1990LS400

The maintenance manual for my 00 LS says to change the timing belt every 90,000 miles or 72 months (6 years). It may not reach 90,000 miles for several years so under the 72 month rule, the timing belt is due to be changed this coming August. 13 years on a belt may be pushing it although at least a breaking timing belt usually does no damage on a gen 1 LS. No damage was done when the timing belt broke on my 90 LS well short of 90,000 miles.

Bill H, It might help others on the forum if you would tell us which Lexus phone (fixed or portable) version you have and which connector(s) under the console is used for it. I based my theory that the driver side connector is for the portable phone and the passenger side connector is for the fixed phone on a diagram I found on another Lexus forum - I could be wrong. Let us know how your phone kit install goes. Photos are always nice. I'm always looking for ideas on how to replace our current phone kits. Good luck!

The trunk hinge problem did not cause the transmission to not shift out of park when I had this same problem where the transmission would not shift out of park. I had both the trunk hinge problem and a failed switch at the brake pedal on my previous 90 LS. The symptoms of the two problems are completely different. Not to say that the wire in the trunk hinge might not be in the process of breaking. The person who bought my 90 LS from me told me about two weeks ago that he had to repair the trunk hinge wire again. My first fix of the trunk hinge wire lasted about four years.

IMO, it is going to be substantially easier for Gunnut to get acceptable results with larger wheels on his 94 LS than for Aryan on his 90 LS. The 93-94 LS had a number of suspension design changes from the 90-92 LS to make the ride acceptably soft with its larger OEM 16" wheels and 225/60-16 tires. I suspect that a 90 LS with 18 or 19's will ride a lot harsher than a 94 LS with the corresponding wheel size. Funny, I have seen complaints on the LS forums about ride harshness from people who have gone from a OEM 16" wheel to a 17" wheel. I can't imagine going from a 15 to a 19.

I'm with steveuk on this one and think it is the switch above the pedal. The trunk hinge wiring problem usually comes with other symptoms including erratic shifting and the "R" indicator light occasionally flashing when in Drive.

Here is a review of the new ES350 by an auto journalist: http://www.thecarconnection.com/Vehicle_Re...183.A10318.html

I also suggest looking at the "donuts" to which the mufflers attach - they might have stretched or broken. For the first 10 years with my 90 LS, I lived in a house with only a moderately sloped driveway. I always had to angle the car as I backed into the street to keep the mufflers from dragging. (Your city hasn't paved your street lately, have they?) But my 90 LS also had a trailer hitch which used the same brackets as the muffler donuts - the trailer hitch effectively caused my mufflers to ride about 1/4 inch lower than normal. My 90 LS was also very sensitive to weight in the trunk - even when it was new. This "feature" made the headlights less effective when the trunk was fully loaded - especially with adults in the back seat. How many miles are on your car? I would be surprised if the springs were sagging -- I have not noticed anyone reporting that sort of problem. Worn shock absorbers do not affect ride height.

My next door neighbor bought one of the very first LS400's in the fall of 1989. Except for the now famous two early issues and the related recalls, his early LS had no more issues than the one I bought that was made six months later. Of all brands of cars, I would have the least concern (actually zero concern) about buying a newly introduced Toyota or Lexus model. But yes, if you have to have one of the very first LS460's you might end up paying substantially more than if you waited a while. It depends on your priorities. Personally, I would wait a year or so simply to get $5-8K knocked off the list price. I enjoy being frugal -- and watching others pay full price!.

The remote locking on my 90 LS worked intermitently - actually almost never -- for a number of years. The person who bought it from me in 2003 found that the card in the receiver in the trunk was loose. Once he snapped it firmly into place, the remote worked every time.

There was a TSB under which the tilt motor, telescopic motor and other related parts were replaced on many 1999 - 2000 LS400s. The details and VIN numbers are at: http://www.clublexus.com/index.php/article...iew/1913/1/324/ The TSB was for "noise/smoothness improvement". The TSB may not be relevant to your problem but it would be interesting to know if the TSB had been applied. A Lexus dealer could tell you if this and other TSB's have been applied to your car.

