curiousB

I just repaired a sticky door lock on a Ford. The solution was to spray lock mechanism with WD40 (really soak it down so the spray get to every nook and cranny. Then close and open door 10-20 times to work the mechanism and lossen it up. Last step was to spray in some aerosol silicone lubricant (as the WD40 is mostly solvent and will evaporate away). My problem was a sticky latch and intermittent door closed switch. Not quite the same problem you’re seeing but easy enough to try on your own for next to nothing in cost.

Maybe a slightly corroded bulb socket? That could make the connection intermittent. If the bulb is open circuit the brake light out circuit will trigger. Maybe just take out the brake bulbs, clean up the base with some steel wool or emery cloth. If you can scrub the inside of the socket with a small wire brush even better. Then reseat the bulb. Just a guess but wouldn't be a chore to try.

Time to find a new mechanic. Either he is guessing at the problem or worse he is just fishing for expensive repairs. nc211 and marklouis comments on the mount scenario seem to have a much stronger problem cause and effect story not to mention direct experience. Compare that to your mechanic who suggest a device designed to keep a steady idle speed do the motor while resting as the cause of a lurch. I know who I’d believe…..

I just had to have front rotors machined due to an overzealous tire store employee with his trusty impact wrench. You don't need absolute precision but nut to nut variance should be low. Only way to get that is with a torque wrench. If you use an air wrench then at least use a torque limiter http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=92890 (but better to do by hand with torque wrench in my mind).

Another possibility is the is evaporator coil is icing up and restricting airflow. This occurs when refrigerant is low. Could explain why the system recovers as the iced up coil melts. Might want to have the A/C charge checked.

This issue is resolved but now I am tackling the timing belt, water pump, and valve cover gaskets since the car is so far apart already. Let us know how that goes. I have that same repair coming up in 10-12 months and am educating myself (and trying to build up the courage) to do it myself. Would be interested how it goes. Particulary intereted how you get the bolt off crankshaft and pull harmonic balancer. Sounds like that can be a tricky part to the repair.

Thanks for the input. I checked the product specs: Product Description Features and Benefits For all vehicles, can be mounted in vehicle Fully automatic with charging status indicated by LED Reverse polarity and short circuit protection 12 Volt, 1.5 Amp charge rate Portable Is this the same protection like the in-line fuse? Thanks No not at all. The short circuit protection you refer to is that the charger can withstand being connected to a dead short while powered up for an indefinite period of time. A useful feature but since these chargers are quite low in current it isn't as big a feat as they make it sound. This however has nothing to do with the point of putting a fuse on the red wire right at the battery. At the risk of beating an almost dead horse to shreds I'll state it one more time. The purpose of the fuse on the red wire is to protect the possibility of the red wire somehow getting pinched which would cause a short to ground. By putting the fuse at the battery end you protect that wire from turning red hot and potentially causing a fire. Protection of wiring is always done at the source of the energy, not the load. In this case the source of the energy is the battery. This is why in your house the electrical first flows to a breaker panel before the house wiring. They protect the branch circuit wiring at the source of the energy. If the breakers where in the receptacle of your home and somehow the wiring got pinched in the wall (too tight a staple or a drywall screw) then that branch wiring could start a fire because it isn't protected at the energy source. Its the same in your Lexus. The battery first goes through a fusible link (main whole vehicle fuse) then it is subdivided into branch circuits with individual fuses. The fuses are at the energy source before the wiring.

try www.parts.com They sell Lexus OEM parts at fair prices.

