1990LS400

Yes, I may still do the Pop-Port cable/cradle conversion in our cars. I don't like the thought of giving up the CARK's privacy handset since my wife uses it all the time in my LS and we frequently pass it to backseat passengers. (I didn't put a privacy handset in her Camry - no good place for it and she mainly uses the car to get back and forth to work.) It will be interesting so see how much GSM service we will have on our old Nokia phones after AMPS and TDMA go away in a few months. If the service is bad, we will have to change phones to ones that have better GSM and we may do the Pop Port converson then. It would sure beat starting all over with another car kit. We have been using the CARK-91 kits for over seven years and are on our third set of phones that are compatible with them - not a bad return on investment.

The FCC is allowing phone companies to discontinue AMPS (analog) service beginning on February 18, 2008. Cingular/ATT has apparently been slowly withdrawning AMPS and TDMA service for sometime. As I and others have stated in this and other threads, forget about using a Lexus fixed or Portable Plus phone. Yes, all 1990 through 2003 Lexus LS cars were prewired for cell phones. About the only thing you can do is to buy an aftermarket cell phone kit. Today, a Bluetooth kit is the probably the best way to go, even with its limitations. You can fairly easily tap in the the OEM phone harness for an audio mute connection so your radio will automatically mute when a call is made or received. jainla installed a Bluetooth kit in his LS430 and even connected it to play the call through his door speaker - do a search and you will find his detailed tutorial. Blake918 and I installed a now obsolete phone kit in our cars (95 and 00). It might be a little more complicated in your 91 LS since (I think) that there is no easily accessible mute connection under the center console; you would have to find one in the trunk or on the amp or headunit. If you want to have your phone handy and always charged, consider mounting a charging cradle for it on a bracket or console by the radio. Doing all this is not all that difficult. There are lots of threads about phones on this and other Lexus forums and I'm sure most members will help you if you PM them.

Steve, if you are still showing real estate, I don't think the Infinity M would make a very good impression on customers. You want them to be comfortable and, with its harsh ride, the M is anything but. My wife and I rented an M35 from Hertz (photo attached) for an 8 day trip through Massachusetts last May. Since I greatly enjoyed driving various years of the Q45, I was expecting that I would also like the "M" a lot. Wrong. Very Wrong. The M35 felt "darty" in a very un-BMW like way. The "M" was more "boy racer" than sophisticated touring sedan. The interior controls did not feel intuitive - the I-Drive-like controller was a pain. I suppose the designers were aiming for mechanical sounds that were "sporty" but the engined seemed noisy and unrefined to me. The worst aspect of the "M" was its harsh ride. Our rental car had the standard 18" wheels and the regular suspension. I can't imagine the car with the optional 19" wheels and sport suspension. And from the first day, I made sure that the tires were at their proper inflation pressure. Although the seats had plenty of adjustments and were ventilated and cooled, I never could get really comfortable. I felt cramped and I'm not a big guy. I kept thinking I should like the "M" more. It had sooo much content and the workmanship was excellent -- but it somehow felt "cold" even with all the wood. About the only thing I liked about the M35 was its keyless go. I had a hard time getting used to using an ignition key when I got back home.

High pressure does not build up in the coolant reservoir. It certainly does not on my similar 2000 LS400. And my temperature guage generally is below the 1/2 mark too. If you have not done so already, I suggest you take your car to a Lexus dealer or indie Lexus specialist and have the car thoroughly checked out. I would hope that the coolant has been changed by the calendar schedule since it is low mileage. If the coolant temperature is off, the most likely culprit is the thermostat - quite inexpensive.

You have to remember that much of the information about automobile reliability is from feedback from readers of Comsumer Reports and members of Consumer Union and from extensive testing. Consumer Reports is not an isolated editorial staff that trashes cars and other products without member input and extensive testing. We have been providing information to Consumer Union about the reliability of cars and many other products through surveys for way over 30 years. I have often been assured and sometimes amused at how the reliability ratings published in Consumer Reports correlates to our own experiences with various products. It is unfortunate that Toyota Motor Company has allowed their cars - both Lexus and Toyota - to slip in quality. We are stockholders of Toyota and are especially concerned. Don't blame the staff of Consumer Reports Magazine - they are only the messenger. Full responsibility for their product is with Toyota Motor Company.

