deejay

OK, so, yesterday, my beloved '92 LS400 started slipping out of gear on the way home. I was pretty p***ed off because I was sure I was going to have to buy a new tran$mi$$ion. It was too dark to do anything, so I came home from work at lunch to try to work on the problem. Checked the fluid, wasn't low and was pink and didn't smell burnt. I was sure the trip to the shop was inevitable, but then I noticed some other problems. When I stepped on the brake, the dash display dimmed and the "R"everse indicator came on, even with the shifter in drive. Also found that the back up lights didn't work. Logged into the forum and did a search and quickly found a topic describing symptoms that were just like mine, and a simple solution by hughes369. Turned out that a wire was broken in the bundle of wires attached to the driver's side trunk hinge---exactly as described, down to the color of the wire! Spliced the wire and VOILA! All problems went away. WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE IS ARCHIVED ON THIS FORUM! Sorry for the all-caps and exclaimation points all over. I think I am a little delerious about not having to pay major bucks for a new tranny :D All I can say is---you guys rock!

Haven't noticed any haze buildup, although I will double check that tomorrow. The smell was only briefly there when I started the AC after I noticed the smoking vents. There was a small puff of smoke and an acrid smell---sort of like a burned insulation smell. Now, 3-4 days later, the AC isn't cooling properly at all.

Further news on the AC issue: AC is definitely not cooling as it has in the past. I can only assume a freon leak or an issue with the compressor or compressor clutch. Thinking the smoke I saw earlier might have been something burning out. It still cools somewhat, but not quickly nor as strongly as it used to. :(

Scratching my head on this one. The other day, I drove my 1992 LS400 (121,846 miles) home, parked and went in for about 40 minutes. Came out to go elsewhere and noticed a faint smoke coming from the vents in the center console. When I started the car and pressed the 'Auto" button for the AC, a brief puff of acrid smoke came out. After that, the AC seemed normal. Went on a road trip over the weekend and noticed near the end that the AC did not seem to be cooling as well as normal. This may be imaginary on my part, as my son said that it felt fine to him. It was an incredibly hot day. We live in Florida and are familiar with the phenomenon of an AC blowing a condensate fog due to our ridiculous humidity. This was different. Anyone have any ideas on this one? Thanks in advance for any advice ya'll can offer.

Oh yes I agree. Lexus of Tampa Bay is way overpriced. Im near the USF area. Depending on what you need done, I know a few guys that do cheap, right in front of you-jobs, in return, they are not experts on the Lexus brand, but I usually know what needs to be done, but dont have the tools necessary to do the work. So what type of work do you need to get done? Maybe we can help eachother on some projects if you dont mind getting your hands dirty. ← Hi. Thanks for the reply. I have a number of small things that need doing. For example, the little wooden trim pieces in the front doors that fit around the window buttons have come unglued. Easy to fix, but I don't know the proper adhesive to use. Also, the antenna just stopped working a couple of days ago. Again it is probably fairly easy to fix, but I don't really know how. I don't have much knowledge or experience with doing work on cars, but I certainly don't mind getting my hand dirty. Actually sort of enjoy it. I'm in south Tampa, but go up north fairly often to visit and help out my mother. LMK if you want to try to get together.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good mechanic in the Tampa Bay area for my '92 LS400? Have had some work done at the dealer, but they seem very overpriced to me. Even simple things that cost under $50.00 at most places cost as much as $200 more at the dealer. Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

Hi, Thanks for the reply. It has simply come unglued. There is glue residue on the back of the wood, and I can't see anywhere to snap it in. Now the one on the driver's side is loose, also.

OK, so actually it is an UN-sticky situation. I have a 1992 LS400 with 118K miles. I noticed a rattle the other day and found that the brown wood (looking) piece of trim on the passenger door that fits over the window and door lock buttons had come loose. It looks like it was glued down before. My question is: does anyone know the proper glue to use to reset the trim piece? I am hoping to re secure the piece for another 100K miles or so without causing problems to the material or the part of the door it is glued to. Thanks in advance for any advice you all may offer.

I just had my air suspension converted over to standard suspension. Ordered the kit from strutmasters and had my mechanic do the job. Cost $795 with shipping for the kit and $160 for the installation. To be honest, the ride isn't nearly as soft as it was when my air suspension was working. I just went with the conversion because I figured that if I had the rear air suspension fixed with the arnott replacements (for about what the conversion cost) I would eventually have to replace the front end suspension as well, thus doubling my cost. Local stealership wanted over $2K for fixing the rear end and over $3K for a conversion. Figured I got out fairly inexpensively, considering. Going to take the car back to my mechanic to have some rubber dampeners removed from the rear shocks. Should soften the ride a bit more. Have to have him disable the dash light as well. He forgot to do that when he did the install. Good luck with what ever you decide to do!

Greetings to the group. Sooooooo OK. The $dealer$ has said that the problem with my air suspension is because of leaks in both rear shocks. Only charged me $371 for that diagnosis. Wants over $2K to replace the shocks or over $3K to convert to standard shocks. I am researching alternatives. One is remanufactured Lexus air struts from Arnott for $350 each plus the cost of labor to install. The other is several conversion kits available on the web for around $750 plus the cost to install. My question is: Does anyone have experience with either of these alternatives? If so, how did it work out? Did you notice any difference in the ride between air suspension or standard suspension? Did anyone install air or standard shocks themselves? How hard was it? I appreciate any input anyone can offer. Thanks in advance for your help. '92 LS400 with 118,000

I was thinking about this as an option. The other would be to replace all the air struts with standard struts. If anyone has done this, I would like to know how it affected the ride? I don't want to lose the beautiful ride I get (normally) in this car. What sort of shocks are appropriate for the car?

Not sure if this is the case as this is no slow let down. The rear end will be fine and then it won't. The change in height takes a minute at most. Appreciate the info on the retrofit, however. If the bleed/fill valve is the problem, I will hang on to the air suspension system a bit longer. If the struts start to go, however, I will look into the retrofit with hydraulic shocks. Thanks for your reply.

Yeah, this sounds like a real possibility. Where is that valve located? Is it the thing behind the first aid kit in the trunk? Or is it something I have to take the seats out to get at? Thanks for your suggestion

Greetings to the group. Sooooo, I had posted earlier that the air suspension seemed to be causing a rough ride in my 92 LS400. I took it to the dealer and they reset the computer and that seemed to fix it. Not so fast. The rear air shocks have started to randomly "let down" until the rear of the car is just riding on springs. Not a pleasant ride at all. Can't be a leak, because they will be fine for days and then drop without warning. Sometimes it does it when the car is parked, sometimes when I am driving. Have an appointment at the dealer's for monday, but thought I would post this to the group and see if anyone has any ideas as to what could be the cause --- and what it is going to cost to fix. I have also considered having the air shocks replaced with regular shocks. Has anyone done this? If so, how did it turn out? Thanks in advance for any help and/or advice.

OK, went to the $dealer$ and had them run a diagnostic. There was some sort of error code being sent that kept the compressor running constantly. Once it was reset, the problem went away. The mechanic said that it was basically making the car act like a low rider, FWIW.

Hello everyone. I have a 1992 LS400 with a little over 117K miles on it. The other day I was driving over to my brother in laws and the car seemed to actually increase the bumpiness of the road. felt like I was going to bang my head on the roof on some bumps. The ride back (over the same roads) was the usual, smooth and quiet ride. Has anyone else had this experience? Or am I just crazy? I should mention that the car has the air suspension system, which I suspect is possibly heading south. Any enlightenment would be appreciated.