miamistyle

Have you tried the obvious, like plugs, wires, caps, rotors?

Congrats on the DIY! When you get around to flushing your Power Steering, I would suggest Mobil 1 ATF synthetic. Also after the flush you should clean your solenoid screens. I did both and got great results!

This might help: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/lighting/airbaglight.html

I didn't see anything in my users manual either for my '96. I'd love to have the doors lock when in Park!

Do you have a thermostat gasket? I'm not sure on the 1st gen, but I didn't get one for my 2nd gen and had to scramble for one. Also, do the 1st gens have crank and cam seals? If so, I didn't see them mentioned on your list and it would definitely be the time to do them if the 1st gen has them. Looks like your going to save a bundle on doing it yourself!

Another speaker that would work is the Kicker Comp (not VR) 8" which can be used as a 'free air' speaker like the stock sub on your LS. I almost went this route myself, but went with a sub in the trunk with an amp with a ported box. http://www.kicker.com/06/kicker_home.html

I had what I thought was a leak near the bottom trans bolts but wound up being a seal on the side of the transmission that leaked down. As said it could be anything.

The '96 has the interferance engine, which means if you're belt goes so does your engine. You may get many more miles out of that belt or....... :whistles: My 96 had 112k when I bought it and had never had the TB/WP replaced, I had it changed the next day. I also had them change my plugs, wires, caps, rotors, pcv, air/fuel/cabin filter, fluids, etc. Can't say I felt any difference at all, but I sure felt a whole lot better.

Glad to see you did it yourself, and good job on the Brembo upgrades!

Yeah, you're right. I tend to go overboard when it comes to the techy stuff. For most people I think the cable mentioned earlier is a great solution. Theres also a tutorial form PureDrifter coming soon to show how to hook up the iPod to the stock head unit as well. We can all gather our facts from the different members that have succesfully gone down this road.

I haven't actually done the iPod mod yet. I'm doing the research and watching pioneers like yourself first. I'm going to go with a 'home' docking station and hide it and convert it for my car. They have some really good ones with remotes with a full display LCD, not just artist, song & track. I don't wany any wires, just a remote. There's several docking stations that I'm looking at: http://www.play-ewoo.com/ http://www.alive-style.com/remote.html http://www.keyspan.com/products/TVI200C/ I think the keyspan is my last choice, quality reviews seem to be poor. I'm sure there are more and I am still researching.

Way to go! I've been reading and trying to figure how to do this as well, and may have a few things to maybe help improve on your set-up. As SKperformance suggested you should deffinitely put a switch to toggle between your iPod and CD and have both. Below is what I'm planning on using. As you can see you have power lead to charge the iPod, L&R audio and even video if needed. I thnk you may also get better sound output from the dock instead of the mic and not have to worry about turning volume to max on the iPod. There are many out there similar to this, but this pic is from http://www.autosound2000.com/ipodadapters.htm. It's only like $30. Let me know what you think.

As far as the new repairs needed such as strut rods, mounts and bushings are you having any symptoms or problems? Clunking over bumps or vibrations? Give us some feedback on how your car feels or what you have noticed. You may be getting early recommendations from your dealer which they are famous for. On your next repair job, I would go back to your indie and tell him you have a hook-up on the parts and will provide them and you need a quote for the labor. I would also find out the labor times for these repairs so you know where more or less where your indie should be and work him from there. You can get a lot of labor rates from: http://www.bedlib.org/ebsco.html If you do need strut rods, you can get them from lexuspartsonline for like $95 each. Labor from my indie ran me $120, so it was about $300 total. Good luck on your upcomings!

I've been looking for that long lost cousin!

That has got to be the deepest glossiest paint I've seen! I've been hearing a lot on Zaino, but can't seem to find it anywhere.

I've got the Turanza LS-Hs, they are in balance also and are a pretty quite ride. They only have about 300 miles on them right now though, so I can't speak about later mileage. I reserached a lot on tires before purchasing for a quiet and smooth ride. Overall I am pretty happy with them except where I purchased them from locally. They didn't change my valve stems after charging me. The next day I went back because one was leaking. 1 hr. later I went back for another leaking. After that I got pretty *BLEEP*ed and had them change them all out and rebalance. Now everything is good.

Nothing like peace of mind. Just got doing mine as well. Glad you got that vibration issue resolved.

That's what I was afraid of. I was hoping you could reprogram but had my doubts.

Thanks Scott! That is odd that they skipped the keyhead for 3 years. The only thing that is looking like it may be trouble from the pic is the 1 button lock/unlock.

I like the integrated remote on the key on the 98+ Ls400s. Is there anyway to reprogram one to work on my 96 LS400? I've seen the uncut keys on eBay for like $50 like the one below. I'd love to toss that big bulky remote if I can. I'm hoping it can be done.

What year did they start the windows down while holding unlock button? I tried holding down the unlock button on my '96 and nothing. Wish I had this function.

Must be nice to have access to the the right tools. Good idea about the c clamp, I bet that would work as well.

Did you need a drill press to get those in and out? I was actually looking at those Armstrongs initially.

No prob on the PDF. I'm sure the instructions can be shortcutted, I would do a search here for strut rods and I'm sure you'll find tons of info and probablly some shortcuts. I do remember reading to mark the strut rods or something so when you install the new ones you won't need an allignment. I agree with not messing with the bushings. Gotta press 'em out then press 'em in. Forget it! Good luck and let us know how it comes out.

I ordered the entire assemblies OEM. The OEM's have the 'rubber' bushings which from my research is what I wanted. The best price I found was from lexuspartsonline.com. Are you doing the job yourself or sending it out? If you're a DIYer here's the steps: strut_bar_removal.pdf