gbhrps

I experimented today, taped up a shortened putty knife to prevent scratches, and pried the plastic cladding a bit. With the rear door open, I pried out the top section of thye dog leg cladding (measures about two inches wide by 10 inches tall and an inch and a half thick) from the door opening side until I heard a pop, and saw a short white male plug spring free from a female plastic plug receptacle set into the metal body of the car. At that point I slapped everything back into place, since it appears that getting the plastic cladding off isn't going to be such a pain after all, and I won't be tackling the paint job until the end of the week. (I'll still be driving the car until then.) There may be a strip of double sided tape to contend with as well, but it doesn't look like anything will self destruct, as it does on some cars when you start removing body mouldings. I'll keep you posted as to how things go. Thanks!

Its time for some restorative paintwork of a rear quarter panel on my 02 OBW. Surface rust has started to creep from under the rear bumper cover and the rear dog leg adjacent to the wheel arch on both sides. Pulling the bumper cover is no problem, but has anyone figured out how the rear dog leg panel between the rear wheel opening and the rear door comes off, without breaking it or its fasteners? Many thanks!

My Winter wheels would not securely hold the wheel covers and I was afraid of losing them. I saw this being done in the Carribbean several years ago on their rough roads, and have used it myself for three winter seasons. Install the wheel covers and then wrap a a plastic zip tie through an opening in the wheel cover, through a cutout in the steel wheel, and back through the wheel cover to the front and fasten and pull it tight. I use the clear zip ties with my siver wheel covers, since they hide pretty well in that colour. I install two zip ties on each wheel, about as 180 degrees across from each other as possible, to keep everything tight. I also put the zip fastener as close to the wheel cover opening as possible, to make it less noticeable, and then cut off the excess tie. With the small cost of the ties, I simply cut them free in the spring when its time to change my wheels over summer mags. (I also carry several spares in the trunk, for use if I ever have to use the spare tire.) Hope this helps someone out.

Sorry about the lacking details! Its an 02 OBW LTD. The glove box definitely has to come out to get the tape up the front of the two boxes at the seam, but you will be able to feel where the foam, and the cold air, are located as the seam goes along the two boxes towards the firewall. As for the glove box, there are 4 pins that must come out before you can get to all of the screws that hold the glovebox surround support. Take as many of those screws out as you can get, in order to get room to go after the pins. As well, before starting, right at the firewall there is a push in plug in the side of the passenger side of the console. Screw its centre out with a phillips screwdriver until you can pull it with your finger, and then pull its expander plug out. You can now pull the passenger side of the console out towards the passenger seat from the front, as far as two plastic clips will allow. They are attached as part of the console side. When the console side is partially pulled out you'll have enough room to get at the screws down the left side of the glove box. Two small pins at the very bottom of the glovebox (when open) on either side, act as the hinge points, and two square pluglike pins act as the lock, again on either side, that allow the glovebox door to open only so far. All the pins are pushed into place from inside the glovebox, so they are removed from the outside in. Be very careful trying to pull them in from inside the glovebox, for they appear very fragile. I was afraid I'd break one, so I worked and worked at pushing them in from the outside using needlenosed pliers. When you go to drop the glove box surround you'll find the wiring connector for the glovebox interior light on the right side. Simply disconnect it, as the wiring for the interior bulb and the switch for same will all stay with the glovebox surround. Good Luck!

My wife has complained for years about the cold draught on her feet in the front passenger foot well. During the first year of ownership I couldn't find the air leak and just jammed all kinds of pieces of one inch thick foam rubber up around the fan and air ducts behind the glove box. It helped but didn't solve the problem completely, and we've lived with it till just recently. I pulled all the foam out this week determined to find the cause. No luck, so I pulled the glove box assembly from the dash to get some room. With a friend driving and myself in the passenger seat I was able to locate a stream of cold outside air coming in. Once back home and laying on the floor I was able to feel a section where the HAV boxes are joined together and sealed with a foam rubber seal .... that the outside air had been just blowing through. The seam between the two boxes runs from the top up under the dash straight down, curves around the bottom and runs straight back to the firewall. This seam is exactly in line with where the passenger side of the console ends at the firewall. In my case, you could see the seam where the boxes came together, but not the foam, but you could feel it when you stuck your fingers around the side of the seem from the centre console side. Once found it was an easy fix .... duct tape from top to bottom ... and no more draught. The nice thing is that the tape isn't visible unless you get right down onto the floor and look up. I don't know if anyone else has had a similar problem or not, but here's the simple fix if you do.

