold. I'm trying to find a picture somewhere else. I gave it another go with the magnetic tool and still no dice.

I'll grab a photo now (all I have is a cellphone camera). Jacking up the car won't do any good, it's more of a reach from underneath, I think....

OK. So while replacing my PCV valve and grommet I encountered a bit of a snafu. I dropped to PCV valve I was putting in. Worst part of it was instead of hearing the reassuring plinko sound of it hitting a few things and then the cement floor I just heard a *clunk*. Thinking it landed on something I backed the car out of the garage and tried to... shake it loose. No dice. So I opened the hood and looked in, and wouldn't you know it, 1 in a million shot. Underneath the engine where the PCV valve is there is some sort of metal... pan? It has two holes in it and the PCV valve is sitting in one of those, all shiny and new looking right back up at me. Here's the problem... I can't, for the life of me, get it out. Get ready to laugh - here's what I've tried: I have one of those big telescoping magnet tools, good to 4lbs. After a lot of trying (it kept grabbing the engine block) I finally got it in. One of two things happened: - It either magnetized the piece TO the bottom of this area or - The tray is magnetized. So after that the attempts got a little more esoteric. - Grill (scissor) tongs - Cut up plastic hanger - Metal hanger - Salad tongs I can usually snake my way to the point where I can make contact with the valve but can't seem to move it. A quick two block trip has revealed it hasn't moved at all. Questions: Is there a magnet underneath of some sort? Is this part of the engine bay designed to catch things that are dropped? How do I get this out? It's a tight fit so my hand won't squeeze in, I can't get enough leverage to budge it with everything else as it seems, well... stuck. Even my magnet extractor won't work. OR Do I even need to worry? I'm getting an oil change in like a week up at our Toyota dealership. I'm assuming they might have something that can grab it?

I apologize for replying, I skipped straight to the end. Sorry!

exactamondo! ive seen many people put 93 or higher in thier car, which doesnt hurt it by no means! but it doesnt improve it otherwise.... ...now back to the cheap power topic before another "fuel grade" discussion erupts! you may also want to consider cleaning your throttle body also jaw5885 as jcrome and others have done, that has helped in regaining power as well. Or you could be like me, live on top of a mountain and have the lack of oxygen in the air let you get away with 91... (I'm at 7000')

I'll be proactive and print the answer to my own question so if anyone else does this they know: I used a spool of auto wire I got at checkers and the ring terminal and spade size were both 16-14; bought it at Ace. Fit perfect. I used some pliers to pull the out of their nylon jackets. The wire I think is 12 gauge. Got some heat shrink tubing, too. All in for about $15, $20 including the light. Considering the price difference between an H3C and H3 bulb is about that or even more I've come out ahead in this whole deal. Since I'm keeping the car for a while I'm going through and doing all these little fixes to all the stupid little problems that I've ignored. Next up... The gas cap gasket.

OK. So I'm finally fed up with these H3C lights. I got the tutorial for how to build the harnesses... I went to the auto parts store and hardware store and short of tearing open packages looking for a matching spade/ring connector I don't know what size of parts I need and can't seem to get the information anywhere. Refresher: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/lighting/h3conversion.html Anyone do this ever? I don't want to buy a whole stack of electrical parts I don't need. On a tangent: I decided tonight that after a lot of test drives (15!) and a few close calls that the Cash for Clunkers bill is not going to swallow my Lexus up. The best car is a paid for car. Even if it does something expensive to me (water pump...) I live a whopping mile from work and live in a walkable town. I'm having fun just keeping it up for the time being. Seafoaming it tomorrow!

Oh, man. What an adventure I've been on. The dealerships are getting sick of me. I finally came to my senses and decided: Whatever I buy has to have a dealer here in town. I also realized that... I live where it snows 8 months out of the year. Subaru? I'm looking at you. Anyone else thinking of giving up the Lexus?

It's down to the Scion tC or a VW Rabbit. I think it's time to let the old girl go!

I'm a firm believer in test driving everything to the point of driving the car dealers crazy. I haven't made it to Subaru or Honda yet. I'm firmly in the camp that I need to be treated well and the service department needs to be above average or better; I will no longer knowingly reward incompetence, institutional failure or general douchebaggery with my hard earned money. I don't feel bad about being hardnosed. I work for salespeople all ay, when I shop it's a nice opportunity to vent my frustrations a bit.

The bill is law! Obama signed it this morning.

I didn't know Colorado was so pricey. Wyoming is cheaper (everything is cheaper here, including gas and no income taxes) but I get bit in the butt every year since registration is based on the ORIGINAL cost of the vehicle.

I actually did check out a 3. The I had two big problems with the ones I was checking out: - The dealership was terrible. There are a million 1 and 2 star ratings on the interwebs that back me up on this! Worst. sales. staff. ever. They pretty much sent me running for the hills. I was auditioning dealerships as much as I was cars. I have had a lot of positive experiences with the Toyota dealership in town, both Scion dealerships I went to were great. - and with no Mazda dealership in town and no good answers from them about going to Ford for warranty work... Wyoming DOT does not use salt, and Colorado, from what I understand, just stopped. Laramie is pretty amazing for car preservation - no salt, cold and dry and at 7000' there isn't even much oxygen in the air to encourage oxidation. I only live a mile from work and when the roads are crap, I stay at home. I'm a firm believer in summer/winter tires anyway. I've been pretty successful keeping my LS on the road so far. Also as stupid as this sounds - I'm a touring a musician. I have a background in advertising and video, I see right through Scion's advertising and Toyota's three tiered approach. I also realize that a lot of the bands on the Scion compilations and playing those festivals they sponsor are getting good money and good exposure. I have a lot of friends whose careers got a real shot in the arm from being on those compilation tracks. I'm keeping an eye on the bill. Going about my day to day Lexus business like it doesn't exist; that's why I had the new bushings put in. It's also why I'm going to get new plugs and wires in August, why I set up an appointment to have my passenger door reassembled. Why I'm going to seafoam the crap out of my car next week to get those damn noisy lifters to shut up and get back to a proper Lexus volume. I might end up keeping her and turning it into the winter beater and saving up for a proper down payment. We'll see.

I just went on a test drive binge this weekend. I got behind the wheel of a lot of cars. I've gotten wheel time in 8 cars now. The great thing about living in the foothills of the rocky mountains? There are some GREAT roads for getting to know a car. Fort Collins is great - big city/lots of traffic driving, a major interstate AND mountain roads that wind their way up over the Front Range and Medicine Bows. Cash for clunkers is really really tempting. I love my Lexus but while I was waiting for my sway bar bushing upgrade to get done I walked over to the Toyota/Scion dealership and checked out a tC and had a really great test drive. I also had some great wheel time behind a VW Rabbit. The VW had some features that I really liked (big one is stability control, a lifesaver on a snowy night in the mountains!) that just aren't offered on the Scion, but the Scion had it beat in looks and upgrades department. Either way... might be time to send the old girl in.

WOW! I bet at those temperatures a car will make alot of strange noises wouldnt it? We have hardpan soil here, so there are a lot of really deep culverts at intersections. On a day like that the whole car makes a giant CREAAAAAAK going over them - it's pretty nerve wracking until you get used to it.

My car has *definitely* been effected by location. It was a Michigan car before it was a Wyoming car. All the crud that they put on the roads in winter on top the bombed out near gravel quality of urban Lansing and Detroit roads... it had an effect. And I'd willing to bet the severe temp. fluctuations are what did in the seals on my PS pump. And what will kill the new one. Every day I drive the mile or two into work and think... its time. I've started a down payment fund.