1990LS400

Just curious ... under what kind of conditions has this car been driven? Shocks on an LS and most fairly recent Toyota vehicles are "lifetime" and can last hundreds of thousands of miles unless your LS430 is a UL with air suspension. But if you have verified failure of the rear shocks, I would replace just those two with OEM shocks. The front ones could last "forever".

Look at the specs: http://www.lexus.com/cpo/model_library/ES/2007.html With nav = Bluetooth for handsfree phone No nav = No Bluetooth A2DP Bluetooth music streaming was not available on the 2007 ES.

http://www.toyodiy.com shows several part numbers for the 2005 GX470 non-navigation HVAC control but I found only part number 55900-60831 on http://www.parts.com . See the attached image. I can not tell you if it is plug and play. It is plug and play on some Lexus models. For example, a number of people have installed aftermarket navigation systems in the 98-05 GS with factory navigation by using an HVAC control module from a non-navigation GS. Maybe forum member dcfish can tell you. I doubt if you find many people or even anyone who has done what you want to do. Wiring diagrams might tell you if you have access to them.

Cool! You dug up a four year old thread where dcfish joked around and used that as a basis for your first post? Welcome to the Club! Actually, you don't need a locksmith to program a new master key on most (all?) "newer" Lexus cars -- not sure what the first model year was where programming didn't require replacing a electronic chip. I don't have the instructions at hand but they can likely be found by searching this forum. It kind of a funny procedure to program a key ... requires all sorts of odd actions ... a little like rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time.

Lexus LS cars don't necessarily have a brake wear sensor at each wheel position. It depends on model year, the market in which a car was sold and maybe even specification/option package. My 00 LS400 has only two brake wear sensors -- only on the right side brakes. My 90 LS400 didn't have brake wear sensors - at least not electronic ones. Some gen 1 LS400 LS400/Celsiors had an electronic brake wear sensor at each brake. The OP is in New Zealand where LS400's are equipped differently than those sold in the U.S. Maybe his 99 LS has brake sensors on only one side like the U.S. 98-00 LS400 and maybe not. According to the documentation I've seen, LS400's sold in New Zealand had a substantially higher level of standard equipment and numerous features that were not available in the U.S.

I've changed engine oil on cars way over a hundred times since by father starting having me do it on the family car several years before I started driving in the mid-1960's. I've never used or needed ramps. At most, I might use a floor jack to raise a car a few inches while I reach under to remove the engine undercover, oil drain plug, and oil filter. I don't put my body under the car while changing oil -- just reach under it to stay safe. And I use a creeper to slide around the floor while working. If I'm doing more major work, I raise the car with my floor jack and use 2 or 4 jack stands depending on the nature of the work. I have several fairly low profile drain pans to catch the oil from the engine sump and oil filter. That's why I have had to raise a vehicle only a few inches if at all -- and I've owned several sports cars with very little ground clearance. IMO, car ramps can be rather dangerous. It can be hard to get some cars up onto ramps due to clearance with the body and the ramps sliding on the floor. I've known a few cases where people have driven right off the other side of ramps or where cars have fallen off to the side while being driven up on them.

I doubt if I have seen more than six or seven threads about installing an IHF1000 on the Lexus forums I have frequented over the years and I don't remember any of them being about an RX330. As I said, a competent installer or a motivated amateur would not have a problem connecting a phone kit's speaker wire to a wire running to a door speaker even without an interface harness. Consider installing an external speaker per the IHF1000 install manual. We have external speakers for the phone kits in our current cars and also did in cars we had in the past. The sound from our external phone kit speakers is excellent and we didn't have to risk damaging our audio systems to install them. Your bigger concern is attaching your phone kit's mute wire so that it mutes your radio during a phone call. The speaker should be the easy part.

