1990LS400

If X10 modules will work, you can find switch replacements and more here: http://www.smarthome.com/prodindex.asp?catid=2 Thank you very much for the above information about the X10 wall switches. It looks like I might be get all this to work for less than $75. I was really hoping to find a wall switch that is directly compatible with HomeLink and which would work like my previous Sears wall switch did with my garage door remotes. But it looks like that is asking to much and X10 may be the only way to go. Thanks again.

First check the fuses to make sure that it is not a blown one. Also, is the accessory outlet in the center console box not working too? I think the lighter and the console box outlet are on the same circuit. And also check that the accessory works in another vehicle. I've seen a person think he had a car problem when it was a particular accessory cord that was bad. If all else fails here are instructions on how to move the wood console trim that includes the ashtray: http://carstereohelp.com/stereoremovalLexusLS400str1.htm Although the instructions are for a 95-97, it is the same for a 00 LS. I have removed the wood console panel (and radio and center vents) on my 2000 LS several times for phone related work. I find that using a wide well taped putty knife works better than a taped screw driver to spread the force so one doesn't crack the wood console panel. The wood console panel is fairly fagile compared to the earlier LS. It will be obvious how the cig lighter, and seat heater, VSC and headlight cleaner cables plug in once you lift up the wood panel. Good luck!

Yes, I know about the HomeLink compatible modules that can turn on a lamp or applicance that plugs into a wall outlet. What I am looking for is HomeLink receiver module that replaces or is compatible with a wall switch so I can turn exterior and interior garage lights on. I had similar receiver modules (from Sears) in my last house that replaced wall switches and which were compatible with my garage door remote. It almost looks like the Homelink website is not being maintained. I think the same dead hyperlinks are on it that were there about two years ago.

Im talking DARK, like onth eback of trucks and SUV's... you cant hardly see in the rear window of a tahoe... I happened to review window tint laws for most states the past weekend and found that, in some states, much darker tint is specifically allowed on the rear side and back windows of SUV's and van's but not on cars. A few states do not allow darker than standard OEM window tint at all on cars. It seems an odd "double standard". Some sort of electrically controllable window tint has been available in Europe on at least some German cars. You can make the windows or glass roof lighter or darker simply by adjusting a switch on the dash. Wouldn't that be nice in the U.S.?

Only the right rear seat in the LWB version may get a recliner with leg rest because it looks like it depends on the front passenger seat being moved substantially forward. Perhaps the LWB should have been another few inches longer. The Maybach 62 has to have a huge wheelbase to accomodate a recliner with a leg rest: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...imagesr&start=2 I used to think I didn't buy cars because of what they look like but the LS460 looks very nice, at least in photos, compared to the exterior look of the LS430 which I detest. A short wheel base LS460 might be in my future once I get enough years out of the current LS to satisfy my wife.

No one seems to make a wall switch receiver that is compatible with HomeLink or any other garage door opener remote. I searched long and fruitlessly several years ago. Odd, these wall mounted receiver switches were even available from Sears in the 90's. I had a really cool setup on our last house where we could use our garage door openers to separately control three high output exterior lights and all the inside garage lights. It made us feel a lot more secure coming home to a brightly lit exterior and garage on a dark night. Seeing the neighbor's reactions was kind of fun too. All that seems to be available now are receiver modules that control lamps that plug into wall sockets. I would appreciate it if you would post here if you find something that works.

Yes, I have seen more than one magnetic ski rack in use. No, I never tried to tear one off a car. But they must stay on pretty well if they don't come off at highway speeds and with skis vibrating in heavy winds in the mountains. I once saw a display in a ski shop where customers were encouraged to try to remove a magnetic rack from a section of a car top.

You could consider a magnetic ski rack like the one on this web page: http://www.rackattack.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?search=yes I've never used one but a magnetic rack would prevent compressing and damaging the rubber door seals. I've had several roof ski racks, including a Yakima that is still in my basement, and always thought the worst aspect was the wind noise - not bad for a few miles but awful to put up with when driving 675-800 miles (one-way!) to Colorado several times a year like we did. If I ever go back to driving to Colorado instead of flying or going on a Kansas City Ski Club sleeper bus, I might try mounting a ski rack on a hitch mounted bike rack to see if I could literally put the noise behind me. I always thought it was odd that a ski rack was available as an official accessory from Lexus dealers in the U.K. and Europe throughout the 1990's but never in the U.S.

