BoaR

lol Lexi, but the GX is a gorgeous machine. you win automatically ;) and SW yeah you are right. unless i find a super bargain. on the flip side though, buying the farthest ahead you can in the curve is almost always the best way to go. getting the current gen will hold it's values vast period of time... and pretty much give the cost savings spread over the years. long run. always long run lol. Thanks for the different way of thinking though bud, you brought up some points i should look more into. :)

lol smasood - he photoshopped the pic into his car as a 'demo" look. not actually isntalled it yet... ( i admit it looks amazing! ) godfather - ive done a lot of wiring work on the es in general. it would all depend on the rear connectors on the nav unit. ive never touched an OEM nav before, im not sure if the antenna is hard wired to the "shark fin" normally or not for connection/reception. if it is... you already know the es doesnt have one. might be a problem. i'de need to find a spec sheet + pinout of the nav unit in question to know for sure. got a link as to where you saw the 97 with this mod installed? im very curious. this is pretty bad !Removed!, might have to do it to my car too while helping you out haha.

I have an older es, but regardless - I inspect my brakes here and there to get a feel for how they are wearing. generally speaking i find this is the best way because it all really depends on how much you drive. Ive put 25k on the car already and only had it for a bit over half a year.... obviously my pads/discs are under much more use than the buying bread and milk corner store driver. When i check, if i dont like how low the pads are getting. i just change them. it's a very easy job anyways and do-it-yourself way costs next to nothing. while the pads are being done, then ill check the discs for wear/warping/gouges and the works. if those are sketchy for some reason, off they come and a new set gets installed. again doing this yourself is a joke of a job, and costs parts only. which again are cheap. when i bought the car the previous owner had done the brakes about a month before. I re-did them about 2 months ago, and im gonna guess that when i put the winter tires on sometime in november, while the wheels are off im going to do a complete pad/disc change also. quebec winters are retarded and i like the security knowing that im fresh and good to go. hope that helps a bit ! edit: just realised that i didnt even mention cost or answer your rotating question. all depends on your budget for rotating. i never rotate. even though i could/should. it's just as easy for me to put new discs on as to rotate... so i just dont bother and slap new ones in when it's time. i dont do this until i see wearing or something. as for oem pads/discs - the oem are generally better than the jobber parts you can get. i think it was dc or sw that was telling me in some other thread of this very fact. i dont bother going oem because i like to keep new(er) parts and change them often enough. I know people will say that putting oem will last longer, thus be more cost effective etc... yes you are right. But i rather have new parts on the car being swapped for more new parts. where i live and the routes i drive are ever changing. from incredibly stupid torn up roads under constant construction that abuse the hell out of cars to instantly changing weather conditions that end up forcing you to work the car harder than necessary under regular driving. to me having brand new parts on by brakes, is total piece of mind. where as if i had 5 month old oem pads and 1 year old discs... i might not be as confident as the sudden flash rain storm hits when im dodging chunks of cement and broken cones from construction dotting the @#$% terrible torn up roads. not that it will matter if i make a mistake and die. new brakes or not, but at least then i know it was my fault at the last second, and not worn brakes. heh. ;)

lol ive driven a 03 yes. Im not wishing to get a magical huge number off a massive heavy long sedan... im a realist hehe. i can see that this isnt a yaris or something. but if im looking overall as i described in my last post, if it's inking out 1mpg more only.. meh... im gonna save a few more pennies and just get a this gen instead. I know that the upgrade would be good, but the newest gen would be even better ;)

Eh i guess SW, bunch of deciding factors. Thing is, although im very happy with the 98 now, and es generally - i can see why i would want to upgrade to the next gen. bells and whistles, better interiour blah blah... but at the same time that mpg has to go up too. and not by a point or two. Look, i can admit that when i lead foot as with any car the mpg suffers drastically. worst on older cars like the 98. and flip side when i take it easy and drive eco like my life depends on it, i can squeek vastly better numbers out of the old car. If the real world tests show that it tosses a point above what im getting currently... value wise it's really not worth the upgrade. to what end? getting more wood trim ya know? lol coming full circle to the original topic though, with all this being discussed... you all are generally confirming that upper 30's is readily obtainable with the more current gens... well that is the kinda music im wanting to hear. i get better overall car in the shape of trim, config, quality and the major bonus of huge mpg ratings. I appreciate all the cool info you all posted so far. as it actually is guiding my next purchase decision hehe. As for the LS, it's a beast in all of it's own. pound for pound what it's packing it's a shining example of just how much car you can get ans still attain more than decent numbers. I actually saw a guy driving the premium '10 600h today. I waved to him as I merged but he kinda snobbed me to be truthfull bleh lol. it's pretty ghetto of him tbh, but i guess if you are dropping over 130k on a car you can do whatever you want meh. and it wasnt even a company/rental, standard owner plate on it sigh. While im dreaming i might as well wish for my 98 to get 50mpg eh lol

lol Paul... what a mistake eh? (although if you promise not to tell anyone, there are certain stretches of the road in the quebec/ontario border part that are slightly downhill, straight as an arrow and weed-trimmed. meaning you can see for miles with 0 obstructions.... or cops... ive taken the '98 to speeds over 130(mph) and it still felt like smooth butter, hehe what a cruiser! but shhh eh! ) and SW... ermm im not sure what to say... my 98 right now does on average 17.... you're telling me that in 5 years the mpg stayed the same "real world" numbers? urk..thats terrible. then we see as the OP posted... 5 years later the milage literally doubles and then some? holy crap.....im gonna avoid anything under those years for sure if the mpg literally was staying the same. not even worth upgrading to next gen bleh. might as well go current gen instead.

