jadecuir

A friend was recharging my AC system last night. He was not familiar with lexus, but has lots of AC background (navy, Nuc pwr plant, etc.) When he tried to pull a vacuum, He could only pull to -30 lbs, then it pulsated. Then we found the other low-side valve. I think we were pulling air in via that valve. Car was previously diagnosed at an independent shop as having bad comp, but after partial charge and oil, we had 200 lbs on high side, 30 on low. Cold air again! Question is, does anyone have the PDF section of the manual on hand? I'm away from my home computer, and I want to show my friend the specifics on the system: recharge procedures, capacities, etc. Also, there were no caps on the three fittings. Shouldn't there be caps? John D

Yeah, sometimes workin' on the car is the last thing I wanna do. I determined my cushions were bad by setting the frame on stands, then putting the jack under the diff.. When I put a little pressure on it, I could see the left side bolt go way up in the hole. The right one stayed pretty close to center. There is some gap at the snubber bushing, also. My son will be home in a few days, so I'll let him do the upside-down in-the-dirt work! I'll try not to drink too many brews while I'm supervisin'. John

Were you able to replace the differential cushions yet? I'm still considering changing mine, but not for a while. I just had the front end aligned after replacing balljoints and upper control arm bushings. Toe-in was way off, like .7 to the minus, or toe-out! Handles like a dream now! I have occasional vibration at certain speeds coming from the rear, and I'm not sure if it's transmission shudder, diff bushings, or driveshaft. It's intermittent, and everything underside looks OK except the diff cushions. I can't really get a look at the driveshaft mid-joint, though. john

That's only 4,000 miles a year!! Are you buying from the owner or dealer? My '90 has 272,000 miles, original engine and trans/drivetrain. Timing belt change recommended at 90,000 miles, but I'm not sure if they have an age requirement, too. 58k isn't hardly broken in!

Did you sell your '91, trade it in, or keep it? Curious about what you got for it, dollar-wise.

Try cleaning everything up as best you can, maybe pressure-wash the area. Or, get in there with towels and dry it all off. Find someone to help you; with the car running, turn the wheel back and forth, watching for leaks. A fitting or seal on the pump is probably leaking, and the fluid is running down the lines. Just a thought.... Lines are NOT cheap!

Put a dab of anti-seize compound on the threads when you put 'em back in.

UCF3, It sounds like you MADE your springs lower by compressing it, right? My new springs ARE aftermarket lowering springs. All I really gotta do is plug and play. I got my lowering springs and Tokico shocks. All I would have to do is put the springs and shocks on, right? Which one goes on first, the springs or the shock? And do I need to take off all the rotors and brake shoes/pads to remove the springs and shocks? ← I believe you can assemble your new springs and shocks before you touch the car. The old ones out as assys., and the new assys in. Shouldn't be too tough. John

I ordered the kit, bearing, and air hoses today from discountToyotaparts.com, $67 including shipping. I hope I don't find something else bunged up. John

Thanks again, all of you. John

Great info, thanks! Did the kit include new vanes, impeller or housing? How did the existing internals look to you? Was the slide hammer for bearing removal? Was irontoad the only source for the kit, or the cheapest? Thanks again, John

Where can I find a Power steering punp rebuild kit... you know, all the o-rings seals and possibly bearings? Is this something available in a kit, or do you have to order each individual part? Is DIY cost effective for the PS pump, or are rebuilt pumps so cheap, it isn't worth the time? Also, is there a tutorial with photos for changing the filter on the steering rack somewhere on this forum? Is this a simple job? John

(1) Power steering: is it leaking yet? This is one repair I have not yet tackled. Mine was leaking, and I used Lucas power steering stopleak. It helped alot. I'm going to clean the filters and rebuild the pump/resevoir one of these days... (2) Timing belt I can do. Here's what you need to buy: Belt, water pump, Idler and tensioner pulleys, tensioner cylinder assy, and it's a good idea to replace the distributors and rotors, too. Buy the parts on ebay, or from one of the discount part shops listed on various threads in this forum. Two o-rings are also needed, only available from dealer. They usually have in stock. The radiator gets pulled, so coolant is required to replace what's lost, about 3 gallons. Good time to flush the trans, too. About 7 quarts required. (2 day job) (3) What's wrong with antenna? If all you need is the mast, ebay has many sellers, 20 bucks max for the mast kit. Easy job. ( 10 minutes) (4) Seat is fixable also, no parts required. See other threads today for fix. (1 hour) Right now I'm in Sacramento, at work. I commute back to Salinas, by air, wednesdays. After the 18th of May I'll be home every night, and working in San Jose by day. I'm off between the 18th and 31st, and could do the timing belt job sometime during that stretch, for a nominal fee. If this sounds like something you want to do, email me off-forum at :jadecuir@comcast.net, and we'll work out the details of parts acquisition, time , etc. Maybe you could take the wife to Monterey for the weekend with the money you'll be saving while the car's down. John

I'm trying to remember.... they might be in the bottom of the map pocket. If not, they are under the turn. The top of the seatback is held by clips. After the screws are found and removed, lift the seatback upwards to free the clips. A stub phillips screwdriver is required, I think. John

I'm in Salinas, and becoming intimately familiar with the Gen I LS400. What do you need? John

The gas strut on my '90 LS is weak, and does not pull the pedal all the way up. I put my foot under it while pulling the handle and help it all the way retracted. That might be what's happening with yours. One of these daysI'll pull this strut and find an inexpensive replacement, if there is such a thing. John

There is a shaft that connects the gears on each side of the seat. The shaft slips one way or the other and comes off a spline, causing the offset. Take off the seatback panel: Remove Two screws on bottom and pull upwards to free clips at top of seatback; Move seat until aligned; Find connecting shaft and slide left or right to re-engage spline; once engaged, test; put plastic ty-wrap around spline, next to shaft end, so it can't slide off again;replace seatback. ← Any pictures of doing this procedure? ← no pics, sorry. It's a little hard to get into the seatback, but once there, you'll see how it works. When ours stuck, my sons girlfriend had put the seat all the way back, and it was a !Removed! to get under there. If your seat is mostly upright , it's alot easier. John

Mine did the same thing last year. Antenna worked, backlight worked, phone squelched thru speakers, but nothing else. I thought maybe after battery disconnect that I had a security lockout. Took it to dealer, thet said no, head unit died, sorry. I took it apart, and could find no visible fried circuits or broken connections. Bought a used unit on ebay for 50 bucks. Still working! John

It varies from dealer to dealer. Anywhere from $800 to $1600. Near you, I read on this forum that Rahall's in Indy is reasonable.

What year? Mine doesn't have rear holder ('90 LS).

There is a shaft that connects the gears on each side of the seat. The shaft slips one way or the other and comes off a spline, causing the offset. Take off the seatback panel: Remove Two screws on bottom and pull upwards to free clips at top of seatback; Move seat until aligned; Find connecting shaft and slide left or right to re-engage spline; once engaged, test; put plastic ty-wrap around spline, next to shaft end, so it can't slide off again;replace seatback.

Did you remove the shock/spring assy first? I have a '90 LS. and following the directions in the manual, once the shocks are out of the way, there was all sorts of room. I used my torque wrench, about 20" long, and a little WD-40 on the threads, and they came loose quite easily. John

There is a shaft in the back that connects the motor side to the other side. It slips off the spline a little, causing the misalignment. I don't have a drawing here. I'll look when I get home tomorrow. There are a couple of screws on the bottom of the seatback to remove, then remove seatback, use the motor to align, and slide rod back to position. Ty-wrap the rod end so it can't slide off. John