mburnickas

Ok everyone, I need some help. I am new here and have a question. I just traded my Ford truck (powerstroke diesel) for a 1998 ES300. How are earth do you get to the spark plugs (all 6)? Under cover for front I assume, but the back look like a B*tch. Also remove the tranny pan like any normal tranny? Anything special I should do to this car? I do all the maintenance myself. Not to bad, plus it is fun (at times). Also is there any maintenance CD’s out there? My Ford had a factory Cd that was great!

meZoom!

welcome to the board...you went from a powerstroke to a lex??????? woah. congratulations. i have a 95 ES and I've never worked on a 98 but i'm assuming it can't be toooooo different. here goes:
yes, take off the bank cover if you have one. disconnect the ignition wires from both sides of the cylinder heads. remove the coils from engine, make sure you number them so you don't get em mixed up. slowly turn the spark plug wire boot and pull up. make sure you are pulling the boot part , not the wires.
do the usual inspection, but remember that on platinum plugs, you are never supposed to adjust the gap.
when you install the plugs back in, the ignition coils that you took out should be put back, the bolts tightened to 69 inch/lbs. don't forget the valve bank cover.
i skipped some steps in between about cleaning and threading the spark plugs because i figured they're just generic instructions.
so basically, yes, the back ones are hard to get to. when i had to replace my valve cover gaskets, i couldn't even figure out how to reach them until someone told me the whole process would be 5 hours....i gave up and took the car in.

mburnickas

Yup- traded the truck for the Lexus. Man, I wish I did this 4 years ago. The car is great and I love it.

So take of the bank cover; however, I think the dealer is the way to go. I can do all other things on the car (tranny fluid and filter, 02 sensor, oil and filters, etc). 5 hours! Man, it only took me (2) hours to replace all eight glow plugs in truck! But there was plenty of room in there under the valve covers.

I also drained the Power Steering fluid yesterday (black as hell). I put in Amsoil ATF. I will also be changing the oil and filter this week to Amsoil 5w-30. When it hits 60,000 miles I will be putting in Amsoil ATF fluid. As you can see I used Amsoil on my Powerstroke and it worked great! Oil tests very nothing short of perfection and the gear fluid was/is great. I use their fluid because it is the best for the money. I also like LE oils but they are more $$ for a non-synthetic fluid.

It (1998 Es300) has the ELC in it. That is the red coolant. Why in the world do they tell you to drain and flush the coolant at 30 and 60K miles! Weird.

bizarreRide

You should pick up the Haynes manual...it's great...tells you all about all maintenance, and has step by step instructions for disassembling and reassembling every part of the car.

It's actually for 97 Camry, but covers Avalon & ES 300 as well. I got one on eBay for like $15.

Later,
bR

blux

Alldata works great if you can afford it....kinda expensive

WILB3

COOL, these cars are great! I came across mine('99 ES) a couple months ago while actually looking at a 2001 Acura TL. The TL may have had a tad more power, but the smooth ride with instant class is what sold me on the Lexus!