RichieRich Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 My girlfriend and I (actually it's her car) are the proud owners of a Pearl white 93 LS400 that we picked up less then 4 hours ago. I love the car and hope she will let me drive it once and a while. Just 45 minutes driving it and I am already checking out SC400s for myself. Might make it a 2 Lexus household very quickly. The car is in really good shape with a few exceptions.... The factory chrome wheels are pitted and chrome is flaking off in the indentations in the wheels. Probably has something to do with it living it's whole life near the beach. It has the usual blinking dash problem and the cd changer magazine will not eject. The car did come with a full changers worth of cds that are not too bad..... Oh, and the antenna is broken.... She paid $6500 for the car and it has 98,000 on it, not bad for it's age and Carfax confirmed it as accurate. Has new tires, brakes and a stack of receipts for maintence that I have not had a chance to read all of. Couple of questions.. The antenna, when triggered by the radio spits out about 2 feet of greasy cable with a 6inch antenna stub on the end. It does retract when powered off. Will a replacement mast be all that is needed to repair this or will I need the whole assembly?? A lot of the interior lighting is not working, might any of this be related to the problem with the dash cluster? Or just a bunch of burned out bulbs that the PO was too lazy to replace.... Dome light doesn't work, shifter detent does not light up, ignition surround is out. How can I get the cd changer magazine out without destroying the changer? Since we don't really listen to cds anymore, can the changer input on the head unit be modified for use as an aux input for Ipod or satellite radio? In regards to the dead dashboard, is there a description of the capactors that go out on them anywhere on the net? Or am I better off sending the boards off for repair? Did all the LS cars come with keyless entry? We didn't get any transmitter keys or remotes with the car nor did the previous owner. What it the best way to remove an aftermarket external cell phone antenna without breaking the rear window? Phone is long gone. The wheels are not worth having stripped and rechromed IMO. I have a friend that can get dealer take off wheels pretty cheap (he manages a tire shop) . Are there any Lexus factory wheels that will not fit on an LS?? (other then ES and RX models). Due to some overzealous buffer usage the bumpers on the car have some spots where the paint was burned, leaving the yellow urathane bumper exposed (pretty much a 1/8 to 1/4 in stipe between the bumper cover and the plastic trim strip. Will one of those "bumper medic" places be able to touch that up or is it something that should be left to a bodyshop? BTW, great site. I have spent the last few hours reading and have learned a lot. Now I am not intimidated by the concept of working on this car. I am a fairly competent shadetree mechanic, but all the electronics and the tight look of the engine bay had me concerned at first. Thanks Rich and Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.barleycorn Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Welcome Rich and Lori- Congrats on the “new” car! I'm new to Lexus, too, having just bought a 1992 LS400 myself. Many of the questions you have are fairly common ones, so one way to find answers (or at least some discussion) is to use the Search Forum field at the bottom of the page. Very useful! In the mean time, I had some of the same issues you have, so… Lexls’ handy tutorial can be found here: http://www.lexls.com . It has many great step-by-step fixes, including your antenna and lighting questions. Check out his Places to buy/download a repair manual in the tutorial. I opted for the $10, one day download festival (option #6) from TIS. I replaced my entire antenna last week (bought a replacement on EBay) for $44 and an hour’s labor. I have also replaced the bulb on the ignition ring, fixed a sticky lock driver’s side power lock button, and done a bunch of routine maintenance stuff. You’ll find info on instrument replacement all over the LOC. Do a search for a specific problem. In the “Pinned” section at the top there are many articles on dead LCDs for the climate control and the dreaded fading needle problem. Also, check out the General Lexus Forums at the bottom of the home page. There are specific forums here for Tires/Wheels, Audio, Detailing, etc. I can’t help you with the other questions you have, but I’m sure someone will. Good luck, and Lori, give him the keys at least once in awhile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFeldes Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 Welcome Guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
