1990LS400

vyhanh, Cool web site! I usually have to find my old Dunlog tire chart to see the revs per mile. When you enter the "from" and "to" numbers for rct20's situation, a WARNING message is displayed saying that the difference is 4.25%. Still, I don't think there is any danger in changing from 205/65-15 to 225/60-16. The owner of the repair shop where I take my LS made a similar change on his own early LS. And my next door neighbor used 225/60-16 snow tires on 16" GS wheels for quite a few years and there was no problem. One reason (other than that it was cheaper) I stayed with 15" rims when I tried 225/60's tires that the speedo accuracy was unchanged.

While watching this topic grow, I've been counting the ES drivers in my homes association and in the building where I work with about 1,000 people. Maybe this is some sort of regional phenomenon or because my sample is too small to be statistically meaningful, but, strange as it may sound, all of these ES's are driven by women. I know four of these women ES drivers quite well and know they have other cars in their household that they could drive if they wanted to. I notice something similar when hanging around my friend's independent Lexus repair shop. The guys are there with their LS's and the women are there with their ES's - but then his shop seems to service mainly LS's so I don't see many ES's in there. I have sometimes wondered why the ES are marketed in some countries but not in others. Why are ES's marketed in the north African states, Austrailia, Asia, and Brazil but not in Europe or the U.K.? I have not driven an ES since 1990 and will ask for one as a "loaner" next Wednesday when I take my LS to dealer for warranty work. I'm curious to see what they are like.

The timing belt on my the 90 LS I had was damaged (I don't remember it actually breaking) at about 80,000 miles when the water pump seized. I always replaced the belt (and related parts and the water pump) per the maintenance schedule to avoid the hassle of having it fail on a long trip.

Joseph, The oil filter is located on the drivers side of the car and is fairly easily accessed from underneath the car although there is a hose or two to work around. I found it necessary to my 90 LS on jack stands to make room to work under the car. You will need an oil filter wretch - the smaller lever-type used for import cars. It will be necessary to remove the plastic cover under the engine - there are a total of 13 bolts holding it in place. When reinstalling the plastic cover, be sure to only hand tighten the front five bolts - they screw into plastic inserts that have threads that are easily stripped but also inexpensive and easily replaced. Be sure to replace the washer on the drain plug and take care not to overtighten it so that you do not strip the threads. The best place I have found to buy filters and the drain plug washers is at a Toyota dealer. They are the same as used on a Toyota V8 Landcruiser and we buy filters by the case for a unit cost of a little over $4. The recommended oil is 5W30. You will find lots of people recommending different brands and even non-original filters. Personally I use Mobil 1. Whether sythetic oil really helps is debatable. I did, however drive my first LS for 185,000 and it used no oil between 5,000 mile interval changes. I can't comment on the knock - I've never heard an LS engine do that. Good luck. You've purchased a great car. Jim

LWR, It sounds like the master brake cylinder might be bad. The brakes on the early LS sold in the U.S. were pretty weak but I thought they were quite good by 97. Or could the problem be caused by your brake pedal being on the wrong side of the car. I'm kidding!!! The pedal on my 2000 LS is firm and there is not much travel toward the floor. You have a 78 450SE? I had a 73 450SEL back in the 70's. How I loved that car - it was so incredible compared to anything else available in the 70's. When I first saw and bought an LS in 1990, it was like reliving the 70's with my 450 but with an even more incredible car. Jim

rct20, The 16" rims and 225/60-16 tires will fit fine on your 91 LS. Your speedometer will be off a bit and the ride will be a little harsher and the noise level a little more. I experimented with 225/60-15 on my LS in the early 90's and I was surprised at the increased harshness although I should have kept the tire ratio at the bottom of the range (near 30 psi) to help. It was enough that my wife noticed the difference and expressed her displeasure. Braking with the wider tires was far better - I really like that! However, I didn't think handling was improved - the "breakaway" at the limits of adhesiion seemed quite a bit more abrupt but then again it could have been the particular brand and model tires that I was using. I remember reading that Lexus made changes in suspension bushings and noise insulation beginning with the 1994 model to allow for the larger tires and wheels. I guess it is all a matter of personal taste. And of course the available selection in 15" (and even 16") seems to be getting a lot less.

