Reyi

Hello everyone, I haven't posted here in awhile but just as an update, I still love my 94 LS400. Anyway, I've searched the forums and from what I can tell, I need to replace my engine and tranny mounts. My symptoms are the car feels like it's misfiring sometimes. I can feel the car shaking at a stop, through my chair, the wheel, and shifter. I did the put it in park and accelerate slowly test, and I did notice an increase in shake as the RPMs approached 2300. Anyway, unless someone thinks it may be something different, I would appreciate an answer to this question. How safe is it to drive with worn mounts like this? I sort of need to know ASAP because I'm planning to drive a few hundred miles out of town tomorrow evening and I'd rather not do it in a vehicle that is going to have the engine fall out or explode. My understanding is that the mounts are still able to hold the engine, but the rubber, or bushings, or whatever is/are worn and that causes the unpleasant vibrations. I've been driving the car around town still (for a bit over a week), because I'm honestly just short on the money needed to have them all replaced. If it's unsafe for me to be driving at high speeds though, and especially at long distances, then i'll be forced to take my wife's van on this trip. That will suck. Someone please let me know what the ramifications are likely to be if I take my car on a 400 mile round trip going around 75-80mph the whole way. Also, if anyone thinks it could be something else, I'd certainly appreciate a heads up on that too. Thanks, Eric

Hello everyone, I haven't posted here in awhile but just as an update, I still love my 94 LS400. Anyway, I've searched the forums and from what I can tell, I need to replace my engine and tranny mounts. My symptoms are the car feels like it's misfiring sometimes. I can feel the car shaking at a stop, through my chair, the wheel, and shifter. I did the put it in park and accelerate slowly test, and I did notice an increase in shake as the RPMs approached 2300. Anyway, unless someone thinks it may be something different, I would appreciate an answer to this question. How safe is it to drive with worn mounts like this? I sort of need to know ASAP because I'm planning to drive a few hundred miles out of town tomorrow evening and I'd rather not do it in a vehicle that is going to have the engine fall out or explode. My understanding is that the mounts are still able to hold the engine, but the rubber, or bushings, or whatever is/are worn and that causes the unpleasant vibrations. I've been driving the car around town still (for a bit over a week), because I'm honestly just short on the money needed to have them all replaced. If it's unsafe for me to be driving at high speeds though, and especially at long distances, then i'll be forced to take my wife's van on this trip. That will suck. Someone please let me know what the ramifications are likely to be if I take my car on a 400 mile round trip going around 75-80mph the whole way. Also, if anyone thinks it could be something else, I'd certainly appreciate a heads up on that too. Thanks, Eric

You might want to consider the Firestone LH30s. They share technology with the Bridgestone Turanzas but they cost a hell of a lot less. I've only had them for about 10,000 miles now, but they've been great thusfar. The reviews at TireRack seem to be good as well.

I'm pretty sure the earlier poster was referring to using RainX BRAND wipers, not the fluid. I've used the RainX wipers on a few cars and thought they were great on everything except my current 94 LS400. The left wiper never seems to want to remain in its proper place. It slides down the arm very slowly over time, so that every month or so I have to pull it back into place (otherwise the bottom of the blade hits the bottom of the windshield and causes the blade to skip). Other than that, though, the RainX brand wipers are awesome, and used in conjunction with RainX brand windshield washer fluid (much easier to use than the regular hand-apply fluid) the visibility is phenomenal.

That IS pretty darn funny :P

I was a rather independant teen and purchased the vehicle myself, so they couldn't exactly take it away. Besides, now I'm 26, I drive a nice used Lexus (under 100mph), and I just graduated from law school. I suppose I turned out alright, so they couldn't have messed up too bad! B) ← ... but just for the record, they were really *BLEEP*ed (I didn't now you couldn't say p"i"s"s"e"d" on this forum... that's crazy!!! :chairshot:

I was a rather independant teen and purchased the vehicle myself, so they couldn't exactly take it away. Besides, now I'm 26, I drive a nice used Lexus (under 100mph), and I just graduated from law school. I suppose I turned out alright, so they couldn't have messed up too bad! B) ← ... but just for the record, they were really *BLEEP*ed :chairshot:

