steviej

fly, a "waste" depends on what you are looking for. If you are trying to achieve blue/purple headlights when looking at them, then no it wouldn't be a waste. If you are trying to illuminate the road optimally yet still acheive some blue tint to your lamps when looking at them, then yes, my opinion would be that 8000k lamps are a waste. In my opinion, I think you will find that the best of both worlds are met when you get between 4000 and 6000k with a reputable brand (ie. Phillips, Osram, PIAA). No name brands found on ebay with short or no warrantee is a waste of money for just looks. What was the brand of 8000k bulbs you picked up on ebay? Last bit of advice, don't through out the stock HID bulbs. You may need to put them back in sooner than you think. steviej

I like them very much but at $400 for the pair, it is steep. They are more bluey/purpley than the stock but illuminate as much. They actually look kinda cool, very similar to BMW/Audi colors. I think at 8000k you would be at a disadvantage in the lumens department, to the point where it may be downright scary on a dark unlit remote road out in the woods (got alot of those where I am). See what you can get the PIAAs on ebay for. I have seen them for around $250. The PIAAs are guaranteed for three years too. What are your ebay 8000k specials warranteed for? steviej

park the SUV across town at a friend or relative's until you find a quick solution. Or if you have a garage, park it in there and remove the battery until you find a fix. This happened to me kind of. Wallet was stolen which contained the wallet key and my lisence so they had the address of the car. Had to replace all locks and ignition cylinder. Insurance wouldn't pay for it. However, they would pay if the thief ultimately stole the car. Go figure. This was a 1986 Mazda 626 GT 2 door so the complete lock set was about $500 and I did the work myself. I doubt this is the cost of the same solution, but it may be your only solution to settle your nerves. Call the dealer and see what they recommend. Post up their suggestions. steviej

moved to tutorial section for safe keeping. steviej

sony, maxell, memorex and TDK have all worked fine for me in my 02 ES. I had one problem with a friend's CD but it would work in a walkman either. Turns out, when he made it, he didn't tell the recording program to finalize the disc at the end. steviej Edit: sorry, I just checked, the above mentioned brands were all CD-R Audio discs. I don't remember what my friend's cd was: CD-R or CD-RW.

first off, the battery has to come out. You can't get the back off the drivers side bulb without moving taking the battery out. There is a large round cover behind the bulb that turns about a 1/4 turn and then it pulls out. It is very secure and gasketed so you need good leverage to turn it. There are wires attached so don't try to pull the cover out of the engine bay. There is a silver heavy duty bulb socket that you must push in a little and then turn. It then can be pulled away from the bulb. Then there are two clips. un hook on side and the clips pivots away on a hinge. There are two clips per bulb to keep it secure. Once the clips are pivoted out of the way, the bulb can be pulled carefully out of the hole. Pay particulay attention to the orientation of the bulb (filament, ignitor and black stripe). Put the new bulb in the same way, attach the clips, the socket and then the back cover. Repeat on other side. Before you secure the battery for good, try your lights to make sure you hooked them up correctly. steviej

TunedRX, We are well aware of monarch's antics on this site and others. It has never been proven that he does in fact work for any dealership. As a matter of fact, whenever asked what he did do for work, monarch would never answer the question. Bad post: Yes, most definately, as we have come to expect postings like that from him. Violation: Actually not, he is telling members to buy Genuine Toyota product. He is not saying he has them for sale personally. But if you know monarch, nothing else but toyota products are acceptable. You will take comfort to know that monarch, however, has been suspended indefinately for disregarding other rules and guidelines of this forum. steviej

a new motor from www.newlexusparts.com is ~$300. here they don't list a bearing separtely. have you tried a salvage yard? steviej

What is the sence of clearing your corners if you are going to put an orange bulb in there? After you clear the corners or remove the orange plastic, look into a silver bulb that flashes orange. It will add that much more style. steviej

bring this one to the dealership. It should be covered under the 7 year/70,000 mile powertrain warranty. Even if you don't have the warning lights on, they should be able to pull the code out of the ECU memory. You want this logged so that after the 70.000 miles, if it happens again, you may be covered because you documented first appearence before 70k.

I've been using Stealth bulbs in my 02 Lex for over a year now. The signal bulb is a 7440, however I do not know if they make a side marker bulb. steviej

agreed, the expansion valve is going. common problem on early model ES's. steviej

the belt was slipping on the pulley when it got wet. This happened to me recently. Been raining here since middle of May. Turns out the left side of my underside splash guard had lost two pushpins and was hanging a bit. Water easily got up on the pulley in puddles. Fixed the splash guard and severely decrease the amount of water that can get up there. Several rain storms since and no flashing light. Now, if it happens when the car is totally dry and you don't get wet from a puddle, then start looking into it further. When was the last time the belt was replace or tightened? steviej

sounds like the same pushpin clips that hold the splash guard on underneath my 02. steviej

consider it done. expect a fax on Monday. steviej

same here. we love those cheater bars. steviej

try this if it is the reminder light to change your oil and stuff. 1. With your car OFF, place your key in the ignition and turn to "On". Do not start the car. 2. Find the odometer button and press until it reads the total odometer setting, (not the Trip A or Trip B setting). 3. Turn the key to OFF. 4. Place your finger back on the odometer button, press and hold. Then while still holding the button, turn the key back to "On" (not START). 5. Hold the odometer button in until the MAINT REQD light goes out...should take about 8-10 seconds. Good luck, it is pretty much the industry standard of resetting this reminder light. original thread steviej

In this thread is listing of service manauls you can download if you wish. here I have the 2002 shop manaul that I could fax you the pages from work on Monday. (sorry, no scanner in my house). The 2002 manual says, 1. Remove the front fender liner (LH or RH) 2. Remove the front bumer cover. 3. Remove the 4 screws The picture shows three easy to get at screws: 1. at the top of the light assembley 2. halfway down the inside edge 3 bottm inside corner the 4th screw is to the outside of the low beam light socket on the side. It looks like the head of the screw is right in front of the quarter panel and is exposed when the bumer cover is removed. Tough one to get at. steviej

agreed, search on "synthetic" and open the search up to 1 week ago and older. thread closed.

I check them with every oil change which works out to be about every 2 months. you will lose about 1 lb per month and 1 lb for every 10 degree drop in temp (so I check monthly from Nov. to Feb). steviej

keep your head low and I wish you a safe and speedy return as you are needed here in the US, too. thank you for your service to our country. steviej

ya got me. I had to laugh on that one. steviej

that's the exact wording of my 02, then they flipped the wording in 03 but didn't do a thing to the engine. At over $3.25 for 93 octane (no 91 in the area), mine's getting 87 or 89 until I hear a ping or a knock. steviej

yes they do fit and there are several members here and on CL with them, unfortunately names are escaping me right now. However, since the SC wheels are designed for rear wheel drive, you will most likely need to use spacers on the rear wheels. steviej

any one a a hundred codes could be setting your CEL off. Since it is intermitent, it can be as simple as a deteriorating gas cap gasket or more involved like an O2 sensor that is on its way out. The majority of the codes are emissions related. Unfortunately, you don't know where to start looking for the culprit until you have the codes read. Go to Autozone and have them pull the code(s). Post them up here and we can help you better. Even if the CEL is off when you get the codes read, they should remain in memory for a short period of time. steviej