1990LS400

Hey, I thought it got cold in Buffalo. It's exactly 15° F. in Kansas City right now with a wind chill of 4° and light snow. The plastic connectors I've seen that hold the battery cables to the battery covers in Lexus cars usually (always?) snap apart to release the cable -- at least they do on my 00 LS -- I just replaced a battery a few weeks ago. It sounds like your GS has a full battery cover like on the earlier LS. Also, do not put a charger on a battery containing fluid that might be frozen. Batteries that are fully discharged in cold temperatures are much more likely to be frozen and may not be salvageable. If you can, bring the battery into a garage and let it warm up gradually before you try to charge it. A decent charger will tell you quickly whether the battery will take a charge or is ruined -- even my 30+ year old cheap Western Auto charger does that. If your current battery is very old, you might as well just go ahead and buy a new one. Batteries can be very dangerous. I remember back a few decades to when I was a company clerk in the Army. Battery explosions in the motor pool were a common cause of injuries in my unit. It got so bad with lost time injuries that improper handling of vehicle batteries was made a punishable offense and I was kept busy during winter typing up the "Article 15" paperwork used in the reprimand process.

Yes, the bulb is replaceable and there are a number of discount sellers of Lexus parts. Ask the dealer what the problem is ... i.e. why specifically is he saying that the entire fog light assembly needs to be replaced. Is the fog light assembly damaged?

I have not used it for a few years but I think you can see the owners manual on-line by registering at https://auth.owners.lexus.com/lexusowners/a...ssl/OwnersLogin

Here are some good instructions on how to use a battery charger: http://www.battery-chargers.com/charging_instructions.htm

Pull the tabs again while lifting the bottom front edge of the seat cushion. I usually had to grab the tabs with pliers in order to pull them far enough forward to release the seat cushion. If you can, remove the little plastic tab covers so you don't ruin them with the pliers and slip them back on when you are done. Their main purpose (I think) is to prevent scratching the legs of rear seat passengers. I removed the rear seat cushion of the 90 LS I had countless times so I could pile in coolers, camping and canoe gear. It made a nice SUV!

Do other Bluetooth phones work OK in your RX? If they do, your Razr may be dying.

The first model year for climate control seats was 2001 in the LS430 with the Ultra Luxury package: http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/2001/2001LSspecs.pdf They climate control seats were also available in other LS430 option packages in later model years. Modify the year in both places in the above URL to see or look on the specs for 2002-up LS430's in the CPO model library: http://www.lexus.com/cpo/model_library/LS/2002.html I don't have much experience with the LS430 climate control seats. Maybe someone who has them will provide comments.

I didn't find any TSIB's for the tilt/telescope system on the 95-97 LS400 in the ARRC database -- that doesn't mean there weren't any. I did find TSIB's for tilt/telescope issues on the 98-00 LS400 and the early LS430 -- I've posted them on this forum several times in the past. What exactly are you looking for? The TSIB's for tilt/telescope problems were not "recalls" and described repairs that were done by Lexus dealers at no cost during the regular warranty period and only if a customer's car developed a problem.

I don't know anything about IS wheels (maybe they fit), but I'm 99% certain that any wheel wheel from a Lexus or Toyota sedan up through the 2005 model year will fit your 97 ES300. I've seen plenty of ES300's with LS400 and LS430 wheels. I know that the wheels from my 90 LS and 00 LS fit our 98 Camry and that Camry and ES wheels are interchangeable. I wouldn't recommend spending $1300 on wheels and tires for an 97 ES with 346,000 miles. That's probably more than the car is worth. Michelin Primary are probably nice tires but they sure seem to be over priced the way I look at it. I'd recommend looking at Tire Rack and buying some decently rated inexpensive tires -- look for "closeouts". The last time I bought Dunlop tires in the 205/65-15 size for our Camry -- same size your ES uses -- I paid only about $50 each. If your current wheels look really bad or are bent, you might try the on-line Craigslist for your area. From my experience, excellent used Toyota and Lexus wheels can sometimes be obtained on Craigslist for less than $200 for a set of four or five or for as little as $25 per wheel.

