1990LS400

If you check the maintenance schedule for your 95 LS400, you will find that the recommended change interval for both the brake fluid and coolant is 24 months or 30,000 miles. Regardless of the recommendations from shade tree mechanics (me included) and urban legends, maintaining a Lexus or any other brand car according to the manufacturers' maintenance schedule is, in the end, inexpensive and cost effective. I'm 2,900 miles from the 150,000 mile service. Still again, everything is going to be done by the book - including replacing the coolant and brake fluid - plus a couple of extras like changing the transmission and differential fluid. An added benefit I've found is it makes it very easy to sell a used car. Nothing impresses propective owners like showing records and/or receipts for every single maintenance and repair.

Do the brake lights work? The main thing I remember when my brake light switch on the top of the brake pedal lever failed on the 90 LS I had was that I had to use the shift lock override to move the shift lever out of Park. I don't remember the failed switch making the key impossible to remove from the ignition switch but it was a long time ago and I had the stop light switch replaced the next day.

The strut bar bushings on these cars rarely last more than 75,000 without causing noise, slopping steering and/or vibrations at highway speeds. How many miles are on yours? I had the entire strut rod assemblies on my 00 LS replaced at around 83,000 miles when they got really bad and the replacements are still holding up at 147,000 miles.

According to http://www.toyodiy.com , seat belts in the the 1994 Camry and the 1994 ES300 have different part numbers. That the part numbers start with the same five numbers doesn't mean anything. The part numbers for LS460 seat belts also start 73210. The first five numbers of a Toyota part number describes only a category. The location in your profile says "Other / Non-US". Unless your car is a U.S./Canadian model, check the part numbers for your specific market. The parts used in cars that look identical can be different.

I've gotten so tired of being blinded by aftermarket HID kits that I've developed a special Aftermarket HID Kit Adjustment Tool - photo attached. The tool works really well.

The attached diagram mostly shows show the rear window shade is attached to the structure under the rear hat shelf.

I'm far from an expert on this but it sounds like your master ignition key has somehow become unregistered. I can't guarantee this is what you need to do but attached are instructions on how to program a key. 1998 LS400 key programming.pdf

I'm not absolutely certain if the high mounted brake light housing has to be removed but, if even if it does not, it might make it easier to then remove the package shelf. I can't tell you how the brake housing is removed on your ES but the one on my LS is held in place by two plastic spring clips at the front edge and takes only seconds to remove. Interior components on various Toyota and Lexus models seem to be held in place using similar techniques as in our Camry and LS.

If you are talking about front suspension bushings, the 95-up LS400 has a somewhat different front suspension design than the 90-94 LS400. You can check to see if there are any parts numbers used on both series LS400's at http://www.toyodiy.com/

I would imagine that the rear seat removes like on most other Toyota models and my LS400. Jerk up the seat cushion from the lower front edge - it can take quite a bit of force. Once the seat cushion is removed, you should be able to see the lower bolts/nuts holding the seat back in. Slide the seat back up to remove. If it is still held in, there may be some upper bolts or nuts to remove. Look in the head rest area but it may not be like on my LS.

Halim, here is the 2001 RX300 Navigation audio system diagram from the ARRC website. I don't know if it will help. Sorry I couldn't have been of more help when you called. 2001 RX300 Navigation audio system diagram.pdf

The website shown in the attached image has part numbers but so does the Sewell Lexus parts website: http://lexus.sewellparts.com/

There have been a many tests including a memorable televised one that showed that people talking on the phone while driving make almost as many driving errors as people at the bottom limit of legal alcohol intoxication. I wish it wasn't the case but I'm sure convinced based on the near misses I've had while driving while talking on the phone. I agree that texting/email while driving is even worse. If people doing this weren't hurting other people I'd view this behavior a convenient way of "culling of the herd" and removing people from the shallow end of the gene pool. My latest effort to deal with these idiots is to add a couple of extra horns to my LS ... seems to get phoning/texting drivers attention and has gotten a few people to jerk their cars back into their own lane.

OEM ballast failure is pretty rare. It's possible but it's more likely just a dying bulb. If the 99 LS in question was an early model and the headlight bulbs are original, they could be at over 13 years old. Phillips D2R HID bulbs last a long time (my original ones are at 11 1/2 years) but we don't know if "cheap !Removed!" has put lower quality junk high-K bulbs in his headlights.

Here are photos of the portable GPS units I installed on brackets in our LS and Camry, wired into the car accessory circuits to automatically turn on and off with the ignition switch. The main way to make a portable GPS convenient is to get it off the top of the dash or windshield.