You must live in a very different area than I do... Well, I don't see Mercedes cars on flatbeds very often either. But maybe there is a reason. During the 1980's when I last owned a Mercedes, I was told by a Mercedes dealer service manager that, if you called Mercedes "road-side service", participating towing companies were required to cover Mercedes cars when towing or carrying them. The reason I remember this is that a tow truck (flatbed) driver was balled out by this same service manager for not covering my Mercedes while it was being transported to the dealer. And, I don't know of any other car company that has had a dedicated fleet of vehicles (used to be Mercedes blue and white station wagons but now they seem to be using ML's) that patroled highways in large metro areas to help stranded Mercedes owners. I watched my last Mercedes, purchased new in 1979, deteriorate prematurely before my eyes as I struggled to make it last as long as our Honda Accord. I am now watching my best friend with his fairly low mileage (70,000 miles, purchased new and perfectly maintained) E320 Mercedes battle continual unsolvable electrical gremlins that have left him stranded a number of times and made his car unsafe to drive due to it stalling unexpectedly in traffic. Mercedes equal to Lexus (or Toyota, Infinity, Nissan, Honda, Suburu) in quality? Not hardly. But if you really need a big and fast car and don't car about your car spending a lot of time at the dealership, then an S-class Mercedes may be the car for you.

OK, I'm too lazy tonight to dig the Nokia control box out from under the carpet and photograph the handset cradle cable connector. Here is a photo of that CA-55 converter cable that has the same connector as our CARK-91H cradle and the cradles of several other Nokia car kits. The connector that plugs into the Nokia control box of the CARK-91H kit is at the top of the photo. The connector on the other end is the one that plugs into whichever pop-port compatible cradle that is needed to support a particular Nokia pop-port phone. The connector that plugs into the control box is rather thin - I think only one row of pins. The first question is --> does the cradle in the 2003 model year "Lexus Integrated Phone System" have the same connector into its control box as the rest of the Nokia car kits (and CA-55 converter cable) have? If anyone is really interested in pursueing this, PM me and I will take a photo.

OK, the following may be the ravings of a lunatic but bear with me: A Nokia 6310i like the one that came with your SC also fits in the handset cradle of our Nokia CARK-91H car kits - you can see the handset cradle in my avatar. Both the 6310i and our 6340i phones are no longer sold by the major cellular providers. I wonder if the connector from the 6310i handset cradle in your 2003 SC is the same as the connector on our CARK-91H handset cradles. The 6310i cradle in the SC might have been supplied by Nokia. The reason I wonder is that there is a adaptor kit that allows current Nokia "pop-port" phones to work with the old Nokia car kits including the CARK-91H. The adaptor kit consists of a CA-55 cable and the appropriate Nokia handset cradle for whichever Nokia phone you want to use. For example, Cingular currently sells the Nokia 6102 clamshell camera phone which is a pop-port phone. Like the Nokia 6310i and 6340i, the 6102 has infrared and can interface with Nokia PC Suite I wonder if the software architecture of the current Nokia pop-port phones would have any compatibility with the "Lexus Integrated Phone System" of 2003 if the pop-port adaptor kit is used? I will post a photo of the connector from the CARK-91H handset in case you want to compare it with the connector from your SC's handset cradle. This might be a real "stretch" but I remember that the old Connects-2 brand car kits sold in Europe could retrieve the name and phone number information from a variety of Nokia phones through the CARK-91H and other Nokia kits and display it on the multi-function information display of BMW's and several other car brands.

Here is the Nokia press release about the 6310i integrating with the Lexus Nav system: http://press.nokia.com/PR/200304/898389_5.html I had assumed that the Nav system used the 6310i's in-built BlueTooth function but apparently it does not as gordonw pointed out.

I would not rule out wheel balancing yet. My 00 LS had a similar wobble on its summer wheels at 60 - 70 mph since I bought it in 2003 -- and the OEM wheels were new/replaced under warranty and used for the first time in spring 2004 with brand new Dunlop 5000's. I had these wheels balanced a total of six times in two years but the wobble remained - really disgusting to feel the vibration through the steering wheel. Two weeks ago I discussed the problem with a Lexus dealer service writer who led me to their balancing guy to discuss the issue. The mechanic (hey, I'll call him that) explained to me how he would use a combination of tape weights and rim weights (only on the inner rim edges) to solve the problem. He told me he could balance the wheels properly using only the dynamic feature of his machine and that it was doubtful that he would need to use the road force feature. He showed me how he could "tell" his balancing machine exactly where to put the tape weights so that they would not hit the brake calipers. I had very low expectations. The service writer came into the waiting room about one hour later and told me that the job was done and that he had personally road tested the car on I-435 next to the dealership. Frankly, I did not believe the problem had been solved and I paid the $50 and drove away. My car drove like a dream - no vibrations at all at any highway speeds and no unsightly wheel weights showing on the OEM chrome wheels. Normally I stay away from dealerships but this was the best 50 bucks I have spent on this car -- I will return to the dealership next time I need a wheel balance.

