mikaelse

Quite a lot is same same underneath actually. suspension and brake stuff for example. Mostly places you buy from have the knowledge. There are many places to check otherwise. an example . You just need your VIN https://www.toyodiy.com/parts/q.html

Seems you may have a weak battery OR a poorly charged battery due to many very short trip . Check battery voltage with a volt meter when car has been off for a few hours. Google it. Then you get a good grip on charge level. For my battery type . AGM type battery ca 12.60 V means 75% charged. This is about what you should preeferably be at least for the battery to last.

Yes . Those rust patches do not look nice. I am guessing that the put a lot of salt on the roads where you live. A repair shop can fix the rust for you if you want to pay for it. You should check what it looks like underneath also if you plan to keep the car a while. I live is sweden where we also salt the roads in winter. My 1995 LS400 has done well since it has been sprayed at some time and not driven so much during winter it seems, Brake vibrations is common and mostly easily fixed genrically. Change rotors for a good brand. Does not have to be OEM. BREMBO and BOSCH brand worked fine for me. Also it is very common that worne bushes in front suspension can give vibrations at highway speeds. On the LS400 it was tricky since the bushes looked not bad but they were. The LS430 has a different design. Others may have better info here. Often needs some research how to fix well. Exchaning only bushes for new OEM fixed mine well cheaply. Inexpensive to purchase but needed several ton press for the job.

Hi There , On my LS400 the VSC light came on no nad then when the battery was in need of replacement . Did not return with after replacing battery.

Sounds like som parasitic current when sitting idle. Normally leaving a car for say 3 weeks should be fine even in winter. Though IF you run only very short errands of say a a mile or two battery may not charge to fully. Then you may have problems even if there is nothing wrong with your car. You may help with applying a charger occacionally or driving for longer trips occasionally. Being not full ages the battery though. There is a simple and better solution, Buy a AGM type battery . They are different. They typically accept charge several times faster. Often charge to full in a few minutes after start. The also self discharge less fast and stand deep diecharge better. Drawback is 70% or so higher price. Many possible reasons for parasitic current if that is what you have . Any of the door or boot or glovebox switch not shutting of light could do that . That would leave it on when it should not be. Any descent shop can measure the current draw. It may be a bit of work to find the source of the problem... A simple way to keep track in normal driving is to buy a combined , phone charger and voltage showing device for the cigarettlighter socket, 15 $ or so. That will show you battery voltage while ignition is on. Charge the battery with a charger quite full. Then you will se what voltages you get when it is full. Expect 12.5 V when you put on ignition motor off. When you have been running for a while 5 minutes or so it should go up 13.5 V or so. 0.5 V lower voltages signifies a discharged or weak battery. Unfortunately Lead batteries tollerate going flat badly . Often once or twice for a few days will work but it will age "a year" or so every time it happens.

My powertilt and telescope on my 1995 started acting up. Only worked sometimes. Since I am the only user I put it where I wanted and disconnected it. To be honest I think the automatic function is a bit annoying. You need to wait for it to finnish before using steering wheel as support to get out. My impression is that I would need a new motor for the tilt and some lubrication to get it working. Ratling side mirror could mean something loose you could fixate again. Quite expensive to get even a used mirror where I live. Seem in demand.

I have done it. Just disconnected the tilt in a position I like. I do not remember any magic or violence needed at all if you find all the screws. No clips . I followed some Youtube short video if I remember correctly

I have one 1995 as winter car. ( Mark2 ) and a 1998 as summer car. ( mark3 ) . The Mark 3 i like better.

Ouch that was often. My lower controll arms are original after ca 120k miles on my two LS400 1995 and a 1998 . Cooler climate. Sweden. That helps I guess.

Generically it is often a sensor that becomes sensitive to temperature at end of its life that gives this type of problem . On other car I have had simmilar problems and it was both times crank sensor signal acting up. Reading error codes should tell the story.

Nice car. I own a dark blue 1998. You have to do some research to fix these cars at a reasoanble cost if something goes wrong . The dealer prices normally are very high.

I bought my 1995 with 90.000 miles on it three years ago. Had never had a cam belt exchange. Not smart. Exchanged belt etc myself immediately after purchase and it looked okay still. Read about failures after 140000 miles and 20 years that ruined the engine though. Luck and climate etc matters I guess. 20 year old rubber is scary. The 1995 is a nice car . I really like it. Meant to use it as a summer car only but used it most of the year. Take things that do not work seriously. Can cost a lot to fix .For example a broken radio can cost 1000$ to get fixed. Not easy to go aftermarket, cabling non trivial . I ended up accepting not having a working radio.

