New To 95 Ls400

[venu]

Hi,

I am a newbie. I recently purchased a 95 LS400. Enjoying it.

I have read most of the postings, very informative but scattered.

Its a big post. I have strecthed myself to get this car. I am trying

to save as much as I can on repairs etc., I do appreciate your time for

reading it and giving me any useful suggestions.

One observation to moderator, I wish we had a one place for newbies where we can find

1) Cleaning tips for leather, interior, plastics, rubber, dash etc.,

listed by each thing that can be cleaned.

2) Parts required to do repairs with oem part numbers and probably

linked to one of the oem parts vendor website with part aleady

filled in the web page. For oil change, Tune up, Replace struts,

Change timing belt etc.,

I have few questions, need your suggestions.

First the mechanical problems..

a) I get too much response from the steering when the right side of

the car goes over pot holes. I am guessing shocks/struts, I have

the height adjustable suspension.

B) When the car reaches >65mph it start to shake. You can see the

passenger seat shake like its possessed. :o . The drivers seat

feels like a lazy-boy recliner with massager , it gets worse (or

better if you are into massage :P as the speed increases 70-75mph.

I am guessing shocks/struts.

c) When I punch in the gas the engine give out a fluttering sound. Only

during acceleration. Once it reaches a good speed no problems.

d) The breaks squeal with ear piercing noise ( I can't hear much with

windows closed :) when applied while in reverse gear.

e) While acclerating during stop and go traffic, if I take off the foot

from gas pedal suddenly the car jerks (voilently) when downshifting.

Only if I let go of gas suddenly.

The cosmetic problems, need your sugestions.

1) The plastic plate of the gear shifter is badly scratched and paint

peeled from underneath. Can one replace just the plate.

2) Scratches on Cd player display, time/temp display. Somebody suggested plastix

for headlamps, would that work inside too.

3) The leather, I am going to try the woolite 1/6 mix. BUt for conditioner there

were few suggestions, a quick and easy one is..

4) The cloth (like material) on the speaker is very soiled. Any good way of

cleaning them with out taking out the speakers.

5) A good way to keep the black hard/soft plastic supple and black. Like the ones

that run around the door to keep the noise level down or the black plastic

housing at wipers etc.,

6) A good easy do it your self waxing method for exterior.

7) Cleaning gold emblems.

The car has ~92k miles. The last owner did'nt do a good 60k service.

I think he just replaced timing belt, pads etc., at a small shop ( nothing agaist

it as long its done right). The car had a regular oil job though at quicklube.

Here is what I am thinkink of doing...

* Go to a Lexus dealer and get the car diaognized. I checked couple of them they

recommended safetly check, would take ~2hrs of labor cost ~$220-$300.

OR should I go to the AAA Ca Care/Diaognostic center, they do it for $85.

OR should I just get the 90k miles service done at a a dealer.

* Go find a good mechanic. Buy the parts online and get it repaired starting with

big improtant one's. Where to find oem parts cheap online ( my suggestion to have

a link to the vendor site for common repairs with all the parts filled).

Anybody recommend a good Lexus mechanic in California, bay area, who is comfortable

with me bring in the parts.

* Thinking of switching to Mobil Synthetic ( buy them in Costco). If I do can

I do the oil change at 5000mile intervals instead. I mostly do half stop & go

and half highway driving. What oil filters would you recommend.

Thanks,

-Venu.

[VMF]

first of all shakin problem. balance your front tires first before changin enything. then do the injector cleaning it might help with the engine sound. brakes squeakin i'm not sure if you can do much. try to remove wheels and put some brake quiter stuff not sure about the cd covers and stuff as to the speakers i never heard of cleaning them. for the black parts i would recommend a mother's back to black lotion or whatever it is. and for the waxing use mothers clay bar with instant detailer, then stage 1 prewax, stage 2 cleaner and stage 3 wax. all are made by mothers. dont use turtle wax products!!! oh btw wash ur car with the sponge and mothers shampoo and dry it up with towels before doing any of those stages. then do the clay bar and all 3 stages. make sure you do it good with clay bar. you will feel every lil particle on the surface.

transmission jerk offs might be due to the upcoming death or due to overfilled torque converter as i know check if the oil smells like burn.