I've given some technical advice to others who have successfully installed an IHF1000 in other Lexus models but not in an RX330. The IHF1000 installation manual includes the following text on page 11: Note: The system's handsfree audio has been optimized for the external speaker. Routing the audio output through the vehicle's entertainment system may alter the handsfree audio performance. But if you really want to use a door speaker, Google "Motorola IHF1000 adapter harness" and you will get a few hits. Maybe a harness from http://www.quickconnectproducts.com/Find/find.php would work although it might take a bit of hardwiring too. If your installer can't install your IHF1000 without a harness, he might not be all that competent. As long as you hook the phone kit's mute wire to the radio and/or amp so that it mutes the radio while a phone call is in progress, it is often/usually possible to splice into a wire leading to a door speaker. But if it was me, I'd use an external speaker per the IHF1000 install instruction instead. IMO, the key to getting a phone kit to work properly is to make sure that it mutes your radio automagically when you make or receive a call.

ggemigniani, please look at my previous post. Based on the content and tone of your posts, I'm highly suspecting that you are employed by www.1sttoyotaparts.com :chairshot: Again I tell you ... the freakin' $3.91 per oil filter from "your company" doesn't include the drain plug gasket which, yes, really should be replaced at each oil change and for which most online vendors usually charge between 80 cents and a dollar. The 10% shipping charge certainly isn't "almost free" unless you live in one of the relatively few areas of the U.S. with a 10% plus sales tax.

You might check with the dealer to see if the airbag on-off switches are still available. The attached page is from my 2000 LS400 owners manual. We thought having the switches installed for my wife but never did. I remember the installation cost of the switches being either very low or zero while the car was under warranty. Maybe we should appoint cmartin248 :chairshot: to one of Sarah's mythical death panels. He's got it in for Grandma!

Yep, I thought that too but learned differently during the first year after I bought my KS 20 years ago. I quickly learned why Toyota and Lexus dealers always replaces the drain plug gaskets. I didn't like the drip ... drip ... drip on the garage floor. You don't want to spent an extra measily 25 cents at a Toyota dealer to do it right? :chairshot:

That "superb low price" does not include the oil drain plug gasket. I don't know what they charge for it - I don't see it listed - but online sellers typically sell the gaskets for 80 cents to $1.00 each. The $4.25 unit price I pay for an oil filter at a Toyota dealer includes the drain plug gasket. Like the oil filters, the drain plug gaskets also come in a 10-pack at a substantially lower unit cost than they are sold for singlely.

Where you mount your phone may depend on whether it is one that interferes with your radio when it is close to it. If you are going to use a charging cradle that attaches the phone to an external antenna and turns off the phone's internal antenna then you wouldn't have to worry about interference. Some phones cause a Morse Code-like sound when near a car radio head unit. Kuda makes a leather phone console specifically for your 2010 RX350: http://www.kudausa.com/kuda_mount_and_holder_for_lexus_rx_350___450h_since_2010-21-644.html The cradle mounted on the Kuda RX phone console in the above photos appears to be one from Bury which supplies Lexus with cradles for the Bluetooth Complementary Kit sold by Lexus and Toyota dealers in Europe. The cradles are interchangeable and snap into a "base plate" attached to the phone console but they are not available for all phones. The cradles have an external antenna connection which turns off the internal antenna on most phones. Bury products are often on eBay -- the Bury System 9 is the product most similar to the Lexus Complementary Kit. Kuda phone consoles are nice quality. The one in my 00 LS matches my interior color almost perfectly. A phone/GPS bracket maker I've bought several products from is Pro.Fit: http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/ Even though they may not list a bracket specifically for your model year, one for other model years may fit. The phone cradles in our cars are wired into the ignition systems. I hardwired our portable GPS units into the accessory circuit. If I was doing it today, I would probably use an "add-a-circuit" connector at the underdash fusebox -- they are made for powering add-on electronics. Photos of a Kuda phone console and Pro.Fit brackets and more informatio about how the devices are wired in our cars are in my gallery on this forum. A side photo of the Kuda console in my car is on the Kuda website: http://www.kudausa.com/images/consoles/541.jpg They needed a photo of the console in a US spec LS400 w/o nav so I sent them one. Edit: I just noticed a photo of the Bluetooth Complementary Kit for the 2010 RX on the Lexus U.K. website ... photo attached.

