Getting Her to Show
09-20-19, 12:17 PM
#1
Driver School Candidate
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Getting Her to Show
Hey there!
I finally have been able to acquire a first generation beauty of my own, and with decent mileage for her age. She is a 1993 GS300 in dark blue with two tone grey interior, just under 130,000 miles, she drives wonderfully! Of course with any 26 year old car there will always be a few issues, of which I'm happy to tackle if I understand exactly what to do. I absolutely fell in love with this model driving someone else's 1995 touring model, which leads me to my first question. What is the difference between the Touring and the ones without that emblem? The information I find is a little vague. Part of my comparison issue is partly due to the fact the previous owner of my 1993 replaced the original suspension with a racing suspension (of which I honestly cannot stand). Which leads to question two, how difficult is it to swap out suspension? Or, how expensive is it to have someone do? A few other problems are beginning to form, of which I don't know how I should tackle, and some advice would be truly appreciated. Changing my oil today I noticed a small leak or a spill or a small amount of oil by rotor on the engine, how can I fix this? Is it a major issue? My friends leaks in that area heavily and has ruined 3 alternators, so I dont want that to begin developing. I'm beginning to notice the trim seal around the front passenger window is beginning to lift around the corner, allowing whistling air into the cabin, I noticed my friends has done that even worse on his driver side, is this a common issue? How can I address this to bring it back to factory correct? A second issue is possibly the sunroof, it seems a little loose and lets in small amounts of air when fully closed, it does not leak water thankfully, but I'm wondering if this should get looked at. Same goes with the back window, I assume this is partly because the previous owner had the windows tinted, the rubber seal around the rear window is lifting around the upper corners, it too does not leak, but I don't want it to begin leaking either, it looks like there's too much weather stripping glue or something and it's not getting a solid bond or something, is that something I should replace with a new seal? And how do I go about doing that? If anyone has advice on shopping cart dings and minor cosmetic body repairs that would be wonderful. I notice too the hood flaps ever so slightly when I drive, especially on the highway when the airflow is greater, it seems locked down correctly, it clicks when I latch it down, but like I say it has a tad bit of give and doesnt actually make a click when I go to release the hood, it's the only car I've owned that doesnt make that noise on release, has anyone seen this? Or know what I need to do? Lastly the back driver door handle sticks, upon inspection it appears the top of the handle scrapes against the inside top, causing friction and it to stick. Moving to the interior, there really isn't much wrong, I did have an issue with the rear driver window regulator, it fell and i had to replace it, no major issues there, though I did have to repair a plastic clip holder with plastic glue but it's good as new, the culprit was something left by the window tinter jamming into the pulleys and breaking it. The passenger seat no longer moves forward and backward, I notice both seats in my friends car are broken the same way. How do I address this, and keep both seat tracks like new? Knowing a reputable source for genuine leather upholstery similar to what's stock from Lexus would be nice, I'm dealing with some ripping and a completely destroyed passenger seat seam.
Phew! That was a lot! I appreciate you taking the time to read this if you got this far, and hope to hear your feedback!
Thanks a ton!!
