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Resolved this crazy whistling from the sunroof yesterday that'd been driving me crazy earlier in the week. It was pretty minor early in the week so I thought it was just the wind faring from my roof rack so took that off. To my surprise, that didn't help. Was worried I had to buy a new seal, but luckily, after cleaning it with 303 and applying shin-etsu, it seems to have resolved itself.
It sounds like the 01-03 coils are the way to go for ride quality. We just got back from a spring break road trip in my 05 with stock coils and KYB struts in the rear. Two teenage girls in the back seat and a loaded trunk made for the best ride I've ever had in this car. The remaining question when not laden with teenage girls and too much gear in the trunk is struts: 01-03 OEM struts, 04-06 OEM struts, or stick with the KYBs? Lexus LS glide is the goal.
I can attest to a good ride when fully loaded, my '02 with me and my girlfriend's brother in the front, my girlfriend and my daughter in the back (two big folk, two not so big folk) with a g35 19 between them and 3 more g35 19's with tires in the trunk and I was tucking tire in the back on a 250K mile suspension but damn if she didn't still drive great and managed 25mpg on the highway
oh yeah..and I purchased a set of G35 19" Ray's this weekend to go on the ole girl. Saving for some Fortune 500 coilovers and other suspension bits before installing though
Re-torqued all the rear suspension bushings at ride height. Initially I thought to have a full tank of gas and added 150 pounds to the driver's seat to simulate me being in the car, but that was a mistake. The car sat too low and didn't ride good. So I went the other way, didn't add weight but instead removed about 60 pounds from the trunk of the car as if there was only half of tank of gas. Now ride height is back to normal and this is the best ride so far. Especially on the highway, really smooth and controlled. I also had to use the string method to get rear toe corrected after all those changes. I'll see how close it is after an actual alignment, but it doesn't pull now. I also cleaned up the rear suspension area since I sprayed 303 Aerospace on all the rubber pieces.
Knocked out a lot of maintenance this weekend using the many DIYs on the site, Youtube, and the factory manual My first time doing everything listed. Included some gasket numbers here that I had to find.
1) Spark plugs - I had done the driver's side a while ago, but never had the time to finish up the passenger side. The last spark plug on the passenger side near the firewall is a hassle. At 135K mi, the original plugs all needed a decent amount of force but fortunately, all my threads are preserved.
2) Brake fluid flush - Last (recorded) brake fluid flush was at 90K mi and 7 years ago - brake fluid was only slightly dirty, one brake bleeder plug was rusted, and given the condition of the fluid and time constraints I elected to skip it
3) Rear differential fluid change - The original fluid was green and as terrible smelling as everyone says, fair bit of metal flakes on the drain plug and in the fluid. The fill plug and drain plug were both a PITA to remove due to rust. Soaked both in Aerokroil the day before, and again the morning of. Cleaned out the plugs of rust as much as I could, heated around them with a propane torch, hammered in the hex bit, and used a breaker bar. Took about 2QTs of 75W-90 gear oil. Replaced both plug gaskets (12157-10010)
4) Trans fluid drain and fill - Not too bad, original fluid was definitely dirty and curiously a lot of fluid came out of the overflow plug when cold. Only took about 1-1.2 quarts to refill. Checked fluid temp with techstream and prayed I did everything correctly after reading so many trans horror stories. I was shifting fine before so no noticeable changes. Maybe a tad smoother shifts? Drain and overflow plug gasket = 35178-30010, refill gasket = 90301-15004
5) Coolant drain and fill - Was changed at 86K mi about 8 years ago, figured it wouldn't hurt to change
6) Thermostat - Preventative as some people mentioned they saw some improvement with replacement, gasket = 16346=50010
7) Engine coolant temp sensor - preventative, same as above, gasket = 90430-12005
8) Throttle body - Was fairly clean, unsure when last cleaned, but gave it a touch-up
9) Serpentine/drive belt - Old belt was fairly worn, no real cracks seen in the grooves but much softer/more pliable versus the new belt. Easy enough, but the key tip is that tension needs to be released to easily loop the AC pump second to last, then finally idler pulley no. 2 last. Factory suggests only releasing tension to do the idler pulley last.
10) Replaced fog lights - These were actually a pain on one side for some reason. I went through the wheel well, and they are easily accessible. But the driver's side bulb would not budge by hand, needed a wrench to twist it off, and the new one back on.
11) Rear LCA bushings/caster bushings - I elected to use the GS-F/RC-F brackets/bushings (48076-24010). They are not a perfect fit but work, the holes are smaller so you have to do a little extra work to make sure they line up. Remember to remove the middle bolt, then outside, then inside in order when taking off the bracket, and then reverse when installing. I tightened the outside one first when installing and the bracket was slightly tilted and I ended up messing up some threads. Had to tap the threads. Not completely sure how I feel about them yet. They definitely tightened up steering A LOT. Also jack up the LCA to approx. horizontal/ride height when torquing down.