First of all, does your car need a tuneup and has in been serviced following the maintenance schedule? Beginning with the 1999 or 2000 model year the replacement interval was increased to 120,000 miles on some Lexus models. If your spark plugs do not need changing, changing them is not going to provide any performance improvement and would only be a waste of money. The OEM spark plugs on my 2000 LS400 are to be changed for the first time at 120,000 miles and the car is currently running great at 107,000 miles with the ones installed at the factory in June 2000. Of course, if you car hasn't been serviced properly, treat it as a worst case and do the maximum service including the replacement of the brake fluid. Particularly, verify that the timing belt, water pump and related components were replaced at 90,000 miles. Just follow the maintenance schedule. OEM parts often seem to work better than aftermarket based on what I read on Lexus forums. There are a number of discount on-line Lexus parts suppliers. If a car isn't driven hard, brake pads can last a long time. The front brake pads on my 00 LS were changed for the first time at a little over 71,000 miles. The original pads on my 00 LS should last beyond 120,000 miles. Based on reports on Lexus forums, OEM brake pads do not last nearly as long on recent Lexus cars as they did on the older cars like we have.

Here is application information for Interstate brand batteries: http://www.interstatedealers.com/ibcatalog...000003_auto.htm You could find which battery your SC400 has in common with other cars sold in Deutschland and which are in the Bosch Chart. For example, the Interstate battery application information seems to show that some models of the U.S. specification Toyota Previa and Land Cruiser use the same battery size (U.S. battery size code 24F) as the U.S. specification 1994 SC400. Doing it this way might not be reliable since the specifications for Toyota models can be very different in markets around the world. Or your could measure your current battery and take the dimensions to a store and buy the closest size.

It's most likely broken wires at the left trunk hinge. I know it's hard to believe but this problem is what brought me to this forum 6 years ago. It is a very common problem with the 90-94 LS400. Do a search on "hinge" in the LS400 section of this forum for information on splicing in wires to fix. Select "Search" above, then select "More Search options" to take you to the advanced search page.

I've lost track of how many times my LS cars have been rear ended over the past 19 years. The lowest damage bill was about $1,000 (about two years ago) and the highest was over $10,000 (about 9 years ago). All incidents were at fairly low speeds in stop and go traffic and in most I had been stopped for at least several seconds before being hit. The last three who hit my cars were women -- two on cell phones and one fixing her makeup in her inside rear view mirror while she edged along in traffic. I've avoided several fairly high speed rear enders by tapping my brake pedal rapidly and once by flooring the gas pedal and running a red light. All repairs on my LS cars were performed by body shops specializing in high end cars. The LS cars looked and drove like new after the repairs. After the $10,000+ repair to my first LS, I even joked that I had one third of a new car. I used to get angry with people who hit my cars but I guess I've mellowed and now look at it as just part of driving. You do have to keep your eye on what a body shop does in repairing your car even if it has a reputation for being the best one in town. Only last night I was at the Lexus dealer ordering interior trunk trim fasteners to replace the ones the last body shop neglected to put back in. And it was over a year before I realized that the body shop had left the manual fuel door release cable hidden behind a trunk trim panel. Also, body shops sometimes leave out or poorly install parts you can't see. I was amazed one time that a body shop failed to properly install the sound insulation under and behind the back seat of my first LS -- essentially left it in a pile under the seat cushion and threw away the fasteners that held it in place. I'm sorry that I'm painting sort of a grim picture of the body shop business. Even the best ones I have found don't meet my standards.

Obviously this forum is a good place to try to find someone to trade wheels. The first place I look anymore for about anything used is CraigsList -- there is one for your city: http://lexington.craigslist.org/ It might be easier to sell your chrome wheels outright and then buy non-chrome wheels rather than trying to do a trade. You wouldn't necessarily have to look for a complete set - you could assemble a set by buying one or two wheels at a time.