Clark, Do you find yourself using a turn signal but the self cancelling feature does not turn off the signal after turning a corner? My hearing is not so good either - probably too much time around 155 Howizters in an artillery battery when I was young! I can't hear the audible sound the flasher makes in my LS but I don't hear the flasher in our Camry or in many other cars either. Assuming your LS is new to you, consider learning to glance at the instrument cluster every minute or so. What's next? Are you going to take off the mufflers so you can tell if the engine is running? Just kidding - REALLY! Aren't these nice problems to have with a car? I can't help with removing the flasher. I tried unplugging the horn relay last week and I couldn't even get it out - very embarrassing and I even have the shop manuals.

If you search on words like "Parrot", "Bluetooth", and "phone", you will find quite a few posts on this subject including links to threads on clublexus.com where a GS owner wired a Parrot CK3100 to play the call through his door speakers. If you search for phone related threads on this forum by Blake918 you will find information on a mute pin in the phone connector under the center console of his 95 LS and how he installed his phone kit. And if you search on phone related posts by me, you will find information on how I installed a phone kit in my 00 LS using a mute pin similar to the one used by Blake. The principles of installing an aftermarket phone kit are similar whether it is a Bluetooth kit or an old fashioned phone kit. It really is a fairly easy task. I previously posted links on this forum to how to wire a Parrot kit to an external speaker - likely a lot easier and safer than trying to play the call through your door speakers like the OEM phone does. The sound from the external phone speakers in our cars are very clear - probably as good as using the door speakers. I will probably install Parrot kits in our cars when one of our old Nokia phones finally dies. They sure have some interesting new kits on http://www.driveblue.com/

Have you searched this forum? A tutorial on fixing this problem has been posted in the past. I paid a repair shop to fix this problem when it happened on a previous LS and I don't remember it costing too much to fix.

My advice is to get your car to a Lexus dealer ASAP for an evaluation. Even if it is OK now, doing this will register the issue in case it fails later - you will then have a better chance of getting future transmission problems fixed under warranty.

Sweden's problem sounds like a classic case of a bad thermostat. It could be stuck in the open position or opening prematurely. I used a grill cover and a block heater on the W123 Mercedes (1979 240D) I drove through all of the 1980's. If I lived a lot further north, I would consider doing something similar on the LS. Currently a block heater is a $232 (Canadian) option on an LS430. I loved the block heater on our Mercedes - nothing like starting off on a cold winter's day with the engine already at operating temperature and the heater putting out it's maximum amount of heat.

Whoa, that's a new one - someone complaining about something in a Lexus being too quiet. I have been following several Lexus forums for years and I don't remember anyone ever asking this question. No, there is no CBEST setting for flasher volume. There are two pages of customizable settings but none for this. Substituting another flasher module is certainly an interesting idea. Have you had your 98 long? I suspect that you will get use to the rather low noise the flasher makes. Are your flasher indicators in the cluster working? At night the flashing light from the front turn signals is very easy to see compared to the pre-98 LS400. Very interesting...

I actually remember watching Bill Gates drive his 1990 LS400 while being interviewed by CBS 60 Minutes - probably just before I bought my first LS. If I hadn't bought that early LS, I probably wouldn't remember the Jay Leno Tonight Show Lexus jokes about exploding LS400 high mounted brake lights or Kevin Kline's character being rescued by Danny Glover's character in the early 90's movie Grand Canyon when Kline's new LS400's engine died because of - yikes! - an intermittent electrical problem. (Maybe that was caused by a leaking alternator. LOL) The early LS400 was an easy target for jokes - there was no end to the "grief" I got from friends and family for buying one. No, Bill Gates' LS400 is probably not worth more than any other 1990 LS in similar condition. Instead, buy that Microsoft stock - it is not screaming upward at the rate it did in the 80's and 90's but it now pays dividends, has split 2 for 1 as recently as 2003 and has remained a solid investment: http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=MSFT

I just checked the fuse box under the hood of my 00 LS and found a 15 amp fuse for the phone - the fifth fuse from the right on the front row - possibly different on your 97. My repair manual seems to indicate more than one fuse for the one so there could be one under the dash - the legend on the fuse box cover should say. Good luck!