My wife's Lexus ES 330 is supposed to use midgrade octane fuel. With 52 000 kms on the odometer and using only 87 octane since new, there have been no issues to date. The car is seldom asked to "get it on", and even then there is no pinging indicating pre-ignition. My 90 Nissan 300ZX with 72 000 kms gets a diet of 87 octane as well. The manual says to use only premium, but I'm long past hotdogging my toys. And the very few times that I've hammered the throttle, I have yet to hear any pre-ignition. The computers of modern cars compensate for the octane variances, and unless you drive hard and demand performance most of the time, I would think that you would be safe using a lesser octane. Just keep an ear tuned for pinging when using WOT. If you hear it, back off and change to a higher octane with your next tankful. You may well find that you can get along without the premium fuel and price.

The sunroof seal is glued and fitted into a channel that is in the metal frame of the sunroof. Basically the sunroof glass is glued to its metal surround frame and the seal is sandwiched in between. The only way to repair it is to replace the entire glass/metal unit. You might try black silicone to fill in the area missing. Open the roof part way and clean the seal and dry it completely. Squeeze out enough silicone into the missing section to fill the void, and shape it by wrapping it with saran wrap. Once cured (overnight) carve the excess off using a sharp exacto knife to size. Even if you get it close, no one will ever see it since the car sits too high, and it might last and do the job for you. Short of that, I'd try a junkyard for some used weatherstripping that was thick enough to carve/shape into the missing section and silicone it into the break. Good Luck!

cannonball, In the last year I dropped my headliner to correct a stripped front sunroof drive mechanism in my 02 OBW LTD. You might be able to pull down the headliner far enough in the centre, by doing the following. No guarantees here, as I pulled everything, overhead handles, sunvisors, interior ceiling lights, the A, B, C, and D pillar mouldings, and the mouldings around the doors, etc. The tricky part, and here's what I'm suggesting you might try, since it might give you enough room to see what the problem is, is to open the sunroof completely. Looking in from on top of the car, you'll see 4 rectangular plastic plugs that have centre push/lift pins along the centre metal strip between the front and rear sunroofs. Pull the four of them. Then pull the ceiling plugs in the rear of the car, 4 or 6 as I recall. Then reach up around the rear sunroof opening from inside the car and gently pull down the headliner from around the edges. Its held in there by a series of velcro type fasteners. At this point you might be able to see between the headliner and the roof with a light to see what is going on. If not .... I've already listed what else needs to come out. Hint: remove the headrests to drop the headliner easier. Good Luck!

You've answered your own question! There is a dead short somewhere in the glove box lighting circuit. Either the bulb socket, the glove box switch or the wiring harness to it have directly shorted across to another circuit somewhere in the dash. You'll have to get under there and isolate each in turn to find the culprit. Short of that, disconnect the connectors from both the switch and the bulb socket and see what happens. Can you live without a light in the glove box? If so, just remove the bulb and forget about it. Good Luck!

I agree, OB99W, you did a fabulous job on your writeup! It sure is nice to read a response that is comprehensive, well thought out, and shows that the writer took the time to cover all of the procedures, as well as to check his spelling and grammar before posting his answer.

Ranger83, Thanks for the link! My best bet is to contact the dealership and get a price, or watch the junkyards for a wreck that's been rearended or slammed from the front.

This sounds a lot like the dreaded head gasket issue. By all means watch your temperature guage closely.

I'm considering replacing my 02 OBW Ltd with a low mileage 06 OBW Ltd. I find the 2.5 has more than adequate power for the driving I do, but am miffed that the Mirrors with the LED Turn Signal option isn't available, but is available on the Special Edition (a cheaper model than the Ltd) and on the 2.5 Turbo and H6 models. Baffling to say the least. So, to my question. Has anyone retrofitted the LED mirrors to their standard OBW? I have the skills and tools to do the swap, and the needed painting, but what was the cost of the mirrors? Anyone know?

On my 02 OBW I ran the wiring under the rear floorboards to the centre styrofoam parcel tray. I open the rear floor latch, reach in and unravel the excess wire, place it to one side of the tailgate latch, shut the tailgate, and plug it into the trailer connector, leaving enough to ensure that cornering will not allow it to pull out of the trailer connector or drag on the ground. That way I never have the connector out in the weather, except when its being used, and I never had to drill a hole in the rear of the car to get the wiring through the body. Then again, I use my trailer very infrequently. I've used this setup on my 97 OBW as well, and it works like a charm.

Are you sure that your heater core hasn't got a small leak that's adding a lot of extra humidity to the interior of the car?

Years ago my father had a Chrysler New Yorker that had the same herk and jerk with the cruise control, and it was a new car. What was traced down was that the cable to the throttle valve from the cruise control actuator was too tight. It didn't have enough slack, causing the cruise control to hunt up and down with the throttle in jerking motions. Once a little slack was introduced into the cable, by backing off the locking nut on the cable assembly and retightening the nut on the other side of its mounting bracket, I believe it only needed one or two turns of each nut, the problem was solved. I realize that this was on a 1969 automobile, but some things haven't changed in 35 years. Its worth a try, will take two minutes to do before a test drive, and if it doesn't solve your problem will still only take two minutes to put back. Good Luck!