100k standard timing belt belt/water pump etc... (the LS is the only model that has a slightly different standard belt standard and you can let it go until 120-30k easily. - LS only tho ;) ) I have the haynes. it's perfect. just get that. 10 bucks used off kijiji or something.

Doh! lol it's KM up here. Imma guess you use mph down there? I feel like a tard :P

Popping back in here (thanks for the added info btw pete) I had another question... I dont drive in the states... im seeing dotted around the forum people posting that the highway limits are 75 or something?? why is everyone setting the cruise at 75? seems kinda low lol. up here in the north all our highways are 100, and ermm usually they dont even give you a second look for setting the cruise at anything below 120. I'm wondering if thats why you are blowing these numbers outta the water. heh. would make a huge difference we are not all crusing at the same numbers hmm.

Noooo DC !! going against the grain i'de say yoko from experience. has some (before some clown stole them when they were in storage) on my old ES and i loved them. I was using summer only though. I detest all season tires. This, i think makes a massive difference. (also in quebec here... need pure winters, so it's kinda dumb buying all seasons and not pure summers) But considering i love the oem look and dont go putting 18 anything.. on anything... i guess you really cant use my comment as a springboard for advice lol. I was running 16"s on stock lexus rims from another model. That probably is why i loved the yoko's in the end. i felt they were cushy at 16 and i also enjoyed the sticky grip they offered, yeah I will say that. i found them to be a lot stickier than a few other brands. i like sticky EDIT: true though, the Michelin Primacy tires are very good. not gonna knock them. but if someone was giving me a choice, in my fav classic size and can only pick one.. i would still choose the yoko's haha.

ground loop fault. do a search.

ya.. me last night :P hehe

Here they are all on 1 zip file. http://www.mediafire.com/?wsg94g87tdldcrs

To be honest I took it to the local mechanic (who i later found out was ripping everyone off. nice to know nobody can be trusted sigh) the top ones you can easily do yourself it's 2 bolts. the bottom one in front it's iffy. the way he did it without ripping out or lifting the entire engine... ready for this? used a 2x4 after unbolting to jimmy the engine about 1" upwards and slid it out. notably my top was busted so it allowed this. also the car was on a lift to put the 2x4 underneath in a wedge position. the force required as per my recollection, would be scary if the car was only on jacks and you underneath. scary enough to have me not try it for fear of something slipping and me being folded in in half under the crashing down car lol. At a local mechanic in all honesty it shouldnt be costly to jack up and fix. i got ripped off royally, but now knowing more about lexus in general - brand new the mounts at most will run you (cdn) about 20 bucks. 28 for the larger round bottom one. this includes the rubber err.. springy thingy for lack of a better word lol. it comes as a complete assembly. It only took about half an hour to do once the car was up. I'de guess not being scammed around 100 total. bring your parts and use his time type thing. (vs me not having smarts and getting ripped for 300... sheesh)

already posted how. and "rough" on the road has nothing really to do with a busted mount. you will hear the loud clunk of the engine bucking upwards for sure, when shifting or under very heavy acceleration. unless all 3 are broken you can "get by" for a small while. If they are all broken and you let it go, basicially worst case your engine will fall right through the bottom of the car into the road lol. The car wandering around or feeling bad on the road due to a strut is a completely different problem.

wow LOL im a tard. just realised you posted your year in the first sentence >.< the evap systems are all varied throughout the years. some are under the hood, most are in back of the gas tank... i checked my 98 cuz im an idiot and cant read properly :P for me it's under the hood. isnt it burried under the gas tank and exaust pipe for the 95? someone in the other thread mentioned that. But I highly doubt they would be swapping bolt sizes throughout the years. a T-40 will stay the same as with the T-20. the torx kit is actually on sale right now at canadian tire for like 17 bucks. I happened to see a rack of them the other morning. it's the 30 piece set and when i checked it had mostly the bit's that are interchangable, and a small row of the socket type too. perfect if you didn't already have annoying torx.

I looked and it doesnt have many torx around the valve at all... only the fitting rail that holds it all above the engine. the large ones are T-40 near the manifold. The only other two i saw should be T-20's possibly T-15's. would say T-20's though, they are the "reverse" type. where you need a socket type torx rather than a bit. Hope that helps !

