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AFAIK you can get BG44 injector/carbon cleaner from some Toyota dealerships, it's presumably based on the same detergent as Techron. BG is even more concentrated. I've used Techron at least four times already. Before I started using it couple of injectors were so clogged they made loud ticking sounds, but after second flush ticking is gone.

I've been filling up my '96 ES with Costco regular for years, good thing it's right on my way to work. Regular is as good as any other brand. Costco premium is a different story, all my cars that required premium did not like it, so for premium I stop by Exxon. I don't know i Costco regular has enough additives to clean injectors and carbon builup, so I just pour a bottle of Techron injector cleaner into a gas tank before every other oil change just for a piece of mind.

I'm thinking about replacing my old worn out seats with a set of newer ones off ebay taken off some 99 or newer ES. Since mine has a purple interior I would not even bother matching colors since they stopped making purple seats in 97. I guess tan/beige ones which are relatively easy to come across will match/contrast well my brown (kinda chocolate) dash/panels. At least would front fit with some minor drilling in the seat rails? I assume rear seat foam back might require some extra fabrication... Also was driver seat memory an option or standard on 97-02 ES? thanks

I bought a manual on CD a year ago, it is a bunch of pdf files (about 40MB total) I turned out to be absolutely identical (test and pictures) to '98 Mitchell OnDemand manual. Not as good as latest OnDemand 5 but worth 15-20 bucks, has all the right pics, torque specs and wiring diagrams.

theres a used ps pump 4sale on ebay right now for $40 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...ssPageName=WDVW new from internet should be ~ $160-180, Toyota just rebrands them and sells for more timing belt is not tough really, with average mechanical skills it took me one Saturday to to id for the 1MZ-FE engine (including reading the factory manual and ride to Sears to get some sockets) you'll need 10/12/14/17/19/22 sockets you would need some tool to hold camshaft sprockets to loosen and tighten the bolt, vise or press to compress the tensioner. I made this tool in half an hour out of stuff you can get in home depot. to remove a crankshaft pulley you'll need to remove small metal cover on remove one of six torque converter bolts and put long M8 bolt into it's place to prevent crankshaft from turning having inch/lb torque wrench is highly advised, since engine block is aluminum you don't want to strip a thread... with timing belt removed it's a snap to replace ps pump. Also white at it replace coolant pump just as a precaution because if it's ball bearing seizes timing belt goes kaboom and valves meet the pistons :( drive belts are real easy and cheap good Bando belts are $ 10-12a piece on intenet and it takes less than an hour to change them, to replace ps pump belt front passenge wheel and plastic cover better be removed. plugs - Denso iridium IK20 are the best money can buy period I got mine on sparkplugs.com http://www.sparkplugs.com/cart.asp?manID=3...Denso%20Iridium rear three plugs are _real_ pain in the a55 to get to, you can have iridiums installed in rear, thay are good for 100k and cheaper NGKs or whatever on a front cylinders since they are really easy to replace and that can be done more often wires are cheap, like 40 bucks for 3 wires (since your's is 94-96 it's distributorless engine) congrats on purchase , I've got a '96, same rose/taupe color. color is awesome, like nothing else, glowing at night and changes color like chameleon. also this color shows less dirt/dust than others ;)

see my responses above

I also fill and drained automatic transmission 4 times with Mobil 1 synthetic ATF to get as much old fluid out as I could. Shifts are silk smooth now even if I floor it. Also pressed all new polyurethane bushing into front control arms. Installed rebuit alternator. Washed throttle body and intake with O2 sensor safe cleaner, put new air filter. It turned out the there was no air conditioner filter installer so I cleaned all the trash out of the filter slot - leaves, bugs and put a new one in. Will change fuel filter and probably recharge air conditioner soon...

