914lps

Call around and find a freindly dealer. The can run the car using the vin. They can then tell you. Also please let me know if you like the work this guy does on your seats and cost etc. Hope this helps.

I'm a strong believer in preventive measures. I also understand that if you are dealing with a lot of labor, and small parts cost. It is best and smartest to replace all those inexpensive parts along the way. Just so they are done. I know If my water pump went out I would replace the timing belt broken or not, just so I would not have to do it again. As for do it yourself. Man I can work on and fix just about anything. But when it comes to cars.... I tend to fix one thing and brake something along the way. So, I tend to only do very small things. It's really strange. I can work on a boat motor, but let me work on a car, and things tend to go wrong. It is just one of those strange things. But boat engines are much simpler and you have lots more room to work in. Part of the reason I’m asking about how much time, is a locale mechanic who is a nice guy, wants to work on the Lexus, as he “likes to get into cars he has never worked on before. He likes to learn about them and he likes to see “how” that car does things”. He is a nice guy and is honest etc. He is willing to take on any job, as long as I have some kind of guide to follow. His labor rate is $55.00 per hour. He will do the work himself, not one of his employees. As for the time he will charge. He states he will adjust the time he spends, down, to adjust for the learning curve. Am, extremity inclined to have him do this stuff, as I’m not that good with car’s. And he has all the tools. I also know if he “brakes it. He will tell me and eat the cost if it was his fault.

If a battery goes dead 2 to 3 times, it will never hold a full and complet charge again. If it keeps going dead, it will hold less and less of a charge. Unless it isa "deap cycle" It should last more then a week, so I would agree the battery is not at it's best. As for how to avoid geting stuck with a dead battery. Two things. Get a small self contaned jump start unit, and keep it charged. Take it with you when you go to start the car. They run $30.00 to over $100.00. The other thing is to find a small solor battery charger. It is a small solor cell abut 2 inch by 12 inch. They are made to keep a small charge going into a car, boat, or RV battery. As long as some sun light hits the cell.

How much time on average should it take an experienced mechanic with all the needed tools to do the tune up (wires and plugs), if this is their first time on a Lexus and their using the tutorials.

I have been reading the posts for about a month and a half. I’m getting smarter on and about my car. I think all you kind folks. And to show my thanks, I’m going to pick your minds some more. It seems like every post I have read about replacing a timing belt, be it the school of fix it before it goes out, or those that say, let her brake, then fix it. Everyone seems to do the water pump at the same time. Why? Is it simply because most of the work to replace the pump is done at that time, so for the cost of a water pump do it??? Or is there more of a reason. And how much time on average should it take an experienced mechanic with all the needed tools to do the job, if this is their first time on a Lexus and their using the tutorials. Thanks

I should only keep my house as clean as I keep my car. I also look at it this way. A "New Car" that I would be "happy" driving, with the power and comfort I want would cost me at least $400.00 a month in payments. And it would be loosing a lot of value every year. My 91 LS cost me $6,000.00 a little on the high side but a fair price as it was my dad's car. I have had it one year, and 20 to 30 thousand miles. Other then gas and servicing I have not spent a dime on it till now. I got nailed 100.00 buck to replace a front brake line. Now a tune up doing it myself so lets say $200.00 for plugs and wires, and that is good for 60,000 miles. And I need to fix the Idle valve. I may have to replace it at $600.00 Spending $1,000.00 on repair work a year on any "used" car is not out of line to keep it in top shape. And the car is now worth $4,500.00, so I'm out $2,500.00 for having and using the car for a year and a half. How much would I be out on a new car with the car payments, loss of value, and extra insurance cost??? A lot more? I bought my 84 Saab 900 turbo used with 90,000 miles on it. I paid $6,000.00. It now has 300,000 + miles on it. 3 years ago I had it appraised as cars of it's age and condition were very hard to find, and if totaled again, it would make dealing with the insurance company not so hard. It appraised out for almost $7,000.00. And in fact It got hit about six months later. The insurance company totaled it, and with me keeping the car, they paid me $6,000.00. And during the time I was waiting to settle with them I paid $3000.00 to have the car completely restored. I'm getting ready to have it appraised again. It should be up to about $9,000.00 So if you keep that car in good shape and running. You get the un of having it, and your investment starts to pay off..... If I clean up the Lexus I will have it appraised every two to three years. Should it get hit, the appraisal cost of $100.00 to $200.00 is cheep, because then the insurance company has to shut up and pretty much is stuck with the appraised value. B)