I would also vote to stay away from the petoleum jelly. Anything oil based will swell up and destry rubber. For years I've lubricated my weather stripping with a spray on silicone that says on the can that it is for use on rubber. I spray it on and rub it in with my fingers. It not only keeps the rubber from sticking to the body of the car, it makes it seal better, and in our freezing winters here in Southern Ontario, it keeps the weatherstripping from freezing to the body of the car, even in the coldest weather.

I would agree with a revisit to your slide pins to ensure that they are corrosion free, lubed properly, and are moving freely. At the same time I would be suspect that you may have partially sticking pistons in the calipers, due to infrequent fluid flushes over the years (the manual says every 3 years). The water absorbed from the air will find its way to the bottom of the calipers and rust a ring around the pistons, and then they stick or freeze up. When you pull your calipers next to check the slide pins, have someone push the brake pedal in stages while you watch the piston at each wheel (one wheel at a time of course). They should move out smoothly. After 2 or three pumps, and before they pop out of the caliper bore, force the piston back in with a large C clamp. Do this 2 or three times, and you may free the piston up enough to prevent further sticking. Obviously during this procedure, if you notice that the piston does not move smoothly, but rather in jagged stages, pop it out and clean the piston with 0000 steel wool, and do the same with the caliper bore to remove any rust. If it cleans up well, showing no scoring on the piston or the bore, clean everything well with brake cleaner, relube everything with fresh brake fluid and pop the piston back into the caliper. Reinstall all parts, and then bleed the brakes. But if you have any doubts about a scored piston or caliper bore, replace the entire unit with a remanufactured one. DON'T take a chance trying to stretch a dollar at the expense of an accident. The procedure I've described worked for me on my wife's last Lexus. A brake squeal showed up at slow speeds on one wheel 6 weeks after I had done a complete brake job on the car. I pulled the wheel and discovered the sticking piston. A quick cleanup with 0000 steel wool and so on, resulted in 2 more years of trouble free driving. Good Luck!

First off, you are going with a much taller tire which means that your speedometer will be out. More importantly, you are going with a wider tire, when you should be looking at a narrower tire for winter driving. My last OBW had 195's, and she was unstoppable in the snow. My present OBW has 225's, and unfortunately I let myself be talked into staying with the same 225 size for my winter tires. I can not achieve anywhere near the same speeds in snow with the new car, as I could with the old one. The much wider 225's ride up on top of the snow and aquaplane at a much lower speed. My advice would be to stay with your 195, or look at a 185. To prove my point, check out the width of the winter snow tires that the rallye cars use. They are super narrow, and yes, studded.

Thanks for the walk through and the pictures. While I've done more than my share of these in the shop where I work, I'm sure there are lots of others who have been wary of the inside mechanics of the door locks. After seeing how the control rods are secured in the lock mechanism, more backyard mechanics will be inclined to tackle their own door lock problems.

Several cars back my wife's Lexus had the same flasher problem. It turned out that there was a poor contact at the bulb socket, causing a resistance and overflashing the lights on that side of the car. The system was designed to draw acertain amount of current, and if it didn't the system would increase the flasher rate. There was no corrosion. The solution was to stretch the spring contact inside the socket, in order to make a stronger contact with the bottom of the bulb. For the time we had the car, it was a biyearly ritual to fix that left front turn signal bulb socket. As for your low fuel light, I would wonder if its bulb is burned out, an easy fix if you can get your hand up behind the dash to twist out the tiny bulb socket. Otherwise, you'll have to pull the front of the instrument panel off to get at its back to check it and change it. As for the hazard light switch not being illuminated, its internal bulb is obviously burned out. Remove the switch, take it apart, and you'll find a very tiny bulb with 2 pigtails. Go to Radio Shack, where they sell 2 packs of the same bulb with 2 inch long pigtails for around 3 bucks. Swap out the old for the new, cut off the extra pigtail length and you're in business again. BTW, that bulb will most likely be the same one for your low fuel light. As for your other dimming lights, you may well have something else in your system feeding back and causing problems, then again it may right its self with the above fixes. Good Luck!

In the last few months I had reason the chase down a water leak in the roof of my 02 OBW LTD. It turned out to be a shrinkage of sealant material around the sunroof opening that was wicking in the water. Regardless, I dropped the headliner and originally thought that the water might be coming in around the 6 anchor points of the roof rack. It wasn't, but the dropped headliner revealed that the roof racks are held on by 3 bolts each, each of which are fastened with a 10 mm nut. Not much heft for something that might be of some protection in a roll over. Obviously they were designed for holding gear onto the roof, and that's it. On the same note, I once owned a 77 Corvette that stated in the owner's manual to ensure that the spare tire was properly inflated and stored underneath the rear end up between the mufflers in a fibreglass holder. The reason? .... for protection in a rear end collision! I had a laugh at that one. In a rear ender the tire would have deflated or been ejected through the fibreglass shell in an instant. Some protection that would have been!

