daffy

Hi,

I have a 1991 Ls400 with 542,000 kilometers (336,783 miles) and I am still driving it. Daffy :D

I once had a similiar problem with my 1991 LS400 and finally found out the the distributor cap and rotors were at fault. When was the last time these were changed on your car? Daffy

Hi All,

I am now up to 323,000 miles and still running strong on my 1991 Ls400! Awesome car! Daffy :D

Hi all,

I now have 502,000 kms on my 1991 Ls400. Awesome! Original shocks, exhaust, power train, fuel pump etc. I still love driving it. It still feels and drives like a newer car. My first Japanese car, and by far the best car I have ever own! Daffy

Hi LexChamp,

I switched to synthetic oil(5w-30) on my 1991 Ls400 at 115,000 miles on the odometer. I did not have a single problem doing this. I am now at close to 307,000 miles it still runs like the day I bought it. Shortly after the transition, I cleaned out the throttle body, because it was very dirty when I looked inside the throat (mostly from the previous oil and possibly how the previous owner drove it). I have not touched the throttle body since. The car does not burn anymore oil than the day I bought it. I really can't see how oil would effect the way a car runs, unless you put the wrong weight of oil in. A Lexus motor is built to very close tolerances and that is why it needs very thin(low viscosity) oil. Your hesitation could be anything else, but not oil(heavy oil may have some effect here, and is not good for a Lexus motor!). I have not had any repair work on my engine except for spark plugs & wires, timing belt, waterpump. The usual stuff. Just my 2 cents worth. Daffy

Hi NausetDog,

The big secret is to keep oil CLEAN! Daffy

Hi NausetDog,

If you plan to keep your car only 5 years, then it is not worth installing a bypass filter. I keep my cars until they become too much trouble. I have had this Lexus now for 9 years and I am still very happy with it. The other reason for going with bypass filter is, fewer oil changes, which makes it more convenient, as I don't have to service the car so often. I still watch all the other maintenance things, but changing oil is a pain in the butt for me. I use to take it to a lube shop, but they do more damage than good. I had to replace the under shield for the engine out of my own pocket, just because they hadn't installed it correctly, and it dragged on the road. This shows me that if they can't install what they took apart, then they can probably screw up an oil change. The Lexus engine is way too expensive to fix if thing aren't done properly. My Lexus dealer is on the other side of town, which makes it too far for me to deal with. So I do my own work when ever things arise. Going with more frequent oil changes with ordinary oil, is a good way to go as well. You will get long engine life either way. Daffy

Hi NausetDog,

I use Amsoil in my car and now have very close to 300,000 miles and still working very good. But I went one step futher, I use a bypass filter along with the engine filter. I keep the oil in as much as two years before changing it out. But I change the engine oil filter every 6 months and the bypass filter every year. Otherwise it seems a waste of money to buy expensive oil and drain it long before it's used up. Daffy

Hi all,

1991 Ls400 now at 481,600 kms (almost 300,000 miles!) And still running strong! Awsome! Daffy

Hi dpellet,

When you press the switch in, does the light on the dash light up? That would mean, it is shut off. Press the switch again and the light should go out, indicating that it is working. If on ice or snow or maybe gravel(ugh), you can best tell, if it is working, as another light comes on when accelerating, and you can hear the back brakes doing their job, stopping the spinning wheel. Daffy

Hi,

It looks like it has something to do with the gear shift. When I wiggle the gear shift lever, the key comes out. I am guessing I will need to adjust something here.... Daffy

Hi SKperformance,

I will try that thanks.

Daffy

Hi,

Has anyone come across this problem where the key won't come out? I wiggled the steering wheel, because this can make it hard to remove the key. This isn't the case this time. I drove the car a few feet and shut the engine off and could not remove the key. I left the key in the car for a few hours and went out and tried it again and with a little resistance it came out. I have another key I will try next time, but I doubt if that is the problem. Thanks Daffy :(

Hi Derry,

If you plan to keep the car for a long time, then it will be worth it to run synthetic oil. Just look at mburnickas pictures of the engine opened up. That is a clean engine! I have 465,000 kilometers(289,000 miles) on my Ls400 (1991) and it burns the same amount of oil as it ever has. I use a more expensive synthetic oil (5w30) and I change it at much longer intervals than most people would. But I change the filter twice a year without fail and I use a bypass filter which I change once a year. Sure works well for me! Daffy

Hi,

I am up to 287,000 miles. Still on the same shocks, exhaust system and fuel pump. Alternator, starter replaced once and power steering pump rebuilt once. I still love driving it! Pretty much everthing works on this car, except for a few burnt out dash lights, around the radio. Burns the same amount of oil since the day I got it at 115,550 miles. Awesome! Daffy

Hi,

I forgot to tell you the year of my car, It's a 1991 Ls400.