The sensor for the automatic headlights is on the far left of the dashboard so fondling a sensor on the right side isn't going to have any effect. Tell "cheap !Removed!" to switch the bulbs from right to left and see if the left headlight stops working. It's possible that one of the bulbs is dying and switching the bulbs is a zero cost way to find out. Paul, in all these years I've never seen any 99 LS400's, or car forum threads about ones, that had halogen headlights. HID headlights were never "standard equipment" on the 98-00 but they seem to be on all 99-00 LS400's. Lots of 98 LS400's had halogen headlights, but as I reported a few times in the past, a Lexus dealer salesman told me early in the 1998 model year that he was having a hard time moving 98 LS400's with halogen headlights. HID was a $500 standalone option in 1998.

I am still not understanding. What on your car is not working? Replace your stop light switch and then see what is still not working.

Cell phone bans won't work because people will just use handsfree systems, headsets or turn a speaker phone feature on. My wife called me today while I was driving on a nearby street in a 40 mph zone. I've got a pretty neat set-up in my LS - automatic radio mute, automatic answer and automatic hangup ... no action is needed unless I want to decline a call. It was only about a 15 second conversation but I realized still again that I was in complete trance while driving about a block. About the only thing that will slow down cell phone usage while driving is some sort of feature that prevents cell phones from operating in a car - and even then, an entire industry to defeat features like that will probably spring up. The last several people who rear ended one of our cars were all talking on cell phones at the moment of the impact. I think if damaged parties were authorized to summarily execute drivers who damage our cars while talking on their phones, the problem would vanish within a day.

I am not understanding you. If you replace the stop light switch at the top of the brake pedal lever, your gear shift lever should move from the Park position without pressing the shift lock override button. The stop light switch is a component of several seemingly unrelated systems in your car.

It's called "search". Besides, I mainly read manuals and write instructional materials for a living although most would tell you that I do no work at all. :whistles:

I was supprised that VAIS doesn't seem to have interfaces for the 01-02 SC430 - only 04-up. Check yourself to verify. "Quick Connect" interface harnesses are listed for the 02 SC430 which would allow you to connect an MKi9xxx series Parrot which would give you Bluetooth phone handsfree, A2DP, and also an interface specifically for iPhone: http://www.quickconnectproducts.com/Find/find.php

An electrical junction box under the dash on the left side.

My knowledge of the SC430 is pretty much limited to seeing a neighbor's relative park hers in the driveway ... these removal instructions are for 2004-up but might be close enough: http://www.sound-repair.com/index.php/lexus-sc430-04-09-stereo-removal-instructions/ Any signs of life from the CD changer? Could it be jammed? If you need a new one, eBay is a good place to check or maybe this forum's audio expert/dealer dcfish will have one for you. The few parts I've needed, I've bought from http://lexus.sewellparts.com/ in Dallas - register with a car forum member name to get a discount. If Sewell doesn't accept your member name from this forum, register on ClubLexus where Sewell is a sponsor. Sewell's website also has diagrams that are sometimes adequate if you have to do some disassembly. If you are new to Lexus you might be interested in iPod, etc. interfaces from http://www.vaistech.com/dev/home.php Who needs a CD changer these days.

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty! I've noticed that the pressures in the new tires (Michelin MXV4 H-rated) on our Camry - filled with 29 psi of 100% nitrogen when Costco mounted them on a recent warm fall day - fluctuate at about the same rate as the regular air filled tires on my LS as outside temperatures rise and fall. As outside temperatures have declined to lows below 20 degrees, I've had to add air to the Camry's tires several times to keep them at or above 29 psi. If I hadn't, the Camry's tires would be at around 24 psi on a 20 degree day - not good. It's simply not practical to visit Costo everytime the Camry tires need air even if I can just about hit Costco with a rock (metaphorically speaking) from our front door. Item on shopping list for today - * buy a new electric air pump. The hose on the one I've used for years ruptured last week - probably from too much use. I found it not fun to pump up 8 tires with a bicycle pump.

It would be a bit less expensive to replace the stop light switch - $43.16 from http://lexus.sewellparts.com/oem-catalog/8401841191-Electrical-LS400-1995.html with a car forum discount. Get a ClubLexus member name if Sewell doesn't take your member name for this forum. The part number is 84340-32110 and the same part is used on the LS400 from 1995 to 2000, the 98-00 GS, 96-00 LX, and the 92-00 SC. If you have a "pick and pull" salvage yard nearby, I'd bet you could get a used one for about $5.