1990LS400

Those instructions are for an ES -- not an RX. The blower fan motor in a 2000 RX300 can be seen in the attached diagram ... or do you also have an ES that is not shown in your profile?

I think you can buy a stethoscope at most auto parts stores ... maybe even at a Wallymart -- I don't remember having to search for one ... but I bought mine 20 to 30 years ago so I guess I could have forgotten since I don't remember what I had for lunch yesterday. ;)

90%, huh? Really? I think it is extremely rare for a car owner to tell a car dealer to not perform a required maintenance operation while a car is under warranty.

There are a few less than 75 inspections in the 30K maintenance for an 08 ES -- see the attached. Your car is under warranty so don't omit required maintenance operations. Replacing the brake fluid at 30K miles or 36 months is well within the safety margin of brake fluid life unless your name is Mario Andretti -- the point of maintenance is to not wait until fluids degrade to the point of causing damage or reduced functionality. We usually keep cars for more than 10 years and drive them to around 200,000 miles before we sell them -- we sold the last few to friends and relatives who got a lot more use from them. I have sometimes wondered if the reason we have very few problems with our cars over the long haul, compared to many others, is that we follow maintenance schedules closely and even do some maintenance operations a little more often than recommended. My 2000 LS400 is due for it's 120,000 mile maintenance in a few weeks -- it's still runs and drives perfectly and everything works as it should. The 120K maintenance will be done "by the book" although at an independent Lexus repair shop which charges substantially less than a Lexus dealer -- the brake fluild will be changed as it was at the 30K, 60K and 90K maintenance operations.

You'll find the answer on the following webpage: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/intro/codereading.html

Use a mechanics stethoscope to find the noise. Mine looks like this $4.00 one: http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/sto...amp;cm_ite=auto

There is more than one eBay sellor of Sirius and XM for the IS250 at prices from $250 to $300 -- see the attached image I clipped from an eBay listing. The same eBay seller has some general Lexus installation instructions on his website: http://integrationsolutions.net/VAIS/SIRIU...US_INSTALL.HTML These kits come with an antenna. You would have to find your shark fin antenna's coax cable connector if you want to use it -- surely someone on this forum or the Lexus dealer could tell you where it is. Coax cable extensions are available if you need one -- I've bought them and the adapters that are sometimes needed to connect coax cables together at Radio Shack. I've never installed one of these sat radio thingys but installation looks pretty simple -- but I'm fairly knowledgeable on removing radios and ripping car interiors apart to run wires. You'll probably want to reserve a Saturday and have a nice warm place to do the job. It's maybe a one hour job for somebody who knows what they are doing. You'll probably need simple tools like a socket wrench with a 10 mm socket, screwdrivers. Plastic trim removal tools for gently prying the console/radio trim off are helpful but I've used flat blade screw drivers and putty knives with the blades covered with electrical tape to keep from scratching the trim.

I distinctly remember this issue being discussed on this forum a number of years back since we have a similar Soundgate adapter plugged into the 12-pin CD port of our 1998 Toyota Camry radio. It was found that, even though the 12-pin CD ports on the ES radio and Camry radio appear to be the same, they do not work the same. I don't remember anyone getting the Toyota adapter to work in an ES. As kevinwang said, the 02-up ES is a different matter.

Have you checked your fuses? I don't know if the circuitry of the your 05 ES headlight leveling system is anything like the one in my 00 LS but the PWR-IG fuse in my car's engine compartment fuse box has the headlight leveling circuit on it. My LS has a level control sensor for the headlight leveling system on the front and rear suspension -- I assume your ES does too. I wonder if f these things can get knocked loose, damaged, or frozen up by driving in snow and slush. I've never had a problem but I park I have a garage where it never falls below freezing -- maybe mine thaws out. There is a diagnostic procedure for the headlight leveling system in my LS in the repair manuals I bought when I purchased the car -- probably not the same as for your ES. It involves checking pins in the connectors for the headlight leveling system for voltage, continuity and resistance. I don't know if I could follow the instructions if I had to. They are not very clear about the location of some of the connectors -- probably assume a level of knowledge that a Lexus mechanic would have. I doubt if having the problem diagnosed would be real expensive. And if the fuse isn't burned out, maybe the leveling system will start working again when the weather warms up.

