1990LS400

The "laundry list" looks about right but do you know if the brake pads really need to be replaced? Rear brake pads last far longer than front pads and it isn't necessary to change pads until wear sensors (assuming your car has them) trigger a warning alarm/light. IMO, premature brake pad replacement is the #1 repair shop scam. Follow the maintenance schedule in your maintenance manual and you will be "golden" - no more, no less. By "service station" do you mean a "gas station"? I wouldn't take our Lexus or Toyota to a shop that isn't experienced in working on those brands and models and which is not highly recommended by people I know. If there are not acceptable independent Lexus repair shops in your area, you may be better off staying with the Lexus dealer. Supply a location in your profile and maybe forum members can point you to a good independent repair shop in your area.

Did this problem arise after the repair? Did they have to disassemble the center console when replacing the transfer case chain? It sounds like an electrical connector was left unplugged. I did that - only once - when reassembling the center console of my LS - which I've disassembled too many times for a variety of projects. There is likely a bulb for the shift indicator but the fact that buttons are also unlit would lead me to think that a connector is unplugged.

Absolutely! I think Dave has the answer. Perhaps there were regular oil changes (I wouldn't call 10,000+ between changes very "regular") but overheating an engine can damage it beyond hope ... been there, done that and then sold the car for salvage. There is no way you could win by taking a repair shop to court on this issue. You were not the owner when the work was done. Besides, you probably bought the car "as is" without warranty as is the case in most private sales. Don't waste your money on legal action. And don't write off "rinky dink repair shops". During my 45 years of car ownership, independent repair shops generally been head and shoulders above franchised auto dealers when it comes to workmanship. Where's our favorite former owner of a rink dink repair shop -- Billy! Stick up for your kin!

Maybe the "lifetime" of our Lexus LS cars is just too long! As I have noted here in the past, the warranty for the seat belts (and airbags) in my 2000 LS400 was 7 years or 70,000 miles -- except in one state ... Kansas where I live and where the warranty is 10 years, unlimited miles. Why else would anyone want to live in Kansas -- it's only to get a longer seat belt warranty. :whistles: My first LS400 is still on the road after nearly 21 years and around 300,000 miles - car companies can't warranty components forever.

Unless you plan to buy a phone online, you could try picking out a phone you like and either ask a cell phone sales rep/technician to help you confirm that the phone works with your car's Bluetooth or buy the phone with the stipulation that it can be returned if it does not work with the car's Bluetooth. I think some of the techie cell phone sales guys I've met would be thrilled to help you demo the phone in your car but you might want to catch them on a slow day. You might focus on cell phone brands that have the most models compatible with Lexus Bluetooth systems. For example, Blackberries across the board seem to have a high degree of compatibility.

I've never really understood how it works but I think I read that the little yellow cylinder is a "single use" module that has a little explosion that drives a piston that tightens the seat belts when the air bags deploy? Or am I hallucinating? (Probable!) If it is connected to the air bag system, shouldn't the car battery should be disconnected before replacing the seat belt?

If I remember correctly, the panels covering the seat belt mechanism are held in place by the same type of clips used to hold the door sills in place. They came off easily when I removed them a couple of times when installing additional electronics and making a minor adjustment to the seat belt mechanism on my 2000 LS400. I think I pulled them off without using a trim removal tool -- be gentle but firm as these parts tend to become brittle with age. Attached are a couple of diagrams that might be useful.

amg280, I think your argument is with the man you bought your car from. Some of us, like me, have been around Lexus LS cars since they were introduced, have followed Lexus forums since they started on the internet, know lots of Lexus LS owners and are friends with people who own shops that maintain Lexus LS cars. You are the very first person I have ever heard of having a problem like this on any Lexus LS. Something is very, very wrong and I highly suspect that the problem was caused either by lack of maintenance, completely incorrect maintenance or outright sabotage. Does "Doc" have any enemies? After 20 years of Mercedes ownership, the past 20 years with Lexus LS cars have been pure joy. But that is just my own experience and maybe yours will be different.

