steviej

unless you hit a big racoon, but that is a story for another day. Struts far outlast shock absorbers of yesteryear. Depending on how you drive and where, the struts can last 200k+ miles. steviej

when was the last time you: had a major tune up? changed your air filter changed your PCV valve? changed your spark plugs and/or wires? cleaned your throttle body? checked your AF and O2 sensors, you could have a lazy one? Keep in mind too, that right now we are on winter forumlation for gasoline. Winter formulation will result in a slight mpg loss. steviej

The recommended replacement for timing belt is 90,000 miles for the 2002 ES. Many experts, including Click and Clack will also tell you to change out a timing belt at 5-6 years because they are rubber. Most rubber belts don't usually last much longer than 7 years. You will find many anecdotal stories about people that have not changed out timing belts and have not had a problem. These people are not the norm, they are the lucky. In addtition, it will not harm a pre-1999 ES to not change out the timing belt until it fails. The pre-1999 ES 1MZ-FE motors are non-interference and very mininal damage is done if any at all when the belts breaks. This is not the case on the 1999+ ES models. The 1MZ-FE engine became VVT-i in 1999 and thus became an interference engine. If the timing belt breaks or fails, there is a strong possibility that piston heads will crash into spark plugs and major damage will result. That is a chance I would rather not take. As a matter of fact, my 2002 ES goes in for timing belt and water pump on 3/15/2007. steviej

i ordered 2002 ES300 from lexus-parts. they send ES330 all weather mats. do they will it be suitable for 2002 ES300? they are actually the same mats.

It may be just a sensor going faulty. Take it in to the dealer since it is under warranty. The code will still be in memory, they can test the sensor itself. If it appears "lazy", they will replace it under warranty. It is not uncommon to have this sensor go. Toyo/Lexus had a rash of AF and O2 sensors around 02-04 that were not the best made. They seemed to go prematurely. I had that same sensor go at 39,000 miles. Bank 1 Sensor 1 is the hardest of all go get at, too. steviej

how many miles on the car? It may be covered under the 4year/50,000 mile warranty. If not, which AF/O2 sensor is it, did they tell you? Should be (Bank 1 or 2) and then (Sensor 1 or 2). Of the four (2 AF and 2 O2), three are easy to get at with a cool engine and the sensors can be had at any Toyota dealer for about $225 (little more at Lexus) or online for about the same. steviej

As for usage experience, I have none with Optima, but have read many threads of satisfied users. I have found Die Hards to be a very good choice as well. My OEM Panasonic battery hits 5 years old this month, so I guess I should start watching the sale ads. steviej

Lacebug, let's be serious. Have you thought out all your terms, is it a gift, a loan, a donation? What if not enough money is donated to buy a replacement or repair will you require your money back? As for what do I think, I think fools and their money are soon parted. Are you going to encourage everyone to donate to everyone else that share's Shayan's dilema, too? steviej

Since you are in Miami, then consider a summer tire for year round use. I suggest the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. It comes in a variety of 18" sizes and very very smooth and quiet. They are great in dry and rain. steviej

That's a one time purchase for the bracket/blade from Lexus, then afterwards you only need buy the rubber inserts from any Lexus online parts places for $5 each. You do not have the option of replacing the rubber insert on the Valeo, ICON or Innovision wiper blades. It is an all or nothing replacement at ~$20-30 each. Consumers of these blades haven't realized that yet. steviej

My Lex came with perfectly balanced Bridgies but I can't say it was my Lexus dealer as the car may have been shipped that way. I have put four sets of tires on my Lex. (2 all season and 2 summer). 3 of the sets where done perfectly by a chain in my area that only uses the Hunter Road Force balancer. The 4th set was my first set of summer tires (Toyo) and they were not perfect but they also didn't use the Road Force balancer. Last night, we had the first accumlation of snow, just under 2 inches. I was somewhat impressed with the Exaltos in what little snow I had. Still waiting for something to shovel though. The rain traction is excellent. steviej

Bren, I can't see any reason why you can't put a Lexus blade on your Subi. The C hook at the end of the arm should be a standard width, you just have to find the Lexus model that has the same length blades as your Subi. Then in the future you only need buy the rubber refill from Lexus. steviej

you can go to www.lexus.com and register on the website as a new owner. You can get the schedule of suggested maint. procedures online as well as request a new copy of the owner's manual and supplemental owners manual that will contain the same information. steviej

