K9crew

I was just wondering the very same thing yesterday ... :o When I arm/disarm my '99 LS400 I hear beeps AND the parking lights flash. When I arm/disarm my '95 SC 400 I only hear the beeps. I don't have an owner's manual for the '95 so is there a way to turn on the flashing parking light's feature or is that feature unavailable for that year? Thanks :)

That's a good point since other members may consider removing the heat shields altogether! :) The steel nuts/bolts were so corroded that I had to use a vice grip to break the clamps off ... I couldn't get a socket onto the head of the bolt! Luckily, stainless steel strain hardens rapidly when cold worked (that's why it's hard to drill) so they broke off quite easily. The new hose clamps should last the life of the car. :)

I'm not sure ... but at the very least I would have to go to the DMV to get new license plates since there's no way that they'd have a new front plate made to match the back. Is it the Corvette that has a revolving front license plate that magically appears when the ignition is turned on? I think that's cool since it'd be easy to add a button to manually control the rotation. :)

Here's the link .... http://www.transtec.com/rebuilder_news/4th_q00r-n.pdf :)

A few months ago my wife complained that the SC was making a weird noise taking off from a stop or driving slowly (e.g. around a parking lot). The noise sounded like a heat shield vibrating so I crawled under the car and noticed that one of the heat shield clamps had slid off the heatshield. The nut/bolt was so corroded that the bolt broke when I tried to remove it. At the time I replaced it with a stainless steel hose clamp. Yesterday I replace all SEVEN heat sheild clamps with nice shiny stainless steel hose clamps. Here are a couple of before/after shots. The OEM band is stainless but the bolt isn't so you can guess what happens! On my car there's another heat shield just in front of the differential where the exhaust splits to each muffler. My LS is now making a similar noise so hopefully it'll be as easy to fix as my SC. :)

Well, I spent most of yesterday working on my SC and replaced the four isolators between the top of the springs and the mounting plates in addition to replacing all seven exhaust heat shield clamps with ss hose clamps. The good news is that the ride is now EXCELLENT with no knocking or other unusual sounds. The SC's steering is more responsive with excellent road feel. I'm in the process of putting together a HOW TO and will make a post when I've finished. :)

We have the front license plate law in Hawaii too but none of my vehicles have front license plates. I've been driving that way for years but I've never been stopped. About a year ago Hawaii introduced "Van Cams" ... minivans parked on the side of the road taking photos of the front of speeding vehicles. The registered owner would receive a photo showing the license plate and the speed at the time and would have to pay a fine regardless of who was driving. The result of this was that numerous front license plates were being stolen and attached to other vehicles. Ultimately the hundreds of law suites filed against the state resulted in the termination of the "Van Cams" and a huge stink at the State Capitol since a ton of money had been invested. As for me, if I'm stopped I'll just say that someone stole my front license plate ... although I like the "excuse" suggested by skperformance. :)

Here's some more information for the '95 SC regarding the relearn process ... it may also apply to the LS. :)

Jim, Here's some info from the repair manual for the '99 LS ... the ECT recieves inputs from many sources but it's not clear how the ECT and ECM communicate. The first image suggests that a relearning stage is necessary. Perhaps a Lexus tech can shed some light on this ... :)

1990LS400, Thanks for raising that interesting point. I bought my LS in Houston in November and immediately embarked on a 2,500 mile road trip to San Francisco which meant 8 hours a day of steady-state freeway driving. I had a new battery installed when I bought the car so perhaps the transmission learnt an atypical shift strategy. I'll disconnect the battery for 10 minutes or so to force a relearn and see what happens over the next week or so. 99lsguy, I'm still waiting for the body shop to call me with a date/time to bring my car in. The owner was going to call the Lexus dealership this past week to see if they have a new rear door in stock. As for the "learning" ability of these cars, there's a section in the repair manual regarding the learning feature. There's a description of possible "performance" or "drivability" problems after the battery is disconnected and a solution if such problems arise. :)

I read this review and I have to agree with the author since I've experienced a similar delay in downshifting. A good shift kit might be the solution. Any ideas? The rest of the review can be found here ... '99 LS review :)

I saw this today but I've never heard of "Charcoal Canister/Evaporative Solenoids" .... almost sounds like muffler bearings!! http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Reliabil...87&src=vip#Engi Here's the relevant section from the link above. I don't know if this is your problem since you have a '94 LS400 and not a '99 but it might be worth looking into. :)