Broken links are sometimes a problem on older threads -- particularly when people link to other websites instead of uploading information and photos to this forum. Searching forums is almost an art form. I've found that using the expanded search feature of this forum sometimes works a lot better than the Google Search since you can limit the search to subforums, specify multiple keywords, search only titles, etc., etc. To use the expanded search, click on the drop down menu at the bottom right of the page and select "Search" under "Site Jump" -- see the attached image.

It is fairly common to have cars damaged at car dealerships during service and clean-up operations -- one of the main reasons I rarely use dealerships, do most minor maintenance myself, and use a small indie repair shop where I know the owner and staff. I haven't found Lexus dealers to be any worse than dealers who sell other makes -- the most bizarre string of damage incidents I've had was at a Mercedes dealership with much of the damage being caused by just one employee - a relative of the dealership owner. Heck, I once even found out the same Mercedes dealer used my car to shuttle other customers to and from their work places. Sadly, that dealership -- Prestige Mercedes of Kansas City -- declared bankrupcy and ceased to exist about 20 years ago. It's been so bad at car dealerships that I have required a service writer to do a walkaround inspection with me and document on the service order than there is no existing damage. That gets their attention.

I know some people are inventive and cduluk is waaaay better than fitting round pegs into square holes than most of us, but I think it would be a reach stretch to modify an HIR bulb to replace an H4 bulb. In the attached photo, an HIR bulb is on the left and an H4 bulb is on the right -- the bulbs are approximately the same size ... I just grabbed the images off the Internet.

I don't think you need to assume that the bolttle of fluid you found was because of a leaking PS pump. The PS pumps on the 90-94 LS400 were notoriously unreliable but the ones on the 95-00 LS400 seem to be just about bulletproof. As I said in an earlier post in this thread, I had to have the PS pump in the 90 LS I drove from new until 183,500 miles replaced or rebuilt about five times over a 13 1/2 year period. The power steering pump in my 2000 LS400 -- same part number as in your 1996 UK spec LS400 -- is still the original one and is not leaking at 9 1/2 years and nearly 119,000 miles. If your PS pump is leaking there is a rebuild kit -- shown in the upper left corner of the attached diagram. If the pump is leaking you will feel the fluid on the bottom of the pump. I don't remember anyone adding an alternator guard to a 95-up LS400 -- the PS pumps on the 95-up LS are that reliable.

You bought your GS430 used if I remember correctly? Maybe a previous owner had the auto-dimming sensitivity bumped up too much -- there are five levels of sensitivity per the information on the attached TSIB. 2001_LS430_LPS.pdf

Are we twins separated at birth? I have had such an incredible amount of damage done on cars at dealerships over the years -- the "cleanup" people are the absolute worst. The best way to avoid damage to a car is to do the minor 5,000 maintenance services yourself and don't allow the cleanup crew to attack your car. I also do all the 5,000 mile services myself. I could probably do one in less than 30 minutes if I had a lift and air tools like the dealer has instead of having to use my floor jack, jack stands, breaker bar and torque wrench. Another benefit of doing the work myself is that I can check brake pad thickness when I rotate the tires. As I've said before, premature brake pad replacement is a very common dealer hoax. Check the brake pads yourself and you will likely find that their lifespan will magically double or even triple.

What does you owners manual say about the range of your remote? The owners manual for my 00 LS says "The operational range of the wireless remote control is approximately 1 meter (3 ft.)" although I think I have gotten it to work from as far away from the car as about 30 feet. ;)

Here is a website that might answer your questions: http://www.lexusnavigation.com/faq.php

Lexus dealers set their own prices for both parts and labor. There is no standardization. Some Lexus dealers sell parts at a discount and some at far over retail price. For example, the retail price of an oil filter for the LS400 I bought in 1990 was, at the time, $6.02 but the dealer sold the filter for $13.00. When I complained to Lexus Corporate about price gouging, I got the standard response ... "Your Lexus dealer is an independent business and sets his own prices for cars, parts and labor, blah, blah, blah." "Magically" the local Lexus dealer then agreed to sell me all the parts I needed at the retail price while my car was under warranty -- but I usually bought the parts I needed elsewhere at a significant discount. Some parts like filters can be bought for less at Toyota dealers -- I pay only $4.00 for an OEM oil filter and oil plug gasket. Unless I am having my car repaired at the indie repair shop I use, I buy the parts I need at a discount on-line or by phone from a variety of sources. It has sometimes been cheaper to buy parts from Lexus dealers in other contries and have them shipped to Kansas -- depends on the dealer and the currency exchange rate.

