nc211

For straight OEM parts at good prices, I use www.lexuspartsonline.com we've all got our favorites on here. Most are listed / linked from www.parts.com. Make sure you don't make the same mistake I made and forget to replace the upper strut bumper. Since you've got to take them out anyway, do yourself a favor and replace them. They are number #17 on the attachement....$13 and change from my website.

THE APPLE STORE!!! Go to www.apple.com and search around for their retail section. Type in your Zip code to find the nearest one...and they'll have them. If you're going to the chain stores "Best Buy, Circuit City" you're out of luck. Apple is holding back their supply and stocking their own shelves "good idea" to draw in the customers to their OWN stores. Had same problem here, and in SW Florida. Went to the Apple store over in Durham, and loandbehold....tons of I-pods...minis, nanos, regulars...U2's...you name it....it's there, and in all the colors...plus all the accesories. Prices aren't that bad, infact a little cheaper than the chain stores.

Thanks guys for the information!! I will probably tackle this in the next few months. I flushed my fluid a couple weeks ago, and the steering firmed up a bit....a little too much I think. So I checked it yesterday....and it was way over filled. So I pulled some back out "engine was cold, not started yet" back to the cold setting.....steering like it should again. I simply had too much fluid in there...too much pressure. One finger steering again! Oh soooo nice. ;) But the screen I'm sure is due for a cleaning soon. Probably in the spring when it warms up.

I've noticed now that it's cold out, the car's engine sounds louder. It sounds like the muffler under the front seat area is getting weak. I'm getting a good bit more of that "exhaust" rumble noise. I have also noticed a stronger than usual exhaust/fuel smell first thing in the morning at startup. It's coooold outside too. Question: How long do these mufflers usually last? Mine are all original.

The reason why I'm on the hunt now for some of these possible issues is because the cold weather tends to make the car show it's pending problems more. With the tax refund season coming up...I'm making a list...and checking it twice.

1) Tires

2) Weather Strip around front doors

3) Air Filter

Are on the list for sure.

Thinking about:

1) Muffler(s)

2) Alternator parts or new one possibly

Oh yeah, my cel is not on..infact the thing has never come on.

Thanks guys!

Well, got the new battery in, but it's still doing it. The head lights seem to be dimmer than usual. The lenses are clean. Think I'll get the alternator checked for output this week at autozone. I'm wondering if I didn't zap it when I flushed the pwer steering fluid....it did get a little messy under there, even with a shop rag under the cannister. Question: Anyone have the posts about those alternator bushing thread parts to replace handy?

My guess is that the strut is getting weak and starting to leak within the two chambers inside the strut itself. There is a little rubber gasket inside of there that can wear out over time and use and eventually lets the pressure side of the strut gasses escape to the other side of the dampening side. Or so it was explained to me from the dealership when they charged me a ton of money for my $48 front right strut last winter.

Woa!! When did they change this setup? lol. Our 96 is in the shop right now for the very same reason. My dad hit a pothole while driving and screwd up both left side airbags. They repalced them and the car still kept sagging so they think its a nylon hose that might be leaking. We'll find out more monday. Sorry I cant be more helpful. Hopefully yours is just a hose to?

thanks

Mine is a standard gas strut not the air suspension.

Quick question, and pleae excuse me if it's a dumb one : When you take off these filter housings, does the powersteering fluid "atf" drain out too? I'm trying to judge the messiness of this project. Thanks guys!

Time to add to my signature. Went to sears and bought the strongest Die Hard they had for $86. 700 cold crank amps / 8 year warranty. Hope this thing doesn't spin the starter right out of the engine bay! Hahaha

Steve....LOVE what you've done to the place! I'm diggin' the new interface and style! Good deal!

Wow ...where did this new interface come from???? NICE SET UP LOC! Me likey! It was my recent $50 Gold membership deposit that did it right? Come on, don't lie ;)

Man, we gotta stop all of this reply with the other's dude's quotes...I get lost in the details. Hahaha. JC...it's all good man. I agree with ya'!