Daffy

Hi wrpsuite,

I bought my first Japanese car, ever, a 1991 Ls400 with 186,000 kms (about 115,000 miles). This is when it was already 8 years old. I now have 461,000 kms (about 285,800 miles) on it and still going strong! I was a little worried when I bought it, because of the high mileage, but that did not become a factor. You will have good reliable transportation, if looked after. I still love driving my Lexus and still continue to do so. I know what my next car is going to be... Daffy

Hi,

I picked up a 1991 Ls400 with only 75,000 miles! In mint condition except for the front end damage, from hitting a guard rail (icy conditions). It needs new bumper, headlight assembly and some of the parts behind the bumper. The hood and right front fender are slightly damaged. I think they could be fixed easily. The color is pearl white. The owner drove the car after the accident and said it still drives the same. The insurance company wrote it off- too expensive to fix (that's with all new Lexus parts). I know a guy at work that knows the history of this car, as it was his uncle's car. He is now in his 70's. He put on about 62,000 miles and lived in a small town (always in a garage). He then sold it 3 years ago to another, of this guy's (at work) uncle, in his late 50's(and always kept it in a garage). He had it until it reached 75,000 miles before hitting the guard rail. He claims he forgot to put the traction lock back on and was a factor in the accident. He bought it from the insurance company and then I bought it. My Lexus has 288,000 miles and is still running good, but not as good as the damaged one. Now I have lots of parts/options. I could tranfer all the parts off my old car (which is grey in color) and keep it for parts. I could look for aftermarket parts for the damaged car, fix it up, then sell my "older" Lexus to pay for the damage. Or I could keep the older Lexus for a back-up car! Cool eh? Looks like I will be driving a Lexus for at least another 10 years! :D

Daffy

Ps, I will take pictures as soon as I get it home!

Hi CanadaCraig,

You have done most everthing one can do, so maybe like you said, drive it hard on a long trip and maybe it will clean itself out. I have driven mine clear across Canada and every working day, I drive about 12-15 miles to work on the highway, so my car doesn't get a chance to carbon up. Yet, if you shut your car off, when it's hot, it doesn't run on, does it? This would indicate a carbon problem. It's certainly not going to hurt your car to give it a good run anyways. I don't really know what else to suggest at this time. I have heard that Seafoam is ok to use. Maybe try a little at the start, then increase the dosage. Daffy

Hi,

I just want you guys to know, I have 460,000 kms (over 285,000 miles) and I still get 26 american mpg. It still accelerates from 0 t0 60 mph in around 8 seconds. Not bad for a 1991 Ls400. I have never checked my car for top speed, so can't tell you that. So I would say there is something wrong with CanadaCraig's car. I can't believe a good mechanic can't figure this one out. Daffy

Hi Grand_LS 4,

I wished you had done this earlier, otherwise I would have tried this myself. I chickened out and had it done. $1700. cdn. Good job on your car!

I have a 1991 LS400 and after 15 years my starter. started acting up with about 430,000 kms(267000 miles), not bad. Seems like your starter should have lasted longer, is the quality going down on the newer cars? Daffy

Hi,

I now have 283,345 miles (456,000 kilometers) on my 1991 Ls400. Still runs great and gets great gas mileage. Original mufflers, power train, shocks. :D Daffy

Hi Jay D,

I tried the route you want to try,(replace one speaker at a time) but shortly after that, another Nak speaker blew. I think these are really nice speakers, but when they are so old, they can't take much. And finding new ones is very hard. There are some replacement speakers that are pretty good, that will fit right in. If you are handy, you could go to slightly larger speakers and modify the speaker box to accommodate them. This would give you a little more "punch". As for the sub, if it still works, leave it in till it goes, it is a very good sub woofer, and when it goes it's not that hard to replace. The speakers in the doors are more time consuming to replace. It's important that you get speakers to match your sound system as close as possible. Hope this helps, Daffy

Hi jtynes,

I was looking into Freeze 12 and it's one of the replacements that doesn't have a flammable substance.

This I really like. Did you top it up with the R12, or drained the R12 and completely, and replaced with Freeze 12? Another replacement I think would be good is Freezone. Thanks, Daffy :)

Hi,

My air conditioning is getting weak and I was wondering if anyone has tried Red Tek in their car with any success. Here in Canada we can't get R12 and I don't want to convert to R134a (too expensive). I spotted the leak around the low pressure cap and I found the cap loose. So I am 95% sure that my AC is still in pretty good shape. Thanks Daffy

Hi Alan C,

and sometimes slamming the trunk lid down can cause the filiment in the bulb to break or weaken.

Daffy