1990LS400

You might be having a water pump failure. They sometimes start leaking before failing completely and suddenly. Use Toyota/Lexus premixed coolant. It can be purchased at any Toyota or Lexus dealer. Get a coolant tank cap ASAP if yours is damaged. There are minimum and maximum marks on the coolant overflow tank but they may be hard to see if the tank is the original one.

Here is the audio system wiring diagram for a 1991 LS400. 1991_LS400_audio_system_diagram.pdf

I know it is kind of thick, but I always carry my Lexus credit card size wallet key card in my billfold. It can not be used to start the car but it will open the doors. You just pop the metal key out of the plastic card and push it back into the card when you are done using it. The key card even has the key code on it which could make it easy to get a replacement key if you need another one in the future. If you do not have one of these, ask about getting one when you get a replacement key.

I've seen the Mercedes cruise control stalk critized countless times in car reviews - google "Mercedes cruise control" and you will get an idea of the issue: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w251-r-cla...rol-switch.html But at least the current Mercedes cruise control is not dash mounted like it was on the 450SEL I had back in the 70s -- now that was really stupid. I'm surprised that Mercedes didn't make owners go use the Comand interface and that BMW didn't make owners use I-drive to set cruise speed. The Toyota/Lexus cruise control is definitely the best system I have used - very intuitive. Sure, I'm been using it for over 17 years on our Lexus and Toyota cars but it sure beats searching for the correct steering wheel button like I have to do on many rental cars or figure out which part of the same stalk controls cruise control, wipers or lights.

I don't know if it means anything but I just unplugged the horn wires on our 98 Camry and 00 LS400 and the horn connectors appear to be identical. I think they are the same the horn connector used on the 90 LS I used to have. I need to get out those huge Bosch horns I mentioned above and try them on my 00 LS! I seem be using my horn a lot more the past few years as people using cell phones and in la-la land wander into my lane.

By "work" do you mean plug and play? I can't tell you that but probably just about any horn from a car with a 12 volt electrical system can be made to work with a little wire splicing. I had some incredibly loud Bosch horns on the 90 LS I used to have -- they are in a box in the garage; I have not tried using them on my 00 LS. Although the horns on my 00 is not very loud, the ones on the 90 LS were positively wimpy. The gen 1 LS horn was quickly redesigned and was replaced at no charge for people who complained while their cars were under the basic warranty.

I suspect that the manufacturers simply dropped the LS400 out of their fitment guides but still have racks that fit. Perhaps a roof rack designed for the LS430 would work. Here's what I found on http://www.rackattack.com/ when I looked for a Yakama rack for an 01 LS430: System Price: $269.10 - Locks Included Maximum Weight 125 lbs. Bar Spread 31 inches This system includes: Yakima Q-Towers - $124.20 Yakima Q75 Clip - $27.00 Yakima Q75 Clip - $27.00 Yakima 58 inch Cross Bars - $51.30 Yakima 4 Pack SKS cores - $39.60 Do you have a local rack dealer you can visit so you can try out the Q75 clips? Be aware that using clips may compress and damage the door seals. I still have a Yakama roof rack in the basement that I bought in 1985 for a Honda. The towers and clips seemed to fit the LS400 I bought in 1990 but I never used the rack on the LS since the cross bars weren't long enough. Lexus Europe sold roof racks and a variety of accessories to carry bikes, kayaks, and storage boxes for the LS400 and LS430 throughout their 17 years in production. If you can't find a rack here, I'll bet you can get one from a U.K. dealer. But with the U.S. dollar in the toilet, getting one this way would likely be very expensive.

In theory, it might be possible to unlock the doors from the trunk since the wireless ECU is behind the drivers side trim in the trunk. But in reality, you might as well call a locksmith or a Lexus dealer. Or, if the windshield hasn't been replaced in a long time and is in bad shape - well, do you have a hammer? Windshields are pretty cheap and you may need a new one anyway if it is worn and pitted. If you choose to break it be very careful not to cut yourself -- and of course you will have lots to (carefully) clean up with a shop vac.

I see this is your first post. Use the advanced search function and you will find a number of past threads on installing phone kits. It might take some effort to find the information. There has been lots of information posted on Clublexus.com too. A phone kit, bluetooth or otherwise, will come with instructions. The attached 98 ES300 audio system wiring diagram shows a mute point. I don't know if the 98 ES was completely prewired for a phone like the LS of the same year, but the LS has an easily accessible mute pin in a six pin connector under the console. A good way to attach the power wire of a phone kit is to use an inexpensive adaptor that plugs into the fuse box. It is possible to use an external speaker with a Parrot kit so you don't have to splice into a door speaker. I once posted a link on this forum to instructions on how to do this. External phone kit speakers can be found on ebay or on Google Products (formerly Froogle) for less than $10 or you could probably buy one from a phone kit installer. There appears to even be a speaker made to fit Parrot kits: http://roccstar.com/catalog/Parrot-SPK3100...70?currency=USD If you don't want to go to all the trouble of installing a kit, some people swear by the portable Bluetooth kits that attach to a sun visor. However, it sure is nice to have the radio mute automatically when a call is in progress. 1998_ES300_audio_systemva.pdf

Bite the bullet and buy an extra set of wheels and a set of real snow tires with the mountain/snowflake symbol on the sidewall -- don't settle for "M+S" all-season tires. The piece of mind alone is worth the cost. You can probably find some cheap but still good looking Toyota wheels to use in the winter. You sure can have a butt-load of snow near where you live. I skiied Timberline several years ago and that was the most snow I have seen in my life -- and I have skiied Colorado ski areas hundreds of times.

