1990LS400

I have a 2000 LS400 that I've driven for about 80,000 miles and doubt if it is possible to lock up the brakes to the extent that the tires will leave skid marks. The 2000 LS400 was the first model year that the LS had "brake assist" which essentially increases braking force automatically to stop the car in the least possible distance. Brake assist makes the brake pedal "feel" different than in any previous model year of the LS400 -- it's explained in the car's owners manual.

The paint codes for your car are on the drivers side door jam. You can interpret the codes on the following web pages: http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/1997/1997LSspecs.pdf http://www.paintscratch.com/ http://www.toyotareference.com/

Hey Killer! The Wheeler Dealer segment is about putting an HID kit on a UK spec gen 1 LS400 which has a COMPLETELY different headlight pattern than a US spec gen 1 LS400. The UK gen 1 LS400 (and the Euro gen 1 LS400) also had highbeam headlights next to the low beams where our gen 1 LS400 had foglights. The UK/Euro gen 1 headlight low beam has a very sharp cutoff. The US/Canada low beam puts out a big "blob" of light. While an HID "might" work in a UK/Euro gen 1 LS400, an HID kid usually works poorly in a US/Canada spec gen 1 LS400.

The fuse function descriptions are shown on the inside of the fuse box covers. The gear selector light is probably on a circuit with lots of other lights or functions -- If you are not noticing other lights out or functions not working, the gear selector light bulb is probably burned out. It looks like your LS is a 93-94 so 16 to 18 years for a bulb to last is pretty good. There have been instructions on this forum on how to change the bulb ... you might be able to find them by doing a search ... the "advanced search" at the bottom right of most forum pages would allow you to limit the search to the LS400 forum.

Randy, if your 98 LS400 is still on its original spark plugs, they may be platinum instead of iridium. I think 1999 was the first model year iridium plugs were used in the LS400 so they could extend the change interval from 90,000 to 120,000 miles. Not that platinum plugs couldn't last more than 90,000 miles -- the platinum plugs on the 90 LS I had looked darned good when they were replaced at 90,000 and 180,000 miles. Regarding "welding" ... why don't we have young wives' tales or old girlfriends' tales?

Mechanic "Fred", at the indie repair shop that has maintained our Lexus and Toyota cars for about the last 14 years, did the 120,000 mile maintenance service on my 2000 LS400 last week. The car has been maintained "by the book" or a little better since new ... by the original lessee who drove it from new to 36,000 miles and then by me after I bought it in 2003 at 38,000 miles from the indie used car dealer who bought it at auction and drove it for 2,000 miles as his personal car. The photo of the original factory installed Denso iridium spark plugs is a little fuzzy but I can tell you that there is no sign of deterioration or burning on any of the eight plugs after 120K miles of use. The engine doesn't run any better or have any more power with new spark plugs so it appears that there is a healthy margin between the 120K normal replacement interval and when deterioration of the plugs begins. I suspect that the original spark plugs would have been fine at 150K miles but, like I said, I maintain cars by the book. The original factory installed rear brake pads could have gone longer than 120,000 miles. The pad with the least thickness is at the far left of the photo and it was down to slightly less than 3 mm. The other three rear brake pads had between 3.5 mm and 5 mm left. I was surprised at the amount of variation in remaining pad thickness. I check brake pads on the car every 5,000 miles or so but I do a visual check and rarely use a gauge since I'm a "metric man" and know what a millimeter looks like. The engine air filter and A/C filter look tyically dirty after 30,000 miles of use. I usually remove the A/C filter every 5,000 miles while doing an oil change and knock the debris from it. Fred did all the other maintenance and inspections listed for the 120K mile service including replacing coolant and brake fluid. Although not required, I had the transmission and differential fluid changed as I do every 30,000 miles. For my year and model, a transmission fluid change is never required under the normal service schedule and only every 60,000 miles under the "special operating conditions" schedule. A differental fluid change is never required under the normal service schedule but is required every 15,000 miles under the "special operating conditions" schedule. My LS certainly isn't used routinely used in the "special operating conditions" listed in my car's maintenance manual so changing the transmission and differential fluid every 30,000 miles is probably overdoing it. Total cost of the 120K maintenance was about $690 not including tax and also not including an oil change and tire rotation since always do those myself. The rear brake job, including rotor resurfacing was an additional approximately $230. My purpose for creating this thread is to confirm that maintenance parts like spark plugs and brake pads can last a long time and to give information that might be helpful when looking for someone to service your cars. I have long noticed that many dealers and repair shops recommend wildly overmaintaining Lexus cars under what I would call "fantasy maintenance schedules" and apply the same fantasy maintenance schedule to all Lexus models even though there can be significant maintenance requirement differences between models and model years. Just following the recommended "normal use" service schedule can help these cars last a very long time.

