Brett in AK

Just asking here as I am not familiar with the sensor but if you soldered the wires together, wouldn't that complete the circuit and illuminate the warning light? I'd wager if he is concerned about the cost of the sensor, he ought to be able to pick up a good used one at the salvage yard. Brett

Hey there jcrome04! Looks like you've jumped ship? Looks like you've picked up a pretty nice ride, are you going to continue to haunt the Lexus halls? Still trying to sell out and move down to Whidbey. Also still looking to buy those SnapOn tools at Costco. :D Take care, Brett

I would think you'd be better served to have all four tires of the same manufacturer. Once I got to the stage of the game where I could actually afford to buy a set of four I've always done just that. I shudder to think that I used to paw through the discard pile behind the tire shop back in the early 60's to try and find four usable tires and couldn't care less about the manufacturer. Heck I used to run 14's on the front and 15's on the rear! Tried the recaps for awhile, but they were a poor substitute for a new tire. I recall one summer day I purchased four new recaps in Las Cruces, New Mexico at Big "O" Tire. It was in excess of 100 degrees ambient and by the time I made it back to White Sands Missle Range I had already lost two of the caps. Now that's quality control. I never bought recaps again. Back to your question though I would endeavor to always stay with four of the same style and manufacturer on the ground. With proper rotation (including the spare) and inflation you should wind up buying a set of five at the same time. Your ride might suffer slightly with the 18's you're running, but you probably won't actually feel the difference. With the oversize wheel you will have less cushion effect and a slightly harsher ride. Welcome to the forum! I'm still fairly new to it myself, but there is quite a lot of knowledge to be gained. Like body orifices we all tend to offer our own exspurt (sic) opinions, you just have to wade through them and select what best fits you!

"KF" To fill the pinholes in the Bondo you can use glazing putty. You can find it at any of your auto parts stores in the paint section. It comes in a tube and essentially is very thick red primer. It works great! BTW the repair work looks pretty darned good. Kudos for hanging in there and undertaking a major project. Having said that though continue to heed some of the advice. Best of luck! Brett

Replaced PCV valve just for good measure... Rear seal was replaced...no leaks whatsoever...a little over $700 for: replacing lower oil pan gasket, fixing rear main seal, PCV valve. I may be sensitive to hearing little noises that mean nothing, but it seems to have a new noise while idling, but it goes away when you step on the gas so i'm not worried about it. Only I can hear it. I have a knack for hearing annoying little noises no one else notices. Thanks to all who helped during this time of headaches and what to do's..... Next up on my list of things to do: Taking the guy who sold me the car to small claims court for lying to me and advertising the car under false pretenses and for selling a car that was missing a lug nut on all four wheels along with a couple other things an attorney thinks will win us the $800+ spent on repairing the car in addition to his legal fees. I contacted the seller and of course he never contacted me back...good thing he just signed a lease on a house right around the corner from me and I have all of his contact information... Your going to sue the guy who sold you a car that is 15 years old with 165,000 miles on it because it has an oil leak and is missing 4 lug nuts? Come on here, what ever happened to caveat emptor? I sympathize with your situation, but you've got to "man up" a bit and get over it. In time you'll probably discover other things that need to be repaired on the car, are you going to sue him for that as well? Personally I'd be surprised if you prevail on your case contrary to your lawyers advice. Surely you had the opportunity to inspect the car before your bought it. And of course your attorney has nothing to lose here, either way he's going to get paid for his time. Also why would you retain the services of an attorney for such a paltry sum? Haven't you heard of small claims court? Your best bet is to start setting a little money aside from your paycheck and save it for future items that will need to be replaced. Good luck with your car, I hope it treats you well.

