nc211

I'm with ya' on that one Blake! Getting a weeee bit pricey these days for the car.

As we know, there are two bushings that connect the ends of the driveshafts to the differential, and to the tranny. Bicol-ini replaced his a while ago and reported good results. Someone else also responded recently that they replaced their differential and driveshaft from a junkyard to get rid of a vibration, and had good results as well. Since my car suffered from the off-throttle-shock syndrom for god knows how long, I'm thinking these two bushings are probably torn too, and might be the cause of some of these vibrations. I'm also seeing these parts come up alot by 3rd party vendors, which makes me think there is a reason for it... This is the Flex-Coupling pieces. $140's oem....but these ebay guys are selling them for way cheaper.... Question: anyone have experience with these Ebay ones? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/90-97-Lexus...1QQcmdZViewItem

very good point!

As one who has asked this question before.......I say keep the lex, dump the ford, use the proceeds to finish out fixing up your lex and go get that degree. Or, dump them all, and go get a newer LS400 with the knowledge that you now have for what to look out for, and what parts have been replaced. It's just about impossible to beat that toyota 4.0 V8 for dependability. The aux. components on all cars will give out at some point. I'd keep the lexus.

Well I pulled the trigger on the mityvac evacuator today! I got the air compressor driven one so I can pound on my chest in delight! Me man, here my tools roar! Should have it in a week or so. Gonna see if it can really get all 8.8 liters of tranny fluid out of the car via the dipstick. If it can, then I'm going to put the fluid back in, minus a little for the seafoam tranny cleaner stuff.....follow directions for seafoam, then pull it all back out and pour in all new toyota fluid, for a full on flush w/o messing with the tranny pan! This thing looks cooooooool!! I'll let you guys know how it goes!

Gross!!! :P LMAO Hahaha....your day will come too my friend! You think final exams are tough...wait until you're sitting in the preacher's personal office with your soon to be bride.....hoping it doesn't start raining frogs outside and the headless horsemen don't come knockin' on the door.. hahaha Sky, quick question....have you changed your brake pads recently?

I think dc is starting to grow fuzzy palms... PM me for the antidote....worked for me ever since I saw the movie "10" back in the day....Ohhhhh Bo Derek,,,,I thank you!

Sky, I agree with Blake....it's most likely your strut rod bushings going bad. If you look under your car, under the front tires, you'll see a thick guaged black steel rod coming from your lower control arm to the front of the car, with a big round connector at the front. Inside that connector is the rubber bushing which over time will tear and crack...... I got your PM....I'd check out Phil's Toy Store in Cary for help, they specialize in older lexus cars, ours especially! Do a google search for them, you'll find it. Blake, got your pm too....but I'm too tired to reply tonight....had the second meeting with the preacher tonight...worn out! I'll catch up to ya' tomorrow! ;)

You want to increase your performance? Take the same amount of money those things cost to the bank, have them convert the cash into coins, then go find your nearest gang-banger and BEAM him in the face with the bag of coins....and FLOOR IT! That's about the same effect. No, they don't work. Infact, I think they've caused a couple CEL to come on "check engine lights".

Hahaha....we're all gonna go blind!

50 mph at 1,000 rpm's?? Hmmmm...this is getting interesting. Oh master Bicol-ini, are you around ole' wise one?

I agree dc....it reminds me of that movie quote from A Christmas Story "it was like glowing s*x, in the window!" When Ralphie was talking about that leg-lamp. If you haven't seen that movie....you must! You'll shoot yer' eye out kid. M500's car has that same effect! It's like glowing s*x, in the window! Just...can't....look...away..... M500, got any interior photos you can post up?

Hahaha.....all in good fun God knows I've given a few good reason's to have a "Oh my God, that's sucks!" reply sent my way once or twice...currently working on the third and fourth....just waiting on the UPS man to show up with my parts. Anywhat,who,when....M500.....Perfect choice man! That's one slick looking LS430!! I'm a very very very jealous man!!!!! Guess we won't be advising you on how to fix anything for many years to come! Oopss, wait just a minute...is that...is that brake dust I see on those rims? OH MAN, I'm thinking new wheel bearings are in order, probably $12k each, and each wheel has at least 3 of them! I tell you what, since you're new here, and we're a nice bunch, I'll let you borrow my 95' until I can get it fixed for you, for free! Probably won't take me but maybe 2, 3 years TOPS! Hahahaha!! I'll only charge you shipping! Hahaha.

I'd just make sure they have those two centering screw holes so the rotor will be balanced when you put on the wheel. I went through that already with non-oem rotors that didn't have those two screws. My opinion...stick with oem. I just ordered my 3rd set of brake pads yesterday, finally bit the bullet and went oem, with new shim kits and fitment kits all the way around. Past two aftermarket pads have been screamers and the fronts now sound like they're chewing up my new rotors. I will never wander away from oem on brakes again...lesson learned... but then again, i'm not exactly the sharpest tack on the board either...

I think I hear the band playing a happier tune in obergc's world again.....I'm thinking of a number, between 2000/400 - 2006/430....Hmmmm...... Come on obergc....you KNOW you wanna! Hey, they have crash-avoidance radar in them now too! Just think, no more yard work via a Lexus anymore! hahaha....sorry, I had to do it....I'm a bad bad person...