I finally have been able to acquire a first generation beauty of my own, and with decent mileage for her age. She is a 1993 GS300 in dark blue with two tone grey interior, just under 130,000 miles, she drives wonderfully! Of course with any 26 year old car there will always be a few issues, of which I'm happy to tackle if I understand exactly what to do. I absolutely fell in love with this model driving someone else's 1995 touring model, which leads me to my first question. What is the difference between the Touring and the ones without that emblem? The information I find is a little vague. Part of my comparison issue is partly due to the fact the previous owner of my 1993 replaced the original suspension with a racing suspension (of which I honestly cannot stand). Which leads to question two, how difficult is it to swap out suspension? Or, how expensive is it to have someone do? A few other problems are beginning to form, of which I don't know how I should tackle, and some advice would be truly appreciated. Changing my oil today I noticed a small leak or a spill or a small amount of oil by rotor on the engine, how can I fix this? Is it a major issue? My friends leaks in that area heavily and has ruined 3 alternators, so I dont want that to begin developing. I'm beginning to notice the trim seal around the front passenger window is beginning to lift around the corner, allowing whistling air into the cabin, I noticed my friends has done that even worse on his driver side, is this a common issue? How can I address this to bring it back to factory correct? A second issue is possibly the sunroof, it seems a little loose and lets in small amounts of air when fully closed, it does not leak water thankfully, but I'm wondering if this should get looked at. Same goes with the back window, I assume this is partly because the previous owner had the windows tinted, the rubber seal around the rear window is lifting around the upper corners, it too does not leak, but I don't want it to begin leaking either, it looks like there's too much weather stripping glue or something and it's not getting a solid bond or something, is that something I should replace with a new seal? And how do I go about doing that? If anyone has advice on shopping cart dings and minor cosmetic body repairs that would be wonderful. I notice too the hood flaps ever so slightly when I drive, especially on the highway when the airflow is greater, it seems locked down correctly, it clicks when I latch it down, but like I say it has a tad bit of give and doesnt actually make a click when I go to release the hood, it's the only car I've owned that doesnt make that noise on release, has anyone seen this? Or know what I need to do? Lastly the back driver door handle sticks, upon inspection it appears the top of the handle scrapes against the inside top, causing friction and it to stick. Moving to the interior, there really isn't much wrong, I did have an issue with the rear driver window regulator, it fell and i had to replace it, no major issues there, though I did have to repair a plastic clip holder with plastic glue but it's good as new, the culprit was something left by the window tinter jamming into the pulleys and breaking it. The passenger seat no longer moves forward and backward, I notice both seats in my friends car are broken the same way. How do I address this, and keep both seat tracks like new? Knowing a reputable source for genuine leather upholstery similar to what's stock from Lexus would be nice, I'm dealing with some ripping and a completely destroyed passenger seat seam.
Phew! That was a lot! I appreciate you taking the time to read this if you got this far, and hope to hear your feedback!
Thanks a ton!!
Last edited by NewClassic; 09-20-19 at 12:23 PM.
09-20-19, 04:02 PM
#2
Driver School Candidate
Hey there!
I finally have been able to acquire a first generation beauty of my own, and with decent mileage for her age. She is a 1993 GS300 in dark blue with two tone grey interior, just under 130,000 miles, she drives wonderfully! Of course with any 26 year old car there will always be a few issues, of which I'm happy to tackle if I understand exactly what to do. I absolutely fell in love with this model driving someone else's 1995 touring model, which leads me to my first question. What is the difference between the Touring and the ones without that emblem? The information I find is a little vague. Part of my comparison issue is partly due to the fact the previous owner of my 1993 replaced the original suspension with a racing suspension (of which I honestly cannot stand). Which leads to question two, how difficult is it to swap out suspension? Or, how expensive is it to have someone do? A few other problems are beginning to form, of which I don't know how I should tackle, and some advice would be truly appreciated. Changing my oil today I noticed a small leak or a spill or a small amount of oil by rotor on the engine, how can I fix this? Is it a major issue? My friends leaks in that area heavily and has ruined 3 alternators, so I dont want that to begin developing. I'm beginning to notice the trim seal around the front passenger window is beginning to lift around the corner, allowing whistling air into the cabin, I noticed my friends has done that even worse on his driver side, is this a common issue? How can I address this to bring it back to factory correct? A second issue is possibly the sunroof, it seems a little loose and lets in small amounts of air when fully closed, it does not leak water thankfully, but I'm wondering if this should get looked at. Same goes with the back window, I assume this is partly because the previous owner had the windows tinted, the rubber seal around the rear window is lifting around the upper corners, it too does not leak, but I don't want it to begin leaking either, it looks like there's too much weather stripping glue or something and it's not getting a solid bond or something, is that something I should replace with a new seal? And how do I go about doing that? If anyone has advice on shopping cart dings and minor cosmetic body repairs that would be wonderful. I notice too the hood flaps ever so slightly when I drive, especially on the highway when the airflow is greater, it seems locked down correctly, it clicks when I latch it down, but like I say it has a tad bit of give and doesnt actually make a click when I go to release the hood, it's the only car I've owned that doesnt make that noise on release, has anyone seen this? Or know what I need to do? Lastly the back driver door handle sticks, upon inspection it appears the top of the handle scrapes against the inside top, causing friction and it to stick. Moving to the interior, there really isn't much wrong, I did have an issue with the rear driver window regulator, it fell and i had to replace it, no major issues there, though I did have to repair a plastic clip holder with plastic glue but it's good as new, the culprit was something left by the window tinter jamming into the pulleys and breaking it. The passenger seat no longer moves forward and backward, I notice both seats in my friends car are broken the same way. How do I address this, and keep both seat tracks like new? Knowing a reputable source for genuine leather upholstery similar to what's stock from Lexus would be nice, I'm dealing with some ripping and a completely destroyed passenger seat seam.
