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TxRedMan

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    1994 LS400...with envious eyes upon my uncle's LS460

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  1. Replaced PCV valve just for good measure... Rear seal was replaced...no leaks whatsoever...a little over $700 for: replacing lower oil pan gasket, fixing rear main seal, PCV valve. I may be sensitive to hearing little noises that mean nothing, but it seems to have a new noise while idling, but it goes away when you step on the gas so i'm not worried about it. Only I can hear it. I have a knack for hearing annoying little noises no one else notices. Thanks to all who helped during this time of headaches and what to do's..... Next up on my list of things to do: Taking the guy who sold me the car to small claims court for lying to me and advertising the car under false pretenses and for selling a car that was missing a lug nut on all four wheels along with a couple other things an attorney thinks will win us the $800+ spent on repairing the car in addition to his legal fees. I contacted the seller and of course he never contacted me back...good thing he just signed a lease on a house right around the corner from me and I have all of his contact information...
  2. all the sudden i feel really good about being into my 94 for $4700...lol... listen, kid, slow down. you dont know me, but if you did, you'd listen. i've been there and done that have the t-shirt the police report and the time spent waiting outside emergency rooms to prove it. i'm only 11 years older than you, and what you said about learning more in the last year than in all other years combined, it's probably true, but what you'll learn in the next 5 years will have you looking back wondering how you survived those years being so uneducated about life, and hopefully if you make it to 27 you'll be somewhat humbled like me, understanding that even then, you still know very little, and what you have to learn will always dwarf what you already know. dont take your guns to town son, leave your guns at home bill....dont take your guns to town- johnny cash (btw i'll make you an offer on your car, i could use a parts car, which is what you now have)
  3. I did the oil change the morning after I bought the car. So I literally drove it home that night, and changed the oil in the morning, therefore I have no idea if there was a small leak, but I think it's coming together now, and you probably nailed it. I figured there was a reason why this guy was willing to accept $4100 for a car that could have brought $5500 given the shape it's in. He probably got the quote on fixing the rear main seal from Lexus of Las Vegas which would run him about $1500 and decided to strap a bandage on it and dump it. Ah, well, we'll see what happens when the rear main is fixed. Hopefully at least 35K miles of driving!
  4. I agree. I think the real problem was missed from the beginning. However, at 15 years of age, 165k miles, and in that kind of extreme dry heat out there where you live....it is very possible that you have two leaks indeed, and when your lower pan seal was fixed, it put all the pressure on the remaining leak in the rear seal, causing it to leak even more. The only time I've ever "heard" of buildup within the engine actually acting as a seal, is when someone puts in full synthetic at a very late time in the engine's life - causing the crud to be removed and the leak to start. I've never seen this, but have read about it. But at the end of the day, and I mean this with all do respect, you've got a used, 15 year old car with 165k miles on it. They're probably the most expensive Toyota built vehicle to fix, and you can probably expect a few more hits to the wallet with it. I would suggest downloading all the Pdf. files on the car from https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/...o.toyota.com%2F to protect yourself with knowledge of every nut/bolt/clip/update on the car. Not saying you got hosed by the mechanic, because I simply don't know if you had one or two leaks. But I will tell you this FACT..... The word "Lexus" is premium, and there are far more stories on here of folks getting the run-around by mechanics (dealerships especially included) over their Lexus repairs, then many other car makers, in my experience. I had to hammer down on my dealership over my former LS a few times. But, once you download these Pdf files, and take a printed copy of what you suspect is the problem with you to a mechanic, they'll know you're paying attention to every bolt on the car, and you're not one to be messed with. Not saying all mechanics are bad, because they're not. But everyone knows a Lexus only has a couple of real repairs needed throughout the life of the car "one of which is the rear seal"....yet we've all read stories of odd repair suggestions on here from "professionals" that didn't make sense, and resulted in big bucks wasted. Summary of thread thus far: took car in to have small leak checked out. diagnosed as lower oil pan gasket. took car to second shop for multiple reasons, car was diagnosed the same by the new shop. gasket was replaced, immediately spawning a substantial leak from the rear main seal. the consensus at first was that it was initially mis-diagnosed, but i hadn't been clear that two different shops made the same diagnosis. one poster here and the shop the car is at now suggest that the increased pressure from fixing the lower oil pan gasket could have caused the rear seal to go out. i'm on this side of the fence at this point. i spent $150 on the gasket, and the shop's manager has offered to give me a really good price on the rear main seal job: $500. i'm sure it could be a 7-8hr job, possibly 9-10hrs. i've told the mechanic who has the car now to give it a thorough inspection to see if there are any potential problems he sees on the horizon. other than the LCD being out, the car is almost perfect, and since I only have $4200 in it, if the mechanic gives it a clean bill of health i'm going to replace the rear main and cross my fingers and continue to drive it like an old lady.
