1990LS400

I read in a magazine about the time I purchased an LS in 90 that, when the ECT switch is in the NORM position, the engine timing is altered (retarded?) just as the transmission shifts up. That is why the shift is so smooth and almost feels like the transmission is slipping at the point of the shilft. The engine timing is not altered (or at least altered less) when the switch is in the PWR position and that is why the shift is more abrupt. I also remember a car magazine article where they tested an early LS at around 70K and were surprised that the ECT switch position made no different in accelleration times when the throttle was floored. Personally, I thought having the ECT switch on PWR made the car feel more responsive and fun to drive. One of the benefits of the O/D button was to be able to turn O/D off to keep the transmission from "hunting" between 3rd gear and O/D when towing a trailer on hilly roads. I always left the O/D on. Playing with it the button brought back bad memories of my 78 Volvo 242 which had so little power that you had to constantly mess with the O/D switch!

Have you checked to see how much a professional repair costs? Someone who does this for a living can often do unbelievable work. My local non-dealer Lexus repair shop owner uses the same leather repair person used by the local Lexus dealer and warned me to avoid the "Dr. Vinyl" franchise people.

Craig, I understand your frustration with people viewing your message but not responding. It may have been due to the general nature of your topic, "What if?", that led so many people to view it to see what it was about but then to not respond. And no one responded to my two "new topics" either -- they were about a remote locking problem and phone installation question. Not everyone is using these forums for the same purposes. I'm mainly trying to help others enjoy and preserve these cars with the little bit of experience I have accumulated over about 14 years of LS ownership. In exchange, I am hoping that I can get some help with issues that have stumped my independent repair shop and dealer mechanics. Others may be using the forum as an entertainment medium. There are lots of reasons for being here and all are probably valid. There is a substantial amount of incorrect information floating around both this and the other Lexus forum in which I participate and it can be a little frustrating. Still, the correct information usually, like cream, rises to the top. To answer your original question, I would not change much about the LS. I wasted quite a bit of time, money and energy trying to make my old LS handle better. The LS is not a BMW and I really loves BMW's! The most fun I ever had in a car was driving a 5-series and its competition in the "BMW challenge" at the KCI Raceway. But I like the LS for its serene, quite ride, its comfort, space, quality of materials and its neutral handling. The LS is a wonderful "everyday car" for helping ease the stresses of life. I always enjoy reading your posts, Craig - whether I respond or not. And heck, Victoria is way prettier than Kansas too! Jim

When this happened on my 90 LS about a year ago at about 175K, it turned out that the gears in the motor were worn out - it wasn't just a mast problem. I was a little stunned at how much the whole antenna/motor assembly and labor cost - I think it was around $400. Years ago a previous antenna problem was fixed by replacing only the mast which was fairly inexpensive. I remember my neighbor thought I was a little crazy to pay this much to get this fixed - his 90 LS400's antenna hadn't worked in years.

This seems to be a fairly common problem and is often (usually?) caused by a defective switch which I think is near the brake pedal lever. This switch is what makes you have to have your foot on the brake in order to move the gear selector out of Park. This same thing happened several years ago on my 90 LS and I think the replacement switch was fairly inexpensive. Good luck. Jim

Does the current owner happen to have the all the maintenance and repair records and has the maintenance book been stamped and dated by a dealer or repair shop that you can check with? Really thorough owners pass all the records on the the next buyer. If a Lexus dealer does not find a maintenance record base on the VIN, that does not mean the car was not maintained properly. I had my 90 LS serviced by a Lexus dealer only during the first four years. After the warranty expired, it was serviced by two independent repair shops ran by former Lexus dealership employees. You might want to check the title history to make sure there was never a "salvage title" that indicates a serious crash or flood damage. Even check to see how worn the pedals are or if they are new which might indicate a mileage rollback. And can you contact the first owner to verify how many miles he drove before selling to see if it correlates to what the 2nd owner is telling you? Good luck. Jim

With U.K. models having only one electric fan and with last summer's all time record high U.K. temperature of around 37c, I'd also recommend you get your fan fixed. Gosh, I was in the U.K. in 1990 during the previous all time record high temperature and I remember Kew Gardens looking a bit like the Arizona desert. If it stayed around 20c all year you might be able to get away without having the viscous fan but gosh it can get rather warm there in an average summer.

Thanks guys for clearing all this up! And even my local dealer gets confused. Apparently there were two separate "Lexus Chrome Wheels" options in 2000 - one for the "regular" LS series and a different one for the Platinum Series which had different "16-inch, dish-type alloy wheels" (similar to LS430 wheels). It took the dealer more than one try to get Platinum Series dish-type chrome wheels instead of the standard chrome wheels when they were recently replaced under warranty. Too bad the documentation on the Lexus site doesn't go back further. Thanks again. Jim

My windshield was replaced a couple of years ago on my 90 LS at a little over $200 by a body shop owned by the same company that owns the Kansas City Lexus dealership. I paid for it myself rather bill my insurance company since is was wear and tear and not broken. The standard amount that would have been billed to my insurance company was about $100 more than I paid. The glass was not from Lexus but the tint color at the upper portion was the same as original and the quality seemed as good as the original. Also had my sunroom glass replaced at the same time - it was broken by a rock so I billed my insurance company.

