GRAND_LS 4

where is the document? Let's try this again. I upgraded to gold so I could post larger attachments. Bill It Looks Like I can upload attachments now so here goes. Where is the attachment?

where is the document?

very nice... thats a handy little feature. Projects like these are a lot of work, but are very worth the effort when you are done. Good job man.

Should be in the drivers kick panel... Not sure where else they would be. Might be your stalk thats causing the problem.

Most dealerships will cut the key for $10-20. Shouldnt costs you $65bucs at all.

And the LS is back in action once again...

All right, my back is finally feeling much better now. And I’m no old man, but torquing while bending over to reach the back of the engine takes its toll on every part of your back. Back to the issue at hand, that was one long job. Constantly delayed due to having to order parts online, and waiting for them to come in, then finding out, more gaskets are needed. I could probably have reused my old gaskets, but I wasn’t going to gamble for $30 worth of gaskets, and lots of labor down the road. Car took a bit start up initially, but once she cranked up, it was all smooth sailing from there (remember, the car has been sitting for a long time now, see date of my first post in this thread). I made a few mistakes, like fastened the intake, before attaching the throttle body... which needed the intake to tilt a few degrees to slide it into the intake bolts, so i had to take off the intake to slide it in, that was at least 30minutes wasted. Also, be careful NOT to drop ANYTHING in the starter hole, or be ready to take off the transmission to go fishing for it by the flywheel. I replaced my old one with a DENSO reman in great condition, and she starts up nicely now. Enclosed are pics of the gaskets needed… I would like to thank everyone who helped out through this project, specifically alsalih for his much appriciated assistance.

We are on schedule... I replaced the starter, and put everything back together about 30 mins ago. Car runs great, no check engine light (all harnesses are back where they should be.) Don’t have any more energy to type, think, or do other average human bodily functions. Will post the rest tomorrow.

Our Lexus phone expert saves the day, once again.

Yup, cleaned my intake soley with carb cleaner, and you have no idea how much dirt came out... could build a dirt castle with all that gunk. UPDATE: Anyhow, got the contacts, and the needed gaskets earlier today, replaced the contacts, but the starter wasnt cutting it. It was giving me less then 70(forgot the measuring units) without any load Should have been around 110. So I went ahead and ordered a reman DENSO starter. Should be here by monday. There's light at the end of the tunnel :) Lets look on the bright side for a minute, with gas now at $3.03 here in Tampa, I'm not really missing out on much am I :) She will fire up again God willing on tuesday morning. Will take more pics, and keep you guys posted.

I gathered some part numbers needed to replace your starter on the 98-00. First off, here are the contacts part numbers needed for the LS (need one of each): 28226-54412 28226-72010 Also, other parts I needed for the project are the following (this is going to save you sooooo much time! wish I knew beforehand) 16341-50020-GASKET, WATER OUTLET (2 needed) 17171-50020-GASKET, INTAKE MANIFOLD (2 needed) 17176-50021-GASKET, AIR SURGE TANK (4 needed, ONLY needed if you want to separate the upper and lower intake, which I STRONGLY advise against, the more parts you separate, the higher prospects for problems later down the road). 281005006284 - REMAN STARTER (incase someone needs this.) Nevertheless, for some reason, I have a feeling that I'm going to replace the entire starter. Anyhow, going to test the starter after the parts have been replaced, and we'll just have to see if a new starter is needed.

I cleaned my intake manifold with carb cleaner, and you have no idea how much dirt came out... however, I’m not sure how to clean the carbon in the intake openings of the heads. Don’t want the dirt, and grime to fall down there... kinda defeats the purpose of cleaning it. Any suggestions? I’m waiting on parts still, and its been a while, and the LS has been parked sideways in the garage for sometime to give me ample room to work.... but hey, the LS gets priority. In addition, can I use water to rinse the upper and lower intake manifolds (like stick a hose in there)? (They are in one piece right now, with the injectors, and fuel rail and all.)

Thank you very much for your kind words. Currently I've been waiting on some parts to arrive in the mail. I've been spending my time cleaning up the intake and other various parts that could use some decarburization.

Not as much as I thought it would be. If i had to guess, less then 4 oz. of coolent was spilled... Exactly the amount the pipe and hose can hold. However, you can REALLY use an extra set of hands to hold up the engine harness so you can wiggle the housing out of there.