I think the previous posts in this thread will answer most of your questions. The 90-92 LS and the 93-94 LS use different headlight bulbs -- see above. Python's HID kit will not fit your 94 LS headlights or the Eagle Eyes headlights because his HID kit is for a 90-92 LS. There are no HIR bulbs for either the 90-92 LS, 93-94 LS or the Eagle Eyes headlights for the gen 1 LS. I have no idea how well an HID kit would work in the Eagle Eyes headlights -- it seems to be a "crap shoot" when plugging these kits into headlight units not made for HID. The Eagle Eyes headlights might be a good platform for modifying and adding HID projectors since the Eagle Eyes have clear lenses -- seems to be the most dependable way to get HID into older cars with clear headlight lenses. But doing that won't give you autoleveling for the headlights like OEM HID headlights have -- especially a problem an a gen 1 LS which is more sensitive to passenger and trunk load weight that 95-up LS400s unless your 94 LS400 has functioning self leveling air suspension.

Well ... there have been a number of past threads on this and other forums where people have reported using plastic alternator shields on gen 1 LS400's for quite a few years without them causing any problems. Here is a thread from 2003 with photos of a couple of the nicest plastic alternator shields I've seen: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...amp;#entry30429

Neither an HIR 9011 or HIR 9012 bulb can be modified to fit in a 94 LS400 headlight unit which uses a dual filament 9003/HB2/H4 bulb. cduluk, have other HIR bulb types been introduced? Here is a thread where I posted which bulb types are compatible with HIR bulbs and how to modify HIR bulbs to replace 9005 and 9006 bulbs: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=55274

You have just explained why I have rarely used Lexus dealers during my 265,000 miles of driving Lexus vehicles. If your RX350 is used in normal service, there are only four simple tasks to perform at the 25,000 mile service -- see the attached list. Assuming your Lexus dealer buys its oil in bulk (most do), the dealer's total cost for an oil and filter for your oil change will be less than $10. A bit of the $200 will be for labor and a few bucks will be for the "free" coffee and pastry you will have while sitting in your comfy chair in the waiting room and for the privilege of watching a nice flat panel TV and maybe using a WiFi connection on your laptop PC. Oh yes ... reserve a few bucks for the "free" car wash and vacuum job ... or should that be called a "hose job".

Yes, the gen 1 LS400 stock headlights are that bad but the ones on your 94 LS should be slightly better than the ones on the 90-92 LS since they use 60/55 watt 9003/HB2/H4 bulbs instead of the pathetic 65/45 watt 9004 bulbs that were used on the 90-92 LS like I had. The reason an HID conversion kit won't work very well is that the beam pattern is cast into the glass light lenses of your 94 LS and the beam pattern is diffused instead of being highly defined with a sharp cutoff. OK, it's more complicated than that but you can read about the other issues on various websites. I suggest you consider the success others have had with the Eagle Eyes headlights from eBay seller "sabersport". The complete 6-piece set is only $226.75 including shipping -- I just now checked. Your 94 LS already uses 9003/HB2/H4 bulbs so the Eagle Eyes headlights would be pretty easy to install -- easier to install than on a 90-92 LS.

That would be because a PS pump leak can kind of sneak up on you or the rate of leakage quickly accellerate. I think I had about 5 new or rebuilt PS pumps installed on a 90 LS over the 13 1/2 years I owned it. After the first leaking PS pump was replaced -- the only time the alternator was trashed -- I checked the PS pump for leaking every time I opened the hood. The worst part of the first time the PS pump started leaking like a sieve, was that I was in a rural area about 180 miles from the nearest Lexus dealer -- didn't make for a pleasant weekend when the alternator failed. There seemed to be a shortage of Lexus alternators and PS pumps in Podunk, Missouri. Look at an alternator shroud as being like "insurance".

History? Nice title to the thread. Too bad the real problem is that people don't understand or pay attention to history. If they did, they wouldn't repeat the same mistakes over and over, decade after decade, and on and on ... Reminds me of the "Texan Prayer": "Dear Lord, please let me have another oil boom. I promise not to p1ss it all away this time!"