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Spartan0536

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Everything posted by Spartan0536

  1. Just thought I would ask, but can you confirm if your ECU has been repaired recently, I had some seriously bad idling issues that would lead to the car becoming inoperable, and once LSCowboy replaced the capacitors in my ECU, gone, back to silky smooth.
  2. Yes, I had my ECU rebuilt by him, he does excellent work.
  3. Update.... I am scrapping that mechanic, I swear that guy is ripping my father off... I sent my ECU out to LSCowboy for repair, he did a fantastic job, took about 25 miles to break her back in after the repair, with some idle issues until after 25 miles or so. I have been driving it since I had the ECU replaced 2 months ago with no issues other than the splash guard falling halfway and destroying itself so I need a new underbody splash guard now. My mechanic replaced that alternator 3, yes 3 ****ing times in 4 months! Each time charging $150 for the install and another $150 for the removal, for a total of $300 per trip! $900 in work in 4 months just for the alternator which turned out NOT to be the issue. Also he tried telling me that my car does not like AGM batteries because of how they are designed.... even LSCowboy called BS on that claim. I have replaced most of my interior lights with LED's from Philips (no chinese knockoffs here) and have had no issues over the last 6 months regarding them. Replaced my stereo system with a Kenwood Excelon DDX594, 2x Pioneer TSD-1330C's, 2x Pioneer TSD-1302R's, Pioneer 8 inch B-flats 250W RMS subwoofer and all powered by an Alpine MRV-V500 4way Digital Class D amplifier routed to 5V preouts, all wiring was done by T-Spec using V-12 braided cables and all were professionally installed. The only gripe I have is that it is that the audio is too crisp, needs a little more bass outside of the subwoofer but the clarity rivals that of $300,000 Rolls Royce's. I have 4 new factory fresh tires coming from Michelin (Premier A/S) which will be replacing the 8 - 10 year old tires on the car right now which are a 1/2 mix of Michelin Premier A/S and BFGoodrich tires (I checked the manufacture dates on the sidewalls). I am quite sure the new tires will provide a much smoother and quieter ride than these really old ones. I have permanently modified my fog lights by breaking the yellow glass inside the bulb housing and have replaced the bulb with a H3C 55w Hella Optilux H71071322 bulb set. This has a kelvin color of 4300K which is near perfectly matched with my 4500K PIAA headlights which cost me $70 for the pair. As for those PIAA headlights, they are good no issues with the quality, however I feel that Silverstar ZXE's would give a "cooler" temperature range and about the same amount of light. So $40 v $70.... if I had to do it all over again.... I would probably go with Silverstar ZXE's or Philips Crystal Vision Ultra's. My next upgrade I am considering and would LOVE feedback on is switching my headlights to LED's from GTR Lighting, using their Gen 3 Ultra Series, they have me intrigued. All of my rear lighting is done by Philips, with the brake, backup and running lights being Crystal Vision Ultra bulbs and the licence plate bulbs being Philips LED's. Also I picked up a few bottles of leather cleaner and conditioner from my local Lexus dealership, it's called Leather Only, and it's pretty darn good stuff, and Lexus recommends it for their leather, it's not badly priced either. Soon I will have to replace all of the weather stripping and seals, that job might be $800+, and then I am also taking my car to my friends collision center where they are going to buff out and blend the damaged area's that came with my car at purchase (minor paint scuffs) and fix that dent in my floor board from improper jacking (again was there at time of purchase).
  4. Update.... My mechanic gave up and just gave the car back to me... I drove it home and around town for a few miles at a time over the course of 2 weeks. Since then I have driven 400 miles in the car without an issue. What I am thinking is that it needed at least 50+ miles of driving to "re-learn" how to operate and idle correctly, I have been told rebuilt ECU's need a break in time, given the age of the ECU and car this might explain the 50+ miles needed to accomplish this. BTW LSCowboyLS does some great work and is more than willing to answer any questions you might have, damn lucky to have a guy like that working on cars.