Much more confident on the highway and in turns. If I'm on a flat and straight piece of road I can finally let go of the steering wheel and the car tracks perfectly straight. Note I did not have an alignment done after installing these, I don't believe it's necessary. The only downsides are you get much more road feel and a slightly harsher ride.
12)Sway bar bushings - Last and the worst! The old bushings were fine but I wanted to swap them for poly siberian bushings for better handling. Ended up snapping off both rusted passenger side bracket bolts in the rear and had to drill them out. By far the most annoying thing I've had to do in recent memory. Skipped the rest of them as they all looked in okay shape. If anyone has any tips for getting these out it would be appreciated, I would love to finish up the front and other rear bushings.
Still to do:
1) Two or more trans drain and fills - fairly simple to do and worth the insurance against future trans troubles
2) Install daizen poly steering rack bushings - still have steering wheel shake over bumps and think this might be the culprit
3) Replace fuel pulsation dampeners - ticking noise and some fuel smell when running
4) PCV valve - another random piece of preventative maintenance I've found here
Re-torqued all the rear suspension bushings at ride height. Initially I thought to have a full tank of gas and added 150 pounds to the driver's seat to simulate me being in the car, but that was a mistake. The car sat too low and didn't ride good. So I went the other way, didn't add weight but instead removed about 60 pounds from the trunk of the car as if there was only half of tank of gas. Now ride height is back to normal and this is the best ride so far. Especially on the highway, really smooth and controlled. I also had to use the string method to get rear toe corrected after all those changes. I'll see how close it is after an actual alignment, but it doesn't pull now. I also cleaned up the rear suspension area since I sprayed 303 Aerospace on all the rubber pieces.
Welcome to the “retorque suspension” club hahaha! Definitely it improves the ride a lot when done correctly! Glad you confirm it as well - the more people know about this, the better experience they ll have.
Now think for a moment - imagine replacing all these beautiful factory arms and bushings with Chinese parts from online sale, and torquing everything on the air with wheels down 😆. And a lot of people actually do it this way not realizing that their mechanics don’t care.
Welcome to the “retorque suspension” club hahaha! Definitely it improves the ride a lot when done correctly! Glad you confirm it as well - the more people know about this, the better experience they ll have.
Now think for a moment - imagine replacing all these beautiful factory arms and bushings with Chinese parts from online sale, and torquing everything on the air with wheels down 😆. And a lot of people actually do it this way not realizing that their mechanics don’t care.
It really changes the way the car rides. Small bumps go unnoticed and the car just feels more composed and smooth. Also soaks up big dips in the road without much body movement. Perfect ride in my opinion. The fuel tank is now almost empty and still rides good, so it seems like 1/2 tank is the way to do it.
We did the same to Catalina45's sport model and it also made a big difference. Definitely more people should do this when changing suspension arms or if they don't know the history of their car and experience an uncomfortable ride.
I've had a take-home car for work since before I got my LS430 which resulted in the LS sitting a lot. I took a new position at work which required me to give up my take-home car, so now I am driving the LS430 40 miles a day, 5 days a week. It does feel good to drive it all the time now, even as the miles start to add up.
I've got a new Denso radiator and OEM hoses to do as a preventative swap here soon.
Going to replace the battery with another Interstate Costco special.
I need to get the car re-tinted with as dark as legally possible to help with the Texas sun.
I also need to service the transmission. I've done my GX460 with the sealed system, just need to do the LS430 and do several drain and fills.
Will be running up the miles yet still trying to keep it looking as immaculate as possible. Spent an hour washing it yesterday with a clear forecast and of course it lightly rained later on...
Since a few months ago I have the new windshield made by Pilkington in my car. What an amazing aftermarket glass product. I applied ceramic product on it since then provides extreme clarity even during rain.
Replaced the PCV valve today (which was absolutely filthy), cleaned the VSV body, and attempted to replace the fuel pulsation dampers. I could not remove the engine wire harness despite some extended efforts. Will have to try again at a later date. Also ordered a new MAF sensor, VSV body, and fuel filter/pump to replace in the coming months. Attempting to get my gas mileage up to stock levels.
Has anyone else replaced their PCV valve recently? I wasn't able to tighten it all the way down. OEM piece had some red loctite-like compound on the threads. Seems to be a consistent issue from what I've seen. I was very careful not to cross-thread it
. Once I got to the point in the picture, I was probably applying something like 40-50 ft-lbs.
What i did to my 430 today was give it to my daughter and bought a LS600HL for my self. Its a kinda beat project but it'll get love and be resurrected.
Has anyone else replaced their PCV valve recently? I wasn't able to tighten it all the way down. OEM piece had some red loctite-like compound on the threads. Seems to be a consistent issue from what I've seen. I was very careful not to cross-thread it
Once I got to the point in the picture, I was probably applying something like 40-50 ft-lbs.
Looks to me like you got the new one in the same amount as the old one went in.
From the dirt on the threads of the old one, the new one is in the same position and yer good to go.
04-08-21, 10:58 PM
