dave94ls

i just replaced 6 valve clearance shims in a 94 ls400 so that they are all verified to be in spec. now that a majority of the pinging is gone i still have something making noise from (it sonds like) the drivers side of the intake manifold. i stethoscoped the whole thing and i cant get a identifiable source. has anyone heard of this be4? and if so what the heck do i replace now? thanks for any help, Dave

the shims you are talking about are supposed to eliminate noise in between the pads and caliper. in every front brake job ive done (several hundered) ive never used the shims. lexus is built well enough so if there is noise comming from your brakes its not because you didnt put shims in. put some silicone inbetween the pads and caliper and you will never hear from those pads Dave

its a little much for a es you could get a 93/94 ls for the same price (maybe a little more) just buy a 93 ls lots of good upgrades from the 91 Dave

be carefull with the fitting, the 1990 where equiped with 14 inch rims, going to a 18 may cause some rubbing on suspension parts or fender wells. if you take of the stocks in favor of a bigger rim be prepared to sacrifice the nice smooth ride. Dave

that sounds like a shaddy shop, any reputable tire place will put what you tell them on, there is nothing that says lexus needs a v rated tire. it would make your ride worse in fact. a nice h rated tire will suit it well Dave

yea i was unsure but i could have popped them up with a small screewdriver. well built cars! I have to replace 4, 6 where out of spec and 2 where able to be swapped. 8 dollars at the toyota dealer, lexus wanted 14!

I have found a easier way of getting those shims out. I tried doing the screwdriver with the tape thing and that did not seem to work as well for me. What did work for me however is turning the bolts that hold in the cam about a 1/4 inch then take a pry bar to lift the cam ever so slightly. I removed 6 shims in under 5 mins. your posts have been great help thanks. I would do a tutorial myself, but I would like a few shim jobs under my belt before i train others lol

thanks you have been a world of help Dave

hey guys i got sick of the rattling at a dead stop so i have torn into the vehicle with guidance from monarch and some threads on this site. heres my question. i have access to about half of the valve clearances, how do i turn the cams so i can measure the rest? thanks btw on the right side i have one valve out of specs by a decent margin looking forward to finding out whats on the left.. Dave

thanks, very helpfull after reading the material and buying the tools and equipment i think im ready to go. thanks for the help!!

102k on my 94 ls400 i wont drive anything else

Sorry mate, should have been more clear. I meant the original size, not the original rims themselves....sorry.. Well, if it's the rotors, am I looking at brand new rotors, or can they be machined out? ← you would need to take them to a parts store so they can put a micrometer on them to determine if there is enough metal to be scraped off. just from what you said about the symptoms i would say it is 100% rotors hard deceleration can illicit that type of symptom. best fix= new rotors and pads, i would advise against turning the rotors and not throwing new pad on it. Dave

Hi Im a brand new member here and I have to say that this is the most useful forum I have seen in a long time. Here is my question Im taking on the task of valve clearance adjustment. I would like to know if anyone out there knows of a good walk through for this. Any help would be greatly appreciated Dave