The main thing is that you are happy with your purchase. When I saw the $16,000 figure in your post, my first thought was that it would be pretty easy to pick up a well optioned, low mileage 2001-2003 LS430 in a private party sale for that kind of money here in Johnson County. As I'm sure you know, cars age with time as well as mileage. I've seen people on the forums buy low mileage Lexus LS cars that seem to have just as many problems as higher mileage cars of the same model year. You best bet is to buy a car with documented service. Personally, if I was going to spend $12,000 to $16,000 today and wanted an LS, I would consider only the LS430. The LS430 has too many advantages over the 98-00 LS400: more rear seat legroom, many more standard features, better HVAC with additional rear seat vents, indash non-cartridge based CD changer, and especially a completely redesigned audio system for which you can buy all sorts of plug and play accessories like iPod interface, Sat Radio, etc. I even miss trivial things on my 00 LS400 like RDS which the LS430 has amd every rental car we get has these days. But I like my 2000 LS400 and I going to continue driving it to wring as much value as possible from it. I bought it at 38,000 miles in 2003 from a auto broker friend of a Lexus repair shop owner who has maintained our Toyota and Lexus cars since the mid-90s. If you want one of those low mileage 99-00 LS400's you are looking at, I would think the sellers would take less than $10,000 for any of them. If you want a 2000 LS400, look for one made after the tilt/telescope steering column fixes were implemented at the factory -- it's around a $2,000 repair if you have to have it fixed. You might want to verify that all outstanding TSIB's -- especially the steering column fix on the 99 LS and early model year 2000 LS - were applied at the dealership while the car was under its original warranty. "Dock boy", huh. Don't even want to visualize that! We kept our saleboat at the Perry Yacht Club ... bought it just in time to have it trashed by a tornado in the early 80's.

My Goodness! These are huge prices for 99-00 LS400s no matter how low their mileages. You could easily buy a low mileage early LS430 for prices in that range. Here are the specs and options for the 2000: http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2000/2000LSspecs.pdf Change "2000" to "1999" in the URL to see the same for the 1999 LS400. It sounds like the 2000 Platinum has the "SF" package like mine does. You might want to know that Nakamichi components are no longer available either new or on an exchange basis from Lexus dealers and no one repairs them anymore. But you can usually find used Nak components on eBay. I'm not a great fan of the Platinum Series leather but I like it's LS430 wheels a lot more than the standard 98-00 LS400 wheels. The 2000 LS400 has "brake assist" - a pretty cool feature. My main advice is to buy a car with the options you want. Not all 1998-2000 LS400's have heated seats for example. (I've really "warmed up" to heated seats.) Also avoid 98-00 LS400's with navigation -- there hasn't been an update since 2004 and there will be no more updates. And air suspension ... don't even consider one of those. On a low mileage older car, verify that the tires, including the spare, are less than about six or seven years old or you will be tire shopping real quickly. Grantville? That's a few miles away from Lake Perry where we kept our saleboat -- that hole in the water into which we poured money. I would think you could do (a lot) better on price here in the Kansas City Metro area.

It sounds like the Smart Key system has been deactivated -- page 34 of your owners manual.

I can't tell from the attached diagram if the bumper cover rests on the absorber ... maybe, maybe not. It's a pretty cheap part -- $53.94 at http://www.parts.com/ . The part number is 52611-0E011 . The diagram is from http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-catalog/5201520993L-Body-RX350-2008.html# but I'm not seeing Sewell's price.

Like Denny said, dimming lights are caused by something else ... perhaps in the charging system. With the 90 LS I drove for over 13 years, dimming lights generally meant that the alternator was on its way out. Is your power steering pump leaking fluid on to the alternator? If it is get the power steering pump fixed ASAP or at least make a plastic drip shield to protect the alternator. And yes, all LS400's and all other Lexus LS cars, including the 1990, had anti-lock brakes as standard equipment. Maybe Denny is thinking of traction control which was an option on the LS until the 1998 model year when it became standard.

A brake pad wear sensor is about $50 and easy to replace. There is one sensor on one of the front brakes and one sensor on one of the rear brakes - I forgot which side ... would have to look at my repair manual. I usually wait until a sensor triggers the warning light (message on my 00 LS) in order to milk as much life as possible out of the pads. Brake pads on these things last a long time. Front brake pads on my 00 LS were replaced for the first time at about 73,000 miles. My rear brake pads were recently changed for the first time during the 120,000 mile service.

