lucymiao

i have similar problem with fuel efficiency with my 1997 Lexus LS400, but I have no heating problem. I have changed the air filter this weekend. Going to change the Spark Plugs with NGK General Platinum. My questions: Should I change O2? What is O2 by the way, just seeing other people mentioning it? Injector cleaner (Lucas brand) will be helpful? Anything I shall do to improve fuel efficiency? Thanks

I have two questions for you. Is power steering stop leak, Lucas Brand, will do something good for my power steering leak? Since I get very low MPG, I am thinking to use Injector Cleaner , Lucas Brand. Will it help?

Since I got so much help from this website, I would like to share something here. It is about the plastic fender under the hood. The screw of the fender goes off. I bought a new one for it from Oreilly, not able to find one at Autozone and Advance. the clerk there was very helpful and put it on for me. The specification is 5/16-24 X 1-1/4, Grade 5, Hex Head cap Screw, washer and nuts. I only paid $2.64 for it. The salesperson knelt down in front of the hood fender and fixed it for me right there. I am so grateful to this guy. Hope this plastic piece no more vibrates and make noise on high way.

Steve, thank you for your reply. I just bought NGK G-Power Platinum Alloy Spark Plugs from local autozone for $2.99 each. I think it will do the job, I don't need it to go another 100,000 miles, just 60,000 miles will do. The labor cost is about $65. So in total, I need to pay $90 for spark plug change. I hope it will improve the fuel efficiency. My P/S steering is leaking. After reading some posts in this website, I would like to clean the steering rack solenoid filter screen and the filter screen inside the power steering pump reservoir first, and then change the air valve. I do see some white smoke from the exhaust when I start my car, and my wheel steers very well now since I add the P/S fluid in. By the way, where do you live, steve? where is your city which is 4000 miles away from Kentucky?

My car is very bad on miles per galon. I decide to change spark plug and air filter. Spark plug: NGK brand Platinum plug, $2.99 per piece, and I need 8 of them. Air filter: STP brand, $20.99 I will buy the parts from the autozone, and will go to an independent mechanic to install them. Any suggestions on the brand of the spark plug, or autozone parts is really not so good and I have to buy OEM spark plug? Anything I have to be careful with changing the spark plug. I think an independent mechanic shall be able to do the job. thank you all.

some add-on for the previous post: I need some new spark plug, my car has 135k miles, and MPG is low. So do I need buy an OEM spark plug? the lexus dealer told me if I do not want to buy OEM spark plug, then he suggested me to buy NGK spark plug instead, not other brand. Air Control Valve has to be OEM part? Thank you!

thank you Micah Berry for your kind advice on how to deal with mechanics. about my power steering slow leak. 1. in Oct. 2010, the previoius owner changed the pressure hose. but it still leaks. 2. I have checked with my local walmart when I realize that my battery often goes dead, not sure I need a new one or I just accidentally often drain the battery. The mechanic checked for me, my battery is working, and my alternator is working. so I guess it is my fault. 3. I have put some dexron III into the p/s reservoir. my wheel is turning much better, and no noise. but there is slow leak on the ground, reddish color. I have heavily read through our website for p/s leak problem. My questions are as following: 1. Do i have to buy an OEM for Air control valve? many owners with p/s leak said that they will change the air control valve first and make the steering rack solenoid filter screen clean first. 2. What is a throttle body? Does it mean engine in colloquial term? 3. I have an appointment with my mechanic next wednesday. Should I just bring Air control valve to him and ask him to change it first and clean the filter screen? thank you all!

i have also found out some other problems of my car. 1. the engine has a slow leak on the ground, one drop in 1.5 hours. the fluid is .5 quarter lower than the full level now. 2. the power steering system has a slow leak. 3. the frond end of the car, a plastic plate connecting to the fender, is loose or missing one screw. when the car is running on highway with speed about 60 miles per hour, or higher, the plastic plate just flaps and vibrates, making big noise on highway. Please kindly offer your advice on the issues. I am grateful. thank you. meanwhile, I will search our website for solutions.

i have also found out some other problems of my car. 1. the engine has a slow leak on the ground, one drop in 1.5 hours. the fluid is .5 quarter lower than the full level now. 2. the power steering system has a slow leak. 3. the frond end of the car, a plastic plate connecting to the fender, is loose or missing one screw. when the car is running on highway with speed about 60 miles per hour, or higher, the plastic plate just flaps and vibrates, making big noise on highway. Please kindly offer your advice on the issues. I am grateful. thank you. meanwhile, I will search our website for solutions.

