Paul Sherman

Hi all;

I want to thank you all for the camaraderie and help over the last 4+ years.

But I must say goodbye.

Due to a number of factors, I found I needed to let my '93 LS400 go.

It served me well, but both us us are showing our age, plus my needs changed.

It needed a fair amount of work in the next year (starter, timing belt, interior),

Time and health issues limit my ability to work on it myself, and finding a good

independent Lexus mechanic in St. Louis has been a real challenge.

And with my knees pretty well gone, even getting in and out of it is a challenge.

Kindest Regards,

Paul Sherman

It sounds like it's probably a broken cable between the mast and motor.

Search the message board, it's fairly common and there's a vendor (he's

on eBay, too) that has the parts. It's a fairly easy fix.

Paul

Back when cars had neither electronic ignition nor fuel injection, warming up was often necessary.

I have a '40 chevy street rod that still needs to warm up to ~ 80deg F before I can move it. I converted my '69 Chevy pickup to electronic "points" two years ago; I only need to wait about a minute before a smooth take-off.

I'm converting the rod this winter. Both are built, carbed engines.

OK, the update on my '93:

My body guy got the rear fixed, but it was worse than he thought.

Had to take it to a shop with the full blown frame jig to straighten it out.

Still, he got jobber rates for that ($55 an hour). All told $1200 and some

detail work on my part to make it look good again. Oh and a month of

driving my '69 Chevy truck - fun, but not as comfy.

Then it started vibrating and shaking...

Took it to the tire shop for a 4 wheel alignment to see if that would help.

(Needed to after the body work anyway). What they found was a

torn rear tire with steel belt hanging out - yep, that would do it.

My guess is the tire was torn in the wreck, but it took some miles

for the tear to open enough to be noticeable.

Drives great now, especially with 210K miles on it.

But...

Somewhere in the bodywork the fender gasket and retaining nut for the

antenna got lost. If anyone has those parts handy, I'd like to buy them.

Gary G, the antenna guy, will look when I get him some measurements.

I'll second that, Jim's work was impeccable.

NC211 said...

I find it funny how the headliner was only wet in the front section, not running back towards the rear. if the drain plug was clogged, I would think gravity would of pulled the water along the sides of the headliner back towards the rear. Have you had your sunroof in the tilt position recently? I know on my ole' LS, if I had the roof in tilt mode, then only closed it with out actually sliding it back a little then closing it, the seal would not set very well would leak along the front, usually start dripping down through the map lights. Maybe the hit rattled the roof out of alignment? I wouldn't think a hit that soft would actually break the drain hose, but possibly bump the roof out of square.

****

Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. It did leak toward the back as well, the drip came out

at the center of the right rear passenger seat. What was odd, is that it was soaked at the

front while the car was pointed up hill. The right I expected, as it was next to the curb,

and hence, lower. the sunroof hadn't been opened for quite a while, but I do notice that

the back edge doesn't seat solid, and can bounce while driving.

I had the car up on the rack yesterday, only body damage, even the exhaust is fine.

And the drains are clear...

The past week haas been hard on my '93 LS400.

Thursday, a winter storm started coming in.

Late that day, the antenna cable broke - minor, no biggee, I know

there's a kit on eBay thanks to you all.

Thursday night - 8.5 inches of snow.

Friday, I needed to get to work, so fought my way out of the neighborhood,

no problem. Got on the freeway, a bit snowed over, but quite manageable

until... I found something that kicked the car into a slide; spun twice, hit

the median on the left rear corner. Prelim checkout, bumper a bit torn,

all the lights are intact and it seems to drive fine.

Later that day, I manage to get a closer look - OUCH! the trunk didn't seem

to line up with the fenders any more. Sure enough, the back end is pushed

over about 3/8 inch, buckled at the the antenna mast and fuel filler. Crap.

Then....

Monday, we have 3 inches of rain. I go to get something off the back seat;

it's wet. Sure enough, the headliner is soaked on the passenger side almost

to the front of the sunroof...

So questions...

1. My bodyman thinks he can straighten the back OK. Anyone have any

experience with this?

