fisher972002

I did the PC thing.. Asked her if she was ok. But in the back of my mind, I was like Damn it.. I hope the car isnt' wrecked tooo bad... Because as most of you deal with.. These old Lexus's are sooo good and reliable to replace them with a car of comparable options/quality costs a lot... ANd she has soooo much life left in her. She hit a patch of ice, but I don't know how shw managed to spin the car around it hit the front bumper and headlight and the fender is misaligned just a little, she was only going 25 MPH. She hit the side of the bridge, no other damage than front passenger corner. 1991, 173K , but I bought in Texas in 2000 so the car is like brand new.... I have full coverage on it, I hope they don't total it out, that would be a shame. WIfe calls says "It's making a weird noise" So you can imagine the images rolling through my head..LOL.. Get to her work and the Engine under cover has become unattached from the front and was dragging under the car.... So since I had all my jacks used up on putting in a Timing cover on her taurus, I had to go to the dealer.... I think the dealer's sniff out DIY' guys, they kind of looked at me cross.. It was kind of ghetto, I pulled into the service pay wtih that plastic shield dragging..LOL.. But they took it off for free! That was nice of them. Insurance adjustor looked at it yesterday, I'm guessing about $1800 to fix! Everybody cross your fingers for me! Even though I am due a timing belt, I've replaced all the bad suspension items, the engine mounts, the car is LIKE BRAND NEW!!!! SO of course as always the risk of fixing up older cars, the insuarance company doesn't care if it has "New suspension Balljoints and struts and UCA's... LOL.. THey have a bottom line figure regardless ya know.... Hopefully the LS can get fixed and soldier on!!! Fingers crossed.

90LS, Yeah, it's time to change those mounts, the car will be much, much smoother.. IF you can feel a vibration in the steering wheel and a little in the floor when you rev up the motor nad let it fall down the mounts are worn out. For example on my 91 in the winter time, I would back out of the garage when cold out in the morning, and have a vibration in the door or hte side of the car at a certain RPM. I replaced the mounts, took me about 4 hours, then no more vibrations and soo much smoother... I could also feel vibrations in the foot pedal a little bit. Mine had 160K when I changed them, the tranny mount was a little flat like Glenmore's, I went ahead and reaplaced it, didn't do any different. THe problem is you can't really visually inspect the mounts while they are in the car because of the aluminum head shilelda around them, unless you had a little mirror and a good flashlight maybe???? But they crack around the top screw/bolt and that position is almost impossible to see.. Mine weren't broken, as yours probably aren't either, but they will have stress cracks all around them.. Mine were cracked about 1/3 of the way through and the rubber was hard.. New ones soft and what a difference, loved this maintenance.. and must make sure you have everything unhooked before you start to jack up the engine, you'll be amazed how much higher you have to jack it up to get the new mount to fit in there,.. It's tight!

Hmm, somethin' wrong there My 1991 with 170K gets with a mix of hwy and in-town 20.94 MPG.. that is way off double check calc's..

Yup Same thing happened to me when I bought my car.. Put the correct T Fluid, Type 4 in it and it will correct, easy fix.. TCC shutter, very common when people put dextron/mercon in these cars.

Yeah, You'll be happier after replacing them.. Especially in cold weather, they are old they make vibrations.. I used to have a vibration in my door when I pulled out of garage in cold weather.. ALso could feel vibrations in the foot pedal and floor a little bit and shifter.. Replaced tranny mount, old one was still good, didn't help So had to be engine mounts 1991 LS 400 170K.. No more vib's.. one of hte best fixed on this car next to the rear carrier arm bushings.. Definitely if you aren't sure they have been done, and you feel any vibrations.. I noticed slightly bumping throttle from idle, about 1200 RPM's is when mine vibrated.. No more smooth as silk... Even in dead cold.. Old mounts weren't separated.. They were torn all hte way around about 1/3 of hte way in is all.. they were also a little hard, but not too bad.. But mainly they were torn and you can't see they were torn unless you had them out of hte metal shell ya know... GL

jcrom, I put a some disc brake caliper grease on the prongs of the pad, you know hte ends that are square that slide on the spring clips, put a little there, but you are saying on the back of the pad also then?

Yeah, The MB's from the 80's and very early 90's were great cars,but ever since they bought into Chrysler, all their money went to developing those products and they cheapened the MB Brand.. A friend had a 1984 380 SE, it had 280K miles and drove really nice, solid doors, it was a tank.. Much better car than this piece of junk s series..LOL.. But I'll take and LS400.. THe ls400 was built specifically to compete with the 420 SEL, the styling and dash layout and such is so strikingly similar, but with the reliability of a camry!