I thought the Nokia 6310i was the very first BlueTooth phone certified by Lexus to work with the Lexus BlueTooth system and was available through Lexus dealers. Lexus even sold a charging cradle specifically for the 6310i which fit in the center console - at least I think it was available in the U.S. like it was in the U.K. The 6310i has not been available in my area for about two years - maybe yours has developed a problem. The main reason I am familiar with the 6310i is that my wife and I both use non-BlueTooth Nokia 6340i phones which look identical to the 6310i. Consult the list of BlueTooth phones that has been certified by Lexus. Perhaps ask a friend to pair his BT phone with your car to see how it works. Has the dealer paired one of his BT phones with your system to demonstate that he can make a BT phone function with your car?

I have seen several posts from people who had problems related to aftermarket hood struts - such as aftermarket struts not allowing the hood to open fully; struts so stiff that the force required to close the hood caused damage including bending the hood. Some of the aftermarket struts require drilling/modification to reuse a portion of the original struts - you can find information about aftermarket struts by searching the forums. I looked into Mighty Lift struts last year at Autozone but they could not guarantee that they would would fit. Some have found OEM struts on ebay that fit properly. I bought the last two sets of hood struts (90 LS, 00 LS) over the Internet from Sewell Lexus which has also been reported to do business on ebay. They are listed at $83.54 each for a 94 LS on this web page: http://www.lexus-parts.com/partlist.asp?Su...=113&ModelID=63 Sewell gave me a better price on hood struts for my 00 LS - maybe because I have been a repeat customer. The two hood struts I bought from Sewell last fall took only about ten minutes to install on my 00 LS - very easy. Sure, they cost more than aftermarket struts but they fit perfectly and are quick and easy to install.

What I meant was that both Blake (95 LS) and I (00 LS) found a mute pin in a male connector under the center console. But I suspect that your 90 LS does not have a similar male connector under the console since the Portable Plus phone was not an option until the 93 model year. I suspect that your 90 LS has only the female connector for the Lexus fixed phone option like my 90 LS had. All LS400s sold in the U.S., including yours, were completely pre-wired for cell phones including wiring for an external rear window phone antenna, connectors under the console (for the handset), connector on the left side of the steering wheel for the phone "command module/microphone" and connectors for the phone transceiver in the trunk. For example, peek above the headliner near the center top of your rear window of your 90 LS and you will see the factory installed phone antenna cable. Regarding your iPod, a person on one of the forums said he had a radio repair shop hard-wire RCA cables to the input used by the CD changer. But this method requires having the radio version with the CD button. It sure is interesting how look it took for cars to start coming with auxiliary RCA input jacks.

I wish! I'm a complete amateur. The "Guru" is Terry Wright of SIO Communications in the U.K.: http://www.siocommunications.co.uk/

Well Craig, I guess our neighbors have as much influence over us as we allow them to have. There are four Mercedes S-class cars in three households in my culdesac. I could not care less. I do feel somewhat sorry for them knowing the hassles I had with my three past Mercedes cars and how much time and money I spent at the local Mercedes dealer. I've used this license plate frame on my two LS400's since 1990. It explains what I think of "image" cars. I'm not looking for an "image" when I buy a car - I just want a well made, reliable, safe and comfortable car.

It is now hard for me to believe that I drove my old 90 LS for almost 14 years and never tried to get one of the two aftermarket phone kits I used in it connected to mute the radio. The automatic mute is such a nice feature. Sure, your 90 LS has "telemute" pins - the OEM dealer installed Lexus phones muted the radio when a call was in progress. You could check for a mute pin under the rear of the center console like Blake918 and I did but I don't remember there being a male OEM phone connector under the console of my 90 LS like the ones where Blake and I found a mute pin. From what I remember, the under-console phone connector in my 90 LS was more like the passenger side female connector under my 00 LS console which does not contain a mute pin. If your 90 LS has only the one female connector, I think the reason is that only the "fixed phone" was available until the 93 model year. With the 93 model year, the buyer had a choice of a fixed phone or the "portable plus" phone. If you don't find a mute pin under the console, I think you have at least two choices: 1) locate a mute pin in the OEM phone harness in the trunk, or 2) locate a mute pin on the radio head unit or amp. Here is the location of a diagram for a standard 90 LS radio which seems to show the color of the telemute wire: http://www.lextreme.com/Lexradio.pdf I assume that the telemute is labeled "TLMT" as it is on the diagram for my 00 LS but you might want to check the "MUTE" pins if the "TLMT" one does not work. You have probably seen this, but here is my stupid doc on how I installed a phone kit in my 00 LS: http://home.kc.rr.com/colchester/phone/Nok...H%20install.doc The above doc shows how I used a test light to verify that I found the mute pin. Some have said it is dangerous to use a test light to probe for a mute pin but that is the way professional phone installers usually do it. Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

