Jarebear

Anyone had any experience with Cardone Select new power steering pumps. Need to replace the pump on my 98 ls400, and wanting to get new instead of reman.

Nevermind, there was a relay for the blower motor under the hood. I replaced it and that solved the problem :)

Thanks. I think on the 98-00 models, all of the relays controlling the fan speed were integrated into one (expensive) component (the resister), so I think the linked thread you suggested MAY be addressing an older model. 

I have a problem with my blower motor on my 98 LS400. I noticed that, intermittently, the blower motor will kick down from the speed its at to a very low speed mode. Eventually while I'm driving, it will kick back up to the speed its supposed to be at. When it kicks down, it usually only lasts a few seconds and then goes back up. Anybody have any idea what might be causing this.

I've already seen some discussion on this issue, where some suggest it might be a in-car phone wiring issue. I really don't think this car had any dealer installed phone, but I'm not 100%. There are no left over components from a phone that usually accompanies an old car phone installation. 

Is there any chance this might be a blower motor resister issue? I replaced my blower motor a couple years ago, but not the resister. 

Let me know your thoughts.

I was coming back from school today and as I was getting close to my apartment, a headlight leveling warning came up on my dash, then the battery light, then the car said check vsc, and then my radio started turning off. Bad alternator? Or bad battery?

They actually weren't that bad, weird. There seemed to be normal wear on the sides of the teeth, but I did notice that when I would pull the pinion gear out, it wouldn't always retract back in real quickly, sometimes it would and other times it would go back in real slowly, maybe this was the issue? I dunno, maybe a lack of lubrication behind the gear. Anyways, I can take pictures of the old one later when I get back home. The only thing I dread is getting everything back together and then turning the key and the car not starting. I've heard horror stories where owners buttoned their LS400's all back up only to discover the terrifying truth that the starter they bought is garbage. I got a brand new one from RockAuto called TYC. Anyone had any experience with these?

It could be that the A/C is overcharged. Might be a little far-fetched, but my previous car I owned had a similar problem (it was a Honda Accord). The A/C had been serviced because of a leak and then I started experiencing that same problem, worked fine going down the road, but when I came to a stop light, it started blowing warm. Try seeing if you can either have a mechanic check the Freon pressure in your A/C system or do it yourself. After the mechanic got my Freon pressure to the right level, the A/C worked fine.

Well I can officially testify, this job was not easy. Got the new starter in and am in the process of buttoning the car back up. By the way, to burp my car of any air pockets when I put antifreeze back in, just let the car run with the radiator cap off? The little screw on my throttle body just won't come off. I know I need to turn my heater on high. Anything else?

Thanks for the pic Randall, I took some pics of the flywheel. This is mostly what I saw as I was spinning the engine, the third pic is the worst, what do you think? Is the starter the bandit?

Man I wish I had a pic where that plate is on my transmission, I was looking earlier but I couldn't find it. I'll keep looking.

How should I go about diagnosing the water pump or idler pulleys?

By the way, so I understand that removing this starter is a pretty big undertaking, I know I'll need to replace the intake manifold and plenum gaskets. Are there any other gaskets I should worry about replacing when doing this job? I heard something about a water bypass gasket.

The smell was more like.....burnt...electric or mechanical crap. Yea I've smelled antifreeze, that sweet smell, didn't smell like that at all. And by the way, what the heck is gear reduction anyways.

Well we can rule out any of my accessories. This morning I pulled off the serp. belt to see if it would make the noise at first crank. Jackpot! Made the noise, and a funny smell too this time. My money is on the starter. Should I just not drive it around till I fix it, I'm afraid I'll ruin my ring gear.

Thanks SRK for the cunning idea. I tried it out. Well this is weird. I must be the most unlucky guy with diagnosing this problem. Every time I've tried this experiment with the serp belt (I've tried it twice so far) the noise won't replicate itself with the belt on or off. Seems that when I take the belt off the noise goes away, and when I put it back on it doesn't come back either. But then the next morning it came back. So maybe retensioning the belt on my alternator temporarily fixes the noise on the rotor bearing? IDK, I'm gonna try it tommorow morning. It usually always makes the grinding noise at first crank in the morning (three mornings in a row so far). I'll update on the progress later.

Ok, sure it could be the alternator, but if it is, why does it only make the sound on start up. I would think if it were the alternator rotor I would here it at other times when I drive, I even revved the car in my drive way to simulate a cold start and I heard nothing. Shouldn't that narrow it down to the starter since the sound is only heard when the starter is engaged?

Hi everyone,

My Ls is starting to make some nasty noises on start up. It doesn't happen everytime, but once in a while, on the last crank when the engine actually starts, I can hear a nasty grinding noise. It goes away immediately and the car drives smooth. Maybe a bad starter?

Yes. I noticed after driving it for a while the idle corrected itself.

But I did only do it last night, I drove it to a nearby city and back, and I drove it around plenty this morning, I'll keep you posted

Yea I pulled the code, that's why I cleaned the sensor, it was p0172 rich, I cleaned it and the light has stayed off, even with the idle, sometimes it'll idle normal and sometimes it'll idle lower, both when warm. Maybe air intake valve?

So yesterday I cleaned my MAF sensor with electronic parts cleaner and now my car is idleing particularly low, I reset the light by pulling the battery cables. Maybe the computer is relearning the idle? Any takers?

yea, I gotta good feeling that the clunk noise is from the strut rod bushings. Here's a funny story, I brought it to a napa autocare center and they told me that's what was making noise, and that they'd have to get the whole new strut rod cause they couldn't get the bushing by itself, but when I checked sewell lexus parts I am able to get the strut rod bushing by itself. Also, when I went back about a half year later to get some other work done (fuel system clean, alignment, ect..) I asked again about that bushing and then they told me there were no bad bushings under my car, SAME PLACE. I took it to another place and the guy told me there's no such thing as a strut rod bushing. Either he calls it something else...or maybe he's incompetent. I haven't had it replaced yet but I'm pretty sure that's what it is. The car doesn't look to be lowered, but I'm not sure. It drives real smooth, just bottoms out sometimes.

By the way, sometimes when I hit a slight bumb it'll make a clunk.

the roads weren't rough, just regular streets in a suburb.

The car doesn't have air suspension, just regular gas shocks. I think they are the original shocks when the vehicle was manufactured, and the car has just over 200,000 miles. Yea it had a couple heavy people in the car, but it still bottoms out sometimes on a turn even when it's just me in the car (I weigh 165), but it bottoms out WAY less. As a matter a fact, I can only think of one place on the road where I live where at a certain speed it will slightly bottom out on the turn when its just me or one other person in the car. You think maybe cause the suspension is so soft that when enough fat people are in it'll bottom alot? I dunno, I guess cause my car has so many miles I figured it might be time for a shock job, the springs look like they're okay.