The flaws are not in the manufacturing stage, they're in the designing stage. So I agree, and respectfully disagree with your post. Asian culture puts a ton of emphasise on getting it perfect the first time, as were American emphasise is the same, but polluted with the "we expect glitches and we'll fix them as they come". Many asian cars are actually built here in the states by those same Union boys and girls that build those fords and so forth. Nissan is in Tenn, Hyndai is in Bama', Benz is in Bama' too, and several others. It's in the design....not in the manufacturing stage that create the flaws. Many years ago there was an internal industry debate between automakers on what worked best, what worked worst. European automakers barked at the theory of 3 piece frame. They've stuck with the same frame for several car models...not one frame for one model. Then all of the sudden Chrystler get's their hands on Benz....and well....you know the rest. It's in the design....not in the construction. If you design crap....you build crap. All costs aside. As GM is learning the hard way...designing cheap = costs more to keep.

Domestic car reliability has been improving and last year (after 25+ years of trying) domestics surpass Europeans in terms of reliabitity, but still not good enough for me to put one in my garage.

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I read heard on NPR this week that according to JD Power - American cars are about even with the !Removed! in first year reliability, but everything falls apart shortly after.

It's good to see tht they are getting better in terms of reliability. Now if we could just get an American company to come up with an appealing design idea or two.....

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LOL, Yes it be nice to know that after the warranty expires and maybe after its actually paid for you could enjoy an american vehichle with only normal maintenance. Well one year at a time mayber is better than nothing..lol

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Not to play spoiler or anything - but obviously domestic products cost a heck of a lot more to produce. The main Ford truck plant is in my hometown. Many of their employees are knocking down 70-100K per year and have benefits like crazy. Hard working folks deserve good pay and folks have to stick with the design, so GM, Ford etc. have to compromise somewhere, so it might as well be parts, nuts and bolts, cowlings, fittings etc. I owned a 2000 Ford Taurus and I bet I took it to the dealer 6 times my first year of ownership. My hood broke, my door handle, the fan blower, the ignition went out, the alarm locked the whole electrical system down. I traded it in on my Lexus - a GI-normous improvement. When you pay folks 2 bucks a day to build your cars, I guess you can afford to put more into engineering quality and parts. Lastly, I think high end Asian cars are probably overbuilt to prove their reliability for long term growth. Lexus, Infinity and Acura are all about 15 years old. These automakers are looking to establish a quick reputation of quality; this all to ensure longterm success. And, that they have done. You couldn't do that by building ... 2cts

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Hahahaha! I'd like to think that I left the "burning nuts" back in my 20's.

We're actually ok here in Raleigh, the freeze line starts about 30 miles west of us in Chapel Hill. We were right on the line last night, and man was I praying we got some! I did not want to go into the office today at all. Had my fire wood all ready, snacks, beer and some movies...but...just cold rain...and a lot of it.

Lexls, curious, how long have you had them on the car? By the way...kickas* website you got man! I think it's safe to say that I speak for all of us when I say THANKS!!

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!

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I'm here, just been super busy :)

As I said in my tutorial, the ride is more firm without clunks. Even my new UCA's clunked a bit going over big bumps, now that's not the case. I personally love the feel with the new bushings, but they may not be for everyone. It still rides like a Lexus, just not quite as "loose." I didn't get any squeeking until we got in the single digits here...or maybe it was below zero, not sure, but it was damn cold. Yes, I lubed them fully when installing so this may be the big drawback. Anyway, I'm not worrying about it because it's not that cold for very long here. I think most of you are in warmer climates than me so no big deal. It's hard to describe if you'll like the bushings or not, you just have to ride in a car with them installed or risk it. In the end the choice is pretty simple in my eyes though; if you want your suspension a few notches firmer then install the Daizen bushings. There are +'s and -'s to everything.