I like the Exaltos as you know, but as of Jan 6 2007 they haven't seen any snow. I can't give you any insight there....sorry. To add to that, today's high was 70°. This weather is unreal. I am sorry I put my motorcycle to bed. Have you looked into Goodyear's new Response Tread? I have had such great experience with the Eagle F1 GS-D3s, I would definately give Goodyear a look in other areas if I had too. steviej

Once again an oil thread has gone off course because of several strong opinions. This is why I hate these type of threads. :chairshot: Both of you need to take a break from this thread for a while. I am shutting it down temporarily. If it opens up again, any arguments had better be fortified with solid facts or it gets shut down permanently. Most of all, DO NOT start another one to finish your banter. Use the PM function as we are tired of hearing you go at each other. For all other club members, if you are still interested in the original question, then use the SEARCH button. There are tons of threads with the same content, arguements, conflicts and opinions. steviej LOC Management.

This has been covered many times but may be hard to search for. Bank 1 is the bank of 3 cylinders next to the firewall. Bank 2 is the bank of 3 cylinders next to the radiator. Sensor 1 is the sensor between the exhaust manifold and the cat. converter. Each bank of cylinders has its own cat. converter. Hence the 2 specific AF sensors (Bank 1-Sensor 1 and Bank 2-Sensor 1) Sensor 2 is the sensor after the cat. converter. Depending on the year, there may be one or two of these sensors. Your ES may have only 1. My 02 ES has 2 (Bank 1-Sensor 2 and Bank 2-Sensor 2). There is no Bank 3, it is a 6 cylinder not a 9 cylinder engine. steviej

I think it is a different part because the connector cable is longer on the Bank 1 sensor than on the Bank 2 sensor. My knowledge is of Denso (OEM) sensors for a 2002 ES, so I am not sure about the Bosch sensors. I would go raise a ruckous at Autozone if they were the ones who told you to the sensor up front was Bank 1. steviej

just curious, what did 6 new injectors installed cost? steviej

since the car has three sensors (2 AF and 1 O2), which one did you replace? Bank 1 Sensor 1 is the one between the engine and the firewall. My guess is the Autozone tech told you to replace the one most visible, between the radiator and the engine (which is Bank 2 Sensor 1)? steviej

It is actually a pain in the !Removed!. There are two and they use a twist type holder that you access from behind the trunk liner. With a flat screwdriver remove most of the plastic push pins that secure the liner to the inside of the trunk lid. Also remove the cover of the emergency handle (the glow in the dark one). This is so you can see the inner securing mechanism for the actual handle. With a large screwdrive, pop off the emergency handle off the spindle. I found that four hands help. Three hand use small screwdrivers to help push the spindles to the middle (handle pops off easier). The fourth hand uses a large screwdriver from behind to pry/push the handle off the spinde. Once this is done the liner is much free-er to swing away from the trunk itself and then you can get at the bulbs. Before you pull the liner away from the trunk lid wall, peek under the liner, there are two clips one on each side of the middle and near the bottom of the trunk edge. The liner needs to be unclipped, visual inspection will be explanitory. Once you can freely get under the liner with room to move your hands, the lisence plate bulbs are easy to get at. Twist and they come out of there holes. Pull out buld, replace with a 2825, 168 or 194 bulb, any will work. Put everything back together in order as you took it out. It is wicked easy, once you do it once. steviej

:whistles: aaahhh, dare I ask......whah happen? Have a safe and happy 2007. steviej

level float/sensor in tank is faulty or gas gauge is faulty. steviej

start using a quality synthitic oil and change oil and filter out accordingly and regularly. It is far more less apt to gell given the design of the engine. steviej

another Lexus mechanic that is not quite in the know. regular/special/or premium unleaded does not matter. The flash will act the same in all grades of gas you are allowed to put in. He had no choice but to clear the ECU of learned data. When the reflash is written to your chip, it automatically clears all resident programing. It will start the relearning process again. Occassionally, I pull the negative battery cable to achieve the same outcome. good luck. steviej

that really isn't the way bulletin board websites routinely work. There are websites like ALLDATA.com that have a subscription fee that do have step by step procedures. Unfortunately here and on many other boards, part of searching is reading. Try searching in the Workshop Tutorial section as your idea may have already come to fruition. steviej