some update for my big repair. I took my car to a mechanic specialized in toyota cars, but it also repairs many other cars. My car's problem was not so serious. The idler pulley does not turn (stuck), or is totally worn-out; and the drive belt broke. so it took the mechanic about 30 to 45 minutes to fix it. The total charge was $220; $60 for labor, $45 for the belt (from carquest, made in usa), $95 for the idler pully(NSK brand, make in Japan). Belt and idler pulley in total cost $150. The labor charge was reasonable, but the parts charge is outrageous. Autozone provides drive belt for $31.99, and idler pullery for $17.99, in total for $50. I showed them the diagram of how to change drive belt and the price info from autozone; however, the mechanic said that he will not use the parts from other sources, has to be from his shop, and no discount whatsoever. I felt it is a big rip off, and I will not going back to this shop again. The owner of the shop treated me rudely because I asked him for discounts three times. But what I can do? My drive belt fell off and I can not drive the car, otherwise, I could have just left. I paid $45 to tow my car to his shop, so I did not want to pay for another $45 to go to another shop. This mechanic is such a blood-sucker! I will write some negative review for this shop on google map after I go to autozone to verify the quality difference of the two parts. The mechanic describes that all the parts from autozone are junkies.

some update for my big repair. I took my car to a mechanic specialized in toyota cars, but it also repairs many other cars. My car's problem was not so serious. The idler pulley does not turn (stuck), or is totally worn-out; and the drive belt broke. so it took the mechanic about 30 to 45 minutes to fix it. The total charge was $220; $60 for labor, $45 for the belt (from carquest, made in usa), $95 for the idler pully(NSK brand, make in Japan). Belt and idler pulley in total cost $150. The labor charge was reasonable, but the parts charge is outrageous. Autozone provides drive belt for $31.99, and idler pullery for $17.99, in total for $50. I showed them the diagram of how to change drive belt and the price info from autozone; however, the mechanic said that he will not use the parts from other sources, has to be from his shop, and no discount whatsoever. I felt it is a big rip off, and I will not going back to this shop again. The owner of the shop treated me rudely because I asked him for discounts three times. But what I can do? My drive belt fell off and I can not drive the car, otherwise, I could have just left. I paid $45 to tow my car to his shop, so I did not want to pay for another $45 to go to another shop. This mechanic is such a blood-sucker! I will write some negative review for this shop on google map after I go to autozone to verify the quality difference of the two parts. The mechanic describes that all the parts from autozone are junkies.

the car was driving ok until the under hood has some slow whining sound and power steering gets stiff,vibration or some sound. I check the p/s fluid and found out it was almost empty. so I went to Kroger and bought Pennzoil dexron III atf and filled it with a funnel into it. I filled the dipstick to the hot line instead of cold line since I drove the car from my home to kroger, which is about 1 mile. so I thought the car is hot, so I use the hot line. but this morning, I check the p/s fluid again, the level of fluid is still within the hot range. So I conclude that I put too much p/s fluid in and it cause more leak, and the leak goes to the drive belt, and lubricate the drive belt, and the drive belt fell off at the high speed. Thank you for all the guidance and suggestions. I am deeply grateful. I will tow away my car tomorrow to an independent mechanics. I hope he can fix it and I do not need to go to the lexus dealer, whose service I cannot afford.

this morning, I checked under the hood again. The drive belt was fallen off. so I guess, at least the drive belt is not working anymore. Is drive belt and serpentine belt mean the same thing?

This Lexus LS 400 1997 just gave me a lot of problems. So frustrated. I bought this car in Oct. 15, 2010. It was not a wise idea to buy this car. I found quite many problems shortly after the purchase. 1. it is really bad on PMG, only get 13-14 pmg with premium gasoline. 2. it starts to have some whinning sound. Since I am very mechanical and sound is very small, I just simple ignore the sound. 3. it has some slow reddish leak. I talked to the mechanic. He said it is fine. so I ignore it. but yesterday, I studied the symptom, and it is power steering fluid leaking. 4. the heater was not working, but I solved the problem, thanks to the help from this website. but, I actually have to top off the coolant reservoir quite often. I start to doubt that maybe the coolant system has some slow leaking. Having said above, I have had a specially troubled day today. Today is a snowy storm day in lexington, kentucky. for no reason, when I try to start my car, the battery simple drained, and I have to jump start the car with cable. It has been about 3 month, there is some noise from the hood, recently it becomes a bitter louder and I need to put more force just to turn the wheel especially at low speed. It is not until after spending 3 month to find information on this symptom, I understand it might be low on the power steering fluid. When I open the dipstick of the p/s fluid reservoir, it is true the reservoir of P/S fluid was almost empty. So I bought pennzoil dexron III atf to top it off. when I drive it again, the steering wheel seems better. Off I went to a party, about 12 miles from my home. I started to come back home when it is 11PM. On my way, suddenly, I hear a loud rattling noise under the hood, and a pugnacious and strong rubber burning smell through the heater vent. I quickly pull the car on the roadside, switch off, and open the hood. The smell seems comes from the passenger side of the hood, where the coolant and p/s fluid reservoir are. I was panic and seated in the car for a while, not knowing what to do. But i restarted the car again, and managed to drive another 0.5 mile to reach home. the smell continue, but the rattling noise gone, but the power steering become so heavy that I would describe it as power steering loss. and next, on the dashboard, the battery light is on --- I guess it has something to do with the alternator not charging. I think I have to tow my car to a mechanic on Monday and get my car fixed. Not sure how much It may cost. but I bet it will be quite some money. i am so sad, please help me on this. I saw so many good reviews of Lexus. I like the image of this car. but really, beauty, good-looking, good image are just vain. This car seems only good looking. ------Sad Lucy

