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1990LS400

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Everything posted by 1990LS400

  1. You are on a forum for the United States. Lexus vehicles sold in the U.S. have never had this feature. I suggest you consult a Lexus dealer in your home country. This may be a customizable feature that has been reset by removing the battery and which could be re-enabled by a Lexus dealer in your home country.
  2. Yes, you need only this one DVD. Navigation updates are cumulative and each one contains all that is needed. Unfortunately, the maps on the latest map update DVD for your RX will be six years old. There are a lot changes from year to year so you may find that the 2013 update will sometimes provide erroneous information. If you have a cell phone with a decent size data plan and you mainly drive where there is good cell phone service, a cell phone navigation app such as Google Maps or Waze might be more useful. A portable navigation device such as a Garmin might be better too but we found on a recent trip to Seattle that a Garmin with up-to-date maps was no match for Google Maps on a cell phone. If you do buy a map update DVD for your RX, here is a thread on ClubLexus that describes how to install it: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-1st-gen-1999-2003/155443-rx300-navigation-dvd-update-procedure.html
  3. The final update for the generation 2/3 navigation system used in the 2002 RX was in fall 2013. The part numbers for the final 2013 update was PT219-GN23E-13 or PT219-GN23W-13 with the "E" and "W" indicating the part number for East or West of the Mississippi River and the "-13" indicating that the update was issued in fall 2013. You might be able to obtain these updates at a Lexus dealer for the $169 retail price or less if you can get a discount (e.g. through the Costco Auto Program) but you might be able to find it on eBay at a far lower price.
  4. All bets are off if your RX was designed for Hawaii and originally sold by Servco. I thought it had mostly ended by 2008 but at one time Lexus vehicles sold in Hawaii were quite different from those sold on the U.S. mainland and had more in common with those sold in Taiwan. I've bought a number of additional keys over 24 years of Lexus ownership. The keys have always been somewhat expensive but the programming was always done in a couple of minutes at no extra charge while I watched. I hope you didn't buy a key somewhere else and then expected a Lexus dealer to program it.
  5. It may be a workaround but it's a reliable and standard one. I can't comprehend giving a child the cell phone I depend on to play with. Check the settings on your iPhone to verify that the YouTube Kids app is not sending data to your vehicle over the Voice or Audio stream. Or get an Android phone. Android phones support all the features of Toyota/Lexus vehicle systems. iPhones do not since they do not adhere to industry standards. (I'd like to take a sledge hammer to wife's iPhone!)
  6. Are your children watching videos on the same iPhone that is connected to your Lexus for phone calls? If so, stop doing that. Configure your iPhone as a hot spot and have your children connect to it for watching videos on separate devices such as different cell phones, laptop computers, tablet computers, etc.
  7. A little spray window cleaner and a razor blade should do it. The window cleaner will act as a lubricant so you don't damage the glass with the razor blade. "Your "Goof Off" might work too as long as you don't use anything abrasive on the glass. "
  8. I've essentially stopped expending energy trying the buy only "the best" tires. My main goal has become to buy tires that have been found to be reasonably quiet, that provide a comfortable ride and which are available at reasonable prices. As much as I mind tire pressures and rotation schedules, I've never been able to get the rated life out of tires. Tires are usually seen by manufacturers to be worn out when they have less than 2/32 inch of tread but by that time they are not safe on wet roads. Here is a current example. The rather expensive Michelin Premier A/S tires on our Toyota Sienna Limited are rated to have a 60,000 mile treadlife. The original tread depth was 8/32 inch and they are now (as of yesterday when I mounted them) uniformly worn to 4/32 inch tread depth after just under 26,000 miles. If they continue to wear at the current rate, the tread depth will be at the 2/32 minimum at around 39,000 miles which is far under the 60,000 mile rating. Do I want to be driving on these tires in rain when they are at 2/32 inch? Maybe I will this time since the big selling point of these tires is their wet weather performance. I've never submitted a tire warranty claim for premature wear even though I could have many times in the past but this time I plan to this time. I'm getting a little tired (pun intended) of the warranty hocus pocus in the tire business.
