VGR

Oops, I meant to post this picture of rotor thickness http://www.saber.net/~monarch/rotorthick.jpg

SUV owners where I live drive like a bat out of hell so I'm not surprized their brakes wear out in 20K miles. However, Toyota owners with a calm, relaxed driving style and who have a manual transmission can get enormously long OEM pad and OEM rotor life. Extreme example: The factory original set of pads on my '92 Toyota pickup were changed at 275,000 miles and the second set changed at 456,000. The driver side brake rotor was also only 25% worn at 456,000 http://www.saber.net/~monarch/456.jpg and the passenger side rotor 37% worn.

Simple kerosene is a good solvent based degreaser. For example, Toyota recommends kerosene for cleaning wheel bearings of old grease and kerosene is also the main ingredient in many bug and tar oil removers. Formula 409 is a good water based degreaser. However, I personally consider it too risky to clean a electronically controlled fuel injected, engine. Except for cosmetics, there's no urgent reason to clean up the exterior of an engine. However, timing belt replacement, spark plug wire replacement, starter replacement and other engine repair and maintenance work does involve removing several parts that can be safely degreased once they have been pulled free from the engine.

Good tip about the hair dryer. Another tip is to warm the engine up fully before attempting hose removal. I also usually don't replace Toyota hoses because most of them are made of such high quality rubber they last 20 years or more and the replacement auto parts store hoses are so low in quality they last only months instead of decades. In cases where a Toyota hose has gotten hard and brittle, one inexpensive trick is to visit an auto wrecking yard and obtain similarly sized high quality hose off of a late model Toyota that was wrecked due to a traffic accident.

My understanding is the magnetic clutch on the compressor is typically what fails, not the compressor itself (unless the compressor was run low on refrigeration oil) My understanding also is that the magnetic clutch simply bolts on and off and doesn't even require the AC system to be discharged and recharged with refrigerant. So the savvy Toyota / Lexus owner simply buys a new magnetic clutch when the compressor gets noisy or quits. On the other hand, I have no personal experience replacing Toyota magnetic clutches because mine have never worn out yet.

It's easy to get caught up in a vicious circle. First the starter contacts go out at about 125,000 - 150,000 miles and instead of buying a new genuine Toyota starter contact kit from a Toyota dealer or a slightly used Toyota starter from a Toyota / Lexus recycling yard, the owner buys a whole new rebuilt starter from the local auto parts store, especially since the store offers a "lifetime warranty." So now they have an aftermarket starter. Then the aftermarket starter soon dies and the owner wrongly condemns the battery cables so they buy new cables from the auto parts store. Now they've got aftermarket cables in addition to an aftermarket starter and they may get caught up in a vicious circle of frequent starting system problems. Then they wrongly condemn Lexus for building unreliable cars.

Lexusfreak, was the genuine synthetic oil you saw motor oil or differential oil? For USA bound vehicles, Toyota & Nissan are starting to install synthetic differential oil at the factory in the rear axles of rear wheel drive V8 powered models. However, they are still using and recommending conventiional oil in the motors.

Corporate Toyotas policy on synthetic oil is: 1. It's OK to synthetic, but only if you continue changing the oil at least every 6 months or 5000 miles just as you must with conventional oil (to keep the 6 year / 70,000 mile powertrain warranty in effect). 2. If you decide to use synthetic, you should continue using it for the life of the vehicle and not ever switch back to conventional oil. So if you are willing to respect these words of advice of the Toyota engineers, synthetic is fine. You will encounter tremendous pressure from a variety of non-Toyota sources to stray away from the advice of the Toyota engineers. Example: some will tell you "The Toyota engineers are not in the oil refining business and their knowledge and advice about synthetic oils is obsolete."

The '83-'97 Corolla 4A and 7A series motors are extremely resistant to sludge build up and stay clean even if oil changes are extended out to 10,000 miles. Anyone can see this for themselves buy randoming taking off the valve covers of ten junkyard '83-97 Corollas. A certain amount of varnish is also normal and unharmful in any engine that uses conventional oil. Auto-Rx is $25 a bottle snake oil in my opinion. The makers of Auto-Rx, like those of Slick 50, Duralube, Motor-Up, etc. target mechanically illiterate people - try to get them to think engine cleaner or friction reducing additives are necessary to correct and prevent engine. transmission, fuel injection and power steering trouble. Nissan / Infiniti owners manuals flatly advise owners to never use oil, gasoline, transmission and coolant additives.