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Oh...ok! I didn't know that part of the story. I thought you were taking the car to him to diagnoise the problem, he says "xyz part is bad, you need a new one and they're $XXX amount, I can get it tomorrow". But if you're just employing his labor, than nevermind my post. I have a couple indi's here that I too take them the parts to install for me.

Well, no one is obliged to go to him; it's just my opinion, in comparison to what I get when I go to a dealer, where they recommend that I replace everything. 

I had had a power steering rack leak for years, the power steering pump was leaking, the hoses were 12 years old and one of them had been replaced due to leaks.  It was my decision (not my mechanics!) to go with all new (or rebuilt) components. I did this on the advice of Maval, who said the LS400 is the ONLY make/model of car that they recommend all components of the PS system be replaced at one go. 

I purchased rebuilt Maval (or at least thought I did), because they assured me that the seals they use in the rack and the pump were of a quality that would withstand the heat of the engine on this make/model car...and they also said Lexus has been aware for some time of the constant 'issues' with the power steering system (components leaking after only being in the car for three years or so). Since I was on my FOURTH PS pump (all of these pumps replaced piecemeal by the dealer, btw), and my THIRD RACK (also all done by a dealer) I decided to get rebuilts from Maval for the lifetime warranty.  The 'piecemeal' fixes never ever worked.  If the pump leaked, then next year it would be a hose and the following year the rack.  A vicious cycle, if you ask me, and I was tired of it.

So, yes, spend $1500 on an entire new system, get a lifetime warranty on those parts, then if anything goes wrong in a few years, I am covered, at least on replacement parts. 

This guy charged me a fraction of what the dealer quoted me on putting in the PS system, and he did a great job.  He also did a lot of diagnostic work (as a followup) for free.  I don't see it as his responsiblity AT ALL that I was sold a crap part, with a bad solenoid. 

If you want to pay 2K+ at the dealer for timing belt service, be my guest.  I can get the same work done for $800 or so by this guy, and I guarantee you the work will be of the same or superior quality as the work I get done at the dealer.  I watched one mechanic (at the dealer) years ago puzzle and puzzle over how to replace a bulb in my tailight.  He finally called someone over to help him. Now THAT's scary.

But I digress: The bad solenoid on my 'new' rebuilt rack and pinion (the one that was causing the stiff power steering) was already on the 'new' rebuilt Maval rack that I gave the mechanic.  Post install, when we realized the steering was stiff, he immediately suggested switching out the solenoids (using my original instead) and I refused, reasoning that surely I would be better off with a 'newer' rebuilt component.  Why would I want to put in an 'old' solenoid in my new rebuilt rack?  Surely there was something else causing the stiff steering. I spent weeks looking for other causes for stiff steering.  Yesterday, without asking me (because I would have said 'no', don't do that) he switched out the solenoids and bingo, problem solved. 

The only thing I fault him for is an overfill on the fluids when he did some other intermediate service work, but I'll cut him some slack because of 'settling' in and my not going back the next day to have him check it a day later. 

It took me a very long while to locate someone I could go to outside of the 'Dark Side' as someone here once put it, and I now have not one, but three options -- three indie shops that I know of -- none of them located terribly near me -- but they are all much more reasonable in price than the dealer and they have factory trained mechs to work on Lexus.  Good enough for me...   

My car has slightly more than 66K miles on it (now) and as I said, that was my decision, not his.  I have no problem at all investing some cash in this car, given that I have had virtually no subtantial outlays for repairs (almost all were covered by warranty).  So that doesn't bother me at all. What bothers me is thinking that I may have been sold parts that are not genuine Maval rebuilds. I am still investigating those issues...

Would you rather than I spent 3 grand at the dealer to replace the PS system?  Because that's the impression I am getting. 

If he's so good, then how come he let you pour $1,500 into a LS400 power steering system that has only 66,000 miles on it? 

