Exia

Yea I kinda spaced a lot since I joined and never really posted pic's of the car I got. Just started asking for help. So I do apologize for that.

As I said I am new to the Lexus scene, mostly been a Z lover, since my previous car was a 92 Nissan 300zx TT SMZ..

But as for the car

I have a 2002 Lexus IS300. I traded for two of these one was a 01 which I already resold and I kept the 02 liked it better lol.. I just now got the head off of the 02 due to it supposedly overheating, twice from the previous owner, and it has been sent to Croppers Race Engine's to get pressure tested and decked... So more to come on that front..

lazymashi

just a question, but whats the difference between the MY01 and MY02?

i know MY01 does not have the center console arm rest, but is there anything else worthwhile?

jadu

iTrader: (42)

always loved the fairlady's.. GL on your repairs

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

looks like a very fun project car!

James4394

they fixed the lag in the 01 with the 02 that lag from first to second gear in the 01 is horrible

MY2J

iTrader: (2)

2001 Model Year
New Models:
E-Shift IS300 introduced, no 5-Speed Manual option

Exterior:
Four horizontal bars on front grille, emblem molded into grille
Chrome taillights only
Initial colors offered:
- Auburn Sky Pearl (ASP)
- Black Onyx (BO)
- Diamond White Pearl (DWP)
- Graphite Gray Pearl (GGP)
- Imperial Jade Mica (IJM)
- Millennium Silver Metallic (MSM)
- Spectra Blue Mica (SBM)
- Solar Yellow (SY)

Interior:
Seating choices are Black Fabric and Black or Ivory Leather/Ecsaine
Optional Lexus Luxury Package includes:
- Ivory Leather/Ecsaine Interior with Tan Piping
- Black & Ivory instrument panel
- Walnut Switch (door) Plates
- Power Seats & Homelink
For all Black & non-Luxury Package Ivory interiors, black dash and center console with gray trim extending from above the lint tray down around the shift **** and also above the steering column and glove compartment for (this color matches the AC and radio *****' trim)
Floormats Have Lexus "L" Emblem and read "IS300"

Mechanical:
Underbody panels (plastic) prone to failure

Other:
Tool tray in trunk (two-piece) constructed of styrofoam

2002 Model Year
New Models:
5-speed manual transmission available on sedan
New SportCross 5-door offered (automatic transmission only), has 7.5x17" rear rims, foglights are much flatter
L-Tuned Edition available late 2002, includes:
- L-Tuned body kit (full front bumper with round 55 watt fog lights, rear valance, side skirts, rear spoiler and carbon fiber-style grille)
- L-Tuned 18x7.5" +42 rims in Silver or Gunmetal (Rays Versus Campionato SS7 with custom blue Lexus "L" center cap)
- 225/40ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport tires
- L-Tuned sport muffler & larger-diameter exhaust (60mm pipe diameter & 105mm tip diameter).Adds 8 hp over stock.
- L-Tuned springs (1" drop, made by Eibach)
- L-Tuned sway bars (Made by Eibach)(28mm front/17mm rear)
- L-Tuned exterior and interior badging
- L-Tuned floormats

Exterior:
New exterior colors are:
- Absolutely Red (AR)
- Cibola Gold Metallic (CGM)
- Crystal White (CW)
- Electric Green Mica (EGM)
- Intensa Blue Pearl (IBP)
Discontinued exterior colors are:
- Auburn Sky Pearl (ASP)
- Diamond White Pearl (DWP)
- Imperial Jade Mica (IJM)
- Spectra Blue Mica (SBM)
Tail lights receive smoked finish on the following five exterior colors:
- Absolutely Red (AR)
- Black Onyx (BO)
- Electric Mica Green (EMG)
- Graphite Gray Pearl (GGP)
- Intensa Blue Pearl (IBP)
Three horizontal bars on front grille, down from 4, detachable clip-on emblem backplate
Grille color darkened from medium gray to almost black
Rear spoiler, optional on sedan, standard on SportCross, third brake light removed if spoiler is installed as a factory option