Batteries can fail intermittently over a period of days or weeks but it usually doesn't take months. I'm tending to doubt that your problem is caused by a bad battery since it is occurring over such a long period of time. On both my 90 and 00 LS400s, the first sign of a battery problem has usually been the engine dying at low speed and the Check VSC message on the 00 LS. This makes sense since it is normal for the Check VSC to be displayed after replacing a battery; there is a VSC reset procedure described in my LS400 manual to reset the VSC after the battery is disconnected/reconnected. But I think at least LS430 owner has said on this forum that a VSC reset procedure is not in the LS430 owners manual. The longest a battery has lasted on either of my LS cars has been 4 years and about 3 months -- the batteries that lasted the longest were the ones that were in the cars when they were new. It wouldn't hurt to mention the knock sensor / harness issue the person on ClubLexus reported. I don't mean to send you on a wild goose chase -- only reporting what I saw in that Clublexus thread and my experiences with LS cars over the past 19 years. It may be different for your LS430 but I'll attach the instructions from my 00 LS manual on how to reset its VSC.

Well, it is good to be leery about buying anything on eBay. But at least this is a "Buy it now" deal and not one of those bid situations that can be manipulated with fake bidders. The Carfax report showing that the mileage was 7237 on 08/23/2006 and 15551 on 08/18/2007 should mean something to you. It sounds like the original owner drove the car about 7,000 miles per year. And the car was originally sold at the end of the 2005 model year -- did you see the original sale date of 08/05/2005? I think the evidence easily supports the odometer reading. The eBay seller has been in the biz since 1999 and has had mostly very positive feedback on a large number of transactions. Still, it's always best to view a car in person so that there are no surprises. You are not all that far from Houston. Give the dealer a call -- it could be time for a Road Trip.

I think you need to look at the Carfax again. I'm seeing four reports for 2007 including a report from the NY Inspection Station that the mileage was 15551 on 08/18/2007. I don't have much practice looking at cars on eBay but I'm can see this information on the eBay listing by selecting the "Print Version" of the "Vehicle History Report". The "type of owner" I see is "Personal". I have no idea why it was sold at the auction as a "Fleet" vehicle.

An 05 LS430 owner over on "that other Lexus forum" reported a similar problem last November except that the owner did not report that the CEL was on -- only the Check VSC and Traction Off. The repair shop that fixed the car (not a Lexus dealer) in Branson, Missouri told the LS owner that the problem was a knock sensor. A few people questioned whether a defective knock sensor could cause the problem but after the repair shop kept the car a few days, the owner reported the following, quote: "My Lexus is home and (crossing fingers) hope that the problem has been solved. I drove it home on one breath, then let a big sigh of relief when I pulled into my driveway. So it seems it was the knock sensor and wiring harness. When they called to tell me it was ready, I nearly fainted. They told me they drove it a couple of times to make sure and all the lights are off." -------------------------------- The LS owner did not follow up with more posts on the thread so the assumption is that the problem is fixed. The only thing that has ever caused the Check VSC message to be displayed on my 2000 LS400 has been a defective battery. A few people have reported that corrosion or a poorly connected battery cable can cause the Check VSC but I don't remember anyone mentioning the CEL and the Traction Off lighting up too. I would think your battery would be OK since you've been experiencing problems for several months. Once a battery starts going, they usually fail pretty fast although I've sometimes had intermittent problems for a few weeks before a battery finally failed completely. The only battery I've had in an LS that lasted over four years during my 19 years of LS ownership has been the original Toyota battery that came in the car. If your battery happens to be the original one, I'd tend to be a little suspicious about it.

Actually, Steve, the rear lights of your Celsior work about the same as the U.S. spec 90-94 LS400 -- we have 3 bulbs on each side too. I assume somebody had to do some cobbling to get a rear foglight on your Celsior so it would pass inspection. Yes, our foglights are in the same place as on your Celsior but look like the separate high beam units on the U.K. spec LS400. People here in the states and Canada seem to think it's "cool" to get the JDM Celsior lights with the one piece lens. I can't figure out why someone would want to drive a LHD car with RHD headlights -- weird? Your Celsior looks very nice. Which spec is it? A, B, or C?

Wow! That's a big price for a 98 LS like that at an auto auction. 01 LS430 with lower miles and in decent shape have brought less than $10,000 at auction. I wonder if there were non-dealer bidders who wanted it for their personal use. Was this a real wholesale auto auction for the car dealer trade? A $5500 price doesn't seem to leave room for "reconditioning", which this car obviously needs, or allow the kind of profit the used car dealers I know would be interested in.

