Tim,

Im trying to understand your question. The 02 sensor broke off ?Normally they dont unscrew off. Also if the 02 bung broke off you will need to purchase the entire lower manifold that part does not come seperate. You can always get a replacement bung for it too screw back on however it will need to be welded back on to the pipe

http://www.racepartsolutions.com/products.asp?cat=107

Do let me know if this is what you were refering too. Thanks

 

Jonny,

The only reason toyota/lexus resurfaces rotors is because after many miles of driving the rotors can get warped and/or glazed causing vibrations in the steering wheel and/or brake noise. If you have 4mm left that is still pretty meaty. You can wait till they are at about 2mm to change. IF you get it done by the dealer its part of the 2 hour labor rate so you wont save much money if you tell them to not re-surface it.

If you go to an outside mechanic to get them changed make sure they re-use your "shim kit" that is already on the pads. Most repair shops throw them away which can cost you more money when you go back to lexus complaining about different noises coming from your brakes. Also only use O.E brake pads. They have certain compounds in the pads which prolong pad life. An aftermarket alternative would be Hawk HPS pads.

Hope this helps.

 

I'll send you a PM

 

Ok,, I have a situation that is driving me nuts right about now. 92 LS with charging problem. Was driving home from having dinner at my parents house, when at a stop light all of a sudden the CEL, brake, oil, antifreeze light all came on and stayed on. My headlights went VERY dim, very quickly and the wipers would barely work. I shut off just about EVERYTHING trying to squeeze every ounce left out of the battery, just to get her home(good thing I was not far from home when this happened). I recognize them to normally be the tell tale sign that something is dying and I have les than 20 minutes before the car will shut down. I know these lights to be the sign that either the alternator is dying and not charging the battery, or the battery is drained severly. I just installed a new, remaned' alternator before thanksgiving as the previous one went up on me. This new one was bench tested before I installed it and the results came up good. I am also running an Optima Yellow top battery(which is now about 3 years old). My car DOES sit quite alot since I drive trucks cross the country, so when I do leave I unhook my battery since I am gone for at least a week at a time. I am running an amp with 2 12" MTX subs in the trunk, with a capacitor so it is not pulling DIRECTLY off of the battery. My radio (still stock) pretty much comes on when IT wants to, and it was not running when this happened. Since I installed the "new" alternator, my thought is leaning more towards the battery needing to be finally replaced. Lately I am winding up having SOME kind of charging problem at least once a year; this year this is the 3rd or fourth incident. My terminals/cables are tight. This is driving me nuts and I just want this to stop. What are your thoughts?

 

Ok, I would look into the alternator make sure it is the right output. If your battery is draining faster then the alternator can charge it will cause issues. Check your serpentine belt tension. If it is loose it will not rotate the pulley and cause the alternator not too charge the battery.

Another thing is since you leave the car to sit for too long and disconnect the negative terminal you still have the positive terminal connected which is slowly discharging through that terminal. You must disconnect both ternminals.

I recommend replacing the battery for now. Leave the alternator alone. If you run into the same problem again you have to get the alternator checked out. Get the correct CCA for the LS. Dont go over or below.

 

Alternator is the right output(100 amps IIRC), and the battery is not draining faster than it can charge since the problem with be good for a few months at a time then just suddenly take a dump. Serpentine belt def is not a problem, since it took me and a few stronger friends to get the stupid thing back on the pulleys after the alternator install ( I always seem to forget the trick to doing it easily, but the belt tightness is DEF not the problem). When I do unhook the battery, I unhook BOTH of the terminals, since I learned the hard way a few years ago what happens by only unhooking the negative. My thinking is also leaning towards a dead cell in the Optima yellow top, since it is 3 years old now. Funny thing is it WILL take a full charge when I place it on a battery charger, but it takes close to 3 hours to do so. I will go ahead and just drop another battery in to see what gives. Like I said, this is driving me nuts.

 

One of the guys on the Car Electronics/Car Audio forum had a similar problem with a capacitor. Kept interfering with the alternator and battery. You really DO NOT need a cap if your amp is solid.

Disconnect the audio system, take a voltage reading of the alternator while the car is running. It should be 14.4 or thereabouts. What do you read off the meter?

 

Reading on the cap varies between high 12's and low 13's. Reading off the battery itself, while running, reads in the high 13's to low 14's range. Running a so-so bazooka 600 watt amp and 2 MTX 12's. System has been in the car for 3 years now, and has been performing without a glitch. Never even considered the cap to be a factor in the equation. Will take the audio out of the loop on the am, tr-charge the battery as see what flies.

 

If the cap was reading 12's-14's that is an indication that the alternator is responding normal at some level. Do you sometimes listen to music while leaving the car on ( Key on,engine off ) ? If so that will drain out the battery as well. Also since you mentioned you have re-charged the battery before can indicate a dead cell. Re-charging the battery can sometimes blow the cell due to over charging or charging with high amperage. I would just go ahead and replace the battery for now.

 

Battery is pretty much done for. I have a portable charger and stuck it on charge this morning. Has been on charge now for well over 5 hours and still is not getting above 64%. Last 2 times I charged this battery, due to a dead alternator, only took 2-3 hour to get back to full charge. Sigh,,, Merry Christmas to me. I know my old girl starts to make demands in the winter but a little more warning would have been much appreciated. Hmm,, that LS430 that I REEAAALLLLLYYYYY want is geting more and more attractive; just dont want a car payment right now. Thanks guys!!

 

Another thing to be aware of...a standard charger will eventually blow out a GEL or AGM type battery. They're only good for the standard lead acid type. You can purchase specialized chargers at a Marine/Boating store or even the better auto stores. The chargers will say "AGM or GEL" recharging. If they don't, stay away from them.

This is the charger that I'm using with my yellow top Optima.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...9&classNum=683

 

Yeah,,am aware of that. I have a charger which has a deep cycle selection and I can also set it to AGM as well as Lead acid. My optima was 3 years old and just got to a point where it was worn out. Found out that the replacement on these yellows is only 2 years now instead of lifetime. I just went ahead and replaced it with a duralast gold battery from Autozone. I had this battery before and had little problem out of it.

 

Hey Lexus guy, i need your help. I have a newly purchased 98 SC300 which appears to be in great shape (65K miles) but the heater doesnt get real hot. The air coming from the vents is lukewarm at best, so it takes forever for the interior to get warm. I've flushed the cooling system and replaced the thermostat (actually, a local Toyota dealer did that). The actuator in the engine compartment is getting vacuum, because that little plunger on the back is sucked in when the heat is turned on (I've bypassed the vacuum control valve). There's no leakage of any kind (like, coolant) in the passenger compartment.

Any idea what this could be? I'm praying its not the heater core. Thanks.

Larry

 

Larry,

Check the heater control switch it may be getting stuck and not letting it fully go from cool air to warm air. You may have to remove the glove box to check how its operating. Also double check your coolant level see if its low or not. If its low coolant does not reach the evaporator. Keep me posted

 

Hey Tach,

This is less of a technical question and more of a warranty question. I have a CPO 04 gs300; it came with a remote starter. The remote starter never worked, so I took it to the dealer, service dept said it was an aftermarket item and i would have to pay just to have it looked at. So I called the salesman who sold me the car, and he said the same thing. He said if i take the car to any outside shop and later on a problem arises, it can void the warranty. Any truth to this?

After hearing this I did not have anything installed in this car (in dash nav, wheels, suspension etc).

Thanks!