wandawoods

sure, he is an independent mechanic who came highly recommended by a few friends who own lexus. email me your phone# to cwl@apaqd.com, and I will have him to contact you directly to setup a schedule. he is in Chamblee off Shallowford road. it will be about a 8-hour job, but he charged me less than half the labor rate at dealership. he does not mark up on parts whatsoever, and he will even go with you to Hennessy Lexus (on Peachtree Industrial) to get the dealer-only parts, and AutoZone or NAPA for minor parts, and you can just pay the merchants directly for parts which cost about $450 if you go for geniune Lexus OEM timing belt/water pump/pulleys. he works 5-days a week 3p-1a at Autozone, and he does all fixingup off work and on his off-days too.

mine was done by independent mechanic so Lexus system won't have any record of it. I did found a sticker left to the hook of engine hood and indicated the 1st TB change was done @ 77K. so, I might have changed the TB well ahead of schedule, but I'm glad I did cuz my mechanic found that the previous job was very shaddy, there were no gaskets anywhere for water pump assembly, it was just bunch of thick glue, and I might have water leaks pretty soon! there were also bunch of screws/bolts were missing too! I bought this car used and these were the things in there that a so-called $75 'pre-purchase' checkout could never find out cuz one needs to remove bunch of stuffs attached to engine to see the true pictures. also, my mechanic stated that while buying an used car, stays away from any car with 'super-clean' engine compartment cuz it may have been cleaned by pressure wash which is a really bad practice to all the electrnics under the hood! he rather see a dirty compartment so he can see what was done or was not to the car. specific to LS400, stay away from the one with air-bag type suspension! they are prone to failure and ultra expensive to fix (about $800 per wheel!) or to convert.

well... i did take care of the jammed motor for steering column. 1. take off the box-like cover behind steering wheel by removing two screws at bottom. top/bottom half are sort of 'snap on' type which can be easily removed with the column telescoping all the way out. 2. unscrew 3 screws with driver door open, then the small side panel for the motor itself can be removed to expose the plastic gear which controls the column up and down 3. the gear in there is somewhat worn and loose after years of use, but by pressing it inward with a flat-head screw driver, I was able to make it turned by adjusting the 4-directional button. this techniqe does alow the column to go down to my desired height. 4. reverse 1 & 2 to put all covers back on although it still won't go up-down by pushing the button, but at least it is now at the right height to me. at some point I will change out the gear which is not sold standalone at dealer. I guess the only hope is to find it in junk yard! dealer does sell the whole mortor for $524 + labor

not really, I primarily drive LS400 and I do use Nissan 200SX as my 'pickup' (it's a hatchback with large cargo area with back seats folded) wife is driving SC400, of course, took it over & gave me no chances whatsoever! mom drives ES300 dad drives Mercedes Maxima is a spare and we are selling it Corolla is shared by two teenager drivers two households (my parents are 4 houses away), 7 cars.

well... dealership here also stated that it won't chew up valves if TB breaks on 1UZ-FE engine...it's not to say we can always take dealer's words for anything...

it looks like it's just a big haha created by my friend's mechanic. I actually have my friend drove his LS400 next to mine, took top cover off both engines and compare. well they are identical, especially only 2 vacuum lines exist in front of the Lexus emblem which is specific to 94 engine. the gallery picture uploaded by VBdenny's shows 4 vacuum lines which is specific to his '90 LS400. thanks for all your helps. at least we know now how to tell the difference beween 90 and 94 engine.....

timing belt has been discussed quite often in this forum, so I uploaded a picture in the gallery for everyone interested to see the actual timing belt/water pump...while they were apart and about to be replaced by my mechanic couple days ago. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/albums/LS/ti...timing_belt.jpg since the belt itself does not go into the engine, so I guess it's safe to state that it's a non-interference engine.

just got mine done couple of days ago! if the car was serviced at any Lexus dealership, trust me, the car owner would know whether timing belt/pump/pulleys were replaced or not. because it would be a whopping $1200 job at dealership! unless $1.2K is just small change to him.... although it may last as long as 120K, but it seems that replacing TB @ 90K was mentioned and recommended quite a few times in this forum.

the situation worsens. now, whenever the car parks for couple hours, it spits out big puff of smoke in light-blue, and it does have 'exhaust' smell unlike much less smelly white 'steam' it used to have. one mechanic suspects it's 'valve sten seal' inside the engine!? any clues anyone?

