VBdenny

Not sure what an assay means but I think that means the ashtray assembly. The whole unit pulls out but you have to have the ashtray drawer open to pull it out. Since it sounds like the actual butt snuffing out tray has lifted up slightly and is blocking the drawer from opening. I think if you slide, maybe a putty knife or pie scooper out thing, in there you will be able to pull the butt tray down allowing the drawer to open.

Not to ruffle anyone's feathers but I have to agree with Curious. My 1990 has 182,000 miles and has both the original fuel pump and MAF. Sometimes things do fail on a predictable pattern but not always. I follow this rule, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and if it is broke, you can't break it. Not to say I don't do PM but replacing parts that might go bad is excessive. Now to qualify this I will add that IF I used the car on a regular basis for OTR, I might do what was suggested, but for general and around town, nada. At some point cars reach a point where you really have to consider finacial reality.

What probably happened was that the ashtry came up out of it's holder and is blocking it from opening. I have had this area apart a couple times and will tell you that the people that took it apart probably screwed it up. In order to remove the center panel you need to remove the ashtray first which you obviously can't do. I'd probably try to work a long, flat, thin thing in and try to push the ashtray down. They probably got wire jammed underneath where the ashtry seats and you just might be able to push it down enough to open the thing. If not, my first thought would be to go back to those who caused the issue but if they are useless, that might make it worse. Try different tools until you get it open.

Do you get a big cacuum whoosh when you take the gas cap off?

My 90 is due for it's second timing belt change but it isn't happening for awhile. I think I'll be okay for awhile if not, then it breaks. I suspect it will last another 50K miles.

Gotta have a V-1. My wife liked mine so I bought her one for her birthday a couple years ago and she loves it.

Do a look-see around the battery for corrosion. Check the connnections and clean them if they look questionable. If the battery is over 3 years old you might replace it. I found that for some reason these cars need a LOT of juice to start. Took the jumper guy at EWR about 20 minutes on the jump juice to start mine one time (left lights on).

Try dumping a couples bottle of Complete Fuel System Cleaner in the gas tank first. Pay $10 a bottle (not less than that) and give it a try. It might work and it is cheap and eay. Worked for me.

Struts and shocks on the LS400's should last as long as the car. Other things are far weaker like the upper control arms and ball joints and especially the struts. The look like torsion bars to me but they call them struts. When they are bad, the car wanders and often pulls to one side with the wheel (steering) off center.

nothing like a nice warranty. Of course the dealer was nice, they made a bundle, they always do. I use Toyota dealers myself.

When the engine is at temperature, the idle should be 800 RPM's. When cold it should be around 1600 RPM's. Sound to me a lot like carbon buildup in the throttle body. The easiest and cheapest way to try to fix the problem is to add 2 bottles of Complete Fuel System Cleaner to a new tank of top tier (major brand) fuel. I have used both Valvoline and Slick 50 CFSC with excellent results for similar problems. You need to make sure you spend around $10 for each or you are getting junk. If it fixes it, you will be happy, if not you spent $20 and only a few minutes. I always start with the easist and cheapest first then go from there.

The above advice is probably good since electronics are nightmares. I wouldn't consider 2 grand a good deal for a 92 with these problems. BUT, it might be something as simple as a dead short from when he installed the radio. As mentioned above, replaceing the distributor for this issue seems really a strange move. I guess I should ask IS the fuse blown and does it blow right away when a new fuse is installed, IF the wiring has a dead short it will blow every fuse you put in and my guess (although I don't know) is that all of the things with issues like the trunk, sunroof etc. are on the same circuit. I would start by taking out the radio and looking around. Try to buy the thing for a grand and maybe you will be lucky. I would not pay 2,000 for it as it is. There are many old LS400's around for sale at pretty good prices.

wish I could help but I didn't even know the back had ball joints. Maybe you could describe the symptoms and it would help people relate.