Interior:
Front side curtain airbags standard
Optional Lexus DVD Navigation (pop-up screen & remote controls located between the front seats)
6.5" speakers in door panels now have a chrome ring around the speaker grill
Auto-dimming electrochromic driver's side outside and inside (center) rearview mirrors
Compass in center rearview mirror for vehicles without DVD navigation
Front center armrest standard (Black or ivory leather)
Optional leather shift ****
Black dash/center console with gray trim no longer available
Floormats have Lexus "L" emblem and read "LEXUS" instead of "IS300"
Driver's side floormat now has two retention hooks to prevent sliding
Lexus Luxury Package discontinued
Optional Full Leather interior in ivory or black, trimmed with piping
Seat piping now standard with Leather/Ecsaine Seats
Two-tone Black and Ivory dashboard & center console now standard for Ivory interior vehicles with Full Leather or Leather/Ecsaine seats
Walnut Switch Plates now a stand-alone option
Standard fabric interior available in Ivory
Automatic climate control now switches A/C on and off

Mechanical:
Overall height raised 0.6" (from 54.9" in 2001 to 55.5")
Minimum running ground clearance increased from 4.9" for 2001 to 5.3"
Spring rate increased for 5-speed manual
Optional Vehicle Skid Control (VSC) (Automatic transmission only)
Brake Assist
Steering revised as follows:
- Overall Steering Ratio from 15.7:1 for 2001 to 14.5:1
- Turning Circle decreased from 34.1' for 2001 to 33.4'
- Turns Lock-to-Lock decreased from 3.25 in 2001 to 3

Performance:
ECU programming update

Other:
Tool tray material in trunk changed to plastic, now one-piece
Underbody panel (plastic) material changed; failures significantly decreased

2003 Model Year
New Models:
SportDesign edition sedan available, package includes:
- 11-spoke 17" SportDesign rims
- Thundercloud Metallic exterior color (Black Onyx and Graphite Gray Pearl also available)
- Black pearl badging with Sport Design emblems
- SportDesign front grille
- SportDesign smoked gray fog lights, tail lights and headlights
- SportDesign exhaust
- Full leather Ash Gray interior (Black also available)

Exterior:
New 7-spoke design for 16" wheels
215/45R17 all-season tires available
The following exterior/interior combinations are discontinued:
- Absolutely Red with Ivory Fabric
- Cibola Gold with Ivory Fabric or any Black interior
- Electric Green Mica with Ivory Fabric or any Black interior
- Graphite Gray Pearl with Ivory Fabric
- Intensa Blue Pearl with Ivory Fabric

Interior:
Redesigned front cupholders

2004 Model Year
New Models:
SportDesign changes for 2004:
- Alabaster exterior paint option (Thundercloud Metallic and Black Onyx carry over from 2003. Graphite Gray Pearl no longer available on SD)
- 11-spoke wheels are Charcoal finished with TCM and BO exteriors, Silver finished with Alabaster exterior
- Double-stitched Smoke Gray leather interior (Black leather w/Gray piping carries over from 2003)
- Euro-tuned suspension on manual models

Exterior:
Headlamp, fog light and tail lights available in smoked gray (same as Sport Design)
New exterior colors are:
- Bluestone Metallic (BSM)
- Indigo Ink Pearl (IIP)
- Savannah Metallic (SM)
Discontinued exterior colors are:
- Cibola Gold Metallic (CGM)
- Intensa Blue Pearl (IBP)
- Solar Yellow (SY)
New mist-type windshield washer nozzles
New design 11-spoke, 17" wheels available (no longer SportDesign exclusive)

Interior:
Drivers seat two-position memory available with power seats
New storage compartment with retractable lid in center dash (vehicles without Navigation)
CD changer redesigned
Bright silver replaces dark silver on window switch plates, instrument cluster background, climate control dial rings, audio volume and tuner rings and steering wheel stitching
Black replaces dark silver on audio plate surround, A/T housing plate surround
New leather door inserts replace Alcantara on full leather interiors
Black Fabric interior no longer available with Graphite Gray Pearl or Absolutely Red exterior
Ivory Fabric interior discontinued
Imitation suede (Ultrasuede) for interiors now referred to as Alcantara (European name) instead of Ecsaine (Asian name)
Walnut Switch Plates now available only with full leather interiors
Scheduled maintenance indicator light
Speed-sensitive, shift-linked automatic door lock/unlock

