Paul Sherman

My '93 gets 16-18 mpg wih daily driving, but that's a lot of stop and go. Mileage-wise, my commute is 12 miles, 7 highway and 5 city. The city is max speed 35, 9 lights and stop signs, and St. Louis drivers (Generally regarded by non-natives as some of the worst in the country - 35+ years driving here and abroad, I gotta agree). In town, I can't put it in OD without lugging the engine to 1200-1500 RPM. Once I get on the freeway and get away from St. Louis, my mileage can go to 24 mpg easily, sometimes better. And I'm not guessing, one trip odometer is strictly for measuring between fill-ups.

OK, I'll try this again a year or so later, hoping for new info. I have a problem with leather seats in the summer. I sweat, I mean a LOT. Particularly in warm weather against leather. In my '93 LS400, I can be cool and dry in the car, except where my body touches the seat. I'll be soaked, and the leather gets wet, too. Having made my point... Can anyone recommend a source for a well fitting, cloth seat cover for a '93 LS400? I'd like it to look decent and be washable, for obvious reasons. I don't want sheepskin. A tan color would be nice, as that would match the interior. Paul

My '93 LS rolled over 200K last week. Thought about replacing it this year, but NAW, what would I get? Had a tune up just before that, due for timing belt in about 30K (I think...was changed at 140K).

Boogieman; I'm glad you survived the crash, best of luck in your recovery. Another reason I'm glad I own a '93 LS myself.

OK, I'll do that, after I'm caught up with the other project. My '40 Chevy coupe street rod was just painted, and I gotta get it back together for the Easter car show (it's on the t-shirt and dash plaque)

You will probably find shims at the attachment points. Keep track of quantity and location for reassembly. I probably spent more time adjusting shim thickness and test driving for wind-whistle than I did in changing the glass. To take off on a related topic (if y'all don't mind). I have some wind whistle from the sunroof. Will adjusting via the shims fix that, or is it new seal time?

It's definitely 'distance' Many radios have a 'local/dx' switch on them to limit antenna gain when in an area with strong signals. (Not so many car systems now, but other radios still use them)

It's probably the fan motor, especially if the fan speed light comes on. I had the same issue a while back - it was erratic; sometimes the fan worked, sometimes not. One time when it wasn't working I rolled over a storm drain and it started working. I found the sweet spot after a few 'educated' smacks - below the glove box about 4 inches in from the console. That got me by until I could get the fan replaced. I looked at replacing it myself, but I travel on business, own three properties, two collector cars I work on for fun ('69 Chevy PU and '40 Chevy street rod). And a bipolar wife. Almost no time to work on this myself. It was painful, but I got a local radiator shop to replace the fan for me.

OK, final update while I'm thinking of it. Full tune-up and an oil change, driver's bank re-oil and the Lexus is back up and running. All by an indy mechanic in south St. Louis county. The name is Affton Auto Electric, the owner's name is Mike. It was a bit expensive ($1200 total), but well worth it. My garage is full of street rod, the weather was COLD and icy, and frankly, I didn't have the time to do the work myself. It was nice to climb back in the car and go after 8 days in my '69 Chevy truck (reliable, but very cold blooded - no fun in that weather).

I guess it depends. When something goes wrong it can get expensive fast. Luckily, major things rarely go wrong. If you're a do it yourselfer and aren't in a huge hurry, the labor costs go down a lot. An LX is good to 250K - 300K miles with decent maintenance. (Tune ups, timing belt, brakes, etc.) If you have a bit of up-front cash to buy it, there's no car payments, nor do you need to buy full coverage insurance. (Saves a few hundred/month).

Could you put that in gallons and miles for us? At first glance, the drive is similar to mine. ~ 25 mins of stop and go (12 miles), plus other in-city mixed driving. About 180 miles/week, 10-12 gallons, ~ $2.40/gallon (Missouri gas prices are pretty low).

An update: Due to cold weather breakdowns and a water main break under their lot, it took the mechanic a few days to get to the Lexus, but they did. here's what they found: One of the coils failed. Also, apparently the previous owner hadn't given the car a tune up when he changed the timing belt, so it is due. The biggest scare is the reduced compression from all the raw gas flushing the oil out of the cylinders (no ignition, the fuel has to go somewhere...). Luckily (knock on wood), there appears to be no damage to the cylinders/rings, re-oiling will bring the compression back up to snuff. So, a FULL tune up and oil change (gas in the oil) appear to do the trick. I'll know for sure today, as that's when they're supposed to be done. Also, if this guy works out, we may have another recommendation for an indy mechanic in the St. Louis area. Paul

Hmmm, now that you mention it.... It did occaisionally misfire when going up a hill. The mileage - I'm unsure, it MAY have been getting worse. It's hard to tell, as my daily commute is a lot of stop and go, so the mileage has never been great. It did seem to have dropped off a bit lately, but with our stretch of cold weather, it took longer to warm up.