branshew Posted December 19, 2005 Share Posted December 19, 2005 You can just replace the Mast of the antenna and not the whole unit. I think that there is a turorial on lexls.com . Check all of your fuses for the internal lighting. If they are OK then start replaceing bulbs. Sometimes the contacts on the door sensors wear out and your dome light will not turn on when a door is opened. You'll probably have to take the CD player apart. it can be done, but must be done carefully. You should do it when you have the trunk lining apart for the antenna mast. I don't think that the head unit can be modified for another input. Send your entire instrument cluster to Jim Walker. Don't even try it yourself unless you are extremely competent with circuit boards and small soldering applications. Not all LS MY '93 came w/ keyless, but most did. Look to see if you have a switch to turn the remote off and on. It would be located to the bottom left of the wheel above the gas & trunk release panel. If you have this then you will need a new transponder key and a new transponder chip for the car @ $300 - or you could just get an aftermarket keyless put in. I prefer the original as I don't want a key fob (OEM transmiter is on the key). If no switch is present then factory keyless was not installed. Cell phone antenna should be stuck on the glass using double sided tape. I think it uses a magnet to pass between the glass. Get a metal blade scraper and slowly & carefully start scraping onthe outside window. Use some "Goo Off" or WD 40 to help w/ the adhesive - just be careful not to get it on the paint. Most Lexus wheels have the same bolt pattern. On the '93 you have to use 16" and above as 15" rims won't clear the brakes. Most ES, GS, and SC rims will fit (as will RX rims). Check the offset though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 Welcome to the club and enjoy your ride. Richie, did you ever play UT by anychance? Its a game of which I recognize your name from long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieRich Posted December 20, 2005 Author Share Posted December 20, 2005 Welcome to the club and enjoy your ride. Richie, did you ever play UT by anychance? Its a game of which I recognize your name from long ago. No, not much of a gamer. I have not played games on line since a buddy of mine ran a quake server back in the day. Thanks everyone for the welcome and the advice. Hopefully I will get a moment to take a close look at the car and see if I can get some of the issues squared away. I am going to check ebay for the antenna mast, the cluster is getting shipped to Jim Walker for repair after Christmas and I will get the lighting squared away. Got to go for a drive this evening, boy is this car quiet and composed. Lori was driving a 67 Buick until yesterday, this is a whole new world for her and she is loving it..... Stupid question.... Does the odometer continue to function even when the dash lighting is out??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUMan Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 No, the odometer does not add miles when the instrument panel is blacked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieRich Posted December 21, 2005 Author Share Posted December 21, 2005 (edited) Well crap..... Thats not good. Means that this car could have 1,203,658 miles and I have no way of knowing. The guy we bought it from said that the dash started acting up last year and that he seldom drove the car. I have not had a chance to pull the dash out of the car yet, but in other pics I have seen of the clusters there is an analog odometer hidden under the dash trim directly below the digital odometer........ I HOPE he isn't full of it.... Edited December 21, 2005 by RichieRich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUMan Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 I doubt that the non-working dash display would affect the total miles very much. The problem usually occurs during cool weather. Also, after being dark for a period after you start driving, the display usually flashes on and stays on until you stop driving for the day. When the display flashes on, the odometer starts working. I suppose there could be cases where the display has deteriorated to such an extent that it never illuminates. In this case, the mileage shown on the odometer could be off significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieRich Posted December 22, 2005 Author Share Posted December 22, 2005 Well, I put that fear to rest. I was reading all the receipts that came with the car and found one for the tires dated 8-02 with the previous owners name on it. These are the same tires currently on the car and have about 80% tread left on them. Miles listed on the date of tire install were about 86,000. Mileage is probably pretty close... Unless the dash has been on the fritz for the last 5 years, I think the mileage is pretty close to accurate. Antenna mast is in transit, just in time... Lori is gettin very tired of listening to the same Jimmy Buffet and Grateful Dead cds that are stuck in the changer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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