BlexusGS

I just extended my K & N FIPK (3.5" intake piping) downward behind my wheelwell. I am extremely happy with the results. There is plenty of room down there and it's boxed off behind the wheelwell insert and the undercarraige shroud. The sound is a lot nicer, just as loud during regular driving but during WOT the sound is incredible. Outside the car it is definitely louder at WOT because the filter is now more exposed and not as muffled as before under the hood.

Driving -

At first when I reconnected the negative terminal and started it up it was the same. As soon as I took off I got nervous because the car was studdering and bogging down a lot, I thought I screwed something up big time, but I guess the ECU was just relearning the CFM coming in. Now it runs excellent! When I hit the gas it pulls right up to redline... maybe even a little further and quicker (I think it pushed my rev limiter up a little). Also, at 80 MPH my car is now at 2400 RPMs; before I think I was at around 2600 or so. It pulls so much harder and has a huge thrust as compared to my regular aftermarket intake setup. I highly recommend this DIY project! You just need to purchase 90 angle piping (must be cut down a little on the vertical straight), a piece of straight piping (cut down to about 8" or so) and two plastic/rubber pipe connectors with necessary clamps. Still to install my recently purchased Borla and Iridium plugs.

Nick

Got my car back from the dealership, it was just the bulb after all. They wanted $360 just for the one bulb! So I decided to buy a pair of aftermarkets on-line. Can anyone point me in the right direction for a set of nice aftermarket low beam headlight bulbs compatable with the stock GS400 HID setup? Suggestions on Kelvin scale; perhaps 6000K? Need advise/suggestions.

Thanks, :D

Nick

How did you get it replaced for free??? Anyway, I think it might be the ballast after I searched this forum. Can anyone support my theory? If it is the ballast should I replace the other side also while I'm at it; do they usually break around the same time?

Also, I was searching earlier, if I have stock HID lights on my GS why would you need a HID conversion kit. I read that some people were buying conversion kits on lights that were already HID!!! Why? Can't the stock HID ballasts support aftermarket HID bulbs no matter what Kelvin they are??? ...Confused. If I find out it is the ballasts where is the best place to go to replace stock ballast. I have a funny fealing that the dealership is going to charge me an arm and TWO legs!!! :chairshot:

Nick

I have a 2000 GS400. I noticed last night that my right headlight went out. I thought nothing of it until I turned my lights off and then back on again. Both headlights turned on; then about 20 seconds later the right headlight goes out again. I repeat this procedure two more times all with the same result. What can this be? I don't think it can be the bulb itself because then it wouldn't be turning on at all, right? FYI, about a week ago I noticed a little condensation in the right headlight housing. What can this be; sounds like it might be expensive. Please help!!!

Nick

"hey blexus the 650 includes the water pump?"

No it didn't. I think it was $579.99 plus tax. Was actually around $630 in total.

Hello,

I just wanted to say that I am glad to have joined this forum. I have received excellant advise so far from all who had helped me in the past. Unfortunately, I do not have the expertise and knowledge of these cars to assist others like you have with me. I can only give advise on opinion/suggestion questions. Obviously not everyone has the same knowledge in all areas of these cars so we help each other with problems in which we can't solve; that's the beauty of the Lexus Owners Club Forums. Please be patient with some newbies, the mechanically challenged and myself. However, I am learning a lot which hopefully then I could offer some technical advise in the future to someone in need.

to all!

Nick from NY ;)

First of all I just want to tell you guys that this was the best thing I have done for my car so far. I'm not sure why but my car actually runs and idles so much smoother; it's unbelievable! It feels sort of new again and just think I haven't even changed the spark plugs yet!

Upon dropping my car off for service I wound up letting the dealership know about my idle problem that I had written recently about here on the forum. I told them I had a throttle body cleaning/service performed by them about two months ago. They wound up cleaning it out again for me free of charge (not sure how dirty the throttle body could have gotten in 2 months; or maybe they didn't do a complete job the first time around). Anyway she runs great now and I'm glad I took all your advise and didn't wait until 90K. Total cost was around $650 including the fan belt as well. Just my two cents.

