The cream puffiest of finds
03-25-17, 09:56 AM
#16
Moderator
03-26-17, 06:15 AM
#17
I think I might have the cream-puffiest early Lexus. Bought it on March 12th after flying from Pensacola to Salt Lake City to snag it.
Utterly perfect interior at 57,800 miles, here's the driver's seat and uncracked center console:
The subwoofer speaker cover is the same color as the rear shelf carpet:
Flawless floormats and carpeting:
It was owned by an older Chinese guy who sadly had to go to a nursing home. Still have the manila "registration card" for the wheel lock code, the window sticker $41,808.00, and the chrome wheel/chrome wheel well thingys option tag $1,995.00/$399.00. The trunk smells like a brand new car. All the coil springs have pink and blue paint marks, the rear control arms have a yellow painted "52" on them, and the suspension/steering bolts have "sign-off" marks.
The tachometer told me on day two of my ownership that the engine must never have seen more than 2,600 rpm, because it sure did stick when I asked the engine to do more. The most gratifying thing about this car is that it is utterly solid over bumps.
Fortunate for this car, I have the factory manuals and a real appreciation for the true effort that Toyota put into these cars before they over-reached over-expanded the model line-up and lost that amazing initial moment of true quality.
Colin
Utterly perfect interior at 57,800 miles, here's the driver's seat and uncracked center console:
The subwoofer speaker cover is the same color as the rear shelf carpet:
Flawless floormats and carpeting:
It was owned by an older Chinese guy who sadly had to go to a nursing home. Still have the manila "registration card" for the wheel lock code, the window sticker $41,808.00, and the chrome wheel/chrome wheel well thingys option tag $1,995.00/$399.00. The trunk smells like a brand new car. All the coil springs have pink and blue paint marks, the rear control arms have a yellow painted "52" on them, and the suspension/steering bolts have "sign-off" marks.
The tachometer told me on day two of my ownership that the engine must never have seen more than 2,600 rpm, because it sure did stick when I asked the engine to do more. The most gratifying thing about this car is that it is utterly solid over bumps.
Fortunate for this car, I have the factory manuals and a real appreciation for the true effort that Toyota put into these cars before they over-reached over-expanded the model line-up and lost that amazing initial moment of true quality.
Colin
03-26-17, 09:36 AM
#18
Yeah, well it is challenging me today. I have the exhaust carefully lowered but not disconnected as I try to wrestle the heat shields out from under the driveshaft. Today, we attach hose clamps to try to eradicate a vibration in the front section. Gets hot under there. Running the car at 32 mph on jack stands (no wheels) and adjusting the hose clamps to orange, green, blue, and white marks at 90* intervals on the shaft. Then I will separate the clamps from each other until it is as good as I can make it. Assumption here is that the giubo disks have to be good and the u-joint has to be good! The vibration is seriously noticeable at 90.
03-27-17, 07:58 AM
#20
It's a stripper compared to my '92. No traction control, no CD, no seat heaters, no memory seat, no telephone.
The good news is, all the undercarriage sign-off paint is in good condition:
... and the driveshaft balance is sort of nominally better. It appears to be easy enough to remove the driveshaft without ripping out the exhaust system. You just remove the rubber hangers and drop it about 6" with a two-by-four across the rear mufflers, and the heat shield clears to the right.The drive shaft slips out to the rear, nicely supported by your assistant center exhaust pipe:
I ran the engine at 1,200 rpm in drive on the jackstands and did 32 variations of hose clamp locations. I still have vibration and it is now over a larger range of speed, but it is about half of what it was. We'll call it a sort-of maybe success:
Meanwhile, the interior is a restful immaculate place after jerking around with hot exhaust and spinning driveshafts. Did I mention that the thing I love best about the early Lexii is their absence of frou-frou? There, I just did:
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CELSI0R (03-27-17)
03-27-17, 09:08 AM
#21
A front end vibration may be attributable to worn front strut rod bushings. If you haven't replaced these I would look at them. Had to replace mine at 58,000ish miles and it solved a bad vibration I had.
03-27-17, 07:10 PM
#23
The car was jacked up, the front wheels were stationary, and the vibration was occurring as the rear axle hit 32 mph on jack stands!
03-29-17, 04:04 PM
#24
Lexus Champion
Damn, that's clean. And looks like the owner did put on some new tires(even though Bridgestone's Ecopia series is more suited for a Prius or BMW i3, it's probably comparable to the OEM Goodyear Eagle GAs in terms of handling and ride) and probably a battery or two. How's the engine and tranny looking like?
Condition that leather and try to keep the car out of the sun as much as you can, Lexus leather doesn't endure as well as the vat-dyed stuff Mercedes used.
Condition that leather and try to keep the car out of the sun as much as you can, Lexus leather doesn't endure as well as the vat-dyed stuff Mercedes used.
Last edited by nthach; 03-29-17 at 04:08 PM.
03-30-17, 09:24 PM
#25
Never use metal to metal jacking a nice car. I have a nice rubber pad on my floor jack, I got it at Napa. And if you can't find one a nice thick chunk of rubber glued to the jack. And its good for safety too, less chance of slipping. Never metal to metal jack stands either, just not cool.
03-31-17, 10:23 PM
#26
Well, that was interesting. Went through the service receipts and it looks like the Lexus dealer made sure to stay in business.
New front lower ball joints at 42,000 miles? New differential carrier bushings at 48,000 miles? Is that why the driveshaft is all over the place? Does anyone know if the giubo coupling flanges are supposed to be in a specific phase with each other? BMW and Mercedes, for example, require that the flanges be lined up with each other, i.e. if the differential end has a flange sticking straight up at 0* with the the other two at 120* and 240*, then the front flange has to also have a flange bolt sticking straight up. This car has what looks to be differential flange at straight up but transmission flange is at 60* 180* and 300*?? Anybody got a manual with the driveshaft orientation diagram?
Colin
(p.s. new genuine antenna mast today, had to remove motor unit to fish out the broken wand, then reassembled and asked the motor to suck in the new wand)
New front lower ball joints at 42,000 miles? New differential carrier bushings at 48,000 miles? Is that why the driveshaft is all over the place? Does anyone know if the giubo coupling flanges are supposed to be in a specific phase with each other? BMW and Mercedes, for example, require that the flanges be lined up with each other, i.e. if the differential end has a flange sticking straight up at 0* with the the other two at 120* and 240*, then the front flange has to also have a flange bolt sticking straight up. This car has what looks to be differential flange at straight up but transmission flange is at 60* 180* and 300*?? Anybody got a manual with the driveshaft orientation diagram?
Colin
(p.s. new genuine antenna mast today, had to remove motor unit to fish out the broken wand, then reassembled and asked the motor to suck in the new wand)
Last edited by Amskeptic; 03-31-17 at 10:27 PM.
03-31-17, 10:56 PM
#27
Lexus Champion
I've never done a flex disc replacement - but I assume the flanges/discs and shaft need to be assembled specifically or you'll get some nasty vibrations - these aren't a U-joint kind of deal like most RWD cars.
04-01-17, 08:55 PM
#30
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