VGR

No Toyota / Lexus manual has ever said "you need to warm it up for 10 mintues." Look at the manual again - perhaps you misread it.

Surf on over to toyota.com and you'll find out why Toyota thinks synthetic oils offers only marginal benefits compared to natural petroluem oil and NOT worth the extra cost http://www.saber.net/~monarch/faq.jpg Surf on over to the Federal Trade Commission to find out how some oil companies have been sued for lying and exaggerating about the benefits of certain oils and additives they make. Surf the archives of the Lexus Owners Club forum and discover how hundreds of owners of 10-15 year old Lexus's have destroyed their engines by ignoring dashboard warning lights and gauges and modifying their engines with aftermarket parts and fluids like antifreeze. But you won't find a single post in the Lexus Owners Club archives where an owner's engine wore out because they used natural petroleum oil instead of synthetic oil.

D3 is for the V8's D1 is for the V6's

2 gallons = 8 quarts = almost the total capacity of the entire cooling system. Any Toyota / Lexus engine will quickly overheat when operated that low on coolant. It is virtually inconceivable how a Lexus engine could lose 2 gallons of coolant without any visible signs of a leak. When you changed the coolant originally, did you measure the amount of liquid drained and refill with an identical amount? Most do-it-yourselfers fail to do this and end up underfilling their system which in turn causes overheating.

Are you using a Toyota oil filter?. Has the engine oil been changed at least every 6 months regardless of mileage? If your answer is Yes to both questions then the noise may not actually be coming from inside the engine, but from some reciprocating accessory or part attached to the engine.

Your next challenge is to find a tech with meticulous work habits - one who cares about accuracy and doesn't have a "this is good enough" attitude about valve adjusting. An audible check is not very accurate because it cannot detect overly tight valves (because tight valves are quiet) and by the time a valve cleanance is loose enough to make a ticking noise then it is severely loose. Yes checking valve clearances manually is a bit expensive labor wise and one way to save money is to have the clearances checked when the timing belt is changed because the labor needed to perform both tasks is, in part, dupicated.

There would not necessarily be white smoke if the coolant leak was small due to a hairline crack in the cylinder head and a slight breach in the cylinder head gasket. kino1161 has left out alot of details like how much coolant he needs to add, how fast the coolant is lost, what the ownership & maintenance history of the car is, what mods the car / engine has. Mods = even little things like the aftermarket $5 radiator cap you suggested he buy.

Your owners manual says the valve clearance should be checked at 60,000 miles. You can skip this service if: - you don't care about maintaining optimum engine power, smoothness, quietness and fuel economy - you don't care about achieving maximum engine life.

The coolant might be going into your exhaust manifold and exhaust pipe if the cylinder head is cracked or the cooling passages are corroded. What mods does your engine and car have?

There are inexpensive work arounds for most problems. You could have gotten a used ABS actuator cheap from TAP Recycling. You could have cleaned the two filters in the PS system and installed a new $80 air valve to alleviate leaks. Or if the pump itself was leaking either buy and install a $21. power steering reseal kit or buy and install a new $120 rebuilt PS pump from Autozone It is always cheaper to fix an older Lexus than to buy a newer one (if the older one was purchased new or near new and reasonably maintained over the years as yours was)

Agreed! Paypal periodically locks people out of their accounts so they can't access their money.

timing belt tensioner, water pump, hoses, can wait until around 150,000 - 180,000 miles because that's how long they normally last An engine flush before switching to synthetic is not needed because a Lexus engine that has used conventional oil will be clean and sludge free. The benefits of synthetic are marginal at best according to Toyota so Toyota does not believe synthetic motor oil is cost effective. radiator does not need to be flushed because radiator will be sparkling clean if the factory original coolant mixture has always been used Just drain and refill the radiator with the factory original 50/50 mix of Toyota long life coolant and distilled water Radiators do, however, get clogged externally. So at about 75-100 miles it's good to remove the radiator and use a garden hose to wash away all the bugs and dirt off the fins of the radiator. Removing the radiator and provides access to the back of the AC condenser so it can be washed with a hose too

The $1300 price is reasonable if it includes the timing belt, but 60,000 miles is too early to change the timing belt unless you are a frequent pedal to the metal kind of driver. 90,000 - 120,000 miles is a reasonable timing belt change interval for non lead foot drivers. At 60,000 miles it would be good to change the spark plugs, fluids, filters cooling system thermostat and the serpentine drive belt. The price for all that should be under $1,000, but more than $500.

Yes it does because young people are mainly the ones who buy synthetic oil and oil additives. The 16-35 year olds read advertizments like the one below for Slick 50 and then actually believe Slick 50 will make their engines last significantly longer: -- "Every time you cold start your car without Slick 50 protection, metal grinds against metal in your engine... -- " With each turn of the ignition you do unseen damage, because at cold start- up most of the oil is down in the pan. But Slick 50's unique chemistry bonds to engine parts. It reduces wear up to 50% for 50, 000 miles," 45-80 year olds look at the same advertizment and think to themselves: --this ad falsely infers that auto engines generally have little or no protection from start up wear without Slick 50. --this ad falsely infers that it's common for engines to wear out due to start up wear The business and marketing experience of the 45-80 year olds plus their superior critical thinking skills are what makes the difference.

