AzHotLS

Okay SK, you called it. Low freon or no freon to be exact. High pressure hose from compressor to condenser has a leak at the metal to rubber crimp point. My worst fear has happened, it probably wasn't the compressor to begin with but the hose all along. $600 down the tubes (and into thin air) with $550 more to replace the hose. :cries: I'm taking it back to the shop Thursday (tomorrow) morning to replace the hose, evac/recharge, and 2.5 lbs more freon. It would be just my luck, that after replacing the compressor and high pressure hose, that I'll find out that the evaporator has a leak too. So we'll see what the air temps in the vents will be after the high pressure hose gets replaced.

Thanks SK. Gen 1's don't have cabin filters, correct? Is there something else back there that I should be looking for? I just had the AC system serviced yesterday, 2.5 lbs freon added with compressor/dryer. I'm hoping I don't have a leak that would cause it to be low on freon already. May have to explore that though. Maybe the compressor didn't need replacing after all. No higher speed, just city driving. So if no leak, it should be blowing ice cold, yes? I did post a thread last September where I complained of hot air coming from the vents on cool evenings. Maybe it's related. The hot water valve opens/closes so I don't think I'm getting heat per se. How do you explain the temperature variations between vents? Driver's side and passenger's side vents "warm", left center vent cool, right center cold. Closing driver's side vent makes left center get cooler. What's going on under/behind the dash?

sid1991ls, I just posted to a similar thread 30 minutes ago: Cool Air Do you notice the same temp differences in the varous vents and does change if you close one or more?

Now that I've fixed my AC (replaced compressor, dryer, evac/recharge with R12), I finally have cold air!! :D However, I'm experiencing the exact same symptoms KY350 mentions. :cries: I did a search and came up with THESE threads, however, none of them gives a solution (or I missed it). Mind you it is 110F here now, but the drivers side vent shouldn't be blowing warm air should it? If I close it, the center vents blow colder then when it is open. I'm using recirculate, not the fresh air setting. Does anyone have a diagram of the AC/Heater duct layout behind the dash? Knowing duct/vent layout might help figure this out. I must have a leak somewhere in the ducts that is allowing warm air to be drawn in.

What color is your interior? There is a guy parting out his crashed LS. Do a search.

weazel8, is the AC0947 diagram on page AC-28 of the coolings.pdf file in post #19, what you're refering to? I did a google search on the Special Service Tool number and came up empty. Wouldn't any straight-ended slip ring expander tool work? btw, thanks for bumping this thead. I need to follow-up on what I finally did. I bought the compressor from Techchoice in Texas, current cost, $275, receiver/dryer $24. I mentioned I was going to convet to R134 so he included a bottle of PAG oil and O-ring kit. With shipping, my cost was $314. This past Saturday, I had a friend help me who works on building air compressors ans knows a thing or two about cars. We got the car jacked up but couldn't remove the upper-rear bolt of the compressor. He started to round off the head and threw in the towel for fear of risking me more dollars if it rounded off all the way. He was planning to use nitrogen gas to evac the system btw. I'm giving the guy $50 for trying and he did replace the receiver/dryer and some O-rings. So I took it to a shop on Monday, $120 to replace, $50 to evac/regharge, $124.88 for 2.5 lbs freon. I decided to stay with R12 so it cost me a little more than I initally planned. But they said I saved in the end due to them having (or wanting) to disconnect everything to flush. My total out of pocket expense was $677.88, not bad. However, while the air is blowing cold, I notice that the some of the vents are blowing warm air. The far left one mostly, left center somewhat. If I close the far left one, then the centers blow colder. Off to search the forum on that, I recall seing some threads discussing it. Another thing, the alternator is suspect, because in the past, I had battery problems when it got hot. Last summer no problems due to the AC not working. Now that I have AC, less than 24 hours later and nominal driving (in 110F heat). The battery doesn't appear to be charging. I have the battery out right now charging so we'll see. The alternator must not be charging the battery due to the added load of the AC and hot temperatures. With my front wheel vibrations (another thread), my wife says this thing is starting to become a money pit. But then again, we didn't pay to much for it 2 years ago. Wish me luck.

paca444, if you haven't already found it, here is a great site with lots of tutorials: Lexls.com

The PDF in post #19 of this thread shows the location of the sight glass http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...;hl=sight+glass

I'm told that my power steering rack is bad. It's leaking from the seals on both ends. Now that I think of it, there is also a slight shudder felt in the steering wheel when turning sharp from a stop but only when turning left. From what I've read, they're not cheap, I may be living with the vibrations for good long time. :cries:

oops. deleted.

nc211, the vibration started before I replaced the front rotors and was exactly the same afterwards. Having now changed the front/rear pads, changed front rotors, machined rear rotors, the vibration I experience now is the same as before. I'm going to have to remove the front wheels and rotors again and inspect the lower ball joint and tie rod ends more closely. If possible, I'll post photos.