Hi, It's my wife's daily driver, she put an average 50-100 miles a day (real estate agent;) We've been getting sick of squeaks, clunks in suspension, engine noise and last year car developed some oil leaks, so I took it as project to make it feel and perform "like new" again :) again it's a '96 es bought five years ago with 50k _cheap_ on famous pennsilvania auctions. I've changes synthetic oil every 3k mils, for everything else brought it to the cheap shops. Car has been absolutely reliable on numerous cross country trips, never let us down. I've used to work on and modify cars myself (subaru RS, S2000 and my current daily driver - Lancer Evolution) but never worked on 3l v6 toyotas. So I got Mithchell manual (really good), put the car on a jackstands and started assessing damages... It turned out that rear valve cover gasket leaked (a lot) front valve cover gasket leaked (moderately) both outer CV boots were badly torn with almost all grease dried out, but no clicking noise while turning yet alternator whining (bad bearing) and not giving enough current power steering fuel pump leaked some dirty muggy green stuff in a coolant system (not Toyota red definitely) leaking rear camshaft oil seal really low automatic transmission level (barely up to cold mark even after a long drive) but no metal particles on a magnets at all front camshaft position sensor gasket leaked both front ball joints were shot all front/rear sway bar bushings cracked all four front rear sway bar links (with 2 ball joints each) no good all front control arm bushings cracked dog bone (engine control rod between right strut mount and an engine) bushings torn after removing both valve covers and dropping the oil pan there were a lot of sludge (not in valve areas though, thanks to synthetics). looks like before 50k previuos owner really neglected oil changes :( How much did it cost - parts (bought on internet, most were original Toyota OEM, some were 3-4 times cheaper that Lexus dealer charged for the same p/n) prices are approximate in USD 2 valve gover gaskets - $22 camshaft oil seal - $9 new gasket kit for power steering pump - $30 timig belt kit (belt and belt cover sticky foam gaskets) - $50 new dog bone - $75 from Lexus dealer new water pump with new gasket - $205 four new KYB GR2 struts with boots and four KYB strut mounts - $500 new four rubber inserts (between spring and strut) - from Lexus dealer $90 two new front ball joints - $78 each two front / two rear sway bar bushings - $40 two front / two rear sway bar links (same p/n as 96 canry xle) - $295 from Toyota dealer Toyota silicone sealant - $5 oil pickup gasket - $6 automatic transmission gasket - $30 new drain/fill gaskets (differential, tranny, oil pan) - $5 Fluids - case (6qt) of mobil 1 synthetics 5w30 - $25 two cases (12gt) of mobil synthetic ATF Dexron-III - $80 2 gallons of Toyota red concentrated coolant - $25 10gal barrel of parts cleaner - $30 new Nippon Denso plugs - $70 new power steering and alternator belts - $30 2 rebuilt CV axles (Lobro, german company does OEM for Porsches) - $150 each, $90 would be refunded as soon as I return my old ones (really time saver instead of fixing CV myself) Extra tools - I already got plenty of them but needed spring compressor, some extra sockets, ratchets, pry bars, plyers, towels, gloves - about $450 - but most of is an investment, next time will not have to spend I also decided to do something in a stopping power department and got front/rear KVR carbon pads (they bite, do not dust, but squeak sometimes under hard braking) - $180 KVR cross drilled cadmium plated rotors - $330 and my favorite part that I put an all cars - goodridge stanless steel brake lines - another $100 and 2extra qts of Motul 5.1 brake fluid - $15 It took me almost 2 weeks total to do the work - lazily after work. before starting I flushed that nasty green coolant out with flush kit and running water on a running engine until it came up clean, then flushed with distilled water twice. Also did valve adjustment - 3 out of six were out of specs - bought shims from Lexus dealer. Soaked an cleaned valve covers, oil pump, pan and pickup mesh grill from sludge Rebuilt power steering pump with new gaskets, put new water pumb, put all new belts, all new gaskets all around. Washed everything with an engine degreaser put all new fluids in Engine did not start initially, I was like WTF is going on, took a battery out of the EVO and it worked from jumstart, what a releif ;) Took her for a ride and heat trated new pads and rotors, let her stand overnight, next day - final ride. Boy oh boy, what a difference it made. Apart from torn driver seat, chiiped winshield and hood, it now has that tight new car feeling. Engine whispers, can barely hear it, all suspension rattles/squeaks/clunks are gone. And when I say gone I absolutely mean it. So after spnding almost 2.5 grands and 2 weeks we've got literally a new car. I'm really amazed how much of a beating and neglect can Lexus take and still reward you after you take care of it. thanks everyone

Hi all, I was replacing timig belt and power steering pump and removed two hoses from power steering fluid reservoir to have more space working on the belt. I forgot to label them and now not sure which one goes where (one goes to power steering pump while another one to the metal pipe) I've got 96 ES300, coolant reservoir has four hoses connected to it - 2 thicker ones wrapped into some plastic tape that I removed and 2 thinner pipes that I did not touch. Looking at the neighbors 96 Camry XLE V6 with the same engine didn't help much since Camry's reservoir has only 2 hoses, not 4. Please someone open the hood and let me know, thanks!