yank30265

90 ls400; im pretty sure my exhaust gaskets are leaking at the exhaust manifold; You can here it and smell exhaust fumes when ideling and driving at slow speeds. Is this an easy thing to change? And are there any other gaskets down there that I should change while im under the car anyway?

my 1990 ls400 has a problem with the driver side seat belt retracting. It used to stay alittle loose but if I hit the release button while I was driving and put the seatbelt right back in it would tighten up. Now it seems to not want to tighten up. If I lean forward while im driving it stretches out and wont come back in. Is this a bad belt? Can I spray it with something?

so when it comes time to change my battery would a battery saver keep this problem fom happening. You plug it into the lighter and the oh wait 90 ls400 dosen't have the code reader plug under the dash. How would i keep that from happening to me?

I put power steering fluid in my 90 ls400; it got real cold out and the pump was making horrible noises; after about 2 days i checked the forum and found out why; I sucked out the old fluid which looked like coffee with heavy cream in it and I ran castrol import tranny fluid in it(same as dexron 2) Turned the wheel many times and sucked out the fluid; did this with a whole quart then refilled with clean fluid; everything seems to be ok except at slow speeds the pwr steering seems to be stiff(been like this since i got the car) is there an inline filter before the pump? And ifso where? Thanks

Sounds like the alternator has some sort of lag. It should react to the load changes almost instantly so it sounds like the voltage regulator (in the alternator) is faulty. Is it a brand new alternator or a rebuilt? Of course loose or corroded wires from battery to alternator will create problems too so be sure those are clean and torqued down well. Had what sounds like the exact same problem. It went on for a long time. Had Lexus check it out and they said it was 'normal'. I new it wasm't. Had many mechanics check variuos things, but know one could find the problem. Battery was good ect. Then one day by accident, I was checking the battery agian and took off the battry clamp (I think it was the '+' side) and found that the clamp was accually cracked right though. You could hardly even see it. The clamp would tighten up to what you think was a good tight connection to the post, but it wasn't. A new $2.00 clamp at Wal-mart and 5 minutes, the problem was fixed. What a drag for such a liitle problem Hope this is the case for you. As for the shifter problem. It could very well be the selinoid switch beside the shifter. I relpaced mine a few years back. You should here a faint 'click' if you put you ear near the shifter and press the brake with you hand. If you don't then the switch is likley the problem. Hope this helps. doi you know what this switch might be called? i didnt hear a click when i pressed the pedal w/ my hand

would that be mercon V? dex merc?....which atf?

let me know cuz I had the same problem and changed the alt and it got alittle better to the point where im at now but i had the old alt tested and it tested good some im thinking when i changed the alt something might have been going on at the alt connections. so now im wonderiung where the other ends are and what they look like

yea that was where I went first the harness under left trunk hinge; no broken wires there could it be the switch those wires are plugged into? its not only when i hit the brakes it happens whenever i put a load on the car; raise lower the windows etc; I also get the fan slow down when its on and when i hit the gas the fan speeds up again; new alt didnt fix the problem but im thinking corrosion on wires Not at battery im sure of and not on alt im sure of so its got to be wherever these wires go. is the starter solinoid on the starter like most cars or is it accessable? ive heard if i need to get to the starter its a lot of work Starter is a pain. Its buried under the intake manifold. In your case though I doubt that is the problem as you get dimming with even slight loads that have nothing to do with starting the car. If you problem was difficult or hard to engage starter motor then I would look to solenoid but that doesn't seem your symptoms. i noticed that when the car iss off and I open the door at night; then hit the lock button the dome light even dims; does this help pinpoint anything?

yea that was where I went first the harness under left trunk hinge; no broken wires there could it be the switch those wires are plugged into? its not only when i hit the brakes it happens whenever i put a load on the car; raise lower the windows etc; I also get the fan slow down when its on and when i hit the gas the fan speeds up again; new alt didnt fix the problem but im thinking corrosion on wires Not at battery im sure of and not on alt im sure of so its got to be wherever these wires go. is the starter solinoid on the starter like most cars or is it accessable? ive heard if i need to get to the starter its a lot of work

Sounds like the alternator has some sort of lag. It should react to the load changes almost instantly so it sounds like the voltage regulator (in the alternator) is faulty. Is it a brand new alternator or a rebuilt? Of course loose or corroded wires from battery to alternator will create problems too so be sure those are clean and torqued down well. I think its got to be the wires going from the alt to ground or alt to starter; i hate to ask this question because i might not like the answer but here goes.... where is the starter on a 90 ls400 and is it easy to get to the positive cable at the starter?