I'd put a small amount of money on a corroded slider pin on the brake caliper assembly, or a slightly rusted piston in the caliper itself that is not entirely releasing. When did you last have the brakes serviced, where they would pull the pads, clean all parts, relube the slider pins, and reassemble the unit? When was the last time you had the brake system flushed of the old fluid, new fluid installed, and all of the calipers rebled? Both procedures, if neglected, will give you the symptoms you describe. But there are other wheel related parts, referred to by the other threads before mine, that may give you the same signs. Good Luck!

Do a search under "front sunroof", and when the topics list, scan down the page to the thread "How to fix 01 OBW front sunroof". Look for my entry (gbhrps) partway down that series of entries, where I go through all of the steps to remove and reinstall the headliner. I've got to believe that someone with a fair amount of mechanical savvy could replace the front sunroof drive assembly, after the entire assembly was out of the car. That is the only way it can be done, out of the car. So that means, drop the headliner out of the car. Before that look back up at the rear of the front sunroof and pull by hand the two plastic covers that hide the two scissor assemblies. You'll see a 10 mm nut on either side that fasten the scissor assemblies to the glass. Remove them. Then disconnect the wiring to the sunroof motor, disconnect all 6 drain water tubes, and undo all the nuts down both sides of the car that hold the entire sunroof assembly (drive tubes, drain tracks, rear sunroof glass, and motor assembly) and remove through the tailgate opening. Once on a bench the front sunroof drive assembly can be separated and replaced with a new one. Be careful of the rear windshield washer fluid tube on the pasenger side. Its fastened up there in and around all of the bracing and sunroof attach points. Don't want to break that when dropping the assembly from the roof. How the system operates, may explain how to go about the repair. The drive motor for both sunroofs is dead centre of the rear of the car. It has a large drive gear, about 3 inches in diameter, that pushes (closing) or pulls (opening) 2 drive cables (one on one side of the gear and the other 180 degrees across from it). The drive cables are encased in hollow steel tubes (pencil diameter), one that runs down the passenger side of the car, the other down the driver's side. When they reach the rear of the front sunroof, they turn towards the opposite side of the car, and continue until they are just short of the tube on the other side. The two drive cable tubes will be about half an inch apart, parallel to each other, just behind the front sunroof. On each tube there are 2 fingers about 2 inches long. They are directly across from each other, one pair on either side of the sunroof. The fingers (or scissors I've been calling them) are rivetted together, so that when the drive motor pulls the two cables towards the rear of the car, the fingers being on opposite tracks, and being rivetted together at the end, raise up, pushing the sunroof to its up position. Reverse the motor, the cables go the opposite direction, pulling the fingers in opposite directions, the scissors collapse, the front sunroof closes. I recall that this whole front section drive assembly can be disconnected as one piece and replaced. I think I recall a bunch of screws being all that are necessary to remove and replace it from the rest of the drive tubes. So what you'll be replacing, I think, is the two drive tubes just before they turn towards each other and become parallel. This will include the two scissor assemblies as well, all in one unit. Once replaced, use a 12 volt power supply to ensure that the scissor assemblies open and close properly. BUT BE CAREFUL!!!!! You know that pushing the sunroof switch once opens the front sunroof. MAKE SURE that you don't push it a second time and move the rear sunroof out of alignment. IT MUST REMAIN CLOSED (I would think that to move the rear sunroof while out of the car would be a no-no, I don't know for sure, but why take a chance?), so that when you put the entire sunroof track assembly back into the car, the rear sunroof will fit properly back into its roof opening, sealing properly without binding, and aligning all of the tracks and drive tubes and fastening points down both sides of the car , front to rear. Good Luck if you try it yourself, and get back to us and let us know how you make out.

A little over 3 months ago I went where you are now going. My 02 OBW LTD did EXACTLY the same thing, just after I developed a leak in the roof assembly that let water find its way into the front overhead reading lights and the roof switch console. What happened to the front sunroof, I believe can be traced back to opening it one very cold winter day, after a night of rain and freezing rain. I believe that I stripped the front scissors/track assembly that raises the front sunroof. Yes, I could put it up by hand but it would fall back down going over a rough road, and the rear sunroof worked as usual. I pulled the entire headliner out myself (you'll find the writeup in the archives) to save money, and let the dealership drop the entire sunroof assembly. They discovered that the front sunroof drive assembly (scissors/track assembly) was stripped ($214 CANDIAN), ordered a new one (special order part), installed it the following week, problem solved, and I reinstalled the headliner, mouldings, Overhead lights and handles, etc. Not cheap, but what are the alternatives? Good Luck!