SW03ES, My window sticker and owners manual indicates that HID was an option even for the 2000 model year. I agree that the vast majority of 2000's had HID but am of the opinion that a few had to have been available without HID, sunroof, or any other options just so Lexus could legally advertise the $54,005 base price shown on my window sticker. Lexus and other manufacturers commonly pull tricks like this. For example, I only saw one early LS without any options at all (no sunroof, no leather, no remote lock) at the $35,000 list price. I later tried to buy one but settled for one that had cloth and only three options - sunroof, remote locking and floor mats. Same thing happened with the very first SC300's with cloth interior and 5-speed manual transmission - I only saw one or two. Lexus isn't the only manufacturer that plays these games. I tried to buy a bare bones Mercedes 300E with a five speed manual transmission in 1986 and was told they were only a handful of the thousands being imported. It would be interesting if there was information on all the options and options packages sold on past Lexus models. Once a model year has passed, this information seems very hard to find. Jim

Hey Roy! I think I remember a salesman at the dealership complaining to me in 98 about all the LS's did not come with HID - weren't they a $500 option if not part of an options package? I don't see any mention of a "distronic" type cruise control feature in my 2000 owners manual - mine seems to work like it did in the 90 LS except I don't remember the 90 cruise control forcing the transmission mode to "normal" like the 2000 does. The wood upgrade I was talking about on the 2000 LS and also the HID is part of the $5,504 (before $1,900 discount) Platinum Series package. Instead of Walnut, all the wood is maple - including the wood on the wood/leather steering wheel. From the window sticker: "** The Platinum Series Includes Specially Textured Royale Leather Trim; Bird's Eye Maple Wood Trim: Nakamichi Premium Audio with 6-CD Auto Changer; Power Moonroof; Heated Front Seats; High Intensity Discharge Headlamps (HID); Custom Alloy Wheels; Black Pearl Badging and Platinum Signature Embroidered Floormats" Gosh I just now learned from the window sticker that it has "... Speed sensing variable Intermittent Wipers ..." Apparently I need to do some more reading. Jim

The reasons I went with a 2000 LS instead of a 98 - 99: 1) I wanted a car that was still under the original four year/50,000 mile basic warranty - mine is for another 8 months. My chrome wheels were just replaced under warranty saving me at least a thousand - probably a lot more. 2) I wanted HID's badly. Some earlier ones did not have them but all the 2000's I looked at did. 3) Related to #1, the later the model year, the more lower mileage cars are available. There were more 2000's available that were within my target maximum mileage. There was one in yesterday's KC Star with less than 35K miles. 4) A probably silly goal - I bought one of the first LS400's shortly after they were introduced in the U.S. and I wanted to have one of the very last ones made. Regardless, they are all great cars and I would not be afraid to buy one of any year if it has been properly maintained.

Personally, I don't place much value in the CPO program when buying a low mileage LS with a good maintenance history - unless you want to pay a whole lot more. When I bought a 2000 LS last November, the local Kansas City Lexus dealer was asking $9,000 !!! more for a silver 2000 LS with about 35,000 miles than I paid to an independent dealer a few days later for a similar white 2000 LS with 38,000 miles that had come off its original 3 year lease. (It was probably leased in August or September since it was manufactured in June 2000.) You might ask a local dealer to look for a 2000 at the auto auction. I was lucky. I gave detailed requirements (white, no nav, no air suspension, total miles) to the owner of a local independent Lexus repair shop at 2:00 pm on a Friday afternoon and a he called me back at around 4:30 pm the same day as we hopped on I-35 for a road trip. The LS he had found had stuff (Platinum package, chrome wheels) I didn't care about but we still bought it on the spot, swapped the luggage between the old and "new" LS and drove on to Des Moines. My wife quickly appreciated why I wanted a car with HID. In hindsight, I am glad it had the Platinum Package with the leather, wood, stereo and HID upgrades. I probably would have liked Nav and air suspension but I don't tend to get lost and hear a lot of negative comments about air suspension. I don't have sales figures but have to wonder if fewer LS400's were made for the 2000 model year than for the 98-99 model years due to people waiting for LS430's and people switching to LX470 SUV's. So, keep trying - you will find your ideal car. Good luck, Jim

