Ezcal

Hi everyone, I'm loving the forum here so far, lots of useful information and fun DIY projects I could be doing..

That is, if I end up keeping this ES. I have a 2000 ES300 with 178k miles on it. I've been driving it daily for the past three or so years, and I had planned to buy it from my dad, but after a recent inspection, I'm not so sure.

They found that the power steering pressure hose is going bad and will cost $405 to fix, and the valve cover gaskets are going bad which will cost another $516 to fix.

My question is, is it worth investing $1000 into a car that's worth barely double that?

If I didn't bite the bullet and do the repairs, I'd probably be looking into an early 2000's BMW, but I'm also worried about reliability on that one.

Honestly, this is probably mostly upgrade-itis, but my head is spinning with options right now, and I'd love any help you all can give me.

Oro

I would think it's time to get some tools and git 'er done.

Neither of these are really advanced issues and can be solved for about $40 and some elbow grease. the rest of the costs quoted you are labor.

1) PS hoses: The most common leaking for PS is the return line from the PS pump. Usually it gets hardened and leaks on the upper portion returning to the reservoir. A new clamp and some high- pressure line from NAPA will set you back about $5. Flush the system while you have it cracked for a total of $10. Your problem might be more severe, but this is the most common fix necessary.

2) VC gasket(s): Is it leaking oil, or just a weep? Does it leave spots on the ground and leak enough that you have to add oil regularly, or just show dampness on the head? If not dripping and requiring new oil added, just switch to a High Mileage oil formulation and hope that helps, and don't do a thing. Mine seeps a bit on the head, nothing drips, I don't need to add oil and it's done that for years and will for years more. I'll address it in 30k miles or so when I need new spark plugs and much of the labor is the same (back cylinder is difficult to access - not hard, just time consuming).

If it is leaking badly, new gaskets aren't expensive, it's just a lot of labor to take off the intake to get at the rear. There is a very good DIY w/copious pics here on that and if you can turn a wrench and follow instructions, you can do it. About $30 for gaskets and spark plug seals; as above, the rest is just labor (and there is a fair amount here, but it's not advanced stuff). if you take this route, put in new long-life plugs at the same time.

If reliability is an issue, I'd MUCH rather do these two things to an '00 ES300 - if that is all it needs and is otherwise in great shape - than gamble on any used BMW. BTDT enough to know better.

Ezcal

Oh, I didn't realize it would be so easy to fix these things!

From the way the guy at the shop described the power steering issue at least, he made it sound like it was a whole big thing with unreachable hoses and all that.

The gasket though he did say was a very small weep, and could be ignored for a while, just something to keep an eye on. I don't have to add extra oil, and nothing ends up on the ground other than power steering fluid. And yes, I actually did see the step-by-step, just hoping I won't have to do that for a long while yet.

I'll have to go get the stuff for the hose fix and do that. Guess I was worrying over nothing major, so thank you for the help and the massively reduced headache!

lostape45

Even with putting some money into your ES, it will be much more reliable than an early 2000's BMW. My cousin has one and it's nothing but problems, and expensive ones. These cars are cheap to maintain and will run well past 200k if they're taken care of. My valve cover gaskets also "seep" and just lightly glaze the engine but they never drip. I've just learned to live with it, it's nothing major.

Ezcal

Fair enough, that's part of what I was worried about, if I were to leave Club Lexus.

Like I said, I didn't realize these are minor or easy fixes, and I probably wouldn't have posted about it at all, and would've just done the work.

Sorry to bug you all, I guess, but thanks for the help!

lostape45

Hey man that's what were here for! You weren't bothering anyone. Post up some pics of your ride so we can all see

ES300NZ

$405 is quite a high price to replace a hose and supply new fluid, perhaps you should look around and find someone else.

$516 to replace the 'valve cover gaskets' which are actually cam cover gaskets is quite high also, but this is a time consuming job.

It's fairly simply, you need to remove the upper inlet manifold, and the cam covers,








replace the gaskets which seal with a small amount of oil on both mating surfaces and don't over tighten the cam cover bolts, the oil seal will swell up when it heats up and seal perfectly, IF you apply the oil to it,.

and the spark plug seals also (on the under side of the cover).


most people will tell you to replace the PVC valve at the same time (I did).


Generally a car which is well maintained is quite reliable for far longer than a new car which someone else has used up all the consumable time in the parts. Cars aren't better when they are newer, they are better when they are cared for, sometimes the devil you know really is better than the shiney hot devil in red :P



BMW's are nice cars (usually), but they are often under powered, and a 15 yr old german car will definitely need some repairs which are likely to be expensive, alot more than a toyota (er sorry lexus).

Ezcal

An excellent point. I'm calling around to other mechanics in the area between classes today to ask about everything, but I'm also more than happy to open up the hood and give it a shot myself.

Thanks for the explanations, everyone.

I'll get some pictures up later, probably in the thread for them, I don't have any at the moment and I'm in school and work during all the daylight hours.

speedkar9

Agree with the rest. The power steering line should be no problem. If the rack was leaking on the other hand, that could be a labor intensive fix.

When calling around places, tell them you have a V6 Camry. Sometimes they hear "Lexus" and tack on $$$ just because its a luxury brand. Also if you can get the hose from Napa/ RockAuto / Dealer and supply the shop with it, then you'll save on their markup of parts.

Ezcal

Sounds good, thank you for the tip! I never would've thought about that, but it makes sense.*

I signed up for Toyota's TIS 2-day subscription, so I'll be digging through the service manual to find diagrams/repair/troubleshooting information to help with this project. From an initial glance though, it looks like the hoses connected to the PS fluid reservoir are metal coated in rubber. Surely replacing these with just rubber hoses - even a high pressure one - isn't a good idea?

Am I missing something? I probably am. ‎

ES300NZ

most auto places can sell you the right hose, specifically for the application, a high pressure steering or transmission (same fluid), line hose is very common throughout the world. Sometimes these have metal in them, sometimes it's just a fibre. If the hose has 'Automatic / Steering pressue line' or similar written on it, it's probably the right thing.

it's ok if something fails after you've just fixed it, its ok to make mistakes, get it wrong, do it twice or thrice, it's happened to us all.

Ezcal

So my buddy and I jacked it up today and took a look, and it seems like it's the large hose that's leaking, but I can't tell, is this the feed tube or the return tube?

The diagrams in the FSM really suck, and don't show which hose is which, except for the very ends, where they meet the rack and pinion system, but they show them the same size, which doesn't help.

Anyone know which hose I'm dealing with here?

Either way, it seems to be a pretty bad leak, the vane pump was entirely wet when we looked, and my buddy could hear something like a hiss when I turned the wheel stop-to-stop from the big hose.

speedkar9

http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-cat...S300-2000.html

Ezcal

I don't think so, speedkar. Those hoses shown there are more like pipes - they're the extremely high pressure ones mounted on the rack itself.

The one I'm looking for is shown in the FSM (I THINK) on page SR-18 labeled as "Return hose," but at the same time I'm not sure, because there's no 'feed' hose listed - other than the "Pressure feed tube," which I'm pretty sure is one of the ones that goes down to the vane pump, on the steering gear itself.

I'd post some screenshots of the manual, but I don't think the forum will allow me todo that yet.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

What color is the 'big hose'? Is it wrapped in something? Does it have metal pressed fittings? Does it start at the pump? You should first clean the area with a degreaser and water, then recheck for leaks. Oil leaks can be very deceiving, so it's best to start with a clean surface.

Sometimes the hissing is normal. It's okay to hear it when you reach the bump stop or the end of the rack with your steering wheel - the pump will change its noise.