[SW03ES]

Welcome to the site!

As for easy to find FAQ info, its in the works B)

For all the detailing and washing questions, check out the Inside and Out/Detailing forum. There's lots of active threads in there with products, what they do, how easy they are to use etc. There's also a thread about polishing scratches out of plastic.

As for the shaking at speed, the car probably needs a good alignment and a good wheel balance. The LS is very sensitive to unbalanced wheels.

You'll have to describe the fluttering sound better for us for a diagnoisis.

As for the service, I would reccomend that the 90k be done, but its gonna cost you at Lexus, upwards of a $1000. Maybe try a Toyota dealer, some will work on the Lexuses.

One big red flag I see is the height adjustable suspension. If you do a search for it on the forums you'll see that they're incredibly expensive to replace, several thousand dollars for replacement of the struts. A lot of people just have standard struts installed to save the cost.

To get the car in 100% condition you'e definately looking at some $$. Others here with older LS' can advise you better as to how much. Its a great car though, welcome to the site!

[VMF]

i have 96 ls and its the same car, did most of the work done by myself, saved me some major $$. i have all the diagrams and instructions on how to do mostly anything in the car. so let me know if u need anything

[SW03ES]

Yeah, I cant think of any differences between 95-96.

[VMF]

there is none whatsoever. they are both generation II cars.97 is completely the same as well

[SW03ES]

Well in 97 there were some changes to some of the emissions components.

[venu]

Thanks guys.

What do think about getting the safety inspection done at the dealer at 2hr labor charge versus AAA diaognostic center.

Remember I am trying to save money :)

[SW03ES]

All that is is an excuse to have Lexus find things wrong. Have the AAA center do it, or better yet a good independent mechanic.

[venu]

Will do. Thanks again Steve.

[SW03ES]

No problem, welcome to the club!

[VMF]

guys at lexus told me that they are exaclty the same when i was askin em about parts. 90-94 years have all the parts interchangeble as well as 95-97 and 98-2k and so far.....

and this is what www.newlexusparts is saying and my alldata manual confirms that

[SW03ES]

There were just some minor emissions tweaks in 97, the 97s are more environmentally friendly. I would assume all the parts are still interhcangable.

[miketsha]

Venu,

Any feedback on this? My car does the exact same thing....only if i'm going right around 58 mph

e) While acclerating during stop and go traffic, if I take off the foot

from gas pedal suddenly the car jerks (voilently) when downshifting.

Only if I let go of gas suddenly.

[venu]

Hi Miketsha,

The dealer identified the bad downshifting to failed ECU, it was found during the intial inspection. I saw a similar problem from another poster in this forum about this issue, the poster said his dealer in Dallas replaced the ECU for free of charge since there was a service bulletin issued for this problem. I asked my dealer if he would do the same... the reply was my car has high mileage (98K) and they would'nt do it. I called up Lexus customer statisfaction, yet to hear from them but the dealer said they contacted them and said they would split the cost, that still $2000+, the whole thing cost $4000+. I am trying to bargain that they should do this for free as there is till ~90+k life left in the engine if properly cared.

If you happen to find that post ( the Guy from Dallas who got it replaced free of charge) let me know. I can show it to my dealer & lexus customer satisfaction office.

-Venu

[blake918]

The LS got side airbags in '97 along with the debut of the Coach Edition.

The "gear shift indicator place" is changeable. I just did it on my '95; it makes the center stack look 100x better! :D

For cleaning the interior, a more powerful cleaner is Mr. Clean's magic erasers. The Woolite solution is more for maintaining a clean interior(I used full strength and didn't get much result at all).

Welcome to the club! It's good to see another '95! :D