hughes369

I don't know how to post a pic of my whip for sale. Anyone that's interested can either show me how to upload or I can email the pics.

KK

High miles driver with 282k. Timing belt serviced in 2007 at 204k.

Good title. Has AIR RIDE SUSPENSION PACKAGE. Heated front seats. High miles driver. Runs and drives . Power steering pump may leak some. Environmental LCD display is not legible. Has air ride suspension package. New front upper control arms with ball joints on both sides have been installed. The following factory parts have been changed: Timing belt , distributor caps and distributor rotors, spark plugs , plug wires set, main cooling fan bearing assembly. All air suspension air bag units have been replaced at some point during my ownership . Some damage on left rear quarter panel. Lots of new parts. Many parts from Sewell Lexus in TX. Engine mounts, Most gaskets and seals on engine have been replaced during my ownership, including rear main oil seal, intake manifold gaskets for starter replacement, coolant cross over manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, camshaft and crankshaft seals, etc.

Grey interior is worn, cracked leather. Black exterior with grey trim. Cold A/C, many new parts for the A/C I have replaced such as: Evaporator, drier filter, engine pulleys. Reply with your questions. Factory cd changer in trunk. Nakimichi premium sound system may need servicing. Ask.

$1500.00

Birmingham , ALABAMA.

Valves got bent on a 2000 LS400,due to timing belt running a few teeth out of time on the drivers side cylinder head. Oil leak may have prompted the vvti to run out of time, and then the wrong oil weight was put in the engine, 20w-50, which jacked up the oil pressure and put the cam out of phase and bent the valves. Hence, I removed the drivers side cylinder head. While removing the cams, i did not make a mark on the cam gears while they were in mesh. How can I get them back in time and reinstalled? Are there marks of anykind to go by when reinstalling? The older first gen LS400 non vvti engine does have marks on the gears, 2 dots on one side, 1 dot 180 degrees from that dot. Pm me with a diagram or picture of a car with the valve cover off and showing the cams in mesh and lined up. Any advice or information is appreciated.

By the way, all this information was supplied to me by the owner regarding the oil leak and wrong oil being put in. The car drove fine on less than 8 cylinders, but definately will not run at all with bent valves and timed correctly. So the head has been taken off and the valves have been replaced. The head is now torqued back down, and the next step is reinstalling the cams, which are not in mesh and were not marked upon removal. Last time I ever make this mistake.

Took the car to Billy's Toyota Parts, in Calera, Alabama. He sold me a used transmission with low miles, very low miles, and installed it. The owner picked up the car and I followed her home about 40 miles away. Now she says her check engine light is on and VSC light is on also. What or how do i check codes. Is it possible to check codes like on OB2 cars like an LS400? Thanks for any advice. She said she never uses low grade gas, and the gas cap was on tight.

A friend of mine has a 2007 ES350, black with black leather interior. She states her car is stuck in forward gear only, even when car is off, will not go into neutral for the wrecker driver to roll it backwards out of her basement parking spot. She has a huge incline driveway to her house, and she said she barely got it up that to park it in the basement. She states that the car has 112,000 miles on it. While driving on the road she says it started to only work in forward gears, then would not back up at all, then would stop driving all together, but would drive again after it cooled off for a while.

She is not happy and her dealer says it needs a transmission. The price she was quoted was for the part only about 3000 plus dollars.

My question is , does anyone have any experience diagnosing the transmission computer to get the codes for the solenoids and or know the values for the various solenoids resistance? If i can narrow down the exact problem, can i just tear down the transmission at a transmission shop and buy the specific part it needs to keep driving without buying an entire transmission from Lexus?

I have heard about TECHSTREAM LITE, a pc-based version of the scan tool used by Toyota for diagnosing these transmissions. Any thoughts on what I should do besides going to the dealer would be helpful. I have read an article about the U660E in the August 2010 "Gears" magazine while i was at my local transmission shop. Please help, my first front wheel drive to work on, im more familiar with the LS400 and GS300 rear wheel drive cars.

Thanks again.