  5. I think you might be onto something, you are not the first person to report this either, and my issue just came out of the blue. My mechanic just did a fuel pressure test, no loss of pressure, engine just died and the car turned right back over. It will give a rough idle and want to die, and will die even if the accelerator is pressed. I am having intermittent issues with my A/C system turning on and off randomly as well, and I have seen others state this as well.. Interesting that it would come from the trunk wiring, I will most definately look into this and if it is the cause I will certainly do a write up. Edit: Also your link does not work at all, no page found error is the result.
  6. Thanks Yamae, I just wanted to make sure I am sending my ECU out to the right person, your insight means a lot, you are an extremely valuable member of the Lexus community. I should have my ECU sent out to him today with priority shipping, thanks again for the insight.
  7. I am having surging issues myself, my mechanic said it has to be the ECU after testing and cleaning the IACV, throttle body, checking all electronics. I contacted LScowboyLS on Facebook, I am currently attempting to make sure that he is legitimate, his posts on ClubLexus are extremely detailed. Interestingly enough in my conversations with him he has self proclaimed to have worked for NASA with his father at the Marshall Space Flight Center in buildings 4227 and 4708 @ redstone arsenal near Huntsville Alabama. If this is true this guy is an extremely rare find, which is why I am trying to verify his credentials. On his facebook page he has tagged himself with the ASE Master Mechanic certification, unknown if this is legitimate. Any insight into him from anyone?
  8. Hello everyone, it's been awhile, I have been working and dealing with life stuff and my gaming clan. My house is still not finished (stupid county paperwork, uggghh) but that is a different story. For those of you that may not remember I have had some pretty weird issues since I bought my 1992 LS400 with 86,500 original miles (car was garage kept, full service history, all service plans and additional serves were done by my local Lexus dealer by the original owner until he passed away), so I do not have a junker LS400, it's quite a rare specimen. That being said, LS400's especially 1990-1998 LS400's seem to have this nagging issue.... ECU failure. Yes those dreaded words that make people run for the hills and think about scrap heaping their cars due to a $1200 new part (IF YOU CAN GET ONE), plus labor, reprogramming at the dealer... just a ****ing nightmare. So here is what was/is going on with my car... 1. poor acceleration compared to videos I have seen on the internet, just overall poor performance, and you can feel a difference intermittently where it has power. When I first test drove the car and I hit the gas pedal to the floor I threw me into my seat, over the next few months, it does not always do that, it feels sluggish. 2. My Climate Control randomly turns itself on and off, and I mean the entire system shuts off, no blowing air AT ALL. I have sent my climate control unit to Tanin Auto Electronix for repair and upgrade, they found nothing wrong with my climate control unit, but I had the LED's changed to a modern white (kept the OEM green indicator LED's), so at least I found out it was not the climate control unit and I got a nice looking custom part now. 3. My front cooling fans were not turning on at all, I replaced the sensor and now they are always on, and this sensor was not a reman, it's new, made sure the part numbers matched. 4. Remote door unlock not working 5. Smell of exhaust running rich 6. RPM (tachometer) reading 150 RPM when on low idle 7. Recently my tachometer at idle surges from 150 to 1000 rpm in a constant loop, problem gets worse the longer the engine is on, until it stalls. I have had my car at my mechanic's shop, here is what has been done and tested... Replaced Alternator with Denso Reman (there are no new alternators outside of high performance replacements), new Interstate Mega-Tron+ 800 CCA Lead-Acid battery, cleaned terminals (no corrosion but cleaned, padded and treated anyway), OBD codes read (none given), electrical drain test showed no unusual parasitic drain, vacuum leaks ruled out, power steering flushed and filled, transmission flush and fill, oil change (Valvoline Full Synthetic High Mileage 5W-30 /w Mobile 1 extended protection oversized filter). As you can tell, I have spent some time and money on this car, and my problems are not going away and the car is currently undriveable... I am now at the point of removing my ECU and sending it out for repair.. Has anyone sent their ECU to LSCowboyLS for repair? I have seen his extensive posts on ClubLexus, with him and Yamae, I just wanted input here, thoughts? LSCowboyLS Contact Info
  9. This does not surprise me, if it was the original ECU, the capacitors have been known to leak and cause failures, this is pretty well documented, quite remarkable that so many of us are still driving these cars 25 years after they have been manufactured, I am sure not even Lexus expected this.
