nc211

I just got my car back from the shop where I had new pads put on the front. I also had them replace the steering rack cushions "grommets". ArmyofOne told me a few months ago they're good to replace. When they wear out, the rack can bounce up and down on the chassis, causing a rattle and vibration throught the steering wheel. I had a vibration coming through the wheel, but not too bad. Well, the new ones are in...took 10 minutes to do...and it sure did make a nice difference in the feel of the steering. Feels tighter, smoother and no more vibration through the wheel. There are two of them, and they cost about $20 each. The part number is:

45517-50020 & 45516-50020. I highly recommend replacing these. It can easily be a DIY chore with no problems, I'm just lazy in the summer to do it. Still recovering from nightmares from replacing all the front suspension parts myself 6 weeks ago! :o

The only thing I can think of is having your lexus dealer run the vin number for a mechanical history. Look around the 90k mark for a service performed tag, that should be the big 90k service where they flush everything and change out the waterpump and timing belt. That's about all I can think of. I'm not too savy with the engine details...yet. I'm sure I'll have to learn soon though, I got the a/c compressor whine, so she's close to kicking the bucket. Just hope it's not this August...God knows a man needs ac in august in the south.

and listen to Blake's advice...he knows his stuff! He's got 250k+ miles on his, and it's in better shape than mine at 100k. We've both got the same 95' black/tan LS400s.

I'll catch up eventually! :D

Yep, car has the classic symptom of pending air suspension problem if it's sitting too low when lowered. You'll not regret letting this one pass by. The LS400 is probably the best used car money can buy. That 4.0 liter V8 is freakin' bullet proof and they go for a few hundred thousand miles with normal maintance. Save your money for other repairs you'll face with a used ls400. There will be new control arm parts you'll need, motor mounts, tranny mount, muffler, etc... and so forth. All LS400's have these needs. With our online vendor contacts, fixing a LS400 is about the same price of a Chevy. The cool thing about these cars is that the repairs needed are normal repairs due to wear and tear, not due to design flaws. You won't be getting recall notices every month, plastic pieces breaking off in your hands, rattles that you can't find and loud engine operation. Every car needs brake pads, shocks, control arms, timing belts, plugs, etc.... But taking on that air suspension is very tricky and very costly. You're doing the right thing by not messing with it. It's one of those repairs that when it needs it...it needs it immediately. You'll find the right one man, don't worry. And you'll love having it too! It'll be the best car you've ever owned, and you won't want anything else.

You'll HATE those air shocks when they break. It's about a cool $1,200 PER wheel to fix, unless you convert it over to the normal spring/strut set up. Trust us...air suspension is a real sob to mess with. Probably the most expensive thing to repair on the car, and...they...will...need...repair...work!! The only real negative recommendation I've ever heard about buying a used LS is to stay away from the air suspension. I don't care if he just replaced them himself, they'll need attention again. I'm betting they're the originals too. Most people who have them, replace them with the conventional set up when they're worn out, due to the huge cost savings. Hell, even the dealer will tell you that, and recommend it over replacing the air shocks with air shocks. Personally, I would find one that does not have the air suspension. I think you're really asking for trouble with them. True, the ride is increadible...but so is the normal set up. It's your call man, sounds like it's a good car, just know that when the air shocks go, you've got to replace them and it'll cost you a lot more than with a normal set up. With the normal set up, it's just a strut @ $50. With the air suspension to convert it, you've got to get the springs and some other little nick/nack things to make the conversion work. You'll be around $400-$550 per wheel for conversion. Not to mention, when one goes, you've got to either fix that one with air parts, or convert the whole car with conventional set up. You can't have just one wheel on normal set up, and the others on air. It's all or nothing.

Do yourself a favor, don't get the air suspension option unless you've got the cash reserves to waste on fixing them.

I don't mean to p*ss on your parade amigo, just pointing out a VERY LIKELY pitfall you'll face with that car.

Tony, are you aware of the online sources we use to buy parts? We buy oem parts, then take them to the shop and have them put them on. It's a great way to save a ton of money and have genuine lexus parts. Check out:

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...=20&catalogid=2

This is for my model year, but you can drill down to your model year as well. To give an example: Johnson charges $85 for front brake pads only. Here, you get them for $50. Same part, just a lot cheaper. Your suspension issue will cost nearly twice as much in parts alone if you buy from Johnson.