I just got back from Westport (99Lsguy also lives in the Kansas City area) and the roads are really not bad although about 30 of the other 38 people who were supposed to show up at the bar wimped out because of the ice. The 2000 LS I bought in November is a real hoot to drive in the snow and ice and it seems to get around a lot better than the 90 LS I had. The 90 did not have TRAC and, although I always used snow tires in the winter, the ones I used were more like all season tires. The 2000 got new Blissaks before the first snow so that may be mainly responsible for how well it does. I'm finding the transmission "snow mode" to be very effective in eliminating rear wheel spin and it is a lot of fun to push the car until the VSC intervenes. Of course I grew up doing "handbrake turns" in 2-seaters -- sliding around corners in the snow -- now that is really fun! One of the best ways to get comfortable with the LS or any car is to take it to an empty parking lot (without light poles!) on a snowy/icy day and drive it like hell - drive until you lose control. Then you will know how to make the appropriate correction in an emergency. And you will also have a lot of fun!

If your your 94 LS uses HB2 (H4) highlight bulbs, they are probably pretty great compared to the earlier LS. The Hella Xenon/Halogen "Plus 30" H4 bulbs from http://www.rallylights.com/hella/xenon_bulbs.asp work well in our Camry. They provide a bit better lighting without making one look like a sixteen year old Civic driver like - my opinion - the coated bulbs do. You might try searching the Lexus Audio, Video, Security & Electronics forum at http://www.clublexus.com/ for stereo upgrade info. I kept my 90 LS fairly stock and mainly did adds/mods to incease safety and comfort and to prevent damage: fender trim, mudflaps, U.K. market LS side turn signals, window tint, and the rear window shade which is no longer available. Picture is attached.

OK, I think I was "full of it" when I said that I thought I had remembered that the transmission "learned" one's driving style. A website reviewing a 2003 Toyota Camry with an ECT-i tranmission says: "The intelligence refers to an electronic “grade logic” that selects the proper gear for ascending and descending inclines. One result is smooth shifting up and down the scale but a second by-product is good fuel economy ratings of 23/33mpg (city/hwy)." (We also have a Camry V6 with an ECT-i transmission.) Jim

I'm wondering if the "five-speed automatic Electronically Controlled Transmission with intelligence (ECT-i)" has a "training problem". I have never understood how this "intelligence" is supposed to work but I think I read once that it supposedly "learns" one's driving style. There does not seem to be a similar hesitation in downshifting in my late 2000 LS which I assume is the same as your 99. Part thottle downshifts seem to happen very easily with little pedal movement and I think are a bit quicker than in the 90 LS I used to have. I tested the downshifting this morning when merging on to I-35 at about 45 mph and then punched it up to about 70 mph. Does anyone know how the "intelligence" transmission feature works? Jim

Yep, my 90 LS had the same situation and I thought the ignition switch was broken the first time it happened. After I realized what was going on, it was never really a problem. On a similar vein, the gear selector will not shift out of park if the brake light switch at the brake pedal fails.

The solution to fixing the broken wire in the left trunk hinge is at --> http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...t=1294&hl=hinge If this link doesn't work, search this forum for "hinge". The same thing happened to my 90 LS last summer.

I am trying to figure where to install all the components of my Nokia CARK-91 phone kit in the 2000 LS. The kit has a corded "privacy handset" that fit perfectly inside the console of my 90 LS. This handset is two long to fit in the smaller lower compartment of the 2000 LS console. It looks like the hinged shallow upper console tray was made for a handset like this. I don't yet have the two volume set of shop manuals for the 2000 so does anyone know if the tray insert in the upper shallow console tray can be pryed and popped out like in the large single console box insert in the older LS? I am hoping to run the handset's thin cable out the back of the shallow upper console tray and attach it with a couple of small black cable ties to one of the tray hinges. I hope the upper console tray will open and close without binding on the cable. The handset cable would be routed forward under the center console to the phone kit's cable junction box which I hope to again place under the dash or under the wood console panel near the gear selector. The holder for the actual phone would be mounted on a standard Nokia bracket just to the right of the radio - same as in the 90 LS. Has anyone else done anything like this and/or know (photos?) where the factory phone handsets were installed in 98-00 LS cars? Did the 95-97 LS also have the dual console trays? Having had very bad luck with phone installers (damaged upholstery and wood), I would rather do the installation myself. Has anyone used the "dashlead" wire harnesses available in the U.K. at http://www.dashmount.co.uk/ and Australia at http://www.dashmount.com.au/ to mute the LS audio system and play the phone call through the LS front speakers? And finally, my understanding is that a phone antenna is built into the rear window and that the antenna cable connection is somewhere in the trunk. If so, does anyone discovered exactly where it is? I wish I could just throw the phone and car kit away and buy a new one and a Bluetooth car kit but that isn't practical since we have a lot invested in having the same phone car kit model in muliple vehicles.

