Baby Alex

The rear inflate/deflate solenoids are in the trunk under the mat, check those first.

How do you check those?

Where would you buy one of these?

Thank you

Hi,

I have a 93LS400 with air suspension. It has two settings, one to ride high or one to ride low. When I set it to high it works properly. When I set it to low the rear end sinks to the ground a few hours after I shut the car off.

I believe three of the air shocks have been replaced. One of the rears is original I believe so maybe it just needs to be replaced but I am wondering if there is some sensor of some sort that could be malfuctioning instead of just the shock.

I say that because all four shocks work perfectly when set to high but malfunction in the rear (while car is off) when set to low.

Any ideas?

By the way, it actually did sink in the rear once when the car was on and driving (this was while set to "low" setting) but I pulled over, set it on high and it's been fine ever since.

Thank you

Got your email... your mechanic is correct, it is one piece. Attached is a photo of what the suspension looks like. The upper ball joint is attached to the upper control arm, which is #3 in the photo. I got this from www.lexuspartsonline.com within the mechanical catelog. They have it listed for $331 bucks. Your mechanic is probably quoting you the price your local dealership is selling it for. One thing you can try, to save some money, is call the dealership yourself and see if they will sell it to for what you would pay for it online plus shipping. I have done this with my local dealership and they have agreed on more than one occasion. It saves you time "not having to wait for it to arrive" and you get it for the same price. If anything, bump up your offer $10 bucks to compensate for the value of not having to wait for it to arrive in the mail. Usually, shipping is around $20 bucks or so. But to answer your question; yes you are looking for the upper control arm. As far as I know, you cannot replace just the ball joint for the upper section, like you can for the lower one "#5". One of the few "gotcha" issues with the LS. Some may have altered thier control arm to replace just the ball joint, but do you really want to take that chance of part failure for this area just to save a $100 bucks? Plus, the time required to make that alteration will probably cost you more in labor anyway. This is an easy as pie repair. Just 3 bolts, and you also now have new upper control arm bushings as well!

Thank you for information!

I understand perfectly now :-)

Hi, my mechanic said I need a driver's side upper ball joint for my 93 ls400.

He said the part alone is $440.

Anyone have any ideas where I may be able to locate on for less money?

Thank you

Anyone?

I have had a Rx for a loaner car twice now.

I am always dying to get my LS back.

I live very close to Boston (in Watertown) and need a servo-motor changed in my dashboard.

The Lexus dealership said it is somewhere between 7 and 12 hours depending on if the dash needs to come out or not. That is going to cost a fortune at $95 per hour.

I am hoping someone can send me to a good mechanic that won't charge as much.

Thank you

My God, I just heard from the Lexus dealership and they said the knocking sound is a servo-motor.

It will be seven hours of labor if they don't have to take the dash out. If they do have to take out the dash it will be eleven to 12 hours.

Does anyone know a Boston area mechanic that may be able to tackle this for less than dealership rates?

I just bought this car a few months ago and the guy told me that the dealership (where it had been maintained in Jersey, I live in Boston) said it would cost $200 or so to fix. The part alone is over $200 though.

I have a knocking sound in the dashboard that affects my AC.

The only way I can make he knocking sound go away is to turn the temperature up all the way.

Then, when I put the AC on while putting the fan on either low, medium or high two vents pump out hot air while the other two vents pump out AC.

The Lexus dealership charged me for an hour and said they fixed it by moving some things around that were hitting each other. Unfortunately the problem came back a couple of days later.

I bought it back this morning in hopes they'll fix it. Has anyone else had a problem like this?

just spin all the buttons on the Nakamichi HU... still doesn't work... guess will need to bring it to dealer or audio shop to diagnosis...

sha4000, please keep us posted on your case...

←

My passenger side (Nakamichi also) speakers are dead also.

Lexus says it's an amp but the local audio place says it's the pre-amp unit.

I have a 93 LS too.