I went to Midas again this morning. they assured me the noise is 'normal' and it takes 500~800 miles for the new brakes to 'settling in'. we shall see about that....

hmmm..... did you do the work yourself? if not, what did your mechanic say?

94 LS400 have my brake serviced at Midas about 10 days ago. the works were: all 4 pad changed, two new rear rotors, two front rotors machined, changed out a jammed bolt at one front caliper. since these were done, they make pretty annoying high-pitch noise at the end of braking right before the car completely stops. Midas says it's normal in 'break-in' period of new brakes. is there any truth to that?

FYI, I went ahead and got a pair of hydraulic struts ($399 shipped) from strutmasters.com to replace the two rear air struts which are dealer-only items for $622 each, not including labor yet! I paid my mechanic 3-hours labor to put them on. it was a straight replacement, nothing really stricky to do the converesion. but he did spend lots of time to carefully remove the back seats in order to access the top mounts behind seats. the ride is excellent and smooth! at least I can't really tell the difference between hydraulic type and the air-bag type when they were working. of course, the high-normal sport-normal buttons are now useless since new struts can't be adjusted electronically and they are mounted at fixed height. it suites me just fine since I don't really care about 'high' and 'sport' mode anyway. we also took out the control unit & the round mounting housing on the top of air struts. at some point, I will change out the front pair too!

he got 3 vacuum line routing diagrams from lexus dealership, 1st one for 90, 2nd one for 91-92, the 3rd one for 94. the actual routing on his engine matches the one for 90, and is nowhere near the one for 94. the mechanic thought this one could be from used engine importer who are known to buy used engines from japan. I heard that imported japanese engines don't usually go over over 100K KM (60K miles) because they don't usually keep cars as long as we have due to the congested traffic condition. high-moisture climate and frequent corrosions over there! I DO know that's true in Taiwan. usually cars rarely last over 100K KM even the engine is still good. this engine does have Lexus emblem on top. does anyone know whether the brand 'Lexus' is sold in japan domestically? or it's just created for export purpose?

it looks like one of my close friend got taken by a used car lot! in process of geting the timing belt replaced on his 94 LS400 bought about 1 month ago, the mechanic discovered that the auctual engine in there could be a 1990 1UZ-FE because the vacuum lines layout is consistent with 1990 diagrams obtained from lexus dealer, and it certianly does not match 94 model. aslo a few electrical sockets on the engine do not have anything connected to them. the coolant temp. gauge won't detect temp. ( reading 'cold' even engine is hot) because temp. sensor is entirely missing from the engine! 1. does anyone here know the major physical differences between 90 and 94 1UZ-FE engine? 2. is there any VIN or ID plate on lexus engine itself? or any plate can identify engine manufacturing date? 3. although it was 'sold-as-is', does he have a legal course because how can the dealer 'certify' the actual mileage of a 90 engine in a 94 car? we are thinking about bringing the car to lexus dealership for engine identification and get a confirmation letter to confront the used car dealer. any other ideas or recourses in this type of situation? thanks everyone for any input!

having so many cars under my name, how I wish I had your automotive skills....

yep, it turns out I got the whole timing belt business taken care of rather cheap! I recalled dealer wants $1200 for the TB job, and I got it done for under $600 including new thermalstat and cam shaft stuffs while they were all apart. better yet, he charges me only $100 labor to convert two rear airbag struts (one leaks air and sinking on me!) to a nice pair of hydraulic struts. that's easily a 3~4-hours job (removing back seats was pins in the butts). in fact, he is going to be busy to get the same TB thing done on my SC400 and ES300 so I can have peace in mind for all of them.