Yes. It is very easy when you know how it is done. Vissine is right. It is a very good idea to rotate and feel all the belt wheels for rough bearings. sounding dry or extra play or rough means you should fix it. I had two of those on the serpentine when I it. Mine could be fixed by pressing in new 10$ bearings.

In Europe a company named FEBEST sells most bushing (OEM like) for the LS400. I have bought some beacuse they where the only ones selling some of them. Did not use them yet though because I got hold of OEM for the important ones. I have also bough different OEM stuff from Japan from AMAYAMA.COM . Seemed like real OEM stuff in Toyota packaging.

Do not know. Mine could not be that though. The connector with power feed from car to radio was dead with no 12V voltage at all. Feels like wire is cut somewhere . I guess any code issue would be handled by the radio unit itself.

On mine pads in rear was sticking in caliper. The wheel did not turn well and the brake felt a bit soft. The caliper was fine . Could press in piston easy. Put in new pads. Had to adjust them sligtly to fit well. Problem solved.

Hi All. I have no power to the unit coming in in connector in the back but the two fuses are ok and give 12 V in fuse boxes. That is the mystery. Hence there is no indication that my Radio unit is defective. Mikael

Hi guys. I have 1995 LS400 100k miles with the pioneer radio with CD changer. Radio function is dead. I have checked the two Radio fuses and they are ok and 12 V is present at the fuses. I can hear the CD changer working a bit when CD pack is inserted. I have looked inside the radio and can see that it has been exchanged for a repaired one at some time. Half sloppy resistor work and exchange unit markings. However all power and earth to radio on C-connector is non present in the connector to the radio. Hence Radio unit could be fully functional if power is fixed. C14 = not earthed C1 and C6 no power no matter where ignition key is. All other stuff in car works except seat heaters. Cigarette lighter also works so AM1 fuse and AM1 switch in ignition should be ok . I have previously removed the telephone stuff from trunk and reconnected the two large connectors and also disconnected the telephone stuff between the seats as recommended. Did that before I noticed the dead power feed to the radio. Multiple errors it seems. Very strange. Often these type seemingly several uncorrelated errors have a common cause. Does the connector have a mate disconnected or with bad corrosion at other end?. Car is in nice condition with good original paint and no rust to mention. Have not yet seen any connectors with problems . Not even in engine compartment. Any help appreciated. Mikael

Yes you are right. I did not think it through. If cams have stopped moving in a non interference motor due to belt broke (all valves ok but not moving) it is likely that about 4 out of 8 cylinders are with one or more valves permanently open and the other with them shut. All cylinders will show close to zero compression since the ones with valves closed will not suck in any air to compress and the one with one or two open obviously will not show any compression.

Yes you are right. non interference motor. hence easy fix if belt has skipped. If you take comp test about half of the cylinders should have no comp if the timing belt is gone or badly slipped. Depending on which valves are open. Still a motor does not go from good to bad in a short time if it has oil and water. Mikael

Sounds fishy. Motors do not go from running great to no compression over night. Most likely is some kind of mistake or faulty component when changing belt. And the belt has broke ur jumped teeth. From what I heard that is often catastrophic with bent valves and no compression on several cylinders. The good news is that these motors are very long lived so if you buy a used one it is often in good shape.

Hi there I just changed Timing belt and pump on a 1995 LS400 with 95kmiles and the original belt. The belt looked like it had a little more in it. I got the car cheap and regarded the belt as an must fix immediately. The water pump also looked quite ok. One of the idler wheels had a bearing that was dry and made some noise. An unhappy guy here sold his 1998 LS cheap for scrap after belt broke at 135kmiles. *BLEEP* happens. I put i a mitsuboshi belt and an Aisin pump.

Hi All. I Think I have been bitten by the LS400 bug. My first Lexus.. Love the smooth silent ride. Will be used as a summer weekend car. Bougth mine after an old couple that had driven it sparingly for many years and left it to grandchild. Very nice condition . No rust to mention at all. Not much on underbody either. Probably not used much in winter here in Sweden. I am quite sure that the timing belt is original .I am in process of replacing it and Everything looked like never touched. Timing belt looked ok after 20 years!. Though would not drive it further.... 20 years is a long time. Giving it a thorough service with new brake rotors etc. Bying the stuff from US and Germany. Better choises and better prices. Mikael