Bossman, The following answers are based on a 00 LS so yours may be a little different. Your dead phone system may be permanently grounding the mute connection to your audio system - almost all car phone systems use this same grounding principle. If you mainly want to get your radio working here are two things to try. Locate the phone transceiver in the trunk and disconnect the two large connectors from it. Plug the two connectors together so that the transceiver is bypassed. If there are any other connectors from the wiring harness into the transceiver, you might as well unplug them too. If that does not restore the radio volume, unplug the phone handset from the connector(s) under the console vents - the vents you see when the console lid is raised. Doing this will require some minor disassembly of the console. If that doesn't work, you might need a "pro".

You will likely find the information you need on this or another NHTSA web page: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/TempInfo.html Quite a few people from our European offices have come to the U.S. on temporary assignments -- usually one year but sometimes much longer. None have brought a car to the U.S. Many, however, bought a car (one, a Harley motorcycle) in the U.S. and took it back to Europe - generally because cars in the U.S. cost much less than similar models in Europe.

Some hardware stores sell inexpensive plastic handheld pumps that you spin like a fishing reel. They are perfect for tasks like this. I bought one 25 years ago. Or you could just syphon the fluid out (assuming it's not frozen) with a length of plastic tube. You live in NYC - don't you know how to steal gas? LOL.

In the Kansas City area, a new windshield for your LS would probably run a bit under $300 for non-OEM glass if you pay yourself - a bit more if your insurance company pays. OEM glass would cost a lot more. We've had lots of windshields replaced with non-OEM glass over the past 30 years and got only one bad one. We had our Camry windshield replaced a few months ago and I am having our LS windshield replaced next Spring by the same shop - they wiill add a visor tint to the new windshield like they did on my current LS.

Don't mean to sound stupid,but what is the pupose of the cargo net on a GS? ← A cargo net keeps stuff (briefcases, groceries, cases of wine, etc.) from bouncing or sliding around our trunks when taking a curve a bit fast - not that a GS owner would do that. LOL! We've always had cargo nets in our LS4's and we have one in our Camry too. It is the biggest bang you can get for 30 bucks.

Check to see if you have brake lights. When the same problem happened on the 90 LS I used to have, the cause was a bad brake light switch somewhere in the brake pedal area. I didn't replace it so I do not know exactly where it is. It was, however, reasonably inexpensive.

I have to wonder how many little known or "unadvertised" CBEST options there really are. A 03 SC owner on another forum (ClubLexus) reported that he had a dealer disable his DRL in CBEST -- he said that the dealer did not know this was possible. The owner of a local Lexus repair shop (a former Lexus dealer service writer) assured me that he could alter settings that are not on the official list of CBEST settings for my 00 LS. The same goes with the supposed hidden options on the newer Nav systems that allow entering addresses and dialing phone numbers while the car is in motion. I have to wonder if some members on other forums are jerking others around by putting out bogus information. One set of instructions involved a complicated sequence of pressing areas of the Nav screen where no icons were showing.

There are additional CBEST options on the LS430 that are not on the 98-00 LS400. The list has been posted in the past. I do remember that there is no CBEST option for my 00 LS400 to make the doors lock when the transmission is shifted into drive. I definitely would not want the doors to automatically unlock when shifting to park - that is a safety/security issue. It is very easy to use the heal of your hand to unlock the a door as you pull the inside door latch. It is a wonderful design.

The recommended timing belt change interval on the gen 1 (1990) LS I had for 13 years was also 90K - not 60K. I replaced it (and the water pump) twice during the 183K miles I owned it. I think Blake is right on the ES. I have been told that our 98 Camry has the same V6 engine as the 98 ES and its engine is non-interference.