mejojo

Also, how far and how fast was the surge? 1/2 second taking you 5 feet? Kept going until you hit the brakes?

Joe

Correct.

Also, "non-interference" is often called "free-running".

Joe

Oh, my god......32 degrees below freezing? Is that Siberia, Minnesota?

I assume that this problem did not exist before the cold snap?

Does a grease exist that won't freeze in that temperature? You need to find one and re-lube the latches, first cleaning off any old grease.

What is the actual (non-windchill) temperature?

Joe

I think maybe a baby brother...say a SC430?

Joe

Non-interference

Joe

Kindness and appreciation is ALWAYS on-topic!!!

Joe

It appears to me that he's interested if it's the latter, and he's not interested if it's the former.

No need to get defensive. Just a simple question.

Joe

24 MPG is a good an honorable rate. I believe the EPA mpg is 22 or 23 mpg highway (right?), and I believe it's not all that often that you achieve greater than the EPA rate.

With California's oxygenated gas, I get about 23 mpg driving 90% @65 mph highway and 10% @35 mph through towns.

If you haven't already, you should definitely check your air filter.

I get the feeling that I actually get better mileage at 75-80 mph than 60-65 mph, but I don't have hard numbers since I don't do 75-80 on a regular basis. Anyone else feel like this?

Joe

See the bottom section on disposal of coolant.

Coolant Disposal

Joe

This happened to me about a year ago on my '92. I had to have it towed (transmission wouldn't go out of low) and it cost me about $100 for them to fix the wire(s).

If only I had KNOWN!!!!

Hope others can save $100 by reading this thread.

Joe

Haha, Craig....how much did you pay for this car that you expect to be perfect? And it's what...10-11 years old?

Yeah, I think your expectations are too high. Now, perhaps if you just laid down $60k+ for a new one......

Joe

In '94 I totalled my '90 in a rollover after a collision.

Not a scratch.

Joe

Lexus says it should be replaced at 90k, but some have said to have gone 150k and more without changing it.

It could last well beyond 122k, but it will likely break sooner or later. Best to pick a convenient time for replacement rather than have to rush around when it does break "unexpectedly".

Joe

Southern California - $1400/6 mo. for:

03 Mitsu Eclipse Spyder - full cov

92 LS400 - full cov

93 Explorer - full cov

94 Merc Tracer - no collision

2 adult drivers, 2 teenage drivers.

It was $1000/6 mo. for all the same above minus the Mitsu.

Joe

The wisdom seems to be that the problem with the needles is due to cracking of conductive paint on the backside of the needle, which results in loss of power to lights towards the end of the needle.

It seems the "fix" might be to get some conductive paint and repaint the backside of the needle, hopefully filling any cracks to restore the conductive properties. I don't know if any prep is involved, or whether to try just slapping some of the special paint on the back.

But I sure would like to know.

Joe

It was meant to be funny, not mean or anything.

If you search for ashtray, you can probably find at least a half-dozen exhortations to just "pull harder". It's a common thing for people to feel like they will break something getting this part out.

(oh....you *did* remove the gear shift plate first, yeah? It appears that wasn't included in the instructions above.)

Joe

Pull harder.

(Hint: You really don't have a special version of ashtray that is attached differently!)

Joe

If you're running that '95 on your original battery, it could be a smart move to replace the battery anyway, even if it doesn't solve the problem (which it may well!). Batteries do wear out, and 8-9 years is a decent lifetime. Give it a new battery for the "second half of life"!

Joe

It doesn't really matter....a BMW owner or MB owner will consider your Lexus as inferior, but so long as you know the truth, what's to care?

Joe

Get Type T-IV from your Toyota dealer. Can get it from Lexus, too, but they charge a couple of bux more per quart.

My understanding is that you should NOT use Dexron.

If you are low on ATF fluid, correct that ASAP! Then you can re-assess the noise issue.

While you're at it, why not get a whole bunch of ATF (at least 12 quarts) and cycle the stuff out. You only get about 1/4 of the fluid out per drain, so drain it, then add new. After a bit of driving, repeat the procedure. Then again, and once more, at least.

It would be a good idea to, on one of the dump cycles, take off the AT pan and put in a new filter screen from Autozone. It's cleanable, but you'll probably need new gaskets, and they come with the inexpensive filter kit from Autozone.

Joe

I personally wouldn't pay $50 for that. It's a simple procedure. Perhaps the most difficult part is finding the proper place to dispose of the coolant. You do not want to dump it on the street.

See the bottom section on disposal of coolant.

Coolant disposal

Joe

It's called setting your Avatar in your profile settings.

Joe

I don't think I supplied any instructions, except to say that Jim's instructions were easily followed. There's just a few screws to undo (10, I think...8 black and 2 gold). The only touchy part was removing the old LCD panel and cover plate from the face, because you don't want to crack the window. Soldering the 45 contacts was easy. I did it with a big old clumsy soldering iron...it's not tight work at all.

Joe

P.S. The camera is one of the first 2 MP cameras, a Nikon Coolpix 950, so it's pretty ancient. Also, you should realize that I had to reduce the size of the image so that people could look at it, otherwise most people would only see a small portion of the picture on their screen at a time. I believe the effective resolution of this picture is less than .5 MP.

This is a very common problem with 93-94 LS400.

Highly recommended, the seller "lex-pert" is a contributor to this forum....Jim Walker.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...&category=33711

Take the console out yourself, send it to Jim with $225, and you get it back all fixed.

It is said that your car will drive fine without the console installed. Just take extra care that you don't speed and that you don't run out of gas.

Good luck!

Joe

I don't believe I've encountered a varnish smell. No idea what you're smelling. (Are you lactose intolerant???? :whistles: )

Could the "varnish" smell actually be unburned gas? When the engine sputters (for whatever reason) there's a good chance that it could be shooting unburned gasoline out the exhaust system.

Try locating the smell. Is it coming out the tailpipes? Or is it in the engine compartment? Or?

Joe