Sounds like a faulty blower motor to me. The resistors are just used in series with the motor to slow it down for the lower speed settings. High setting bypasses all resistors. If the high setting is pulling down the battery then maybe motor bearings are starting to seize putting a lot of extra drag on the motor (or could blower wheel be dragging on blower body?). The surprising thing is the blower fuse should be popping here as the current must be quite high to drag the battery down. The other scenario is the alternator isn't cutting it due to worn brushes, loose belt, and/or faulty voltage regulator. The puzzling thing is high beam headlights plus rear window defogger should draw more than the blower motor so if its the charging system then this load should pull down battery as well. Its important for this test you measure battery at the battery terminals (both + and -) and not just any 12VDC spot you can find. This way you eliminate voltage drops in the car wiring which might vary over different loads and steer you in the wrong direction. Before buying resistors I'd be sure to rerun the tests again measuring voltage at the battery in an A vs B test. Where A is blower at high speed (nothing else on) and B is no blower but high beam headlights on and rear window defogger on. Both of these tests with engine running. If battery voltage is dragged down more with blower then I'd suspect blower motor. The blower motor should be getting quite hot though if it is pulling down a good alternator set up. Might want to double check blower fuse to be sure someone didn't "fix" this in the past by putting a too high value fuse in the slot (explaining why fuse isn't popping) and see if you can get to the blower motor case after its been running 5-10 minutes to see if it is hot to the touch (careful if its faulty it could be very hot (ie burn you)). If its worn bearing might be able to recover with a clean and lube. otherwise a new blower motor is the way to go. Oh just reread your post. Dop this test with heat not A/C. A/C introduces the possibility of a faulty compressor clutch drawing too much current. Need to isolate to the fan motor vs everything else to be sure

Do you have a DVM (digital voltmeter)? They are only $10-20 for cheaper one and very handy. You could measure battery voltage at the battery terminals. Check it with car off should be around 12 VDC with car running but least amount of items turned on should be around 13.3 VDC then running with everything you can turn on turned on (high beams, blower motors, rear defog, audio, ...) should stay at around 13.3VDC If you have an alternator probelm you'll see the voltage drop with all these other electrical loads as well. The alternator doesn't know who is pulling the load. If you find only the blower motor pulls the battery down but nothing else then your theory is a possibility. I doubt it though. If it were faulty and pulling excess load then the fuse would pop (unless someone put in a higher value fuse than recommended). If you have an alternator problem then the cumulative load of all these items is far higher than just a blower motor and it should be obvious in the reading (and maybe in a dimming of the headlights). I would rething you alternater testing more in line with above and also make sure the belt to the alternator isn't slipping when the electrical loads are high.

You might be able to localize the intermittent connection further by using something insulating like a chopstick and tapping in specific points to see if can narrow it down further. It might end up being as simple as cleaning a connector with some type of electronic solvent cleaner or maybe finding a cold solder joint on the PCB. If a cold solder joint a gentle reheat with a soldering iron and a dab of rosin core solder and you might recover it.

I checked the installed charger/maintainer and it is only 1.5A. I do not think I need an inline fuse. Thank you anyway. Best Chris OK your decision. Most manufactiers recommend a fuse when connecting direct to battery and their harnesses include the protection fuse.

Good idea to keep the moisture out of the wires as salty water will corrode copper wires pretty fast. High temp silicon also a good idea as it is readily available in home stores in the HVAC section and it’s an excellent sealer and electrical insulator. Exposed wires could lead to a conductive path to ground creating erratic triggering of the circuit.

Well could be several things. A couple of suggestions. Try listening with your ear very near or against the door and pop the door locks. Can you heard the lock motor (similar to a solenoid, it moves the mechanical mechanism in the door) running inside the problem door? If you hear nothing in this door but you heard the click in the others it could be as simple as a broken wire (common failure in door hinge area due to repeated flexing of wires each time door opened) or maybe the lock motor is broken. If you hear the motor inside the door working then it could be the linkage mechanism has just come loose and disconnected or it is broken or bent. You’ll have to remove door panel to get a look inside. If I were to take a complete guess I would say a broken wire is most likely cause. The ear test will tell you one way or another.

I would still consider a small inline fuse at the battery terminal end of the red wire. A maintainer or "float charger" will only deliver a small current so a 5 or 10A fuse will not be a problem for the maintainer but will protect you if the wire gets inadvertently shorted to ground. Better to blow a fuse than melt a wire and a potential fire hazard. It’s just a safety precaution. It’s easy to get fooled that because cars are low voltage (12VDC) they are inherently “safe”. Car batteries store an enormous amount of energy and will melt wires and cause fires quite easily.