  10. The issue with LS400's is that while considered by many to be one of the best cars ever manufactured in terms of reliability and certainly no slouch in terms of performance, they are not even collector cars or in my state of Florida they do not even qualify to register as an Antique (30 years old). LS400's are currently in what is referred to as a "limbo" car, a great car for the money for those whom understand the legacy, but outside of that it's got very little market appeal. Companies still make products for it, but going the custom route, you might want to start talking to custom machining shops and figuring out just how much you want to spend to put your LS400 "on its nuts" and have it done right. I am having my wood grain replaced with Black Ash for $600 from Benevento which supplies wood grain to Mercedes, Audi, and BMW, and that is just for the custom kit, I still need to install it. I am also talking with a custom headlamp manufacturer about making 1 piece OEM mountable headlamps with projector housings that do not look "rice" but will enhance my night driving capabilities, current estimates on that are $800 for the pair. My custom exhaust featuring custom manufactured stainless steel headers with OEM O2 sensor placements, OEM headshield mountings, larger downpipes, custom CARB high flow CAT with OEM O2 mounting, custom 3" stainless steel exhaust pipe with X pipe for true dual post CAT dual high flow Magnaflow resonators, and dual double baffled with high flow crossover Magnaflow mufflers is going to run me $1,200 with installation. That exhaust though.... will sound as quiet as stock when sitting still and up until 3,000 RPM, after 3K RPM it gradually opens up until it hits 4,500 RPM where the high flow bypass in the mufflers opens due to pressure and it lets people know there is a V8 under that hood. I chose this as if I want a nice quiet drive I can have that, but if I need to get around someone and I stomp on that gas people will know to GTFO my way. Its designed to be a "sport tuned" factory style exhaust. For my intake I am having Weapon R custom make a "Secret Weapon" intake for the car that will keep the stock airbox housing but mount a large conical filter in it, the MAF will be fitted as will all other OEM connectors/hoses, this is going to run me around $350. MSD is going to make custom 8mm high performance wires for me as well as a new HEI coil with new caps and rotors, NGK Iridium plugs will be used as well. This is going to cost another $500 easy. This is to maximize the fuel ignition efficiency to its full potential and help generate slightly more power in the process. I am having a custom shifter made its all leather color matched to my interior, with a silver embossed Lexus logo, estimated $250 I am having the leather reupholstered professionally and will be taking the front and rear seats out, stripping the cushioning and putting in the same cushioning that Tempurpedic uses on their cloud mattresses, having custom perforations placed for the custom heated and cooled front & rear seat upgrades, this will cost $3000 with the custom heating and cooling. MY sound upgrade is just getting installed right now, it's 2x Pioneer TS-D1330C component speakers in the front, re-wired with T-Spec V12 Marine Spec 14 Gauge Wiring, 2x Pioneer TS-D1302R Coaxial speakers all re-wired the same as the above, a new Pioneer TS-SW2002D2 8 inch dual voice coil 150W RMS Subwoofer re-wired with T-Spec V12 12 gauge Marine Spec wires, all running to an Alpine MRV-V500 500W 5 channel D class full digital amplifier and run to a Kenwood Excelon DDX594 Double Din Touchscreen receiver connected via T-Spec V12 triple helix braided RCA cables, this has cost me $1,250. I will also be sending out the ECU for rebuild and upgrade to match the new modifications and ensure a proper curve, this will cost $800 I will also be replacing the stock grounding kit with 1 gauge wiring to help smooth out the engine even more (if that is even possible), this is around $75 Headlights will be Philips LED's, as is the interior which is done and cost me $100, the headlights will be around $125 New Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tires, this will cost me $500 installed Finally I will be replacing the stock suspension with custom KYB shocks and coils designed for maximum ride comfort, this will cost $1,200 installed (I refuse to install that air ride suspension, its just too costly for such a small gain in ride comfort over proper custom gas and coiled systems. As you can tell this is going to cost what most people spend on a newer low mileage used car, but I plan on keeping this car for at least 10 years putting 4-5 thousand dollars in it a year out of the 60K my wife and I make on average. This to me is a project car, I call it "project revolution", it's a technological revolution in this car to being modern tech to an aged platform without compromising its reliability. Will I get my money back out of this car? NOPE What I will get it is a reliable custom car that I can run until 300K miles (currently at 86,500) and then sell for 4 grand back or possibly keep it as a spare backup car. My worth in the car will come from what I personally get from it, and in the meantime I am looking at newer Lexus LS sedans that I would use for travel/important functions. What does all this mean for you? If you want to have this done correctly, expect to shell out good $$$ for custom work.
