DaveinTX

I'm definitly no expert but I would think the heads could be repaired and re-installed on block. I was wondering how many miles on the car, I though these cars would have a pretty well made timing belt, was something else going on with the engine that caused it to fail. I was also wondering if it trashed the valves when it broke. Thanks-Dave

Hi all, Well it's finally time for some new tires, I am replacing my wife's run flats with regular tires. I saved one of the stock wheels from her old es300 thinking I could use for a spare (kept in my pick-up), I pulled it out to see if it would fit and it looks like the brake rotor on the sc430 is too big for that wheel, not enough clearance on the inside. I was hoping there was someone in the dallas area that might be willing to part out stock wheels as spares, I would love to buy one for reasonable price. If anyone wants to sell one please contact me at d-howe1@ti.com, thanks-Dave

I have some stock wheels from a es300 and have been wondering the same thing, I was planning on using as a spare. If I ever get around to trying it out I'll let you know, please do the same if you try yours. Thanks-Dave

cars.com is a good site to compare whats a fair price in your area. I recently picked up an 04, very good cond., with 50k miles, paid 25k, it was close to other ones with same milage. My wife loves it, it's alot of car for 25k, no regrets.

I posted a thread a couple months ago about how to tighten/remove the rear view mirror, it's a piece of cake once you understand how it comes off, takes about 30 sec. If you can find the mirror you want, I would think it would just be a simple swap. -Dave

the switch shoud be opening the circuit turning the heater off when it clicks, the switch must be bad.

I just wanted to let you guys know I installed the "Vifa TP16WJ-06-08 6-1/2" Woofer 8 Ohm" speakers from parts express. The sound is great, much better than I expected, almost unbelieveable for the price I paid for these speakers, $20 apiece. The hardest part of the install was making the adapters to put the 6.5" round into the 6 x 9 bracket. I can't believe how loud I can turn it up without any distortion, they really sound fantastic. These speakers don't have foam around the edge they have rubber, they look higher quality than what came out. Both the old woofers the foam was split all the way around, I guess you can imagine how bad it did sound. The stock speakers did not look like quality ($200)speakers, and I noticed the foam had split right where the frame presses against it mounting it to the housing it sits in, if I had new stock speakers I would leave the frame off and just mount using the holes in speaker frame, I think the plastic frame that sat on top was pressing to hard on the foam, it had a sharp edge so with all the flexing back and forth I'm not surprized the foam split, what I'm trying to say is it looks more like an issue with how it was mounted than the speaker itself. I followed the procedure that several speaker threads link, that guy did a great job with the instructions. There were a few tips I would add. After removing all door panel screws the panel didn't seem to want to lift up and out, I pluged the window cont. back in and lowered window. After some gentle back and forth pulling the side closest to mirror finally came loose. It's a tight fit, I would reccomend having the window down, and take it slow when pulling out the panel. It was easier getting it back in, just make sure you give it a little extra push to make sure it's fully seated back down. Almost all the screws are phillips head, until you go to remove the 6 X 9 from the housing, those 4 screws under the foam use a little 6 point star, I'm not sure what it's called but luckily I had one. For the adapter I used 1/4" plywood. I would have rather used particle board but couldn't find 1/4", I wish I had looked harder because the plywood was a pain making clean cuts, I made it work but there are better choices. I mounted the speakers in the adapter and then the adapters back in the stock 6x9 housing, I left the frame that went on top of the old speaker off. and then I put some low density weatherstripping around the edge. It all fit together well, and like I said the sound is fantastic, my wife and I drove around all afternoon. The door panels are on tight and nothing broke. Thanks for all the info on these, I could not have done this without all the info on these forums. Just wanted to add one last thing. When calling around to car audio stores before ordering speakers I was very unimpressed with the answers I was getting concerning how they would fix the issue. One shop said he would install boston acoustic 6'5" round 4 ohm speakers, he insisted the 4 ohm would work/sound fine, I wasn't buying it, He wanted $210 for all. Another shop said they would do like another poster said and wire 2- 4 ohm speakers in series. The 3rd shop (car toys) said they wanted to set it up to have all 4 ohm speakers, I guess add an amp, they wanted to get in the car to see whats up before quoting anything, translation- big $. These shops don't have any 8 ohm speakers so I'm glad I just did it myself, the cost was much lower and the sound is fantastic, I can't believe the stock speakers sounded any better than these. I wasn't jealous of my wife's car before now I am, I have a tundra and the audio doesn't even come close. Thanks again everybody-Dave

Aceflash, did you try the 6.5 pioneer woofers? I ordered some 8 ohm vifo 6.5" woofers from parts express this week. They had good reviews, the depth was 3", and the price was only $20 apiece. I figured I'd put them in when I pull stock out and if they sound bad then repair the stock like you did. I was just curious since you didn't mention pioneer speakers. Thanks-Dave

