1990LS400

Diplomatically stated, my Canadian cousin.

Problems with broken wires at the drivers side trunk hinge are also sometimes accompanied by the Reverse gear indicator light in the gauge cluster flashing on and off while the car is in Drive, weird transmission shifting and other wacky symptoms. Good call, EUBT!

Which brake warning light? A warning light can be triggered if the brake fluid is low or the switch in the brake fluid reservoir fails or the float gets saturated and no longer floats. The parking brake warning light can be triggered if the parking brake pedal doesn't retract up all the way when released with the pull handle. I sometimes had to clean the parking brake pedal lever mechanism on the 90 LS I had to get it to retract. Not sure if it was the right thing to do but spraying with clear silicon spray seemed to help too. Sometimes I just used my left foot to nudge the parking brake pedal up enough to turn off the warning light. The parking brake pedal lever can get a little sticky when it's cold -- been cold in Georgia lately? Ha! Or maybe it is a bulb with a loose filament or a bad ground connection -- also can exhibit problems when it gets cold and metal shrinks slightly.

I think you're missing the point. The reason for the brake pad wear sensors is not to protect the brake pads -- it's to protect you. I've known people who don't maintain their cars very well and their first warning of worn out brake pads has been either hearing metal to metal contact when they applied their brakes or wondering why their cars took so long to stop. Regarding whether or not to turn the rotors ... I have sometimes noticed a very slight pulsing of car brake pedals after brake pads were replaced without turning the rotors. My wife tells me I'm obsessive (hmmm, me?) but I tend to like things to be sort of perfect. Besides, brake pads on the LS400/430 last a long time compared to many other cars -- it's not as if the brake pads have to be changed and rotors turned very often. I had the front brake pads on my 00 LS changed for the first time at 71,293 miles and about 5 years 8 months from the car's in-service date when the wear sensor triggered a warning message in the dash display. The original rear brake pads will be changed - probably in March - at the 120,000 mile service which will be about 9 years 8 months from the car's in-service date ... I could probably squeeze another 5,000 miles out of the rear pads but I'll them changed for convenience since, as much as I like mechanic Fred, I don't plan to see him again until the 150,000 mile service. The cost of having Fred remove and turn my rear brake rotors will be about $100 which means that the cost of turning them can be amortized over nearly 10 years -- that's between 2 and 3 cents per day if I calculated correctly -- "peanuts". As I said, I tend to like "Perfect": If I'm going to spend a lot of money on nice cars, I want the best driving experience possible from them and I don't mind spending a few peanuts to get it.

Have you checked the "Radio 1" fuse in the engine compartment fuse box? There is also a "Radio 2" fuse in the interior fuse box but I think you would have noticed if it is blown since lots of stuff are on that circuit. Edit: Jeez, there are at least a couple of other fuses in your RX labeled "car audio". If the Radio 1 and Radio 2 fuses aren't blown, look at the fuse descriptions in your owners manual or on the inside of the fuse box covers.

Click on the Browse button, Use the "Choose File to Upload" window to find and open the photo on your PC, and then click the UPLOAD button before you click the "Add Reply" button. Multiple attachments can be added to an original post or a reply ... perform the Browse and UPLOAD over and over.

Well, plenty of people have put their sat radio antenna in the interior including in the high mounted rear brake light housing -- I don't remember anyone complaining about the reception which, from my experience in rental cars, pretty much sucks anyway. I'm not a fan of sat radio but if I was going to install one, I would put the antenna inside my car. One of the aspects I like about my LS is that there are no external antennas -- the radio antenna is imprinted on the rear window and my cell phone cradle uses the factory phone antenna imprinted on the rear window. One of the aspects I disliked most about my first Lexus LS I drove for 13+ years is that it had an external radio antenna (I bent it by backing out of the garage before the garage door was fully up) and an external phone antenna which caused quite a bit of wind noise. I've had several car antennas vandalized -- once by a five year old neighbor -- so I've never missed not having an external antenna.

These PDF's are just a bunch of files downloaded from the Lexus/Toyota Techinfo website -- same as some of the CD's sold on eBay. I don't think there is an "index" although I guess someone who knows how and has the time could build a clickable index menu. I've got the hard copy so I nominate you, Billy, to build an HTML index menu -- it's not all that difficult ... it could be done with MS Word.

I got access to the diagrams by registering on http://www.toyodiy.com/ and joining some sort of "inner circle" or similarly named group.