Good Job IS400 Yeah, you need to do the rear carrier arm bushings... You can grab them and if they have even a little bit of play they are destroyed.. Replacing those was so cheap and pretty easy, That really makes the rear end of the LS handle sooo much better! And the engine mounts..my 1991's were torn and hard, replacing those, it's such a smoother car now, the degradation of the mounts takes such a long time, over 8 years I never really notices it much, but now that I replaced them, WOW.. no vibes at all..

All, Quick ?] 1991 LS400 I replaced my rear brakes with lexus factory pads.. Turned the disc rotors.. I am getting a very slight squeak, when I apply the brakes very lightly.. Do you guys suggest applying a little silicone on back of the brake pad metal, or on a anti-squeal metal shim.. Or do both, or just the pad?? What do you guys do.. I've been driving for a few months, I thought it would quit squeaking after a little while, the way the brakes fit in the caliper it seems like you would only put a little quieter/Silicon on the back of hte pad only and let the antisqueal shims move.. ALso I bought new antiq squeal springs when I replaced the pads, but re-used the metal shims. Thanks

Yeah, I mean all aluminum rims have this problem.. They just have to take off the rubber and smoothe out the corrosion on the tire bead, any good tire shop should be able to do this, they see this ALL the time.... Had it done on a few of my tires..No big deal, they hold.. In a few years maybe one other tire may need it.. Had to do it on my rusted out Ford Explorer.. SOme of them can be very very slow leaks you don't notice, others are more drastic..

The mounts are expensive.. But man, if you have any vibrations at all, you can feel the vib's in the floor or in the car at all, your mounts are bad... Not mechanically bad because they probbably are not separated, it's just more of an annoyance thing... But... Also not only does the car not vibrate at all anymore, ESPECIALLY in the cold..... But It shifts better.. Not that transmission, but since now the engine doesn't move I used to have a slight hes at say a slow roll then go.. From stop I would step on it, it would fall down for a second then go.. And sometimes the 1-2 shift would kind of shift hard.. WIth the new mounts, you can from a dead stop step on it and it shift smoooooth.. And no more slight falldown hesitation.. I thought it was spark plug related, needs tuneup, but it wasn't.. I think the worn out engine mounts were allowing the engine/trans to shift and maybe it was affecting some likage or something.. I Dunno, but it's gone now..... Also I replaced my old transmission mount a year ago and that didn't do anything, the original one wasn't bad..... But I also have a new Transmission mount, but it is just like my old one, the old one wasn't bad..

Bali26 Follow Glenmore's writeup.. Just make sure you take off all the PS holddowns and Go ahead and drop crossmember until the 4 bolts are almost off the threads.. 1. Before you do it, get a 17MM stubby wrench... I went to sears and they didn't have a normal stubby wrench.. THe only one they had was a stubby with the rachet closed box end.. That will not work.. #1 it doesn't have the slight curve that you need, it is a flat wrench.. And also the ratcheting mechanism takes up too much room toget at either mount bolt.. Because there is 2 slits of metal on the sides of the bolt and unless you have a normal wrench you know with the slight curve on the box end, you can't get it.. You need the curve also to make the angle.... So order online a short stubby wrench 17mm.. You can do what I did and unhook the compressor bolts and move it forward and use a normal size wrench, but why, the Stubby would be much easier..... 2.. Use jackstands.. Put on E-Brake... Jack up each side and jackstand it high.. You could also use a mech creeper if you have one, You are underneath and sand and stuff will get inyour eyes.. use eye protection.. Make sure hte car is cooled down.... 3. I also had hte jackstands on and left my jack on it also just in case.. You really have to muscle to top bolts.. So Start with the pass side first.. If you can't muscle that bolt, don't even try the driver and have a shop do it.. But it really isn't that hard....I had to combine wrenches to break it loose.. Put the closed end of another wrench on the tine of the first wrench on the mount bolt.. Different than Glenmore did.. HE put an extension on the tine and banged it... I found I didn't have enough room to get a hammer or mallet inside there at all..... 4. The oil level sender, be careful, don't just pull off, it clips easily and snaps back in very lexuslike.. 5. Remember all your steps when you take off the air intake and all that stuff, make sure all bolts are put back on exactly and you don't fortget a bolt... 6. Driver's side heat shield.. I couldn't fit the new mount and the heat shield in at the same time.. I mean, you can't put on the heat shield and get it in there not enough room.. Put hte mount in, not in the bolt hole yet, but lay it in there, then separately put in the heat shield then maneuver it around enough to put the shield on top of the mount , it's more feel than see.. So memorize when the mount is out how the shileld goes on.. It's easy, there is a hole, and it only goes on 1 way and you can't screw it up....

