Toaster

So my 1994 LS400 drivers side, exterior door handle is cracked. The center cracked away from the edge, so when you pull up on the outside door handle the door doesn't open! You have to wedge your finger in the far right corner of the door handle to lift the mechanism to open the door - big problem. Where is the best place to get a replacement outside exterior left front (drivers side) door handle? or is there a method to repairing it that I can't figure out? I've searched ebay, with no luck. I can find TONS of the other 3 doors, but nothing for the drivers side front door. I was thinking maybe it might be possible to get the handle itself and replace it using another model? not the trim part behind (the recessed part) but the actual part you grasp to lift up on? THANKS.

WOOHOO.. Mines all good now. $0.36 worth of caps fixed what Lexus wanted $1000 to repair All good here.

The passenger side seat belt on my 94 LS400 will not retract, and sometimes locks and you cant pull it out. :cries:

I'll know 100% certain tomorrow if my specific issue is gone, but so far all signs point to yes. The instrument panel fired right up after I replaced all 3 caps with new ones. (if you look at the dates of my post- I waited almost a year before I attempted this, mainly because the weather changed here so I didn't need to do it :P) Removing the surface mount caps was simple- you have to break them off a little at a time until you get to the traces/connectors on the bottom- if you just "pull" them out, I'd bet you run the risk of damaging the traces on the PCB. so be careful with that. The repair is sooooo simple- after you get the cluster out, you only have to remove the white cover from the back and you can do all the work without disasembling the rest of the cluster :) THANKS FOR THE HELP GUYS.

Great pictures My issue with my 94 LS was only the instrument lights not coming on when the car was cold, not until everything warmed up (somes 10-15 mins, sometime 30+). I replaced the Caps with new radial style electrolytic caps... I was actually working on my TV too, when I bought all the caps- had I remembered reading "use titanium as replacement" in the other thread, I would have bought the titaniums. I'll know for sure tomorrow (after a night in the cold) if it solved the problem, but I can tell you that everything fired right up when I tested it. :D

Ok... I've got an issue with the lights in my cluster, radio backlights and climate control backlights. This is apparently a common problem, and relatively easy fix (cross my fingers) details can be read on This Thread NOW, one of the steps as I understand it- is to remove the power cable from the battery. My 94 ls400 has the factory pioneer radio in it- I'm the second owner (I think), and do not have any kind of security code for this radio. (if in fact there is one???) I'm guessing when I pull the power, the radio will reset, and then when I put power back- its gonna want a code to turn on? yes? So my question is, while the radio is working now (because I have not pulled the power yet), is there anyway to set the security code? I don't want to fix the lights in the dash, and loose the radio in the process. HELP. Toaster

WOW... Thanks guys! I knew this was definitely the place to ask this question! :D Ok- now I have a couple of stupid questions: 1. does anyone know if this will address the issue with the climate control & radio backlights ??? Everything comes back on at the same time- so I'm gonna guess YES? 2. Where are the instructions for removing the instrument cluster (I did this once on my 88 BMW 3'series... I HATE THAT PART OF THIS. The soldering iron doesnt scare me any- I've been soldering since I was a kid, adding ram chips and switches to my old Atari computers! :P Thats a blast from the past for you old timers like me!) 3. Since I did buy the car used- I'm guessing the factory Pioneer sound system has some kind of "code" when the power is removed (ala: taking the cables off the battery first)... IF there is a code- I DO NOT HAVE IT , so what do I do when I put the power back to the battery? Can I set the code NOW before I remove power? or what? (I got the manual for the car, and the maintenance book with the stamps in it- but thats it- nothing else ) 4. Any links to pictures (if they are available) would help reassure me I'm doing the right cap's in the right places ;) THANKS AGAIN FOR THIS INFO! -Toaster toaster@pobox.com

