bricksb

I too need to replace my timing belt (155,000) and the crankshaft seal on my 98 gs300. A bit confused as to the direction of rotation. By the clockwise rotation of the engine do you mean looking at the engine towards the rear or the other way around.

No problem, Rush. Thanks, anyway. Turbo, Thanks, again! I'll let you know how it turns out today. :D I am on my way out the door now to go do it! ← Done Deal!!! :D It was a tight squeeze for that top bolt. but this guy had a nice long extension and 360 degree swivel (for the ratchet). I would not have been able to do it, if it wasn't for Turbo! Thanks, man!! :D Oh yeah... I did sand down the plunger, too! Thanks, Rush! This board is great! ← Hi guys, I surfed and found your discussion on the starter replacement. I'm contemplating of doing mine tomorrow (replace contacts and clean it) but noticed that you mentioned a 360 swivel and extension to get to the top bolt. Is that an extension swivel or a socket swivel? By the way, what size are the bolts? Thanks in advance for your help. ← Brick, I don't remember what sized bolts they were. Sorry. It was a socket swivel. It swivelled 360 degrees and then the socket attached to the end of that. Also, I went to Toyota and purchased the contacts for the Supra of the same year as my GS (1996). They fit perfect! Good luck! It really is not hard to do and I am not a great mechanic by any means. I just know how to "follow directions" well. :D ← Thanks anyways. For the sake of those who are contemplating of doing it, here's a quick rundown of what I did. The 2 starter bolts are 14mm. I bought the swivel socket @ Sears and the new contacts @ the Toyota dealer (less than $20) :) . First of all, I disconnected the battery (negative side) cable. Unplugged the electrical connector and unscrewed the nut holding the big cable to the starter. Using a long and a medium extensions with the 14mm swivel socket I unscrewed the two bolts. (Loosen the bottom bolt first then the top.) Recommend you clean the outside of the starter before opening the cover plate to the contacts. Remove the 4 small bolts holding the cover plate and remove the plunger w/ the spring. Replace the contacts ensuring proper order of washer, o-ring and cap. To uniformly clean the plunger, I removed the spring and hooked it up to my drill gun and spun it - using a fine grit sandpaper, I gently smoothed out the pits until I got a shinny copper shine to it. Reinstalled everything together and bolted the starter back on. Don't forget to connect the wire and the cable! Reconnected the battery and the starter works like a champ!

No problem, Rush. Thanks, anyway. Turbo, Thanks, again! I'll let you know how it turns out today. :D I am on my way out the door now to go do it! ← Done Deal!!! :D It was a tight squeeze for that top bolt. but this guy had a nice long extension and 360 degree swivel (for the ratchet). I would not have been able to do it, if it wasn't for Turbo! Thanks, man!! :D Oh yeah... I did sand down the plunger, too! Thanks, Rush! This board is great! ← Hi guys, I surfed and found your discussion on the starter replacement. I'm contemplating of doing mine tomorrow (replace contacts and clean it) but noticed that you mentioned a 360 swivel and extension to get to the top bolt. Is that an extension swivel or a socket swivel? By the way, what size are the bolts? Thanks in advance for your help.

I bet your brake lights are not working either. The brake fuse on the driver's side kick panel is the likely culprit. It disables your brake light system which your ABS system senses as defective brakes thereby giving you the "warning light". Your gear shift interlock is also powered by the same fuse. Finding the burnt fuse is the easy part. What caused it to pop is the other part. Did you do anything to the electrical system to make it pop?

Mine is already at 86,000 miles so I guess it's time for the tune up as well. Could you give me a rundown on what you had to do to get to all the plugs? Any advise on additional parts requirement (ie gaskets, seals, etc.) Thanks.

I have a 98 gs300 that the sensor has definitely gone bad. do you still remember who you bought yours from? Thanks.

I tried all of that but nothing seem to work. I even took out the padding on the trunk and discovered an extra two-prong connector thinking that was meant for the OEM spoiler but that did not work either. I suppose the computer is programmed to sense a change in the original amperage to make the warning lights come on. By the way, the clicking sound coming from your stick knob is a safety lock that keeps you from shifting unless you step on the brakes. Normally, the clicking is not very audible. For now, I have my spoiler disconnected until I figure what exactly what to do. Let's hope somebody out there knows something we don't...

Check your brake lights, a bulb might be burnt out.

:cries: I installed the spoiler I got from ebay and wired it as instructed. After a few weeks, the brake light fuse popped which in turn activated my SRS and ABS warning lights on. I replaced the fuse but a few days later popped again. I suspected that the spoiler overloaded the system so I upgraded the fuse from 15amps to 25amps to compensate for the extra load but the fuse popped again. I tried to disconnect the built-in third light to minimize the load but the back light indicator warning light came on (annoying!). Is there any way to effectively rig the spoiler, disable the third light and not get the annoying warning light?

PROBLEM FIXED!!! I went to an AutoZone store and Danny (the partsman) slapped the OBDII but did not find any error. So, I took the car in for repair. Only after a few minutes, the mechanic found the problem - a blown fuse! I couldn't believe it. As a self-made mechanic, that is one of the basic troubleshooting steps to check for. I suppose the indications and symptoms pointed to a more serious problem. Besides, the owner's manual says "see the dealer" for these specific warning lights - of course, why would they try to save us money right? Evidently, with the blown fuse, the whole brake light system was disabled (had I known that, I would have checked the fuse box) which in turn disabled the brake switch sensor that releases the shifting handle. So, for everyone's info here's a lesson learned (the hard way for me) that will save you several $$ ($35 to be exact) for a cheap 10 amp fuse.

Thank you both for your advise. I'll definitely try the free diagnostic first before I pay the "stealers" a visit. :whistles:

Out of the blue, with no prior skidding or any kind of accidental bump to the car, when car is started - the "VSC", "ABS" and "VSC OFF" warning lights stayed on and unable to move the shift lever unless the manual override is deppressed. Also, the VSC switch on the center console will not turn off the warning light. I suspect a faulty VSC/ABS sensor on one of the wheels just gave up. Is there any way this could be checked (and replaced) without taking it to the dealer? <_<