wandawoods

before you spend $250 or $1200 at dealer, try this http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=5822& it's written for 94 LS4, but purportedly, the procedure works on 93.

for 97 or newer LS4, be aware that the key requires embeded transponder to turn on ignition.....

OEM is ceramic, Its good stuff. ← few months back, the part manager at one of the lex dealers told me all OEM pads sold at dealers are 'metalic', lex just dosn't carry any ceramic kind. I ended up using NAPA ceramic pads on all new cross-drilled (not slotted) rotors, and they are working very well on my 97 LS4, and the dust is very minimal.

type II has been long discontinued, and it's replaced by Type IV which is backward compatible.

complete tranny flush and refill (not just pan drain) takes 16 quarts! be careful if you go to an independent shop/chain for complete tranny flush, make sure they use the Toyota Type T-IV which is $7 per quart ($7x16=$102 fluid alone), and sold only at Toyota/Lexus dealer! so, if a shop quote you $100, fluid included, it's going to be fishy somewhere. also, if flush job is not done properly, it can blow the tranny seal on high-mile car, and that would be easily a $1500~$2000 mistake. this would be one of the exception that it should be done at dealer despite the high labor charge.

usually timing belt is not scheduled to be replaced till 90K hits. so, more than likely it's not done yet on the 94 w/80K you just purchased. timing belt replacement is a giant ticket item ($1200~$1500 at dealer), anyone would have 'remembered' it was done or not! no record found at dealer doesn't mean it has poor maintenance. to prevent price rip off, I never brought all my lex to the dealer to get regular maintenance done. instead, I had them done by trusty independent mech or shop, and I keep all receipts for all the works been done. so, no record from dealer is quite OK as long as seller can produce the prudent evidences of maintenance works at right interval.

that was the exact problem I had on the 94 LS4 I used to own. this is the fix: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...owtopic=5822&hl

baby alex, even you get the single bad air strut replaced now, the remaining 3 can go south anytime at anywhere. dont drain your money in the big 'hole' trying to keep the air sus. have them converted to regular struts for the long haul, and much cheaper too! air sus is nice and all that, but it's not worth the big cost and big headache on those high-mile 1st gen LS4... for those who's never driven an LS with bad air sus before: it's virutally undrivable! the under carrage will bump against pavement or curb a few times everytime you bring her out.

I did use strutmaster to convert a 94 LS4 I used to own. it's a bit costly compared to standard shock+spring, but it's a straight replacment of air strut so that you don't have to modify anything or add-on in order to convert. the ride is definately firm compared to air sus.

here you go: http://www.lextreme.com/ascon.html

yeah, it's really no reason why anyone should not change those 3 seals while everything is apart for tb/water pump replacement. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=19816 i hope VMF/Lextreme/lexls can add the steps of replacing 3x seals to their tutorials as part of the 'required' parts so that folks can 'remember' to change them out. it's also definately a good timing to replace the drive-belt (not the timing-belt) tensioner assembly ($65! including a new pulley). these small things (about $100 for 3xseals and tensioner) are rather inexpensive parts, but what kills you is the labor cost (by shop) or your time (DIY) to reach them if you don't do them now! as far as water pump is concerned, there are no if's nor but's, just change it regardless it's condition. we have seen some reported cases here that seized up water pump broke timing belt. also, do 100% coolant (toyota long-life red) flush-n-refill is not a bad idea at all since half of the coolant is gone already when you get it apart.

98~2k LS4 has VVTi engine which is interference engine. broken TB will be a hugh disaster (bent valves for sure). from 97 model year and up, lexus has changed the TB service interval to be part of the 120K or 7-year (whichever comes first) service. just changed TB on my 97 at 108k. the old belt is still in rather good shape. my mechanic said it should last at least another 20~30k! but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry, specially on VVTi engine. timing chain can definately break! the one in the 93 mercedes 400SEL I used to own did break at 95k, and cost me close to $5K to fix the mess!

VMF, just had the TB job done for my 97 LS4 about 10-day ago. remember to change out the 3x oil seals (2 @ CAM, 1@ crank pulley): http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=19816 also, it's a good timing to replace drive belt tensioner/pulley assembly since everything needs to be apart: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=19622 I did choose NGK iridium few months back, and they've been great. I got set of 8 off ebay for $50. note: just realizes this is an old, old post. anyway, do consider to add oil seals and drive belt tensioner to the 'to-do-list'.