Wow.. Only 2900! Engine mounts and rear carrier arm bushing ever been replaced. If you feel any vibes at all do up the engine insulators and that car will drive like new! Also lower ball joints at that mileage might need replaced, just have to inspect.. Nice car.

Wow, Completed this job last weekend.. yOu ca't believe how this improved my car.. The mounts were torn about 1/3 the way through, not separated, but probably original.. Before when I took off, It would sort of hesitate for a split second then go.. That is gone.. I had a small vibration at about 60 MPH.. That is eliminated.. At about 1500 RPMS's I would get vibrations I could feel in the foot pedal and on the floor.. And when driving same RPM. That is gone... The transmission shifts better and like GLASS.. I mean I don't mean the transmission itself shift better, but since the engine and transmission are where they are supposed to be there is no play at all and the whole setup is unbelievably smooth.. I had gotten used to the vibrations and such for soo long, I've had the car for 10 years, and I had gotten used to it.. But Wow, now with the new soft mounts, What a difference.. I think this although was a long day's work to do was well worth it.. Next to the rear carrier arm bushings, this is the best fix.. NOw understand my mounts weren't separated, so they still worked and were ok, but after you have new ones on you see how bad the old ones were.. Now in the summertime, or in warm climates like you Cali guys, my old mounts softened up , but in the winter, all the vibrations come out.. FOr exampe, I used to back out of my garage in the morning, and I had a vibration that was inside my door and the something in the moonroof... Now with the new mounts, NO VIB"S at all.. I LOVE LEXUS!!! Thanks for all your help forum!

gotta put toyota type IV in these transmission.. You ahve TCC shutter because there is either mercon or dextron in there, someone put it in there, have it flushed and put back in Toyota Type 4 fluid only and it will fix..

Wow, Just finished mounts on my 1991 LS 400 167,000 miles.. Both mounts were hard and torn at the top and separated about 1/3 or 1/2 the way through.. I noticed especially in winter more vibrations when the engine revs... It's soo smooth now.. I think the engine mounts and the rear carrier arm bushings were 2 of the best fixes for this car, and the lower ball joints... Those 3 things wear out and greatly improve driveability of these cars!! Thanks for all the info Glenmore, i printed your info out and followed to a T and I started at 9:00 A.m., finished with everything about 6 p.m. I had troubles getting the upper nuts off the mounts.. I have no idea how you took off the submounts, I couldn't get anything in there..... Also Sears didn't have a stubby wrench in MM, just standard.. I bought a rachet stubby 17MM to try to fit in there, but the racheting end was too big and bulky and wouldn't fit on the nut.... I just used a regular wrench... TO get more torque to undo the bolt I had to put the wrench closed end on, and do the trick where you put the closed end of another wrench on the tine and you can change the angle and pop it and it comes loose.. But wow.. Since I had to use the longer wrench, Seriously had to only move a few closed ent tines at a time.. Then hook again.. I swear it took 2 hours to undo those bolts.. But all the stuff you have to take off to get to the drivers side.. Wow... The PS lines and everything was a piece of cake.. I had to loosen the bolts on the compressor just to get it to push forward so I could fit in my wrench..... I also had to lower my cross member to get the new mounts in.. The old ones were flattened and they poped out easily... But then I tried putting in new pass side and I had to lower the cross member to get it in, when you do that, plenty of room... In fact I had to raise it up to start the upper bolt, so maybe I could have put them in by raising the engine more, but I think it's easier to lower the cross member than further stress the angle.. I was pumping up with my jack and it started to get more and more resistance, it's not worth cracking a manifold or something, just lower the cross member and give yourself some more room... Just get a big mama breaker bar, one of those 3 foot ones 1/2 in drive so you can get torque and bust it out, once they loosten one turn they are easy.... Anyways.... Put everything back together, you have to keep double checking yourself because you don't want to forget a bolt ehre, a bolt there... Write everything down and reverse it.. Close to the end I had a brass nut left over.. Then I remembered it was for the PS return holddown unter the air filter... Started he up and wow, it's soo smooth.. I think I had the original mounts.... Bravo.. Bravo.. Thanks Glenmore.. Now I just need to get my Timing belt changed and she's good for another 90K

TCPAUL, Ditto.. I ordered the Arnott arms, put them on last night and by the time you torque the bolt to 83 ft/lbs the crown nut is above the slot to put in the cotter pin.. Soo. I need to get me sum washers like you did and make up the space.. But I say they are a good replacement, my lexus handles so much crisper, the front end is nice and tight and I got rid of a front end slight wobble at 60mph... The clunking over small bumps is almost gone, I think there is some nomal sounds, but they are really reduced a lot.. I think the Lower ball joints/ Rear carrier's, Front stab link bushings and UCA's are the most important to this car.. in that order of importants to help the car achieve factory driveability with higher miles..

