1990LS400

Can you "flex" out the bottom of the door panel enough to peer behind it or to slide something like a thin paint stirring stick or ruler behind the panel to see what is holding it in? I've removed door panels from several Lexus and Toyota vehicles without having instructions and have sometimes found hidden fasters that had to come out. One hidden fastener I have sometimes missed is the one behind the inside door opener lever. Here is one of several instructional pages I found with Google: http://caraudiotips.blogspot.com/2013/03/lexus-sc-door-panel-removal.html

The correct oil weight is 5W30 year-round. It is never necessary to use any other weight.

It is possible that the door lock has failed. If it has failed, it is an expensive part - retail price for the lock assembly is over US$1100 and the cost of labor would likely also be high.

Regardless of how active this forum is, "What's this car worth" threads often go unanswered. I suggest that you research what similar cars are selling for in your area. Not that it helps, but in 2003 I bought a non-CPO 2000 LS400 for $9,000 less from an auto broker than what a Lexus dealer asked for each of two CPO 2000 LS400's. All three cars had about the same miles (36,000 - 38,000). The non-CPO car was better equipped than the CPO cars. A clean CarFax doesn't mean much. I've had cars hit by other drivers and twice hit road debris and none of the repairs showed up in CarFax. Several of the repairs were significant ... $5,000 to $11,000.

All official Lexus branded dealer installed phone systems had a controller on the left side of the steering wheels and the word "Lexus" on the handsets. The handset cradle on Lexus branded phone systems plug into factory connectors under the rear of the center armrest. The original Lexus branded phone system was pricey. When I bought my first LS400 in 1990, the phone system was around $1,000. I instead bought a much less expensive President-brand phone system through the Lexus dealer that looked very similar to the OEM system but did not have steering wheel controls or use any of the factory phone pre-wiring. Assuming that yours is an aftermarket phone system, look to see if its wire harness includes a yellow wire. Audio mute wires in aftermarket phone systems are almost always yellow. If you find a yellow wire, trace it to see if it connects to a wiring harness on your car. Some aftermarket phone system installers connected the phone system's audio output wires so that it plays the call through one or more of the car's speakers but most use a separate speaker for the phone audio. There weren't all that many Lexus branded phone system versions used in the LS400 - four or five in North America during the 11 year run of the LS400.

Buy an iPhone? iPhone is less compatible with Toyota/Lexus in-dash system text messaging than Android phones!!! My wife was just complaining about it and said she is going to get an Android phone after she retires and turns in her corporate iPhone. Have you enabled text messaging in your in-dash system? If I remember correctly, this must be done before it will work.

Why is it always the right channel that stops working in 95-up LS400 Nakamichi systems? I've seen a number of threads similar to yours. The right channel of the Nak in the 2000 LS400 I drove for 10 years went out twice. The first time a repair facility in Florida fixed it by resoldering the balance control - that was in around 2007 - but they were not certain that was the real cause of the problem. The second time the right channel failed in 2013, I gave up and had an aftermarket Kenwood double-din headunit installed by Best Buy using the Nak amp to drive the speakers. I remember that a person in one thread traced down the right channel problem to a corroded pin on a ribbon connector inside the Nak headunit but I don't remember which forum that was on ... might have been ClubLexus. Nak amps rarely fail. The problem from my experience on forums has always been the head unit. Unlike what you may read on some Lexus forums, it is possible to install an aftermarket head unit using the Nak amp and have all the speakers work including the subwoofer. The Kenwood I had installed worked great and made the car seem more modern. It had lots of cool features including a Pandora interface, USB, aux-in, 18 station presets, backup camera support, excellent handsfree phone support - all for $500 including installation.

On a 14 year old vehicle it might be more practical to mount a portable GPS to a sticky pad on the top of the dash. You cold even hide the power cord for it inside the dash. Here is a photoshopped image.

Will the tape player play cassette tapes? (Assuming you can find one!) If not, it may be "dead". I had a company in California add a 3.5mm aux-in port to the Nakamichi in the 2000 LS400 that I used to have: http://factoryradioservice.com/page.html?id=1 I got the deluxe version with the on/off switch on the front of the radio and the 3.5mm port in the back. A 6' aux-in cable was included as part of the deal. He can also add Bluetooth A2DP streaming ... or I should say "instead" since I doubt if you would want both aux-in and Bluetooth. Be aware that nobody repairs Nakamichi anymore. The supply of repair parts dried up years ago.

Even if you can demonstrate to a court that your speedometer is defective, that is not going to get you out of a speeding ticket. I suggest that you pay the fine and be done with it. If you think your speedometer is acting up, consider sending your instrument cluster to Tanin for repair: http://www.taninautoelectronix.com/ I've found the GPS speedometers in phone apps and in portable navigation systems (e.g. Garmin) to be incredibly accurate and I pay more attention to them than to in-dash vehicle speedometers. When I drive, my cell phone is in an iOttie holder high on the dash displaying the GPS speedometer in the iBolt Dock'n Drive application. Dock'n Drive even starts automatically when it senses that my phone has made a Bluetooth connection to our vehicle in-dash systems and keeps the phone screen from "timing out". Dock'n Drive is an application organizer that makes applications safer to use while driving - its speedometer is a bonus feature.

