DanW

Denver! HTH be_11.pdf

Nothing at all? No click, no nothing? The LS will do that if you're not in park, or if it thinks its not in park....dirty switch maybe. If the dash lights up, and you twist to start and nothing happens, that'd be my guess.

The de-icer that is used around Denver (and probably many other cities) is magnesium chloride, and it murder on unfinished metal. (As a de-icer it actually works pretty good) Many car wheel are not finished on the rims, where the tire bead seats, and this stuff corrodes the heck out of it. On my LS400, I have one rim that is a major problem, one that is minor, two that seem ok so far. And the spare is about new. The problem is that the corrosion causes the bead to not seat properly and the tire slow leaks. This substance obviously was not widely used as a de-icer when toyota designed these things. So.... 1) Does anyone know if this can be fixed? 2) Are there any good option on refurb/refinished oem wheels for the 1st gen ls400? I never like any of the aftermarket ones...just me. 3) Do the LS430 wheels have this problem? As a temp fix, I may swap out the malignant one with the spare, and put the spare on a cheap oem rim. Thanks for any help.

DanW, Thank you for the notes. Have you noticed any change in performance, i.e. fuel economy? Thanks, glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280 Performance, no. Fuel Economy, about 1 mpg overall. Seems like mileage is less sensitive to cold weather that it was last year. Best part, that pesky CEL doesn't come on!

This is a belated post, since I did this about 6 weeks ago. Just wanted to wait and see if it fixed things. It did. Got code 25 one day and everything ran like it usually does. Just fine. Most likely oxygen sensors. www.lexls.com has a super article on how to change primary and seconday o2 sensors. I took all 4 out, and replaced them with the Walker ones without plugs from www.oxygensensors.com. Again, see www.lexls.com. One of my primary sensors was shot. The other was close. The secondaries were probably fine, but they are cheap. A few notes on the process: Mine appeared to be original. At 198K, that's incredible. They are not hard to get out, but the o2 socket sold at oxygensensors.com (part 25001) will not fit the OEM primaries. It is not deep enough...the OEM ones are huge. However, it is very handy for getting the Walker primaries (particularly the one behind the sterring rack) tightened back in. It fits the Walker sensors nicely. You'll need a 7/8"or 22mm combo wrench with a nice long shank....longer is better. Its not a hard process, but it takes a while since you don't have a lot of room to work. Splicing the wires on the Walker ones without plugs is not big deal, adds maybe an hour to the process. Basic soldering skills really. Hope that helps.

Mine did that until I replaced the outer tie rod ends and got it aligned. Only one of them really needed replaced actually, made a big difference. Mine has front end damage too, but now it tracks nice and straight.

There are some threads on this, but since the search mechanism won't let you search for words under 4 letters, searching for 71 is a challenge. Test the egr valve by applying a vacuum while the engine is idling. the engine should hesitate and maybe die. If it does, you're egr valve is fine. you can just suck on the vaccum tube....but keep in mind the gasses this system recirculates. the port you want to apply a vacuum to is on the very top of the egr valve on a 90-93, seems like 94+ was different so I dunno. If the EGR valve is ok, most likely your egr vacuum modulator needs replaced. It cost about 70 bucks and takes like 5 minutes. I think this and the egr valve are unitized in a 94+, since my service manual is for a 94 and doesn't show them as seperate. Neither did the one at the lexus dealer. Was code 71 intermittent (CEL on again, off again) for a while? That's almost certainly vacuum modulator. If it just came on and stayed on one day, could be the egr pipe cracked.

Let me be the first to say I'm glad you're ok. I had a wreck just like that...waiting to turn left....except it was back in 1998. Got hit by a Sunbird that totalled. Girl that hit me (actually someone I knew!) brakes failed and darn near flew threw the windshield. I also had some neck pain. It went away in a week or so. If it doesn't please go see a doctor. Again....glad you're alright. My dad always said 'the car can be replaced'.

By '2/5ths' I assume we're talking about the second mark up from cold. The temp never stays below 1/5th for very long, even when its 0 degrees out. Mine runs close to or at 2/5 most of the time, just a hair over when its like 100 degrees out. It's not really even warmed up until 1/5th. Sounds like your car runs fine. The ls400 is a little bit quirky...there will be many more non-problems to worry about but ultimately you'll love owning it!

That's interesting....according to carfax this car began its life in california. I didn't know code 71 was only a CA thing....these days most places are a lot stricter on emissions than they were in 92, so in a way its probably nice to know when the egr is malfunctioning....Denver is getting pretty tough on the issue.

For anyone else who is having the same symptoms, I finally got around to caring about this. Everything I could gather suggested the EGR vaccum modulator failing caused this intermittent CEL and code 71, with the CEL eventually coming on for good. Amonth or so ago I took the vaccum modulator out and soaked it in seafoam for a few hours. Let it dry overnight. Pulled the EFI fuse to turn the CEL off. The CEL came back on almost immediately, code 71, and it never went off again for over 1000 miles!! Trying to clean it actually seemed to make it worse. Then I was on vacation for 2 weeks and sort of didn't care. Last week I replaced the vaccuum modulator (cost about $70 and takes about 5 minutes). I have had the car out for 3 drives and CEL has not come back on yet. I took apart the old VM and it was all cruddy and the spring was corroded bad. The new one felt much more 'springy' when I tapped it on a table. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the replies. It almost sounds like I shouldn't worry about it. Its not that loud, so turning on the radio or even the AC on medium or high 'fixes' it. I'm not losing any brake fluid, and the booster itself pumps up solid with the engine not running....doens't leak....it's just annoying.

had the same problem with an 02 gs 300 it was bad had to be replaced lucky it was still under warranty When you say it was 'bad' what does that mean? Did it or will it eventually fail? Thanks for the info.

Oh and by the way, it only happens when you depress the brake pedal, and only sometimes (maybe every 3rd or 4th time)

My power brake booster makes this annoying buzzing sound....doesn't do it all the time. Its sort of a faint, high pitch buzzing or squealing sound. Engine doesn't have to be running. I'm sure its coming from the booster. Testing per the factory manual, it doesn't seem to be leaking. Has made this sounds since I bought the car over a year ago and doesn't seem to be getting any worse, its just annoying. Any ideas? Its just starting to get on my nerves...