You can find lots of threads on this issue by doing an advanced search in the LS400 section. Here is a very good thread with lots of photos: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...;hl=telescoping

Wow! Are you telling me your LS430 doesn't start "on the first crank, every time"? During over 17 years, my LS400's have never failed to start on the very first try - even at -20 F. temperatures. However, over 10 1/2 years with my 79 Mercedes 240D (purchased new), it was a challenge to get it to start at all when the ambient temperature was below about 15 degrees F. Mine wasn't the only Mercedes diesel abandoned in the company parking lot when it got cold. Do you happen to live in southern California where it is usually quite warm? Your 82 240D that cost $22K when new was only $10,500 when introduced in 1977. The rapid price rises from 1977 to 1982 were largely caused by the drop in the value of the U.S. dollar against the deuchmark during those years. (The U.S. dollar zoomed back after about 1982-3). The base list price of my virtually identical 79 240D was about $15,000. The optional (manual!) A/C alone was over $1,100 - interesting because the A/C couldn't begin to put out enough cold air in the summer even when the car was brand new. Even with all the pain from driving three Mercedes cars a total of over 400,000 miles, I still do have some nostalgia for the brand. I sure do wish I could have persuaded my father to buy that pristine ultra low mileage white 1963 300SL that was on Aristocrat Mercedes' showroom floor in Kansas City in 1968 -- absolutely perfect and it wasn't selling at the asking price of $7,500. I suspect that Hyundai and an upcoming Chinese auto company are going to blow Lexus away during the coming years. Hate to say it but I have little or no loyalty when it comes to buying cars or anything else -- I buy what is the best combination of quality and price regardless of who makes it. jainla, that was one great write up you did on your phone system install a while back!

Having owned three Mercedes - only one was purchased new - I have to say I enjoy the well deserved Mercedes bashing. Mercedes diesels bullet proof? You gotta be kidding. My Mercedes diesel was on its 3rd engine by 150,000 miles. The front seats literally collapsed, the dashboard developed a huge crack, and the transmission was failing too. And the body rusted through before 100,000 miles. It lived in the body shop getting the rust repaired. All three of my Mercedes were complete crap! It is hard to believe I put up with them while my wife drove a series of completely reliable Hondas. A Lexus used car salesman bought my Mercedes diesel - I normally don't trade cars in but it was the only way I could get rid of it. My best friends low mileage E320 is a continual disaster - how many electrical problems can a car have anyway? It is hard to describe what I feel when I see someone driving a Mercedes. My first impulse is to think "Sucker!" but I usually end up feeling sorry for the person who probably doesn't know any better since I once didn't know any better either.

Although keyless entry later became standard, it was a $250 option when I purchased my first LS new in 1990. I don't know if it was standard by the 1991 model year. dkfd said that keyless entry was standard but he is in Canada and it is possible that keyless entry was standard there. There were quite a few minor differences between Canadian and U.S. spec LS400s.

On the early LS, I think it is in the trunk on the left side behind the trim panel. The trim panels on both the right and left side are easily partially removed so you can peek behind them. My 90 LS didn't have the Lexus phone but the dealer had SW Bell install a similar cell phone and the ECU was installed behind the left trunk trim panel. Instead of cutting wires, unplug the various connectors that lead from the handset holder to the connector under the center console and at the phone ECU in the trunk. Later models have two large connectors plugged into the phone ECU which plug into each other after they are disconnected from the ECU.

I don't know of a good reason you would need to do the 60K service early. The brake pads have wear sensors which will cause the display of a message in the instrument cluster when the brake pads need replacement. The front pads on my similar 2000 LS400 had to be replaced for the first time at about 85,000 miles. The 60K service on a 98-00 is less expensive than on an earlier LS400. I don't remember what I paid but I think it was around $400 at an indie shop specializing in Lexus. I think the spark plugs on a 98 LS are normally replaced at 90,000 miles - check your maintenance schedule in your maintenance manual to verify. Beginning with the 99 LS (I think) the recommendation is to change them at 120,000 miles.