:cries: Hi all, I need some help. '93 Lexus LS 400, 198K miles on it. We went out Sunday morning to go to breakfast and when I started my Lexus, it ran real rough. Hoping it was a cold weather fluke (9 degrees out), we limped it to breakfast and back home. I noticed that the tach would work fine when the engine wasn't under acceleration, but as soon as I touched the gas the tach would drive to zero RPM (engine was accelerating, poorly). We also noticed a 'burning plastic' smell and some smoke coming from under the hood on the driver's side. There wasn't enough of it to confirm where it was coming from. Hoping for an obvious ignition problem, I took a quick look Sunday, but couldn't find anything. Had to go to Philly on business early Monday, and just got back late last night. This morning, I tried to fire it up to take into a mechanic, now it won't start at all. It's being towed in as we speak. Any ideas? Side note: The mechanic the LS is going to seems comfortable with working on it and was recommended by my regular mechanic. (He felt this was more than he could handle - big points for honesty). I'll let y'all know how he does. Paul

Common problem with 1st gen LS 400s. I think it's addressed in the first 'pinned' message at the top of the forum. Or search the forum. It's usually the OEM capacitors; you can DIY or pay Jim (forgot last name) to do it. Even though I've been in electronics 30+ years, it was worth the $200 to have Jim do it. i think there are some others that can fix it as well.

OK, just to stir the pot some more... Frozen fuel line - had it happen once. In a Ford Caprii I drove while in the Shetland Islands. At the time, it was called 'vapour lock'; the water froze while in the fuel line, which was exposed to the freezing, moving air (wind chill). Condensation - an argument for keeping the tank filled up. Condensation comes from the air in the tank, not the fuel. The less fuel, the more air, more condensation. Fuel/water ratio: Water in the tank - it's inevitable. As the vehicle moves, the water and fuel are mixed and get pushed through the system. However, that mixing isn't perfect (though improved over carbed engines because of the return flow). Hence some settling of water in the tank is also inevitable. As the fuel level drops, the proportion of water to fuel will increase, risking the the bad stuff mentioned. Side note - not all GM pumps are bad. My '69 pickup with 335K on it has ~120k/15 years on the current fuel pump. This rig's a candidate for all the bad fuel/water fears mentioned - it's never happened. Paul

Great, thanks

Well, I've been soldering for 31 years, guess I may be able to do it. Now to find that seller on eBay...

Jim; Is the CC LCD new or salvage? If new, who sells them? If salvage, how'd you find one that wasn't also blacked out?

Ok, maybe I'm missing something here, but I didn't see this question directly answered. sheab, my first question is - when you have the heat shut off, is the vent set for fresh or recycled air? With my '93, I always get air coming in while in motion when the system's shut off if I leave the system set to allow fresh air. The air intake is (at least on mine), independent of whether the system is on or off. (I was grateful for this when my fan died in summer - I had SOME A/C while driving) So, do you still get air through the vents with the system shut off AND the air set to recirc? If so, then the others have excellent solutions.

Webster Groves is pretty close to me. Thanks Jeff, I'll give them a call! Paul

Hi kmax; No luck finding an independent specialist in St. Louis yet. I hear there's an indy Toyota guy on the Hill, but haven't found them yet to see if they handle Lexus as well. At this point, I'm a combo of DIY and my regular mechanic, with a run to Gravois Radiator for my A/C in 2005... When/if I find one, I'll post it for the other St. Louis area members. Paul

Cool, thanks for the prompt replies, this group is the greatest. My wife had noticed it when she sat in the rear passenger seat once and I first started the car. Her nose is incredibly sensitive, so I didn't know if it was a bit of venting from the tank or spillage, or.... Now I can reassure her that it's normal, the car's NOT about to explode.

Hi all; I'm wondering if this is normal during start up. I get the smell of raw gas from the exhaust when I first start up my '93 LS400. I noticed it last Friday when I was warming it up and chipping the ice off the car after Thursday's exciting storm. Is this a normal cold engine issue or, is it time to start digging into the fuel/ignition system?

'Knock on wood', it looks like our testing will be confined to only the vehicles with the OBDII interface. Earlier vehicles will be grandfathered Of course, I may have just jinxed it by saying this...