BadBrad

Brake rotors have a minimum thickness spec. This is ususally stamped somewhere thereon. My 35 year old Buick's rotors have over 300,000 miles on them and they are at the min thickness now. I put crappy pads on them last time just so I could squeak out another 30,000 miles. I did not turn the rotors because my dial indicator told me they were still parallel. At a 1000 miles per year I might replace them when the car hits 60 years old. If your rotors can be turned and still meet the min thickness, I say save your money. By the way, Japanese cars are some the easiest ever made for DIY brake jobs. If they are easy for the do it yourselfer, how much profit do you think a shop will take from your wallet?

I always try to remember to "blow-out" the A/C plenum with non-conditioned air for a couple of minutes just before I shut down the vehicle. The closer you can get the evaporator to outside ambient air temperature after you drive the less likely it will be a magnet for condensation. Everytime I forget to do this on my truck or RX I'm usually greeted the next morning by a blast of stankiness.

Pop the cap (sometimes they try to come out by themselves) tighten up the screw. Some screws and bolts come loose from use because nobody makes 'em reverse thread for rotating components. Do you wear glasses? If so you know what I mean - only one side of the frame ever seems to come loose.

Oh! That's the hesitation you guys are talking about. Hmmm. I've driven in the past easily one of the quickest street-driven automatic tranny cars most people could even imagine. It would barely move until the 600 horse engine hit 3,500 rpm. Talk about your poor fuel milage! Most of the hesitation you are talking about has to do with torque converter stall speed. There is no direct mechanical link between the engine and trans in an automatic equipped vehicle (lock up converters being the exception and then only at cruise). The converter must come up to higher RPM before it applies enough force to spin the opposing stator at the proper ratio. If you want this thing to move rapidly off the line hold your foot on the brake give it the gas and then release the brake. I believe Toyota has somehow compromised the initial application of engine torque with a converter not properly calibrated for lower engine speed. I do find it an annoying aspect of the car but every car has some compromises.

The standard procedure is drain the pan (you or your kids can do this), drop the pan, remove and hose out the screen, replace the screen, reinstall the pan, refill with 4 quarts through the dipstick tube, take your 60 bucks (maybe more). Skip the dollars part, kick your kids out of the garage and do the screen and pan if you are anal about filtration. Some observations 5 days after I drained and refilled. Yes the dipstick has a little bend at the end. When I look at the fluid on the dipstick there is no sign of any contamination from the fluid that remained in the valve body and torque converter. Does this mean that in five days of driving none of the old fluid comingled with the 4 quarts of new? I have a tough time believing that! Sixteen quart dry capacity is certainly a possibility. But the automatics I've worked on in my younger car-building and drag racing days (Chrysler A727, GM TH350 and 400) took less. The 727 takes 12, the 350 takes 10, the 400 takes 11.5 (all dry capacity). Without a service manual probably can't know the total capacity other than through peoples observations. Is draining and refilling the pan a waste of time for 16 bucks? - Not a chance!

This was not a good idea! A lot of discussion on the internet about why you don't mix antifreeze types. All of it indicates a bad move.

Change it! - It is too easy a task to avoid. It's so easy take your car to a local elementary school and have the 4th grade class do it for you. And if you really want to clean out the system do it twice in a month so as to really dilute the dirty stuff left after you open the plug.

Thanks blustu. Of course when asked the Lexus LIAR said it was a different part number.

Polish your headlight lens with Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish by hand using terri cloth. Follow up with regular plastic polish from Mothers or Maguires. The Mag polish is strong enough to remove the haze but not damaging to the plastic. I really was astounded at how well this works. I read the tip in Car Craft Magazine a few months back - then tried it.

I just changed mine today - pretty easy. After you take the black plastic deal out of the back of the glove box you'll find 10 inch x 1.5 inch panel with some handles that stick out. This is a door that interference fits into a hole. Give it a yank and off it pops. The filter sits in an oversize "Easybake Oven" tray. Feel around blindly in there - you'll find a little handle in the middleto grab between your thumb and fingers - slide out the tray. $25 for the filter! Next time it gets the hose - kinda like I got the hose from Lexus for a $3 filter with an 800% mark-up. Live and learn man.

Why would you change out the lens? If yours are hazy I have a quick and easy polishing tip.

I just did this job this p.m. It is easier than changing oil. It's so easy that no owner should ever have a wrecked tranny. Follow the directions that RX in NC provided with the exception that there is NO NEED to raise your vehicle with a jack. Use a catch pan with a wide opening - when this fluid is warm (about an hour after driving) it gushes out of the drain hole for about 2 minutes. Let it sit and drip for 30 to 60 minutes. On my AWD model slightly more than 4 quarts came out. According to the owner's manual the FWD version will drain about 3.5 quarts. The drain plug is easily accessible from under the front driver's side. Lexus dealer wanted 30% more $ for the fluid than the Toyota dealer 100 yards down the street. Yeah - sure Lexus cares about customer service! :chairshot: What - are they on crack? Make me walk down the street - my a$$!