My car has air ride suspension, and when the back end dropped on mine, i had to replace just one of the rear air bag struts. My car is a 1992 LS400. I did not know Lexus offered Air Ride Suspension on the newer LS400's 1995 and later. Please feel free to post more about your car. I also tried unplugging the air ride computer several times and plugging it back in with the car running (computer located in right rear trunk side wall, above the CD-changer, for 1992 LS400)

Also the main solonoid valve on the plastic drier tank , just after the hose from the pump, sometimes gets stuck. I took it off the tank and manually opened and closed it with 12 volts, while simultaneously blowing air through it and WD-40, so as to lube it and free it from sticking open. If this valve sticks open on a 1992 LS400, the pump will run continuously, and more than likely your rear end will drop as well... The air is leaking from the plastic drier tank, and at the same time the pump is trying to keep up and keep the car aired up. If this one solenoid is having issues, maybe more in the system could be also.

Also, to reinforce why i replaced just one air bag rear strut, money for one, but i could hear air leaking from my left rear one. I tried sealing it with that green tire slime and aired up the strut off the car and rolled it around to try the sealing green slime. Still did not help. The new strut is the best way to go, or reman. If just one rear strut leaks, it lets the air out of both rear struts, cause there is not a check valve from left to right, I think. And eventually the whole car will drop to the ground due to the pump not being able to keep up.

I am not 100% about all my theory on this post, but I have fought with mine in the past, and when its working, its a dream, well worth keeping it like it is, and not converting it.

The 1991 LS400 is now fixed. I put a set of old OEM plug wires on it from my 1992 LS400, and now it has more power and drives alot better. Thanks for all the posts and I hope this post shows that cheapy plug wires that come apart when pulled on to change the spark plugs are not usuable on these cars, incase anyone ever buys a car with these crappy wires installed... Use OEM wires, even old OEM wires are better than the cheap ones.

Peace Out.

Hughes, you may have set a record for one of these odometers lasting so you might as well replace it. I looked up the part number for a 92 LS odometer on http://www.toyodiy.com which indicated that it is the same as for the 90 LS I drove for many years - part number 83121-50010. I didn't find the part number at Sewell but this website has them: http://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-odometer-assy~83121-50010.html

The price looks high even with inflation -- I think I paid about half that for one in the late 90's.

I recommend calling Sewell and asking for a price -- they are usually a little lower on price. Register on the Sewell website for better prices.

These odometers can work intermittently until they fail completely and sometimes make quite a bit of racket while they fail. Maybe they can be fixed but I've never heard of anyone fixing one.

I have attempted to repair my odometer in my 1992 LS400. I have photos of my attempt, detailed. Showing the crack in the first driven gear by the worm gear from the electric motor on the odometer assembly. The first driven gear is a 10-tooth gear with a slight angle in the teeth to match up with the worm drive gear on the electric motor. If this 10-tooth gear cracks, the splines on the tiny shaft that this gear rides on does not engage the gear, and hence the shaft stays motionless while the worm drive gear continues to rotate in one place on the 10-tooth gear.

My attempt to slide the 10-tooth gear off the splines, load it up with plastic epoxy weld, and then slide it back onto the splined portion of the shaft, against the little "e-clip", failed. After that attempt, I robbed the whole shaft and gear assembly off my 1991 LS400, and it looked ok, but was also cracked,. My attempt to fix that gear was better but this gear cracked completely into 2 peices from just inspecting the crack by opening it up just a hair to see how bad the crack was. So I glued this one onto the splined shaft, one half at a time onto the shaft. And then holding it with my fingers pressed on it for 5 minutes. After reinstalling into the car with this "repaired" odometer, i drove it over 1.5 miles and still have the clicking problem and no counting. Sewell states they can sell to me in person only, not online. The still wont give me a price, and I would rather just deal with them. Maybe they will send me a price soon, its only been a day since i read their first reply about my request for 2 odometers. If anyone knows where to get those gears from or gears similar in size and tooth count, this can be an easy fix.

I just looked at the price on the website you (1990LS400) mentioned. The price is like $126.34. Not bad at all. You may have just solved my problem. Thanks for the heads up.