An article on the 97 Coach Edition LS400 is at http://www.incentivecentral.org/pages/cs/blexus.html The 97 Coach LS seems similar to the 2000 Platinum Series in concept. Were both marketed just before an exterior redesign to pump up sales? According to my window sticker, the 2000 Platinum Series package included sun roof, HID, different leather, headed seats, different wood, Nachamichi/indash CD, black chrome badging, and chrome wheels (which look similar to LS430 wheels). There are Platinum Series emblems on each side. The price for the package was a bit over $5K but there was a separate $1,700 "Platinum Series Discount" further down the sticker. Even though my 2000 LS does not have the some of the more expensive options like Nav and air suspension, my insurer considers the Platinum to be a distinct model and it costs a little more to insure that non-Platinum models that are better equiped. Go figure. It seems like a pattern that in both Coach and Platinum, the wheels are from the next model year. Does the Coach Edition also have special exterior emblems? Does anyone know if the Coach Edition and Platinum Series LS's were marketed in other model years? Were there other variations from the factory (let's not talk about those funky vinyl room dealer installed packages!)?

I mounted some Bridgestone Blizzack snow tires the day before a recent five inch snow and they worked much better than the all-season "M & S" tires I've used in the past. It was fun blasting away from stoplights and leaving SUV's spinning their tires in the snow! And the noise on dry pavement isn't too bad although there is a little tread squirm. Look for the "mountain/snow flake" symbol on the sidewall if you want real snow tires. A 40 lb. bag of sand on each side of the 90 LS trunk seemed to help a lot although I have not not done that yet in the 2000 LS. A full tank of gas is an easy way to add weight at the rear.

I used Yokohoma AVS 225/60-15 on my standard 6 1/2 inch 90 LS rim for a couple of years. If I remember correctly, my old conversion chart from Dunlop said that a 6 1/2 inch rim was well within the acceptable range for a 225/60 tire and that the 225/60-15 size provides the closest speedo accuracy to 205/65-15. The standard 6 1/2 inch rims are perhaps a little smaller than optimum but the 225/60-15 fit just fine with no clearance problem. My 2000 LS came standard with 225/60-16 and its rims are only 7 inches wide. The 225/60-15's seemed to dramatically improve the braking on the 90 LS but I was not very happy with the handling, noise, increased ride harshness, and tire life. The "breakaway" seemed more abrupt when going (too) fast around a curve. But I think I kept the tire pressure way too high and might have been more satisfied if I had stayed closer to the recommended 30 psi. You might try giving Tire Rack a call and confirm which is the best non-standard tire size...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I assumed that I could purchase a manual rear window shade for my recently acquired 2000 LS since I had purchased one for my early LS shortly after I purchased it in 1990. My local dealer told me that the shades were deleted from the accessory catalog in about 1994. The rear shade was nice and it was easy to lower it at night and on dark winter days. I recently tried to find a rear shade in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. and had no success. I guess the only option now is to tint the rear window and that is scheduled for late December. Attached is a previously published low-res photo of the rear shade in the 90 LS I recently sold. I too purchased a set of mudflaps from Metro in Victoria for my 2000 LS and I happened to install them earlier tonight. Even with the favorable prices from Metro, they are incredibly expensive compared to similar quality OEM mudflaps for Hondas and Toyotas. Unlike the ones I bought in the U.K. for my 90 LS, the mudflaps for the 2000 LS did not come packaged with instructions (the instructions for the 90 LS mudfaps were in Japanese!) so it took a bit longer to figure out how to install them and especially to understand that I had to remove the three plastic retainers holding the rear bumper cover on each side of the car in order to replace the existing plastic hardware. Even then it took about 1 1/2 hours mainly because it is necessary to remove the wheels to do the drilling. I think Paul at Metro told me that the same mudflaps are used on 95 through 00 LS but I am not certain of this.

From my 13+ year experience with a now departed 1990 LS, my opinion is that the generation one lights are mostly hopeless. The main problem is with the sloppy beam pattern created by the lens. Using high wattage bulbs mainly emphasizes the bad beam pattern and blinds other drivers. I even had a high wattage (100/80) bulb explode and had one heck of a time cleaning the resulting residue off the reflector. I was told once that H4 light assemblies from a 93-94 LS could be used on 90-92 LS but that it was an all or nothing deal -- replacement of the entire headlight assembly, including the backing frame, and side lights was required. I never tried this due to the $1,000+ cost at the time. But maybe the 93-94 lights could be found in a salvage yard at a lower cost. The best bulbs I found in terms of cost and longevity were G.E. 9004HO which produced a much whiter light, filled in the gaps in the light pattern and cost less that $15 for a 2-pack --> http://www.gelighting.com/na/faq/faq_auto.html I sure wish there was an easy solution as I struggled with this problem for years.