I don't think Lexus is going to pay for a replacement seat belt on a 15 year old car. The seat belt can be replaced but I've read that some of the colors for the seat belts on the 95-97 LS are no longer available.

I'm pretty sure that the fixed phone like you have is the same from 1998 through 2000. If you wamt to remove the phone ECU and get the cables up and out of the way, there may be a small plastic bracket at the bottom of the tool kit housing that is made to hold the two large connectors after they are plugged together (unless the phone installer discarded it) -- that's the way it comes from the factory. I posted a photo of the plastic bracket recently in another thread. The other small white connector is taped up out of the way along with the gray coax cable that runs to the phone antenna imprinted on the inside of the rear window. The other coax cable you might find runs to the center console - do you remember unplugging a coax cable under the armrest when you removed the handset? Not sure but the coax antenna cable under the armrest may be only for the portable Lexus phone.

This sounds like a bogus post or that someone sabotaged an engine since there is no history of either the LS400 or LS430 engines having sludging problems.

Most windshield washer fluid tanks on vehicles made by Toyota are replaced by loosening the front of the inner fender (wheel well) liner. Most people seem to do it without completely removing the fender liner.

Unplug the connectors so that you can unbolt and remove the phone ECU from the car. Then see if there are two connectors that plug together. I've only done this on a friends 99 LS400 and it is possible that the 96 LS400 phone system is different. If you don't find connectors that plug together after you remove the phone ECU, show us photos of the remaining connectors.

I couldn't get to the link but I think this one will work: http://lexusenthusiast.com/

In my 2000 LS400 I have essentially the same car as you but with the steering wheel on the "correct" side. Certainly you can switch to "PWR" or downshift to "4", "3", etc. as long as you don't over-rev the engine. But I suspect your transmission will last longer if you left the selector in "D". I've taken the gear selector out of "D" while driving only a handful of times since I bought my car in 2003 - mainly down to "4" to get just a little engine braking going down hills. The "PWR" setting reduces the retardation of ignition timing during gear changes and, IMO, is mainly for psychological effect. Maximum acceleration times are about the same whether the switch is in PWR or normal mode. The last time I had a car with a real overdrive gear box was a 1978 Volvo with a Laycock de Normanville -- I bought the car new and dumped it within a year due to its marginal quality. Do some newer cars down there still have overdrives or are they regular automatic transmissions with a O/D switch which toggles between high gear and the next lower gear? The LS400 I bought in 1990 had an overdrive switch and the 1998 Toyota Camry we have now has one too but neither had/has a "real" overdrive gearbox. Here is an old Aussie online article about the last LS400 series that you might find interesting: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_3041/article.html

This is a North American Lexus forum. The navigation hardware and software used in Lexus/Toyota cars in different parts of the world varies substantially so I doubt you will get accurate information here ... maybe try the Australia forum: http://au.lexusownersclub.com/ For example, there have been a number of threads from Europeans who bought U.S. specification Lexus cars and then are frustrated when they get home and find that they have to completely replace the navigation units in order to use software and maps for Europe. The following website discusses this issue: http://www.lexusnavigation.com/faq.php

I'm not much of an audio guy but maybe the attached diagrams for the standard Pioneer in the 1998 GS400 might help? You did have the standard audio system, didn't you. I don't remember seeing adapter harnesses for cars equipped with Nakamichi but they might be out there. 1998 GS400 audio diam 1.pdf 1998 GS400 audio diam 2.pdf

Here is a website that should answer your questions: http://www.lexusnavigation.com/faq.php You might find nav updates on eBay or register your forum member name with Sewell for a discount: http://lexus.sewellparts.com/

I see you posted in another thread: "MY 1992 LS400 DOESNT START DURING RAINING WEATHER. CAN SOMEONE HELP ME? " Does the starter spin or does nothing at all happen when you turn the key? If the starter doesn't spin and turn over the engine, do you hear any clicking and/or see the dash lights dim? And do you have any dash lights? Depending on your answers to the above questions, your problem could be a weak battery or corrosion in the electrical system. Most basically, make sure your battery terminals and battery cable clamps are absolutely free of corrosion. Use a little baking soda, water and a old tooth brush or similar to remove the corrosion. A battery terminal cleaner - a few bucks at an auto parts store - can be used to clean the battery terminals and cable clamps of the corrosion that the baking soda/water/scrubbing doesn't remove. You want the battery cable clamps and battery posts to be clean and bright before you reconnect them and coat them with petroleum jelly or a similar substance to !Removed! future corrosion. There are a number of other issues that can affect starting when the humidity is high - the above is just a basic since you did not post much information about the problem.

