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Bosch (lifetime warranty AND lowest price) on the fuel pump, Centric on the rotors and pads. I am told that is what the Lexus dealer stocks on their shelves. Mobile one 10Wt on the oil. (we have light winters here on the third coast.....except for the one storm in 40 years like last week
Replaced the very old and very worn out trunk struts this weekend. OMG, no more having to prop that heavy lid up. New hood struts will be here today. Engine swap this coming weekend!
Ordered new OEM rear coil springs. I had just replaced the rear struts last month with new OEM struts for the 01-03 model. The ride was great for almost a month up until last weekend when I added some stuff in the trunk weighing about 120 pounds. Ride was still ok with the weight, but once I removed the stuff the ride went back to being harsh like before. Also the rear is now sitting low. So new coils will be installed Tuesday.
Installed OEM rear springs. Ride is really good, not too stiff or too soft. Ride height is now level front to back. The free standing height of the new spring was less than 1/16" taller the the original left spring and 1/16" taller than original right spring. Also I noticed I had to push down harder on the spindle/carrier assembly to get the stud into the lower hole on both struts with the new springs.
Ride height measurement before and after.
BEFORE SPRING SWAP
LF 27 3/4"
RF 27 11/16"
LR 27 7/16"
RR 27 1/4"
AFTER
LF 27 15/16"
RF 27 3/4"
LR 27 9/16"
RR 27 1/2"
LF increase by 3/16"
RF increase by 1/16"
LR increase by 2/16"
RR increase by 4/16"
Appears level now, hard to find a flat road surface.
I swapped the timing belt and idlers, water pump, drive belt and tensioner, and 2 gallons of fresh CCI OEM coolant on my 2006. It went much faster than the 2005, only 8 hours and one night since I already had a standard 22mm socket and the threads for the lower alternator bolt hadn't been stripped and replaced with a nut. I think it also helps this vehicle was serviced by Lexus to 155,000 miles and a Lexus dealership did the first TB change at 77k (currently on 176k) while the other had no history from 70k miles to when I bought it. Also a new air filter and cabin filter the other day.
Bosch (lifetime warranty AND lowest price) on the fuel pump, Centric on the rotors and pads. I am told that is what the Lexus dealer stocks on their shelves. Mobile one 10Wt on the oil. (we have light winters here on the third coast.....except for the one storm in 40 years like last week
The centric rotors are good stuff. Beat the living hell out of mine and no wobbles with very little pulsation at the pedal by the time they were on their way out. They're also coated and balanced as a plus.
Replaced the passenger side LBJ today since the front end was creaking and clicking near full lock, presumably due to the front being dipped off the road from me taking a corner a tad tight. The creaking is greatly lessened so next thing to check is the other LBJ and the steering rack bushings which I suspect is the cause of the noise. They were swapped for poly bushings and washing the undercarriage with hot water at the car wash might've dislodged some of the grease.
Very difficult to remove compared to the rusty 25 year old civic I've also started working on. The recommended puller from o'reillys just bent and didn't do much and bent. Had to take a 4lb hammer to the LCA to break it loose the regular way.
Inspected the LCA for damage and the powdercoating is cracked in a way that shows something's moved underneath. Going to have to track down a new lower control arm. Visually, no damage to any other parts of the LCA or the subframe though. After putting the wheel back on it still sits a bit far back which confirms my suspicions.
Going to need to play with tire pressures and alignment a bit more. It's about perfect on the outside with the contact mark (the michelin man molded into the corner block) worn evenly, but the inside is some kind of horror story. Going to end up at the cords before the rest of the tire wears evenly. 1.3 degrees of camber, 0.3in of total toe, and 7.4 degrees of caster at 34 PSI. I suspect I might have to bump the pressure up a bit more.
On another note, these things take heat surprisingly well. After heating up, they don't feel all that 'greasy' compared to some max performance summer tires I've driven on.
Apparently if the fuel pump is going out it can make a lot of noise. After I replaced the fuel pump the other day I drove it for the first time today. The car was quieter than I ever heard it. I had to look at the Tach to see if it was running!!! I have been driving the Sky for a week and the ride on the LS430 is awesome compared to the Sky. The relay had gone out so that the pump was on ALL THE TIME which wore out the pump.