The following wonderful website page discusses how to reposition the RPM needle: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/electrical/clusterdisassembly.html

i played with the RPM needle and it somehow works.. I wish the Lexls.com site had more info on exactly how to do the needle realignment. reading the text below the pic is not much help. But somehow i got it working from reading the text. Im starting to get frustrated with the durability of my LS400. I thought surely it could handle a jump with the suspension on High. Then again, i should be easy on a 20 plus year old car.

Here's a couple pics of what the odometer looks like....

From looking at it my guess is that the odometer motor is still working but one of the plastic gears has been stripped or has jammed up.  This would explain the "clicking" noise some of you have experienced.

←

I guess if I was gonna fix that, I'd roll it back a few miles or so while I was at it.

My odemeter quit counting at 257667, then started counting again till it got to 257706. I took it out to inspect. It looks fine. Bulb was burned out silver looking after pealing off the blue bulb condom, LOL!! What can I do to test it? There are like 4 very tiny wires going to that electric motor that drives the odometer. Can power be applied to it manually to see if it even turns? My digital trip meters are all still working fine, so I dont think anything is wrong with any sensors on the transmissioin... Sewell Lexus Parts does not have a page for looking this part up, they skip any diagram with anything to do with the Cluster assembly. They have the idiot light surround with the warning light bulb strips, but thats the closest thing to the Cluster assembly they list on thier site. Any ideas on how to get it counting again would be appreciated. I guess from the pics that has been posted of the odemeter, everyone can tell that an LS400 does not have an Odemeter cable, LOL!!

The mechanical odometers are prone to failure. The one on my 90 LS failed at about 125,000 miles. Here is an old thread about them: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15656&hl=odometer

Do you know how to fix the RPM Needle that sits below zero after I caused the car to jump a dip/spillway for a lake at a golf course near my house. I saw the post on here, or another forum, saying to pull the needle out until you hear a click, then rotate the needle clockwise till another click is heard then release. test by moving the needle to 3000 then releasing. Should stop on zero after releasing from 3000. If anyone knows the place where that post was or exactly how to retime the RPM needle, please post for me or direct me to the thread..

most likely the upper control arm ball joints are bad. to replace them you have to buy the whole upper control arm, which comes with the ball joint as its all made into one peice. I need one on my 1992 as well on the right front. I think the lower control arm has a ball joint on it as well, so check with sewell to see the diagram/parts exploded view. My car makes a bumping sound as well, harder to hear it bump when on the interstate at speed. Going over bumps at slow speeds makes it easier to hear and feel the noise. My car has over 257,000 miles on it.

1992 Lexus LS400, with Air Ride Suspension. Drove the car fast through a lake spill-way/ Dip, with the suspension on High/raised up. The Car bottomed out on the landing side of the spill-way. I know one of the rear tires got off the ground cause i heard the RPM Rise. With all that said, I now know what kind of force it takes to make an LS400 RPM Needle get knocked off and go below Zero while the car is still running. Now that is the problem with this car, along with the Odometer now not counting miles anymore, along with the Air Bag Warning Light coming on as well. I hit the dash with the palm of my hand a few times, and can make the Air Bag Warning Light go off and on. Odometer started counting again, like a few days later, but then stopped counting again. Digital Odometer still counts fine, its just the Old School Odometer that is not counting. Any ideas?

I know how to fix the RPM Needle, but if anyone wants to repost for this problem too, please do so for anyone else who is also having the same problem.