  9. I suggest that you look at the customer ratings on https://www.tirerack.com and either buy from them or check locally. There were two different sizes available for the 2015 RX450h - availability is going to vary depending on your size. Many or maybe most major tire retailers will not sell you tires that have a lower speed rating than the ones that came on your vehicle with the exception of Winter tires. Your RX probably came with H-rated (maximum 130 mph) or V-rated (maximum 149 mph) tires. My wife's Prius can't get out of it's own way but it's a top trim variation and came with Z-rated (over 149 mph) tires and that's what we are stuck with buying for three-season use. I just took off her Winter wheels/H-rated winter tires today hoping we're mostly done with snow and ice. I've been buying almost all our tires at Costco for the past 18 years during one of the Michelin or Bridgestone sales. Maybe other tire sellers do too but Costco includes lifetime balancing, rotation and flat repair in the purchase price. I just had a flat repaired at Costco yesterday - in and out in about 30 minutes.
  10. Have you checked with a Lexus dealership to see if they can still be ordered? Floor mats for "special editions" like the Pebble Beach, Platinum Series, Coach Edition, etc. are usually not made in high numbers since these vehicle variations are marketed only in the final model year of a vehicle generation to pump up sales. Once the special mats are gone from inventory, they're gone. If you can't find the Pebble Beach mats you might want to get the regular mats if they are still available. I was in this situation with my 2000 LS400 Platinum Series in the mid-2000's. The black Platinum Series mats like the originals I had were gone first and then before I knew it, the Platinum Series mats in the remaining colors were gone too.
  11. Many car makers including Toyota have discontinued front fog lights due to them being seen as superfluous.
  12. Send your head units to Factory Radio Service and they will do it for you for cheap. They do not disclose their techniques. They did a 2000 LS400 Nakamichi head unit for me in 2012 - added a 3.5 mm aux-in to the back of the head unit and an on/off push button on the front. The last time I checked, they can install A2DP Bluetooth on a head unit so you don't have to connect to an aux-in. Modern A2DP sounds just as good is a 3.5 mm. On mine, I ran an aux-in cable out of the console near the ash tray and connected it my phone mounted in a cradle on my dashboard. I mounted additional 12v outlets inside the center stack and hid all the wires leading to my phone. Wait! I just found the old thread that has my photos of it:
  13. Move your foot quickly from the brake pedal to the accelerator pedal. Is this happening a lot? Could using the parking brake help? Release the parking brake as you accelerate. Some Toyota and Lexus models have Hill Start Assist Control as either a standard or optional feature. To activate it, the driver presses the brake pedal hard until he hears a beep and then he has about two seconds to press the gas pedal before the brake disengages. Unfortunately, the 2015 ES350 does not have has this feature. The 2015 ES300h, however, does have Hill Start Assist Control - see page 319 of your owners manual if you want to read about it. It's also online at https://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM33B99U/pdf/OM33B99U.pdf . Newer Toyota and Lexus models with all-speed adaptive cruise control have a brake-hold feature that automatically applies the brakes when the adaptive cruise control brings the vehicle to a stop. Some models have a brake hold button on the dashboard. Both our vehicles have Hill Start Assist Control but I rarely remember to use it and just move quickly between brake and gas pedals ... except on one "killer hill" here that has a traffic light halfway up it.
  14. There is no "chip" for the 2013-2015 RX350. You buy an activation card. A Lexus dealer tech updates your nav system using proprietary software and enters the serial number from the activation card during the update process which causes the activation card serial number to go into a database that prevents it from being used in multiple vehicles. The update usually takes about 1/2 hour while the dealer tech goes and does something else. The RX350 didn't start using micro-SD map updates until the 2016 model year. You are far from the first who has been misled by a dealership on this subject. The activation card method for your RX works like on our Prius. I bought the activation card for it through the Costco Auto Program for $143.65 and payed a Toyota dealer $40 to do the update. Others have paid over $300 for the same thing. I'll attach a table from the end of 2015 that shows the Lexus nav updates and system types. The useful website that contained this information is no longer online so I retrieved "lexusnavigation.com" from the Internet Wayback Machine.