Thank you all, especially AzHotLS, and landar for your kind, quick and effective information. I am posting the solution to my heating problem, so hope it maybe helpful for other people having similar problems. The heating of my car is getting much better after I did the "purge" according to the advices from members here. It works well in winter in Kentucky, nice and warm; but if the rev is more than 2000 rpm, it is even much warmer. I am very happy with it now since I did not spend too much money on it. I just bought a greenish coolant from warlmart and added in since after the purge, the coolant was half empty (therefore, there was a lot of air inside of the system). The previous owner bleed the system,and just used universal coolant. Hence, I just bought the universal coolant and it worked just fine. Previously, I consulted at least three mechanic for potential solutions for the lack of heating problem. some said, I need to change my heat core, which will cost about 700-800 dollars or more. One said that I might have to change my water pump, and it will cost about 300-400 dollars. and some other said some other reason, and will cost about 500 dollars. I am currently not working, and my husband works. Financial wise, I have to be very cautious. The worst thing is to spend a lot of money on something we are even not sure what the problem is. after I bought this car, it is functioning all right. the only thing I complain is that this car drinks gasoline crazy. Since both I and my husband, lives on campus, this car just serve as grocery cars, and we have to spend about 70 dollars on gasoline. We really do not use this car so often, mostly on weekends for grocery shopping. the mpg is just too low. One of my friend bought toyota camry, and it just much better with mpg, about 26 or 27 mpg. for any student who has a tight budget, please forget Lexus V8, it consumes too much gasoline. Every time you drive it, you feel the expensiveness of gasoline. I use premium gasoline now, here in Kentucky is 3.23 dollars/gallon. Once gain, thank you, guys for your kindness and information.

lander, thank you for your information, especially the tutorial, so helpful. The current coolant I have is actually greenish, not sure this is the right coolant or not since it was the previous owner did it. I think I shall get the reddish one from Toyota dealer. Something weired happened to me today. Two or three days ago, I checked my coolant reservoir with a chopstick since I do not know how to check whether the coolant is full or not, and the end of chopstick took out some blackish mushy soft sediment. But today, when i checked my coolant again, it only has about 25% of the tank capacity, and there are two black tiny rubbers. 2.5 cm in length,0.5mm in diameters, not totally round though, like part of a seal or something coming up, so I took it out. Also, on the ground there is a fresh puddle of leak, which I assume it is coolant since it is not oily, the puddle is right beneath the coolant tank. something really funny is that when i start my car, and I let it idle for two or three minutes, without touching the gas peddle and rev up to 2000rpm, and there is warm air. This is so rare after I have this car for about 40 days now. I will have to book a mechanic to flush the cooling system and install a new thermostat and gasket next week. BTW, refill the system via the top-center fill hole? what is the top-center fill hole, and where is it? thank you numerously.

what is the right type of coolant? sorry for my inexperience. I read from the manual, it saying ethylene-glycol coolant (do not use alcohol type), 11.0L. So what brand and where I can get this type of coolant? I think I need to buy coolant before I do the burping of the cooling system, although my current coolant reservoir is at full. also, the radiator cap is the same as the coolant reservoir cap? AzHotLs, 1) Remove the tank cap? which tank you are talking here? is it the coolant reservoir tank?

thank you lander. I will change my thermostat since it has never been changed. An excellent advice. Also, I have been calling two mechanic shops. their labor rate is 80 dollar per hour, and 50 dollar for a diagnostic check. So I think I will change the coolant and thermostat, before I engage to more repairs. I check more about my car. The coolant is dirty. When I put a stick to the reservoir, and I realize that something blackish from the bottom of the reservoir. So I believe the coolant is dirty, and i shall change it. Secondly, I placed white paper under the hood last night, I checked today that there was leak. I toughed it with my finger,it is oily and the color is very light brownish or light reddish, not greenish for sure. Also, I check the engine oil, it line is between Full to low, but more toward Low line. Sorry to bother fellow members so much.

