Crusty1 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 My son just picked up a '96 LS400 with 159k on it for $1800. Interior is super clean and it just needs a right side front fender, hence the price. But....I noticed an exhaust leak when we test drove it and told him no big deal, we can fix that cheaply. Now that I've narrowed it down to the lower EGR tube, I think I'm going to eat my words on this being an easy fix. After scouring the internet and looking at over tons of threads on this I still don't know if I can replace this without dropping the tranny. (I've dropped 2 trannies this year so I'm at my max!) From the bottom I can see the 2 nuts for the bottom end of the tube. Would still be tough to get to but pulling the right side CAT would probably help. But I can barely get my hand on just one of the nuts' on the upper part of this tube. Even with fairly average size hands there is no room to do anything. A lot of the threads on the internet address replacing gen 1 tubes, not much on gen 2. Has anyone actually done this repair themselves on a 95-97 LS400? I just hope I don't end up having to do this repair on my LS430! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOEYD2005 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Last year I had the pleasure (exagerrated) of replacing the starter on my 1996 LS400. It turned out that my EGR tube was damaged as well. I can tell you that I did not have to drop the tranny and/or the CAT. Obviously you will have to remove the front passenger tire. I had enough room to loosen the two bolts on the bottom of the EGR tube. I sprayed Liquid Wrench on the bolts and waited about 30 minutes before attempting it. I managed to reach the bolts by working my right hand from the front area of the EGR tube. I then used a deep well socket to loosen the bolts. Actually it was mor difficult to loosen the top bolts because the firewell is so close. I then fed the new tube from the top. You may have to wiggle it a bit but you will get it. I was amazed at how easy it was. On my first attempt, I attempted to loosen the CAT and it wasn't pretty. The bolts are not easy to break. Thank God I took a break. I could have created some unnecessary damage. Just take your time. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOEYD2005 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I forgot to mention that the lowest prices for OEM parts is Lexus of Pembroke Pines. Their service is excellent. Here is the website; http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?siteid=214082&catalogid=0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusty1 Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Yeah. I tried to remove the cat but could only get the bottom 2 bolts/nuts off. The top 3, even the 2 that are exposed, are frozen from endless heat cycles...even after hitting them with PB blaster. I think it it's because of the angles. An impact would probably break them loose or strip them out. But getting the top 2 EGR nuts are what I'm really stumped by. I have no idea how to get at these but I guess I'll try what you said and see how it goes. Just weird I can't even see these. As far as the starter goes, it's insane to bury the starter behind the fuel rail. I've dropped the starter on my suburban over 10 times and its takes 10 min. max. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abdiel Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 i am having the same problem with my 96 thanks for the info i will sure try it today i already ordered my ne tube for $190 at the lexus dealer and been shopping around for labor and the cheapest vie found was $200... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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