This "pinned" thread at the top of the 92-00 SC forum has information that could help: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...8&hl=Mikado These forums have a wealth of information that can often be found by reading the pinned items at the top of individual forums or by doing an advanced search. Good luck with your repair.

Steve, does your UK-spec 1994 LS400 have the "beam level control switch" next to the mirror control switch on your dashboard? If it does have it, does the low beam level control still work with your HID kit? Since the UK spec models have high beam headlights where the US spec models have foglights, am I correct in assuming that you did not use a bi-xenon kit? The US specification generation 1 LS400 do not not have their foglights below the turn signals like the UK cars do. Another reason you might not get flashed is that the beam pattern for the UK spec 1994 LS400 has a sharp cutoff and is very different than the low beam pattern we got on the U.S. spec 90-94 LS400. I can see even see the sharp cutoff on the headlight lens in a photo of an LS400 owned by a former coworker I visited down in Portsmouth on the south coast. I don't think my friend would appreciate his face and number plate being splashed on the Internet so I'll attach a "sanitized" photo of him posing with the car he called "his love". The headlights on U.S. spec 90-94 LS400 cars put out an awful "blob" of light -- you have to experience it to believe what U.S. regulators did to us here in the U.S. before they finally adopted a beam pattern standard similar to that of the rest of the world. Back when I had a 1990 LS400, I was very jealous of what you guys in the UK got -- we were kind of screwed over here! EDIT: Sorry, steve2006, I didn't pay attention to your photos. Your "LS400" is really an import Japanese market Celsior isn't it? UK_LS400.bmp

When a excessive brake pad wear is sensed, a "brake wear" message is displayed on the "multi information display" (trip computer) in the instrument cluster of a 98-up LS.

I don't know, Jeremy. I think we could still teach PD a few tricks. Kid, Lexus doesn't sell HID kits. There are big differences in quality among HID kits just like there are with other products. If you are intent on HID kit, search the forums including on Clublexus and read about what others have done in the past and which kits people have been satisfied with. I'm sure you've noticed that HID kit prices have dropped a lot -- almost looks like companies are just trying to get rid of their inventories. I'm even thinking about installing a "low-K" HID kit in the bumper mounted foglights on my 00 LS since they are some of the most worthless foglights I've seen on a car. Are there auto specialty shops in New York where you could go to discuss the HID kit options for an older car with headlights that use 9004 bulbs? What are you looking for? Are you looking only for the "HID look" or are you looking for better lighting? If you just want the HID look, you could just put a couple of those cheap blue tinted bulbs in your headlights. If you have to have real HID and mainly want more light output, get a kit with 4300K bulbs. If you mainly want the "blue" look with less light output, get one of the higher-K kits -- 6000K or higher. I have to tell you ... if the Eagle Eyes replacement headlights for the gen 1 LS400 had been available back in 2003, I might still be driving my old 90 LS today. I suspect that a bi-xenon kit in Eagle Eyes headlights might be as good as it could ever get on a gen 1 LS400.

Yes, occasionally -- I eat a lot of beans. ;) No, never had any rear end noise on my similar 00 LS400 except for an unruly rear seat passenger. Can't check it out before buying? Ouch! How do you know if everything is working? The common steering tilt/telescope problem with on the 98-00 LS (fixed at the factory midway through the 2000 model year) alone can cost thousands to fix if it wasn't fixed under the TSIB. Does the car have HID headlights? Many 1998s do not. Are the radio and HVAC LCDs working and all the backlights for the buttons. Can't see much from the photos but I'm guessing that it is minimally equipped since it doesn't have the wood wheel and shifter -- the all leather wheel is more comfortable anyway IMO. Here's a link to the 98 LS specs in case you don't have them: http://www.lexus.com/contact/pdf/1998/1998LSspecs.pdf If you are really interested, can you have a Lexus dealer give you the car's history to see if any of the TSIBs have been applied. Sounds like a roll of the dice. It would be interesting to know how much this car actually sells for at the auction. I don't have much of an idea but I'd guess $3000 tops.