ECUPirate

Ever wonder why the ipod mini was about the size of a cassette? Stick it in your cassette deck and find out! That's what I call creative engineering.

Total Recall was a movie from the 80s? that starred Gov. Ahhnold. ...and a three breasted martian lady. It's worth a look.

It could be the anchor. The 92 LSs had an experimental anchor system that was intended to augment the E-brake when parking on steeper inclines. It was only supposed to deploy if it sensed the car moving while it was in 'park'. You might need to check the relay. Let me know if you need a schematic. Or, if your car has the 16" wheels, it could be the hamster (aka traction control). Remove the rear wheels and check the backside of the wheel. You should find a hampster wheel incorporated into the car's wheel, and the hamster therein should be active and alert and especially not dead. You should change the hamsters every 165K miles or so, so you're due. See your vet about this. Or, you could check to see if the E-brake is not fully disengaged. Do like SRK said and jack up either end of the car and give the wheels a spin. If you hear a clunking sound coming from the rear wheels, it could mean your hamster has perished.

The A8 pictured above has the nicest interior by a lot.

I, for one, like the 'new' 7 series. And the 5 series. And especially the new 3 series. When the first 7s came out, I was disgusted. Who would dare mess with such classic design. Now I'm convinced it's one of the hottest looking cars on the road. A big 745iL w/ 19 or 20" stock rims looks tough. I'll certainly admit that the interior is convoluted, though. However, I haven't driven one enough to learn the gadgetry. It may be just fine once you learn how things operate. I do like my gadgets. The current S class is sweet. The next-gen S class has potential. I wouldn't write it off just yet. Everyone should just go buy an A8. Audi's on the warpath.

Hey, kewlguy (James Bond incognito?), I'm glad you stayed kewl. That was a tricky situation. Something of interest... Amex makes a black card, I think they call it the centurion. It apparently has no spending limit, but is available by invitation only. Every kewl guy and secret agent/mafioso should have one. You could use it to hire a hit squad to take out that little puke for you... you know, to save you the trouble. (I personally think you should break hit knees, but that's just my personal bias.) Maybe you could even pay cash for an Aston Martin getaway car with your black card. Plus, in a pinch, you could use the black card to scrape tree sap off of your paint. (I'm still partial to using a spoon, but whatever's clever.)

Ah-hah. Cadillac meets Acura RL. I'll take it, though, as long as the transmission is more agressively geared than in the previous generations. ...a note to Lexus HQ - it's OK to hold a gear past 2000rpm! Geez. Use that big engine for something other than it's torque...

How many miles did that A8 have on it? What year was it? Are A8's know to have transmission issues? Should I be worried? I still only have ~15K on my 2002. I love the car. The transmission shifts wonderfully - it's like it's telepathic or something. It's very eager to downshift, as am I! And then there's the sport mode, which turns the car into an animal...

I like cars.com in general, and craigslist.com for inexpensive cars. Your car is borderline inexpensive. Try both.

Ditto that on the plugs and cables. My old Chrysler started acting up as 'pgupta' described. I thought my transmission was out of whack. Turns out it was misfiring due to worn cables.

Yes, indeed. See my 2002 A8L, for reference.

Steve, Oh, do tell... Offroading in an LS with no Bose equipped, Eddie-Bauer edition 5 wheel independent suspension? Impossible! I had previously contemplated a rocket powered, spiky wheeled LS for skiing (see picture), but I think the 5th wheel hybrid LS460h should work better.

You've got to admit that 5 wheel independent suspension sounds kind of clever, though. :chairshot:

:P No, not like a wheelie wheel, I mean the 5th wheel will be right in between the other two rear wheels - as if on the same axle, but without the axle. Leave it to Lexus to pioneer 5 wheel independent suspension. Last I heard, they were teaming up with Ford to develop an off-road Eddie-Bauer edition LS which will feature a retractable 5h wheel, so you could clear stumps and things when you go off-roading.

It's a little sportier, I'm told, and I supposed to have lots more power. Perhaps the biggest visual change to the car will be the addition of a third rear wheel, which they found was necessary to handle all of the additional power. Someone finally wised up and decided to put the spare to good use!

