2000 Ls 400

[patcom]

In january of 2004 I purchased a 2000 LS 400 on e-bay for $22,500 with 67571 miles on the odometer.Great looking and running car.The only problem I have found is the windshield washer spray modules were broken(probably frozen).No problem,$25 from the Lexus dealer.What I would like to know is are there any issues with this model as there were with my 93 LS 400.Are there any precautions that I can address before getting a major repair bill?I live in a remote area that has the nearest Lexus dealer 150 miles away.I purchased my 93 LS 400 in august of 1997 and it never went to the dealer but I did purchase parts on the internet and have them installed locally. Thanks for any info ;)

[1UZ-FE]

have you looked at Used Ls400 Buying Guide in the 'Important Topics' section at the top of the 'Lexus LS400 / Lexus LS430 Forums' page?

[patcom]

Yes I have read those postings.They generally apply to the 1990-1994 models.I was interested in the LS 400 2000 model.

[monarch]

As far as I know, all of the mechanical trouble areas of the 1990-94 models were fixed by 1995 and no major new types of problems have cropped up with the exception of a slight tendency for the EGR valve pipe to crack and rarely for an exhaust manifold leak to develop. If you want more extensive information, I'd suggest you visit alldata.com and pay the $25 for all the service bulletins pertaining to the 2000 LS400.

[patcom]

Thanks for the info Monarch.There doesn't seem to be much in the way of problems with the 2000 LS 400 on this board.Guess I will try the alldata route.What does EGR stand for?Some type of emision equipment I assume. :)

[1990LS400]

The only fairly common problem I've heard about on the 2000's is that the "Miles since Refuel" on the trip computer sometimes resets to zero. It only happened once on mine and apparently can be caused by parking on a steep hill. The Lexus TIB for the 2000 LS says the solution is to replace the gauge cluster but I and most others I have spoken to about the problem have chosen not to have this done. Some who have had it done said that it did not fix the problem.

Otherwise there have been no problems since I bought the car at 38,000 miles about 9-months ago. I had the climate control module replaced because of a tiny bit of debri in the display but I wouldn't have bothered had the car been out of warranty. The 4-year basic warranty on mine expires next Saturday so I've been going over it with a fine tooth comb looking for issues.

[92Lex]

EGR is Exhaust Gas Recirculation...and yeah, it is part of your emissions control. egr recirculates about 14% of your exhaust gasses back into the process of combustion to help slow down the combustion process and lower NOx.

[MikeNL]

My 2000 has been bulletproof since new. NOTHING zip zero except normal maintenance. OH but with one odd exception.

At about 50,000 miles as I recall the front brakes started clicking and clacking when I would first move the car "cold". Every time I wouls start up in the morning and back up, then step in the brakes, CLACK!. Then go forward and the first time only that I stepped on the brakes again CLACK! Then nothing until I parked the car again for awhile...then CLICK CLACK. LOUD! And you could feel the metallic vibration in the steering wheel.

The service dept. went over them brakes (3) times...(3) trips trying to get it fixed "under warranty"... pulling the pads, checking all parts, lubricating everything, making mystical incantations, etc etc and assuring me there was nothing wrong with the brakes they "work just fine".

yeah. Click clack. Click clack.

Finally, I got a whiff of something called "reality" when, frustrated, I confronted the service manager with my conundrum....an LS400 with 50K miles should not be clicking and clacking every time I started up from being parked. Certainly the car was not designed to remain silent until 50K and then notify me daily that it had reached that milestone. His response "Mike we have gone over the system and there is surely 'no safety related issue to be concerned about' with the brakes."

WHO is talking safety? I am talking NOISE! I became direct: "Is there NOTHING you can do under warrenty to correct this problem?" No..we cannot find anything.

"SO WHAT can we do?"

Well, A complete brake job might take care of it. Now there's a surprise. I got the picture now. OK SO DO A COMPLETE BRAKE JOB. You think I care about scrimping over a brake job as much as you are on a car like this? :chairshot:

next day, brake job done....money changed hands....silence.

That was about 22,000 miles ago and blessed silence remains.

Other than that...she still looks new, drives new, sounds new.

Adieu.

[lynhnn]

My 1999 LS400 has the same noise Click, Clark like you described.

So did you get rid of the noise MikeNL? After the brake job done?

[99lsguy]

My 1999 LS400 has the same noise Click, Clark like you described.

So did you get rid of the noise MikeNL? After the brake job done?

Same thing on my 99 also:

When I put in reverse and back out of driveway.....a little click.

My independent shop said its the floating caliper and not to worry........

My pads are about 2/3 gone and have a little angle to them, so maybe that's why it shifts around - they're not wearing flat.

I've got new OEM toyota/lexus pads and will put them on this fall.

MikeNL:

What's the details of the "Complete brake job"??

New Rotors, or just turned

New Pads

New anti-squeal Shims

new clips

Any or all of the above???????