2005 Model Year
Mechanical:
Limited-Slip Differential is no longer available with the manual transmission. (This actually took place during the course of the 2004 model year)

Interior:
Black Fabric interior no longer available with Bluestone Metallic exterior

AdamP

If your in Canada your IS300 came with taller springs from the factory and even have a special Canadian part number.
Also springs were changed after 7/01. Ive been told that 5/00-6/01 are lower from factory other then Canada

lazymashi

i never noticed the 1st to 2nd gear lag... i guess its b/c i don't gas it... will have to test this out later...

Exia

As far as I found out the only difference was the ecu cause I was just going to swap the 01 motor in the 02 but wouldn't work because of the ecu differences. ...

Update the head had no cracks but was warped not badly warped but it's fixed had it decked and now waiting on parts to put it back together.

that2JZguy

Awesome!!! Great to hear you are tackling this project. How much did the head get decked? Also how do the piston rings look now that you have the head off? In for updates and best of luck.

Exia

Price wasn't bad I got it decked and pressure tested for $$70 bucks. she was warped 0.005.. Friday I will be ordering my parts.. Parts list include.... as far as the piston rings I haven't checked them, I did a dry compression test when I got the car and the CR was all over the place on all cylinders. starting from the rear plug forward 60, 114, 125, 100, 90, 120.. I did 3 pulls on each cylinder, and they got worse. but with the head being warped, and also finding out who ever did the job before me, apparently didnt torq the 2 head bolts from the rear correctly, I figure that was the problem..

Victor Reinz Head Gasket
ARP Head studs
NGK Iridum IX Plugs
NGK TE-79 Spark Plug Wire's
New PCV Valve
New Knock Sensor
Victor Reinz Cam Seal's
New Coil Packs
Victor Reinz Valve Cover Gaskets

that2JZguy

Hey Exia, great parts list you've got there. Any updates in the past few days? Any pictures of the cylinder walls and pistons?

Might be a good idea to swap the timing belt out at this time as well. Also I wanted to pass some info along to you from Supraforums. We had a discussion about ARP head stud washers and the 2JZ head recently. It seems as if the washers supplied by ARP are inadequate for our motors. Not only are they smaller in diameter, they are also a bit thinner. In my opinion, you should get rid of the ARP washers that come with their head studs and order a set of OEM washers from Toyota for your motor.

Exia

Actually the place I ordered the arps from were sold out so I ordered a normal set of headbolts from CRP..

As of yesterday I begun putting everything on the head is now installed vvti cam installed. Once I get back to the car ill take some more pics. I did forget pics of the cylinder walls but they are very smooth so the bottom end isn't hurt and I cleaned the top of the pistons off they were nice and smooth and shined right up..

But I have ran into a small issue and that's with the cam caps in my haste I forgot to mark where each cap was on the cam. I did separate them from intake and exhaust. But the manual sucks for correct information. Does it matter where or what order they go?

that2JZguy

Good to hear the bottom end looked okay.

Yes it definitely matters which way they go. Look on the top of the cam caps, they should be marked intake or exhaust 1-7 and also a directional arrow pointing to the front of the motor, with intake/exhaust cap 1 being the main cap with the cam seal.

I probably have a random pic of my motor during assembly showing the markings somewhere on photobucket....

Edit: You can't see them very well in that picture but they're in the middle of the cam cap on the flat part, between the 6 and the D on that cap there.

Exia

Thanks for the help, I am hoping maybe today it will be done but, I am going to need to go back and check the cam I installed last night, I may have them in the wrong order. Cause the only marks visible on my caps beside the lettering, is stamped triangle's in the middle. stamped 1 through 6 so I take it those are the arrow's? and those need to be facing the front of the motor correct?