Use what your owners manual says to use to clean the interior. What does it say about using that Maguires product? If I remember correctly, a damp (not wet!) cloth has been the main owners manual recommendation for my Lexus and Toyota vehicles unless a surface is soiled. The cloth should be just barely damp with water when cleaning surfaces around electronics and instruments. Maybe a damp (water only) cloth can remove that overspray you mentioned. Stay away from harsh household cleaning liquids like 409! If you have to spray a liquid, spray it on a cloth first to avoid overspray.

You might want to fabricate a protective cover for your alternator until you get the PS pump. Some people have cut up plastic bleach bottles to do it. I was once stranded when a leaking PS pump caused my alternator to fail. I was on a trip - 200 miles from the nearest Lexus dealer - when it happened. I made it to about 10 miles from the Lexus dealer when the engine died when the battery didn't have enough power to run it. I was able to coast off the interstate highway into a convenience store parking lot. I was lucky.

Oh no! Not another one! Yes, bridge the terminals of the key trunk opener switch on the lower left of the dashboard to open the trunk. And then get another key immediately.

Look at this thread that shows before and after photos of when I restored the headlight lenses of the 2000 LS400 I used to have. The headlights came out looking like new: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/topic/74083-headlight-cover-oxidation/#comment-456058 I since determined that the Sylvania kit is even better than the Crystal View kit.

Not that it will necessarily help, but did you also completely power down your iPhone 6S and then power it back up? Or at least stop and then start the Bluetooth service on your iPhone 6S. That your husband's iPhone 6 works properly is very valuable information which points to a probable issue on your iPhone 6S. Maybe someday these Bluetooth connections will become completely reliable but I'm not holding my breath. My wife has an iPhone 6 and I have an Android Samsung S5. I have more Bluetooth connectivity issues than she does but I do Bluetooth connections with more devices than she does.

Try using a $25 Sylvania headlight restoration kit - available online or at auto part stores. The final step is applying a clear coat (it smells like lacquer) that will keep the lenses clear for a few years. I've restored a number of awful looking headlight lenses to like new condition with these kits. Don't listen to VBdenny. "His mother was a hamster and his father smelt of elderberries." -->

have you looked at the instructions at http://maestro.idatalink.com/ ? And what did you mean by "the radio"? Which audio system?

I can answer that. Those zany Brits particularly like "mark" designations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_(designation Maybe it is a longing for Jaguar sedan series names. In the UK, the model year ranges of the LS400 are referenced thusly: Series 1, Mark 1 = 1990-1992 Series 1, Mark 2 = 1993-1994 Series 2, Mark 3 = 1995-1997 Series 2, Mark 4 = 1998-2000

There are at least four versions of the rear seat armrest. Here are two photos: 1. The rear seat armrest of the series 4 Japanese market Toyota Celsior "C type" with audio and HVAC controls and electrically adjustable rear seat with massage. 2. The rear seat armrest of the series 4 LS400 sold in Australia which has controls for the audio and HVAC systems.

One of my first questions to threads like yours is: Does the same problem happen when different phones are connected to the vehicle system? More information can be useful helpful ... like, does your RX have the navigation system? What type phone is involved? Has the particular phone involved worked well with the vehicle system in the past and for how long? Have you tried rebooting your phone? You said that you have disconnected and reconnected your phone. Does this mean that you have deleted the phone from the vehicle system and re-paired it? If rebooting doesn't help, try deleting and re-pairing the phone. Bluetooth phone connections are rarely completely trouble free.

I suppose you could try other aftermarket struts or go back to OEM struts to get OEM behavior. Or just tolerate what you have since the aftermarket struts you installed work as well as they do. I've replaced LS hood struts several (four?) times and always went with OEM due to reported problems with aftermarket struts. Sure, OEM struts cost a lot more but they always performed like the ones installed when the cars were manufactured.

Or loose or corroded connectors.

A defective ballast is one possibility. Are we talking about OEM HID or an aftermarket HID kit?

Of course flush the coolant - maybe do it now and then again in a few months. I suggest you use pre-mixed Toyota coolant to make sure you get the right type. If you don't know the maintenance history, change the brake fluid. And do a drain and refill of the transmission but don't "flush" it. And change the rear differential fluid too.

The gas pedal on your 01 LS430 has only an electronic connection to the engine like the 00 LS400 I used to have which once had a similar problem. There is likely a defective throttle position sensor or pedal position sensor. There are procedures for testing these sensors but I don't have them for the LS430.