Don't know which model just yet. Still plotting and planning, you know.

put a camera on it. If you don't have a digital camera/recording system, find a camcorder that'll shoot one frame per second (or thereabouts) rather than 30 fps. I'm thinking about getting a similar setup to watch over my cars.

Well, it turns out that the PS pump and the alternator were replaced after all. The previous owner didn't like the price the dealer was quoting for the repair so he had a Lexus tech do the work on the side. The repair just isn't in the dealer's computer. Everything is fine now. The family member who was interested in the car ended up getting his Mercedes fixed (read: I fixed it) so now he's going to keep it. So, the LS400 is going up for sale. Anyone care to make an offer before I put it in the paper? Thx for the help, BTW.

Hello. I recently acquired a 1996 LS400 w/ 132K miles. Nice car... Pearl white body w/ gray lower body cladding with the 5-spoke star wheels like on 99-00 models. Anyways, I took it to the dealer yesterday to pull a service history. It has recently had the plugs, wires, water pump, tires and brakes replaced. I also found out why the car was sold. A few weeks ago the dealer determined that the PS pump was dripping onto the alternator, and the 'customer declined service'. Not that I blame him... nearly $1,500 for a new PS pump and high-pressure hose is a lot (that included 5-6 hrs labor and parts). That didn't seem to include a new alternator. I may be giving this car to a family member. If so, this needs to be fixed soon. Any thoughts regarding how to not spend $1,500? Does anyone know of any reputable mechanics in the DC area who have LS400 specific experience? Steve? I know you're a local. If it works out, the car will also need a 15K service at 135K, and so forth. I've also got a Chrysler that needs some work too. Thanks guys.

Ditto. I've messed w/ sway bar bushings and links on a different car. In my limited experience, you don't want any pressure on the wheels, and especially don't want to jack one wheel up at a time when replacing sway bar links. Use two jackstands/jacks. Things can get 'torquey' when working on suspension parts. Always use jackstands and rear tire blocks!

Right. About that... I don't want to screw anything up. Any tips?

Hi all. I'm back. I've been swapping cars like I change underwear. I just traded a 2002 LS430 UL 43K miles for a 1996 LS400 w/ 131K. <_< Sounds crazy I know. Anyways, the LS400 is in excellent condition. There's just one problem. The right rear door won't open from the inside. The power locks to that door work fine, and it opens from the outside fine. The door handle still has resistance (as if connected to a spring), but it feels like there's nothing there when you pull on it. ...vs. when you pull on the opposite door handle, you can feel parts working. The child safetly lock device turns but has no effect. Again, it feels like nothing's there. ...vs when you turn the safety lock on the other door, it kind of clicks into place. What might this be, and how hard is it to fix? What tools would I need? Thx.

"Now I'll break down what that size means 225(width of the tread in mm)/60(height of the tire from inner bead to top of tread in mm)/16(size of the opening for the wheel)." I don't think that's quite right. The 225 is the width in mm, but the 60 is the aspect ratio, meaning that the tire height is 60% of its width. In this case, that would be 135mm.

BTW, SW03ES, what do you do for a living?

Thx silvermate. Now if I could just get a sharp picture of it! My camera-phone leaves much to be desired. SW03ES. No more fussing, please. While the idea isn't completely new to most of us, I'm willing to bet it'll be new to a lot of folks. Also, I know accountants who charge $300/hr for the same service I'll provide for $150/hr, or for a similar service someone else will provide for $65/hr. I never claim to be the cheapest, just cheaper. Here's a point of interest... It's currently snowing heavily here in DC. I decided to take the Audi out for a spin in the parking lot, just to test out the AWD. Well, the AWD functioned reasonably well in terms of moderating wheelspin, but the traction was crap! I had previously looked up my tires on tirerack.com, and they had a snow rating of 0 or N/A. (Dunlop - SP Sport 8000 18") I'd never driven sport tires in the snow, so I really couldn't relate to a '0' rating. Now I can. You can forget about stopping on these tires. I'll be looking into getting some better all around tires shortly.