I suppose you could use some of those Sylvania Silverstar or other blue coated "junk bulbs" (my opinion) to get whiter light in your foglights -- it depends on whether you consider foglights to be a useful tool or a fashion accessory. HID headlights usually put out a pleasant even blanket of light but they many including me find them to be a real problem in heavy blowing snow and driving rain. The white light of HID reflects off falling snowflakes and rain droplets and creates glare. The slightly yellowish light of halogen foglights cuts through ran and snow a little bit better than HID but better still are true yellow foglights with the yellow being produced by a yellow bulb shield in the foglight housing or a yellow lens. As cduluk pointed out in a recent post "The yellow fogs came with any 99-05 GS300/430 that came with HID." The 99-05 GS with standard halogen headlights came with white (really a little yellowish) foglights. I sure wish they had done that on other models with HID like my 00 LS. I'd rather have yellow foglights with my HID.

No kidding! Diesel fuel probably wouldn't flow at all at -42 Celsius or Fahrenheit. I got so freaking tired of mixing kerosene or regular gas with diesel fuel to keep the Mercedes running in winter and it was way worse at high altitudes. Well, it is a Volvo after all. I actually bought three Volvos in the same year and owned them concurrently: A used 1972 P1800E, a used 145 wagon and a brand new 1978 Volvo 242 "SRO". I was not all amused by Volvo quality and sold them all within the same year -- didn't have any idea what I was getting into. One of my main gripe with Volvos way back then (other than interior parts flying apart) was that they got around so poorly in heavy snow -- crap, these cars are made in Sweden where they get lots of snow! What's up with that? ... probably a good thing Volvo went with FWD and AWD as time progressed.

The backlights on the window switches of my 00 LS400 are not very bright either. It would have been nice if the light intensity was adjusted up and down with the rheostat switch with all the dash lights. I think the lights in the window switches are diodes -- never heard of anyone replacing them. I doubt if many on this North American part of Lexus Owners Club is going to know anything about your headlight beam adjuster dial or the rear fog light switch next to it -- Lexus cars sold in North America didn't have manual beam adjusters or rear foglights. I wouldn't know about this stuff either if I hadn't had Lexus LS400 owning co-workers in the UK and Europe. I'm guessing that your rear foglight switch would be easy enough to pop out of the dash so you can have a looksee -- might require removing the trim panel under the dash.

EUBT, I really don't think there is much risk of a Toyota/Lexus block heater leaking. These things install very securely and are extremely low-tech devices. I had a block heater on a Mercedes I drove from late 1979 until I bought my first LS in 1990 and never had any problems with it. I'd even plug it in when it was fairly warm (i.e. below 32° F. in my garage at home) just so I would have instant warm air from the heater during my relatively short drive to work. After I had the block heater installed, it seemed like AC outlets were EVERYWHERE I parked -- it didn't take much searching. I plugged in my block heater in the covered parking lot at work, in parking lots of hotels near Colorado ski areas and in the middle of Kansas, in public parking lots and relative's driveways in northern Iowa, etc., etc. OK, I was stealing a little electricity but not once did anyone ever unplug my block heater -- and I carried a 100' extension cord in the trunk that I sometimes used to plug it in pretty far away from my car. Of course, I really needed a block heater on that Diesel Mercedes -- that was sometimes the only reason it could be started after sitting all night in the winter at 9,000 ft. elevations. Toyota/Lexus V8 engines warm up pretty fast compared to a 1970's Mercedes Diesel engine.

The Buy and Sell Forum "rules" and the "pinned" thread at the top of the buy and sell forum explains why: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...?showtopic=3713 New members are not allowed to list items for sell. Lexus Owners Club is mainly for purpose of helping each other fix our cars while having a good time doing it. The restriction is to prevent people from becoming members solely for the purpose of selling things. The required number of posts you have to make before you can use the Buy and Sell Forum is pretty low but I forget how many. If you use this forum for its intended purpose, you will reach the minimum number of posts very quickly. That said, please do not create a bunch of bogus posts simply to reach the minimum number required to use the Buy and Sell Forum. Welcome to the Club and feel free to ask for help and to help others with their car repair questions.