  15. We don't currently have Lexus vehicles but I've bought navigation updates for our Toyotas numerous time with a 15% discount coupon from the Costco Auto Program at a participating Toyota dealership. It should be the same if you have a Costco membership and Lexus dealership near you participates in the Costco Auto Program. If you can do that, it would at least reduce the cost down to $178.50 not including tax. The fall 2018 update should be PT219-GEN08-18. Here is a link to a video that shows how a 2015 GS350 owner updated his navigation system with a micro SD card:
  16. The method documented in the service manuals for both passenger and driver side for all LS400's is to remove the headlight units from the body. As I mentioned in a previous post in this thread from - OMG, over 12 years ago! - I did it numerous times in one evening while testing a variety of bulbs on a 1990 LS400. The side light modules outboard of and adjacent to the headlight units often become brittle as they age and are subject to damage when removed and replaced. Take care and pull the side light modules forward to remove them after removing the retaining screws. Instructions on how to replace headlight bulbs on the 1990 LS400 start on page 203 of the owners manual which can be viewed at https://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM50401U/pdf/6-4_212.pdf Replacement of headlights on other LS400 model years is similar but, if I remember correctly, the instructions were omitted from owners manuals for later model years. The main thing I learned from my experimentation with a variety of aftermarket halogen headlight bulbs (e.g. Silverstar) is that none of them provided a useful improvement and some of them (e.g. Silverstar) had very short lives.
  17. If it is the little light to the left of the instrument panel rheostat knob, it is the security system indicator light. See pages vii and 178 of your 2003 LS430 owners manual which you can also view at and download from https://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM50647U/pdf/OM50647U.pdf I've always that it odd that this light blinked regardless of whether or not the car is locked.
  18. There are numerous resources including videos on the Internet about how to fix a clogged fuel tank vent tube.
  19. I probably wouldn't on a 17 year old vehicle but I wouldn't drive it too far from home and I'd be prepared to junk the vehicle if the something in the timing belt system failed. It's not necessarily the belt itself that fails. Other components in the valve timing system that can fail are water pump, idler, and tensioner. I've had a lot of Toyota/Lexus timing belts replaced along water pumps, idlers and tensioners at the recommended replacement interval. All the timing belts were in excellent condition at the time they were replaced. The only timing system failure I've experienced was on a 1990 Lexus LS400 in around 1994 at about 75,000 miles when the water pump failed. I had just left my garage early in the morning on the way to work when I smelled coolant. The engine lost power when the water pump seized and caused the timing belt to fail. I was going about 35 mph and was able to coast into a convenience store parking lot and even perfectly into a parking space. I was lucky to have not yet got on the highway. It was in the middle of an ice storm and it took several hours for a tow truck to arrive. The V8's used back then were "non-interference" so there was no engine damage. The drive train warranty had just expired so I had the timing belt and all the ancillary parts replaced at my own expense. Since the 2002 LX470 has an interference engine, there would likely be significant engine damage if something in the timing belt system failed. Whether to replace the timing belt and the ancillary parts might depend on how long you want to keep this vehicle and how reliable you want it to be. I once had a the owner of an independent repair shop that specialized in Lexus tell me that he had never seen a timing belt on a Lexus break due to fatigue and that it had always been the failure of another component in the system that caused the timing belt to fail.
  20. Based on the parts diagrams on http://www.toyodiy.com , the air filters are very different in size and shape.
  21. According to the parts diagrams on www.toyodiy.com , part number 63251-30090 is the "WEATHERSTRIP, SLIDING ROOF" for the 2007 ES Ultra Luxury Package. Is this what needs to be replaced? I see it at https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-weatherstrip-sliding-roof-panel-or-removable-roof~63251-30090.html for $47.12.