I mean yeah, obviously make sure the level is correct.. If the level is correct, the PS pumps on these cars are weak as they are and if it is wining the bearing in the pump is shot and replacement is probably the only fix.... Mine was leaking really bad.. But my car had 112K miles and was replaced in 2000... So these PS pumps don't last forever they are a weak point in the LS, I think because they work so hard because the steering wheel turns soo easliy and the body of the pump is made of plastic.. I wish all PS pumps were as good as the old metal Ford/Chevy pumps that you never have to mess with .. Don't understand this plastic pump stuff.. It's likely that you have air.. So make sure it it correct level, and cycle the wheels back and forth and back and forth and clean the screens like others said, but if it is making noise, it is probably too late to fix and replacement is your only option...

The hardest part is getting the hole on the shock mounting to line up with one of the 3 bolts on the strut mount.. I had to reinstall/install my strut 3 times to get it to line up and then hold it in there and put one of the 3 bolts to hold the whole assemble in there.. And also I had to buy a really long breaker bar to undo the nut on the bottom.. I had a 1/2" drive breaker bar about 1.5 feet long, no way you'll get it with that.. If you have an impact you're good.. But go get about a 3ft breaker bar they sell at advance auto, that'll take it off right away and just put a 19MM wrench on the other end... Rent a strut spring compressor, return it and youll get refunded.. I didn't have to take out my rear deck.. Took out the seat bottom and back.. and was able to reach in and undo the bolts.. The rear bolt is the hardest.. put your 14mm box end on it, and take another wrench and hook the box end with the open end of the 14MM and use it as sort of a breaker bar to get more torque.. you know what I mean.. You hook 2 wrenches together to get it longer to get the torque... Real easy, but it will take you some time, just alike anything else, you do the first one and the 2nd goes 3 x as fast...

PLF Was thinking about buying the Arnott UCA's.. How are your's holding up after a few months? Thanks

Thanks for the info Glenmore! That was the post I was looking for, tried doing a search but came up with 200 pages..LOL..

Hi All, Suffering worn out engine mounts.. I know i've ran across some posts for how someone changed out the engine mounts, particularly the difficult driver side.. Anybody who has done this can you offer any pointers? I've already changed out the transmission mount, that was really easy and my old one wasn't worn out, but the engine mounts look much harder to do? Thanks

I have 16" chrome rims from a 1994 SC400 on my 1991 LS 400, with 225 55 16s', I love them.. Look so much better than those sad 15" rims it came with..LOL..

I replaced my front struts with OEM from the dealer.. Nice.. I was quoted $139 for each rear strut for my 1991 LS 400.. My rears were so shot, 170K and original and really bouncy when more than just myself in the car.. I bought from http://www.lexpartsonline.com/ and they said OEM KYB's, I got them in the mail and they are the KYB GR-2.. They are silver in color where the original's were black.. I reused the insulator as mine was still soft and didn't need replacing.. my bumpers were also ok so reused them... I reused the bellow also, but probably should have bought those as they lost a few rings in it..LOL.. But I put in the KYB's and over small bumps the car feels firmer.. Of course I don't remember what it's like to have the car with new struts, so I don't know if the factory from Dealer struts wouold perform different.... But I can feel a very small difference, I can feel the front a little softer than the rear, the car handles sooo much better with the new struts, but again, my old ones were so shot... I also replaced the rear carrier arm bushings which were so worn out, that also I think contributed to the big improvement in handling in the rear of the car.. I like the way it drives, but I haven't had 4 people in it yet, but lik I said, firmer, but I have not drive with new OEM shocks to compare...

Yeah Jonqin, It's reasons like that we stick with air cooled engine's wth the 911.. So much simpler and I believe the air cooled engines' hold their value much better..A 1998 C2S is the same price used as a year or 2 old liquid color 911 we found when my brother was looking at them.... Hmm, didn't know about those seals... I sometimes think about getting a car that handles better but the lexus is so damn reliable, in this world when you have a reliable car you don't change it out because there are too many lemons out there cuz cars are too complicated nowadays... Kind of like the San Diego chargers, they should have kept the same coaching staff, change isn't going to fix some thins.. LOl