Most reliable test is to use a thermometer in the center dash vent with the AC controls set to maximum cooling. Temps of 35-44 degrees are normal. Warmer than that indicates a problem which may or may not be related to the refrigerant charge.

You purchased a 15 year old Lexus that had been wildly abused and neglected by it's previous owner(s). In cases like that I agree with you the PCV valve could go bad. Life of a Toyota / Lexus alternator is over 300,000 miles with just the brushes needing replacement about every 150,000. Life of Toyota / Lexus starter is virtually unlimited. Just the inexpensive starter contacts need replacing every 150,000 miles or so. Life of Toyota / Lexus water pump is in the range of 150,000 - 250,000 miles or 15-25 years if the factory original coolant mixture is always used at replacement time. Life of all the the hydraulic components of a Toyota / Lexus brake system is virtually unlimited if the system's brake fluid is changed every 3-4 years using genuine Toyota Brake Fluid. etc. etc. Basically everything on a Toyota / Lexus lasts twice as long as any American car, including Toyota's low end models like the Echo and base model Tacoma pickups. The easiest way to see this first hand is to visit automotive junkyards and record the odometer readings of 30 American cars vs 30 Toyotas. The Toyotas have twice as many miles on average.

To keep sales robust, Mobil has introduced gimmick names for it's oils every year or two for the past 30 years. Examples: 25,000 mile oil, tri-synthetic oil, supersyn oil, SUV oil, synthetic oil filters, etc. and their latest gimmick is 15,000 mile oil. Yet not once over the past 30 years has Mobil ever provided real world evidence that its synthetic lubes significantly extend engine life or fuel economy better than conventional oils.

Yes, but not an increase in the kinds of serious mechanical problems American and some European cars always have like premature failure of the engine, transmission, suspension ball joints, air conditioner compressor, etc. Lexus's problems are cosmetic / irritation type issues like the momentary transmission hesitation, dash squeaks, etc. Example: If you go to alldata.com and get a printout of all the technical service bulletins for anyCadillac or Lincoln, there will be 3 times as many bulletins for every Cadillac and Lincoln model than for any Lexus model.

It is extremely rare for a Toyota PCV valve to ever get clogged. Army, lots of the troubles you've seen with American cars, like blown up AC compressors, alternators and water pumps after just 100K miles don't happen with Asian cars

There's no legitimate reason to clean the engine. Worry more about the cleanliness of your air filter, throttle plate and the fins of your radiator and air conditioning condenser.

Amazing some of the same owners who use synthetic oil even though Lexus says conventional oil will do an outstanding job turn around an use cheap 87 octane even though Lexus specifies "Premium Gas Only" (1st generation V8's).

You likely have warped and corroded cylinder heads because the cooling system was not maintained using the factory original coolant mixture (50% distilled water and 50% Toyota Long Life antifreeze). The transmission could also be on it's way out too. 250,000 miles is about the practical life limit of a sporadically maintained Toyota or one maintained using aftermarket parts, fluids and filters. 500,000 - 700,000 miles is the life potential of a perfectly toyota maintained since aggressive preventive maintenance using factory original parts, fluids and filters is highly effective at preventing mechanical wear.

I don't understand the point of the question. It's like asking: 1. How many of you have changed your oil every 15,000 miles with no noticable adverse effects? 2. How many of you have ignored a "check engine" light for many months at a time with no noticable adverse effects? 3. How many of you have smoked for 50 years with no noticable adverse effects?

Army, below is the life expectancy of a properly driven and maintained front wheel drive Toyota or Lexus: Timing Belt: 90,000 miles Cam seals: 180,000 miles Crank seals: 180,000 miles Front main seal: 360,000+ miles Oil Pump seal: 360,000+ miles Valve cover gaskets 90,000 miles Distributor seals 90,000 miles Spark plug seals 180,000 miles Water pump: 180,000 miles Rear main seal: 360,000+ miles Power steering pump (still working, but leaky) 360.000+ miles High Pressure Power Steering Hoses: 360,000+ miles Shocks/Struts/Springs : 360,000+ miles Rack and pinion: 360,000+ miles Ball joints 360,000+ miles Tie Rod Ends: 360,000+ miles CV joints and driveaxles: CV Boot: 180,000 miles, CV joints: 360,000 miles Motor and tranny mounts: 360.000+ miles Fuel Pump: 360.000+ miles Radiator hoses: 360.000+ miles Radiator: 360.000+ miles Catalytic Converter: 360.000+ miles AC Compressor: 360.000+ miles

am seals** Crank seals EVERY SECOND TIMING BELT CHANGE Front main seal AFTER 300,000+ MILES Oil Pump seal AFTER 300,000+ MILES Valve cover gaskets EVERY TIMING BELT CHANGE Distributor seals AFTER 300,000+ MILES Spark plug seals AFTER 300,000+ MILES Timing belt Water pump** Rear main seal Power steering pump (still working, but leaky) High Pressure Power Steering Hoses Shocks/Struts/Springs (lowering when i do it) Rear Brakes Front Brakes* Rack and pinion* Ball joints* Tie Rod Ends* CV joints and driveaxles* Tranny filter and 4 fluid changes* Spark plugs* Spark plug wires* Motorvac* Fuel Filter Motor and tranny mounts Preventative: Fuel Pump Radiator hoses Radiator