  11. The only reason I know this is that my friend who is a cop was warning me about certain HID and LED upgrades that are either too dim or bright. He stated that the light from a bulb at minimum should reflect back at 45 feet and the sign should be visible, this is on low beam, and 100 feet on high beams to meet DOT and NHTSA specifications, otherwise expect a ticket for improper lighting equipment. When it comes to HID's make sure they are angled DOWN more than up, their lumen output at low beam is 2.5x that of Halogens on high beams.
  12. I adjusted my headlights like this and it worked as you described, it looks like it only moves the bulb inside. To properly adjust my headlights I did the 5 - 15 adjust method... Adjust your headlights to have a level beam pattern at 5 feet, then adjust again using a flat matte backdrop (black or white, some people say one is better than the other) you finalize your vertical pattern and horizontal pattern to angle the beam at the center of the car. According to the NHTSA Halogen bulbs should cast light illumination on reflective signs out to 45 feet on low beam and cover a minimum of 90 degrees focus. With Halogen bulbs this means that bright light should be cast out to 15-20 feet, this will provide optimal illumination of the road and upcoming signs and potential hazards. LED's are a bit different as their lumen output is 3x that of even performance Halogen bulbs, for them it's a 5-25-40 rule for adjustment HID's are the brightest of the bunch, and generally are adjusted at 5-30-45. Addendum: The reason for the different distances especially when regarding the use of higher intensity lighting is that you do not want to blind other drivers, especially in oncoming traffic and maximize forward ground illumination where your eyes will focus on the road, this will not only make people hate you less but will enhance your chances of dodging potentially hazardous obstacles on the road at night. @ 5 feet you make your more major adjustments in terms of vertical and horizontal @ 15/25/30 feet you make more minute adjustments to ensure the beam pattern is centered and is level and is providing the correct amount of ground illumination and reflective sign illumination. @40/45 (45 with Halogen on HIGH BEAM) feet you ensure that your lights are not blinding (exception for Halogen High Beam, will be separated). Finalize your beam pattern with very minute adjustments and give it a driving test starting out in your neighborhood then onto a highway. *NOTE: For HALOGEN HIGH BEAM ONLY - When testing your high beams at 45 feet ensure that you have the correct side and height illumination and that reflective signs out to at least 100 feet away are being illuminated.
  13. This is what my searching came up with... 1998 Lexus LS400 Aftermarket Radio Wiring Harness
  14. I have just made it a habit of changing out my filters every 50K-60K miles, its like changing out your air filter every 20K miles, if it does not need it done but you still do it anyway it can only help not hurt.... Speaking of which I need to clean out my IAC and Throttle Body (just got the car 1 month ago), this is all stuff I do when I get a new pre-owned car, its a bit over the top but I am a perfectionist.
  15. Having a 92 Lexus LS400 myself I greatly appreciate the follow up on this, if I ever experience anything like this the first thing I will check is the fuel pump... BTW have you also changed out your fuel filter as well, it's always good to change them out in 50K mile intervals.
  16. Thanks, this helps a lot... Just to make sure, would this cause more road noise based on the pictures provided, I only ask again as my previous statement did not have the correct part name in it?
