jadecuir

Find the part number, then try "www.lexus-parts.com". Sewell is a lexus dealership in Texas that also runs a body shop. I think they can get most anything, although not the cheapest on standard items. John

I bought 4 drilled, slotted and zinc plated rotors on ebay, for $120.00 , including shipping. I checked the sellers history/feedback first, and saw no problems. I had some difficulty at first with delivery: I had ordered two fronts and received two rear rotors. He sent me the fronts, free shipping, FEDEX overnight, and let me keep the rears for $50 ( I had paid $60 plus shipping for the original fronts. When I miked the rotors, they were tapered about .002" , larger at OD, and parallel witin .0015". I think most of the error was due to uneven plating, which comes right off at first use. They feel pretty good, have not overheated, and look great. Threr are several suppliers on ebay for rotors and pads, mostly in SOCAL; Orange county is chock-full of machine shops trying to survive the aerospace downturn, looking for a niche market. I'm sure you could replace all rotors and pads for as little as $160.00, or as much as $500.00, depending on quality and reputation( Brembo, etc.). But don't believe that more money buys quality. Ask for specs or tolerances. If they don't know, shy away. John

Did you try the LOC (Lexus owners club) australia first? The link is near the top of this page. When I need part numbers, I call the dealer for a "quote", you know? Ask for part number, price and availability ( is it in stock, how long til delivery, etc.) John ← No I haven't, but I will now. I've had a quick peek, and that forum doesn't look to be as popular as this one. Thanks ← It really depends on what you need. For basic maintenance items like brakes, rotors, timing belts, etc., Ebay has worked for me. Some suppliers may not ship overseas. Search the forum for the part you need, say " ball joint". Follow the threads, and you may see a link to a recommended supplier. Then visit the suppliers site and see if they ship to NZ. If you know somebody Stateside, maybe they can relay the parts for you. If you don't know anybody over here, use this forum to find a volunteer. I would be glad to help, as, I'm sure many others would. I've saved hundreds of dollars by browsing this forum in my spare time. John

There is a set on ebay, see attached link. I've seen 'em cheaper, but you sound like you're in a hurry. There is a set of eibachs also, 2 days left on the bid; search "lexus ls400". John http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...7967169418&rd=1

Maybe I should explain my situation, so you understand how this car got so bad. We ( my son and I) bought the car in 2003 from a Lexus salesman. It was his personal car, and he had a lot of dealer service records. At the time, I believe it had a little over 200K on the odometer. My son had been driving my vintage '81 toyota PU since getting his license, and this was a graduation/off to college gift/loan. I paid the cash, he's supposed to do well in school, or pay me back, his choice. Well, he didn't/coudn't/wouldn't do either, and he lost his license for excessive speeding. All his maintenance money was going to various PD's around the state. I took the car back, put it in Sacramento for my airport beater, ( I commute by air from Salinas, 114 nm south) and the affair began. Now, the lexus is my bad weather commuter, and my '00 Toyota 4WD PU is my airport beater! Here's what I've repaired so far: hood struts - ebay - $80 (actually, free, 'cause the guy sent TWO pairs, and I sold the extra) Radio - ebay - $50 CD changer - ebay - $66 Woofer - ebay - $40 (aftermarket) Waterpump/timing belt/Idler pulleys - ebay - $165 Heater valve - dealer - $110 (damn!) Daizen Bushing set/front - TM engrg - $100 I haven't spent much, as , with 271,000 plus miles, there is not much resale value. But it is a truly enjoyable ride, and WAY too nice to abandon.

I'm sure that any car stereo installation shop can sell you an amp, and wire it up for you. ebay will save alot of money, but you'll have to do it yourself. Did you wire it up this way?CarDomain___Woofer_Wiring_Guide.html

Did you try the LOC (Lexus owners club) australia first? The link is near the top of this page. When I need part numbers, I call the dealer for a "quote", you know? Ask for part number, price and availability ( is it in stock, how long til delivery, etc.) John

Ordered the pair from olyonline this morning, be here next week! Thanks! I knew I saw that price somewhere! John

Well, I put in the Audiobahn AW831T sub the other day. You can wire it up for 2 to 8 ohms, parallel or series. I tried both ways, and parallel seems to work better, but it's still weak. I think the sub is capable of over 100 watts, and the little Pioneer Amp just won't drive it like OEM. I need to find a lower wattage sub, but they're hard to find nowadays. An aquaintance of mine owns a stereo shop, and he says all he sells anymore are these huge thumpers for the hiphop crowd.

What has happened is the rod that connects one side of the seat back to the other side has slipped off the spline a little. You have to take off the map pouch on the seatback and find the shaft that connects the two sides. Take some pliers and turn the low side spline until the seat is straight. Or tilt the seat with the control 'til it's straight. If the sides move together with the control, the shaft is back in position , and you'll have to slide it one way or the other 'til it's independent, then align the seat, slide the shaft back 'til it's engaged, then put a wire-tie on the other end to keep it from sliding back out.

Yea, it does seem low. May have been an ES owner wandering off his forum.