Hey folks those of us who are a little gray around the temple area should pause for a moment and remember some of the shenanigans we pulled as kids. I must admit though I never had a car as nice as his when I was his age. Fact of the matter is I didn't have a car at all! However, when I bought my first car with my own money, boy oh boy did I try and make up for lost time. After countless trips to traffic court my parents dropped me from there insurance policy (after they were threatened by their insurance company with cancellation). Not to be dissuaded I continued to drive with my foot right smack in the middle of the 406 tri-power Ford I was running, up until the point I was hauled in once again and the local judge got out of bed to come hold court at 11:30 PM. I was given the choice of 30 days in jail or 90 days without a license, which at that young age was tantamount to solitary confinement in not being able to act like the typical teenage idiot dragging main. Yes we used to drag main back then. Anyhow after a short period of time I worked out a deal with the president of the local draft board and the judge and after showing him my draft papers I was given my license back. Wound up serving over 20 years and retired from the Army and did a lot of growing up in a very short time. My point I guess, is that we all go through this in one fashion or another. Young man, heed some well given advice from some of these kind folks who post here. Like you I made light of things and also like you it was always someone else's fault. Take heed and pay attention to some of the solid advice that has been proferred here. We would much rather have you alive and able to post here than lying out along the road somewhere or perhaps someone else as well. Before you know it you'll be my age, but only if you take just a moment and reflect on your actions. Sorry to hear about your car and I wish you well. Brett

When you performed this test all you did was to test the taillight circuit, not the brake lights. You should be able to simply see if the brake light bulb filament is intact, it is the thicker of the two filaments, (or in your case the one that doesn't light up! ). If in doubt you can use an ohmmeter and check for continuity in the bulb. Check each soldered tip on the bulb, one is for tail lights, the other is for brakes. Place one probe on the tip and the other on the metal base. If the bulbs are good then using a voltmeter check for voltage at the bulb socket. Place the red probe on one of the two tips you see in the socket and the other to ground. Here again one tip is for the tail light circuiut and the other is the elulsive brake circuit. If you don't find any voltage, then start working backwards to see where the disconnect is. I don't suspect you'll find this is anything major, just calls for a little electrical sleuthing! Let us know what you find out.

Boy,tough choice! But given you are on the Lexus Forum we might all be a bit biased. ;) I was torn between a BMW and the LS 430 as well, but opted for the 06 Ultra and am very happy with my choice. That being said you couldn't really go wrong with either one although the Lexus lends itself to more luxury I would think. I would recommend driving both of them if you haven't already and do a little more research on the reliability and maintenance. From reading some of the many posts here, these Lexus's seem to last forever if properly maintained although they are pretty pricey when it comes to parts. The same can be said for the BMW though. Good luck either way you go!

Have there been any recalls for the 06 LS430 Ultra? If so, where could I access the information, or where could I run the VIN to see if they have been accomplished? Thanks much! Brett

Jay,Thats the major drawback to owning one of these beautiful high tech cars, they cost a mint to buy and another mint to repair. They're a wonder to drive though when everything is working correctly. After reading some of the posts of those without the Ultra option and talking with numerous Lexus salesmen when I was shopping for mine, it seems as though most couldn't tell the difference between having the air suspension and not, unless of course you paid for the option <_< . That being said, here is a shade tree solution. Is it possible to simply pull the fuse to disable the air suspension and let it settle back down to the normal height? Seems to me there must be a provision to do this. After all when you raise and then lower it has to vent the excess air. I know this is a roundabout way of dealing with this, but if you can live without it, it surely couldn't cost much if at all. Let us know what you find out.

Yours is an Ultra, right? To rule out a problem with the ride height I would cycle through the other settings to see if there is any change. When I get home in the morning I will try to remember to measure from the ground up to a given point with my 06 Ultra and let you know for comparison. Thanks Brett. Ya, it's an Ultra, and I've toggled through the other settings. I called a dealer and they said it's likely a sensor gone bad. I just need to figure ot which one it is an how to swap it. Can't pay the repair shop :-). Thanks! Well you could always install a set of 15" or 14" wheels on the back to level it out! :D Or leave it like it is and it should fit right in down in East LA B) Perhaps someone here with the shop manual can provide some information on how to trouble shoot it and where the sensor(s) is/are located?

Yours is an Ultra, right? To rule out a problem with the ride height I would cycle through the other settings to see if there is any change. When I get home in the morning I will try to remember to measure from the ground up to a given point with my 06 Ultra and let you know for comparison.