I was a rather independant teen and purchased the vehicle myself, so they couldn't exactly take it away. Besides, now I'm 26, I drive a nice used Lexus (under 100mph), and I just graduated from law school. I suppose I turned out alright, so they couldn't have messed up too bad! B)

I don't remember exactly how much I ended up paying (the ticket is in a box somewhere, maybe after I move I can tell you). The ticket required me to appear in court (I was not taken downtown though). When I got there I was charged a bunch of different fines and court costs. Apparently I lucked out though, the judge had me approach the bench and under his breath he actually said "126 huh? Is that all?" Then he told me that he drove a Corvette to work faster than that every day. So, he had me step back from the bench and went back on the record. At this point he proceeded to enter into the record that I'd been driving a new TRANS Am (as I said, it was actually a Grand Am), with racing wheels and new brakes (I had told him none of this, since it wasn't true) and therefore I wasn't guilty of "reckless driving" or "reckless endangerment", the two offenses that could have resulted in my license being supsended and me possibly spending a bit of time in jail (so I'm told). Also, my fines were nowhere near as high, I ended up just paying the maximum speeding ticket and the court costs. Again, I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty positive my total costs were around $600-700. Since I was 16 years old at the time that was a huge amount! Nowadays, after a few more stupid mistakes including getting my license suspended and driving anyway, such a small fine would have been a blessing. Of course, this is why 10 years later, I'm driving much slower and (thankfully) not getting pulled over.

All of these speeds were stupidly achieved on the interstate here in Illinois: 126mph in '87 Grand Am (with a wonderful ticket to prove) 124mph in '96 Civic 131mph in '95 LeBaron GTC 130mph in '96 Bonneville 155-160mph on Honda CBR (friend's bike, I can't remember the year or size) 98mph in '94 LS400 (yeah, I know, I'm a wuss these days. Don't worry, I'll get that bad-boy goin soon!)

Honestly... So did I.

This probably isn't your problem, but if it is, you'll be thankful because the fix is free. I have a 94LS400 and also use RainX wipers (they rule, huh?). Anyway, I recently noticed the top of the windshield wasn't being wiped and also that when the left wiper got to the bottom of its stroke (over the the right-bottom-center of the windshield) it would sort of skip and not wipe there either. Well, I stared at the wiper while it worked for a while and noticed that the bottom of the blade also seemed to be wiping lower than normal. That made me realize that it wasn't sitting as high up on the arm as it should be (or at least I hoped that was the problem). Well, that WAS the problem. All I had to do was basically yank up on the wiper and make sure it was all the way pulled up on the wiper arm. SHAZZAM!!! Good as new. Like I said, it sounds like your problem might be different, but I hope it's not.

Ordered the pair from olyonline this morning, be here next week! Thanks! I knew I saw that price somewhere! John ← Please be sure to return to this forum and let us know how the parts work out. I just bought a pair of lower ball joints for my 94 LS400 for $79 each (www.newlexusparts.com). I had heard of the $45 ball joints as well, but I couldn't find them when I was looking. My ball joints came from a Lexus dealer and they were packaged in "Genuine Toyota" packing. Also, the sight lists the part number as the OE number that most other sites list it as. When I went to olyonline.com, the part number wasn't the same. I hope they turn out to be OE parts, because I'll buy any parts I need in the future from them.

I think the most common cause of your problem (according to research on this forum when I had a similar problem) is that you need to have your throttle body cleaned, or your engine might not be getting enough air. If you do a search on this forum for "stutter" or "shudder" or "hesitate" or "hesitation" I am sure you'll be able to find a solution. (By the way, my problem was caused by the dealer power washing the engine, which messed it up somehow. After about 350 miles of driving the shudder went away. If you've just power sprayed your engine, that could be the cause)

I had the Akebono Ceramic brake pads from TireRack.com put on my car about 500 miles ago. They're awesome. They have great stopping power (although the slightly spongier feel of ceramic pads takes a bit to get used to), they are ultra silent, and they leave negligible amounts of brake dust. I don't try to drive my LS like a racecar, but there have been a few times where I've had to "emergency" stop and these new pads are great.

