Just Bought My Lexus, A Few Questions For Ya!

[chrisncourt613]

Hey guys, I am new to forums and just purchased a 1994 LS400. It had 205,000 miles on it but at the price of $2800 I had to have it. The exterior is a 7/10 with a few scratches here and there and the interior is 9/10, almost flawless. It amazed me how a leather interior could stay this perfect after 18 years. The only issues that I can visibly see on the car is the radio display is wacked out, displaying weird numbers, but still works fine, and the power antenna does not go up or down. I bought the car for my wife to use and was wondering how reliable these cars are. Will it last to 300-400k miles if maintained properly? What are some things, maintenance wise, that should be done right away, considering I do not know what the previous owner had done. It does not have air suspension and there were no leaks or bad smells. The engine purrs and transmission is smooth as silk from what I can tell so far. It almost seems too good to be true that a car almost 20 years old seems perfect, especially at $2800. Any feedback or knowledge would be very helpful. Thanks again :)

[LEXIRX330]

Welcome to LOC!

[freegard]

Welcome, and it is one stunning automobile. Rated in the top five in the world

when it hit the showrooms, and unlike many others it has retained that reputation despite some issues....

Power steering has a problem with a sensor that leaks and is connected to intake manifold.

On start up white smoke (burning transmission fluid) billows out the exhaust.

Transmission fluid because that is what the power steering pump requires (Dexron III); now

Dexron VI has superseded Dexron III.

Instrument cluster backlighting sometimes will fail as will other things all a result of failed electrolytic aluminum capacitors.

In the late 80s and up to mid nineties the circuit board manufacturing industry worldwide used CFCs to clean circuit boards of the excess flux after the wave soldering process. Unfortunately the aluminum capacitors were harmed by this cleaning process; and so it is not only Lexus autos that have problems, any vehicle whose circuit boards underwent that cleaning have issues.

A savvy engineer determined the cause of these failing caps and in the mid 90s they discontinued using chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFCs) to clean the circuit boards.

I visited a good friend whose got a Masters in electonics from MIT in Vancouver yesterday who explained all this to me and brought up the bulliten for me to read on the internet while I was there.

Anyway, those are my personal experiences with my 94 LS400 with 251K on it.

ECU will make the car run in strange ways:

It might hunt for idle;

It may not allow hard acceleration without feeling like it runs out of fuel;

If you turn the AC on the engine may die;

15MPG no matter how many things you replace on the engine;

Does not give any codes but the check engine light is on;

Again, it is due to failed capacitors in the ECU.

The car is absolutely phenomenal. I have listed above EXTREMELY COMMON issues

with this car.

I use Mobil 1 synthetic in the motor. Engine takes about 4.5 quarts.

YOU MUST USE ONLY T4 Toyota fluid in the transmission-no other type ONLY T4!!

You can find it on Ebay for $6.50 a quart or at a Lexus dealer for $16.50 a quart; or

at a Toyota dealer for $11.a quart. To completely flush trans you need 10 quarts.

You will not find T4 trans fluid in any auto parts store anywhere.

Since you do not know when your fluids were last changed; or whetehr they are correct change everything.

The car deserves to be treated this way. Yes, 400K miles is no problem whatsoever.

I paid $1,100 for that one there in the picture. The guy was an air force pilot and his father a software

engineer gifted the car to him; it was billowing white smoke; the left macpherson strut was shot; the instrumewnt cluster

backlighting only came on after the cabin warmed up to 70 Fahrenheit. (Capacitors).

It was shimmying doe to warped rotors, all four speakers were rotted or blown (it has seven speakers; I am referring to

the speakers in the door panels; the power steering pump was failing; the power steering rack was failing and the car would drift

all over the road.

HOWEVER!!! He had given it his all and spent 10K dollars just in the engine compartment: New starter, new alternator, wires, plugs, coils (two of them) catalytic converters, exhaust manifolds--in the previous 90 days before I bought it for 1100 bucks.

Whereas he had mechanics do all that work; I fixed everything and spent about 800.00 to do that.

And this site made it possible.

Welcome to the club; it is very helpful. These guys have saved me about ten thousand bucks in the

last few years. You have to learn to navigate the threads because nearly any question you may have has been answered probably over a decade ago with regard to your vehicle; it's likely the answer is here "somewhere."

Some of the guys get a little surly if they do not see you trying to get the answer from previous threads; it gets tiresome repeating yourself you know.

[curiousB]

Hey guys, I am new to forums and just purchased a 1994 LS400. It had 205,000 miles on it but at the price of $2800 I had to have it. The exterior is a 7/10 with a few scratches here and there and the interior is 9/10, almost flawless. It amazed me how a leather interior could stay this perfect after 18 years. The only issues that I can visibly see on the car is the radio display is wacked out, displaying weird numbers, but still works fine, and the power antenna does not go up or down. I bought the car for my wife to use and was wondering how reliable these cars are. Will it last to 300-400k miles if maintained properly? What are some things, maintenance wise, that should be done right away, considering I do not know what the previous owner had done. It does not have air suspension and there were no leaks or bad smells. The engine purrs and transmission is smooth as silk from what I can tell so far. It almost seems too good to be true that a car almost 20 years old seems perfect, especially at $2800. Any feedback or knowledge would be very helpful. Thanks again :)

If you don't have the repair history I might be a little concerned about the water pump, timing belt, and TB idlers. TB is an every 90k miles replacement but because its a big job I recommend the extra few bucks and do the water pump while you are in there. Some suggest new seals on camshafts and main bearing but I haven't done that yet.

I like flushing the tranny with new fluid. Newer models have so called lifetime tranny fluid but I am highly suspect of that once you get north of 100k miles on the car.

[landar]

Chris, I think you and Courtney will be very happy with your 'new' Lexus. You must not have gotten the memo on how a Lexus is just outside the affordability of the average driver. ^_^ That's what most people think. Actually, I think a used Lexus is one of the best values on the road. Congrats on discovering one of the best kept secrets!

I do not know if you plan to do some work yourself or have a mechanic to use. In any case, the following site may prove to be very helpful in understanding maintenance and typical issues with your new purchase -> http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/

Again, welcome.

[VBdenny]

Very dependable cars. Sure they have a few things that go wrong like the PS and some of the instrument lights but they run so good. I've owned mine for over ten years and for a car I paid 6000 for, I have no complaints. My LS400 still drives better than any new car I have driven. Love this car.