You have to be totally nuts and out of your mind to get attached to a car. It is just a piece of metal. If it's been hit, or getting expensive. Dump it and get a new one!... At least that is what my friend have told me over and over and over... Again... I have an 84 Saab. It has been hit more then I want to think about. It has been declared a total 3 times by insurance companies. I bought the salvage rights from them and rebuilt the car. I still have it. 300,000 + miles and looks almost new, inside and out (My friends remind me, I have replaced a lot of the car and more then once). I should say goodbye to it, but can't really bare the thought. I just really like the car.... OK, it is more then "Like". Oh, what is it with uninsured drivers hitting nice cars! All three times I got nailed by some jerk with no license and no insurance. Two times I was stopped at a traffic light (you know, a red light), and got re-ended by one of those brain dead folk. In fact got smacked in the Lexus. Only one time, so fair. But it was a guy with no license, no insurance, and he rear ended me as I sat in traffic! I have had my 91 LS 400 for about a year and a half. I keep it extremely well maintained mechanically. It needs some body work and paint. It spent most of it's life in Los Angeles, and the body and paint show what the folks in Los Angeles can do to a car in a parking lot with there doors, and carts! I have been resisting the voice in my head to comply restore the car. Because if I do, I will never part with it....... Hay I even get upset when the 4x4 gets a scratch on it from 4 wheeling, and that is about the only thing I use the truck for!, That and pulling the boat. It's the only reason I bought the truck. But I fixed it up, and now I'm "Involved with it". I'm afraid I'm losing that battle on the Lexus. More likely then not, I'll totally clean it up, because that is what I do with the cars I own. Or should I spend the bucks on a psychiatrist ????? :P

It's not if I do it, but when. I would expect to do it in the next 30 days or so. If you want the old ones make me an offer. But first I have to deal with a tune up, and trying to fix the Idle control valve. I f I fix the valve great. If not I'm looking at 600.00 to replace the dame thing. So right now and for the next week the lexus's top speed is zero. Not having a good car week. My 84 Saab decided to have a radietor leak... Getting fixed now. So, I'm driving the 4x4 truck around. Good thing about having 3 cars. One is always running. Bad thing, is paying to keep 3 cars running

I have had the car for about a year and a half. It was my dad's, he bought it new. He had to stop driving, so I bought the car from him. I have put at least 25,000 miles on it. Most of it high speed cross country driving. On the same roads. So, I have noticed the difference in the ride. I also have no doubt the added forces of the speeds did not help. So I know the struts are starting to go out. But because of the way I drive, I can not let them get any worse. Like I said I drive carefully. When in a major metropolitan city I behave and stick to the flow of traffic. This is also why I do not mess around with maintaining the car. I keep it in good shape, and inspect it. Keep the windows extremely clean. I keep the car aligned, good tires, good pressure, and have the car looked at by a mechanic when I do my oil changes every 3,000 miles. I also change out all fluids at least 2 times a year. I have had high speed driving training. And like I said, there is a difference between going fast and speeding or driving unsafely. If the conditions are bad, I slow down as much as needed. In fact in bad weather even in 75 mile per hour areas I will slow down as much as needed to maintain safety. Even if it is 40 miles an hour or less. And it’s not just weather that I will slow down for. It is any condition. The car, traffic, construction, the road condition, or even going though open range country. I hope you understand. I’m a strong believer in the “basic” speed law, of driving only as fast as is safe to do so. I have seen the results of bad driving etc. I’ve been they guy pulling the bodies out of cars, or picking up the body parts, etc. My high speed driving is done on long stretches of open desert roads. And even though the speed limit is 75, most ties the semi rigs are doing 85 to 90. My cop friends have told me that if a driver is driving safely, but only speeding, most of the time they will ignore a car going up to 90. Around here the Highway Patrol curses at 120 to 130. I hate to think what goes on in Montana, as folks there are us to no daytime limit ( I think they went back to a limit). Around here most of the time open roads. Good weather and no traffic. I get by going faster as I do it carefully, and if pulled over.... Lets just say buddies don't write buddies tickets for just speeding.

Sorry if I’m not getting it??? Are you saying that your heater is not warming up? If so, I would not think it is a trapped air bubble, as the unit not heating up would indicate that the heater valve is not opening, or the line is blocked???

Thanks for the input. I'm not a great do it yourselfer on cars. So I'll have this done for me. $100.00 for labor sounds real good. I can live with that. I know about the rear seat. I have seen the how to on Lexis.com. You would not want worn out or going out shocks. Not only will bad shocks hurt your car (eats tires), but they can become a danger. I know mine are getting soft. If I bonce the back of the car, it does not leval off as fast as it should. Also on some of the roads I drive, on the up and down dips, I bottomed out doing 110 miles an hour. Not a good thing (bottoming out). 8 months ago it did not do that. So, I'm slowing down on those roads to about 90, and the ride is o.k. Just for the record, I only do speeds like this with no other cars in site, daylight, good weather, and very stright roads. If you are wounding... I have not yet toped the car out. My GPS has recorded a top sped of about 138 , and I know the car had more. This car can and will curse allong all day at 110 to 120. And just for the record... No tickets on my DMV... None. I do drive fast, but only when safe, on roads I know.

At 115,000 miles the rear struts are getting soft. Fronts are still real solid. But I need to start thinking about changing out the back units. I have at most another 10,000 miles or so before I must do it. So, what do you folks recommend as replacements? After market Vs., OEM. I do not have the Auto suspension

I vacation in Lk. Havasu and have MANY contacts out there and the surrounding area. B) ← Add me to your contact list. Next time you are out this way. I would be happy to take you and your family out on the boat. Again thank you.