Nick

Thanks for all the suggestions guys; I will check on all mentioned areas.

Nick

Thanks for the reply Ken; I will have a shop look at said TPS sensor.

Nick

Thanks for the help, I'll try that but...how do I know what the factory position was??? Any other things I should check for? Is there any type of sensor I should have the dealer look at? I have to bring it in anyway to change the timing belt next week.

Thanks,

Nick

I have a 2000 GS400 with about 75K on it. I noticed about 5 mos. ago my idle seemed real low whether it was in neutral or drive at a stop. So I reverted for some advise on this forum. I was told that I could raise the idle by adjusting the screw on the cable for the throttle pulley (please excuse the incorrect terminology, I don't know these particular engine components). So, anyway I adjusted this screw so that the throttle cable is more taught, it did in fact bring my idle up. However, ever since then my car has been running more rough than ever and it is even worse now. Guess what, my idle is back to being low again (350 - 400 rpm in drive at a stop).

I read other posts that sound similar to what I am experiencing; slowing to a traffic light and the car feels stallish, accelerating normally from a traffic light and it feels stallish as well. By the way I took some advise from this forum again and had the throttle body service at my local lexus dealership about 2 months ago; so I covered that already. It's not bad gas, I ALWAYS use 93 or higher and I also tried a fuel system cleaner; Techron. Still having a problem. I have not changed my spark plugs yet (planning on buying DENSO Iridiums).

Sorry so lengthy, just wanted to paint a clear pic of what is going on and what I have covered already. Thanks for your advise and assistance. :)

Nick

Also, check out 19" wheels if you are torn between 18" and 20". I have 19" Ace Trend wheels (deep dish with a polished lip); they look sweet and my wheel/tire combo is still the same diameter as the oem wheel/tire combo. Not a rough ride at all either, make sure you buy a real good quality tire as it is the only contact from car to ground (obviously). My TOYO's were about $270 ea., wheels were about $290 ea. Hope this helps. I'll try to get some pics on here when I have the chance.

Nick

Oh, also I bought the above mentioned winter tires from tirerack.com (great website). $87 each totaling $348 + s&h. Grand total in the amount of $388. I also received a $50 mail-in rebate (I think it's still going on right now). So, all in all these tires wound up costing me $338; not bad for a set of brand new winter tires.

Nick

My car handled great as well. I have a 2000 GS400. I just bought Dunlop Winter SP Sport tires for my stock wheels about 3 months ago. This is also an excellent tire for snow IMO.

Has anyone built a BFI on a GS400? Almost like a mini "ram air" from the lower air dam in the bumper.

Thanks for the help guys, but I think I didn't convey the question properly.

I have a K & N intake, exactly like the SRT only my K & N doesn't have the piggyback ECU. I want to simply "extend" my intake piping downward by the front right tire (drawing in more cold air, not hot engine bay air). Many do this on 4 and 6 cylinder imports and have acquired better gains over the stock air box, stock air box with drop-in filter, and regular air intakes (like the SRT, Weapon R or my K & N). This is supposedly the BEST intake setup you can find. Obviously, the ultimate setup would be to do this with the SRT because that intake also comes with a piggyback ECU (which you already know). So as you can see I'm NOT building an intake from scratch, just simply extending it with extra piping, using the same K & N filter, same K & N piping that has the ports for the sensor and vacuum hoses.

As for the AEM bypass valve, that's just to prevent sucking up water through the filter. The filter is going to now be located about 6" from the ground by the front wheel leaving it suseptable to puddles.

If this cleared things up, has anyone ever done this DIY project on their GS, if not, why not? Logically this would be a good idea. Please help, your response would help everyone, not just me; that's the beauty of this forum. Oh, and what does "BFI" stand for?

Thanks,

Nick

I heard and have read a lot about the cold air intake "boxes" and custom made metel boxes that isolate the air to the filter from the hot engine bay air, but has anyone ever built a CAI (DYI project) on these cars (the type dropped down by the wheelwell)? That's probably the most powerful intake you can use. Is this correct? I'm thinking of buying all sorts of piping, clamps, reducers and an "AEM bypass valve." I currently have a regular K & N air intake.