I bet it's the tire balancing issues. the new set of tires on my 97 LS4 went thru balancing job 3-times before the vibration at high-speed disappeared.... a common mistakes while doing the tire balacing on LS4 is that mechanic usually doesn't bother to ensure the weight can clear the giant brake caliper at front wheels. the result is that weight pieces get knocked off immediately after you drive off the shop.

on the 94 LS I used to have, the air sus went bad at 110k, that seems to be the norm. Dealer sells air sus for $660 each wheel plus labor to install. no kidding there! not sure about buying an used one on eBay is a good idea because the replacement or any other wheel can also go out at any time. when regular shock going bad, it will just make your ride uncomfortable, but when an air sus going south, your car is almost undrivable! check out this often recommended and most economic solution: http://www.lextreme.com/ascon.html

well, owner's manual states that 'after engine runs for about 10 seconds, you are ready to drive', and that's the exact printed words. so I figure the engine/tranny must be thoroughly tested to guarantee proper and harmless operation under high-RPM, low-temp condition. especially the outrageous gas price nowadays, you don't really want to idle the engine for too long and get 0-mile per gallon! however, it also states that 'if the weather is below freezing, let he engine warm up for a few minutes before driving....'

Hi all, in the thick of timing belt/water pump job (by my personal mechanic with me watching from his back) for my 97 LS400. we spotted some signs of oil leaks at CAM/Crank shaft. my mech suggested the bad oil seals behind both CAM shafts and crank shaft. sure enough, after removal of CAM/crank shafts pulleys, the origianl o-ring type seals were indeed in pretty rough shape and engine oil are leaking from the seals. the inner rubber insert have lost all it's elastic and becomes so frail that it can be easily cracked just by pushing it with finger: the location of the seals are right behind 2x CAM shaft pulleys and the crank shaft pulley down there: (thanks to lexls.com for the picture) and you must remove the 3x pulleys (and of course the timing belt) in order to change out the 3 seals. so the next time when you're ready to do timing belt job, you have better to add them to the list of required parts for TB job. you don't really want to change just these 3 seals alone because you will have to remove the timing belt and the whole 9 yards again....even if the job is to be done by dealer or independent shop, ask the mechanic to change the seals at the same time. the seals are inexpensive but the labor to get there will kill your wallet. qty2 - lexus part # 90311-38036: seal, type T oil $11.34 (behind CAM pulley) qty1 - lexus part # 90311-A0001: seal, type T oil $13.62 (behind crank pulley)

personally, I would change rotors/caps/plugs/wires every 30k for my 3x lex as part of the major tuneup. but that's just me. owner's manal calls for plug replacement at 60k, I guess it's also a good timing to change rotors/caps which are rather inexpensive anyway.

I do recommend buying the complete tensioner assembly (including a new pulley) from autozone (part#305255, good for all 2nd gen LS4/SC4, made by Dayco, $65), and change out the old pulley first to see whether the noise will go away. if not, then it must be tensioner itself. also, unlike SC4, u don't have to remove coolant tank on LS4, but SC4 has a long nose, so it has a lot bigger engine compartment to work with. LS4 is so darn tight, and so little room between fan blades and drive belt.....

I didn't have pix taken. basically, it's one part cover the other part, so you end up unscrewing lots of bolts and removing bunch of stuffs. two major steps: must remove alternator because alternator and tensioner share one long bolt (the one in the top red circle shown in picture), and the alternator's sockets is positioned in front of the tensioner's socket: http://www.lexls.com/images/timingbelt/timingbelt20.jpg there are 2 pieces of plastic molds must be removed because they are overlapping belt tensioner assembly: 1. left CAM shaft cover 2. the piece between tensioner and idler. in order to remove these pieces, you must firstly remove timing belt cover, air intake, and one piece leads to another.... http://www.apaqdigital.com/ls400/tensioner.jpg (picture was taken by you or lextreme!) will you do a new tutorial after you get the job done?

r u referring to the 'tensioner pulley' for serpentine belt (lexus calls it drive belt)? advanced-auto-part sells it for $21 vs dealer price at $70. I'm not sure OEM is 3 times better than the one sold at advanced over the weekend I had it changed on my 96 SC4 (identical engine parts to my 97 LS4, presumably the same to your 96 LS4), but the noise didn't go away! it turned out to be the belt tensioner itself was bad. not an easy job to change the belt tensioner! you must remove alternator, coolant tank, air-intake, timing belt cover, some vacuum lines in order to yank the darn thing out! but it should be a piece of cake for you since you are capable of doing TB job urself... <_< about to do the timing belt job on my 97 LS4, and your TB tutorial should come in very handy... BTW, if you need to change the belt tensioner also, autozone sell it for $65 including pulley preinstalled.

well, u r welcome. I also was helped many times by lots of great posts from lots of great folks here!

like you, I also have 3 lex (97LS+96SC+98ES and one wreck 94LS a year ago), and I'm thinking about buying a GS....you are right! once hooked, just can't stop it! ;)