It Lives! Resurrecting A 1992 Ls400...

[David Culberson]

So on a lark, for a toy, I bought a 1992 LS400 from Craigslist a little over a month ago. It was $500 with a broken timing belt and at least one flat tire, plus a $340 tow back from Cincinnati. I finally got around to ordering parts for it a couple weeks ago, and finished the job up on Saturday. The timing belt was not broken: it was melted!! The water pump and both idler pulleys had seized - who knows in what order - and caused the belt to heat up from friction. The teeth then started shredding off the belt. They clumped together and stuck in various locations of the timing belt area. I took some good pics - I'll try to remember to post them tonight.

I replaced the belt, both idlers, tensioner, and water pump. It stinks how hard it is to get to the belt, and you can't test anything until you put it all back together. Well, I got it back together and it fired at first but sounded like crap. It died, and wouldn't restart. I tested and had spark, and I could smell a little gas. It was disheartening to think I'd have to tear it back apart, but I really couldn't think of anything I did wrong. That's the problem with resurrecting a car you never saw run - what all could be wrong? Everything! So I didn't know if it was my work or something else. The fuel just seemed like the most likely culprit, so I tried a little starting fluid in the intake. Golden! It fired and ran for a second.

The fuel pump relay had lithium grease (!?) all over the contacts, and the contacts were loose. I cleaned the grease off the relay and socket and tightened the socket cups. It fired right away and, after burning through some p/s fluid on the plugs, ran great!!

There was a lot of smoke, and remembering the p/s pump vacuum valve issue from reading on here, I pulled the lines and capped them on the intake. After letting it burn through what was in the intake and on the plugs, the smoke cleared up and it hasn't smoked since. I put a new battery in, aired up the leaky tire, and put about 50 miles on it yesterday. Totally awesome.

Current condition: All the power accessories work. The a/c LCD is bad, and there's a little black showing on the left side of the mirror. It's got one piece of missing garnish on the outside, and a few dents. The windshield is cracked. The a/c works! (Blows cold.) The power seats work and sound healthy, same with the window motors (even better than my '95!?), and the moon roof works great. Throw some new back tires on it, and new hood lifts, and it should be good to go for thousands more miles.

Invested so far: $500 purchase, $340 tow, $386 timing belt parts (Toyota OEM from PPL), $75 battery. $1,301 total. Not bad!! Now I have a "twin" for the black 1995 LS. My wife wants to drive the '92; she really likes the color (blue) and the body style.

Pics to come! I promise.

Oh yeah, amazing note: The water pump (and probably timing belt) was original, with 229,000 miles on it. I had a hunch, based on the condition of the belt, that it was original. Then when I pulled the water pump, the impeller had a date code on it of 1991. Amazing. And the silicone FIPG (Form In Place Gasket) on the water pump was way too neat to be a service department's work. So I'm pretty sure at least the water pump had 229,000 miles on it. I give it a pass for seizing after that many miles. The coolant looked terrible, too, so it's possible that it might have run longer if it had been well maintained.

-David

[RFeldes]

Nice job David...looking forward to the pics..

[raymsixsix]

David, thats awesome! Get those pics up so we can see

[dcfish]

David, thats awesome! Get those pics up so we can see

The early LS's are still the best cars ever produced IMHO. Congrats

[GKLCPA]

You're making me wish I had the time and talent to do what you've done. Looking forward to seeing the pictures.

So on a lark, for a toy, I bought a 1992 LS400 from Craigslist a little over a month ago. It was $500 with a broken timing belt and at least one flat tire, plus a $340 tow back from Cincinnati. I finally got around to ordering parts for it a couple weeks ago, and finished the job up on Saturday. The timing belt was not broken: it was melted!! The water pump and both idler pulleys had seized - who knows in what order - and caused the belt to heat up from friction. The teeth then started shredding off the belt. They clumped together and stuck in various locations of the timing belt area. I took some good pics - I'll try to remember to post them tonight.

I replaced the belt, both idlers, tensioner, and water pump. It stinks how hard it is to get to the belt, and you can't test anything until you put it all back together. Well, I got it back together and it fired at first but sounded like crap. It died, and wouldn't restart. I tested and had spark, and I could smell a little gas. It was disheartening to think I'd have to tear it back apart, but I really couldn't think of anything I did wrong. That's the problem with resurrecting a car you never saw run - what all could be wrong? Everything! So I didn't know if it was my work or something else. The fuel just seemed like the most likely culprit, so I tried a little starting fluid in the intake. Golden! It fired and ran for a second.

The fuel pump relay had lithium grease (!?) all over the contacts, and the contacts were loose. I cleaned the grease off the relay and socket and tightened the socket cups. It fired right away and, after burning through some p/s fluid on the plugs, ran great!!

There was a lot of smoke, and remembering the p/s pump vacuum valve issue from reading on here, I pulled the lines and capped them on the intake. After letting it burn through what was in the intake and on the plugs, the smoke cleared up and it hasn't smoked since. I put a new battery in, aired up the leaky tire, and put about 50 miles on it yesterday. Totally awesome.

Current condition: All the power accessories work. The a/c LCD is bad, and there's a little black showing on the left side of the mirror. It's got one piece of missing garnish on the outside, and a few dents. The windshield is cracked. The a/c works! (Blows cold.) The power seats work and sound healthy, same with the window motors (even better than my '95!?), and the moon roof works great. Throw some new back tires on it, and new hood lifts, and it should be good to go for thousands more miles.

Invested so far: $500 purchase, $340 tow, $386 timing belt parts (Toyota OEM from PPL), $75 battery. $1,301 total. Not bad!! Now I have a "twin" for the black 1995 LS. My wife wants to drive the '92; she really likes the color (blue) and the body style.

Pics to come! I promise.

Oh yeah, amazing note: The water pump (and probably timing belt) was original, with 229,000 miles on it. I had a hunch, based on the condition of the belt, that it was original. Then when I pulled the water pump, the impeller had a date code on it of 1991. Amazing. And the silicone FIPG (Form In Place Gasket) on the water pump was way too neat to be a service department's work. So I'm pretty sure at least the water pump had 229,000 miles on it. I give it a pass for seizing after that many miles. The coolant looked terrible, too, so it's possible that it might have run longer if it had been well maintained.

-David

[Paul Sherman]

David,

What a great accomplishment, congratulations!

Your wife will love it.

[dashan]

Nice job, David.

[90LS400Lexus]

I wonder what ever came of this car? Photos were never posted. :whistles:

Invested so far: $500 purchase, $340 tow, $386 timing belt parts (Toyota OEM from PPL), $75 battery. $1,301 total. Not bad!! Now I have a "twin" for the black 1995 LS. My wife wants to drive the '92; she really likes the color (blue) and the body style.

Pics to come! I promise.

-David

[ko90ls]

The car is prob fine. When i changed my water pump it had 98 stamped on it and Lord only knows how many miles. I just wish i could find a deal like this.....

[python]

David,

What a great accomplishment, congratulations!

Your wife will love it.

heres a pic of my 92 LS

and heres somethings ive done to it

timing belt,waterpump,starter,rims,tires,lowering springs(H&R), new interior,cross drilled rotors,front and rear bumpers,new hood.......145,000 miles and runs great, have had it up to 130 mph

[ko90ls]

Sounds Like your engine is now certified *BulletProof*!!! just keep up on those tranny fluid changes.

[new2mud]

Excellent work, David.

You have a true 'steal'--that will likely last you another 200k miles. Congrats!