  5. I just put some honey looking stuff in the oil of my dad's '97 camry. He had a decent leak comming from just about everywhere underneeth his engine. After two days of driving the leak is less than half has bad as it was before. For less than $5 it's worth every penny. The original diagnosis of the lower oil pan leak was made by Tireworks. The second time I took it in they made the same diagnosis, as well as diagnosing (falsely) that I needed new halfshafts. I took the car to this mechanic, who also diagnosed the lower oil pan gasket but lifted the car up for me to see that the halfshafts/boots were fine. His shop did the lower oil pan gasket repair. I'm hesitant to not trust him, because he was the one who warned me of Tireworks (they are engaged in a lawsuit as I mentioned earlier) and also asked that I at least let someone else look at the car (I do not live close to his shop). He also cuts labor rates in half for me. My two beefs with him over this situation are: I told him I had a 5+ quart jug of Castrol and a Mobil 1 oil filter in the trunk, and asked him to change the oil and filter when he did the gasket. When I got underneath the car, there was a fram filter on it (previously had a K&N filter) so I knew the mechanic who did the job didn't swap out the oil. This lack of attention to detail was what raised a red flag with whom ever actually did the job's competency. He reccomended that we try a bottle of stop leak. But when you use a product that is designed to stop leaks, you get negative results as well as positive results. That stuff can clog oil galleys and gum up areas where oil needs to flow through. Is it a short term cheap solution? Absolutely. Is it a solution for the next 50,000 miles? No. So this is the real mind boggling part of this; two shops diagnosed the lower oil pan leak. Once it was fixed, the rear main seal went out. I'd like to agree with the poster who said the rear main was the culprit to begin with, but do you still think so after hearing that two independent shops both came to that conclusion, and that I can vouch from my own two eyes that where there had previously been oil on the underneath of the pan, there was none, and there was a new leak covering just about everything else? It's funny to me because we put dye in the rack because we wanted to see if the buildup of crud around the rack was from a leak, and wound up finding no leak in the rack, just the rear main...hahaha, jokes on me. I'm starting to wonder if the owner before me had used some stop leak to fix the problem, because after I had done the paperwork with him I walked out through his garage and saw a leak pan sitting where the car would have been parked if it were in the garage....it was in the driveway when I bought it. Of course I had a sinking feeling, but what could I do...I knew it wasn't leaking at that moment in time, and that I only had $4100 invested in a car that is in remarkable condition inside and out and blew cold air and drove like new.... So I'm starting to think maybe stop leak was put in it, that's why he had the car in the driveway, and that would explain why the rear seal might just spring a leak all of the sudden, because like I said earlier, that stuff is a bandaid, not a cure. Sound possible?
  6. Again, ty. I did clean it up and look at it closely. It's not leaking from the lower oil pan anymore, judging by where the old oil was on the underneath of the car and where it is now. Also when I got underneath it, it was a steady drip this time. I left it with the mechanic who did the gasket, he cleaned it up again and tells me it's the rear main seal. I can't figure out how this can be related. It is possible that the rear main was leaking very little and it just happened to sprout a geiser on the same day the lower oil pan gasket was replaced, but for now i'm considering two options: taking it to Lexus of Las Vegas, $125 flat fee for a diagnoses, or, paying the mechanic $500 to replace the rear main seal. I want to make it clear that the person who performed the work is not the person I deal with; I know the manager of the shop through a circle of poker players and I have faith in his honesty, but I don't know that I have faith in his mechanics since I went in with a small leak from the lower oil pan (why did they put 2 oil pans on these cars?) and they gave it back to me with a busted rear main seal..... I'm leaning towards sticking the $500 in it, but I want some peace of mind that there isn't a series of leaks to follow.... But I saw from my own two eyes the leak not coming from the lower oil pan, rather, somewhere up above and behind the cross member. My plan is to stick the $500 in it, hope like hell it doesn't give me any more problems, and if something else starts to go wrong, dump the car and take a small hit.... Other than 165,000 miles of wear and tear....is there anything that can cause a rear main seal to go out?