Thanks guys ... my wife wouldn't have it any other way! redsully, Here's something from the factory manual describing the removal and installation of the combination switches. :)

Your stabilizer bar links could be worn/loose/missing. The link nuts should be tightened to 47 ft-lbs. Here's a picture of the rear sway bar links. Sway bar links There's a procedure for testing the links with a torque wrench. If you have a manual you can find the procedure in the rear suspension section. If you don't have a manual I can post the procedure for you. :)

HA!! I just read the seller's description again and he made a revision with the correct size listed as 16 x 6.5J. When I first saw the item the rims were described as 16 x 6J. Well, I guess that answers my question.

I'm not sure about the difference between '98 and '99 stock rims but I was surprised to see some very nice stock '98 SC rims on eBay that are 16 x 6J. The stock rims on my '95 SC400 are 16 x 6.5J so it made me wonder if the seller made a mistake or if there really is a difference between the two years. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...item=2448173630

redsully, Here's a better picture that I took today. My '99 LS400 light switch looks identical to my '95 SC400 light switch so you probably aren't limited to SC's for your search. :)

As sk has already mentioned the manual says ... "All models are equipped with an air control valve which increases idle speed when heavy load exists on power steering pump." The ps pump is under the greatest load during low speed manouvers so it might explain why your engine is stalling. The following schematic shows the ps pump and the air control valve. Let us know if changing the ACV fixes the problem. :)

Thanks for the kind words guys!! The installation really isn't that bad ... the ride is a little firmer but way more controlled. A nice bonus after the swap is that the CD changer in the trunk isn't skipping any more!! :D The installation requires very few tools and Sears has a nice spring compressor for $40.00. I'll post a HOW TO and tool list on Friday of this week since I plan on installing the new isolators on Thursday. :)

redsully, Here's a picuture of the light switch in my '95 SC400. The person that took the picture was trying to show the TILT AWAY button and not the light switch. I can take a better picture if it'll help. See "better" picture below!! [Added on edit 01-01-04] :)

denny, I'll look into having Lexus do the repairs ... thanks for the tip! I bought the '95 SC in New York in April and the '99 LS in Houston in November and drove them both to San Francisco then shipped them to Oahu. I drove almost 4,500 miles in the SC from NY to SF and averaged around 24mpg even with bad wires, rotors and caps (replaced them when the car arrived on Oahu). Now my wife averages around 18mpg. My LS went from 24.5mpg to around 17mpg which just shows that driving on Oahu is for the most part "city driving". Anyway, the mpg numbers are within the range that Lexus provides on the window sticker. tansupplyman, How does that Phazer work? We only have laser in Hawaii ... they tried camera vans for a few months but it was a disaster!! :)

Denny, Thanks for the commiserations! We have three freeways on Oahu ... H1, H2 and H3 and the fastest I've been is 120mph in my '99 Mustang Cobra. The problem is that you run out of space very quickly here so you have to be careful when and where you go fast. For the most part I drive between 65 and 75mph on the freeways but the highest posted speed limit is 60mph on H3. Of course the other problem is police using laser to catch speeding cars. Interestingly, when I drove from Houston to San Francisco last month I averaged 24.5 mpg over 2,500 miles but since being back I'm closer to 17 mpg. My average speed on the mainland for 2,500 miles was around 50 mph according to the computer but over here my average speed per tank is about 26 mph. :)

streetkit, that's a good question ... the photo shows the coolant inlet fill plug next to the thermostat housing. The inlet hose from the bottom of the radiator (out from the radiator and into the engine) is connected to the thermostat housing. The other hose that's connected to the top of the radiator is the outlet hose (from the engine). :)

UCF3, Despite my previous statement, your wish is my command ...... :P Tokico shocks and Eibach springs "resized and rotated" I don't want to do a write-up until I've swapped the isolators this week. :)

SPORTcoupe300, Are you referring to the zip ties temporarily supporting the front brake calipers or do you have something else in mind ....... ?? Front (48157-24010) and rear (48257-24010) isolators are $30.86 each but with my friend's "jobber" discount the total cost is around $95. I hope that fixes the noise since my wife is starting to make noises of her own .... and not the good kind!!