Falcon6

Thank you sooooo much! That's great info and I will try it soon. I'll check back to let you know what happened.

Hello All, I have a 91 LS400 and I have been dealing with electrical issues for some time now. Here's what happened: 1. Driving to work one night, all dash lights came on and car coasted into parking lot. 2. I replaced alternator and battery and lights still didn't go out but "flickered" off and on randomly. 3. I then added an additional alternator wire in case the original's fusible link was burnt. The car ran with the flickering dash lights for about 2 months. 4. Car died again. 5. Had the batt and alt tested and both were bad. Due to the alt not being able to charge the batt sufficiently, the batt died and i'm not sure how the remanufactured alt went bad. 6. Replaced both again. This time I followed up on a post I read about the ground wire going through the left trunk hinge. I found it and replaced a section in it and several other of the wires there that were brittle and stiff. 7. Result? Dash lights still on. car still died. Now My Questions: Can anyone tell me where all the ground wire locations are? I was putting the alternator in and noticed a grounding strap on the passenger side of the engine bay. Are there any others? Has anyone had this problem before? How did you fix it? Thanks

Hi Guys, I have a 91 LS400 and the other day I was driving to work (25mi) and when I pulled into the parking lot I noticed most of my dash lights were on (brake, low coolant, tail light, battery light etc). There was no change in the performance of the car. If I had not looked down, I would never have noticed. I took the car to Autozone and got it tested. Bad battery and Alt. I replaced both and while replacing the alt, I was connecting the wire to it and made contact with the frame of the car with the wrench I was using........there were sparks. :o When I went to drive the car, it idled fine. When it got to 1000rpm, the dash lights came on again. So every time I get to a stop light and idle; no warning lights. When I press the gas, once past 1000rpm; all warning lights lightn up. Then, today when I started it first thing in the morning, the lights came on and stayed on. I went to have the alt tested again and the computer reading said: "check connection or wire". The service guy recommended running a wire from the alt straight to the battery to see if it is the fusible link. Now the questions: 1. I did a search on this forum and found out what a fusible link was but are the only fusible links located in the fuse box? The reason being is that when I look down into the fuse, the little wire connection is still connected although it looks a little discolored. 2. Are there any other options if it's not the fusible link? could it be a short in the alt wire itself? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

What exhaust and cold air intake are you using? What size tires/wheels do you have? This is awesome as I was considering doing some mods on my 91 but didn't want to hurt fuel economy. I currently get 24 mpg. I was getting 20mpg before stock air filter replacement. If I can improve perf and mpg that would be excellent!

I have had problems with my heat ant found out this same valve wasn't opening and closing like it was supposed to. I thought about bypassing it but I tried manually pulling on the cable on the firewall (there's a tab on the end of the cable) and this opened things right up. I still have temp control and everything. I'll keep going this route until I can afford a new valve. I can't imagine anything going wrong if you bypass this valve. I also think the car would run cooler due to longer coolant path instead of hotter due to longer intervals between actually entering water jackets in engine and the trip through the heater core which extracts more heat from coolant.

Thanks so much. It is really a great, solid car. It's good to know I don't have to look goofy every time I fill up. Thanks again, this is an awesome forum! Falcon6

Hey Guys, I have a 91 LS400 and the fuel filler door has been working perfectly until yesterday (had the car a year). I went to pop the door open and I heard the sound but when I went around the car, the door was still closed. I had to work the switch several times and finally gently use a screw driver. I don't want to be that guy who needs a screw driver just to put gas in his car! When I bought the car I noticed that the fuel filler door was slightly off center (the gap on the left side was smaller than the one on the right. Now there is no gap on the left side and I've got the grand canyon on the right (where the hinge is). Is this hinge adjustable? Something must be adjustable because the door is gettig worse and worse. Any help would be greatly appreciated Falcon6

Hi everyone, I just bought a 91 LS400 w/ 165K miles. I paid $3700. Everything on the car works and it does not have the air suspension. Of course there are some things that will be needing attention and I will list some of them below as I desire your help to shorten my search for the best solution. I had to drive from Charlotte NC to Canton GA to get the car and I must say that the ride back was awesome. As I mentioned earlier, here are some things that need attention: 1. Suspension: I have read a ton of posts on this forum concerning the suspension and I think that I know the general direction I want to go but my question is this; I think "lextreme" has a post in the buyer's guide on converting "air" suspension to conventional. I saw that the Strutmasters conversion came with the coil spring already attached to the strut. Can this kit replace a conventional system as well? This will save me from having to compress the new springs etc. 2. Fog Lights: I tried to turn them on but either I didn't follow the correct procedure (seemed like a simple rotating of a knob) or they are malfunctioning. Any ideas? 3. Slightly worn leather: I've read about having leather re-dyed, is this the way I need to go or can I condition back to life. There's just slight discoloration and minor cracking in a couple of areas. If I nee to re-dye then would a regular auto upholstery shop do it? 4. Missing left rear wood grain for door: Any good sources for pieces or kits? 5. What color is it? I don't yet know how to post pics but the car seems to be a Taupe color with matching interior leather. It has a slightly darker shade to the lower cladding. Anyone know the factory color name? Thanks in advance for your input and I look forward to many years with you guys and my new addition. Falcon6

Thanks alot. I have realized over the years that there can be a huge difference in price even locally among the auto store chains. Shopping around definately saves huge $$$. You guys just saved me a ton of time shopping for good prices on genuine stuff. I am the DIY type and actually enjoy working on my cars. I don't enjoy it enough to buy a Q45 but I enjoy it at any rate. Thanks

I really appreciate the input. I feel alot better about going after a nice LS. I do understand and am prepared for expected maintenance on an older car. Are there any catalogs or dedicated parts web sites for the LS? I'm about a month away from purchase and I want to start pricing some things. Anyway, thanks again. This is exactly the info I was looking for.

Let me clarify. By "weekend" I meant fun and enjoyable. I do understand that when you are dealing with luxury anything, you are looking at higher maintenance. I forgot to mention that rear wheel drive has spoiled me. I went to the NICOclub.com forum and found exactly what you said. That's not the route I want to go. I have been looking at some rather nice 400s and I think I'll take my chances with Lexus. Because it will be a weekend only car, I feel that I will be able to deal with whatever maintenance that may be needed. I will keep searching this forum for common areas and address accordingly. I plan on spending between 4-7k on the car and it doesn't seem like that will put me in 94+ territory. I like the 90-93 just fine though. Thanks for your feedback. I'll be reviewing this thread just in case someone has something to add. You guys are great.

I was thinking about buying a Lexus as a weekend car/backup car. I had a MB 300E which was a great car but I gave it to one of the members of our church who needed a car. I have done alot of searching on this forum (which is awesome) and it seems that along with the expected items listed in the buyers guide, you guys seem to deal with alot of electrical gremlins. I do undersdtand that we are talking about a potentially 16 yr old car. What maintenance item would you say has been the most troubling for you and your LS. The other cars I have been considering are the Infinity Q45 (94-95), MB 560 SEL (87-91) and BMW 525i (89-91). I thought I had it narrowed down to the Q45 and LS400 and I have been going back and forth in my mind ever since. I think the LS400 is timeless in design compared to the others. I have had very little if any trouble out of my MB (1988). I am just looking for the least potential for hideous maintenance out of the cars I've mentioned. I like the looks and positive things I've heard about the LS. I just don't want a 4000lb piece of driveway jewelry. Thanks, Falcon6