An honest and competent mechanic would have told you:

To eliminate fluid leaks and solve the stiff steering your PS system just needs the solenoid filter cleaned, the fluid changed with $2 worth of new fluid, the PS pump resealed with a $26 Lexus pump reseal kit and a new $67 air control valve installed on the PS pump. 

And why is he now suggesting replacing the entire throttle body on your 66,000 mile car to solve an occassional stalling problem when the TB is designed to last hundreds of thousands of miles?

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No one is saying you're wrong. But we're not talking about the best engines that are or can be modified, we're talking about the best engines any joe-shmo-from-kookamoo can buy anywhere and will drive them under normal circumstances...as initially designed and constructed by the manufactor. Now if you're saying that your customized toyota V8 engine will out last and not wear as fast as a standard GM V8 with none of that modification stuff...well I'd have to see it to believe it.

I think V8's in general are the most reliable engines out there for the simple fact that you don't have to strangle them to get up to speed = less wear and tear. You take a 4 banger, and it's eating up it's power-band all the time to get around which accelerates the wear. No doubt in my mind that the Jap's have the best 4 banger engines for durabily and comfort. 6 cylinders are ok, but they've upped the compression and so forth these days to squeez 300hp out of them, that again you're revving up higher to scoot around. Take a V8 and under normal operating conditions, you're usually using about 25% of it's ability to scoot around. But the real fun happens when you tap into the remaining 75% and start haulin' some tail! You could not give me an american 4 cylinder engine. But I'll take an american V8 any day...especially the Chevy 350, even though it'll cost more in components over the years, still a damn good engine!

Just a quick story on OEM V. Diazen. This time last year my car had squeeks in the suspension, and it rode very rough over concrete and such. I replaced everything with oem parts in the suspension. It's tough to gauge the difference between the old and new when it's warm outside, as the rubber softens up due to the heat. But now that it's cold, I can tell a huge difference in the car's ride and composure with the new parts installed. It takes bumps and rough pavement extremely well, as one would expect a LS400 to do. My only concern with the Diazens outside of the potential squeeking noise is thier composure when it's below freezing outside. Plastic tends to harden up when it freezes "as does rubber". But rubber still gives here and there, as where plastic won't. But again, I'm just thinking outloud here and have no real experience with the diazen products. I can easily see the benefits of both sides of the question. My question is the drawbacks and which one has more. OEM is costly, but it's oem spec. Diazen is not as costly, and compared to oem, it's practically free. But the feel of the car, especially when the conditions outside are less than perfect, is what makes me say oem is worth the cost. But I plan on keeping my car for a long long time. Basically I want to keep for as long as it wants to keep me as it's owner! And judging by Blake's mileage, and the help of this forum, I have a feeling that will be a long time!

Whew...that's great to hear! I was hoping it was just the battery. Rf, what kind did you get? I've been a fan of DieHard for years. Got any other recommendations for the LS400?

Edit: What is the difference between a "Southern" and a "Northern" battery?? Never heard of this, and which one would a North Carolina guy use? It gets hot like the south is known for, but it also gets cold "down into the teens at night sometimes". Not like International Falls type cold though of -1,000 degrees or anything.

No real reason for this other than to tell the story. I left my keys outside last while collecting some firewood. Woke up this morning to find them frozen to the deck! :chairshot: I pressed the unlock botton and heard "beep beep". :o Damn thing is tough! :D But glad I've got another one for back up just incase. ;)

I've begun to notice with the temp's falling that when I put my foot on the brakes and the rear lights come on, the front's dim "flicker". The interior lights don't seem to dim, or not so much that I can tell. The car starts up fine in the morning, although did notice a slight little drag this morning after a night of freezing rain / mix. I'm thinking it's time for a new battery. Mine looks pretty bad and probably 3 + years old. I don't think it's the alternator going bad because everything else works fine. I just have begun to notice the dimming now too since it's getting cold.