Got my new OEM crankshaft DAMPER. The biggest and the most complete timing belt job is on the way. I will post all part numbers. I am not using any AISIN or aftermarket kits - pure OEM for this one. Two boxes of OEM rubber and Japanese made parts.
Rear suspension still feels great. I do hear a very minor clunking from the right side which I believe is that right side strut mount. I checked everything underneath again. Found one of the right rear upper control arm bolts slightly under-torqued, no change from that, and nothing else was loose(other control arms. splash shields, exhaust, axles etc.) I can reproduce that clunking sound if I push on the bumper and hear it from the open trunk. So most likely its that strut mount but I need another person to press on the bumper and I could listen near the strut mount. The seats are not secured so the sound would be muffled even more but I want to be done with the suspension completely. So if I can confirm its bad I'll order an OEM mount. Also with all these changes to the ride height I retorqued the front big LCA bushings at current ride height. Seems like last time I overtorqued the big nut way over the 101 ft lb spec. Might be in my head but the slight pull to the right is barely present and the front suspension takes bumps better. Need to get a final alignment soon.
My battery gave up the ghost this week. Of course, on the day work needed my on plant. I hadn't driven the car for three days. Measured a sad 8.6 V and would not take a charge.
Replaced it with a 24F Duracell AGM from Sam's Club, $185 with a 3 year replacement warranty, not the greatest deal but, eh.
I also decided to finally install the ring terminal harness for my battery tender. The receptacle is tucked away on the plastic windshield cowl, very easy to plug into, but not noticeable.
For posterity, I measured the idle current draw. 1.5 A when I first connect the battery... high! But after a few seconds, it'll drop down to 900 mA, then finally rest at 50 mA with occasional upticks to 900 mA. The doors are unlocked. I don't think that's too bad.
Besides what Lexus put in from the factory, I have the wireless receiver for my exhaust cutouts, the hardwire kit for my dash cam, and my OBD2 adapter drawing current. There was no significant difference with idle current draw with those devices unplugged.
Attempted to install my second-hand Youzealand SS Kit today only to find out that I was yet again missing pieces and that I was actually sold a Youzealand SS Pro Kit that did not include the slotted lower ball joint mounts shown in thr picture below. Can't put an oval peg in a round hole so I'm currently trying to get in touch with a guy from thr next town over who's apparently parting out a 2005 LS430 to see if I can grab a spare set of mounts to get them machined.
The first attempt at installing them failed when the seller didn't ship the extended bolts with them. I just got my order in from Fastenal this week with the new hardware and yet another set back.
Installed OEM rear springs. Ride is really good, not too stiff or too soft. Ride height is now level front to back. The free standing height of the new spring was less than 1/16" taller the the original left spring and 1/16" taller than original right spring. Also I noticed I had to push down harder on the spindle/carrier assembly to get the stud into the lower hole on both struts with the new springs.
Ride height measurement before and after.
BEFORE SPRING SWAP
LF 27 3/4"
RF 27 11/16"
LR 27 7/16"
RR 27 1/4"
AFTER
LF 27 15/16"
RF 27 3/4"
LR 27 9/16"
RR 27 1/2"
Just for kicks, I went out and measured my silver 2004 that is equipped with 2004-06 coils and 2001-03 struts (just like yours!). Coils and struts on mine were replaced with OE parts almost 2 years ago. I sit at 27 3/4" in the front and 27 3/8" in the rear. Of course differences in fuel level and tire diameter between our cars make direct comparison impossible, but it seems we're both pretty consistent.
So, a wonderful shop in town misdiagnosed low compression in my engine and causing the misfire on cylinder 8...told me I needed a new motor, get a new motor in and while getting ready to tear the old one out, we check a few things, compression super healthy across the board. Turns out I had bad coils. So this weekend we put new coils, new plugs, new timing belt, oil change, new motor mounts, gutted all three super clogged and screwed up cats and she purrs like a kitten. Also found spring risers attached to all 4 wheels. I always thought the car looked like it was sitting super high. Anyway, front fenders are already rolled for when I go with a better fitting wheel set-up.
Need to replace the two main cats though cause I hate smelling like exhaust.
03-08-21, 04:54 AM