My mom's '92 LS400 goes through batteries like a frat house goes through beer. That car needs a new battery about every two years. Has been this way since new. There is something about this particular model that kills batteries. By comparison, my '96 F150 bought in November of '95 is still on the original Motorcraft battery. It has been fully discharged 3 times. My '70 Buick GS455 needs a diode to keep the aftermarket ignition (full of capacitors) from drinking the battery dead when the car sits for a while. There is actually feedback through the electrical system that can only be stopped with a diode. The car will actually run with the ignition shut off without the diode. My point here is that there is some system in the LS400 that drains the battery while the car sleeps. Eventually it kills the battery to the point where it won't take a charge.

Harbor Freight Tools sells a Pittsburg 150# micrometer style clicking wrench for under $20. Comes with a case. I use mine all the time and build engines (that don't break) with it. If you're ever concerned about calibration, engine machine shops in your town can probably check it out for you. The key for these is maintanence. Never store the wrench without loosening the spring - twist the micrometer handle back down to around zero pounds.

It could be a multitude of problems - without a scanner you'll never know. But go for the easy stuff first. Is your gas cap on tight and not leaking vacuum? The cap should click at least twice - otherwise its not on correctly. The computer usually knows when there is a leak at the cap. The next most likely culprit is gonna be an oxygen sensor - these are easy to fix, inexpensive to buy, but cost you the same for diagnosis at a shop as simply buying your own code scanner. Some of the corporate auto parts places will scan the computer for you. Autozone does this.

Have not personally been using synt oil in my RX - only using oil from the earth and changing every 3000 miles or so. Probably more often than most folks would do but I build automotive engines for fun and believe in frequent oil changes. If I changed that frequently with synth it would cost me four times what dino oil costs - forget it! Changing the filter on these is a bit tricky just because of the placement and close quarters. When you buy a new filter get one with an anti-drainback device - that way when you pull it next time most of the oil stays in the filter instead of slopping out when you maneuver the filter out. I think changing the oil yourself is a better idea than sending to a shop. The shop monkey is WAY less likely to care about making a mess with the filter than you will be. Regarding synth oil, I've not read any of the threads here. But I run 5-30 synth oil in my 34 year old Buick GS455 and don't have any oil leaks. I put the engine in there 10 years ago and still no leaks. I can guarantee the Toyota engine has better machine tolerances than the mating surfaces on the Buick engine. What would you think? The Buick gets synth oil because oil changes are only about once every 9 months on it due to only about 1000 miles a year. I found the synth oil to be way more stable and less likely to vaporize from the heat of a 450 horse engine. If you go to Lexus for an oil change they'll put Engine Oil Supplement in with the oil and charge you for it. I don't put it in mine since it gets new oil every 3000 anyway. Hope this gives you some food for thought.

Apparently you've never built an engine yourself before, otherwise you'd have known that oil on the threads and bolt heads is common practice if not a requirement. The friction between a dry bolt head and dry mating surface does nothing but bind the bolt early which in turn may yield a false reading on the wrench. Torque specs are different for dry and wet bolts. A dry bolt with a spec of 12 lb/ft runs only 9lb/ft if wet. So your "NO! NOT!" is just NOT! appropriate - there are times when wet bolts are right. Back to the original question - we're all still wondering what the spec on these bolts is.

I've been planning to climb under the ride and do this myself. Although I've not been under there yet to peek I will say that most driveshaft bolts are quite exposed and usually easy to find. If this is the case all you'll need is a torque wrench which you can pick up from Harbor Freight tools for $20 or less (micrometer type) on the web. All we really need to know is how many pound/feet or newton/meters we need pull on these bolts. When I do it (by the way) I'll probably crack 'em loose, deposit a drop of motor oil, and then pull them tight. So - how tight do these need to be? I'd bet 45 lbs/ft.

Being as I'm a real motorhead with dirty fingernails on any given Monday, I take Car Craft magazine. I read there that Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish can be used on hazy plastic lenses. My RX300's headlamp lenses were hazy from driving around in a blizzard or two and no amount of cleaning would help. Sure enough, that Mother's polish sitting on the shelf cleaned up the lenses to like new condition. I finished them up with regular plastic polish (much less agressive and therefore had no effect on the original haze). Try it - you'll like it!

For around twice that money you can buy a K&N air filter that never needs to be replaced - only cleaned with soap and water about once in 50,000 miles. This is a performance air filter and you will actually get a little seat-of-the-pants increase in performance. You can even hear a slight change in the tone of the intake system.

Some aftermarket oil filters, and I believe the toyota oil filter have an anti-backflow device to help keep oil in the filter (for the most part) after shut down. When changing filters this tends to keep most of the oil in th filter rather than allowing it to spill out. Although there is much controvsery as to the quality of Fram filters, their Tough Guard filter comes with this anti-backflow device.