blake918

I'm not in to the hubcaps either, but she's still a great looking car. I think your mom is going to love it! B)

The other day we disassembled the LS to change the leaking valve cover gaskets and check the valve clearance. The valves all checked out fine, but we were somewhat befuddled that the valve covers and everything under them was a dark maroon color. I never, ever miss the routine 3k-5k mile oil change with quality oils, OEM filters, new drain plug gasket, etc. I'm guessing the engine is not supposed to be this dark maroon color. Any guesses on why the oil has varnished like this? FWIW, '95 LS, 268,000 miles. The valve covers came off in less than an hour with an air ratchet, very simple and straight forward. I expect the installation to be a little longer since it's always fun to try and remember what screw goes where!

Many airport limo's here are Town Cars.....with over 600,000 miles! (1,000,000 kms) & still going strong on the 4.6L V8. SO I agree they are a very durable engine. ;) I saw a '96 Town Car that was from Canada on Ebay that had almost 700k miles, and the seller said that it has original powertrain! It still looked to be in pretty good shape too. Duh, I completely forgot that the 4.6 has ohc!! Thanks!

I've got heat!! I put the new cap on yesterday, but I only had time to make a short, 10 minute trip in which the heat was still cool at stop lights. This morning I start the car, and immediately after it started, it sounded like Chewbaca was trying to talk to me...it only did it for 2-4 seconds. But now, I have heat even when I'm idling!!!! :D A $12 fix on a LS400...surely, I'm dreaming!! Thanks guys especially ludicrous!

LOL That was a great episode! He should have gone with the Volvo like he originally planned! TIM: Are you the one who bought his LeBaron convertible? GEORGE : Yes! Yes, I'm the one! Hey! So, you know Jon Voight! TIM: Yes! Yes, I went to dental school with him. GEORGE: Jon Voight, the actor? TIM: No. The periodontist.

ROFLMFAO

I noticed that my exhaust smells a little rich in the morning also. Mine has always done (as well as most other cars that I've been around) it, so I accepted it as "normal?" The cat's are in the close vicinity of the driver underneath the car, are they black/burnt on the outside? I'd get the car up on ramps, and poke at all of the exhaust pipes underneath the driver's area to see if anyhting (pipes, heat shields, etc.) wiggles/rattles/etc. I'll be getting mine replaced soon after Christmas when I have the time. I can hear that ticking in my nightmares, and it's making me crazy! :snoooorrrtttt: There is a thread on CL that makes it sound like a cracked EGR pipe is somewhat common on the LS.

UPS dropped off a new cap today. The seal on the old cap looks pretty bad next to the new. I'll test it tomorrow to see if it does anything to my idling heat problem and report back.

The 430 has a 3uzfe not 1uzfe. ;) I was always told and everything I've read says that the 95-97 is a noninterference. But, who really knows?!?!

I saw that car on Ebay a couple weeks ago when it either ended or was ended at a price well under $10,000. The alleged fact that Bill Gates owned the car does nothing for me either! Personally, I think red is a little too much for a LS. :whistles:

Wow, you hit all of the points perfectly!! Where is Carl? I know he has them on his 91...he traded his pretty much new bushings for the Daizens and wrote a helluva tutorial to go along with it!

Stock rear wheel horsepower is not important to me; if I want a sports car, I'd buy one that's designed to operate as so instead of heavily modding a car that isn't intended to do that. All I'm saying is that the 4.6 is very smooth and quiet and can last just as long as a 1uzfe. Is the 4.0 higher quality and more smooth than the 4.6? Most likely, and it should be becuase the cars that it comes in are tens and tens of thousands of dollars more expensive than the Fords. There is an old '96 Town Car on Ebay that has almost 700k miles on its original powertrain. You can name almost any car that you want, and if you take care of it, it will last a very, very long time. They might not "use" oil, but that doesn't mean that they don't leak. We have 2 Lexus cars; I'm speaking from experience. We've had several Fords that have been great cars. The things that break on the Fords don't break on Lexus, and the things that break on Lexus don't break on Fords. Six of one, half dozen the other, so drive whatever tickles your fancy!

