jsweb

I had this same thing on my Infiniti recently. The dealer said it was definitely the Mass Air Flow Sensor. They wiggled some wires, and it was fine from that point forward.

I bought a CD manual off E-bay for $10. So far it's had everything I needed. Compared to the $180 the hard copies sold for, I think it's a pretty good deal.

I got some of the CDs off E-Bay for $10. I bid on some hard copy manuals too that ended up selling for $180. I think for the price difference, I'll stick with the CDs. They have had everything I needed so far, and I'm not an expert mechanic, so I'll leave the electrical diagrams to someone who is.

I'm almost ready to hit 180k, and it runs fine. Lots of problems in the past year or two, though. Engine is strong and smooth, but the little parts get you.

Yeah, mine also has the lock but no unlock problem on the passenger side. Had the same problem in a 1991 Toyota that I had. The mechanism inside wears out, and wont pop it loose remotely. Shop says $400 to fix it, so I've been stalling.

I am having problems with my ECU as well. I hit "Auto" and the fan goes to low, no matter what the light on the dash says, or how hot it is inside. I sent it out to get rebuilt, and it came back with a new LCD and nothing else. The fan still doesn't work.

When I hit "High" manually on the fan, it goes to high. When I run the diagnostics, it changes from low to medium to high just fine. However, in auto mode, it doesn't change fan speeds.

Any ideas on this?

No, I just let the repair guy take care of it. I called Lexus to find out about the part prices because they seemed outrageous, but the dealer quoted me prices significantly higher than what the repair guy did, so I let it be.

Now I found out the climate control assembly will be another $375 for parts along with a couple hours of labor, and the solar sensor is bad, costing another $100 or so.

If I had known all this was going on, I would never have paid for the A/C to be fixed, but I was $1500 into it when I found out that it still wasn't fixed, so I didn't want to throw my money away. Now, over $3000 later, I'm still in the same boat, as it still doesn't work right.

Hope you have better luck.

I have the same problem with my 92. I've also had this problem with a Toyota MR-2 I had in the past. My mechanic informs me that it isn't an electrical problem (at least on mine), and that it is the mechanism inside the door itself that physically unlocks the door. It wears out, and the electric charge isn't quite enough to make it unlock.

He tried to bend it back into place, which made it halfway unlock, but not all the way. He told me that it was too worn out, and that to replace it would be about $400.

Hope this helps.

Yeah, when it comes to broken things on my Lexus, I'm getting to be quite an expert.

If you're experiencing it, I've probably been there...unfortunately.

Johann

VB,

My mechanic said something similar to that, telling me that 62° was normal. However, when I got a temperature sensor, the package said that for an ambient temperature of 75°-85°, the sensor should read about 45°. Then, I got service manuals, and they stated that the temperature should be between 35° and 45°.

Johann

VMF,

I'm thoroughly jealous...however, my A/C didn't go out until 150,000 miles...so who knows what's in store!

Rich,

It came with R-12 and got it this time as well. I bought the car at 150,000, so I'm not really sure if there were any problems before. Good idea on the fans, but my mechanic says the pressure looks good, not elevated. I'm not proficient enough to get that far into it, but I'll pass it along to my mechanic. Thanks!

Sk,

I did do the self-diagnostics, but it just came up with a code 33 with no tone, which I guess means it used to have a problem with the Air Mix Door Position Sensor Circuit or Air Mix Servomoter Circuit, but doesn't any more. No other error codes, including the ones for In-Vehicle Temperature Sensor Circuit and Ambient Temperature Sensor Circuit. Good thing it was 100° here today, so I could read my LCD display, which is blacked out except on really hot days.

I got a temperature gauge and see that the car is blowing at around 60°, when it should be at 35°-45°.

Thanks for the help, and I'll keep checking back for any other good ideas!

Johann

Hello,

Ran across this board while searching for A/C issues with my 1992 LS400. Sounds like I'm not alone! The LCD was out when I got it 25,000 miles ago. Two weeks later, the A/C went out. The shop ran leak tests, said it was good, recharged it, and sent me on my way. Two weeks later, the A/C was gone again. This time, there were massive leaks. Interesting...

Spent $1500 to replace the compressor and recharge, only to find out that the evaporator was leaking as well. $1200 more out the window. I wouldn't have paid this much, but I was already $1500 into it, so I didn't want to blow it for nothing! Now, two weeks or so later, the A/C is still blowing sort of cold, but not as cold as it seems like it should. Does anybody know what temperature is normal for it to blow? It seems to take fifteen or twenty minutes to cool down the car now. I've replaced the major parts, and it's still blowing colder than no A/C (maybe 60°F), but I have no idea what else could be wrong!

Then, today, my climate control "auto" switch (which worked well before), now turns the fan to low automatically. The fan will work on Hi, but when switched to Auto it shuts to low no matter what temperature the car is. Any ideas?

Meanwhile, in the time I've owned it, I've had a rear main seal go out ($500), the passenger's side door lock go out ($400), the master window switch go out ($400), the brakes have begun to squeak, and there is a slight shimmy when driving freeway speeds. I notice that I have SC-400 wheels. After reading some of these posts, I think I see why.

For a car that was "in perfect condition" according to my pre-purchase inspection, this car has just been a money pit. My past experiences with older Toyotas has been excellent, so I figured this would be no different. WRONG! To be fair, though, it does have 175,000 miles and runs smooth (for now).

Thanks for any suggestions and feelings of empathy!

Johann

My 1992 LS400 has 176,000 miles on it. I bought it at 150,000 and had a pre-purchase inspection on it. It was proclaimed as in near perfect condition, and it looked it. In the past two years, the following things have happened:

Rear Main Seal $500

Master Switch in door panel $500

Lock on Passenger's Side $400

LCD Clock Display $600

A/C Compressor $1500

A/C Evaporator $1200

Outside Door Handle broken - no estimate yet

Coolant Leak - No estimate yet

Climate Control Sensor - No estimate yet

A/C Schraeder Valve Leak - $80

Suffice it to say, we haven't been very impressed. With high miles cars, even if the engine doesn't blow up, watch out for the picky stuff. It only lasts so long.

Johann

My 1992 doesn't have an emblem, and I've never seen a 1992 or earlier with one. It says "Lexus" and has an "L", but it doesn't say "LS400".

The gold package is a factory option. You can buy the gold ones from the dealer for a surprisingly reasonable price (less than my old Honda emblem by a long shot!)

Johann

My driver's side handle busted too. The handle itself didnt' break, but the metal on the door underneath it, making it click and stick open. What a weird thing!

Johann

Count me in!

Johann

js@johann-sandra.com

I don't think the seats in my 1992 are comfortable at all. They are hard, flat, and unsupportive. They were the reason I almost didn't buy the car. I still grumble about them. My wife says to quit whining. :)

Johann

I asked around about getting my 1992 phone activated for the same reason. However, I asked all the major providers in my area (AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Cellular One, Cingular), and they all told me that they don't offer analog-only packages anymore. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to get a hands-free setup for my cell phone.

Johann

It sounds like the rear main seal. Mine went out on my 1992 at about 160,000 miles. Leaked oil slowly at first, then more and more until it got really obnoxious. Car started to run rough after awhile too. Cost me about $400 to get fixed.

Johann