AussiLS400

This is what happens when a 6 ton truck hits you head on. And yes the car saved me. Got out with minor glass cut on my hand. I was so impressed by its crash resistance I bought another one about a week later. That A pillar took a real thump. Oh and wrote the truck off too.

Doesn't white smoke mean coolant is leaking into the combustion chamber? ......Answer no not if you have the symptoms I had. The white smoke is your fuel being pumped out the exhaust. While it was like like this I ran through almost a quarter of a tank of fuel just idling for around 20 mins.

Its in the computer. I have just been through this on my 95. White smoke, running rough, spewing out fuel etc. Got told it was injectors, maf, 02 sensors, blocked cats by various people and mechanics. In a last ditch effort I came across this post and I decided to pull out the computer and check the board. Checking with a magnifying glass I noticed a capacitor with a small amount of ooze around its base. I wrote down the cap number and went down to the electronics store and bought one for 44 cents. I then carefully unsoldered the old cap and soldered the new one in. Put everything back together in the car and presto everything back to normal. No miss, no smoke and plenty of power. The article says to replace them all but I was just happy to have the car work again. I believe for around $300 you can have it done by a computer repair place in the US. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/656360-all-my-crazy-lexus-issues-solved.html

Its a Lexus thing.. All the models have this feature but its not listed in the book. Its saying the fluid is down but also check brake wear.

1990 LS400. Just thought i would share how to remove the harmonic balancer when replacing the timing belt which doesn't seem to be covered in the online write ups. The only one i seem to have come across is the large spanner and hit the starter motor method....Not good. This is much safer. Raise the car and remove the plate on the flywheel (2 x 12 mm bolts). You will see the bottom of the ringgear on the flywheel. Using a helper with a large screwdriver place it on this ringgear to hold the crank from turning. You will then be able to undo the Harmonic bolt or do it up. You will find it extremly tight so use a lever on your socket.

Ls400 1990 395000 km. When i replaced my timing belt this week on my LS400 i discovered oil seeping from my main seal on the harmonic balancer and both cam seals. On searching the internet there seamed to be no articles on how to replace these seals. I thought i would fill this gap. Follow the existing articles on timing belt changes (www.lexls.com or www.lextreme.com). When you are down to basics place a large blunt lever through the cam gears to hold them while you undo the bolts (extremely tight), you might need a lever on the socket wrench. You will find the gears will just come off to see the cam seals. Next using a small electrical screwdriver tap it into the old seal and it will start to come out. Pry it out being careful to not damage any facings. Lightly clean area with 1200 wet or dry sandpaper. Take new seal Part no. 90311 38036 put a small amout of locktight on the outside edge and carefully tap it in evenly. Do the same with the other seals and the jobs done. The harmonic seal no. 90311 43006. After taking out these seals i found they were rock hard so no wonder they leaked.

Jibbby. You keep writing as though the LS400 is the same front end as the SC and talking supra lower control arms, but they are completly different in all aspects. The only thing common is the motor and thats about it................Moving on.. On my LS after 14 months use (back 3 posts) the grease was still in all the joints, did not make any noise, do have ribbed sides. I was just not 100% happy with the proformance and felt in my own mind that they (upper c/a) moved around with the flex of such thick bushings. The wear on both tyres was on the outer edges of both. The lower bush on the other hand is much thinner and would not flex as much. Opinion only!

Hi just an update on Daisen bushes on a gen 1 after 14 months use. I decided the other day to go back to the original bushes which are now back in. Upper control bushes only. Lowers were stuffed when i took them out so i am stuck with daisen lowers. You may be asking why do this. Answer is a few little things, 1 the front tyres have both worn on the outside edges, 2 car was not tracking as well as it should. Don't get me wrong but this was my personal choice to do this, its been going though my mind for ages. After removal the Daisens showed little wear and were not squeeking. I sort of think that they should be of a one piece design instead of 2 and did not meet in the middle with about a 1/4" gap. Anyway the old ones are back in and it feels like the car used to. As some of the other posts state they are not for everyone. :)

Might have had leaded fuel go though it at some stage which does tend to clog cats. Or fuel pump?

Got to be springs. It could front or back spring. Jack up the back from the diff (center) and measure the front. If it levels out it could be back weak spring. If it stays lopsided its the front.

I have seen manuals for sale on Ebay for around $7.00. Well worth it.

I got one when i first started and thats it. You must have ticked the box for emails or something.

The LEXLS article is a good way of doing this although i found a couple of shortcuts. I found that the coolant loss amounted to about a thimble full when disconected. Hardly worth dropping the whole lot out. Also i found i could get the throttle body off without taking the air cleaner and related off. Just a quick note when cleaning poke some wire down the three pipes on top to clear any carbon buildup in these.

I replaced mine just the other day, got it of ebay. They don't come up very often. The dealer should have them as they are in demand now some of the cars are 15 years old. I had small cracks around around the sensor which could not be fixed.

I went to a brake workshop a few years back put on by Bendix and recieved some useful info on why rotors warp. They say if you let the pads get down lower than 1/8" thick the heat generated by the rotors can't disapate fast enough which leads to warped rotors.

Sounds to me like a lack of fuel. Could be the fuel pump not working properly. The new fuel could have done something to this.....On the other hand you might have got contaminated fuel, maybe water or something.

Thanks Blake although i think there were other factors involved infact in Australia in 1989 Toyota named a hibred car (actually a GM large car) the LEXCEN named after the designer of the Australia Cup winning yacht Ben Lexcen. The car ran with this name for 10 or so year only in Australia. Coincidence??? And this was named before Lexus had made a debut around the world.

Read the other day that the LEXUS name was made up from Luxury EXport to the United States....OK so i'm in Australia so i should be driving a LEXAU. The people of Canada should all have a LEXCA & the people of England should all have a LEXUK..........Would be confusing.

If your experiencing the steering wheel moving slightly when turning hard then yes it is the rack grommets. The drivers side grommet on mine was half split. Lexus modified these around 92 to stop problems in later models.

Broken tranny mount maybe?

Don't worry too much about this. As SRK says i believe the same, as this happened to me once and it was after i moved the car into the garage after it was outside all night. Next day i started the car rough and smoke. Has run perfect since.

Must be an American thing as the Australian cars don't have this at all.

43211-50050 (R knuckle steering) Lists at around $265

Look for the wires on the actual lock and check the connector.

Thats weird because i recall TM selling Daizen rear bushes about 6 months ago for around $160 or so. They must of had problems with them to take them back off the market.