On rough or imperfect roads, the sterring wanders alot. My upper control arm bushings were my first priority. I knew they were bad, because when I was doing a brake job I discovered it. With the wheel off, I could grab the control arm and wiggle it in and out. That's what causes the clunking sounds, when you go over bumps. After I took off the control arm on the left side this morning, I grabbed the axle assembly and pulled up on it. the lower ball joint can be wiggled up and down about an 1/8 of an inch! I didn't notice any play in the right side when I wiggled it yesterday. I'm going to check it again when I'm done with the left side. By the way, the Upper control arm bushing replacement is a snap, compared to the timing belt/water pump job! About 2 1/2 hours per side, and mostly tedious as opposed to difficult. John

I'm replacing my upper control arm bushings today, and I noticed that my left lower ball joint is shot. P/N 43340-59016, Dealer price=$129.83, Napa=$114.45, the cheapest on-line is about $70, so far as I've found. I seem to recall a post on this site a few weeks ago, where somebody found balljoints for $45! Were they for the Gen I? John

I replaced the entire leather interior in my 93 Ls400 using a custom (full leather) interior form www.autoleathers.com , it cost me $700.00 for the whole interior and it looks better than OEM and the leather is better quality than Lexus. Let me know how you make out at pnuzzi@nycap.rr.com. ← Did you have a shop fit it all, or DIY? I know I need some new foam for mine, and I'm concerned about quality of foam that installer might use.

The first place to check with these types of problems is the battery and cables. It sounds like one or both of your battery cables may be loose or corroded. Especially check the positive side cable that runs to the main fuse box. Apparently the battery is strong enough to start the car, so it's probably a connection. I was doing routine maint. on my wifes minivan last week. She complained about various lights not working some of the time. There was alot of green fuzz on the positive batt terminal. When I cleaned it off, the large wire from the terminal to the main buss was completely severed, yet still allowing current to pass through the fuzz! After cleanup and re-attachment, all electrical glitches disappeared! I had similar problems on my aircraft when the ground cable was loose. The main cable to the solenoid was making good contact due to the cable stiffness and preload against the clamp, but the strap to the airframe was making intermittent contact, and various lights blinked or would not come on at all, while other systems seemed fine. Good luck!

Daizen sells a bushing kit for 1st Gen LS400, for $99.00 at most of their dealers. The Lexus dealers that handle them want more, usually. I got mine from TM Engineering in Carson, CA. Google Daizen, pick the one for sport-tuning, and click on the suspension link. It took 3 months to get mine. Backordered, it seemed, forever. I haven't done the replacement yet. I'll probably need 3 or 4 days to do the job. The kit includes bushings for upper and lower arms, both sides. The guy who sells them on Ebay jacks up the price a bunch! He wants $60 or more for one side of uppers, and something similar for the lowers. Once I've done mine, I'll post a tutorial with photos and text. It may be awhile before I get to it. John DeCuir '90 LS400 Salinas/Sacramento, CA

270,500 +/-200. I can't remember 'xactly, '90 LS400.

Thanks, guys. I thought I had to pry the box up, but I was afraid of breaking it. Everything plastic on this car is getting a little brittle. I'll try the petty knife, and thanks for the PDF! I hope I never have to remove the whole dash! John

Can somebody tell me what is holding this thing down? I've got the forward screws out, the well-hidden middle screws out( the ones inside the box, forward), but I can't find what's holding it down aft!! There have got to be some screws hidden somewhere! Anybody got a service manual that shows how to remove the center console on a 1990-94 LS400? John DeCuir Salinas/Sacramento, CA

Impressive!! Did you do the timing belt replacement yourself? How difficult was it -- I've purchased the repair manuals and hope to do it myself. Assuming you've had the car since 1990, did you ever have to re-shim the valves (lifters)? Thanks, fkleba ← I did the replacement myself, using a tutorial from this site. You might find the thread in archives if you search "timing belt". It took me about 12 hours over 3 days, partly because I was waiting for parts, and partly 'cause I'm slow and methodical. Now, I could probably do it in 6-8 hours, if nothing went wrong. I bought the car 2 years ago from original owner, and nothing in his records indicated a valve/shim adjustment. John

Sounds like you have a plan of attack. I'm going to replace those bushings someday, after I replace the upper Control arm bushings. I priced the bushings, and the dealer quoted $60 each, and Sewell/lexus-parts.com quoted about $45. Is this what you found? I've got a '90 LS400. John

Look at the cross-section view of the SST at work. You need a piece of pipe with an inside diameter larger than the bushing collar. I would guess 2" would do it. This is the receiver. You need a flat plate of steel at least 1/4" thick (with a hole for the bolt) and about 3" round or square. If you go to the hardware store and buy a short length of pipe with threads, and a threaded cap, you could drill thru the cap , and that would be your receiver cap, instead of a plate. On the rear side, find a socket slightly smaller than the bushing diameter. Buy/find the largest dia. bolt/nut that will fit thru the bushing, long enough to reach thru your assy, and two flat washers. Make sure the bolt has enough thread to allow you to pull the bushing all the way out. If all they have are shoulder bolts with 1" of threads or less, buy a length of all-thread (threaded rod, usually comes in 3 ft. lengths. Put the assy together like in the picture. Crank on the nut(s)/bolt. The socket will pull the bushing forward into the pipe/receiver. Before you start, soak the bushing sleeve with WD40, Rustbuster, or some such penetrating oil to help the whole thing along. Don't get under there with a torch! There's a fuel tank and lines under there, and by the time you got the frame hot enough to expand, the bushing housing will be expanded at the same coefficient. Can you visualize what the tool does now? It's a portable press. Rig up something similar for installation. For assy, you can "dry-ice" freeze the new bushing to give a little clearance, but as soon as it makes contact with the frame, it will start expanding. Hope this helps.

I'm @ 270,700 now in my LS400, 1990. I just checked the compression while replacing the timing belt/waterpump: 165-185 psi, no oil burn, no tranny slippage! They just keep rollin' along! John