What problem? The temperature can not be set below 65° F. or 18° C -- the next setting below that is MAX COLD. If it colder than that outside and you want it colder, why don't you just press the OFF button on the HVAC control or maybe open the sunroof and roll down the windows. Don't worry ... several of my friends here in Kansas are "Frostbacks" from New Brunswick and they're crazy too! ;)

There are extra connectors in the trunk for the optional and now obsolete analog Lexus Link. the optional dealer installed phone system, and the antenna on the rear of the roof. The roof antenna was used for the dealer installed phone system unless the car had Lexus Link in which case it was used for it and an imprinted phone antenna was added by the dealer to the rear window for use with the phone system.

Some people put their sat radio antennas on the rear package shelf ... some even inside the high mounted stop light housing. If you need to get a wire from the trunk into your interior, remove the rear seat back and look for an existing hole. Can't guarantee there will be existing holes but there are in my current 00 LS and in my previoius 90 LS. Sometimes the holes are covered with tape or a grommet. Usually removing the rear seat back on a Lexus/Toyota sedan requires removing the rear seat cushion first to access the bolts holding the seat back in place. If it is like most other Lexus and Toyota sedans, lift up (more like jerk up) the lower leading edge of the cushion and then guide the seat cushion out of the car -- rear seat cushions usually just snap in place. The rear seat backs are sometimes held in place by bolts hidden by velcroed flaps in the rear head rest and armrest areas. If you can't figure it out, someone here can probably tell you exactly how to remove it. A good way to route a wire through the interior is under the door sills. The door sills pop right out and you may need to remove the garnish for the door post the seat belts are in -- I had to do all this when I routed a coax cable from the trunk of my LS to near the radio head unit. I recommended doing it on the drivers side -- has to be easier than fishing a wire behind the glove compartment like I did on my LS ... duh!

Billy, Read your PMs! I sent you a link at 8:30 am this morning telling you where you can download the 98-00 LS400 repair manual from: http://home.student.utwente.nl/gombertm/lexus/ Don't know how long it will be there. The same ZIP file has been passed around for several years. The ZIP file is over 20 megabytes which is well above the maximum attachment size of many email services -- downloading it may be your best shot.

I don't know if your seatbacks are exactly the same as on the RX400h sold in Europe but the installation instructions for the ICE (In Car Entertainment) system shows how to remove the seat backs on the cars sold over there. On http://www.lexus-tech.eu , choose "Accessory Installation Manuals" from the General, Owner or Repair drop-down menu. Then click the "Search AIM" button. Then select your vehcile (RX 400h) and click on Search. This will give you a list off all the installation manuals. The manual you want is the ICE LHD Installation manual -- click on the little magnifying glass (View File) icon to display the manual. Edit: If your "Luton" location is the one in the UK, then select the ICE RHD Installation Manual.

I don't know what to tell you. According to the diagrams for your ES and my LS, their blower motors are in approximately the same location. I can just barely see the housing the blower motor on my LS fits into by opening my glove compartment and removing the part of the rear glove compartment that covers where the cabin filter goes. Maybe you have to lay on your back on the floor and look upward -- I assume you have removed the trim panel under the dash. There is a relay for the blower in the engine compartment fuse box -- the diagram I'm looking at shows that it is the relay nearest the firewall .... probably described on the fuse box lid. There are other components directly associated with the blower motor -- resister, controller. Look up your car on http://www.toyodiy.com and search for "blower" to see a list.

Glad you got it fixed. Landar's got the answer on why it happened. Something went wrong while jump starting the car. One has to be precise in the sequence followed when jump starting a car: http://www.libertymutualteendriving.com/te...|S|e|4573181238 Back in the 1980s I put stickers in the engine compartment of all our cars explaining the jump starting sequence -- we had a number of severe winters and it seemed like somebody in the large company parking lot was always asking me for a jump. After I purchased my first Lexus LS in 1990, I refused to give anyone a jump. Too many people I knew were trashing alternators and other parts. I haven't jump started a car or had a car jump started since the 1980s. I advise people to call Triple-A or some other service. I have a battery charger to charge batteries when they get low but only after disconnecting the car's battery cables. I think you are lucky. It could have been worse.

Gosh, this has been discussed a bunch of times. Maybe search for LS400 forum for headlight? OK, first remove the turn signal next to the headlight -- start by opening the hood and removing the exposed screw that keeps it from being stolen. Then grab the leading each of the turn signal housing with your fingertips and pull outward to pop it out of its friction fitting. After removing the turn signal and with the hood open, all the bolts/screws holding the headlight unit in place will be exposed. Remove them. Be careful to not disturb the headlight adjustment screws -- just the bolts screws holding the headlight unit in place. And what are the "rings in the headlamps" you are talking about? I don't see any "rings" in the HID headlamps of my 2000 LS400.