Hey Denny, No we don't have a CD player in the Camry. Things to watch out for!!! If you buy a whole new radio and CD (like the "double DIN" Toyota system) be sure that the connections on the back are compatible with the harness in your Corolla - or you may be looking for conversion cables. I assume that, since you have the same radio as ours, that yours also has an amplifier under the dash - ours is on the firewall behind the glove compartment. I have no idea of the double-DIN Toyota radio/tape/CD systems used the same amplifier and harness. I suggest that you spend a few minutes to remove the current radio and look at the harness plugs and see if there is a separate amplifier. Happy hunting! Jim

You could try calling your insurance agent and asking. Perhaps they have rated it as a Coach series by mistake. If so, it is possible that your premium is higher than it should be. For example State Farm charges more for ensuring the 2000 LS Platinum series than a non-Platinum - odd since a base level Platinum "SE" might have sold for $10,000 less than a fully optioned non-Platinum LS or a fully optioned Platinum "SF" or "SG".

Denny, There is a in-dash CD play for $160 at http://www.crutchfield.com/S-pKyToUY9Ah7/c...a=0&cc=01&avf=N I did a search when I got home and didn't see any in-dash 3-CD changers although the Toyota dealer sells them for a rather high price. I was having a "brain cramp" when I said our Camry's single DIN radio was held in place by three bolts - it is held in place by four bolts. Jim

Denny, Here is a picture of the exact radio that is in our 98 Camry: http://www.partydown.com/items/item358.htm Does the one in your Corolla look anything like it? It looks like a standard DIN so I would guess that the same radios were used in lots of Toyota models. The indash CD player would go just below it and replace the little storage bin. The radio in our Camry was an upgrade unit and it has a separate amplifier behind the glove compartment. Partydown.com has OEM single CD units for about $190 and 6-CD changes for about $300. I've seen the 3-CD indash changers elsewhere on the Internet. If your Corolla has press on plastic trim around the radio like our Camry, it is fairly fragile. The best tool I've found to use to remove it is a putty knive well taped with electrical tape. Gently work around the trim and it will pop off if it is like the Camry. Jim

Hi Denny! I did some Internet research a few months ago and found lots of places that sell Toyota CD placers (both single CD and the ones that hold three CD's) fairly inexpensively. I just now did a quick Froogle search and found an OEM single CD player for $195 and a non-OEM compatible 6-CD changer for $211. Back a few months ago I think I found an OEM 3-CD changer that mounts under the radio for less than $300. Personally I like the indash 3-CD changers since there is no work to run cables to mount the changer remotely and it is easy to access the CD's. You might even find one at a salvage yard. We have not bought a changer for the Camry since my wife mainly likes to listen to NPR on the radio to and from work and we don't use the car for trips - we always drive the LS which has a Nakamichi/CD system. The radio on our 98 Camry can be removed in about three minutes (held in place by three easily accessible bolts) so I'd bet you could install an OEM single or 3-CD changer in your Corolla (if it has the 12 pin port!) in just a few minutes more. Let me know if you need any help. Jim

Sounds like a radio similar to the one in my wife's 98 camry. Check the back for a 12-pin data port - it is activated by the CD button on the radio. A variety of CD changers are available. If the Corolla has a little storage box under the radio like our Camry, it can be replaced by a one or three disk in-dash Toyota CD or remote 6-CD changers are available. Also interface cables are available to hook up additional devices such as an MP3 player, satelite radio, DVD player, etc. I purchased a "SOUNDGATE DOCKTOYOV2 DOCKING CABLE FOR 98-04 TOYOTA" from www.Electrogalaxy.com for about $14 not including shipping - it has a toggle switch for three devices. Using this cable to hook up additional devices requires also buying actual interface harness ($30 - $50 from various companies) that includes RCA jacks. I bought the docking cable solely to get access to pin 4 in the 12-pin data port and I did not add either a CD player or other devices. Pin 4 is the mute pin and, using the wire on the docking cable, I hooked it to our Nokia phone car kit in order to mute the radio when a phone call is made or received. Of course you don't need a docking cable just to add a CD player - it should be "plug and play" - very easy. According to the docking cable instructions, you can only add additional devices if a CD player is installed.

