George_Jetson

When you say that the fans are on constantly, I asume that you mean the it comes on when it is first started. Is there any smoke out the exhaust? how does it run? Do you have access to a compression tester?

Many times you can get away with putting it off. But the bottom line is you are betting on the timming belt, tensioner and water pump. How much of a chance do you want to take? At some time one of them will fail, a visual inspection will catch some but not all of the problems. If you feel comfortable pushing the service out, by all means you can do that. I personally am pushing my service out (presently at 120k), I am well aware of the risk (one of my certifications is ASE L1 advanced engine diagnostics). But on the other hand, my wife normally does not drive the car, and I use it for local trips only. As long you are aware of the risk, you can decide what is right for you.

I have looked at a couple different auto parts stores, but have not located the part that you need. You might save a few dollars by going to toyota instead of lexus but otherwise I do not see any other viable options. I would suggest the dealer because when you consider the time that you spend researching alternatives you it would effectively cost you more. You have allready saved major dollars by diagnosing the problem yourself. So you can rest assured that you have saved enough.

If the O2 sensors are original, it would be a good time to replace them. Also check the fuel pressure regulator. If the diaphragm inside the regulator starts to tear, it will allow un-metered fuel into the engine. Also check all your vac hoses, especially the ones to the regulator. After that I would check the coolant temp sensor. Keep in mind that the ECM uses it's own coolant temp sensor, so do not assume that a working gauge in the dash means that the coolant temp sensor is good. A couple cans of fuel injection cleaner would not hurt either. Of course there are other things, but list will get you started.

I realize that this may not sound logical, but there would probably very little cost savings if you wait for the timming belt/water pump change. You do not need to remove the valve covers to replace the timming belt water pump. I would suggest getting the valve cover gaskets changed now and then doing the timming belt/water pump later. Much easier to budget the money it you do it separately

I completely agree with replacing the Vacuum control valve, and plan on doing so. Now that i know what the problem is, it can be swapped out with a new part in about 10 minutes total. I am over an hour drive away from any dealerships, so i will be ordering the part today. Its a shame that its not available at the auto parts stores... Thanks again! Ron Glad to have helped, you appear to have a good basic understanding of how it was working, I am glad that I could help fill in a couple details.

I would suggest maybe checking some slightly later model cars to see if you can find a replacement. The important specs should be the coil resistance and the terminal configuration. From what I can tell of the circuit, and it's description in the factory manual, the ECM uses a pulse width modulation to control the egr. The ecm receives feedback as to the actual position. My experience with working with these types of solinoids has been that for the most part trying to repair one usually does not give a long term reliable solution. I think you did a very good job isolating and verifying the problem, but I would recommend looking for a replacement as a long term solution.

Ok, how many miles ago was that? I know in some spots of the country, people put a lot of miles on their cars. Things to look for (besides the obvious tuneup things ) are the PCV valve, also clean the airflow meter. These cars use a mechanical vane flowmeter. Buildup around the vane will cause all sorts of mixture problems. Also how many total miles do you have on the car? It could very well be time to change the O2 sensors.

It sounds like you are on the right track with the egr valve, the tests that you have done for the valve sound valid. Your next step would be to check the solinoid that controls vac to the egr valve. Trace the vac line back to the solinoid valve. To test this valve 1) measure the resistance of the two connections for the solinoid. It should read 22 to 34 ohms, or close to that. (remember, do not disconnect the electrical connector while the engine is on. HAVE THE KEY OFF! Next, there are three hose connectors on the solinoid, two that are close together, and one at the far end of the solinoid. With no voltage applied you should be able to blow air from the center fitting, and it should exit out the fitting at the far end. Next apply 12 volts to the solinoid, now when you blow air thru the center fitting, it should come out the fitting next to it. I would quess one of two things, either the valve is sticking/leaking. Or there is a problem with the ECM. The most likely issue is the solinoid. Remember to turn the power off before removing any electrical connector. Also driving with the EGR valve disconnected is a valid test, will tell you important information, make sure that you do not drive for any length of time with it disconnected. Long therm, it will cause engine damage

When was the last tuneup done?