2. Do I need to remove the headliner to dry it out, or can I leave it alone?

(Found tutorial, just in case the answer is yes)

3. When it rained, the car was pointed slightly up hill with the passenger side

slightly lower. That leads me to think there's an issue with the rear

passenger drain. From what I've found in the forum, the rears are tricky

to get to. It's also possible that the drain hose came loose in the wreck.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Thanks in advance - Paul

I'd like to hear as well. My '93 has 206K on it and barely passed the last test.

Luckily, it is the 'last' emissions test, as Missouri has decided not to test anything

without the OBDII interface ('95 and older). However, the borderline pass is

probably an indication of something going, my guess is the cats...

I had the same issue for a while, it would stop blowing hot air whenever

I came to a stop. Gauge read fine. The coolant level was just low enough

to not reach the heater core at low RPMs. Topped it up and I was good to go.

At this stage I also suspect an air lock in that loop.

I haven't dealt with an air lock in this system, but it may be worth popping

one of the heater hoses off by the heater valve (top center firewall).

In fact, a quick try might be to disconnect the valve's cable and set it to

max open for a while - less invasive.

I don't see where that would necessarily be a legal requirement.

Many many older vehicles don't have them visible at all. (my '69 Chevy

pickup and 40 Chevy street rod). In many states, the vehicle ID was the

engine serial #, sure ruined things when folks started swapping engines.

After that, it wasn't standardized until the late 70's or 80's (I think).

I just connected to 2 and 6 (sub + and -)

What was nice is that I was able to use the head unit's sub controls

to massage the signal well enough to provide a good response.

Figure I'll run it till it dies, then add in an aftermarket amp and

speaker. Just don't want to hassle with running the wiring, especially the

power lines needed to properly feed an aftermarket amp till I have to.

You don't need a special part to use the factory sub with an aftermarket head unit.

I built an adaptor; RCA connector for head unit wired to two spade connectors with

a leg cut off as a sub wiring harness. Plug the RCA into the head unit and the spades

into sockets 2 and 6 of the Lexus connector. It works great, still not as strong as an

aftermarket, but for 1/2 hour work and $1 in parts, it's a lot better than nothing.

Bear in mind, this is all AFTER using LexLS excellent tutorial to install everything else.

At least one person is REAL interested in how I did this. I will put together a tutorial, eventually.

(I'm a bit busy, having the final paint work done on my street rod, and a new engine built for my old truck, my wife was REAL impressed with the truck's new bumper and inner fenders arriving via freight yesterday while I was at work....). In the meantime,

I found a photo of the back of the head unit. There's seperate sub connector, use

pins 2 and 6 of that...For electronically inclined folks, it's a very simple

hook-up, but needs tie-wrapped to keep the connections.

This is a follow-up. I was able to replace the head unit of my 92 LS 400 with the Pioneer unit. All the speakers worked except for the subwoofer. You supposedly need a special part for that but the professional installer I visited told me it was on backorder and I never heard back. A few months later, I put the original head unit back in in order to sell the vehicle. I have the fit kit & wire harness if anyone wants it. The wire harness is spliced to a harness for a Pioneer head unit but it can be separated and from the Pioneer harness and used for any other. The fit kit cost me $50, and I the wire harness costs $16.95. If anyone's interested, make an offer! (You will also have to pay shipping from PA, shouldn't cost much).

Mike

You don't need a special part to use the factory sub with an aftermarket head unit.

I built an adaptor; RCA connector for head unit wired to two spade connectors with

a leg cut off as a sub wiring harness. Plug the RCA into the head unit and the spades

into sockets 2 and 6 of the Lexus connector. It works great, still not as strong as an

aftermarket, but for 1/2 hour work and $1 in parts, it's a lot better than nothing.

Bear in mind, this is all AFTER using LexLS excellent tutorial to install everything else.

What I like about the Lexus

Apart from a few things, it's been darn reliable.

Generally, I can hop in and go without a worry.

And oh so comfy..............