The 90-92 LS sold in the U.K. had four forward gear speeds even if the center gear indicator showed only "L", "2" and "D" - just like U.S spec LS's. You have to remember that England is the home of Laycock de Normanville, the maker of the two speed overdrive units that were fitted to many if not most English and Volvo cars over a 40 year period. The English think in "overdrive" terms. Whether or not the early LS transmissions were technically a "three speed with overdrive" or a "four speed" is a moot point. The early LS transmissions functioned as true four speed transmissions and were infinitely more sophisticated that the awful "4 + OD" transmissions I tolerated on English and Swedish cars in the 60's and 70's. I suppose the new 7-speed transmissions on Mercedes could probably be called overdrive transmissions too but they still provide seven forward gear ratios. The early LS sold in the U.K. was much better equiped than a U.S. spec fully loaded LS. I was in the U.K. when the LS was introduced in 1990 shortly after I purchased an LS in the U.S. While the base price of a U.S spec LS was $35,000 in 1990, the base U.K. price was 35.000 pounds! - the equivalent of about $65,000 in 1990. Most U.K. LS's had headlight beam adjusters and washers, rear seat heaters and cupholders, rear seat A/C control - they were marketed as chauffeur driven "director class" vehicles.

I'll try to address some of your questions. None of the switches you mentioned were backlit on my 90 LS although the outside mirror controls are lit on my 2000. Regarding replacing the rear lights, I think the sill moulding has to be removed before the carpeted panel below the trunk opening and covering the tail lights can be removed - use a screw driver or a trim removal tool. I did it about six months ago when I replaced all the bulbs in the 90 and it was easy. Once the trim is removed you will be able to see the nuts you have to remove in order to remove the rear light assemblies. The front fog light differences could be because of a different bulb wattage, weak bulb, bad connection, or age. A popular modification is to remove the foglights and break out the yellow internal lens. I think you will find out how if you search this forum. A Rear foglight (a fog light bulb is normally allowed only on the drivers side) was standard on European and U.K. spec models. The foglight sockets were in the same place as the tail/brake light on each side of the trunk lid on U.S. models - except the light assemblies were smaller to allow for the wider U.K./European license plates. The switch for the rear foglight was in same interior panel as the outside mirror control, wireless remote switch and the headlight beam level control switch. Trying to wire all this up in a U.S. model would probably be difficult and I doubt if an interior panel would be available that did not contain a place for the headlight beam level control switch. Many people have asked but I have not heard of success at using the steering wheel phone control with a non-Lexus phone or to play the call over the front door speakers using the existing telephone wiring. You might PM "Dogboy" - he was developing an interface. Heck, I was thrilled just to get our Nokia car kits to mute the radios in our 00 LS and 98 Camry when a call comes in. I think I know where all the phone related connectors are in my 00 LS and I'd bet I could trace the path from the pins on the steering wheel phone control to the pins on the other connectors using a test light and a continuity tester. But since I don't have a steering wheel phone control I have nothing to gain. Just tonight I made arrangements to have a few exterior scratches and chips airbrushed at my favorite Lexus repair shop. It will probably cost about $200.

