Bad Week....

[Paul Sherman]

The past week haas been hard on my '93 LS400.

Thursday, a winter storm started coming in.

Late that day, the antenna cable broke - minor, no biggee, I know

there's a kit on eBay thanks to you all.

Thursday night - 8.5 inches of snow.

Friday, I needed to get to work, so fought my way out of the neighborhood,

no problem. Got on the freeway, a bit snowed over, but quite manageable

until... I found something that kicked the car into a slide; spun twice, hit

the median on the left rear corner. Prelim checkout, bumper a bit torn,

all the lights are intact and it seems to drive fine.

Later that day, I manage to get a closer look - OUCH! the trunk didn't seem

to line up with the fenders any more. Sure enough, the back end is pushed

over about 3/8 inch, buckled at the the antenna mast and fuel filler. Crap.

Then....

Monday, we have 3 inches of rain. I go to get something off the back seat;

it's wet. Sure enough, the headliner is soaked on the passenger side almost

to the front of the sunroof...

So questions...

1. My bodyman thinks he can straighten the back OK. Anyone have any

experience with this?

2. Do I need to remove the headliner to dry it out, or can I leave it alone?

(Found tutorial, just in case the answer is yes)

3. When it rained, the car was pointed slightly up hill with the passenger side

slightly lower. That leads me to think there's an issue with the rear

passenger drain. From what I've found in the forum, the rears are tricky

to get to. It's also possible that the drain hose came loose in the wreck.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Thanks in advance - Paul

[nc211]

Murphy's Law... it comes in 3's. You should be good for a while now. But to be sure, have a few drinks and lay low for the next few days. Who knows, you might have jarred the speed sensors and you'll get a ticket for going 95mph in a school zone, seeing as how smooth these cars are.

I find it funny how the headliner was only wet in the front section, not running back towards the rear. if the drain plug was clogged, I would think gravity would of pulled the water along the sides of the headliner back towards the rear. Have you had your sunroof in the tilt position recently? I know on my ole' LS, if I had the roof in tilt mode, then only closed it with out actually sliding it back a little then closing it, the seal would not set very well would leak along the front, usually start dripping down through the map lights. Maybe the hit rattled the roof out of alignment? I wouldn't think a hit that soft would actually break the drain hose, but possibly bump the roof out of square.

[Paul Sherman]

NC211 said...

I find it funny how the headliner was only wet in the front section, not running back towards the rear. if the drain plug was clogged, I would think gravity would of pulled the water along the sides of the headliner back towards the rear. Have you had your sunroof in the tilt position recently? I know on my ole' LS, if I had the roof in tilt mode, then only closed it with out actually sliding it back a little then closing it, the seal would not set very well would leak along the front, usually start dripping down through the map lights. Maybe the hit rattled the roof out of alignment? I wouldn't think a hit that soft would actually break the drain hose, but possibly bump the roof out of square.

****

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. It did leak toward the back as well, the drip came out

at the center of the right rear passenger seat. What was odd, is that it was soaked at the

front while the car was pointed up hill. The right I expected, as it was next to the curb,

and hence, lower. the sunroof hadn't been opened for quite a while, but I do notice that

the back edge doesn't seat solid, and can bounce while driving.

I had the car up on the rack yesterday, only body damage, even the exhaust is fine.

And the drains are clear...

[Paul Sherman]

OK, the update on my '93:

My body guy got the rear fixed, but it was worse than he thought.

Had to take it to a shop with the full blown frame jig to straighten it out.

Still, he got jobber rates for that ($55 an hour). All told $1200 and some

detail work on my part to make it look good again. Oh and a month of

driving my '69 Chevy truck - fun, but not as comfy.

Then it started vibrating and shaking...

Took it to the tire shop for a 4 wheel alignment to see if that would help.

(Needed to after the body work anyway). What they found was a

torn rear tire with steel belt hanging out - yep, that would do it.

My guess is the tire was torn in the wreck, but it took some miles

for the tear to open enough to be noticeable.

Drives great now, especially with 210K miles on it.

But...

Somewhere in the bodywork the fender gasket and retaining nut for the

antenna got lost. If anyone has those parts handy, I'd like to buy them.

Gary G, the antenna guy, will look when I get him some measurements.

[OmarG]

glad you got it fixed and didnt give up on the Lexy! :)