I have a 1994 Lexus LS400 with about 85k miles. I bought the car this spring, and has been a great car all summer long. However, since the weather has shifted here in Texas, and now were getting our cold snaps I've got a strange situation I've never seen before. When its cold outside <50*, the dashboard instrument lights do not come on, and the lights of the stereo display, climate control center too... all these lights do not come on until the car warms up... Sometimes 3-5 minutes, the other day it took nearly 20+ mins before they came on. When they do finally pop on, its quite a light show- the needle and such start to blink, then ba - ba - boom! they click on. While all these lights are off, the gas gauge doesnt work either. The speedometer works because if its daylight outside- you can see the needle move, but the gas gauge stays down. The display on the right on the dashboard, the radio/climate control- this all "works" you can see the LCD numbers- but the green backlight is not on- and then boom they'll all pop on at the same time (dash/backlights of the climate/radio) I called my local dealer, and he said he had never seen this issue before... He's seen something similar where the dash (needles and whatnot) wouldn't come on- but he said that would have no effect on the climate/radio section to the right of the driver. (where my situation- its all tied in together) The dealer also explained to me that the situation he has seen (no dash lights) is related to a bad circuit/logic board and its about an $800 fix! Needless to say- I can not afford that- especially this time of the year. He suggested it might be a bad dimmer switch? but the only way to tell for sure was to take it in and run diag's on it, at whatever they're rate was (expensive- I don't remember exactly I was a little stuck on that $800 shocker) Anyone have any suggestions? This car- while used, was babied by its 1 previous owner... I'm the second owner- the car is in near immaculate condition. I'm really shocked to see anything wrong with this car. Please give me suggestions or things to try- I'm at al 100% loss of ideas toaster@pobox.com

Is it possible to STOP the digital odometer from counting on a 94 ls400

I have since visit Pep Boys (of all places) and learned the fog light bulbs in question are H3-55w, and the front side marker lights are 194's.. I bought the blue 194's at Pep boys ($2.99 for 1 set/pair) but the blue fog light bulbs were $25 for the pair, and that's just too high. GOOD LUCK EVERYONE

I have a 1994 LS400. I replaced the factory (regular) head light bulbs with the "xenon" look blue light bulbs, and like the result, especially for $20. B) Now I need to get rid of the yellow fog lights! But I can't find anyone locally who sells blue fog light bulbs... Infact, I don't know what model number they are Can anyone help or point me to a good source for these bulbs? :snoooorrrtttt:

My question is, has anyone here actually replaced the factory sub or amp with something else and gotten better bass (lowend) response? I have a 1994 LS400, and it has the Pioneer system with changer, and the sound is OKAY, nothing to write home about. But the lowend (bass) is absolutely terrible. I'm very UNIMPRESSED. I'm very interested in adding better bass to my Lex, but don't want to change the factory look of the dash either. B) If anyone has ever changed the AMP or the SUB - PLEASE LET US KNOW. and post pictures if you have any.

So what was the outcome on the dash kit? Did you ever get a install kit for the LS400? I have a 1994 model and would be interested in one too :) BTW: I completely agree with you on the BASS issue... Low levels are "OK" but still barely ANY bass at all.. Almost ANY factory stereo system has more bass than this factory Pioneer in the LS400 :( Is there anyway to increase the BASS level without replacing the whole system? or adding a seperate sub? (like maybe a gain control somewhere... mine is sooo low- I'd swear, it's like the amp powering the sub is turned all the way DOWN) Thanks in advance

I'm looking for the same thing... I have a 94 LS400, which is perfect EXCEPT for the gold emblems. I'd like to know what that "solution" is... as the hardware end of it looks pretty home made. In the event you guys find any solution, please let me know.... I have 2 "(L)" trunk and hood, 4 "(L)" on the chrome wheels, and a LEXUS on the trunk I'd like to get done... Thanks again toaster@pobox.com

Any of you guys know if its possible to use a wood/leather steering wheel from a newer (98) model LS4x0 on my 94 model LS400? I'd like to change my existing all leather only (worn) wheel with a new model wood/leather design. THANKS. B)