im back again. my lights dim headlights instrument panel everything )when I hit the brake pedal or,raise the window lower the window. Whenever some kind of load is put on the sytem it happens, but just for a sec then come right back. i tried the wiring harness under the left hinge in the trunk as suggested, no broken white wire no broken any wire. Tried changing the box on left side of trunk these wires were plugged into; whats the name of that box it says lamp failure on it. I had the wrong box so my brake lights went out all together. Put the old box in. Tried new battery as suggested; same problems. Im not sure whats left; brake pedal switch? I changed one on my 94 ranger but that was when brake lights went out all together and the switch fixed it. Car has a new alternator in it i replaced because my battery kept going dead. Battery is fine now and the old alt tested good so that could've been bad connection at Alt. When checked w/ volt meter there is a quick drop then goes right back as quick as the lights come back; like a blink of an eye but very annoying. What else might this be? 2nd problem of many; car wont come out of park anymore w/o hitting override button; someone told me there is a sensor under the console by the shifter... anybody with any input on any of my problems let me know; You were great with the first suggestions but i need some more. Answer all; some parts; none; or tell me you have the same problem; any questions you might need me to answer to help you answer mine are fine. Thank you for all the suggestions

It sounds like you will be needing to unplug phone components to eliminate the beep. LS400's without options such as heated seats and air suspension still have places in the fuse boxes to support those options. If your car has heated seats, the switches would be just above the ashtray and below the radio. thanks; no heated seats I see; and somebody gave me directions on how to pull the phone(disconnect).

I just had a chance to go under the hood and found the telephone fuse in the box' I pulled the fuse it didnt look blown but the contacts weren't shiny all over either. When i went in the car I turned the radio on and the radio came on but the sound didnt work. I put the fuse back in and turned on the key; I still get the beeeep from the phone and my radio sound worked again. I also found a fuse for heated seats; Im not aware of the car having this nut there was a fuse in the spot. Anyone can tell me where the button would be for heating my buns?; One more; there was a spot for air sus. Suspension I believe; I wasnt aware of the car having this feature; Looks like regular struts to me; I could b wrong. Should I find a fuse for this spot and put one in? I still need to check for broken wires in harness in trunk for my other problems; maybe that'll be the wonder fix and repair everything. Doubt it if it wasnt for bad luck id have no luck at all

how do I disconnect the car phone in my ls400? can I just pull a fuse? everytime I start it up the phone goes BEEP through the speakers i guess and stays on; Im already having electrical issues and would like to cut this one out off the bat. The phone is not in service and wont be when i get through with it. Any suggestions?

I was given this 1990 ls400 by a very good friend who took great care of this car(@ dealer for every check up im sure). The car sat for 4 yrs in a garage untill I got it. They said it had electrical problems and had become unreliaBLE. After being on the forums I have an idea about the electrical part. Now My question is should i change the fluids my self? Ive changed the oil twice since Ive had it; I run castrol full synthetic(dealer told me to do this) with k/n oil filter. First time underneath the car I drained what I could out of the radiator(it was very brown colored)and refilled it; then refilled for a few days untill full; Ive been meaning to do this again to try to get all the old out. I need to do the exhaust douhgnuts iknow. How hard is it to do the tranny fluid? Ive dropped the pan and have done the filter before on my Ranger twice;escort twice; so Im sort of mechanicly inclined I just cant spell. Is castrol multi import tranny fluid a good choice? Seems to be compatable w/ this car. oh yea the car had a nice size gash on the passenger side when I got it and being I dont have alot of money I was very happy when i got rear ended by some rich kid and now the car is in near mint condition being that his insurance paid for bodyand paint work from rear doors back. LOL. Should I have the radiator flushed or keep draing some and refilling; and the trannsmission fluid question.

I sprayed wd40 in my keyholes a few weeks back and since then if I lock my car the alarm goes off; im sure it was the wd40. It stopped for a few days then started again so now I dont lock the car; anyway I can fix my mistake or disarm the alarm?

thanks; I work in a parts store and my co worker told me the overide button problem was a neutral safty switch; I like your answer better; the battery is pretty greased up with di electric grease so no corrosion there; and yes the removal of the climate control sounds pretty easy thanks again.

i need a rocker panel for passenger side quater panel small piece but just had body fixed and am missing this part

1990 ls 400 dosent come out of shift anymore unless I push shift override button; what is that problem and fix? Also lights dim when brakes are hit . they dim just a hair but come right back; battery drops down a little when tested and goes right back up to normal; alternator is good. And how hard is it to get climate control out for rebuild. I found someone on a major auction sight that will rplace the lcd for 75.00 if I get it out and send it to him. power steering grabs a litttle at slow speeds but not that bad. If anyone can help me Id appreciate it; one problem or all. i got more but let me tackle this first. Thanks