OK, I'll volunteer to let you know. ;) Traction control is for the 95% of the population who are not experts at driving on snow, ice and streets made slick by rain and dust. I agree, driving either a front or wear wheel drive car with a manual transmission in the snow can be great fun. My "ski car" was a manual shift front wheel drive 1985 Honda CRX Si -- without ABS or TRAC -- I used almost exclusively to zoom to and from Colorado ski areas during the five years I had it. I didn't even have snow tires on it. It was so light, I could open the drivers door and push it by myself if I got stuck. Even the manual transmission VW Beetle I drove back in the 1960s when I visited my sister in Marquette Michigan was great fun to drive in the incredibly snowy winters they had up there. My opinion is that small cars are a lot easier to drive in snow and that small cars with lower power are the easiest to drive. I didn't have TRAC on my first Lexus but I sure like it on my current one. 290 horsepower and lots of torque make it way harder the feather the thottle than on a car with lower power engine. My wife's Camry has exactly the same TRAC system that was on the ES of the same model year. She won't be reading this forum so I'll say that she is a rather scary driver -- to her a car is akin to a refrigerator ... just an applicance. The concept of feathering the throttle to keep from spinning her wheels is something I don't think she could learn -- really I'm not exaggerating. So ... turn off your TRAC and enjoy your car. You are an exception.

Your best bet would be to call a Canadian Lexus dealer. Block heaters for the LS aren't available here in the U.S. but I found that the part was very inexpensive when I checked with a dealer in B.C. some years back. I think the part price is the same for all Lexus models but the installation cost charged by dealers varies widely by model. I remember that the installed price for my LS400 was fairly low so that might indicate that installing the block heater on an LS400 is easier than on other models. Here is a thread about someone in Ontario installing a block heater on his Toyota Hybrid ... he paid only C$46 for the block heater -- there is a link to another forum that has photos: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=60576 His block heater looks like the one for the LS400 but maybe they all look or are the same. I've seen complaints on forums that Toyota/Lexus block heaters are not as effective as those sold for other makes of cars -- apparently because the Toyota/Lexus block heater is "only" 400 watts. You can see block heaters and installed retail prices for almost all current Canadian spec Lexus models at http://www.lexus.ca/

One way to power aftermarket accessories is to use an add-a-circuit / piggyback fuse at the underdash fuse box -- they are made for this purpose. You can find them at auto parts stores and on the Internet. There are a number of different types and brands available -- some may get in the way of attaching the fuse box cover. I attached a photo on this thread: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...mp;hl=piggyback Another method is to attach the accessory power wire to the wire leading to the cigarette lighter or DC power port -- I did this for my portable GPS but I would have used a piggyback fuse if I had known they existed.

Since you didn't give your model year, I tried to figure it out from your past threads -- 1994? Attached is a page from the 1994 LS400 owners manual -- looks like fuses 15 and 16 are involved in the fuel injection system.

$800 seems awfully high for a brake job. I paid $230 to have the rear brake pads on my 2000 LS400 changed for the very first time and the rotors resurfaced two days ago (02/04/2010) at 120,064 miles during the 120K mile service. The rear brake pad wear sensor was just about to be triggered but didn't have to be replaced. I had the front brake pads changed for the very first time and the rotors resurfaced at 71,293 miles in 2006 for right at $215 not including a front pad wear sensor which had been triggered and could not be reused. Only OEM parts were used both times and the work was performed by a former Lexus dealer mechanic at an independent repair shop that specializes in Lexus vehicles. I just checked and see that the retail prices of brake pads for my 2000 LS400 and your 2005 LS430 are exactly the same price. The front and rear brake pads wear at very different rates. The OP had all his brake pads replaced at 58K miles. Even if the front pads were worn out, it is doubtful that the rear pads were at all close to needing replacement. Note that I am speaking about only the LS400 and LS430 -- the brake pads on some other Lexus models wear out much sooner or last far longer. After doing brake jobs with and without having the rotors resurfaced, I'm a strong believer in having the rotors resurfaced when replacing brake pads. Of course my wife tells me that I seem to feel every vibration and every irregularity that exists while driving. I like perfection.

Sounds like a good price. I just checked the invoice and saw that we paid right at $750 in November 2006 to have the timing belt replaced on a V6 Toyota Camry -- engine the same as an ES -- including the two idlers, the water pump and coolant at an indie shop that specializes in Lexus. The labor charge, $308.10, seems low but I wouldn't argue if they know what they are doing.