Phew! That was a lot! I appreciate you taking the time to read this if you got this far, and hope to hear your feedback!
Thanks a ton!!
I finally have been able to acquire a first generation beauty of my own, and with decent mileage for her age. She is a 1993 GS300 in dark blue with two tone grey interior, just under 130,000 miles, she drives wonderfully! Of course with any 26 year old car there will always be a few issues, of which I'm happy to tackle if I understand exactly what to do. I absolutely fell in love with this model driving someone else's 1995 touring model, which leads me to my first question. What is the difference between the Touring and the ones without that emblem? The information I find is a little vague. Part of my comparison issue is partly due to the fact the previous owner of my 1993 replaced the original suspension with a racing suspension (of which I honestly cannot stand). Which leads to question two, how difficult is it to swap out suspension? Or, how expensive is it to have someone do? A few other problems are beginning to form, of which I don't know how I should tackle, and some advice would be truly appreciated. Changing my oil today I noticed a small leak or a spill or a small amount of oil by rotor on the engine, how can I fix this? Is it a major issue? My friends leaks in that area heavily and has ruined 3 alternators, so I dont want that to begin developing. I'm beginning to notice the trim seal around the front passenger window is beginning to lift around the corner, allowing whistling air into the cabin, I noticed my friends has done that even worse on his driver side, is this a common issue? How can I address this to bring it back to factory correct? A second issue is possibly the sunroof, it seems a little loose and lets in small amounts of air when fully closed, it does not leak water thankfully, but I'm wondering if this should get looked at. Same goes with the back window, I assume this is partly because the previous owner had the windows tinted, the rubber seal around the rear window is lifting around the upper corners, it too does not leak, but I don't want it to begin leaking either, it looks like there's too much weather stripping glue or something and it's not getting a solid bond or something, is that something I should replace with a new seal? And how do I go about doing that? If anyone has advice on shopping cart dings and minor cosmetic body repairs that would be wonderful. I notice too the hood flaps ever so slightly when I drive, especially on the highway when the airflow is greater, it seems locked down correctly, it clicks when I latch it down, but like I say it has a tad bit of give and doesnt actually make a click when I go to release the hood, it's the only car I've owned that doesnt make that noise on release, has anyone seen this? Or know what I need to do? Lastly the back driver door handle sticks, upon inspection it appears the top of the handle scrapes against the inside top, causing friction and it to stick. Moving to the interior, there really isn't much wrong, I did have an issue with the rear driver window regulator, it fell and i had to replace it, no major issues there, though I did have to repair a plastic clip holder with plastic glue but it's good as new, the culprit was something left by the window tinter jamming into the pulleys and breaking it. The passenger seat no longer moves forward and backward, I notice both seats in my friends car are broken the same way. How do I address this, and keep both seat tracks like new? Knowing a reputable source for genuine leather upholstery similar to what's stock from Lexus would be nice, I'm dealing with some ripping and a completely destroyed passenger seat seam.
