steviej

A friend of mine had this problem and he would put a three foot section of a 2x10 inch board just before the each ramp. He would drive up on the boards then up on the ramps. This was enough height increase for the lower edge of the bumper to clear the ramp by the time the wheels would start to climb it. The boards changed the angle of approach of the car so that the lower edge of the bumper was higher than when all four wheels were on the ground. Try that. steviej

if you can do it yourself and you know what your are doing, then this is a no brainer. I will be doing my own in the next couple of weeks. I am just trying to figure if I am going to get new shims, new brake kit and new stainless steel lines. I don't do anything small. The other side of me says replace the pads with Ake's or Hawks and just cut the rotors. It is not uncommon for me to argue with myself. steviej.

How many miles on your GS? Plugs should not have to be replace until 90-100k miles. Once you got the right plugs, how easy was it to access them and change them out? The front three on my 02 ES were easy as pie but the back three were a nightmare. steviej

Dude, Take it as a blessing, when I had to replace them on my 02 ES 4 years ago, they were $225. steviej

www.oxygensensors.com Denso (OEM) with connector run about $120 each. click here steviej

Denso had a rash of AF sensors that were not very reliable. They were crap our short of 50k miles. These were seen alot in the 2002/2003 V6 used in the ES, RX, Avalon, Camry and other Toyo vehicles. Many people complained but Toyota did not do much except replace them under warranty. If you were out of warranty, then you paid. Supposedly they sensors have been improved and are more reliable. That being said, I had one AF sensor go at 39k miles and one go at 58k miles on my 02 ES. My 06 GS has yet to throw a sensor and I am at 52k miles. I sold my 02 ES with 108k miles on it and the O2 sensors in the it were still the original. steviej

Are we talking the Check engine light or the Maint required light. If it is the yellow icon that looks like an engine block then that is the CEL and you should be able to pick out codes in memory. If it is the maint. reminder light then check to see when the last time the oil was changed. The newer Lexus models have a reminder light that flashes at 4500 miles when you start the engine and stays on steady at 5000 miles since the last oil change. This is covered in your manaual. If you vehicle didn't come with a manual, I can tell you how to get one free. Lastly, search on maintenance light reset or something like that. There are plenty of threads telling you how to turn it off. . . very simple. steviej

my understanding is that everything except wear items (brake pads, tires rotors and wiper blades) is covered under the initial 4yr/50k miles warranty. The battery is covered. When in doubt, have your supplemental owners manual in hand and ask them to show you in writing where it states the battery is not covered. If it is expressly stated it is not covered, then it has to be covered. Now, be careful here. Since you have opened up the caps on a "maintenence free" battery, be prepared, they may try to lupole you by saying the battery was tampered with and therefore the warranty is null and void. steviej

I have had good success with the following: Sewell Lexus Parts: www.sewellpartsonline.com (LOC gold members should be able to use code EU304 to get a discount here.) Park Place Lexus: www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?siteid=213808 steviej

This used to happen to me in my 02 when I would disconnect my battery to reset to factory defaults for the tranny (see 45+ page thread pinned at top of this forum). Scared the crap out of me the first time, but then knew it was to happen anytime I disconnected the battery. The ECU is learning the MAF sensors, TB position sensor, etc, etc. It will clear out in a few hours (definately less than a day). I would drive around on all kinds of roads, just remembering to have to give it some gas at the stop lights so I wouldn't stall. Often I would through it in N, so I could give it a little gas. Don't worry, from experience, it clears out and will be idling normally in a short period of time. steviej

contact Lexusfreak, he has/had those and swore by them. Personally, I really liked the Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S on my 02 ES. steviej

nice!!! steviej

how much do you want to spend on each tire?

here is a simple way to remember if you are interference or not. the 1MZFE engine is a non-intereference engine until it 1999 when it became a VVTi engine (Variable Valve Timing with Intelligence) I like to think of VVTi (i for interference). steviej