  7. Maybe it's just me, but speaking that way to a long term member of this club, when you have but six posts, seems a bit out of line. And just how you think from a distance we can tell more about the leak source than you can by looking at it....well... I definitely agree with you, I think he owes curiousB an appology.... Six posts or 6000, I think when someone replies by quoting the amount of $ I have invested in the car and then down playing my situation, combined with his remark that maybe I "dont have the stomach for this", I'm not out of line by being somewhat of the same nature in my response to his remark, especially given the fact that he seemed to extrapolate from my OP that "hell" was seeing the oil spots, rather than what I thought I had made it clear to be. I dont think I offended the poster. And for those of you who think I owe him an apology, isn't that for him to say? I think many people, you two included, seem to apply tone to text that isn't neccessarily correct. As for the new leak, it's been diagnosed as the rear main seal. If anyone can explain how this is anything other than a coincidence, I'd appreciate your input, and to the poster you all refer to as B, I do appreciate your follow up posts. Hopefully this thread wont get derailed by those who think posting in an internet forum has a hierarchy of allowable speech that correlates to post count.
  8. Relax, take a deep breath. Why don't you top oil up yourself and drive it a few days and see how much loss you have. If you lost 1/2 qt in 50 miles you'd have a lot more than two spots on your driveway. Get an exact "before and after comparison" before you jump off the bridge. Spots you're seeing could just be oil from the oil change dripping off or past oil on the engine underpanel that just dripped off. If two spots on your driveway is "car owner hell" what will it be when you have to replace timing belt or water pump or fuel pump? What year is your car? How many miles? Maybe you don't have the stomach for this. When I say spots, I don't mean half dollar sized spots, I mean basketball sized spots. And in case your reading comprehension skills are lacking, I thought I made it clear that the hellish experience was not pulling out of my parking space and seeing oil spots, rather, it was taking my car in for a small leak to be fixed and getting it back with a huge leak; being unable to tell if it was caused my the mechanics negligence, or if it was sheer coincidence, and the prospect of figuring out where the new leak is coming from, all wrapped up in one experience I referred to as 'car owner hell' because of the likelihood that there is negligence involved and the frustrations associated with resolving an issue like this. I used to drive an 06 Z-06 and an 07 Tahoe. I also used to have a much larger income. I'm 27 years old and my business barely makes enough these days to pay back my note to Chase. $4200 is not much money in car terms, especially when we're talking about a Lexus. But I bought this car because I wanted peace of mind, and now that's gone, and in its place is the prospect of whether or not to invest in this for the long haul or get out now. I'm not sick over the amount of money, I'm sick over the fact that I made a bad decision somewhere along the way and now have a royal mess to figure out and a time consuming issue of whether or not there's someone at fault for the new leak. LOL- I'd gladly trade this problem for a water pump or fuel pump that needed replacing. The stomach for this? Did you type that post while watching a medical drama on Fox or something? An undiagnosed oil leak that springs up when you replace a gasket on the lower oil pan that leaks at 50x the rate of the previous leak.....yeah, I'd swap this problem in exchange for a bad fuel pump. I think in contrast it would be a walk in the park. Maybe you haven't had much experience with cars that start to leak oil.....it usually ends with the word "overhaul".
  9. Help.....please.....having a day from car owner hell. Bought my LS400 a month ago. Noticed a very slight leak. Had it diagnosed. Took it to my girlfriends mechanic shop because the mechanic shop I was going to use has been in court lately for false diagnostic work...(I fell victim to this, Tireworks in Las Vegas...said I needed new halfshafts...took them to girlfriends mechanic and got under the car and the boots were fine, so were the halfshafts...they claim they have to "weed out" techs who do business the "old way") They replaced the lower oil pan gasket. I drove it home (25 miles) and parked it backwards to monitor any new spots. Came out an hour later and was shocked to see two new spots, both very large. Drove it back to the mechanic today and I had lost about a half a quart in 50 miles of driving. Two things guys- First, am I right in believing there's no way you fix a small leak that was due to a lower oil pan gasket and then uncover immediately a much larger leak that was somehow being withheld by the bad gasket? Or is it much more likely that the mechanic who did the job torqued the bolts to hard or accidentally stripped one out or something of the sort? Granted, the new leak is not coming from the lower oil pan, it appears to be coming from the upper oil pan, less likely but still possible the rear main seal, but what I really want to know is- how do I fix a small leak and wind up with a huge one without there being any negligence involved? I like this mechanic and want to have a reason to believe he didn't screw something up. I have an appointment with Lexus of Las Vegas, $125 to diagnose the problem, whereas the mechanic who has the car right now was wanting to put stop leak in it (I quickly called a few people then called him back and said no stop leak), see if that worked, but he'd charge me by the hour and would have to remove the cross member to check the upper oil pan for a crack, i.e., Lexus can diagnose it for a flat rate (and apply the $125 to any charges if I choose to let them fix the car). I have $4200 invested in this car and am really sick to my stomach right now.... Thanks for reading, thanks for any responses. -Tex