I've had that light stay on when everything worked and it turned out to be the connection points in the sockets of one of the tail lights was not making good contact. I cleaned it up and it has worked fine since. Not sure how all the lights can be on and have the light out indicator on, but as I know, it can do that. If you need instructions on how to get at the tailights, send me a message.

probably the alcohol they put in the gasoline, boiling off and producing big air pockets. Never cared much for alcohol in fuel myself.

Using the TV guy to do the soldering was a good idea. As usual, diagnostics is often the biggest challenge.

I did not know that since I have never replaced mine. I have all the tools including the pickle forks. Nice to know you don't need a press howver they work pretty easily as well once you get the thing set up right. Have you done anything with the uppers yet?

Sound to me light the sensor in the fuel tank. I'd drive around by milage before I replaced the instrument cluster.

RDM, let me see if I got this right. You are saying that you can change a lower ball joint in 10 minutes? I have never done them on a Lexus but many on Chevys, Fords etc and it took me about an hour each with the press (free lend from Autozone) to get them out. Granted it took me 1/2 hour to figure out how to configure the press but still....

Sounds like it had really low fluid but I'm sure you checked it. How did the fluid look and smell? I know it gets kind of dark naturally but usually the smell is a good indication. I drained and refilled and drove then repeated it 5 times and still got some dark out. I find it hard to believe than an LS400 with only 96,000 miles would have these problems. I would take the car to a trusted Toyota dealer (never Lexus or you WILL need a need tranny) and have them check it out. Might turn out to be something not so drastic.

One other suggestion. All cars since the late 80's have a cutoff switch which shuts off the fuel flow in the event of an accident. I have heard of cars getting bumped hard in parking lots which was enough to trigger the "blowout preventor" and the result is no fuel. I believe that somewhere on the car is a reset button for this. I think I heard it is in the truck somewhere but maybe wrong. If you don't think the car was bumped (usually from the rear) perhaps there is some malfuction in the cutoff switch in which case I suspect the default would be off. Just a thought and a wild guess.

On my 90, I had a brake light that kept going off an on. I took the lights apart and the socket had one prong not making good contact because it was much lower than the other. I "readjusted" the connection and it worked well. The bulb burned out once during the interim but never again. I think the previous suggestion to check for burned and bad connections is the way to go.

and oh yeah, tough loss for the Hokies Monday night.

I'll add my thoughts on replacing a battery on these LS400's. For some reason, these cars need a lot of juice to start well. My choice of course would be an Optima Redtop. Seeing as how your car is a 94 I figure it has at least another 10 good years and the Redtop will last just about that long. Here is the deal, at Costco you can buy a Kirkland battery (which I have done) and they last about 4 years. The warranty should they go bad is excellent. I had one go bad after 2 1/2 years and got a new one for $30. In my truck I put a Optima Redtop in and couldn't be happier. $139 at Costco (and elsewhere). One night I left my lights on all night in the garage and in the morning when I went in the garage and saw them on, I said "oh sheet" but they were still bright. The truck cranked right over like there had been no strain. Needless to say, I was happy about that. I told my brother who has sold industrial DC batteries for years and he said Redtops use a different construction and that they last forever. If money is the issue, go with the Kirkland because they are great and cheap. If money is not an issue, easy choice for the Redtop. The application size is really easy to find but you will find the Redtop will be slightly shorter (in height) than the standard size but without issue. Yeah, Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penney, Pep Boys, Sears, Advance and everyone else sells batteries but Costco (and maybe BJ's) beats them all. Just my thoughts and good luck.

Possible? probable in this case. I went ahead and replaced the hoses on each side and with the help of a neighbor's foot, bled them out and they work great (as good as 90's get anyway) now. Not sure why when the leak occured on the front brakes that none of them worked. Seems there is only 1 reserviour in these master cyclinders. Either way, it is something to take a look at if you have an early LS. $50 for new hoses seemed like a good idea.