Ford's 4.6 is a great engine (as I don't doubt it was based off of the legendary 302!). I know the 4.6s in the Town Cars and Crown Vics can easily go 300k miles. I've seen Town Cars on Ebay that are a few years old and have 250k+ miles on the original powertrain. I think that says something! I drove a new Town Car the other day, and I was most impressed with it. The V8 is very quiet and the trans shifted smoothly. I can't wait until I can "stretch out" in a TC of my own!

Your car is OBD II. Just go back to AutoZone, and tell them it's a 1998 model. ;) They always say '96 because that's when most (or all?) cars became OBD II. The ES was OBD II since '94. AutoZone read many codes on my old 94 ES. I second the O2 sensor guess!

OMG That was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time!

I've only heard good things also. I'm sure they do provide a tighter feel over the cushy, soft rubber bushings that Lexus uses. Their website says that the 95-00 bushings are comming out soon. I think I'm going to try them since they are so much cheaper than the OEM parts, and I'm starting to get some soft clunks from the front end. It'll probably be a summer project. Rob, where did you read/hear the bad reviews on the bushings? Lexls, lextreme, and many others all rave about them...

Personally, I've never been impressed with the HVAC system in my LS. The air is always ice cold, but the fan just doesn't blow hard enough for my liking (certain American cars we've had turn the interior to ice if you left them on high too long). My heater goes from very hot to tepid at stop lights; I've read a few good suggestions on where to start with this problem. Hopefully they'll pan out!

What a tragedy, but the LS stood her ground and kept your fiance safe. I hope your fiance recovers quickly and fully. I'm with Monarch...I'd hate to think what would be left of the car if it wasn't a 4,000lbs tank (I don't drive small cars mainly for that reason).

I'm having the same problem with lukewarm heat at stop lights or what have you except that my fan speed stays constant. My coolant is full, so I'll try a new cap. They're about $10, so I guess that's a good place to start! The gasket did look worn but not in bad shape. I'd be too happy if that cured it!

I'll try that tomorrow! Thanks for the suggestion! My sunroof rattles like hell sometimes, but evenso, I don't find that the cabin gets any quieter with the shade closed. After Steve finished with you, he'd come after me since he spent so much time in teaching me how to restore my paint! LOL Just the mere thought of Blabineaux-Blanco's bedroom makes my stomach churn!

I think noise level is partially a design issue as well as a quality issue. You can design a car with the lowest coefficient of drag, but if you put a $10 piece of weatherstripping on the door, it's going to be all for nothing. I have to agree that my LS is not very quiet on the freeway either. Then again, it does have ~270,000 miles. My problem is the wind noise, and I can't pinpoint it (and the weatherstripping on the front doors is new). I drove a new Town Car the other day, and if my LS was half as quiet as the TC, I'd be thrilled! All very true. I can vouch for this!

It will be really tough to do it with the radiator in. In a timing belt job, taking the rad out is the least of your troubles (remembering what bolts go where is probably the most fun! LOL). If I remember correctly it comes out very quickly (like under 20 minutes). Not to mention, one little slip with a screw driver or ratchet, and the radiator is punctured= $360.

The Interstate battery that is in my LS is about 4 years old, and it's on it's way out. I think that's a pretty decent length of time for a car battery. The past several mornings we've been in the 20s-30s, and the car just barely starts. The battery says it has something like 550 or 600 CCA which isn't cutting it, not to mention it's 4 years old. Interstate makes a model with 800 CCA that I'm going to buy if I can't get them to replace the current battery I have under warranty.

You're right! ;) I had to change the one on my old '94, and it was pretty easy and quick to do. I fought with an excessive flow code for I don't know how long, and then, we finally checked the vsv (it says how to do it in the manual), it was bad, we changed it, and the car didn't run like $hit anymore! The VSV should be around $100.

I saw that story too! A Microsoft product that freezes after a few hours of use? Get outta here!!!! Here's the story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051205/tc_nm/...HBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-