Well Ace it looks like Vtwin may not make it to the forum much. Someone else posted a link in, another thread about the speakers, with excellent detailed instructions on how to remove the door panel. It had pictures as well. I think with that as a reference we should be able to remove the door panel without any damage. I have a desktop so it may mean 25 trips inside to look again at instructions but i'm not in a hurry. I'm starting to think the bass speaker in the drivers door may be blown also, it sounds really bad. I didn't realize my wife had the bass turned all the way down, when I turned it up it was awful. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and buy some new speakers, I havn't even started looking yet. So am I correct that it is a 6x9 thats 8 ohms? Please let us know how your new speakers sound, and if you don't mind how much they cost. I have a 98 es300 and the speakers still sound fine, I can't believe the speakers in my 04 sc430 already sound that bad, previous owner must have liked it loud. Thanks for your input-Dave P.S., just look through the speaker threads and you will find that link for door panel removal, it's very good.

I may get flamed for this but what the heck. I noticed about a year ago the front valve cover gasket was starting to "seep" not really leak, but there was a spot right underneath that I would wipe clean and it would have oil there again quick. I have used used a synthetic blend 5w-30 for 10 years in it (98es300). I made sure all the cover bolts were tightened to spec. and they were. I live in Texas so since the weather doesn't get very cold, so last oil change I switched to 10w-30. Last time I checked it was dry, I guess the cold oil at 10w is enough thicker than the 5w that it's not seeping anymore. I just can't bring myself to change that gasket now, call me lazy. I just wanted to throw that out there for anyone else that may be experiencing that. -Dave

Well guys, I started with the idle control valve and it looks like that was the problem. I didn't remove the valve but I did remove the connector and then the electronic portion. It looks like the shaft to turn valve has a magnetic cylinder on the end. When I first turned it it was sticky, after spraying inside valve with t.b. cleaner it loosened right up. the electronics portion where the connector plugs in is just layered plates with a hole in the middle for the magnet cylinder, looks like a voltage is applied to plates to turn the magnet (shaft on valve). So since there are not any gears or belts turning it just a magnetic field (like a brushless elec. motor) I'm not surprized that it starts getting stuck when dirty. I also noticed on the elec. part, the magnet had been rubbing the upper part of the plates, they were polished and slightly worn where it had been rubbing, so when i re-installed I pushed up a little to try and stop that. As soon as I drove the car I noticed the difference, I think I may have been wrong about it being fine when cold, because now it runs (idles) a little higher and much smoother. To all that replyed thank you very much for the help all, It took all of 20min. and I'm sure saved me a couple hundred from the dealer.

I am no expert but I wouldn't think it would hurt anything. I try to follow whatever the manual says. I also just put in the mobil full synthetic, good oil. -Dave

I have been trying to figure this out as well. I have 4 stock wheels from a 98es300 packed away in garage attic, I plan on pulling them out and if it fits and clears the brake rotors that will be my spare, I still have about 3/4 tread on runflats that came with car so it will be awhile. If you guys find out any more info please update. Thanks-Dave By the way, with all the trash talk about the runflats I must admit I was pretty impressed when rotating tires last week I pulled a nail out that was at an angle between the tread and about 2"deep. I thought the tire would loose pressure for sure but it didn't , they do ride a little rough though.

Wow, small world Vtwin, I live in Plano and have a v-twin also (vtx1800c). I have a 04, my wife has been complaining about the speakers but I thought the problem was with how we have her mp3 player wired in (fm modulator, works but the quality sucks). Anyway she says there is some buzzing when she plays a cd also. I find it hard to believe these speakers are coming apart in just 5 years. Thanks for the fix, I can live with $50 but I wasn't ready to spend serious bucks, I like good audio but can live with just about anything, I remember the days of cass. tapes. I guess I need to remove the door panel and check it out. Did the door panel removel go ok, I really can't screw anything up or my wife will go nuts. What should I be looking for on the speaker? It sounds like your saying the foam around the edges is coming apart??? Thanks-Dave

Thanks for the replys guys. I was thinking about the fuel pump, but whatever it is the engine temp seems to be a factor, it has only done it to me about 5 times but every time the car was very hot. I doesn't seem like the fuel pump would be sensitive to heat back there in the gas tank, but i guess it could. I was thinking maybe the idle control valve has some build-up in it that gets sticky when hot and is making the valve stick, when it breaks loose it overcompensates and goes too far , causing the "cycling" idle. when it's cool maybe the build-up is just not sticky enough to cause the valve to stick. Thanks again for all the ideas, they are all on my list to check. I have too many other issues going on in my life right now so it's going to be a week or two before I have time to dig into this, but I will definitly update the post when I do, thanks again guys for the suggestions, any more would be welcome. This car is being handed down to my daughter very soon (I'm using for a spare on my days off right now) and I want to make sure it's good to go before letting her have it. Thanks -Dave