After reading through several of your posts I'm inclined to agree it's a bad battery, and you're right those corroded anodes or posts will wreak havoc with the charging. As long as you are looking at the cable ends, follow the ground cable down to where it attaches to the engine and ensure it hasn't worked loose. How long has it been since you last replaced the battery? If you replace it go ahead and pick up a set of those red and green felt anti corrosion washers. Clean the inside of the cable connector with a battery terminal brush. If the connecter is really bad, you can clean it in a solution of standard baking soda and water. I don't think the alternator is at fault as you would/should have seen a warning light. Let us know what you discover.

I have added Slick 50 oil treatment to each of my vehicles. I did it primarily for cold weather cranking, but they also claim an increase in fuel economy as well. Might be worth checking into. Quite honestly I'm not all that concerned about fuel economy. I drive a 98 JGC with the 5.9, a 05 Jeep Rubicon, a 49 Dodge Power Wagon. The LS was purchased for the luxury it offers. To each there own!

You can't go wrong with what your owners manual or sticker suggests. Regarding high PSI vs. low I would opt for the high if it wasn't excessively so. Bear in mind that your tire wear in the center will be faster and the ride will be harsher. Point to remember, when the temperatures warm up in the spring and summer you normally will have to readjust the tire pressure again. Just as a matter of curiosity, when you checked the tire pressure after you got the car back from the garage, was that after driving home, or after sitting at home and giving the tires a chance to cool down? The reason I bring this up is the tire pressure will increase exponentially as the tire or ambient temperature increases. I'm pretty religious about keeping up with the tire PSI's and the other day when I checked my "other" vehicle they were all at 40 PSI, up from the recommended 36. The 40ish reading was the next morning after sitting in my garage for the night. The temperature variation here is pretty extreme due to the elevation; i.e. it can get to the high 70s or 80s during the day and it'll still get down to the 40's or even 30's at night (I really enjoy that). If you enjoy the temperature changes, you ought to move up here to Alaska. You'll get a bigger bang for the buck as you see upwards of a 160 degree swing between summer and winter. Also depending on where you come to you can escape the Laramie wind.

Ed,You mentioned having the codes checked, was the service engine light on? Would there be any codes if the light was not on? My guess is the air filter. You also mentioned the rattle in the exhaust, so something must be amiss there as well possibly to the point where it might be restricting exhaust flow which would have a major impact on your mileage.

You can't go wrong with what your owners manual or sticker suggests. Regarding high PSI vs. low I would opt for the high if it wasn't excessively so. Bear in mind that your tire wear in the center will be faster and the ride will be harsher. Point to remember, when the temperatures warm up in the spring and summer you normally will have to readjust the tire pressure again. Just as a matter of curiosity, when you checked the tire pressure after you got the car back from the garage, was that after driving home, or after sitting at home and giving the tires a chance to cool down? The reason I bring this up is the tire pressure will increase exponentially as the tire or ambient temperature increases. I'm pretty religious about keeping up with the tire PSI's and the other day when I checked my "other" vehicle they were all at 40 PSI, up from the recommended 36.

I'm pretty sure that is an option that needs to be programmed at the dealer.

Mike,Is it both mirrors or just one? If it's both mirrors your best bet would be to simply replace the controller.

I never use OEM filters! I've always used Fram filters and have never had a problem. I'd bet if you could do the research that there are only a few manufacturers of filters and they supply all of the different car manufacturers their own "OEM" filters after applying the company logo. It is ludicrous to pay the extra bucks for OEM filters IMHO.

Brain, Congratulations on the purchase or your brand new 1996 Lexus! ;)

Hey there PA28 driver! Used to fly a PA22/20 then moved on to a Cessna 170B with a 220hp Franklin with CSP, what a hoot! . All my time has been conventional or tail dragger. Never have flown a tricycle gear. Currently in between planes, but live on and own the airstrip and hanger! Nothing like Alaska flying. Brett

If both mirrors quit working at the same time, check the fuse. Brett

Bob, Glad everything worked out for you! Brett

You only get to go around once in this old world so you might as well enjoy yourself while you're here. Look at it this way with more than one or two cars you get the "multi car" discount. <_<. After over 20 years in the military and now retired for that many more, I'm entitled to a little fun! Eagerly awaiting spring :)