The problem sure sounds like what happened the four times a battery failed in our first LS. The batteries would test as being OK with one of those squeeze bulb (specific gravity?) testers but the tester did not reflect the breakage of the cell-to-cell connection within the battery. You can verify whether the battery is good by putting it on a charger and seeing if it will take a charge. Batteries in our 1st LS rarely lasted more than three years even with regular maintenance with distilled water. The repair shop owner to which we take our cars told me that this is about typical. Come to think of it, our current LS has 3 years, 7 months on its original battery - I think that is a new record!

Craig, I agree with 99. Try to find one or two other 93 or 94 LS's to drive and compare them with yours. Don't expect your 93 to be like a 90-92 or a 95-up. When I sold my 90 LS after driving it to about 185K miles, there was no difference in the way it drove or handled from when it was brand new. There certainly should not be any vibrations - a competent repair shop should be able to identify and fix the cause. Wind noise from compressed door seals is possible. I had my driver door adjusted several times to reduce wind noise. The outside mirrors were redesigned early on to reduce wind noise - but I thought that 93 was the first year the redesigned ones were used. The LS is certainly not a sports car although I found my 90 to be very balanced at the limits. If having a high performance, flat cornering, sport sedan is your biggest priority, I think you would be a whole happier with another sort of car, say a BMW 540. You won't get the reliability of a Lexus but the 5-series is infinitely more fun to drive. Jim

91, that sounds like the box you are looking for. I remember that it was not very big although apparently I forgot exactly were it was located. I remember that one end of it had a slot through which the master key would be inserted during the diagostic procedure.

On my 90 LS, the receiver for the keyless entry was behine the trim panel on the left wall of the trunk; the antenna for it was in the rear window. My keyless entry worked the last few years only when the weather was below freezing. There is a diagnosis procedure in one of the repair manuals, but I passed the manuals on to the new owner last year. I performed the diagnostic procedure on the receiver in my 90 and it checkout as being OK so I assumed that the problem was which the dash switch. I especially thought it was the dash switch because in zero degree weather, the keyless entry would continue to work if I did not turn on the heater. The keyless entry never worked 100% in my 90 even when new. The receiver and keys were replaced several times under warranty and there were several shopping centers where the keyless would never work -- the dealer thought there might be interference from the shopping center security system.

Hey "Four door"! Congrats on getting the Nak/CD installed. The rear window tint really has worked out very well although I think ended up having a non-metalic tint installed in the rear window to be sure of not interfering with the radio and cell phone antennas imprinted on the 2000 LS rear window. Another issue of tinting the rear window is that it interferes a little with the auto-dimming of the inside and door rear view mirrors. I think the 98 was the 1st year to have the antennas in the rear window but I do not know when the auto dimming mirrors were first installed. An issue with installing a Lexus retractable shade, if you can find one, is that the installer used a special large plastic template, that spanned the width of the car, to perfectly position the three retainer clips that attached (after drilling holes) to the headliner. Because of the curvature of the top of the rear window, it would likely be difficult to correctly position the clips without the template - the middle clip forced the shade rear-ward to match the shade's curavature to the window curvature and to keep it off the head of the passenger in the center of the rear seat. Having had both, I think I prefer having the rear window tint over the hastle of having a manual rear shade that I sometimes had to lower at night. It would be a different story though if an electric rear shade was available.

Looks like this post started exactly two months ago and winter is about over but here is my opinion. Last Sunday I took my Blizzaks and winter wheels off. Blizzaks are the most incredible snow tires I have ever used -- and I have always used snow tires on all four positions in winter. Blizzacks are "real" snow tires - not just glorified all-season tires - with a significant gap between the tire "lugs". What this means is less "rubber on the road" and less traction on dry or wet roads. The idea of slightly higher speeds causing blowouts seems a bit silly. However, I doubt that it is particularly safe to drive on Blizzaks at high speeds. But, gosh, are they ever incredible in the snow.