  22. It could be a good opportunity if you really want an LS 500 and especially if you plan to keep it a long time. You might be able to negotiate a even lower price based on the vehicle's history. I read recently that there are still a lot of unsold new 2018 LS 500's so the market for them is apparently very soft. Other than its run-flat tires and no spare tire, my main problem with the LS 500 is the shrinking interior which now has a volume within a tenth of a cubic foot of the space of a 2019 Toyota Camry with its optional moonroof. The Camry we rented 6 weeks ago was actually roomier than an LS 500 since the rental Camry didn't have a moonroof. Of course, Toyota/Lexus is too ashamed of it to publish interior volume dimensions for the LS 500 so it's necessary to go elsewhere to find them: https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/lexus/ls/2018/specs/ls-awd-398085 Lexus LS 500 - Passenger Volume (cu. ft.): 99.4 Toyota Camry (with moonroof) - 99.3 cu. ft. per https://www.toyota.com/content/ebrochure/2019/camry_ebrochure.pdf I know the luxury sedan market has shrunk due to the flight to SUV's but I never expected the Lexus LS interior to shrink.
  23. It looks like the part number for the cigarette lighter assembly including the lighter itself is 85500-30520 if you want to replace it. I've read about lighter sockets - especially as cars age - wearing out from using chargers on numerous makes and models. They were designed for use with cigarette lighters and not with chargers. The sockets on newer vehicles really are designed for use with chargers. Few vehicles these days come with cigarette lighters. After you replace your cigarette lighter assembly you might consider plugging in a charger that you never remove. For example, we have twin USB charging adapters plugged into charging sockets of our current vehicles and I don't think we've removed them since we bought the vehicles new seven and five years ago. I had a butte-load of 12V devices to power in the 2000 Lexus LS400 that I sold in 2014. I didn't power any of them from the cigarette lighter socket under the radio or from the charging socket in the center console. I bought a corded single charging socket at Target, chopped off its plug and spliced the wires into the car's accessory electrical circuit. Into the corded single charging socket, I plugged in an "octopus" charging contraption that I also bought at Target. The octopus device had two USB ports and two charging sockets. I hid most of the octopus and the corded single charging socket inside the car's center stack and underneath the center console and routed the cords from the devices I was charging through crevices where interior panels met the center stack. I thought it was an elegant solution since the many charging cables were mostly hidden.
  24. I've never bothered to look into why artist, album and track information doesn't show when playing music from CD's on Toyota/Lexus in-dash systems but all the information does show on the in-dash screens after I copied my music collection to my phone and then stream the same music from my phone via Bluetooth. And it's way easier to scroll through my rather large music collection on my phone screen than to juggle a bunch of physical CD's. I put phone holders high on our dashboards to make it easier. The steering wheel controls can be used to skip and restart music tracks streamed from phones over Bluetooth. Streaming my music collection via Bluetooth from my phone sounds as good as playing the same music from an original commercial CD - I've tried hard to tell a difference even with engine off. Bluetooth sound quality sure has improved since the early days. I don't listen to my music collection all that much anymore ... mainly stream from Internet services (Pandora, YouTube Music, Amazon Prime Music, Tunein Radio) or listen to The Bridge or The Spectrum channels on XM satellite radio while I drive. I use the free iBolt Dock'n Drive phone app to make using streaming apps safer to use while driving. All the music on your 500 albums would probably all fit on an 32 GB SD card in your phone or in an iPhone if it has a decent amount of memory. Or upload your music to a cloud storage service and stream it from there. A bonus of having my music collection on my phone is that I can listen to it while I'm flying and in other situations where I don't have Internet access. Sorry I can't answer your question but CD's are going the way of cassette and 8-track tapes. Some car makers have stopped putting CD players in new vehicles.
  25. Are you the original owner? If so, has the Auto button ever worked? If you are not the original owner, see the Customization section of your owners manual which shows that the exterior mirror Auto button can be disabled by a Lexus dealer. A prior owner could have requested that the Auto feature be turned off. Some people are paranoid about wearing out the mirror retraction motors and would rather control them manually only when they need to retract them. Replacing the retraction motors is fairly expensive and early versions were prone to failure after a few years. A problem I've had is the exterior mirrors freezing in the retracted position in ice storms; the retraction motors were unable to overcome the ice and return the mirrors to the extended position while making a nasty noise. I try to remember to not retract the mirrors when I park outside and icy weather is forecast.
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