The torx are annoying lol. I'll check tomorrow when i go outside, and give you the proper size.. it's like 2am right now ;)

I wouldnt tape it down.. the car can only tell if you are opening or closing it via the sensor. i'de guess that you would set off the alarm more than once if it always thought the door was in a "closed" state. scrapyard a door and just grab the sensor for 5 bucks maybe? ring up the dealership and ask for that piece to see what price they tell you. work it from there. regardless of where you get one - you will still need to pop the trim and the interiour paneling to replace/fix the sensor. so dont see what the point of doing that would be if you didnt have a replacement ;) the door paneling has 3 screws hidden with plastic caps, and the actual trim is held in place by plastic snaps. many forum topics on removal actually. just search them up. once that's off you can easily get to any part to fix. as for the battery... well... any light, dome, trunk etc can drain a battery given enough time. how long is the question... a week? a day? overnight? never know lol. I never tested the door / lock circuits when the car is off to see if it has a vampiric drain.

I'm at a loss. :( http://www.lexuspartsnow.com/components/1999-lexus-es300~electronic-fuel-injection-system-84-04-2274.html that lexus part seems to be refering to a fuel injection controller module. yet lower it shows it as part of a ECM... but... the haynes says thats the PCM going by the diagram placement matching the lexus one. what the hell?? lol btw, a search turned up a previous thread on the same codes and errors/problems. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=24004 sorry i cant shed some more light on this. im drawing a blank.

lol paul, good guess you got it :P the fuse should be the 30A power under the hood. as it's linked to the main fuse link block. BUT i'll mention that looking at the diagram for the wiring there is a lot running of the damn circuit. like GBH asked, are the motor's themselves are not working or are they? if yes the seat motors move around, then its wiring somewhere in the button assembly. if not, the fuse is probably burnt like paul said. as it gives power to the entire seat motor + programming buttons etc... looking at the wiring diagram, it would be one or the other. not both, as the fuse cuts all the power off to both parts. for the wiring: the input should come from the switch/ memory button area itself as a blue wire that has a white stripe. it goes directly to the buttons. the ground is a white wire with a black stripe runs through the motors and grounds itself under the left center pillar. the button controls splice off the imput so you should have 1 Y inside the connector - for the buttons and the motors. (4 motors in the drivers seat btw)

just grab a haynes manual. for the 97-01 model, it's the camry book you need. isbn: 1563924048 (this book includes all the lexus es' through the same years as they share the camry base.) kijiji / craigslist usually has people selling them used for under 10 bucks. auto stores retail it new for 20 bucks + tax. worth it's weight in gold as it literally gives you A-Z step by step. and GBHrps is right. 90% of the repairs you can easily do yourself given a garage or some space in your yard and a bit of spare time. the major work like replacing a muffler line or gas tank.. you'll need a lift to safely get under the car and not have it crush you. aside from that, just make sure you are using the correct fluids. it's written in the lexus booklet that came with the car. depending on the year/engine there are slight changes as to DOT, type, viscosity etc... as long as you double check to be sure, it's smooth sailing.

the fluid level in the master brake cylinder has a very very very sensitive sensor. a hair under the level it wants = instant light. top it up and away you go. (but by all means if you think something else is wrong dont kill yourself by not checking!) gb gave you the other advice. you can visually see pad wear. and it will screech like a pig when they get too "low". only reason to change them before this is if you dont like how it's biting.

you happen to be in luck. i was strip searching my evap schematics the other weekend trying to weed out a gas gremlin. the p0446 code is a vent control malfunction. and refers to code p0441 as a solution. the 441 code is an incorrect purge flow. the list of "culprits" is as follows: open/short in vsv circuit for evap, vsv for evap, open/short in vapor pressure sensor circuit, vapor sensor sensor malfunction, open/short in vsv circuit for vapor pressure sensor, malfunction in vsv for vapor pressure circuit, vaccume hose blocked/damaged/disconnected, charcoal canister malfunction. since it gave you a vent error (446) then the mechanic is prob right in assuming that its the vac valve malfunctioning. unfortunatly, you are very unlucky because of the year of the car. only the V6 97+98 years were ultra easy access to the stupid evap system. it was placed just under the master brake cylinder once you pop the hood. on these models. ide go with your guess of about 20-25min to get at it, remove/replace etc.. every other year, 4cyl or v6 models had the friggin thing burried behind your gas tank. making it beyond fckin annoying from the looks of it to remove/repair. the canister and half it's guts that attach to it are there also. you might luck out as there are multiple "valves" dotted in both areas (canister and engine regardless of year) and your busted vac valve might be luckily the engine bay one. it is located under the engine "shield" protector i guess you could call it. undo the 2 hex bolts holding the cover on. and look underneath. should see a round light purple thing with 3 small hoses going into it. thats the front VCV valve. to the left slightly should be a rectangular T shaped tetris piece assembly. thats the VSV for the evap system. basically its that if you are super lucky. one of those valves jammed or is blocked. if not. behind the gas tank bud... not sure what to tell you.... it's gonna be a painfull thing to get at the canister and the rest of the valves. and i wouldnt be doing it from under a jackstand either... gonna prob need a lift. and when you clear the codes yes everything should wipe for those. they will come back very soon tho, hehe so dont get your hopes up. good luck seriously. im fighting with my evap right now too for a stupid gas gremlin prob... and it ain't easy. sigh.

Ah well thats great! guess ill be buying one of the newer ES' for sure. with that kind of milage and today's gas prices... brilliant. :)