According to the local Lexus dealer parts department manager, who has been in this position since the beginning in 1989, the retractable shade was dropped from the Lexus accessory catalog in the early 90's. I thought was a really nice addition and a lot of people who rode in my old LS said they appreciated in on hot summer days. "Foor door" tried all over the place to find one recently. This issue was discussed in one or two topics last year - the most recent one has a photo I took of the shade ... http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...&hl=retractable

I ran the tank down until the light came on quite a few times in the early years on my first LS and I think the fuel gauge needle was right on the empty mark when the low fuel light finally came on. I thought the fuel gauge was fairly pessimistic and estimated that I could probably have driven another 50 - 75 miles after the low fuel light came on - at least in my car. I suppose this could vary from car to car. How much fuel do you have to add to fill up the tank when the needle is near empty? Just fill the tank and then subtract the total gallons added from the tank capacity. That will tell you how many gallons you have left when the gauge is near empty. Or just take along a gas can and drive until either the light comes on or the car runs out of gas. I doubt that the low fuel light would be burned out since it probably comes on a few times over the life of most cars. And I doubt that there is not a separate fuse for just this one bulb.

George, Thanks for straightening me out about using a voltmeter instead of a test light. I'm mostly clueless about electricity - a sorry situation for the son of an electrical utility company superintendant. I will put your caution in my documentation. Thanks! Jim

Rather than continue the multipage "Integrated Phone" topic of the past, I thought it better to start another topic. No, I still do not know how to make the steering wheel phone control work for a non-Lexus phone or how to play the audio for the phone call through the Lexus audio system without using a mute lead from one of the U.K. or European companies that sell them. However, I am very happy to report success in connecting the mute wire of my Nokia CARK-91H car phone kit to the Lexus phone wiring harness on my 2000 LS so that the radio/CD/Cassette automatically mutes when a call is placed or received. Accomplishing this task is quite a relief because I have missed important incoming calls after switching to a Nokia 6340i phone with a lower ring volume. After spending so much time and energy learning about phones and car wiring, it is ironic that connecting the Nokia mute wire to the LS400 phone harness required no wire splicing, no relays, and no new hardware. I simply ran the Nokia yellow mute wire to the male phone connector on the driver's side below the vent cover at the rear of the console, stripped 1/4 inch of insullation from the wire, and jammed the wire into the center front terminal of the connector. I then secured the wire with a wire tie. Before inserting the wire, I verified that this terminal muted the audio system by probing it with a grounded automotive test light. On the 2000 LS, there is an additional mute point in the male connector attached to the bottom of the tool box housing in the trunk - the wire color is "grey with green stripe" - I verified its function by probing with a grounded test light to mute the audio system. Unfortunately, it seems that Lexus changes wire colors and locations on a seemingly random basis. Although not an electrician, I've been told that it is unlikely that one will do damage by probing connector terminals with a grounded test light - as long as one does not bridge multiple terminals with the probe. So, if you have or plan to get a phone car kit with a mute connection, you may well be able to find a mute point on an LS400 or other model Lexus of a different year. I do know that the mute wire for a 2001 RX300 is the purple wire in the telephone connector in the trunk. I've ran into a couple of people who have connected their phone's car kit mute wire to the Lexus Link mute point on LS430's. Attached is an impromptu "how-to" manual with photos of the mute wire connection. Please respond PM me if you have comments, suggestions or want me to try to help. Jim Nokia_CARK_91H_install.pdf

1-owner, maintenance records, and relatively low miles on a Southern California car are certainly very good signs. My next door neighbor and I both sold our 1-owner, very clean, always garaged 90 LS's recently. I sold mine (about 183K miles) for $4,500 in Nov. and he sold his (about 150K miles) for $6,000 last summer. You might check to see if the A/C has been converted to R134a and if the compressor has been replaced. Was the timing belt and water pump changed at 90K? Is the maintenance up to date? And check for issues: failing speedo needle, odometer noise, climate control display darkening, steering rack and pump leakage, brake disk thickness, audio system function. It was fun when I did a Mapquest on the zip code and saw that it is close to where my aunt lived for 50 years on Baseline Road - a long way from Kansas.