Have you tried a Toyota dealer? I bought a 10-pack of OEM engine oil filters for my 00 LS400 (same filter your LS430 uses) a few weeks ago at a local Toyota dealer for $42.50 including ten oil plug gaskets. I don't think I can do better than that by buying online.

Many issues can cause these warning lights. Did you read a code with your scanner? The last time these warning lights happened on my 00 LS it was a bad TPS but other issues can cause the same warning lights.

I think it is unlikely that there is a provision for signal mirrors on your 2008 RX like on some other newer Lexus vehicles since the 2008 Japanese home market Toyota Harrier appears to have had fender mounted side turn signals instead of signal mirrors -- at least as shown by the 2008 Harrier photos I'm looking at on the Internet. Its been documented on another forum that some newer Lexus cars that didn't come with signal mirrors use the same electrical connectors for the mirrors as Japanese market cars that did come with signal mirrors. In those, the US models don't have the wiring for the signal mirrors but the pins for signal mirrors are in the electrical connectors for the mirrors and the pins can be activited by connecting wires to them. Still, it wouldn't hurt to check the mirror electrical connectors for unused pins that you might adapt. If your main goal is simply to have side mounted turn signals, you could have a body shop cut holes in your fenders for fendor mounted turn signals. The side turn signals from a Scion would probably work well if you want to use Toyota brand parts that are easy to get and replace if one ever gets broken. I mounted side turn signals on my first LS400 shortly after I bought it in 1990 back when I was a lot more "visually challenged" than I am now. The body shop didn't charge much for cutting and finishing the holes so they wouldn't rust -- maybe $50-$75. I ran the wires myself ... probably way easier to wire up fender mounted turn signals than signal mirrors. A photo of that old LS400 with the side turn signals is at http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?app=gallery&module=images&section=viewimage&img=803

Based on the diagram and related part numbers, it appears that what looks like "segments" in the sides of the console are only cosmetic lines. I've removed a console in a Lexus only once and the entire console came out in one great big unit. The design of these things are usually quite consistent among vehicles made by Toyota. For example, the console in our Lexus LS cars are held in place almost exactly the console is held in place in our Camry. I know this seems confusing -- it was to me the time I thought I needed to remove a Lexus console (I really didn't need to) and had difficulty in finding all the bolts holding it down. I had to strip almost all the trim away from the console (wood trim, console box under the armrest, air vents, etc.) to see the bolts holding it down. Maybe someone with actual experience with removing the console in an ES350 will reply to this thread. Or post some photos of what you are seeing and maybe that will help.

Once you remove the upper console trim and box using the diagram I gave you in January, it should be obvious how the console frame is bolted to the floor: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=62107&st=0&p=398610&fromsearch=1entry398610 You pretty much have to strip away the console trim to see the bolts and brackets holding the rear of the console frame to the floor. On the Toyota-made vehicles I've seen, the front of the console frame sort of "plugs into" the center stack frame. I've done wiring projects in two Lexus LS400's and one Toyota Camry and didn't have to remove the console frame during the projects. It's been possible to fish wires around and under the console without having to remove the console frame. But if you really do need to remove the console frame, remove all the trim first. By the way, the repair manuals I currently have for Toyota and Lexus cars and the ones I have had in the past do not include text instructions on doing this type of disassembly. I wish they did. I guess a certain level of knowledge on how car interiors fit together is assumed.

If your LS400 is a 1998 per your "car model" in your profile ... open the hood and remove the one small screw holding the turn signal housing in place. Grab the leading edge of the turn signal housing with your finger tips and pull it away from the body. It's held in place by friction fittings and will "pop" out. Be sure to spread the force on the leading edge when you pry it away from the body so you don't crack the housing. Some people insert a pry tool or a screwdriver blade into the crack between the turn signal housing and the headlight but be careful if you do that -- you shouldn't need to. Once you have the turn signal housing in off the car, it will be obvious how to replace the bulb. After you replace the bulb, just snap the turn signal housing back in place and screw in the one little screw.