lander, sorry. I did put a new thread, with a different wording. sorry, I was too nervous about this problem. I spent whole last night to study the cooling system. I will follow your procedure. Also, I put some white paper under the hood this afternoon to check for any leaking. Previously, the high pressure hose of power steering was leaking and it was replaced. just make sure no more leaking. Thank you all for the information. I will update you with my progress.

my 1997 lexus LS 400, 135,000 mileage, timing belt and water pump changed at 83,500 miles in 2005. The A/C works well in summer time, blowing cool air. However in winter time, it does not blow warm air. the rpm has to be more than 2000, then it will blow nice and warm air. If blew 2000 rpm, the air is not warm any more. When I drive in the city, most time it is below 2000 rpm. when I start the car, the needle of thermostat points to "c", and after I drive it a while, the needle go slowly up to the middle position, and does not go higher. The car was originally from Florida, and I am the third owner, having it for about one month . the second owner did back flush heater in 2007, and back flush heater and bleed in 2009, and again back flush heater in oct. 2010. I do not drive this car so often, most time it is about 10-15 minutes drive around the city, and I use octane 89 gasoline, and I got about 13 mpg. Please shed some light on this problem, many thanks.

about the thermostat: when I just start the car, the needle points to c(cold), and after I drive, it slowly goes up to 20% -40% of the gauge, and 50% at the most, and never go more than half of the gauge. since I drive in city, the rpm is usually between 0-1, and 1-2, and rarely goes beyond 2. but as long as rpm>2, it can blow nice and warm air. so what do you think the problem is? in addition, the noise under the hood maybe just normal, and it is me being paranoid.

Thank you for your suggestion. The previous owner did timing belt and water pump at a shop specializes Toyota in 2005. I still have the receipt, which is the transferred from the previous owner. I called the shop. they said it could be the problem caused by heat cord restriction. the water pump shall be fine. When the rpm is about or more than 2 rpm, the air blows warm, the thermostat needle points to the middle. so I think thermostat shall be good. also, on Oct.12,2010, the mechanic did back flush heater. not sure what does back flush heater mean? is it means back flush the heat cord restriction? the previous owner did back flush heater in winter on 2007, 2009, and 2010. Is it normal to do heater back flush every one or two years? Also, i hear quite some noisy under than hood? not sure what is the next problem. I need some bless for this car, which i just bought for one month. thank you all.

Thank you very much for all your replies. I took my car to the mechanic today. He said the slow heating may be caused by water pump, which maybe worn out. While the car parked, he press the gas pedal, until the rmp is at 2 or over, the car can blow very warm air, very nice. But when I just start the car normally in morning, the rmp is about 1, or 1.2, so it never warms up quickly. so his conclusion is that something is wrong with the water pump. To change the entire water pump, including parts and labor, may cost about 300-400 dollars. The previous owner has timing belt and water pump done at 83511 miles, currently the odometer is 135000 miles. So the water pump can be easily wear out at about 50000 miles? I find an ebay seller sells water pump for about 60 dollar. so if the labor cost is not so expensive, i might buy it from ebay, and ask a mechanic to change it. How do you think?

Thank you very much for all your replies. I took my car to the mechanic today. He said the slow heating may be caused by water pump, which maybe worn out. While the car parked, he press the gas pedal, until the rmp is at 2 or over, the car can blow very warm air, very nice. But when I just start the car normally in morning, the rmp is about 1, or 1.2, so it never warms up quickly. so his conclusion is that something is wrong with the water pump. To change the entire water pump, including parts and labor, may cost about 300-400 dollars. The previous owner has timing belt and water pump done at 83511 miles, currently the odometer is 135000 miles. So the water pump can be easily wear out at about 50000 miles? I find an ebay seller sells water pump for about 60 dollar. so if the labor cost is not so expensive, i might buy it from ebay, and ask a mechanic to change it. How do you think?

I got my 1997 lexus LS400 recently. It is a decent car, but I realize that I do not like its fuel consumption and slow A/C heating. I do not use this car extensively, only for grocery shopping and other shoppings. I use 89 octane ( plus blended), about 2.8 dollar per gallon in Kentucky. I put about 30 dollars every time, about 10.8 gallons. It takes me 10 days to consume it. I only get 130 miles before I have to fill it up again. so I get about 13 mpg. However, all other people can get about 17 or even 19 mpg in city for Lexus LS400. Another thing bothers me a lot is the slow A/C heating. Since winter is just around the corner. I start to use the heating now. It has to take about 15-20 minutes before it can blow warm air. I asked the previous owner about it. He said it was like these for him all the time. but most of my trip is less than 10 minutes. so I assume that A/C is useless for me at all. Is it true for owners of LEXUS LS400 1997, the heating is always so slow to heat up, or my car has a problem? Please help me on this. thank you a lot!