94 Ls400 Problems

[bobls400]

I recently bought a 94 ls400 with 150,000 miles. and its got its problems.

the antenna doesn't go up or down. not a big issue, but what can i do to fix this?

the gas gauge reads empty for about 20 minutes after started. does this indicate that i will need to fix my cluster?

my front seatbelt don't always stay tight.

my climate control and time lcd are faded out, to wear i cannot read them.

And recently i tried to give it alittle gas to get up and go and the rpms dropped, i let off the gas and started slower and it ran fine. I just cant take off fast at all i have to go slow. What can i do to fix this? Ive only had the car a couple days and have used a regular gas and my mechanic said that using premium would fix the problem. Is he correct? When the rpms drop the check engine light comes on, but after i let off the gas the light goes off.

[AHJGTA]

First of all, congratulations. here is my take on some solutions.

Antenna: There is a plastic wire with teeth which get stripped. I have seen replacements on ebay for less than $20. Type in ls400 antenna in the search field.

lcd faded: This is a really common problem. There is a specialist who replaces the capacitors and makes it like new. Also on the net / ebay, search for ls400 lcd.

LS400 accelerators are usually rock solid. Considering your problem, In older systems I would have said that the timing is advanced but with ls400 I would not dare.

Just out of curiousity, what happened during the test drive?

[larryp]

Welcome to the club

Sounds like your seat belt is normal. It will retract and lock in case of a collision.

Don't think premium fuel will fix your problem but it won't hurt to try. I ran regular in mine for 4 years and 120k miles with no problems.

Need to pull the check engine code to see what it's trying to tell you. Probably EFI related. Check lexls.com for some great info on maintaining your LS.

[yidaitianjiaous]

Welcome to the club

Sounds like your seat belt is normal. It will retract and lock in case of a collision.

Don't think premium fuel will fix your problem but it won't hurt to try. I ran regular in mine for 4 years and 120k miles with no problems.

Need to pull the check engine code to see what it's trying to tell you. Probably EFI related. Check lexls.com for some great info on maintaining your LS.

I just fixed the antenna myslef, buying a mast from a guy $18, ebay may be only $10, try that for DIY.

I have the same prob with seat belt---loose, toooooooo much loose, donno how to fix it yet...

climate stuff is a common prob, i am trying to buy a crystal from ebay for $100 to replace the old, don't get it yet.

good luck

[bobls400]

it drove perfect during test drive which we drove it for at least 60 miles. accelerated and ran strong like a great used car.

gonna have somebody check out the car today or tomorrow.

thanks

[bobls400]

so after driving it to school a couple time having trouble merging with no power, i got it in the shop to check it out.

Will they be able to see what codes it spits while the check engine light is off? because it is only on for a few seconds.

has anyone else had this problem?

Has anyone had the seat belts fixed before, so i can know what price range im looking at?

[python]

so after driving it to school a couple time having trouble merging with no power, i got it in the shop to check it out.

Will they be able to see what codes it spits while the check engine light is off? because it is only on for a few seconds.

has anyone else had this problem?

Has anyone had the seat belts fixed before, so i can know what price range im looking at?

THE CODE OR CODES WILL STORE IN THE COMPUTER, SO YES THE ENGINE WILL BE OFF WHEN CHECKING THE CODE

[bobls400]

My mechanic said it was the throttle something. i don't exactly know cuss my dad was talking to him. He said it would be ready tomorrow.

He also pointed out to my dad that because the seat belts are electric that the car could actually be a 95 and not a 94? anyone know anything about that? Has anyone had this problem with their seat belts where they are completely slack and dont recoil in?

[pishta]

My mechanic said it was the throttle something. i don't exactly know cuss my dad was talking to him. He said it would be ready tomorrow.

He also pointed out to my dad that because the seat belts are electric that the car could actually be a 95 and not a 94? anyone know anything about that? Has anyone had this problem with their seat belts where they are completely slack and dont recoil in?

It was probably the throttle position sensor or TPS out of adjustment, It is sort of a "fly by wire" system that senses the position of the accelerator to properly meter the injector duty cycle. Its an easy adjustment/fix if you know what to do, Ha...I guess they are all easy if you know what to do, eh? Seat belts, no idea. LCD, there is a guy on Ebay that will fix yours for 80 or so, not sell you the LCD for 100 and then have you attempt to solder it in yourself (not recomended unless you are a good solderer) look it up on Ebay. The antenna is 20 bucks on Ebay (isnt Ebay cool?) Gas gauge might be the float in the tank, doubt if it is the guage itself. REgular gas will work, the ECU will compensate for the knocking you MIGHT experience with the lower octane, do you drag it up hills or tow anything, probably wont even notice and youll save 30 cents a gallon. Have you had your timing belt serviced? I deducted 1000 bucks from the buying price when I asked if it had been done with 90K on the odometer, he said no, but the receipts he gave me after all said it was done with the water pump and tensioners at 60K by Lexus, whoo hoo!

[AHJGTA]

To get the model year for your car check the VIN. The 10th character shows the year. a T would be a 1996 for example.

You can type in VIN decode on google and find some helpful programs.

Here is a table for the 10th digit and the corresponding year.

J 1988

K 1989

L 1990

M 1991

N 1992

P 1993

R 1994

S 1995

T 1996

V 1997

W 1998

X 1999

Y 2000

1 2001

2 2002

3 2003

4 2004

5 2005

6 2006

7 2007

8 2008

[bobls400]

a new ecm fixed the acceleration problem. the tps didn't work. gonna check on the seat belts tomorrow. thanks for the help with the vin i will check that out.

[djbrett]

a new ecm fixed the acceleration problem. the tps didn't work. gonna check on the seat belts tomorrow. thanks for the help with the vin i will check that out.

If you haven't fixed the seatbelts yet, there is a forum that discusses calling lexus customer satisfaction and having them replace it for free

Toll free: 1-800-25 LEXUS