LS400Convert

I went through the alternator thing a couple of months ago. Here is the thread that discusses my problem and eventual diagnoses and fix. Your's sounds a little different, but at least this might help. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=ST&f=4&t=2011&

I lived in Silver City when I was little, how is it now days? I grew up in Grants.

Plenty said, but more anecdotal evidence from me. I have used Mob1 10w-30 in my wife's Ford Expedition (97) since it had about 50k miles. I have been thoroughly impressed with the performance of the oil. I grew up in an autoparts store (NAPA) and I am used to hearing mechanics gossip about oil and old wives tales of one mineral oil is better than the other. I agree with the post that basically said that all Dino oils are basically equal and definitely inferior to synthetics. I know a Doctor of ChemE who worked on the Mob I research project 10 years ago in New Jersey. He has some very interesting insights as to why the product is so good. I did not meet him, until after my wifes SUV had 140k miles on it. We have done nothing to the engine and it doesn't burn a drop of oil. When I started running Mob 1, I started changing every 6,000 miles and still no prob's. The SUV now has 166k miles and still going strong. We all know that domestic engines are inferior to what is under the hood of the LS. I bought my LS (1990) when it had 125k miles, I have no problem changing to synthetic. My car runs better and I know I am taking good care of it. It now has 145k and runs great. A little off of the subject, but if you want your tranny to last forever, get it pumped out (not just drop the pan) and get all of the old transmission fluid out every 30-45k miles. Any quick lube will do it for around $60. We had some shifting problems in my wifes SUV when it was new (30k miles) and we started doing the flushes every 30-45k. At 166k it is still going strong. Not too many Ford 4 spd electronic tranny's make it that far, so it is a great thing to do for your LS too!

Sounds like my experience is about the same as everyone elses. I get 19 around town and about 25 on the hwy. I always run Shell or Texaco premium fuel. Premium in Houston is running about $1.55 right now.

Kevin, There is one thing that will take some getting used to. You won't be going back to the dealership for repairs nearly as often as with the Rover. We know you will miss the service technicians, we all did, but we got over it in time!

I'm definitely in! Mine is completely black unless the inside of my car gets to about 120 deg. F then it will be clear until the car cools down. Strange..

I just replaced mine this weekend and it is not bad if you have a few tools and a little patience. About 3 hrs for an amateur (me). $200 for pump @ O'reilly's. I think the rebuilder is Cardone or something like that. I saw the pump online for around $150 but I didn't want to wait for the part. You have to remove your air intake cowling (including air filter and mass air flow sensor up to the rubber hose going into the intake plenum), also drain the radiator and remove the hose that runs in front of the pump, You can try to pump the fluid out of the resevoir but remember their is a straining screen about halfway down and you will poke a hole in to with a suction tube of any sort. Then you have to remove 3 - 14 mm (I think) bolts (two side of block, one front) next remover the nut off of the stud which is on the front of the engine and the pump will be loose. Then you have to remove the pressure side line 17 mm, the return line (hose clamps) and also a small vacuum device of some sort (17 mm) off the bottom of the pump (probably for speed sensitive steering) Keep track of which vacuum hose goes to which side of the sensor. Finally, use your best Rubiks Cube logic to get it out of the tiny little spot between the anti-lock brake controller and the engine and you are there! The only special tool I needed was a 12" long 3/8 drive ratched with a swivel head. It allowed me to easily get to, and break loose the two bolts going into the side of the block. Good luck!

Good advice! Once was too many times. Gracias

If anyone reads this thread, I replaced power steering pump and alternator. The alternator fixed the problem, excellent diagnoses. Thanks for the help. It was about 5 hours labor and $450 in parts that I purchased at O'Reilly. First time I've ever done it on this car and hopefully the last!

Thats exactly what mine did. Including the blinking under heavy acceleration. Like you said, it has all the symptoms of alternator, but usually when I have had alternators go out on other cars, they just quit and thats it. This one has something that reacts to the heat. Anyway, thanks and I will let everyone know if that fixes my problem.

The power steering pump did leak when I first bought the car. I fixed it with Power Steering stop leak but there is no telling how long it was like that before I bought it. Thanks for the idea, I will check it out.

I have the Nakamichi sound system in my car and it sounds horrible. I assumed it was the speakers and took it to Best Buy to have the speakers replaced. They told me they couldn't do the work on this system because it was dealer only. I can barely hear the sound when I have to cranked all the way up. It would seem odd that all of the speaker would go bad at once. Could I have a stereo problem, if so is this common and has anyone replaced or repaired on before? Thanks for your help.

I have owned a 90' LS400 for about 2 years. It has been an awesome car, but now I am stumped. On a particularly hot day, I drove the car a few miles, shut it off, restarted after a few minutes and all warning lights remained on on the dash but the engine was running fine. As I was driving it became apparent that my dash lights were dimming and my fan on the air conditioner was running slow so I then thought I had lost the alternator and had been running on the battery. I normally would replace it myself but I didn't have the time. I called the Firestone place to come get my car and replace the alternator and serpentine belt. When they came to get it (I wasn't there) they said it started right up and they drove it to their shop. They didn't replace anything since they couldn't find anything wrong. When the car cools down completely it will start and run fine whether you drive it 1 mile or 100. But if I shut it off and then get back in and drive, then all the lights come on and I assume once again that I am running on battery power only. I put in a brand new battery a few days back and it didn't help. Could it be the computer? Thanks for any help you might offer.