VBdenny, thanks a lot for digging out the instruction. will give it a try! or I can just bring the instruction to my mechanic....

will check for that lock! however, car is in mechanic's hands for timing belt/pump/pulley replacement. while he is at it, I also replace the thermalstat, two cam shaft assembly, and some gaskets and o-rings. the mechanic is highly skilled, careful, and referred by friends, and he only charges me $170 labor to do all that which can easily be a 6~8-hours job! anyone in Atlanta area needs Lexus repairs or pre-purchase check-out, I can refer him to you!

94 LS400 the motor to adjust steering column seems stucking up on me. it can do 'telescoping' (in-out) but it won't go up and down. it stucks at highest postion! while trying to lower the column by pushing the 4-directional button, I can hear the motor making click sound but the the column won't move at all. dealer wants $500+ for the motor itself + labor! I am thinking whether I can remove the cover behind steering wheel and maybe I can push it to lower position. even it stucks at 'low', which is much better postition for me to see all indicators at the bottom part of instrument panel, will be fine with me. I don't really care whehter it can go up-down as long as it's in 'low' position. anyone know how to remove cover behind steering wheel? a diagram will be very nice.... thanks everyone!

I arrived ATL from Taiwan in 85 to get my master in GA Tech. worked for an architecture firm for 5-years till late 91 when I started the PC retail shop. I got my green card in 88, then became US citizen in 94 (you got to wait 5-year min. after green card status to apply citizenship). eBay is truly a self-contained 'kingdom' on it's own! you got millions of sellers/buyers doing transactions 24x356. I was spectical at first, but now I am truly convinced it could be a GREAT business adventures for anyone if you knew how to do it! I sell and ship servers all-over US map! it's also global, I got lots of oversea buyers because of the ad effects of eBay listings! it's amazing that domestic and international buyers who never met you or phoned you can wire you $10K up front to buy a few servers! honesty, promptness, mainteining a good feedback profile are the keys to become truly profitable adventure.

I was from Taiwan, and turned US citizen in 94. I've been living in Atlanta for my entire American life so far. once was an architect for 5 years, specialized in computer aided design and drafting, then switched profession and became owner of a PC retail business for 10 years. however, since PC business in general turned non-profitable in earlier year 2K because the dominance of big guys like HP, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Sony... I folded the shop and turned to eBay which was the best career move I've ever made. now, from my home office, I've been producing and selling high-end rack-mount servers (some linux clustered servers can cost more than an used Lexus) on eBay for 2 years and making a good living out of it. I also export a lot to Europe thanks to eBay listings. primary buyers are small ISP's, web hosts, data centers, and small business whoever want their own web/internet/database servers to be co-located. eBay is truly amazing! folks are selling and buying anything from 50 cents stuffs to $300K Lamborghini. I bought both my 94 LS400 and 96 SC400 from eBay in 1-week span! I also own a 98 ES300 (My mom is the primary driver), a 93 Mercedes 400SEL (Dad is driving it, and I must say LS400 is a lot better car!), 2 Nissans (Maxima/200SX), and 1 Toyota corolla. whopping 7 cars, you can imaging that paying insurance (close to $1K) every month is truly a nightmare because we also have to include 2 teenager drivers very soon! I can see we got bunch of good folks here, and I am glad I have jointed the club!

I did not actually hit the gas to floor. I would say maybe halfway in short burst, driving mild up-hill and with OD on, and 1st gear registered 5000+ rpm before 2nd gear kicked in....

drove my 94 LS400 (115K) to lexus dealer for gerneral check-out, and got a confirmation from service dept that it's a non-interference engine. broken timing belt will NOT destroy engine internally and no bent volves. but I've made up my mind to change TB anyway.... but not at dealer though! they want $1200 for the job including belt+water pump+pulleys+labor.

brough my 94 LS400 to lexus dealer for gerneral check-out, and got a confirmation for service dept that it's a non-interference engine. broken timing belt will NOT destroy engine internally and no bent volves. but I've made up my mind to change TB anyway.... but not at dealer though! they want $1200 for the job including belt+water pump+pulleys+labor