On the spry I use to clean the valve. I would assume (a bad thing to do) that a good choke and carb cleaner would be OK to use and not mess up the O2 sensor unit or the catalytic converter. On the trimming belt. When the mechanic that looked at the car looked at the valve, he took enough parts off to see the belt. It "Looked" ok, but told me if I decide to replace the distributor caps, when I do the wires and plugs, I may want to do the belt also. But he did confirm, that if the belt goes when driving, the car shuts down, but does not eat the engine. One other thought. I’m going to replace all the plugs. But should I just test the wires and replace as needed or just throw in a new set. I’m sure I need about 2 or 3 new wires. I hope to find the time to get into the cleaning of the valve by Saterday. Well post the results.

Yes it was very black. Should I just take it off and spay the you know what out of it with carb cleaner? And should I spray the cleaner into the opening that I take it out of? Sounds like I have nothing to loose but time on trying to clean it.

So how does a guy in MN know a guy in AZ?

Best i can do: IDLE SPEED CONTROL, LS400, SC400 90-92 List Price: $697.54 Your Price: $523.16 best i can do. ← The price is good I'll be in touch with you. As for the guy saying to clean it: A mechanic diagnosed it. He took the part off and tested it. It tested bad. So how would cleaning it help, and how do you clean it???? Test it etc…??

I found out my idle surging was in fact a bad Idle Control Valve. It just died on it’s own. Unrelated to the water that got onto the engine. Unit will not move even when jumped, etc., and code readout states it is also bad. The mechanic says he can order one for $725.00! O.K. I found one online for $600.00, but come on! What is in this thing that they are charging $600.00! I can buy one hell of a nice TV for less, or a great digital SLR camera!…… Any suggestions on saving on this? I can’t really go without fixing it.. I have two other cars, so the Lexus will sit till I decide what to do. Also I need new plugs and wires. The water did mess them up. The car has 116,000 miles on it. Last tune up etc., was at 60,000 miles major service. Any thoughts on if I should replace the “distributor” caps also. And the timing belt???? Open to any and all thoughts. Thank you.

Thanks, guy does seem to know Lexus. Bad news is it is the idle control valve.... He charged me $45.00 to check it out etc. Will use them again.

I found out my idle surging was in fact a bad Idle Control Valve. The unit is dead, and will not even move when jumpers are put on it. Looks like it just dead on it's own. No sign of water getting to it. The mechanic says he can order one for $725.00! O.K. I found one online for $600.00, but come on! What is in this thing that they are charging $600.00! I can buy one hell of a nice TV for less, or a great digital SLR camera!…… Any suggestions on saving on this? I can’t really go without fixing it.. I have two other cars, so the Lexus will sit till I decide what to do. Also I need new plugs and wires. Water did mess up the plugs and wires. The car has 116,000 miles on it. Last tune up etc., was at 60,000 miles. Any thoughts on if I should replace the “distributor” caps also (they look ok). And the timing belt???? Open to any and all thoughts. Thank you.

If what you say is true. The local dealer at best has employees that are inept. At worst they are lyres and cheats. You really think dressing nice is going to make them a good place to due business with. I would stay away from them.

It is not due to the leather on mine. It is in good shape. The foam also seems ok. If you push on it with your hand it pushes back and retains it shape. For comparison I have an 84 Saab with over 300,000 miles ( the Lexus only has 100,000 miles). And I care for the leather with "Mothers" Leather cleaner and conditioner "Gold". One of the best products I have found. The guy that redid my truck seats told me the foam is in good shape. Just real thin. Talked to a guy that makes custom sheep skins at about 400.00 each. He tells me he has always had complaints on the early LS400's. So, I say it is a bad seat design. My friend has an old supra the one that first came out with the little bulb you squeeze to inflate the lumbar support. His seats are still comfy. Old and used, but comfy.... Also the pasanger seat on my car has barly been used, and has the same feel as the drivers seat. I would like to know more about those "gel" inserts. Like where can I get one. P.S. Is there an icone for a sore butt......

Nice to know I'm not alone on this. Everyone that is in the front seat for more then an 1 1/2 hours complains. I do not get it. Every other car I have been in has better seat bottoms. For what this car cost new... The seats should have been great. I have treid playing with all the ajustments. No help. The bottom of the seats are just plan hard. The seat backs are good, but my poor butt...As for the wallet I always carry it in the front pocket. Much harder for Pick Pockets to get it. I'm thinling about sheep skin covers for the front, to add some padding.

I have had my 91 LS 400 for about one year now. I find the front seats very hard on my butt. My pasangers have complained also. After about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours man, my butt hurts. I talked to a guy that recovered my truck seats for me. He told me he could put new foam in, but it would not realy help. It is the way the seat is made. Any ideas???? How do your seats feel????

I have a 91 and the remote on mine is worthless I do not use it any more. I have replaced batteries. Even spent the bucks on a new one and so on, but at best it only works 50% of the time and then I have to be close enough to the door that I can just put the key in, and stop hiting the bottun over and over agian.