Thanks,

Nick

Thanks guys, I guess my theory is out the window. I just thought that my poor performance could have been related to the timing belt. Thanks for your help!

Nick

I did some searching here on this site and on the net and have not found any real solid evidence. Is there any correlation between a warn timing belt and performance? I was told a while back that the timing of a vehicle has to do with performance and how the engine runs (obviously). If your timing is off (retarded) then you will have poor performance, right? Now, as the timing belt becomes old and worn over the years (miles) it should stretch, right? If the timing belt stretches doesn't that !Removed! the timing therefore resulting in poor performance?

The reason for the question is because I have a 2000 GS400 with about 75K miles on it; the performance doesn't feel like a 300HP car should be... mostly sluggish off the line; no wheel spin no matter what I do (stock wheels/tires, traction control off, power mode "on"), nothing. Any ideas??

Thanks guys,

Nick

Thanks a lot bro. I appreciate the advise, Let me know if you need any help or advise with anything.... eventhough you probably don't need it but you never know. LOL

First off, thanks a lot for letting me pick your brain... sorry for all the questions ;-). This is the only place I feel where I can get top-notch advise.

As for the tires, I was just wondering if you kept the OEM diameter or went fatter so thanks for the info.

My tires are low profile and the diameter is excatly the same as stock, it just so happened to be that way. In fact the first thing I did when I got my wheels/tires was measure the diameter. Then I measured the stock wheels/tires as a whole as well; the results were the same.

Also, just a thought when people here say they have vibration problems after they get new wheels could it be that the wheels they purchased are universal (still fit the vehicle in everyway; but not made specifically for it)? I went to Tire Rack.com and entered the year make and model and the wheels I had purchased coincidentally are on there. Maybe this has something to do with it.

Oh yeah, also with the adjustable coil-overs. If you adjust the height (springs) do you have to get an alignment each time? If so you technically can't adjust it on your own because then you will have to eventually bring it to a shop anyway to have it re-aligned, right?

Thanks NEO, I will look into the Bilstein PSS and the Daizen Sways. About how much can I expect to spend on labor for the install of the coil-overs only?

BTW I have TOYO Proxes 4; 245/35/19; W speed rating. They have excellent grip, have a relatively low tread wear rate and are quiet!

19X8.5 wheels all around

That was an excellent reply! Thanks a lot. BTW I bought the 19's already last July. I took them off for the winter. The ride was fine when I had them on; in fact I could not stop telling the performance shop how great it is that I don't feel any vibration or bumps at any speed! Very close to stock.

What would you suggest; I'm leaning towards the coil-overs but not sure what is a good brand (Tein is just one that I heard of around here). I really want to only spend around $1000 incl. labor, is this possible???

Oh... what suspension setup do you have (strut/spring brand, ride height) and do you have the sways mentioned above? How much, aprox.

Thanks again

Neo,

2000 GS400

19" ACE Trend

Suspension is stock

Buying a front Strut Bar soon

My goals are in this order:

Performance: Have the car perform better such as around turns and things of that nature; I don't race though.... I just want a tighter ride but NOT feeling every bump in the road.

Asthetics: Have it lowered to a noticable but not rediculous height (where I'm scraping the ground with my exhaust just to have better performance). Is a 1" drop all around good or is that NOT really noticable as compared to Stock.

Adjustment: I really don't mind if I can't adjust the springs or struts (coil-over setup); like I said I'm not going to race it but again I would like a setup that is definitely sportier than the stock setup or I will find myself wishing I could adjust them. Maybe something of a feel like a G35 or 350 Z.

Thanks for your advise. I really appreciate it. BTW I like your GS a lot; very classy and I like the staggered look on your wheels.

Nick

ChuckB,

Those Tein coil-overs are sweet!!. I know their adjustable (obviously) but what drop do you have it on your posted picture? (the black GS). Also, is it a pain in the !Removed! to adjust? Do you have to take them off the car or can you adjust them while they are on? Expected installation costs for this particular setup?

Thanks a lot!

Nick