VBdenny

Since it's your dads car, I'd whip the thing over to the local Lexus dealer and tell them the symptons. They will probably charge you about 75 bucks to tell you it needs a couple thousnad bucks of work. Then you'll know what is wrong and you can fix it yourself. 4500 for the car is a pretty good deal. You'll like the LS400. Rear drive, V-8 cars rip.

The black trim along the bottom of the car. Do you mean the part that is below the beltline, or the actually black plastic on the very lower part? I use NoTouch tire spary on the black plastic.

I talked to my brother last night who drives for a living and he said in his experiences, vibration is almost always caused by tires. When cruising down the Jersey Turnpike last evening, I noticed that mine has a slight vibration between 80 and 85. When you get to 90 it is smooth as glass. I'd almost thing that it would get worse with speed. I didn't go any faster because I have GoodYear Aquatred III tires which are good in rain but poor in every other respect. Hope your new rim squares stuff up VMF. Denny

The is no ABS light. I also have looked under the hood for an ABS control unit w(which is obvious on my Chevy). Short of doing a lock-up, I really don't believe this car has ABS. The original owner is a friend of mine who sold Lexuses at the time. I'll give him a call, maybe he knows.

Is it the mirror part (actual glass) or the casing?

I tried using the parking brake and it seems to be functioning fine so I guess it's not that. I do apreciate the knowledge.

I looked over everything in my car and found no mention of ABS anywhere. I don't have ride or traction control. I thought it had to be mentioned. I have hit the brakes hard before but never to the point of lockup. I just don't think I have it. Does anyone out there have a 90 that says ABS anywhere on it?

Sam, I had the same problem when one of the bulbs blew. Althought the headlight system seems rather complicated, what I di was remove screws and try to figure out what the set up was. I did take out several screws that I didn't need to, but after looking at it I figured it out. The first side took me 30 minutes, the second I di in 5. I wish I had taken digital pictures when I di it but I wasn't on this forum at the time. I will tell you that you don't need to remove the battery or air cleaner stuff or anything like that. It is actually well engineered, it just takes some thought to understand what Toto was thinking when they they designed it. I lke the look of the new bulbs. Be patient and use deductive reasoning to understand it. Once you see how they work, you will say "cool." Remember, this is all for fun and learning. Think like an engineer. Denny

There are at least 25 junkyards within 25 miles of me. I often spend a day just roaming around looking at stuff. Call me wierd, but I'd rather spend a day at a junkyard, than at an Amusement park. We have this new place called U-Wrench-It. Costs you a buck to get in (an yes, some people B about the buck). All of the cars are seprated by make and set up on blocks so you can get underneath. The stuff is really cheap, they even provide wheelbarrows to haul stuff around. You get a 30 warrenty on parts for an exchange. Space is rather Ltd. in NYC so I'm not surprized. Unfortunetly (or maybe not) there are not many Lexuses ever in the boneyards. Sounds better than Great Adventures huh. Anyway, with all the stuff you do, you should qualify as a maechanic seeing as you probably know more than most of them. I can't recall ever seeing a junkyard in B'klyn.

Don't ya just love stuff like that? Somebody on the forum said it had something to do with the steering effort or something I thought. Wouldn't you just love a junkyard full of Lexuses? I go to the junkyards all the time and all I've ever seen is a couple of 90 ES250's I did try to disassemble some stuff to learn. Better than Busch Gardens for me.

Great diagram Brooklyn, did you get them off the on-line service you signed up for?

Sounds like you had a good time. Maybe you could post a picture or two of you 400 in the Rockies, that would be cool. I am starting to take more pictures. I took one of my Lexus in Grover Cleveland's driveway today, I'll post it this weekend when I get home.

Hey Punky, I don't think 80 or 90K on a LS400 is high milles at all. Check out the gallery of the guy in Utah with 555,000 miles on his LS and it still looks really sweet. Just listen carefully to what kisik said, that is right on the money. You don't want something that some car that some idiot never serviced on a regular basis. I guess most people who own a Lexus probably can afford the service, but you can't be too careful. People actually pay over a grand a month.... for a lease? I prefer to lose money in the stock market instead.

I can't find any indication that my 1990 has ABS. There isn't a light on the dash for it so I'm assuming it was an option in 90. Anyone know?

I have a hone. If I remember correctly, you soak the stones in brake fluid and then hone. Interstingly enough, the problem started shortly after I had the dealer do 120,000 mile service which includes flushing the brake fluid. I probably had a little mositure in the cylinder which is causing it to drag. I'm driving the car back to Virginia Beach tomorrow and I'll do it there. I also could still use some information on how the parking brakes set-up works so I can check that as well. I appreciate everyones suggestions.

I guess since I didn't have much money when I first started driving and I had a Ford (yeah) which always broke, I learned to fix stuff or walk. I remember removing starters and generators (what they had before alternators) in the snow and rebuilding them. Perhaps it is also the belief that I can (and will) do a better job than just about anyone else on my car. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but if it is broke, you can't break it. Rock on!

What year did Lexus do away with the uni-directional rims? My 90 can only be used on one side or the other? They are marked with the correct side. My spare is a left side rim.

From my colleg days when I took an A/C course, I was told that auto A/C should blow about 30 degrees less the the outside air temperature. Anything more than that is a bonus. God help you guys in Arizona!

Wait a minute, you guys kind of lost me. I was told by the dealer that you HAD to replace the whole upper control arm to replace the ball joint. Is it possible to replace just the ball joint? I have all the pickle forks which I used on many vehicles over the years to replace ball joints, nor do I ave any problems with undertaking such a job. Let me know please. Denny

h, I'm trying to decide if I want to drive it back to VB Thursday, then I'll have it there for 3 or 4 weeks. I need to rebuild the caliper, replace the A/C compressor/dryer, change the oil, and add another coat of Collintes #845 Insulator wax. If not I'll have to hassle with it here in Nj

I asked a friend of mine with a Mercedes who she had work on her car and she told me about a shop that works on 4-In cars. They did my power steering pump and hose replacement for about 600 less than Lexus wanted. Try looking in the yellow pages under foreign car repairs for something like Japanese Auto Repairs. Finding a good mechanic is difficult, but important. Learning to do it yourself is very rewarding as well. I always think of it like this, if it's broke, you can't break it. Good luck. Denny

Thanks Bklyn, I really appreciate the diagram. Yeah, no problem doing a rebuild, it'll just have to wait until I get the car back to VB. Here in Jersey, I just don't have anyplace good to work on it. I guessing it's kind of a similar situation where you're located as well. After I cleaned it up this morning, it seems to be doing okay for now, but man the rim was hot this morning after driving about 5 miles. Did you get your rim vibration figured out yet?

I'm missing one on the front. They are some strange threaded nylon bolts. I tried every bolt in my big box of bolts and nothing fit. I didn't check at PepBoys yet but perhaps Moe, Curly and Manny can hook me up. For now I just left the front plate off.

I didn't know there was a drum brake inside the rotor. I never use the hand brake except at annual vehicle inspection. I do believe it is the caliper because it ate a set a pads on that side only. I replaced the pads last month and they seem to be doing okay as far as wear goes. Any tips on disaambling the parking brakes? I really appreciate the info. Denny

I checked the Plano TX site and found a caliper. They are about $270. They also sell a caliper psiton for under $50. It doesn't look like it would be difficult to change the piston, anyone know if that's all thats needed? Someone mentioned something about an O ring.