A luxury car that looks good (great now that I replace some cheesy

component wheels with refurbed originals). I actually like the slight

anonymity that the discrete body provides. I can be keeping up with

the fastest of them and I won't be pulled over.

When I buy a vehicle, I generally keep them forever.

(I've had one 20 years and the third 34 years)

Looks like another long ownership for me.

David,

What a great accomplishment, congratulations!

Your wife will love it.

I see your info says you're in St. Louis, but the craigslist is Pittsburgh.

I live in St. Louis and could use the manuals.

I'm almost 51, not as limber (or thin) as I was at 19.

A bit less inclined to tear into the daily driver. Toy cars,

you bet, daily driver, I'm more inclined to let someone else

worry about it.

I'm a fairly well paid professional, if the guy doesn't charge

much more than what I make an hour, I consider it.

Not yet, car's in the shop awaiting sun roof hardware.

Hope to get it back today, it's my only vehicle with AC,

temp in mid-90's, heat index over 100....

Found the problem...

I ended up talking to my mechanic, it's beyond what he can tackle, so

he sent me to a local company that specilizes in sun roofs.

They called me today. The upper mounting bracket for the RH cable

broke. Bad news - it's not available by itself (unless someone has one).

Gotta get a whole new set of cables (OUCH).

It ain't gonna be cheap, but I really don't feel like tearing the whole thing

out myself (twice, if I find one in a junkyard). I don't have the

time, what with the street rod, '69 Chevy pickup, cabin in the woods,

and oh yeah, work travel (I'm in Ottawa late next week).

But all things considered - it's a really nice ride, all paid for, cheap to

insure (liability only), damn reliable. The occaisional hit for a problem

isn't overwhelming. Hell, I went down THAT road with a Porsche 928 and

a couple of old Jag sedans ('59 MkII and '66 gray market 3.4S).

OK, went out on break to take another look.

It's stuck in the 'slide' position vertically.

Very stuck, won't budge when I tilt the sunroof.

Good morning...

I've a '93 LS400.

When I got to work this morning, I went to open the sun roof

(the 'tilt' mode not slide open). As the back was raising, I heard a 'pop'.

Now the passenger rear corner of the sunroof is sitting lower

than the driver's side. Even when closed.

It would just be annoying, but I don't garage the car, and the way that

the weather here has been lately (thunderstorms) I need to get it

back in place ASAP.

Any quick suggestions?

The pump is fairly new, so t shouldn't be that.

I'll try the air-purge and filter clean (I'm pretty sure I've seen the

'how to')

My '93 LS400 has an annoying little problem in hot weather.

After driving it for a while, the steering 'moans' when I turn at stop

or low speed. There's no leak and it functions fine, but it is an

annoying sound.

It's been doing it since I bought the car 2 1/2 years ago and hasn't

gotten any worse. (But no better, either).

I searched the forum under 'steering noise', but didn't find any related

posts. Of course, I may have entered the search words wrong....

From what i have gathered from this very informative site, my amp is bad on my 93 LS 400. Is there any way around re-wiring the whole car if I put an aftermarket head-unit in? If I buy a new amp can I use the factory wiring? I need music from all the speakers, but I don't want to work to hard at it!

I think we need a little more info.

Is this a Nakamichi or Pioneer system?

If Pioneer, it's a very easy install (think there's a 'pinned' message above),

but you'll need to buy a harness adaptor and mounting bracket/face plate.

And now, you can even continue to use the sub.

If Nakamichi, I don't know if it's more complicated or not.

Hi all;

I have a'93 LS400 and wanted to let you know that it's actually quite easy

to hook the factory sub to an aftermarket deck (with sub outputs, of course).

I know - some are asking why, when there's better sub options out there?

I say - why not, even the factory sub is better than no sub at all.

After hooking the aftermarket deck up using Lexls excellent instructions,

this part starts.

It's simply a matter of making an adaptor cable; RCA phono to 'custom'

pins (one leg of spade connector) and plugging them into the existing

deck output and sub harness.

If interested, I'll post the photos, but need to scale them down - their

file size is too big right now. I haven't done a step-by-step, if there's

enough interest, I'll put it together.