Geez, not another one of these threads. Here is a website that sums up my experiences with three Mercedes and the kinds of difficulties my Mercedes owning friends and neighbors are still experiencing: http://www.mercedesproblems.com/

First of all, I heartly agree with Lenore -- apparently another fairly financially conservative "old !Removed!" like me. The local Lexus dealer here seems to provide fairly new (less than 5000 miles) ES330's and RX330's as loaners - I have been given both when my LS has been in for warranty service. Otherwise, I almost never see the dealer and use an independent repair shop for major services (30K, 60K, etc.) -- they do not provide loaner cars but they shuttle me to my office and pick me up in the evening -- their prices and service are far superior to the Lexus dealer. I did however take my car to the Lexus dealer for wheel balancing last week and had a pleasant experience -- while I listened to others in the waiting room agonizing about what their 30K, 60K, etc. services were costing them. I do the 5K services myself in less than an hour in my well equiped garage for about $25 including Mobil 1 synthetic oil (purchased in large quantities) and an OEM Lexus/Toyota oil filter purchased for $4 (in case lots) at a Toyota dealer -- I consider it entertainment while I listen to the news. The Lexus 5K service includes only four items - oil & filter, tire rotation, A/C filter check and road test -- personally, I can't bring myself to pay someone $260 (or even $100) to do this trivial work. But it is all about personal choice. By all means, everyone should do what they want to do. I certainly I could "afford" to take my car to the Lexus dealer. But even more important - most of the trivial damage (scratches, dings, etc.) and much worse damage that has been done to my cars in 40 years of driving has been done at dealerships - it probably took me 10 years to really understand this issue. Doing the "easy" maintenance work myself has allowed us to avoid a lot of damage to cars and has allowed us to drive relatively blemish free cars for many years longer than average. Instead of "gifting" your money to your Lexus dealer, consider doing what we do and putting the money you save into buying shares of the little company that makes these cars we like so much - Toyota: http://www.google.com/finance?q=TM

During the early 1990's the local Lexus dealer had a display in its showroom for K40 radar detectors. From what I remember, K40 detectors were a very expensive dealer-installed option - I think the system was over $1,000. The neatest aspect of the K40 detector was that its warning lights were fully integrated into the instrument cluster so that it looked like it was factory installed. From what I remember, K40 detectors were only available at new car dealers and specialty installers and could not be purchased by individuals. K40 is still in business today: http://www.k40.com/home_main.html I put my Escort Solo (cordless, battery powered) detector in a drawer over ten years ago and never used a radar detector again. Driving has been far more pleasant since I went "legit" and slowed down. A K40 in a 1993 LS400 would likely be useless since it would not sense the newer radar / laser technologies used by law enforcement agencies. You might as well trace where it is connected to your car's electrical system and disconnect it.

I suspect that a low mileage 2003 LS430 will be within your $30,000 range by the fall of this year. Why bother with CPO when you could buy a low mileage LS430 from an individual, a broker or an independent dealer for far less? When we bought a 2000 LS400 in 2003 from a broker, we paid $9,000! less than the local Lexus dealer wanted for similar mileage (34-38K miles), less well equiped CPO 2000 LS400's. If you play your cards right, you can buy an off-lease 2003 36,000 mile LS430 with an in-service date of July-September 2003 and still have 14,000 miles and one year left on the basic 4 year/50K mile warranty in case there are any "bugs" to be worked out. As of today the KBB dealer trade-in value of a "basic" 2003 LS430 in "excellent" condition was about $34,000 - and many people consider KBB valuations to be much higher than the market. Consider selling your 98 LS400 yourself - not difficult if your car is in great condition and the service is up to date. You will come out far better than if you trade it in to a dealer. Or, consider driving your 98 LS400 another few years and then buying a 2007 LS460 (with an in-service date of July-September 2007, of course) in fall, 2010. By that time you will have easily have saved up enought to pay cash for your 07 LS460. 125,000 miles on an LS400 is not all that much; we drove our first LS for nearly 14 years and over 183K miles and it is still going strong with its current owner at 225K+ miles.