Raz, isn't there a fuse box behind the kicker panels in the front seats? One specifically by the e-brake pedal? I just noticed that you checked all the fuses "under the hood" and not on the inside. I think there are some down behind those two sections.

My brown trim pieces around the windows, and sunroof glass, all do that too. It's wierd, you tap on them and they rattle, but you don't hear them rattle one bit when driving. Go figure that one?

I think a quick fix for the top of the door panel "part that runs under glass, where your elbow rests when driving" is a little soft double sided tape squeezed in there. At least until I can get the panels off and tighten down the interior parts, which won't happen until this fall. It's just too dang hot here in NC during the summer to take that sort of thing on.

I agree with Kenny and West, as long as you KNOW some of the common problems with the car have been fixed already "ie, suspension, dash lights". My 95 has at least $2 grand of new parts on it, primarily suspension components. Book is in the $12k range. I would not sell it for less than $13,500 with all of the upgrades. Make sure the seller isn't getting rid of it because of these needed repairs. Drive it, listen for "clunks", wandering in the steering, run the a/c at max, listen to the power steering pump for loud whinning. That sort of stuff

I saw a new Infinit M45 this weekend, it looks like it's got an i-drive knob in it now too. Man, that car is beautiful! Probably the best looking Infiniti ever made. That will be a serious contender with the new GS model, no doubt. I would have a tough time between the two personally. I would buy it over a BMW 5 series for sure. But due to funds, I'll just have to stick with pictures. :cries:

The toy store was recommended to me as well from a parts counter guy at the napa auto parts store on glenwood ave, north of crabtree behind chicfilet. There is a guy in my office building with a 92 LS and he recommended the one on wake forest. I took mine down there a few weeks ago and had the rear lower control arms, upper control arms, struts, strut rods and differential bushings all replaced, plus 4 wheel alignment for under $650 +/-. I had the parts already, they just did the labor. Mine is going down there in a day or so for brake pads put on the front. They're installing the pads I bought "$50" and turning rotors for $100. About the only reason I take mine to the dealership now a days is for the alignment and wheel balance. Bay leaf has the same equipment, and they did a pretty good job (9 out of 10). But the dealer seems to know how to tweak it perfectly. If you go to the premium imports, tell them the black 95 LS400 with all the rear suspension work done sent you. The owner is named Steve. There is an older lady there too, she's very nice and will remember me as well. They were the only place I found that blended hourly charges on the parts. Instead of saying "the book says 3.2 hours for this part, 4.5 for that" they said "I have to take part one off anyway to change out part two." The alignment wasn't very good though, but that's the car, not the shop's fault. These things are tough to get that right. And, they're not swamped under either...meaning you won't have to wait 2 weeks to get in.

*Moderator: Sorry if I'm promoting...just trying to pass on the local knowledge to a Lexus friend.

I'm sold. Put me on the waiting list.

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I'm moving in next door.....buddy ;)

Tony, if you need a good indi mechanic in the area to avoid the dealership, contact premium imports down on wake forest ave by snoopy's hotdogs. They do great work and fair prices. stay away from johnson...you'll pay waaaaayyyy toooo much!! Also, great place for an alignment and balance is bayleaf texaco on north 6 forks. they got the hunter machines.

you might have muffler issues for that drooning noise. my 95 is showing the same thing, and i've serviced the differential already.

One of the reasons why germany lost wwII. They over-engineered thier tanks "specifically the engines" and once they got on the battlefield, a little spec of dirt would find it's way into the engine and seeze them up instantly, not to mention runing out of gas. When BMW first introduced the 4.0 V8 they said they would run the engine at redline for 100k miles "fresh oil being injected obviously", then blow sand particles through the intake to see what would happen. They said nothing, not even skipped a beat, which I think is b/s. Now, I know the first couple of years of the V8 had some serious flaws that required the whole engine to be replaced. Sounds like to me another case of over-engineering. Nice cars for sure, awesome road machines and increadible driving machines, but I don't buy that whole "lifetime" fluid thing at all. I've always wanted a late 80's 325is stick. I think they're awesome cars. Maybe someday I'll find one in somebody's garage with low miles as a toy.