  17. Apologies, as requested here are the pictures.... I am not sure what they are called.... My guess would be exterior window seals but I am not a mechanic....
  18. I tried pushing the seal back in, it worked slightly but as soon as the window comes back up it gets pushed back out, I am definately going to need a replacement, I just can't seem to find the right part name for it, anyone know what the part name is from Lexus?
  19. Hello, I am now getting down to nitpicking issues as my sound system overhaul is about to come in. With this I have noticed considerable noise permeating from the front passenger side, and I have observed what seems to be the exterior rubber glass guide (I think that's what it's called) is jutting out from the slot, and I am wondering if this is what would cause the issue of excessive road/ambient noise? I have checked the door seals on all 4 doors, the hood, and trunk, all seals were intact and not too brittle, especially for being 25 years old. I put Armor All rubber/plastic reconditioner on the seals and after a few days there is a marked improvement in suppleness and color. I am wondering if this strip of rubber is really letting in all that extra noise (it would not surprise me) or are there other things that could be doing this that I am potentially missing. I can order the replacement part easily enough, and I will order replacements for all 4 doors, both interior and exterior as they are only $8-$10 each new.
  20. 210K miles is pretty good reliability, damned if Toyota did not spend some serious R&D time making sure these cars lasted... BTW for OEM replacement parts on LS400's Lexus of South Atlanta has a massive inventory of parts available, but they are at premium OEM prices, its where I obtained my Integration Relay from. Lexus of South Atlanta (OEM Parts)
  21. So in my 1992 Lexus with the Nakamichi system and my Double Din Kenwood DDX594 I can have the shop wire the stock AMP to the head unit and have new Pioneer D series component and coaxial speaker just go directly to the head unit, no bypass needed?
  22. OK so here is the real "skinny" as it were... MY power mirrors, Climate Control, and Radio all went out at the same time, sent my Climate Control to Tanin Auto Electronix for repair and upgrade (new LED's and circuitry), got word from them today that the unit is functional and they would give me a refund minus the cost of diagnostics, I told them to replace the circuitry and LED's anyway as its an old unit and I want to make sure it lasts me. I dug around on here and ClubLexus for answers, came up with checking the fuse. Called my mechanic and asked him if he indeed tested the wiring, he stated he did and all of the wiring tested good both power and grounding. I asked him if they checked the interior fuse box, he said they could not find a diagram where the A/C controls went to a fuse relay. I told him in my manual it says its Relay #4 on the drivers side interior fuse box, he confirmed they had overlooked it, I checked it and viola it was a damn 7.5A fuse that knocked it all out, I replaced it with a new Japanese 7.5A fuse from O'reilly Auto Parts, and my power mirrors, and radio came back (not able to test climate as I do not have it back yet). That being said I fully tested the radio today. My antenna needs to be replaced (already have it), my drivers side front speakers (tweeter included) are working well, passenger side tweeter is working but the woofer is dead, ALL rear speakers are dead, and the subwoofer is still kicking hard. In light of this I will be replacing the stock stereo system with a new one (still considering Pioneer D series), including the receiver. I WILL be retaining the original receiver and will be sending it out for professional overhaul (NO MODIFICATIONS, just replaced with new circuitry and replacing dead or dying LED's with new OEM ones), 2 uses will come from this, either I send up selling the car and will plug the factory one back in, or I will sell the unit if it ends up being worth some serious $$$ which it looks like its going to be. As for the shifter, its just loose, regardless if I have the engine off, on, in park, in drive, or braking. When the transmission is cold it seems to wobble a bit when accelerating and you can feel it (wondering if it needs new mounts), but once it warms up its smooth, just the shifter itself is loose.
  23. If I ever need my starter replaced can I have your nephew work on my car for the same price?
  24. Thanks for the info on the rims... inaccurate speed readings are something I would rather avoid, this could lead to speeding tickets and that puts a hamper on funding and raised insurance rates, no beuno. BTW is the shifter supposed to have some wobble to it or do I need to tighten the linkage, I noticed that and forgot to mention it earlier.
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