I'd recommend taking it to an independant mechanic you trust if you decide not to do it yourself. I just had this big ol' job done myself (water pump, timing belt, tensioner, etc) and I had it all done for less than $600. Hell, I even needed a new serpentine belt and I had a power steering leak. Got that belt replace and the leak sealed and altogether the whole shibang only cost $627. At first I was like, HOLY CRAP (because I'm a poor student) but then I remembered how much it CAN cost, not to mention my mechanic got it all done in just under 6 hours. If you can find a deal like that, I'd recommend it. Just my newbie opinion.

I think you should be patient and wait for the right car to come along. I also wanted a black interior and was almost ready to settle for tan, but ended up finding a 94 LS400 with Black exterior and interior. Not only that, it's the gold edition, which makes it look even sweeter in my opinion. What I ended up doing was expanding my search radius. Do some hunting online. Try to find a vehicle at a dealership. If you find one you really like, you might be willing to drive 4-5 hours to pick it up like I did. I was also looking at a car in California (a couple days away from me) that I might have been willing to buy without ever testing as long as I could have it shipped to me within my budget. Luckily I found this near mint beauty first. Good luck.

Thanks for all the advice, and everyone else too. Oh, and that is my vehicle, I agree that I'm lucky. I even have a couple other pics in the gallery if you feel like checkin them out.

Amazingly, the engine problems have gone away!! Two whole days of driving without any shudder or hesitation, hallelujah!! Thanks for the tips on the antenna, I'll be sure to look into it :D

Hey all, I just purchased a 94 LS400. It's black with black interior and the exterior has gold/chrome trim. It also has the Nakamichi system. Best of all, it looks new, almost literally!!! I've been searching for an LS400 for months and reading this forum for about as long. I'm just happy to finally have one so I can be a part of the forum. As most newbies do, I have a couple of quick questions for you veterans out there. I have read a lot about the three known problems with my LS. First, it has severe hesitation and shimmying (the entire car) when I come to a stop and when I lightly accelerate. Second, the instrument panel doesn't come sometimes, when I first start the car in the Chicagoland cold. I thought it was just picking and choosing when to work, but today I noticed that it came on after about 5-7 minutes of driving and it was preceded by a splendid light show. Third, the power antenna doesn't work. It doesn't go up or down. Before anyone starts thinking, why the heck didn't this guy check the previous posts about his problems, I want to let you know, I did. I know that the first problem is likely caused by a need for a good throttle body cleaning. The second is likely caused by a need to replace three capacitors on the circuitboard behind the instrument panel. The third, okay, I'll be honest, I don't know what is causing the third, except that it's probably a bad motor or something. The thing is, there are extenuating circumstances that make me think these common explanations might not be the case. When I went to pick the car up from the dealer, he told me it had just been detailed and that against his instructions, the engine compartment had been power sprayed, or jet washed, or whatever. I know this is bad for electrical componenents, and he said it is bad for the engine in that it makes it hesitate. I was wondering if anyone knows this to be true. I want to believe him for two reasons, first, he told me that if the hesitation hasn't gone away after 500 miles of driving the car (I've only driven it just over 300 so far), then I can have a full refund (he put it in the contract, like I said, he swore it wasn't hesitating before the detail job). Also, today, I came to a stoplight and thought my engine died (I was waiting for that to happen, since I read that is a common symptom of the same throttle body problem), however, I noticed that my tach was still at 500. I know that is normal, and I had been waiting for that surprise I read so much about, but until then, every time I came to a stop, I got the shudder. The last time I drove my car, it did not shudder the last 10 times I came to a stop. Nor did it shudder when I lightly accelerated, nor when I let it idle away from stop. Yesterday, all of these things would have been cause for shuddering. So, am I living in a fantasy world, or is it possible that it was, in fact, the power spray detail that caused the hesitation problems? If it's possible the hesitation was caused by the power spray, then is it possible the instrument panel problem was caused by that as well? Also sometimes the stereo (radio or cd) got staticky and sometimes even shut off, could these all be symptoms of the detail job? Finally, and I'm sure you all know where this is going, could the non-operability of the power antenna be caused by the power spray detail? If it can't, then what sounds should I listen for at the antenna (or what should I do in general) to diagnose the problem with the antenna. Thank you all in advance for the expert advice that I know is coming. Sorry for making this first post so friggin long. I'll try to keep it shorter in the future.