Idle is now fixed, larger bearing in AICV was frozen, used AEROKROIL/ (WD-40) type stuff to free it. Lubed the shaft with Petroleum jelly before putting the bearings and magnet back onto the jack-screw. ALSO ADJUSTED THE TPS SENSOR WITH THE HELP FROM LEXLS.COM. (I used a standard injector connector from an old Nissan to plug into the two bottom terminals on the TPS sensor. I had to cut off all the outer part of the injector connector to expose just the two female pins housed in the immediate surrounding plastic of the connector. Then was able to attach test leads to the modified injector connector for resistance measurements and continuity tests for the adjustment procedure. Later I went to a junk-yard and cut a TPS harness off a 1991 LS400, eventually will modify that harness for a more specialized TPS TEST HARNESS.) RPM Gauge now working, but may have bumped into the temp gauge needle some, so now its showing higher on temp by a 1/4 inch towards the Hot side. Engine still misses. Looking at the Wires tonight in the dark, but pretty much gonna buy some new wires, Iknow they are not good, from pulling them apart trying to change the spark plugs. So Sewell Lexus will get some more business from me. More posts to follow by the weekend.

hughes369,

What specification data are you looking for from a manual? I have a '92 and both the manuals, so some of what you may need should probably be common, and I can get you that if you want it. Just let me know.

Also, you have not mentioned (or I missed it) whether you did anything with the "messed with" TPS. I had been having some acceleration issues with my '92, including cruise control not working, and most of them went away once I replaced with a new one.

BTW, your notes on what you did to fix your car are very informative - thanks for posting.

I am about to try the Lexls.com tutorial on TPS adjustment. I just now finished with the Fuel Filter install, and about to put the dash cluster back in place since i just put the TACH needle back at Zero. I read on Lextreme how to fix the needle, and now can't find that thread again on exactly how to fix that needle. I fixed it from memory, should have saved that page as a book mark. I could have seen it on this forum, but it was late last night,and i can't remember. Also i have the IACV off the car, and taking it apart now. In an hour or so, I will be starting it up with this round of tricks being tried. Im crossing my fingers. I don't think the fuel filter was an issue, but its changed now, so that can be ruled out. But I am still running on the pump that came with this car and the coils as well. I had to give back all those parts to my daily driver (1992) and my Dad's 1991 LS 400...Ok, I will post results a little later tonight.

Missing sounds like ignition to me. I wouldn't be overly concerned about DC resistance readings of injectors. They are inductive devices so DC really only tells you if coil is shorted or open. Trying to discern an exact resistance measurement is not likely meaningful and unless you nulled your meter for the test leads it probably isn't a super accurate reading anyway.

I would not get excited about fuel pump voltage either. I would put more stock in fuel rail pressure reading than an electrical reading anyway. Also if fuel pump is working at all it is probably fine for idle anyway where it works the least (lowest flow/least mechanical load). A marginal fuel pump will starve the engine at higher engine loads. If fuel pump is a problem at idle it probably seized and not pumping anything which doesn't sound like your symptom.

So I'd look for arcing of HV wires to chassis as a possible problem (run engine when dark and look for arcing). Bad wires. Dirty or carbon deposits inside dist cap. Intermittent/faulty coil. Dirty plugs (arcing across ceramics spacer instead of gap). Or maybe misaligned or damaged crank position sensor. Bad/loose connector on primary side of coils.

The churning idle is likely a combination of dirty throttle plate and IACV. Take them apart and clean up with solvent for this purpose. Good general maintenance item to do anyway.

Engine seems fine at idle, so maybe pump is ok. Plugs are new NGK, and i gapped to .045. Im gonna look at the engine while Dark, for arcing, and change the Fuel Filter Friday Night. Will post findings afterwards. iacv also seems like easy fix, since I have read all the posts on lexls and lextreme.

Also, car starts up fine, just when revved up it misses.

16 views and still no advice. Come on, does anyone on here have a shop manual open or have any ideas?

where did u get ur injectors? you can check injectors by doing an ohm test between the 2 pins

What is the value to look for when checking the resistance between the two pins of the injector? Thanks for any specs you can post.

Also, car starts up fine, just when revved up it misses.

Awhile ago i hit a curb with my car on the passenger side. Its the left side of my car (JDM import). After that accident my tachometer wouldnt register, actually it sits below zero! however, my speedo still works. When the car's rpm's go high enough then the tach seems to start moving. but it obviously isnt registering at the correct rpm.

I'm wondering if a cable came loose or where i should begin to start looking to fix this problem.

has anyone else had this happen to them?

My RPM Needle sits below Zero. Barely moves when you rev it up. My car is Left Hand drive 1991 LS400. So , yes, its happening to my car now.

