steviej

I will move it Thursday night. That will give you a full 24 hours in the ES forum. Sound fair? steviej

just draining the radiator does not drain the coolant that is left in the engine block. Either hook up a flush kit or have it machine flushed to get the best job done. Any idea what the original color of the coolant was. If the original coolant was red then don't use Prestone green. Go get the Toyota Long Life (red) or new super long life (pink). Again, this topic has been covered, asked, recovered and reasked again. Please remeber the search function next time. steviej

sounds like you got air in the coolant system. There is a special procedure that must be followed when refilling with the new coolant. If not followed you get air bubbles in the system that can cause hot spots. The air must be bleed from the system and the coolant must be topped off when the air is removed. steviej

I was under the impression that K&N actually made the filters for TRD. steviej

the wipers have two positions, exposed and retracted. It's in the manual. Somehow they may have been moved into the exposed position. You physically move them between the two poitions with your hand. The exposed is designed for winter use, to aid in snow removal. The retracted postiton puts the blades just under the edge of the hood. steviej

take somthing stiff but somewhat flexible.....a heavy guage plastic wire tie comes to mind. Put a piece of masking tape over around or over the end. Try to stick the card and at least bring it up to the point where you can get it with tweers, needle nose plyers or even better....a pair of hemostats (know anyone that works in a hospital?). Good luck. steviej

if you leave the vehicle for long periods of time, invest in a "trickle" battery charger. you hook this up tho the battery (very very simple) when you leave it. Many motorcycle owners do this over the winter when the bike is in storage. The other alternative is to start the car at least once per week and let it run for 10-20 minutes or take it out for a spin. This will help more that just the battery. steviej

my feeling is if you take good care of your car and you perfom(ed) all necessary maint. items in a reasonable time, then an extended warranty will not pay for itself by the time the car reaches 100,000 miles. an once of prevention is worth more than the cost of the extended warranty. steviej

did you buy the car used? If not, then maybe the dipstick was printed after the manual. if you bought the car used, any chance or indication the tranny was replaced. in any event, a simple drain and flush only removes a fraction of the total fluid volume in the tranny, diff and torque converter. if the tranny seems ok, then continue. If you are feeling uneasy the you might consider doubling up your flushes...maybe two or three more in a short time (every 1000 miles) with T-IV. Drastically bring down the D-III concentration. In all honesty, it shouldn't hurt. The ultimate fix would be to bite the bullet and go for the total tranny flush with T-IV. at 50-60k miles and since you have done several drain and fills already, there would be no expected damage from a total flush, especially if the initial fluid drained was still a cherry red. steviej

the revision what not much better either. The hesitiation is still present.

aggressively sexy........I like the sound of that. Thank you! steviej

me personally?.......i'm totally warped. just kidding. My car runs straight as the line down the middle of the road with the 18s and with the stock 16s. Both sets of tires are balanced and are wearing evenly. So I would have to say my Lex is balanced and aligned. steviej

If you have red in there now then stick with the red and change/flush every 2 years or 30k miles. Since the pink stuff is so new, I personally would let the pink stuff establish it's reliability in others people's car for now. Let is get out in the public and see what stories develop, good or bad. steviej

mikey, I assume it no longer drifts to the left as well? steviej

I hear ya, but there are so many more mods that can be done to a GS than can be done to an ES. I've got mod-itis right now. steviej

maybe the 2004 does not indicate a year. maybe it is a code or part number. call the toyota parts manager (not the desk jockey) and ask them. steviej

ebay, varies and yes. you might look into the pinned thread about Angel eyes and clearing corners. This will tell you how to get them out and open. You might try cleaning them up inside and out yourself before dropping some good money. Many people have done this with incredible success and results. steviej

safe? totally relevant term. How safe a driver are you? How safe are the drivers in your area? The 2002 has dual front airbags, side airbags, curtain airbags for starters in safety features. TRAC control, ABS and Vehicle Skid Control.....not too shabby. Newsweek was doing a write up about a year or two ago on the 2003 ES. While stopped, they got smacked in the back by a car doing about 30 mph. The pictures were not pretty, HOWEVER, the rear crumple zone totally isolated the damage to the rear area and the cabin was not effected. I was impressed. so far, I couldn't be happier. Ok, a GS would make me happier, but that's out of my price bracket right now. steviej

here is one. steviej

1. Try some online Lexus parts dealers. 2. Check with a Toyota dealer. I think the wheel used on the Platinum Edition is also used on the 02-04 Avalon XLE. It may be cheaper at Toyota. Of course, you would just have to swap out the center cap from your bent rim. Get a part number, then check with online Toyota parts dealers. 3. You can also look into having the bent rim straightened. Cost alot less than a new rim. 4. If the bend it not to severe, go to a knowledgable tire shop that has the Hunter RoadForce balancing machine. They should be able to rotate the rubber on the rim to match the high spots with the low spots in addition to balancing the set so that it runs as smooth as possible. I had to go this route with my 18s and it has been smooth as silk since. Cost was $30/wheel and took about 2 hours to do all four. The tech was very experienced in this technique. steviej

That free TSB is nonreversible and did absolutely nothing to fix the hesitation problem that has been so widely talked about!!!!! The only thing the TSB did was remove the joggle that happens when cruising at 40mph and the tranny can't decide to stay in 4th or chug it out in 5th. steviej.

Unlisted is right. the 02 ain't got it. steviej

I've got 18x8's with a 235 tire. There is no rubbing at all, even on bumps when no one is in the backseat. Add at least one adult and it rubs when I hit the long gradual bumps (not pothole bumps). I suspect a 225 would rub less. There were no modifications of my fenders or wells. My tire guy said he could go 20's but I would be a fool due to NE winters. Anything greater than an 18 will severly limit your sidewall width if you want to stay within plus sizing. If not, you will sacrifice speedometer accuracy. steviej

you need to be driving the car when the service tech goes for the ride. What you say is a "hesitation" may be viewed as nothing by them. Don't just let them take the car out without you. You need to be there to say...there there, that's it! Kill two birds with one stone, have them hook up their scan equipment for the ride so that if it happens you can get fuel, spark, and other electronic data. steviej I haven't noticed anything like that, but then again I would have to ride with you when it happens so I would know exactly what you deem a "stall".

Enjoy the ride and this site!!! ;) steviej