Yep, that's the TSB you're looking for "driveability improvement" to fix your problem I had the same thing on my 95 with the off throttle shock. Lexus dealer will not honor the tsb service without pressure from Lexus HQ. At least that was my experience. This is an expensive fix for a lexus shop to handle, and the dealership will not eat it without some forcefull words and brining in HQ. The ECM "ECU" unit is a couple thousand dollars, and it also requires the cruise control ECM, and new spark plugs to repair, as the TSB indicates. Trust me. It was a pain in the !Removed! for me to get the dealership I bought mine from to own up to it, even under their 90 day / 3,000 mile warranty that came with the car. They eventually did, and it fixed it, but it required Lexus USA and a threat of a lawsuit to honor their 90/3000 warranty to get it done. If you've got the off throttle shock problem, then it is with out a doubt the ECM unit and that TSB is the fix, no other cause, no reason to waste your time hunting for something else. That is the source of the problem. Remind the dealership that out of all the TSB's, this is the only one that is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by the manufactor to be done. It is also the source of a few complaints to the NHTSB "National Highway Transportation Safety Board" for government action to force a recall "which has not happened...yet." Stick to your guns on this man, they'll try every thing they can to stick you with the tab. You may have to float a certain % of the bill, but you shouldn't have to take on the whole thing.

Good lord Ed, thats' some seriously dirty looking fluid in those photos! On 30k miles too! You goin' 4 wheelin' with the quatro? Hahaha, just kidding.

Thanks Ed! That's what I needed. Got one more question, I'm trying to get some thru the toyota dealer instead of the lexus dealer. Lexus wants $90 for the pads only. Toyota guy says he can't get that part number, I have to go through Lexus dealer. Anyone know of a part number in Toyota language that is the same thing as the Lexus for these brake pads?

Thanks all

Disregard this post. Another moment of insanity. I'm going with OEM. Geezz, I should read some of my own advice. Like I'm gonna hand my car over to Midas to save $50. Someone please give me a chair shot in the head for even thinking of such a thing. :chairshot:

Anyone have the part number for the front and back brake pads on a 95' LS400?

Thanks all

Yeah, I was checking them out earlier, just curious if there is any way I can do a one stop shop kind of deal. I'm hitting the road next week for 12 days and am kind of in a time crunch. The control arms and so forth were such a pain in the tail, ordering, wrong parts delivered, yada yada yada. I kind of want to take the car in at 8:00 am, and pick it up at 5:00pm kind of thing. No dealer either. Place is a rip off shop on labor charges.

Guys, it's my turn to take on the brake replacement. I notice some of the auto stores have pads and rotors for the 95 ls model. Any suggestions? I'm kind of price pinched at the moment and the front pads are definetly toast! Autozone has ceramic, no squeak, dust free pads for $40. Rotors for $90. I might beable to get away with having the rotors turned, but I doubt it.

Well, after 10 years of slaming doors, the interior door trim has started to rattle a bit. The driver's side is the worse, with the top portion being the main culprit. I know the tightening of the screws around the lower part "tan part" really helps, but I can't seem to find any screws for the upper part to tighten. Any suggestions from those who have the same issue? Any little tricks to help tighen up the feel of the that top panel? Blake, have you taken apart the door panels to tighten them down?

with only 37k miles on the car, i agree that it's probably just the strut rod.

No sweat amigo. Check out the attachment. #8 is the lower control arm. You can get it for $190. # 12 is the strut rod, for $89. Here is the link where I found them.

Select your car, and look in the collision catelog under front suspension components. Dealer prices are about $50-$60+ more. These two aren't too hard to do yourself, but an indie mechanic can do this as well. Find one that doesn't charge by hourly rate for each part, they overlap. I would almost bet that if your lower control arm is worn out, the strut rod is worn out too "taking more load pressure from failing control arm bushing." I would suggest doing them both at the same time since they're tied together. This is not a dealer required repair, and I wouldn't take it to them. You'll pay 4 x what you should if you do.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...=20&catalogid=2

could be lower control arm and/or strut rod. If you've got the clunk over bumps, then I would think it's the control arm. I had my strut rods replaced, and still had that clunk on bumps. replaced all my control arms, and it was gone. After inspecting the old parts, the lower was in a lot worse shape than the uppers. What year is your car and I'll find the parts for ya'.