I have a '90-'94 LS400 Factory Parts Catalog. The LS400 uses the same 340E transmission as the early 1990's SC400. The catalog lists two solenoids: Toyota part# 35270-50010 SOLENOID ASSY, SHIFT CONTROL List Price $153.79 $110.73 at https://www.1stToyotaparts.com/part_number.html Toyota part# 35280-50010 SOLENOID ASSY, LOCK-UP CONTROL List Price $243.76 $175.51 at https://www.1stToyotaparts.com/part_number.html Since your transmission isn't have lockup problems, it sounds like you just need the $110.73 Shift Control Solenoid Assembly.

I'd go with the Volvo for safety, solidity of construction and quality of the interior. Most Toyota engines built in the last 30 years are "hemi" engines, yet Toyota doesn't boast about it like Chrysler does because hemispherical combustion chambers are no big deal.

Boy that dealer appears to be taking you for a ride! Monitor the fluid levels in the PS reservoir and brake master cylinder reservoir. If the levels are steady then all is well in the PS and brake systems. Toyota brake master cylinders generally last at least 25 years - more if the fluid is changed occassionally, less if someone accidentally put the wrong kind of brake fluid in the system (system requires DOT 3 fluid). It is highly unlikely any coolant hoses are leaking if they are the factory original hoses and hose clamps. I'd personally take the car to another dealer in Tucson to verify whether or not the water pump / hoses are leaking and if any pulley bearing is worn out. If the coolant leak is genuinely from the water pump then you might want to replace the timing belt at the same time. If just a hose(s) is leaking then the replacement cost will be minimal.

The Corolla owners manual says both 5W-30 and 10W-30 can be used. The owners manual also recommends checking the oil level at every gas stop. Sounds like the dealer didn't fill the engine up properly with oil so it ran low, but now you can't prove it because your sister didn't check the oil level soon after the car was serviced. Chances are the engine has been significantly damaged from running low on oil. If damaged, the engine will make more mechanical noise than it did before running low on oil. More tapping or knocking type noise. Or it may burn oil more rapidly. However, if the engine seems just as quiet as it used to and oil consumption doesn't go up, then maybe you got lucky and the oil level didn't get fatally low.

Yeah a heater core failure on an LS400 can cost thousands to replace due to the massive labor involved in getting to it. The only reason a heater core could ever corrode and leak is because of use of aftermarket antifreeze / tap water in the cooling system. Here's are some pictures showing how the factory original coolant mixture (50% Toyota antifreeze + 50% distilled water) is capable of completely eliminating corrosion in Toyota / Lexus cooling systems if the owner continues using it at replacement time instead of using aftermarket antifreeze and / or tap water. http://www.saber.net/~monarch/coolanta.jpg http://www.saber.net/~monarch/coolantb.jpg http://www.saber.net/~monarch/coolantc.jpg

May I ask how you are you measuring this improvement in efficiency? What specifically improves?

Countless thousands of pounds of R12 is still used worldwide in 3rd world countries because it's still legal there and much of the R12 that is left in the first world countries will eventually be released into the atmosphere anyway because the containers it's stored in will eventually rust / corrode. Finally, ozone depletion is a temporary, reversible phenomenon. Incidentally, I am licensed and one of the things every licensed person learns is that it is NOT illegal (ironically!) to add R12 refrigerant to a system that has a leak. It's just technically illegal to intentionally vent R12 directly to the atmosphere (although I've never heard of a do-it-yourselfer that was fined for doing it).

What symptoms is the steering exhibiting? Your mechanic may not have LS400 specific experience and, for example, may not know there is a filter screen inside the steering rack solenoid that needs to be occassionally cleaned to maintain low steering effort and reduce the potential for lubricant leakage.

You said your "AC gradually went warm". That sounds like a gradual refrigerant leak, possibly from a rubber 0-ring seal connection on the evaporator. For $15 bucks you could try to recharge it yourself to see if the cold air returns. Periodically topping off a system that has a small leak is cheap. AC shops always seek the most expensive way possible to fix something. Like instead of replacing a 50 cent rubber 0-ring, they'd rather replace the entire evaporator for several hundred dollars. An evaporator is like a radiator - it's sealed and should not leak except possibly as a hose / metal fitting connection point.