Look at the picture above, do you see those 2 RED puddles right behind the last 2 openings on each side? Well, thats the coolent that used to be covered by the housing. Now look in that same area, a post prior, and you would see the housing on there, with a pipe as well. its clear to see, but i can circle it if you cant find it.

Welcome...

Since the LS400 in '98.

Finally pulled out the starter a few hours ago. However, in contrast to some first gen tutorials, I HAD to remove the rear coolant by-pass pipe and housing to get to the starter. (Need new gaskets for those, anyone got any part numbers?) I will test the starter before, and after repair to evaluate its condition. Oh yeah, the contacts were pretty worn down. I hope that the repair will fix the problem. Right now, I need part numbers for the coolant by-pass housing. Anyone know if they are a dealer only item? If they are, I will just pay for expedited shipping, and be done with it. Here are the pics... not much changed since yesterday; however, it was a lot of work getting the starter out.

Thats true, no regrets that I started. Oh yeah, believe me, after doing all of this, im going to feel very bad for anyone who starts a topic with the word "starter" in it. Of course, all gaskets are going to be changed, even if I have to delay the project until parts are here. I’m really not going to do this twice. Yeah, I been extremely careful working around with the "pits of hell". All kinds of plastic that used to be wrapped around the engine harness wires crumble when I hold them after years of heat... so I was extra careful not to let any of them get into openings. Im also going to re-tape all the exposed wiring shortly. I have taken lots of pics, and hopefully i'll put something together especially for the 98-00 owners who may not find much help online as opposed to the first gens. And yes, I did remove the fuel rail, it came out with the intake manifold.

I CAN FINALLY SEE MY STARTER!!! yup, finally got that fuel line out, and hopefully no damage was done to the other end of the steel fuel lines. I'm calling it a day for now, and tommarow, im going to go out and buy some gaskets for the rear coolent pipe and housing, and try and remove that stupid engine wire harness in the back (anyone got any part numbers for the gasket?!!) hopefully, I will have the starter out by tommarow night. Here is an update to the current situation, feel free to request any other angles if you would like: What a mess huh? its not as bad as it seems :) Thats the starter in the dead center, they couldnt have placed it in a further location if they tried Opps... not sure how this one got in :)

Actually, thats the problem, its technically loose (meaning turned a few times) yet its still VERY VERY hard to get. I've gotten the right size wrenches, however, lots of slipping has occured. I dont know why. My buddy (mechanic) and I were very puzzled, because usually they are loose, or tight, but this one managed both. I'm not very worried about the steel line end that im working on, im worried about the far end of it that i cant see. So I'm just going to assume the gas puddle was from me loosening it up, and not a leak elsewhere till i get the starter fixed. I got all the gaskets, and parts I might pick up some flare nut wrenches from sears tommarow, and I really hope i dont have aleak anywhere. I will update you with progress, thank you very much Ammar.

I think we have a serious problem. That line does not want to come out. barely got some of it off. Then I noticed a small fuel puddle under the car, and im seriously hopping its from the fitting im tryign to loosen up, and not the other end of the steel line bending, and leaking. I have no idea what the issue is, have not came across a problem like this on the LS before. Poorly designed? or just a friday afternoon build, i dont know. But I hope i dont have to change the fuel line now. Anyone come across a problem with the fuel line before?

Yes, thanks for the info. This is what I Initially thought, however, whenever i tried twisting it, the light would twist likewise, and bend the fuel line... so I thought there must be a way. So which part actually twists? The end of the line coming from the engine, or the actual steel bolt ? (see first pic) thanks. Here is progress so far, and a pic of the insides of the minifold.

ANYONE??? Im talkign about the one the plugs into the fuel rail. Not sure where to disconnect

Thanks for the valuable info. I've bought a few gaskets Totaling $50 the other day from www.lexus-parts.com , they should be here by Wed, or Thurs. However, I want to be done fixing the starter/replaced it, so by then, I can just put everything back together, and Im done. Progress: So far so good, took a while to label all the hoses, and took many pics JUST in case, I'd hate to have extra screws in the end Quick question... can i remove the UPPER and LOWER intake manifold without seperating them?? or do I have to? Also, do the injectors have to come out on the 98-00 including the fuel rail? I'm glad I dont have any ignition wires to fiddle with, i have enough wires and pipes to worry about... believe me. Thanks guys. Okay, Nevermind the earlier question, found out that i can remove both upper, and lower as a unit without seperating them. Now... How do I diconnect the main fuel line? I dont want to break anything, and have fuel spewing all over the joint. Any help for 95+ is appriciated.