Phew! That was a lot! I appreciate you taking the time to read this if you got this far, and hope to hear your feedback!
Thanks a ton!!
First thing, the touring emblem is likely just an appearance package, possibly denoting interior trim, subroof,etc. most likely
nothing major.
As far as the suspension goes, i would just go ahead and buy new struts. I cant imagine that they would run very much, considering jn the 90’s toyota and lexus were very much the same cars. I bet the camry or similar chassis of the era share a lot of those parts. If you dont have about 3-4 hours of frustration to spare, i would recommend having your local trusted shop to install the suspension, maybe they could do a proper once over the vehicle for you too.
The sunroof issue is likely due to loose bolts on the actual mechanism that opens and closes the glass. I would start there and then inspect the weather-stripping that surrounds the glass, sometimes that little bit of extra play from worn weather-stripping can cause it to “flop” around a little. You can probably just buy a whole set of seals and install them all at once for your doors, windows, sunroof, etc. These things arent really pressing and you could save yourself some money in the long run doing it all at once
The oil leaking could just be from careless filling and residual oil dripping down, i would have a shop inspect the front main seal and you would have a little more peace of mins. I would clean everything up, to the best of my abilities and see from there. Reach out to other owners on the forums and see what are common issues. Best of luck!
09-21-19, 12:50 AM
#3
Racer
Welcome, and awesome on a low mileage car! This is an amazing platform that with proper maintenance can easily go 300k miles.
Suspension is really easy to do! The rear is the hardest part, and that is because you need to climb into the trunk. Many coilover options or stock options online still.
The window molding is a common issue and needs to be corrected, usually with replaced broken tabs from a donor car or lexus, or with 3m double sided automotive mounting tape and a clean surface.
The window seals should probably be inspected by an automotive glass installer to see what they would recommend as preventative maintenance to lengthen the life; but my car at 240k miles has the same lifting of the exterior corners on the windows with no leakage.
The leaking of the distributor is an easy fix with a new o-ring from toyota or lexus. A lot of your parts will be shared from a non turbo supra of the same year; which will save you on lexus mark up on the same toyota part number. And yes you will want to have this done to prevent damaged alternators.
Also it sounds like your hood is improperly adjusted, or if the fitment of the hood looks good; perhaps the latch adjustment is off. When I pop my hood you physically hear the clicking and releasing of the hood; at which it pops up.
Lastly; I would say if you're having issues with loose tracks or parts sticking in the windows you should pull the panels off and inspect for more loose parts; or things left in the way. Sticking door handles could be a binding rod, damaged door, loose window and track, parts not bolted down or broken clips.
Good luck!
Suspension is really easy to do! The rear is the hardest part, and that is because you need to climb into the trunk. Many coilover options or stock options online still.
The window molding is a common issue and needs to be corrected, usually with replaced broken tabs from a donor car or lexus, or with 3m double sided automotive mounting tape and a clean surface.
The window seals should probably be inspected by an automotive glass installer to see what they would recommend as preventative maintenance to lengthen the life; but my car at 240k miles has the same lifting of the exterior corners on the windows with no leakage.
The leaking of the distributor is an easy fix with a new o-ring from toyota or lexus. A lot of your parts will be shared from a non turbo supra of the same year; which will save you on lexus mark up on the same toyota part number. And yes you will want to have this done to prevent damaged alternators.
Also it sounds like your hood is improperly adjusted, or if the fitment of the hood looks good; perhaps the latch adjustment is off. When I pop my hood you physically hear the clicking and releasing of the hood; at which it pops up.
Lastly; I would say if you're having issues with loose tracks or parts sticking in the windows you should pull the panels off and inspect for more loose parts; or things left in the way. Sticking door handles could be a binding rod, damaged door, loose window and track, parts not bolted down or broken clips.
Good luck!
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