I didn't mean to imply that one should just pull down his pants and bend over! Ouch is right! :o If the most common cause of belt "failure" wasn't the failure of one of the related parts, I wouldn't have the related parts replaced either. I checked the invoice and saw that about $250 of the $780 I paid for the timing belt service in 2007 was for all the related parts with the most expensive part being the $130 water pump. $250 seems like a "nit" when amortized over 90,000 miles -- especially since we aim to keep cars a long time and usually pass our used cars on to friends and relatives who appreciate getting cars in top notch condition.

Some dealers "low ball" the timing belt price by not including the cost of replacing the water pump, tensioner, idler and other related parts. Ask if the price includes the cost of parts and labor for replacing all the parts normally replaced during a timing belt service. Whether to replace the timing belt at 55,000 miles is your call. I waited until my 00 LS400 hit 90,000 miles at almost exactly seven years from the car's in-service date -- one year more than recommended. The original timing belt looked good as new but I don't know about the other parts -- not sure if one could accurately assess their condition. It's not the timing belt that usually breaks ... it's usually some related part that fails and takes the timing belt with it. When the timing belt "broke" on my 90 LS400 in the mid-1990s at about 75,000 miles, it was the water pump that failed and took the timing belt with it. The timing belt didn't actually "break" -- it was just damaged. The timing belt might have been in worse shape if I had been driving faster -- I was going maybe 35 mph a few blocks from my house. There was a strong smell of coolant and then "bang", the engine died. I had just enough speed to coast into a convenience store parking lot and even park in a normal parking space. The worst part was that it took hours for a tow trunk to arrive due to other motorists flagging him down in the ice storm we were having. Of course, the early LS400 like my 90 LS didn't have an interference engine. I waited until 180,000 miles to have the timing belt and all related parts replaced a second time. There ... I've told the story on this forum still again.

If you want electrical diagrams, you could do a short term subscription to https://techinfo.toyota.com/ and download them. There are separate electronic control units (ECM) for the seats that are not in the actual seats -- they are behind the dashboard. I assume the ECM's are for the memory feature of the seats but they might play a part in getting them to just move fore/aft, up/down, etc.

When I glanced at the thread title, "Tranny Skips", I chuckled and thought ... "Well, probably the more effeminate ones do.". B) Maybe it's from the nightmares after my wife dragged me to see the movie "The Crying Game" in 1992, but I overwhelmingly prefer the word "transmission" to describe an automobile gear box -- please see the politically incorrect attachment and forgive me. :o Regarding your slipping transmission, common advice is to do a few "drain and refills" of the transmission fluid to see if it helps. Does your RX have a lot of miles on it and has the transmission been serviced regularly?

You have asked this question in a forum that covers the LS400 from 1990 through 2000 and the LS430 from 2001 through 2006. The location of amplifier varies depending on model year and sometimes which audio system the car has. It would help if you would tell us which model and year you have -- better yet, update your profile with the year and model (e.g. "1990 LS400") to give the information in the "Car Model" field and you won't have to remember to provide the information each time you ask a question.

A defective brake light switch at the top of the brake pedal lever is the most common cause of this problem. If it is, the easiest way to confirm is to see if the brake lights turn on when the brake pedal is depressed. I guess the switch is easy enough to replace if you can lay on the floor in front of the drivers seat to get to it -- might depend on how spry you are! I had one or two fail on a 90 LS400 over the years and wasn't charged much to have a new switch installed.

Yes, Yes, and Yes. The reason that your engine is OK is that there is consistent compression in all six cylinders -- between 190 and 195. An engine with compression problems most likely is not going to lose compression in all cylinders at the same rate. I have actually had an engine replaced under warranty due to inconsistent compression -- on a Mercedes, no less. There was substantially more than the 10% acceptable variation in compression among the cylinders so I was surprised that the Mercedes dealer and even Mercedes corporate balked when their own documentation said the compression variation among the cylinders in my engine was unacceptable. I had to show them their own documentation to get the problem fixed. The dealer representative that told you that you aren't driving your car hard enough is "full of BS". Your IS250 isn't an old racing car with carburators. You're fine.

dbh100, it's certainly not normal wear and tear but are you certain that something you or somebody else did didn't damage the leather? The leather in my LS doesn't seem all that resistant to damage. All it took last Spring to put a nasty scar in and remove the color from an area of the lower drivers seat back was a broken rear pants pocket button. Maybe someone who has driven your car isn't fessing up.