I think the main aspect of the pre-wired phone system that would be of use would be the audio mute pin. Blake918 found a mute pin under the center armrest (on the driver side) of his 1995 LS400 and I am guessing you will find the same connector on your LX450 - do an advanced search on "Blake918" and "phone" and you will surely find his thread that shows a photo of the connector and mute pin. You could probably go all the way and play the call through the door speakers if you want - find a thread about how Jainla did this on his 01 LS430. Or you could take the easy way out like Blake and I did and use an add-on speaker hidden under the dash. You can pick up a hot wire at the underdash fuse box or the ignition switch or in the prewire phone harness but the easiest way is to tap into the underdash fuse box (assuming an LX450 has one) with a dummy fuse adapter sold at auto parts stores - these plug into the fuse box and allow you to take power off a fuse with one or more connections coming out of the fuse. If you remove your phone, avoid cutting any wires. Just unplug things. It will probably take some disassembly of your center console. I have no idea where the main phone ECU is on an LX450 but I assume that, when you find it (probably in the trunk or under the rear seat), you would would unplug the connectors from it and plug the large ones into each other. There aren't all that many LX450s out there. A coworker of mine - who, BTW, bought my 90 LS from me - told me recently that he wants to buy one. He told me that he thinks they are a great buy. Please post information about whatever you do on your LX - it might help others.

Your question has been asked hundreds of times on this and other Lexus forums. The short answer is "No".

I doubt if ATT/Cingular would provide you with service for your Lexus analog phone since they have for several years been slowly withdrawing analog (and TDMA) service in preparation for the end of analog service in February 2008 --> http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/analogcellphone.html Cingular has been trying to pry our GSM/TDMA/Analog phones out of our hands for the last year or so but we have held on to them since the Nokia kits we use them in mute our radios (00 LS400, 98 Camry) when a call is in progress. It is fairly easy to install a phone kit but if I had to start from scratch, these days, I would only install a Bluetooth kit. Do you have a handset that supports Bluetooth? I suspect the sunroof part you need is most easily found at a Lexus dealer. I have bought quite a few parts from Sewell Lexus ( http://www.lexus-parts.com ) and they will normally give at least a modest discount off list price. Try submitting a quote request through their website.

Of course the dealer should take care of the problem if your car is under warranty. I don't see any TSIBs about wind noise on the 04 LS430 but I could have missed one -- only one about a water leak at the top of the rear window on vehicles with a VIN prior to JTHBN36F#40167882. That one is TSIB BO005-04. One thing you could do is to use an inexpensive automotive stethoscope to locate the source of the noise so you could direct the dealer to the location of the problem. If you do this, I suggest you either have someone else drive or move the stethoscope around the interior. The doors or sunroof could be out of adjustment even though they look OK. Of course, some people notice the wind noise because there is so little mechanical noise. Have you driven other LS430's to compare the noise level?

If you don't like the dealer's price, you might check one of the many salvage yards that carry Lexus parts. Here is one of many that has interior parts including seats. Perhaps they would sell a first aid kit separately. You probably wouldn't want the original contents (12 years old!) and you could stock the kit with items purchased at a drugstore. http://www.automotix.net/partshotline-lexu...r-requests.html

This is normal with any car - front or rear drive - that has a relatively powerful engine. My wife's 98 Camry has the same engine as your RX and it will spin the front wheels the same as yours until the traction control kicks in to stop it. Only yesterday in the rain and at the beginning of a 200 mile Thanksgiving trip, I had to turn the ECT switch on my LS to "snow" mode to get enough traction to pull away from a stop light while going up a hill - my LS has 8/32 tread left on all the tires - I just checked the depth yesterday before the trip.

Actually, I don't think problems with the starter are common on any of the LS400 model years. A starter can last the life of the car. I certainly would not replace a starter until it failed or began to cause problems.

The "manual" I mentioned is the repair manual set for the 2000 LS400 which I purchased from a Lexus dealer. I bought them for $200-$300 shortly after I purchased the car and have purchased repair manual sets for almost every car that I have owned over the past 40 years. It is odd that bulb replacement instructions were deleted from the owners manual sometime in the 1990s. The owners manual for the 1990 LS400 I owned had instructions on how to replace almost every bulb in the car. The owners manual I have for the 1994 U.K./Europe LS400 has even better instructions and includes lots of information omitted from U.S. owner manuals. Perhaps omitting bulb replacement instructions from the owners manual was another way to increase dealer profit!