What exactly were you expecting? As long as you are satisfied with the deal you made, that is all that is important. I certainly don't know enough about your previous or "new" LS to comment about the deal. If you have a specific question about your car, I can try to help since I have a 2000 Platinum LS400 with Nak instead of nav. I've done quite a bit of disassembly of the interior while installing electronic toys so I know a bit about how things are screwed together. Not really expecting much really, just figured a few guys would chime in about the deal. Yes so far I am very satisfied about the deal, like I said time will be the true test. What color combo is your car? How long have you had it? How many miles? Any known problems with that year model like the older ones (power stering, dash lights, etc, ?) Thanks for any info. The info I put in the gallery explains what I have: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=si&img=815 The 2000 LS400 I bought in 2003 was the first used car I had purchased since I bought a used Mercedes 450 SEL in the 1970's. It has been a very enjoyable car and seems completely different from the 1990 LS400 I drove for over 13 years. With low mileage use cars like this available, I doubt if I will be buying any more new cars. You might want to check to see if all outstanding TSIBs have been applied to your car. It is too late to get them done under warranty but at least you will know where you stand. The most serious TSIBs are about the tilt/telescope of the steering wheel. My LS400 was manufactured at the end of the 2000 model year and about four months after the start of LS430 production. I'm lucky that most of the fixes were done on my LS at the factory. The power steering pump issue was of course resolved long before the 2000 model year. Dash and radio lights are apparently still subject to failure - I ran into a guy with a 99 LS about two years ago who just had the LCD in his radio repaired. I now have about 92,000 miles on my 00 LS. The first non-maintenance item requiring replacement were the lower strut bars at about 88,000 miles -- about the same as on my 90 LS. I drove my 90 LS from 5 to 183000 miles before I sold it and I suspect that my 00 LS will require similar suspension component replacements at similar mileages.

What exactly were you expecting? As long as you are satisfied with the deal you made, that is all that is important. I certainly don't know enough about your previous or "new" LS to comment about the deal. If you have a specific question about your car, I can try to help since I have a 2000 Platinum LS400 with Nak instead of nav. I've done quite a bit of disassembly of the interior while installing electronic toys so I know a bit about how things are screwed together.

No, the turn signals are in the bumper on my year, they are orange and long. Im referring to the outer corner wrap around clear lights next to the main lights. Ill check the bulbs tonight if I can. The lights to which you are referring used to be called "city lights" - a holdover from the days when many large European cities (e.g. Paris) did not allow headlights at night in some city districts. If I remember correctly, by law the maximum bulb size was only five watts. Car manufactures played all sorts of tricks with lens design to magnify the light output of the little five watt bulbs. Beginning with 1998, LS400's have the city lights built into the main headlight housing as Mercedes had done on their non-U.S. spec cars for decades.

Well, it may be a "plank of wood with 4 clips" on the 90-94 LS400 but it is a rather thin fragile curved piece of wood with six attachment points on the 95-00 LS400. A lot of tricks were pulled to keep the total car weight down during the 11 year LS400 model run. Making the console wood thinner as the years passed was one of many ways Toyota reduced weight as content was added and which kept the total vehicle weight nearly constant over the 11 year period. I used to have a 1990 LS400 and a 2000 LS400 parked side by side in my garage. It was a marvel to see how incredibly different the two cars were.

No! Those instructions are for a 90-94 LS. Follow these instructions for a 95-00 LS: http://carstereohelp.com/stereoremovalLexusLS400str1.htm The 95-00 wood is thinner and much more fragile that the 90-94 wood. It is important to follow the directions exactly on a 95-00 to keep from cracking the wood. I've owned and removed the wood console trim numerious times in both model year ranges while installing various electronic components.

Do a search in the LS400 section of this forum and you will find several threads including this one: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...amp;hl=firewall

In the past, I've used a 12 volt test light to determine the functions of each wire leading into the OEM headlight connector. Sometimes I did a little experimenting. I've done it "both ways" with converting from non-H4 to H4. On some cars (e.g. Hondas) I have left the OEM connector in place and t-tapped into the wires leading to it, connecting the wires from the t-tap connectors to the new H4 plug. On other cars (e.g. Mercedes), I've removed the OEM headlight connector because the OEM connector was designed to plug into a U.S. spec Mercedes headlight housing and not directly into the bulb. But I have not done an H4 converson on a Lexus -- only on three Hondas, one Volvo, one Mercedes and on a variety of American cars of family members. Here is a webpage which shows which shows the function of each spade on an H4 bulb: http://www.vintagewatercooleds.com/tech/Te...nnector_Diagram Here is another webpage which shows the function of the each terminal on both an H4 and a 9004 headlight connector: http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/Headlights.shtml

Yes, the packages for the 1999 model year were the same as for the 2000 except that the Platinum package was only for 2000. There were no advertised packages for the 1998 LS400 - options were priced separately - although in reality it might have been impossible to purchase some options without also purchasing others.

There are lots of auto salvage companies in the U.S. You could have a local one do a parts search or call these guys: http://www.grahamsauto.com/ They say the specialize in LS400s but I have no experience with them. Did you follow some instructions on how to remove the radio or did you "wing it"? I was surprised when I found how flimsy the wood is in the later LS400 compared to the wood in the gen 1 LS which is thicker and more rigid.