Power Steering Pump Leak

[vroom8]

No, never. :P I will still be here.... unfortunately I will have to keep the Lexus (I could never sell it for what I have invested in it) and will have to s l o w l y repair it as funds permit. :(

As far as the Mercedes forums go, despite my Mercedes being 3 years older, it has never gave me any problems and I paid much less for it than the Lexus. Also the Mercedes is unbelievably easier to service than the Lexus, but the MB is an inline 6-cylinder. The Mercedes is a much less complex car as well. However, had my Mercedes been a 1992 or newer, it would probably have more problems and be incredibly complex. My current MBs design dates back to 1981, so its pretty simple. I have owned alot of Toyotas, Mercedes and two Lexus and I have loved my Lexus and they are good cars, but out of the three different 1980s Mercedes I have owned, all have needed less maintainence than my current LS400. Perhaps its just where I bought my LS at a time that everything was falling apart? Perfect timing on my part.

Whats strange is that I have owned 1987-1993 Toyota Camrys and Toyota trucks with mileage as high as my Lexus cars I had and never had issues with those.

More with my PS issue, my steering was heavy yesterday and I added fluid this AM, but put too much, so had to take another car to work, but suctioned out some of the fluid when I got home and drove the LS to town. Fluid is full, but steering is still heavy.... takes much more effort to steer even though its full of fluid. Perhaps air in the line? Or the pump is totally shot?

Hey, another Mercedes owner a while ago, the small 280 Baby Benz, loved it!!!......there's something about that German engineering ..... rarely had any trouble with it, and god, did it handle the curves!!! Also had a couple other German cars...that's where I would go again if I ever got rid of the Lexus.

[AzHotLS]

No problem, vroom8, glad to help. One more suggestion.... to make your replies easier to read when quoting someone, type this at the beginning of the quote: "[ quote ]", then at the end of the quote type "[ /quote ]" (remove the spaces after and in front of the brackets and don't type the litteral quotes - I added them for illustration purposes only). You end up with something like this:

thanks again, blacktop, 90Lexus, AZhotLS, killer, jc.. and everyone who has been so great answering my questions!!

You guys have probably saved me a small fortune....

[vroom8]

No problem, vroom8, glad to help. One more suggestion.... to make your replies easier to read when quoting someone, type this at the beginning of the quote: "[ quote ]", then at the end of the quote type "[ /quote ]" (remove the spaces after and in front of the brackets and don't type the litteral quotes - I added them for illustration purposes only). You end up with something like this:

thanks again, blacktop, 90Lexus, AZhotLS, killer, jc.. and everyone who has been so great answering my questions!!

You guys have probably saved me a small fortune....

OK- :)

[AzHotLS]

.....

[90LS400Lexus]

Now even when warm outside and not quite out of fluid, my PS is making an occasional whining sound on first startup in the mornings. I am not much of a DIY'er, but I guess I am going to be forced to try to clean the screen myself. I love the PS pumps on the LS400s. <_<

[GuyGordon]

Hate to say it, but ... time to check the rack. Likely the solenoid is plugged. You'll have to clean or replace.

Oh good Lord, how hard is that to do? I think there is a thread somewhere on it? I will search.

Did I say how much I love this car? :P

I know this thread is over a year old, but I just wanted to post this for later searchers.

Cleaning the Power Steering Solenoid is a piece of cake. Took me less than 1/2 hour

and made a huge difference. Over the years my 1996 LS400 had been slowly getting harder to steer.

I had no idea there even was a filter in there.

Anyway, you simply jack up the front left side (taking safety precautions), remove the wheel,

and you can see the solenoid. Unplug the wires and put something under the car to catch

the PS oil that will come out.

The large hex head is part of the solenoid. It unscrews with the normal (right hand) threads.

You'll probably need to put a chisel or large screwdriver against the head and hit it with

a hammer to get started, but after that it unthreaded by hand.

The filter is a fine metal screen ring around the bottom that comes off with an O-ring.

Clean it with carb cleaner, and a toothbrush if needed. It's not fragile, but it is fine;

so don't mess it up. Reassemble in reverse order.

Refill your PS reservoir. Turn car on, then off after 10 seconds so the pump can move the PS fluid.

Repeat until the fluid level is stable and has no air bubbles. Mine required about a pint.

The PS pump will be noisy if there is still air in the system.

There's a tutorial with pictures around here somewhere.