And why are you sure? The maintenance manual for my 2000 LS400 says that a transmission fluid change is never necessary unless the car is used in severe service such as commercial use, on dusty roads or pulling a trailer frequently -- then the recommended change interval is 60,000 miles or 48 months. I think the gen 1 LS400 has the same requirements but I always changed the transmission fluid in my 90 LS way more often than necesssary. Like many conscientious or obsessive (take your pick) owners, I have the transmission fluid changed every 30,000 miles -- probably needless but we normally aim to keep cars for 10 - 15 years and beyond 200,000 miles. I think I would avoid your "local transmission shop" and find somebody who is familiar with working on Lexus cars. Especially avoid the national chain transmission shops -- those guys sometimes have to meet a transmssion rebuild quota just to keep their jobs. It is not going to hurt anything to change your transmission fluid if it is done correctly. Be sure to use the correct transmission fluid -- check your owners manual to verify the type. Just do a "drain and refill" -- no need for one of those rip-off flush jobs.

Maybe the attached diagram will help a little -- it's for a 2007 ES350 but it should be the same or close. The visible trim on consoles in Lexus/Toyota vehicles is usually held in place by friction fittings and removed by gently prying upward. I use either a plastic trim removal tool or a stiff blade putty knife with the blade covered with electrical tape to prevent scratching the trim.

so when it comes time to change my battery would a battery saver keep this problem fom happening. You plug it into the lighter and the oh wait 90 ls400 dosen't have the code reader plug under the dash. How would i keep that from happening to me? I once asked a mechanic why he didn't use one of those battery powered thingys to preserve the radio presets and he just laughed and said that nobody uses them. He just writes down all the station presets and reenters them when he reconnects the car battery. Just don't set a security code. Why would anyone want to steal an OEM radio out of a 90 LS400? I think the radio system security code was discontinued for the U.S. spec LS beginning with the 1995 model year but I've noticed that the specs for later model years for European spec cars still mention a security code.

I've never ordered from them but http://www.parts.com/ usually has the lowest prices and others have said they were happy with their service. Irontoad is another seller some people like. Search this forum for "Irontoad" and you might find an old thread with a list of on-line sellers.

The keyless entry on a 90 LS requires that the keys match the ROM chip in the receiver behind the trim on the driver's side of the trunk. Keys and the ROM chip have to be purchased as a set. One can't just buy a replacement key and expect it to work with the existing ROM chip unless (maybe) the electronic "guts" of an old key can be transferred to the new key. I wouldn't know about this if the keys and ROM chip weren't replaced once or twice when my 90 LS was under warranty in an attempt to get the keyless entry to work all the time -- the dealer had a theory that interference from some building security systems were preventing the keyless entry from working in a few parking lots where I sometimes parked. The last time the dealer replaced my keys and the ROM chip, he apparently didn't firmly seat the ROM chip in its slot -- made my keyless entry work only in warm weather for a few years and then it stopped working most of the time no matter how warm the weather was. The person I sold my 90 LS to in 2003 discovered that the ROM chip was loose in its slot. After he got the ROM chip correctly seated in its slot, the keyless entry worked just fine. Have you followed the diagnostic procedure for the cruise control or are you just guessing that the problem is the "speed sensor"? I no longer have the repair manual set for the 90 LS -- gave it to the new owner -- but it had a diagnostic procedure that removes all the guessing. Can't help you much on the seats -- other front LS seats up through 1994 should bolt right it but getting the electronics to work might be dicey if you use 93-up seats -- particularly on the passenger seat which was made fully adjustible and included a lumbar support beginning with the 93 model year.

It happens more than just in the Eastern U.S. -- it's anywhere salt is used on the road. I've read that using "fix-a-flat" compounds in tires will trash chrome wheels even quicker that salt. The reason it took so long to happen on your LS430 might be because not all that much salt is used on roads in your area. Here in Kansas where I live, chrome wheels would be pretty well trashed after three or four winters. I store my chrome wheels for the winter and use painted wheels with my snow tires.

Blowing these types of fuses is extremely unusual -- never heard of it happening. Can you use the shift lock override button to get the transmission out of Park so you can drive it to a professional? See the attached instructions. But if this kind of weird stuff is happening, it might be better to call a flatbed to transport the car rather than risk getting stranded while driving it. Edit: The reason you can't get the transmission out of park is likely because the circuit the brake light switch is on is dead. The brake light switch itself is at the top of the brake pedal lever.

http://www.parts.com/ shows the three variations of the 08 RX400h bumper cover at a retail of $327.63 and a sale price of $226.52. You're always looking for a project so maybe you should surround your RX with parking sensors. ;)