Paul Sherman

Hi all; I want to thank you all for the camaraderie and help over the last 4+ years. But I must say goodbye. Due to a number of factors, I found I needed to let my '93 LS400 go. It served me well, but both us us are showing our age, plus my needs changed. It needed a fair amount of work in the next year (starter, timing belt, interior), Time and health issues limit my ability to work on it myself, and finding a good independent Lexus mechanic in St. Louis has been a real challenge. And with my knees pretty well gone, even getting in and out of it is a challenge. Kindest Regards, Paul Sherman

It sounds like it's probably a broken cable between the mast and motor. Search the message board, it's fairly common and there's a vendor (he's on eBay, too) that has the parts. It's a fairly easy fix. Paul

Back when cars had neither electronic ignition nor fuel injection, warming up was often necessary. I have a '40 chevy street rod that still needs to warm up to ~ 80deg F before I can move it. I converted my '69 Chevy pickup to electronic "points" two years ago; I only need to wait about a minute before a smooth take-off. I'm converting the rod this winter. Both are built, carbed engines.

OK, the update on my '93: My body guy got the rear fixed, but it was worse than he thought. Had to take it to a shop with the full blown frame jig to straighten it out. Still, he got jobber rates for that ($55 an hour). All told $1200 and some detail work on my part to make it look good again. Oh and a month of driving my '69 Chevy truck - fun, but not as comfy. Then it started vibrating and shaking... Took it to the tire shop for a 4 wheel alignment to see if that would help. (Needed to after the body work anyway). What they found was a torn rear tire with steel belt hanging out - yep, that would do it. My guess is the tire was torn in the wreck, but it took some miles for the tear to open enough to be noticeable. Drives great now, especially with 210K miles on it. But... Somewhere in the bodywork the fender gasket and retaining nut for the antenna got lost. If anyone has those parts handy, I'd like to buy them. Gary G, the antenna guy, will look when I get him some measurements.

I'll second that, Jim's work was impeccable.

NC211 said... I find it funny how the headliner was only wet in the front section, not running back towards the rear. if the drain plug was clogged, I would think gravity would of pulled the water along the sides of the headliner back towards the rear. Have you had your sunroof in the tilt position recently? I know on my ole' LS, if I had the roof in tilt mode, then only closed it with out actually sliding it back a little then closing it, the seal would not set very well would leak along the front, usually start dripping down through the map lights. Maybe the hit rattled the roof out of alignment? I wouldn't think a hit that soft would actually break the drain hose, but possibly bump the roof out of square. **** Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. It did leak toward the back as well, the drip came out at the center of the right rear passenger seat. What was odd, is that it was soaked at the front while the car was pointed up hill. The right I expected, as it was next to the curb, and hence, lower. the sunroof hadn't been opened for quite a while, but I do notice that the back edge doesn't seat solid, and can bounce while driving. I had the car up on the rack yesterday, only body damage, even the exhaust is fine. And the drains are clear...

The past week haas been hard on my '93 LS400. Thursday, a winter storm started coming in. Late that day, the antenna cable broke - minor, no biggee, I know there's a kit on eBay thanks to you all. Thursday night - 8.5 inches of snow. Friday, I needed to get to work, so fought my way out of the neighborhood, no problem. Got on the freeway, a bit snowed over, but quite manageable until... I found something that kicked the car into a slide; spun twice, hit the median on the left rear corner. Prelim checkout, bumper a bit torn, all the lights are intact and it seems to drive fine. Later that day, I manage to get a closer look - OUCH! the trunk didn't seem to line up with the fenders any more. Sure enough, the back end is pushed over about 3/8 inch, buckled at the the antenna mast and fuel filler. Crap. Then.... Monday, we have 3 inches of rain. I go to get something off the back seat; it's wet. Sure enough, the headliner is soaked on the passenger side almost to the front of the sunroof... So questions... 1. My bodyman thinks he can straighten the back OK. Anyone have any experience with this? 2. Do I need to remove the headliner to dry it out, or can I leave it alone? (Found tutorial, just in case the answer is yes) 3. When it rained, the car was pointed slightly up hill with the passenger side slightly lower. That leads me to think there's an issue with the rear passenger drain. From what I've found in the forum, the rears are tricky to get to. It's also possible that the drain hose came loose in the wreck. Any suggestions on how to proceed? Thanks in advance - Paul

I'd like to hear as well. My '93 has 206K on it and barely passed the last test. Luckily, it is the 'last' emissions test, as Missouri has decided not to test anything without the OBDII interface ('95 and older). However, the borderline pass is probably an indication of something going, my guess is the cats...

I had the same issue for a while, it would stop blowing hot air whenever I came to a stop. Gauge read fine. The coolant level was just low enough to not reach the heater core at low RPMs. Topped it up and I was good to go. At this stage I also suspect an air lock in that loop. I haven't dealt with an air lock in this system, but it may be worth popping one of the heater hoses off by the heater valve (top center firewall). In fact, a quick try might be to disconnect the valve's cable and set it to max open for a while - less invasive.

I don't see where that would necessarily be a legal requirement. Many many older vehicles don't have them visible at all. (my '69 Chevy pickup and 40 Chevy street rod). In many states, the vehicle ID was the engine serial #, sure ruined things when folks started swapping engines. After that, it wasn't standardized until the late 70's or 80's (I think).

I just connected to 2 and 6 (sub + and -) What was nice is that I was able to use the head unit's sub controls to massage the signal well enough to provide a good response. Figure I'll run it till it dies, then add in an aftermarket amp and speaker. Just don't want to hassle with running the wiring, especially the power lines needed to properly feed an aftermarket amp till I have to.

You don't need a special part to use the factory sub with an aftermarket head unit. I built an adaptor; RCA connector for head unit wired to two spade connectors with a leg cut off as a sub wiring harness. Plug the RCA into the head unit and the spades into sockets 2 and 6 of the Lexus connector. It works great, still not as strong as an aftermarket, but for 1/2 hour work and $1 in parts, it's a lot better than nothing. Bear in mind, this is all AFTER using LexLS excellent tutorial to install everything else. At least one person is REAL interested in how I did this. I will put together a tutorial, eventually. (I'm a bit busy, having the final paint work done on my street rod, and a new engine built for my old truck, my wife was REAL impressed with the truck's new bumper and inner fenders arriving via freight yesterday while I was at work....). In the meantime, I found a photo of the back of the head unit. There's seperate sub connector, use pins 2 and 6 of that...For electronically inclined folks, it's a very simple hook-up, but needs tie-wrapped to keep the connections.

You don't need a special part to use the factory sub with an aftermarket head unit. I built an adaptor; RCA connector for head unit wired to two spade connectors with a leg cut off as a sub wiring harness. Plug the RCA into the head unit and the spades into sockets 2 and 6 of the Lexus connector. It works great, still not as strong as an aftermarket, but for 1/2 hour work and $1 in parts, it's a lot better than nothing. Bear in mind, this is all AFTER using LexLS excellent tutorial to install everything else.

What I like about the Lexus Apart from a few things, it's been darn reliable. Generally, I can hop in and go without a worry. And oh so comfy.............. A luxury car that looks good (great now that I replace some cheesy component wheels with refurbed originals). I actually like the slight anonymity that the discrete body provides. I can be keeping up with the fastest of them and I won't be pulled over. When I buy a vehicle, I generally keep them forever. (I've had one 20 years and the third 34 years) Looks like another long ownership for me.