  10. just got it back from the shop across the street....not a lexus shop, but a mechanic i generally trust, only he wasnt there today, and his stand-in and I didn't have the same wave length...it felt like asking a Dr. who was in a big hurry what a corotid artery was. NEWS: It needs the lower oil pan gasket replaced ($20), and they also said that it needs a new halfshaft....the guy who looked at it said "it looks like it's been spraying fluid for a while now".....something they missed when I took it in the day after I bought it.....so I'm torn.....thinking about taking it to another place for another look..... Like I'm telling everyone, you cannot tell there is anything wrong with the car except for the brake light not lighting up in the back and the parking brake light randomly coming on.....it had lost 1/4 of a quart of oil over 600 city miles during summer in Vegas, so obviously the leak is small, but while I never noticed it being a constant drip, the mechanic who told me it was 1/4 quart low said it was a steady drip...... Guys, I'm torn here. I think a second opinion is in order, i'm thinking about trying to bribe a Lexus tech to give it a good once over, as I've said before, I want this car to last. Funny thing: I've always liked Lucas products. They work. They don't void warranties. I bought a bottle of oil stop leak that you use in combo w/ your oil and this place advised against it, but even more odd, was that they advised against what I thought might be a genius preventative maintenance idea- put a bottle of power steering stop leak (guaranteed to stop leaks) in my PS reservoir, and, voila, no issue with leaky power steering pump.....but this seems a little too simple..... (note: i have no leaky power steering right now....just trying to prevent it from when it apparently happens....but there's also about a 80% chance it already happened with the guy who put the 1st 155,000 miles on it) Oh and steve, TYVM!!!! I turned my CD's faceup (or down, w/e), and I had beautiful sweet music in my car again! Brother if you're ever in Las Vegas I'll buy you lunch! Also, what would be noticeable about the halfshaft when it was ready to giveout? It's only a $100 part, but I can't change it myself....probably cost me $200 in labor......I'm just not that mechanically inclined....nor do I think I have the tools....but I'm wondering about changing it, and whether it's something that you should wait until there's a noticeable difference in driveability before replacing.....I had a leaky rear end on my 07 tahoe when it was damn near brand new and put 30,000 more miles on it (mostly b/c I didn't think it needed to be addressed until I could sense some distress in the way it rode) Guys, HELP! Signed, Paranoid owner of a soon to be 170,000 mile car Bump for news: Took it in for a 2'nd opinion and this independent mechanic said that my lower oil pan gasket needed to be replaced. Okay, so both independent mechanics agree on this one. But this mechanic said that the entire half shaft didn't need to be replaced. He didn't go into great detail but he said "you could replace the halfshaft now, but since it's not even vibrating and the leak is so small it's not mandatory. Opinions, please.
  11. just got it back from the shop across the street....not a lexus shop, but a mechanic i generally trust, only he wasnt there today, and his stand-in and I didn't have the same wave length...it felt like asking a Dr. who was in a big hurry what a corotid artery was. NEWS: It needs the lower oil pan gasket replaced ($20), and they also said that it needs a new halfshaft....the guy who looked at it said "it looks like it's been spraying fluid for a while now".....something they missed when I took it in the day after I bought it.....so I'm torn.....thinking about taking it to another place for another look..... Like I'm telling everyone, you cannot tell there is anything wrong with the car except for the brake light not lighting up in the back and the parking brake light randomly coming on.....it had lost 1/4 of a quart of oil over 600 city miles during summer in Vegas, so obviously the leak is small, but while I never noticed it being a constant drip, the mechanic who told me it was 1/4 quart low said it was a steady drip...... Guys, I'm torn here. I think a second opinion is in order, i'm thinking about trying to bribe a Lexus tech to give it a good once over, as I've said before, I want this car to last. Funny thing: I've always liked Lucas products. They work. They don't void warranties. I bought a bottle of oil stop leak that you use in combo w/ your oil and this place advised against it, but even more odd, was that they advised against what I thought might be a genius preventative maintenance idea- put a bottle of power steering stop leak (guaranteed to stop leaks) in my PS reservoir, and, voila, no issue with leaky power steering pump.....but this seems a little too simple..... (note: i have no leaky power steering right now....just trying to prevent it from when it apparently happens....but