Ralph, man, you've got to quit huffin' that cat's !Removed! man. Open the window and let that litter box air out! Don't make us send FEMA down there, again....opps, I mean, don't make us send FEMA down there, period. Swo3es might call a shot that you or I or others may or may not agree with, but he's the boss, and it's his responsiblity to call those shots. He's also the one who takes the heat for it, and he knows that, and has done so in the past, quite well too might I ad. Part of being the boss, is being the perceived bad-guy and takin' the heat for it. He nor I nor any of us are *BLEEP*in' on your stance. I just think that thread was probably getting a little too personal, and mixing that with religous debate motivated by 9/11, might be just a little too much heat for here. Infact, that Osama thread I started a couple months ago started to go down that road too, and I PM's Swo to shut it down for me, as I didn't want it to go into personal attacks. Hey, I had a few that night, I know it, I own it. He's done it before on other threads relating to tires, car models, etc... Anywho....you better not be leaving this site! Or I'm gonna come down there, find 3 bottles of Big Momma's Champange and set you & that "Jaws on Paws" looking cat of yours straight.....oh....and on YOUR credit card! Those things are like $500 a bottle....or they were back in 96'....I'm still carring a balance on my credit card for that one....hahaha. So hurry up, shake it off "shake it more than twice and you're playing with it" and get back in the car, we've gotta roll. Got newbie's showing up that have the standard issue problems "clunks, creaks, shakes and shimmies", and I'm not talking about how I feel on Monday mornings either. ;)

I think I hear "Taps" playing in the back ground of obergc's life. Dang man, now that's a Murphy's Law example of "if it can, it will" if I've ever seen one. I'm glad your wife is ok! You didn't by chance sneeze in church earlier that week and accidentally say "damn"? Trust me, he's listening.....I did that one time many years ago while in college. Went home to finish up my term paper, took my shoes off, walked over to the computer to turn it on, and ZAP, static killed the computer, and my 22 page paper. So, took a shower, only to find the seal on the shower head decided to break and spray water everywhere. Got dressed, put on my tennis shoes to go to Lowes for a replacement seal and to the computer lab....only to find my socks had a hole in them, right on my middle toe which drove me nuts all day, lowes didn't have the part, and the computer lab was closed due to a virus attack....That sneeze cost me my A and had to take a B for being late on my paper. Much didn't matter after the $500 to fix the computer either, nor the fact I had to BEG my pshyco ex-girlfriend at the time to let me borrow her laptop. I won't even go into detail what that cost me, or should I say, ummm, well best left with 2 words.... nasty b@!ch

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say it beats the "pants off" of the ES and GS models :whistles: . Hahaha. You'll want to becareful there amigo, some of those guys get a weee bit touchy about that. Even if it is....uh....oops...I better stick with the political realm of war, and not Lexus models. hahaha. Seriously though, you'll want to check for suspension stuff, control arms, STRUT RODS, REAR CARRIER BUSHINGS, that sort of thing. Mechanically in the engine, and at 177k miles, you'll probably find a timing belt and waterpump in there being done at some point. If it's original owner, then it was probably done as scheduled, at 90k miles....which just so happens to be about half of the mileage on there now....which just might be the reason why they're selling it, because they don't see the benefit in dumping $1,500 into the car at the dealership again for the second 90k service. The best thing you can do if you really want our help beyond the written stuff on the forum already, is to get the printout from the dealer and let us know what it says.....and if you take a digital camera with you when you look at the car, snap some pic's and post them up, or better yet, email them to me and I'll post them up for you, as I don't think you have attachment priveledges just yet. But if you can't, then make sure the timing belt and water pump is good....and hunt for suspension replacement stuff. And maybe steering related stuff, like tie rod ends, or even rack. OH, and power steering pump. If you see that one on there, then look for the altenator replacement as well. Because if the pump failed and leaked, well there is a better than not chance the alternator was or still is damaged due to the fluid from the pump. This is actually stressed in the repair manual for the car, for the tech's to check for when investigating a leaking pump. After that, we've got a big ole' laundry list for you! Just comes with the pride of owning a Lexus LS400, for the price of a used KIA "aka...killed in accident". Welcome aboard Preacher!

Salacak, tell me this; when you put the car into gear, what does it feel like? If you're really at that high idle, then your car would SLAM into gear and you would have NO DOUBT something was wrong. I'm sorry, but I'm just not buyin' your mechanic's recommendation. I think you would know it right away if that were true, you'd have bashed up bumpers from flying into whatever was in front of you when you put it in gear. Heck, even 1,200 is too high unless you're car is cold and you've just started it. It'll hoover around that mark for 45 seconds or so, then start to slowly come back down to normal 600 rpm speed.

Interesting. I did not know that...Hmmm, learn something new everyday..... cool, thanks guys.

I answered your questions within your original text. Always glad to help in the name of educational purposes!

Thread, are you sure his is the interference engine? I thought interference did not come about until the 98 + models when they introduced the variable timing to the engines, bumping up the HP. It was my understanding that until 98, all the engines were non-interference.

HAHAHA!!! :D :D That's a freakin' great idea for Holloween this year!! :D

Craig, for $1449 bucks, you've got every single right to !Removed!! I'm wondering if the throttle body cleaning is an "unofficial" lexus repair, and the tech couldn't find it in his manual. I'm sure those guys have to function "in the box" and probably aren't allowed to do anything that isn't expressly written in the repair manual issued by lexus corporate. One thing that you might consider is the seafoam in the brake-booster line trick to clean out the egr and throttle body? I haven't done it yet myself, but it's on my list of to-do's soon. I did clean out the throttle body a couple months ago with a dremel tool, and yes, it did make a big difference in the acceleration of the car. I'm going to do the seafoam in everything soon to clean up the engine. I've got it in my gas tank now, and I can tell the throttle is more touchy now, and willing to wind-up the engine seems a little easier. I think the winter gas down here dirties up the injectors quicker than the summer fuel. Anyway, I"m sorry to hear about your frustration, I totally understand it!!! I'm wondering if it's not in the fuel filter, injectors dirty, reduced compression due to dirty engine components or exhaust.

...you owe me beer! Hahaa. ;)