Your owners manual should have directions on removing the front corner lights, mine does. As for your second question, it cant hurt to try an fix it and see if it holds up. THIS thread should help. (Found it by doing a "front corner lights" Search.)

I don't think it's the tires. They're Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds and in good shape. I had them rotated recently with no change in vibration. I hope I have better luck finding the problem than what nc211 had to go through. I've printed out a few threads, one of them mentioned steering wheel play. Mine does have some but I can't find where it states how much is acceptable. I guess I'll just work my way down the steering wheel shaft then out to the tie rods. I'd like to replace the easiest and cheapest things first.

Grandpa, yes, it vibrates when driving on the highway at normal speeds, worse/more noticible the faster you go. The vibration seems to be synced with the speed, that is to say, the slower you go, the slower the vibration, and opposite the faster you go. So it seems to be tied to wheel rotation. The front pads and rotors were replaced but if something is loose then I suppose the vibration would vary depending on speed, yes? LScott400, thanks, "lots" is correct, that's a very long thread, reading through it for ideas. AussiLS400, front rotors replaces, rear rotors machined, that would seem to rule them out, but thanks.

My car shakes/vibrates as well. Changing the front rotors/pads didn't help. I just changed the rear pads Saturday and had the rotors machined, still no difference. The vibrations can be felt mostly above 45, with it getting very noticable over 70. It's felt both in the steering wheel and seats. That's why I could never really pinpoint it to either the front or back. I'm leaning towards it being in the front. When applying the brakes lightly, it vibrates even more. Applying more pressure to the brakes minimizes it. What steps/order should I take to trouble shoot this. Start with replacing the tie-rods or control arm bushings? If tie-rods, inner or outer? Do they have to be replaced or can they be "rebuilt" with bushings? If replace, where is the best place to get them? I'll do a search of this forum but appreciate any suggestions in the mean time. TIA.

It's a concept car from 1994 from an Italian auto design firm Italdesign

A plastic tab that keeps the inner door handle rod attached to the door latch mechanism has broken. Besides getting a another rod with the plastic tab, what is the best way to keep the parts together? See attached photos, one showing how it is supposed to look and the other seperated. The broken part of the plastic is on the back side that goes through the hole to keep them together. What should I do?

My guess is that it was designed for an Executive type with a driver/chauffeur to be driven to and from work, a limosine as it were. Most of those old farts are too busy with work to have any friends so they'd be alone in the back seat anyway.

j.b, this may be out in left field or a long shot, but I assume you disconnected the cable connector when you cleaned the solenoid screen, correct? I'm wondering if it's possible you didn't connect it back after reinstalling or didn't get a good connection. A quick check to see if it's connected or pulling it apart again to make sure the contacts are clean may be worth the effort. I don't suggest trying it, but I wonder how the steering would feel with the connectors unplugged.

See if any of the "Problemo #1" threads I linked to in THIS thread help.

Then you need to stay away from the last 2 pages of the Archived Gallery > LS Series. There are some unfortunate items there that I don't understand why they're still there.

My first thought is that your power steering solenoid screen needs cleaning. There are many threads talking about how cleaning it has made steering much easier. After reading this solenoid topic see if you think it could help you too. Do a "solenoid" search to read the other related threads.

This will only set you back about 8 seconds. I have a larger 960x720 version if anyone wants it.

Clean the screen first. A relatively quick and easy project. Doubtful, but the leak could just be because of increased pressure do to a clogged solenoid screen. Groaning noise - is the fluid level good?, if you're low on fluid, it will groan. Either that or the PS pump is going bad and in need of rebuild or replace. As for the shimmy, mine vibrates when the brake is applied. I changed the pads and rotors, no change. I noticed my tierod bushing is leaking so that is my next project. But with 200K, you could need motor mounts and/or tranny mounts regardless.

Attached is a photo from j.b showing where the part he's missing should go on the back side of the power mirror control.