Yes Denny, you are correct. They've got all the bushings for the 1st generation models.

Am I correct in understanding that you can replace the upper control arm bushings with these as opposed to replacing the whole control arm assembly?

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The 1.8T is a VW engine that has been around for 20+years. It is the exact same engine DNA that was in the 1980's GTI, Jetta's, Fox's, Scirraco's and Quatro's. My very first car was a 1987 VW Golf GT. They made the Golf "GT" in 87 and 1st quarter 88 based upon the theory that some people would rather have an 8 valve engine rather than their new, fantsy 16 V 1.8 engine. And they had too much inventory for the 8 valve version sitting around to walk away from. The HP went from 105 to 123 due to the doubling in valves. Anywho.. I forgot to mention, and I'm probably shooting myself in the foot here.....are you suprised?.... the shadow was a 1985, minivan was a 94', BMW was a 92' and my uncle's 300M was a 99'. I think Mitshu came into play right around the first "talon/eclipse/eagle" in 88? I remember having a Road and Track talking about "Diamer" becoming part of "Chrystler" and the first production model was that all-wheel-drive turbo Eclipse. Eagle's version was the Talon. Might be a little fuzzy on the name association "It was Vanilla Ice days after all", but I'm pretty close.

Anywho, back to the original post...Put a German engine with 60k next to a Jap engine, with all things being equal, and you tell me which one feels tighter, smoother and better. Put an american engine "excluding the 350, 301 and all other american V8's of course" with 15k miles against a Jap engine with 3x the milage...all things being equal, and tell me which one feels tighter, smoother and better. I'm a man of honest respect for all opinions, no matter what the basis is for the conversation. But in my opinion....time tells the tale....and the Jap engines' past speak for themselves.

www.lexuspartsonline.com

Thanks Threadcutter, but that looks like a whole lot of work to clean the throttle body.  I'd rather spend the 100.00 and hope they clean it as good as the tutorial was done.  Thanks again.  If I need to change the throttle body then I probably would do this considering the big difference in cost it would definitely be worth it then.  However, don't know anywhere to purchase a throttle body for an LS400.

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SWO3ES, I respectfully disagree with you on this one. My brother had a dodge "chrystler" shadow that would shut off in the rain, and that thing leaked everything it held too. My uncle had the 300M that would do the same thing, and a few blow seals and so forth. Our old Town and Country minivan blew out at 54k miles. Our 92' BMW 325ic had several glitches in the engine, but mostly electrical related. I don't know much about Ford though, never had one in the family circle, other than my parents retirement S. Florida "Del Boca Vista, Phase II crusty old !Removed! territory" community, and it's a 2000 with only 9,500 miles on it. Only problems with that car are the flat spots on the tires from sitting so long.

The engine itself may be fine. I think our minivan might have just been a glitch. But in my honest opinion, it's all the components attached to the engine that makes the engine good or not, like the electricals, pumps and so forth. We've always maintained our cars like true finactical freaks too. I've met several owners of these cars that love them and have had no problems, but have met more owners of these cars that did have engine problems than I have of owners of Toyota engines.

Why? BMW, Chrysler, and Ford have always manufactured excellent engines.

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Prix, I can't argue with monarch's suggestion, if this is the guy that has been giving you this advice over the problems. In all honesty man, someone is giving you some boogus advice on what needs to be done 1st to fix a problem. Those suggestions are what the dealership would recommend to make money on the parts. Are you sure this guy isn't getting these parts at deep discount "dealer internal prices" and making his spread in profits on selling you them? I understand the cheap hourly rate and letting you use his own car and all, but if he's making up for it on the back side in selling you the parts that don't need to be replaced in the first place, then I have to agree with monarch and you're not getting that good of a deal...even if he is very nice. When it comes to money, it ain't personal, it's business. I'd gladly shake your hand, borrow my own car and buy you a beer if you were willing to make me lots of money.