1990LS400

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.

lexusonthelake,

I absolutely agree with you. When I recommended following the normal service schedule, I really didn't mean never changing the transmission fluid like the maintenence manual indicates for later Toyota products. Maybe it never really needs to be changed for a car used in normal service but somehow I can't bring myself to let the transmission and diff fluid go unchanged for more than 30K. But of course the dealer wants to do it every 15K and that seems wasteful to me.

thanks!

U.S. spec. 1990 - 2000 LS400's were electronically limited to about 149 mph (240 km/h) due to the V speed rated tires. The November 1989 Automobile Magazine I'm holding in my hands list the top speed of a 1990 LS as 150 mph. The U.K. Lexus website used to have top speeds posted for all years of LS. The 1990 - 2000 U.K. spec models (and Euro spec mdels) were electronically limited to about 155 mph (250 km/h) as are the U.K. / Euro spec spec LS430 in accordance with a voluntary agreement among manufacturers for maximum allowed speed for sedans. LS maximum speeds for various countries can be reviewed via http://www.lexus.com/home/international_links.html

I doubt that a dealer or repair shop would defeat the speed limiter due to liability issues.

I'd recommend following the normal service schedule. A lot of dealers push the severe service schedule (revenue enhancement?) but I regard doing so as a waste of money unless you really are using your car as a delivery vehicle or taxi. The current owner of the 90 LS that I purchased new tells me that it is still going strong at almost 190K - it had only the minimal maintenance of the normal service schedule. On a 98, the timing belt is scheduled for changing at 90K and really should be done at that mileage since it is an interference engine. Normally the water pump is changed when the timing belt is changed. My understanding is that valve adjustments are done only if there is an obvious valve noise.

The steps that you posted are the second set of steps in programming a Homelink button. Did you perform the 1st set of four steps using one of your existing garage door remote controls:

1. Decide which Homelink button to program and press and hold it down for about 20 secondes until the indicator light flashes. While continuing to hold this button, perform steps 2 & 3.

2. Bring the handheld garage door opener within about 1 inch of the button being programming and push the button on the hand held garage door opener. The signal from the hand held garage door opener is set to the vehicles opener.

3. When the frequency and code is registered, the indicator light flashes rapidly. At this point you can release both buttons.

4. To program the remaining buttons, repeat steps 1 through 3.

After you perform the above steps, then perform the steps that you originally posted. This should all the in your owners manual. If you do not have an owners manual, you can register on www.lexus.com and either request a new one or view it on-line.

Hey Thunderriver,

I recommend purchasing four snow tires before next winter - not all season tires but real snow tires (such as Bridgestone Blizzaks) with the "mountain/snowflake" emblem on the sidewall. With snow tires, the LS does really well in fairly deep snow.

Is your CD cartridge and the little plastic CD holder trays in good shape? Are they all inserted correctly? Do you have another cartridge you can try? I think I got an Err a couple of times when I mistakenly put one CD in upside down. (I'm really "reaching" here.)

I think that skperformance is talking about the common early LS problem of a broken wire - the "white with black stripe" one - in the left trunk hinge that causes the transmission to shift eratically and also the reverse indicator light in the gauge cluster to come on when the break pedal is depressed. It is easily fixed by splicing in a piece of wire. Although I doubt it, I suppose that this could be a factor here. It is kind of strange that this problem is happening after you have owned your LS all these years. Maybe the speaker has gone bad or one of the connecting wires in the phone car kit has shorted out. This underdash speaker is not part of a Lexus phone system since the dealer installed Lexus phones played the call through the door speaker. Again, I suggest that you see if that aftermarket car phone kit is connected to the car's electrical system (fuse box, ignition switch, etc.) and, if so, that you disconnect it.

Metro Lexus Toyota in Victoria, BC, Canada http://www.discountlexusparts.com/ advertises that they ship worldwide and their prices are lower than my local Lexus dealer. I have been very happy with their service. I think Canadacraig said that he takes his car there.

Yep, that speaker is quite similar to the one for my Nokia car kit. My only concern about cutting the wires is that the buzzing might indicate that there is current flowing through the speaker cable. If you cut the cable to the speaker, you might want to separate the positive and negative wires on the harness side and tape the wire ends with electrical tape. I would bet that there are other remnants of the phone kit - maybe under the dash, under the front armrest and/or behind the front ash tray. Still, it would be interesting to trace the speaker wire and see what it is connected to and where the other components are hidden. But that is your call.

One more thought. Could this speaker be for the wireless lock/unlock confirmation noise?

The speaker left of the brake pedal may be part of a phone car kit. The speaker for my Nokia phone's car kit is attached to the firewall just left of the brake pedal arm. If that is what it is, there may still be a connection from the phone's car kit to the ignition system or fuse box and there may be a few other components hidden in the console or dash. If there is a wire coming out of the speaker, you might try tracing it in order to locate other related components. There may be a junction box than ties all of the components (handset cradle, microphone, speaker, external antenna) together.

tominyous,

My 2000 Platinum LS is has a two tone color scheme - white body with silver lower plastic cladding - same as on the LS I purchased in early 1990. I really don't know which upper body colors, other than black, were available with the matching lower body cladding. I do know that by around 1993, the darker color cars were available with lower plastic cladding that matched the metalwork color. I remember that the owner of the lawn service that sprayed chemicals on my LS bumper ruining the paint in 1993 spend so much time at the Lexus dealer having my car fixed that he purchased an all black LS and also an all black SC400!

Here is a link to similar info on the Lexus site on the 98 LS:

http://www.lexus.com/cpo/model_detail/ls/400/1998.html

When I first looked at this particular LS series in 98, I think HID was available separately as a $500 option as well as being a part of one or more packages. I doubt if you can tell if an LS has HID just by looking - maybe someone else can answer that. And I doubt that you will find many LS's sold after early 98 that do not have HID.

All LS (all Lexus cars?) come with prewiring for phones. If you have been following the "Integrated phone" thread, you probably are getting a good idea of the issues of hooking up a non-Lexus phone.

I'm still hoping to get my Nokia car kit interfaced with my Nakamichi audio at least to the extent that the radio mutes when a call comes in. I have run into several Lexus owners who have had phone installers or audio specialists connect their non-Lexus car phone car kit's mute wire to the Lexus audio system - but none could provide details of how it was accomplished. An owner of a 2001 RX300 on the Club Lexus forum said that he accomplished it by connecting the Nokia mute wire to the purple wire of his RX300's phone connector in the cargo area to the right of the jack. I was hoping that my 00 LS would have the same phone connector and wire colors but it does not.

Jim