Drivers seat recline problem on 1992 LS400. Drive shaft from motor on left hand side of seat to right hand side of seat gets chewed up usually on the right hand spindle of the right hand pivot bracket. I replaced the seat recline drive shaft on my car with a home-made remedy. I used (2) 9mm 3/8 drive 12-point sockets to match the drive spindles on the pivot brackets. The spindles are 16 tooth, but the 12-point 9mm sockets do fit on it and work O.K. Machined a 3/8" square drive onto each end of a piece of round 1/2 inch solid cold rolled steel rod from Lowes to attach the 9mm sockets on either end of the steel rod. No welding required. I actually used deep-well 9mm 12-point Kobalt brand sockets from Lowes, and got the Round Rod there too. You could use all socket extensions if you get creative, but make sure you are able to reinstall the black sleeve that comes off the original drive shaft or put something back on the modified shaft that keeps anything from getting wrapped around the shaft when it turns. Also make sure you have the left and right pivot brackets aligned to the same angle when your connecting the shaft between them. Pulling up the seat cover to unbolt the pivot is part of the job, its not easy to do this in the car, remove the seat to see what your getting involved with to do this right.

I would check the fuel pump voltage. Im not sure what it is supposed to run at , but I replaced a pump on my 1992 and fixed a lack of power it had around 225K. Replaced the fuel filter on it too, but that was not the problem, just was peace of mind and thought that would fix it, before replacing the fuel pump, which is located behind the rear seat back. Stupid place to put a fuel pump. It might run around 10 volts or more at idle, and maybe more at higher RPM. But its been a while since i did that job on my 1992. If anyone knows what the manual calls for, voltage or resistance at the fuel pump, please post. Im having issues with a 1991 LS400 missfiring, and looking for advice on it as well.

I bought 1991 LS400 with 279,000 plus miles on it. TPS sensor appears to have been messed with on the throttle body. RPM gauge has needle sitting below the Zero, and only comes above the Zero after Revving really high. Temp guage would not move either. Replaced the sender for the temp gauge(single blade wire transmitter) now that works. Oil Switch was leaking and illuminating the warning light, replaced this switch, now no leaks or warning light. Transmission had pieces in the pan, plastic thrust washer found sucked into the Trans filter. This problem caused the car to jerk and "burn rubber" with the tires when putting into gear from park. Check Engine Light Bulb was burned out. Replaced the bulb and got a code 28 flashing. Right Bank O2 sensor. So replaced the O2 sensor with one from Advanced Autoparts for about $100.00.

Plugged the vacuum hoses going from the intake to the Power Steering Pump, the common ATF in intake problem.

Check Engine Light now off.

Tranmission was rebuilt and reinstalled with Rebuilt Torque Converter, new Rear Oil seal on Engine, and Brazed/welded up the hole in the EGR Tube to fix the common exhaust leak there, also replaced a few broke exhaust studs and nuts and a new Rear Transmission Mount.

Transmission works fine.

Replaced spark plugs and gapped to .045 NGK BKR6EGP and used anti-seize compound.

Tried to diagnose the engine missfire at RPM, revving above idle, the car misses. Tried several test parts from a known good 1991 LS400, ignition coil, tried it on the left and right coil location, Air Flow Meter. Still no improvement when revving up the engine, still misses. Tried a one year old fuel pump off a 1992 LS400, along with the other parts from the 1991, still no improvement when revving up the engine, still misses. Tried removing the coil wire off each bank to verify that the coils are contributing to combustion. Engine died down each time i pulled the coil wire off left and right Distributor Caps.

Compression Test on all cylinders with uncalibrated Compression testor were all 240 to 260 PSI with 7 Revolutions for each cylinder test.

Fuel Injector Resistance measured on Left Bank front to back are as follows: 15.5 15.5 15.9 and 16.0

Fuel Injector Resistance measured on Right Bank front to back are as follows: front cylinder-19.0 rear cylinder 17.2. did not check the two under the throttle body.

Old Fuel pump voltage was 8.30 volts at idle before I swapped with the good pump.