What is the single red wire to the +positive post of the battery? It doesn't looked fused at the battery end which means a cable fault (insulation gets cut or pinched and you have a potential dead short to the battery. The wire will light up like a Christmas tree. Might want to put an in-line fuse at battery end and cover bare wire with flexible jacket for added protection. Beautifully kept car. Looks cleaner than my ’04.

I tend to agree with you SRK. Pulsing in the front when braking and a shimmy in the steering wheel is due to rotor being warped (out of plane). The forces at play and the natural wiping action of a pad against the rotor would seem to debunk this mystical deposition theory. I thought I read somewhere Toyota is so particular about run-out that they recommend machining rotors on the car (with special and more difficult to use lathe) so you net out any tolerance stack up from to the hub and the mating of the rotor to the hub. Furthermore 0.003" is apparently enough run-out to start feeling pulsing in the front end. That isn't a lot of run-out. You don't machine rotor to clean them. You machine them to return them to a parallel on plane surface free of gouges.

This site might help you find what parts form the air ride system. http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/ Or you can join this site for a day, week, month, or year and get service manuals specific to your exact model number. https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/...el=ti_home_page

Can we clarify here? Are you saying: The deposition of pad material creates uneven thickness spots on the rotor and this uneven “topography” results in vibration or pulsing from the brakes. In fact the rotor may not even be warped. or These depositions create different thermal characteristics of the rotor which cause uneven heating under use and this uneven heating leads to warping of the rotor and the resulting warped rotor lead to pulsing brakes. or Even with a warped rotor it isn’t the warpness (run out) of the rotor that creates the pulsing, it’s these islands of deposition that grab the pads to create a pulsing sensation. If 1 or 3 are the answer it sure paints a dim view of semi metallic pads for these cars, Ironically its common to find numerous such pads available at shops and on line and they’re often promoted as upgrades. Just trying to understand the failure mechanism better.

Coolant Sensor? I was following along with interest then got lost. What was the coolant sensor in reference too?

Hi Mike, Good to see your warning light has taken the day off. Just a minor correction, you now have a brand new UN-sensor! ;)

Any chance you have a dealer look at the car to determine the source of the vibration? It would be a sinking feeling just buying the car to find that the repair is much larger than you expected. Maybe you get lucky and its something simple like a transmission mount but it could be something more (given tranny was just serviced you might ask the mechanic if he replaced the mount with a new one and if not what was condition of old one). These cars are expensive to repair when they need repairs. Parts are more expensive and dealer labor rates are high (although a lot of people seem to have good success with independent mechanics). The good news is they need repairs less often because the cars are designed so well. At 207k though we're not talking about a new born but that isn’t overly high for one of these cars either..

I know some other cars use warning strips on the pads (not sure proper name for them). Basically once the pad wears they contact the rotor and start scratching. It’s meant to warn you pads are worn. Maybe the guy replaced pads with some off brand pad that has this warning strip. Maybe just going pack to OEM pads will solve the issue. It’s only about $50-60 for Lexus OEM pads.

The sensor is just a wire loop. When you wear too far you break the loop embedded in the little plastic portion attached to the pads. It would seem simple enough to just cut back the sensor cable, strip and splice the wires together. A little soldering iron and rosin core solder next. Then some electricians tape and or heat shrink tubing. Just cut back the sensor wire far enough such that it does bounce around or get caught in something. You'll lose the warning feature but people survived the century prior without brake pad warning sensors. If you're diligent about checking then the electronic monitoring is overkill.

I wouldn't buy a battery from a Lexus dealer. Their markup and labor are so high it will never be competitive with someone like a Sears or a specialty auto store like a Autozone/pep boys/... (in USA) or Canadian Tire (in Canada where original poster lives). As others have said only a couple companies actually make the batteries the rest is branding of these few to create appearance Sears and other actually make batteries. That is strange that a car with <30k miles is in need its third battery. I have 74k on my original battery and no signs of problems yet. I heard AZ was a tough place on batteries I didn't realize Florida was too.