No owner on this or any other Lexus forum that has regularly inspected the condition of the transmission fluid and changed it accordingly and was also careful to precisely maintain the correct transmission fluid level has reported early RX transmission failure. Some owners seem to expect a Toyota / Lexus to be like a Timex watch - to able to take a licking (in the form of driver abuse and maintenance neglect) and keep on ticking. Some Toyota / Lexus engines / transmissions are capable of withstanding this kind of treatment and others are not. There is no way to tell ahead of time which engine / tranny combinations can withstand abuse and neglect and which ones cannot. Therefore owners have to make an individual decision as to whether or not they want to invest a little time and money into preventive maintenance or take their chances by neglecting / extending inspection and service intervals. Owners who think Toyota / Lexus or any other car maker is ever going to consistently build vehicles that can withstand abuse and neglect are living in a fantasy world.

I agree with jadecuir the starter solenoid contacts are worn out That means a new battery or jump start won't help. But the button gismo jadecuir mentioned should work, although I'm not sure how you could hook it up since the starter and solenoid on a Lexus V8 are buried and inaccessible underneath the intake manifold.

Sounds like a rip off to me. I'd have another shop check the pad thickness and report back to you how much pad life is left. Toyota rotors in my experience last about 3 times as long as the Toyota pads and both the rotors and pads last 50-75% longer on manual transmission cars vs. automatics. Rotor wear is measured with a micrometer. Here's an extreme, but true case of Toyota rotor durability capability: http://www.saber.net/~monarch/rotorthick.jpg A tire shop is also going to use aftermarket pads which Toyota says can wear down the Toyota rotors more quickly.

The drivetrain warranty expired at 70,000 miles. What specifically did you do to "maintain" the transmission over the years? Did you: 1. Buy the RX300 brand new or used? If used, the prior owner could have abused the transmission in a way that prematurely stressed or wore the part/s that failed at 75,000 miles. 2. At what odometer mileages was the transmission fluid changed and what type of fluid was used? 3. Did you personally ever measure the transmission fluid level or did you rely solely on an outside service shop to do it? 4. What references can you cite that have documented these transmissions have a manufacturing defect that doesn't show up until around 75,000 miles? Transmission wear is normally minimal at 75,000 in Toyota transmissions that receive periodic fluid changes using approved fluids and if the fluid level is always precisely maintained and if the driver does not ever treat the transmission abusively since the day the vehicle was new.

Rotate tires every 4,000 miles if you are sensitive to irregular tire wear and the associated noise. If a smooth, quiet ride is a top priority, you're going to have to give up some high speed handling / cornering capability and / or wet weather traction. No way around it. There are tires that claim to combine both (like the Goodyear Tripletred) but owners ultimately find they don't deliver an optimally smooth quiet ride and / or have low rolling resistance for good fuel economy. Some OEM tires like the Michelin MXV4-Plus are a reasonably good overall compromise.

When you get a Lexus you'll notice a change in the way other drivers treat you. Like you'll notice other drivers will give you the right of way much more often. Or if 2 or more cars come to an intersection at the same time, other drivers will wait for the Lexus to pull out first. Or if you are going a little slower than the average flow of traffic on the freeway, no one will honk at you to speed up. Or if you are searching for a parking spot in a big lot, other drivers will be more likely to let you have the first opening. I also own a few antique Toyotas one of which looks like a ghetto car. When I drive the ghetto Toyota other drivers treat me like a second class citizen, cutting me off, honking, never giving me the right of way, expecting me to let them have the first parking spot opening, etc.

Beware of the demographics of IS300 drivers. IS300 owners can be very hard on the car and quickly put alot of invisible, hard to detect wear and tear on the drivetrain and suspension. Here's an example of how one IS300 driver on this forum drives: "I had to pay 700 bucks to the system for doin 105+ in a 65. I couldn't help it if some jackass thought he could smoke me so I dropped a gear and the next thing I know I am @ 140, then I saw lights way back. I got screwed!!!!!"