(Borrowed Good Fuel pump) voltage was 9.30 volts at idle running on the suspect car.

10.30 volts running on the known to be good car(the 1992 donor car).

Engine also idles up and down up and down on its own, as if someone is tapping the gas pedal. I squeeze the Idle air hose shut between the front of the intake manifold and the Air Intake hose before the throttle body and car idles down and if squeezed hard enough, engine shuts off. If squeezed part way it idles normal and does not go up and down on its own. WTF......

Have not replaced the Fuel Filter Yet.

Have not tried using another ECU.

Have not replaced plug wires or cap and rotors. I have cleaned the cap and rotors of corrosion and replaced 2 of the plug wires that were suspect from a few old wires from my 1992.

Do not have a shop manual, only use Lextreme.com and LexLS.com for technical data.

Fuel pump voltage is a concern for me and so is injector resistance. What are the OEM values for these paramaters and does my car fall into them.

What am i not getting right? what am I missing on this Engine Miss? I have built several Nissan and Toyota Lexus engines, and need some input.

Thanks for any ideas.

I had several websites for Lexus wholesale parts saved to my favorites and now have lost all of them. Does anyone on this forum deal with a parts supplier on a daily basis that is satisfied with the prices and quality they are receiving? If so please list them for me, or talk of your experience. I have dealt with Thompson Lexus in the past, but I know there are others like them that do business online and have great prices below list. Currently I am looking to replace some major components in my AC system on my 1992 LS400 with AirSuspension. This car is a keeper, so just using cheap parts to get by sounds appealing, but I am the one doing the work, so saving some labor costs, but still im not loaded with cash to spend. Any advice or direction from members is welcome... Do we have a pinned topic that covers what I am asking in relation to parts buying online or at reduced prices well below list....? Thanks...

Your car does not have an EGR valve. A bad knoch sensor will trun on the check engine light. I have seen a few bad cat converters make a knock type sound through the exhaust if you listen to the exhaust side of the motor. I have replaced a few blocks due to bad #6 cylinder wrist pins. Listen to the bottom of the motor with a long screwdriver on the lower oil pan and your ear, you'll hear a really loud knock from the bottom end. If that's the case you need a new block.

I had my engine rebuilt in my 1994 GS300. I told the machine shop that i would assemble the engine. They forgot and i got the short block back and head rebuilt. I assembled the engine, did not check any clearances or check behind them, and ran it for about 500 miles on Castrol 30 weight oil, per their recommendation. During that time i had the upper radiator hose balloon like it was gonna explode. Also In that time span I hit a curb with the front crossmember kinda hard, i swerved to miss an idiot, and the heater hose got jarred loose from the heater valve which was already brittle and ready to break anyway so i didnt have a hose clamp on it. Of course all the coolant ran out that hose. I parked the car immediatly and plugged the heater hose thats off the back of the head and made it back to work, after i filled it up with coolant and water. Started noticing the engine vibrated at idle. Code 52 knock sensor code. So no power and plugged heater hose and retarded ignition timing. I made it home driving 60 miles at less than 2000 rpm. Replaced the upper hose, drained the coolant and filled it while car is inclinded on my car lift and replaced the heater valve. Put a bolt that was missing on the torque conveter back in, incase that was causing an imbalanced condition. Changed the oil to 5w-30 castrol also. Still have the code 52. I can idle the car all day long and the code wont come on until i rev it up a few times. The only problem i have fixed is the ballooning radiator hose, must have had a air bubble in the system to cause the expanding top hose. I verified that the head gasket was not blown by using the combustion gas analyzer kit from Lisle Tools that turns from blue to green if combustion gas is present in the radiator cap air space. Machine shop told me to change the front knock sensor and try disconnecting the torque converter to see if the trans is sending the vibration to the engine. Can i fix this without tearing down the whole engine again? Does the front knock sensor mean anything specific to one particular cylinder or area. If i take the engine out i want the least amount of teardown done as possible. Any advice is helpful. I have built many engines, but i was not planning on a redo this time, money is tight right now. Thanks.