Since the PCV helped, it is most likely a leak in the rear valve cover gasket. In order to replace the gasket you will need to remove the intake plenum. This would be a good time to replace the spark plugs, much easier to access the rear bank.

Considering that you are not loosing coolant, then most you are correct about condensation. The smoke from under the hood is probably from the rear valve cover leaking (these engines are installed with a significant tilt, with the rear cylinder bank rather low. There is likely a little seapage from the rear valve cover, which is going onto the rear exhaust manifold and being burned. I would first recomend changing the PCV valve, and with this many miles I would also change out the PCV valve groment (located in the valve cover) it costs about 1 dollar, and takes a couple min to change out.

Loose the cap locks dude!! How much smoke comes out the exh, a little is normally a indication of the valve stem seals (although it is actually blue smoke, but easy to mistake the two). As far as smoke from the manifold, which one? Intake, or one of the exh? Are you loosing any coolant? Or oil?

I suggest purchasing a Hayes, or Chilton's repair manual. You can order one at most automotive part stores. They are written for entry level mechanics that have the aptitude, but not the experience. I personally found them very helpful when I was starting out.

Did you find a problem with the circuit? If you found a problem and fixed it, the check engine light will reset itself after a few driving cycles.

For 95, the thermostat is located on the front of the engine. Follow the rad hose (on the passenger side of the car) to the engine. It should attach to a area around the timming belt cover. The thermostat is located under the fitting for this rad hose.

That is a significant event, for a couple reasons. The rust can be preventing the new sensor from seating properly. I believe the sensor is a reluctance sensor (there is a winding, which generates a voltage when the teeth of the tone ring pass the sensor). The gap between the teeth and the sensor is important, it there is rust or other issues with the seating surface, you will see problems. It is also possible that while drilling the old sensor, they might have hit the tone ring. They have already verified that it was not cleaned properly after drilling. Now if you could pull the hub and visually check the tone ring, you might be able to verify this. Of course on the other hand, bearings do go bad, and this could possibly be a coincidence that it happened at this time.

Well for the initial problem, the mechanic could very easily caused the problem. If he did not disconnect the sensor before removing the struts, the wire to the senor could have been damaged. Now for the second part of the problem it adds a lot of ambiguity to the whole issue. As far as a BAD TONE RING, I would have a big issue with that. Tone rings generally do not go bad, more often they will be damaged, or there could be a issue with the bearing itself. Have they used a dial micrometer to check the freeplay and runout on the bearing? Also the seating surfaces must be checked for rust and other debris. If they had to clean the sensor once already, there is a issue there. Now if the bearing is bad, that would exonerate the original tech from any guilt on damaging the sensor, and point more towards the fact they did not diagnos the problem correctly, but did not cause the problem. Hard to tell exactly without seeing the car. Pardon the spelling, but it's late, and had a rough night at work.

One Other consideration, I would suggest replacing the valve stem seals, especially for the rear head. This is what causes the typical puff of smoke on startup.

$40 at a mechanic, for DYI it would be less than $5. The key is having access to a press to install the new studs.

I suggest doing both. You are going to need to buy a gasket kit, which will include everything needed to do both heads. If the bad head needs to be surfaced, it would be a good idea to have the other head surfaced to. It would also give you a chance to clean out the carbon in the heads. The main difference in cost should be just having the other head surfaced

It's a simple job with the proper tools, I am sure you should get them replaced for less than $40.

A couple cans of fuel injector cleaner might help. Also you could check the ECM coolant temp sensor. (ECM uses a different sensor than the dash temp gauge). If the sensor is reading that the engine is cold, it adds extra fuel to the mixture.

The cupped tires are a classic symptom of bad shocks. As far as the vibration, when you replaced the rotors, did you check for runout? Are you positive that the mounting surfaces for the rotors were clean and rust free? If there was and debris on the hub, the rotors will not sit flat on the surface. The best thing to do is check runout. The nest step would be check the rest of the front end for wear.

Well it certainly falls under the emission warranty, due to the fact that the ECM has not met the conditions to run the full drive cycle monitors. I do not know exactly how many years / miles the warranty is, but if you have not passed the warranty period by all means take it down there and have them fix it on their dime. Do not let them try to tell you otherwise. That of course assumes that you have not disconnected the battery, or jump started it.