sonyman

Oil color means nothing, absolutely nothing.

Have the compression checked of your engine. How many miles are on it?

Do NOT get the Hydroedge. It is a very noisy, harsh-riding tire. You would be much better served by running a set of Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires. I know from experience; I've had a set of both.

Yes, it is necessary.

i believe he knew of the title condition prior to purchase, right lextuned? If not, screw going to the dealership, call a lawyer and take him the disclosure statement that should be part of your paperwork indicating a clean title and no damage "to thier knowledge" to the car....and make them EAT it!

Honestly, I think you paid a little on the high side, but probably not by much, maybe $1,500.

For a rebuilt title he overpaid by a lot IMO.

Well, after being @ the local Lexus dealer for about 90 minutes and more errands after that, I am finally home.

The news on the car is good I think, but I will not be sure until I get new tires. The service tech said that it was the tires. He went ahead and balanced all of the tires, but he said that the left rear tire would NOT balance properly and that the car would still have a vibration. He said it could be the tire or the actual wheel. The lady @ the service desk said that the tire treads were all still good and if I could live with the vibration until I got new tires, then it would save me some money. Another guy at the desk said that these cars are so smooth that they really need touring tires on them to make sure no other unsmoothness is detected. He said the motor mounts were fine, transmission mount was fine, as was the driveshaft/bearings.

SO.... I guess all I know to do is to deal with the vibration until the tires wear down, replace them with quality tires (use the spare for a replacement wheel) and see what happens then.

One thing of interesting note... the high today was 75°, which is the warmest it has been since I bought the car a month ago. The vibration was much LESS than before and @ times, it was almost unfelt, even at speeds it was felt at before. Maybe it is the tires and where they were warm, they were more pliable?

So thats it... it really remains a mystery until I get new tires.

Anyone with a vibration that it unknown, I would also recommend taking the car to your local dealer to be checked. Not sure how much other dealers charge, but mine only charged me $38.00 to check it out AND to balance the tires.... they had it for about 90 minutes.

Lucky SOB.

Well I encourage you to find a used low-mileage driveshaft if that's what it ends up being. Replacing the driveshaft eliminated most of the vibration for me.

how much did you pay for the labor?

I can check my receipt tomorrow if you want the exact price, but it was over $300.

hmm, my oil drain bolt thread is messed up, so when i asked the mecanic he told me that to change the oil pan he would need to life the engine..

i guess he was trying to rip me off....

its good to know.

thanks

Either that or he just doesn't know what he's talking about. I had the lower pan resealed 7 months ago which involves removing it and reinstalling it and they didn't have to pull the engine. This is on my 1995, which is mechanically identical to your 1996.

from what i was told in orer to get the oil pan out you have to lift the engine. not sure if you can do it at home unless you have proper tools and experience

Unless they changed the pan for VVT-i models you don't need to lift the engine to remove the lower oil pan.

isnt the 98 and up VVT-I?

Yes. I was referring to the fact that it's definitely not necessary on 1990-1997 models, but I don't know about 1998-2000 models.

Well, I went ahead and made an appointment @ my local Lexus dealer to have my car checked on Tuesday. He said they would check it out for $35.00, so I figure it would be worth the $35, rather then me to replace this and that.

I posted on CL in your thread. I have what I believe is the same problem with the whistling noise and vibration. Please, please let me know what they find!

from what i was told in orer to get the oil pan out you have to lift the engine. not sure if you can do it at home unless you have proper tools and experience

Unless they changed the pan for VVT-i models you don't need to lift the engine to remove the lower oil pan.

Super ugly wheels, do not belong on an LS430.

Out of curiosity, who is your mechanic?

Is the burning smell under the engine bay? Does the engine still sound like it's running on 8 cylinders?

A great deal on a fantastic car! Congrats!

If you have a dremel, why not fab up a new bracket with some materials from your local hardware store?

There is a TSB on that issue, and it involves replacing the ECM, cruise control computer, and spark plugs. If you get the computers from a salvage yard, it's not an expensive fix since the computers are both located behind the glovebox.

Different wheels have different clearances. It's not the size of the wheel; it's that particular wheel I'm afraid. Sell the wheels and buy different ones that clear BBK-spec brakes.

If I remember correctly, South Bend is pretty flat coutryside, at least it was back in the late fifties, maybe Rochester Hill, MI, too.

Personally I would rather drive my RWD '92 LS400 with summer tires over any FWD or F/AWD equpped with the BEST winter tread, in adverse roadbed conditions.

That's just stupid. 99% of the time any car with winter tires will fare much, much better than a car with summer tires, especially an LS400. You would have practically NO traction at all with summer tires and an LS400 compared to a FWD or AWD car with winter tires.

EDIT: 12/19 4:48PM EST

I made an error above- fixed now.

Remove ECT fuse for a few minutes to reset the system. If it comes on again then you may have messed up your O2 sensors or a spark plug maybe. You can also pull the codes at that time.

Pardon my ignorance....what is the ECT fuse...I do not see it listed by that name in my owners manual. Is that the OBDII fuse for diagnostics...Is it in the box under the hood or on drives side compartment. What does ECT stand for? Thanks

The car is running great, will it hurt it to drive it very far?

He meant the EFI fuse. However, as dcfish suggested, pulling the battery terminal works just fine too.

The problem with timing belts is that they often fail with little or no visible signs of wear. Timing belts often suffer catastrophic failures seemingly out of the blue when they're past the "expiration date." However, the OEM belt is very, very durable and should still have some life left, even after 16 years and 57k. With that said, you may want to change it at 60k just as preventative maintenance because 16 years is a long time for a rubber belt in general. On the other hand, your engine is non-interference, so you could conceivable use your existing belt until it snaps, which may or may not be in the near future. More likely than not, it will be several years or tens of thousands of miles from now for that situation to arise. In other words, if you're willing to risk it, you can put off the timing belt indefinitely, keeping in mind that it may leave you stranded one day in the distant or not-so-distant future.

try to put higher octane fuel.

but 17 mpg is a very decent mileage for the 16 year old car with a 4.0 engine.

my friend with a year old infinity m35 gets only 10-12 mpg on a 3.5 engine and he is not foot heavy:)

so i dont think you should be worried about the mileage.

this kind of mileage is expected when you buy a heavy car with a moderately big engine.

when i asked a service person same question few years back he said "people who buy lexus dont really care about the mileage" :)

He's running 91 octane already, which is the recommended octane according to the owner's manual. I also don't believe that 1991 LS400's are capable in stock form of advancing the timing further when they detect even higher octane ratings.

However, I do agree with VMF that your mileage is fine. Replacing oxygen sensors etc. is a waste IMO considering it would yield such a small improvement since you are already getting decent mileage for that car.

It's not necessary and I would recommend leaving it on. Contrary to what many think, then A/C system does more than just cool the air; it conditions it, with respect to humidity as well. It's also good for the system to run year-round for longevity, which also goes against conventional thought.

The only modification I support would be the ignition ring. Tinted taillights look stupid IMO and decrease visibility for other drivers. Also, believe it or not, removing the yellow glass from the foglights decreases their usefulness significantly. Yellow light is much better at penetrating fog than white light. If you do decide to remove the yellow glass, try to find yellow bulbs, if they even exist.