The specs seem to indicate that 2010 was the first year the RX had A2DP audio streaming: http://www.lexus.com/cpo/model_library/RX/2010_options.html The following company has a variety of interfaces including aux-in for Lexus vehicles: http://www.vaistech.com/products/home.php

Brake pad and rotor quality and durability seem to be highly variable in the aftermarket. Do you have prior experience with Just Brakes or have others recommended their products and work? Does your RX have brake wear sensors and can Just Brakes replace them if needed? My personal opinion is that the way to get the best service is to develop a relationship with people who maintain cars or anything else. Whether I call Ben, the owner of the indie Lexus shop who has maintained our cars since 1996, or Larry who does all the window work on our house (we got windows!), or Gene, the dentist who has "maintained" my teeth since 1981, I know I'm going to get especially good service from people I'm on a first name basis with and who depend on my repeat business.

I did exactly that - bought a 5 dollar 12V extension cord at a discount store, chopped the cigarette lighter plug off the end of it and attached its wires to the wires leading to the accessory port under the armrest of my 00 LS400 with Scotch-lock connectors. I've read more than once that splicing into the cigarette lighter or power port wires on some Lexus models can over power the circuit and blow the fuse if the accessory draws too much power. I haven't had that happen but maybe my old Magellan GPS doesn't draw much power. If I was doing it today, I might try using an "Add-a-circuit" (sometimes called a piggyback) fuse at the under dash fuse box - photo attached. The Add-a-circuit and similar products come in both full and miniature fuse sizes and are specifically made to power accessories like a GPS. They seem unavailable where I live but you can find one on the Internet. One problem with the Add-a-circuit type connectors that some of them are too big to allow closing the fuse box cover. There are also spade-type connectors with attached wires that one can insert directly into a fuse box terminal next to the fuse spade itself -- that's how an installer powered a fixed phone in my first Lexus over 20 years ago. Here's the old thread about my GPS install in my LS: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=38436&st=0&p=248047&hl=magellan&fromsearch=1entry248047 I later hid all the power cords inside the center stack. I did a similar install of a Garmin on a bracket in my wife's Camry. Photos are in my forum gallery.

Pics would be interesting. If you can see a microphone, it's an aftermarket something since the microphone for the 96 ES was in a control module on the left side of the steering wheel. If you don't see a controller switch or other components, maybe a previous owner ripped them out. I suppose you could trace the wires from the box you found in the trunk and see where they lead. Maybe try to find a model number on the Panasonic component you found and Google it. The Panasonic car related phone products I see on the Internet are ones that plug into their more recent car stereo products - pic attached.

No, it is not dangerous to top up the overflow tank with the coolant (the only Toyota coolant I've seen and used is premixed with water so adding water to it is not done) but it could be damaging to drive the car if it is overheating.

Leave the overdrive on all the time. The only situations where you "might" want to turn it off would be while towing a trailer, while descending a steep hill to get a little "engine braking" or to avoid "hunting" between the gears when driving in hilly terrain. I think this may be explained in your owners manual. In 20+ years of driving Lexus V8 cars, I've never had to turn overdrive off or manually shift the gear selector to a lower gear. Leave the traction control on all the time unless you are in an unusual (rare) situation (like stuck in the mud where you need a little wheel spin) where you need to turn it off. When you need traction control, you might not have time to turn it on. Use the recommended oil vicosity - that would be 5W30. You might first try eBay, Craigslist or a recycler for used parts. If you want new parts you can get a pretty good deal by registering with your forum member name on http://lexus.sewellparts.com/ .