there's also about a 80% chance it already happened with the guy who put the 1st 155,000 miles on it) Oh and steve, TYVM!!!! I turned my CD's faceup (or down, w/e), and I had beautiful sweet music in my car again! Brother if you're ever in Las Vegas I'll buy you lunch! Also, what would be noticeable about the halfshaft when it was ready to giveout? It's only a $100 part, but I can't change it myself....probably cost me $200 in labor......I'm just not that mechanically inclined....nor do I think I have the tools....but I'm wondering about changing it, and whether it's something that you should wait until there's a noticeable difference in driveability before replacing.....I had a leaky rear end on my 07 tahoe when it was damn near brand new and put 30,000 more miles on it (mostly b/c I didn't think it needed to be addressed until I could sense some distress in the way it rode) Guys, HELP! Signed, Paranoid owner of a soon to be 170,000 mile car
  12. The fluid is oil, this i'm sure of. It leaks from underneath where the CD player is located in the car, for a general idea. Essentially upper center of the car. It's almost so little it's nothing to worry about in the short term, but I want this car to reach 200K miles (at least) so it's something I'd prefer to address now rather than later. The parking brake light comes on, the red light that indicated your parking brake is engaged. I've had all the fluids checked, and they were all fine except for the power steering which was low, which was almost giving me a heart attack when I finally heard it on the way home and found out what an issue it can be, but that sound went away when the fluid was topped off. I had no idea the CD's had to be inserted upside down! I never would have figured this out, thanks a ton! Also, if anyone can chime in, I drive this car like it's fragile, even though it's not. She rarely goes over 3000 revs, and while my granny foor might annoy the indy car drivers of Las Vegas, I prefer to take turns slow, let the car coast when it can, and take it easy on the engine.....like I said, I want this car to last for a long, long time. Any preventative maintenance ideas specific to the LS400 I would love to hear, and any issues common with this model and mileage I'd also love to be made aware of other than the power steering problem, as I've already read about what that can be! Steve- (and everyone else) What oil do you run in your LS? This is my first time going conventional and I almost felt dirty putting it in my car, but I just thought it was too risky going synthetic on a motor that might have 15 years of conventional oil on it. Thanks you very much for your reply, I really appreciate your input!
  13. Cliffs notes at bottom! My Grandparents both drove LS400's back when they were "the" car to drive in the mid 1990's. I drove both of them several times as a teenager and always had an affinity for this make and model of car. I moved to Las Vegas a year ago and sold my '07 Tahoe and bought a motorcycle to get around on. I quickly realized I'd need four wheel transportation for the summer months, so I went looking. I searched high and low and after looking at about fifty caddilacs, mercedes, and other brands, the first Lexus I found, I bought. She has 164,000 miles. The morning after I brought her home I took her across the street to my mechanic who did an oil change, and despite my desire to run only synthetics, and not knowing this cars oil history, I went with conventional oil; Quaker State w/ Slick 50. I was afraid of running synthetic in a car that had 164,000 conventional oil miles. I've noticed that when I park the car there is a very small oil leak that only seems to occur when the car is parked, never a trace of smoke, and it is not a prolonged leak. I didn't notice the leak pan in the guys garage until I had already bought the car, which I did at night, it was a bit impusive but she's in near new condition outside and doesn't show her age on the inside, and she runs and rides like a lexus and the a/c is cold and blows hard, so for $4000 I knew I couldn't do any better with my budget. A couple of things: The parking brake comes on occasionally The CD player says "err" even after running a Maxwell CD cleaner through the disc changer in disc slot #1 There is a brake light that does not light up but is not burned out on the upper left hand side, and it is indicated on the dash. The A/C screens that would display time, etc, do not work anymore. A very small oil leak when the car is parked. Never any smoke, and it doesn't leak unless you drive the car and then park it. She runs and rides like someone really took care of her. I believe I am the 3'rd owner and I believe the first owner put the first 150,000 miles on the car, perhaps the first 160,000, and I was told by the seller that he had replaced some seals in the transmission after he bought it, but like I said, she runs and rides beautifully and shifts without notice and absorbs bumps as soft as I remember a new 1994 Lexus riding 15 years ago when I was a teenager. I hope to drive her forever. I would greatly appreciate anyone who can offer some advice to correct the issues (or non-issues I suppose) I described above. I'm not looking to put much money into the car, but I would like to correct the leak and know what to expect from my car in the next 20-30K miles, and also, if anyone knows a good Lexus mechanic in Las Vegas, I'd be obliged for a connection to one to fix the slight oil leak. Hope my first post wasn't too long! -Tex
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