It's really your call my friend. You can do just one now, and know you'll probably have to do the other soon. Or you can just hit them both and be done with it. It can be very frustrating to fix one, only to find out it reveals another problem somewhere else. I did this for a couple parts, then became frustrated and just hit all suspension parts at once. Now, I have no worries "with the suspension". This is the major "rehab" project on the LS models. We all face them. After this project, it's just little things here and there.

←

Thanks for the reply nc.

Are you suggesting there are other suspension parts I should replace while I am doing this job?

If so, can you tell me what they are so I can tell my mechanic?

I don't think I will have the Lexus dealership do this cause of the incredible amount of money they want.

Any difference in buying a refurb air strut from Arnott instead of buying an OEM one?

Also, is it very important to do left and right sides at the same time instead of just the one broken side?

Thank you

Sorry,

I found the link on page one.

Thank you

Hi Blake,

thanks for the tip.

I don't see the link you are mentioning though.

Can you please let me know again what link it is?

By the way, do you suggest an OEM or can I get a rebuilt?

Thanks for the tips guys!

I have been doing a lot of research on this today. This is a great forum.

This guy I am sure has only sold this one car this year. He replaced it with a new LS 430.

Does anyone know if there is a way to pump this shock back up for a short term "fix"?

I have a regular mechanic but he is on vacation till the 30th. I am curious to see what he thinks of all this.

By the way, I do love the air suspension.

The dealership said it is about 12 or 1300 for the air shock and three to five hours in labor.

Does that sound possible?

I know people on here are saying it is expensive but that seems extraordinary.

They were mistaken.

The timing belt was done at 74,000 miles.

At least that is a good thing.

Timing belt has not been done :-(

I am not the smartest shopper.

I swore the guy told me it had been done but I looked at so many Lexus' that maybe I confused this with another.

I am still excited about my three day old Lexus but it's going to cost me a bit to get it up to snuff.

I need to make more money fast!

ummm.. 5k is not that bad.. If its in good shape that is a good deal.

I would be worried, but if regular maintenance has been done it should be okay..

For sure you have to get rid of the air ride! Check the timing belt and power steering pump.

Good luck man!

←

I am going to mention it to him and see what he says. Also I keep getting put on hold with Lexus but I intend to find out about the timing belt and power steering pump also.

Lexus does not have the most efficient system for trakcing down repairs.

Thank you guys for the tips.

By the way, this car looks AMAZING. Always Garaged. I wish I had more money right now cause I wouldn't mind dumping it in a car this mint looking as I would like to keep this for a while.

I will have to repairs a bit at a time.

Things dont magically just go like that.. Something was a temp fix.. What did you pay? What are the specs?

←

It was 5K.

It has 134,000 miles on it. One owner. Dealer maintained somewhat.

I called Lexus and they are trying to figure out exactly what work has been done on the suspension and when. However it seems that Lexus has a very inefficient way of searching there database.

I have to call them back again and see what they have found.

Quite a coincidence.    You might want to see if some sort of temp repair was made (a "bandaid") to hold it long enough to get it sold. Kind of like banana oil in the engine. Not familiar w/ air suspension, but if the seller was aware it was about to go, it might give you some leverage.

←

I am taking it in to the Lexus Dealership this week and see what they say. I also did a search and am looking into the cost of a single air shock from Irontoad.com

You can try but I don't think he will help. Give it a shot though.

thanks

←

I think you are right, but I might mention it to him anyway.

I am sure he didn't realize this was going.

That is the funny thing about cars, things can go wrong at any point.

It appears in September of 2003 one air shock was replaced. I am not sure where on the car though.

If it just needs one shock maybe I'll replace that in the next few weeks when I get some more money. Hopefully this problem can wait a minute.

Do you think I should tell the seller about it in case they might consider helping with the repair?

Did you get a warranty with the car? Even a 30 day warranty?

It's an expensive fix. Dearler route, probably $1,200+.

←

Hi,

no I did not get a warranty. I got it from a private sale. I found it on Craigslist in New Jersey.

I flew down from Boston (where I live) to pick it up Saturday.

I was told the air suspension was serviced in the last year or so but it seems just one shock may have been replaced.