Some people prefer to remove the headlight assemblies. I do not prefer this method since it takes longer and can slightly affect your headlight aim. I found that moving the battery back on the divers side and removing the plastic intake duct on the passengers side gives you easy access to both bulbs. Total job took me less than 10 minutes. The plastic intake duct only has one bolt and the battery has 2. Good Luck! Gosh, it probably takes me more than 10 minutes just to reset the 18 radio stations settings I lose after disconnecting the battery. You are quick! Or are you able to reach the bulb without disconnecting the battery? I followed the instructions in the manual and removed and reinstalled LS headlight assemblies many times while experimenting with different brands and wattages of bulbs -- sometimes several times in one evening. I have never once had to re-aim the headlights. The key is to not touch the aiming screws and remove only the screws and bolts that hold the entire headlight assembly to the car. There are only 3 or 4 screws/bolts per side to remove. One of the few things I liked about the Mercedes sedan I had before I bought my first LS in 1990 was that the back of the Mercedes headlights were fully exposed - only had to pop a plastic panel off the back of the headlight assembly and slap in a bulb. Toyota sure could have made it easier on the LS.

so i cant use the OEM phone and the OEM wiring? Correct. It is possible to connect an aftermarket phone kit to the OEM phone wire harness so that the call plays through the door speaker like on the dealer installed Lexus phone. Jainla did this on his LS430. Or you can do something like I did and use an external speaker and attach the aftermarket phone kit's mute wire to a mute pin on the OEM phone wire harness. I don't know where you would find a mute pin on a 1990 LS but it would likely be in the trunk. Or you could connect an aftermarket phone kit's mute wire to a mute pin on the headunit or amp. The wiring diagram I posted earlier shows the wire color. Personally, I think it is more risky to mess with the headunit or amp and that it is safer to connect aftermarket phone kits to the car's built-in phone harness.

I bought hood struts for my similar 2000 LS400 from www.lexus-parts.com (Sewell Lexus) for $61.01 each in December 2005. I may have gotten a better price since I am a fairly frequent customer. They arrived in two days and took perhaps ten minutes to install.

Lexus has lately been using H rated tires on the LS and I would certainly hope that you would not come even close to exceeding their 130 mph limit. I used 225/60-15 tires for several years on the 1990 LS I used to have. They fit the 6.5 inch wide wheels just fine. 6" wide wheels, if I remember correctly, are the minimum wheel width for 225 tires but it might be even 5.5 inches so you would be well within the limit. You will get a bit more harshness and noise with 225/60-15 but the speedometer will be perfectly accurate and braking will be much better. And it is just about impossible to "curb" your OEM 1990 LS wheels with 225/60-15 tires since the tire sidewall with hit the curb first. Lots of advantages.

I suggest that you email your wheel photo to the Prime company and see if they can give you the model number. Knowing the model number might help you do a search. Although I love the way they look and they are of great quality, I have certainly had second thoughts about my purchase of Mille Miglia Bello wheels from Tire Rack in 2003 for use with snow tires - which I mounted yesterday, by the way. I would have been better off spending a few more bucks and buying take-off Lexus wheels which I could replace if I ever bent a wheel. I can't find the Bellos anymore, anywhere - long discontinued.

None of the phones for the U.S. LS400 models (1990 - 2000) were GSM. As far as I know, all were analog but the ones in the late 1990s might have supported TDMA or CDMA - definitely not GSM. It is fairly easy to install a phone kit in an LS if you don't mind doing a little minor disassembly of the interior - there are plenty of Bluetooth kits that interface with a modern GSM phone. Or you could use a Bluetooth headset or a visor mounted Bluetooth unit.

I don't see much reason to start still another thread on this most common issue of a leaky PS pump causing the alternator to fail. Consider searching for past threads.

Do you see your wheel on this webpage? --> http://www.primewheel.com/prime_wheels.aspx?size=15 It sounds like your wheel is one of the BBS look-a-like wheels that was very popular in the early 1990s.

Just fix the broken wires in the left trunk hinge. This is an e-x-t-r-e-m-l-y common problem and you will find lots of threads about fixing the broken wires in the left trunk hinge on this and other Lexus forums. It me only a few minutes to splice in wires in the left trunk hinge when the same problem happened on my 90 LS five or six years ago.

One of the nice features of the 98-00 LS400 is that none of the antennas are external. No worry about vandalizm and car washes. The phone and radio antennas are imprinted on the rear window and the OEM GPS is just under the surface of the dash board. What exactly would a "Shark Fin" antenna accomplish? Surely you are not talking about a non-functional "dummy" one! Anyone for curb feelers? <_<

The search feature of this forum is a very useful tool. Using the search feature, I found this link: http://www.cureline.net/lex/audio/howto_li..._hu_pioneer.htm As noted on cureline, fixing the radio LCD and lights is not nearly as easy as fixing the HVAC display. Most people seem to send their radios to a professional when the lights or LCD fail. You might find try doing a search on Google --> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=LS400+radio+repair

In the few times I have heard about a defective phone system causing the radio to mute, the car did have the phone installed. All LS400's are fully prewired at the factory for a phone. I don't know if it will help you any but attached is a wiring diagram for the 1990 LS400 audio system. 1990_LS400_audio_system.pdf