90LS400Lexus

As a Mercedes owner, this is hard for me to watch! This identical to my Mercedes!!!

Yeah, the 1990-94 mounts are the same and the 1995-99 mounts are the same. They look identical, but there is somehow a slight difference.

If its actual miles, that car is not even broken in at 135K. I imagine that the seals may just be old due to age. I know that the valve cover gaskets go around this time... mine are leaking on my 1991 and were seeping on my 1990 I had 6 years ago. I have not heard of that other oil leak you mentioned, though, especially at that mileage, but I am sure its not out of the question. I dont have any oil leaks on mine and it has 222K (except the valve cover gaskets). Instrument cluster issue is common, though I have not heard too much of those problems you mentioned at such low mileage. Still with those low miles, I would just repair yours and keep it. Its hard to find a low mileage gen 1 LS400. I am curious.... what about your power steering pump? Any leaks or issues there yet? Now that is a very common issue on these. I am definitely not the most knowledgable person here, so hopefully more will chime in. Welcome to the site btw.

lol... thats what I was thinking, but today when in a drive-thru, I noticed a puff of smoke blow out from under the hood. :( So maybe its not healed itself. Strange, because when most cars have leaky valve covers, its more of a steady smoke, but on this car its occasional heavier puffs of smoke that come and go every so often. Maybe its where its coming off as a drip from somewhere and onto the manifold or muffler.

Thanks for that data. Its good to know that its not the transmission. I thought that the torque converter was causing it. I thought the tranny mounts were causing the "bucking" under light acceleration between 35-50 too, but its still doing it even with the new mounts. I will have the throttle body cleaned by a mechanic know. Since my mom is getting the car in 3 weeks, my car can do the plugs. I think the tranny fluid/filter had already been done about 25K ago, so it may be OK for awhile longer. He will also have to address the power steering pump and motor mounts. For some reason, the valve covers seem to have "sealed themselves" for awhile anyway. No more of that occasional puff of smoke I was seeing from under the hood from oil burning on the valve cover gaskets and it dont have that oil burning smell in the engine bay anymore... its been gone for about 6 months.... thats strange. <_< The hesitation, or bucking on light acceleration is pretty common from what I recall reading about it here when I got my LS400. What I found was to eliminate it entirely took a few steps: 1. Cleaning the throttle body/plenum made the most difference. 2. Having a tuneup performed, (plugs, wire harness, fuel filter etc.) 3. Transmission fluid change with filter. I had the hesitation on light throttle and kind of a bucking sensation common around 45 mph. Again, step 1 made the biggest difference, but all the problems didn't go away 100% until the wear items were replaced in steps 2 and 3.

You dont need the dealer for everything. Also for dealer type work, try your local Toyota dealer for cheaper service. I now get the oil changed at my local Toyota dealer for less. Especially since my Lexus dealer didnt actually do it and charged me for it the last time I had it there. However my local Toyota dealer (we have three, but one is in with our local Lexus dealer), but the closest has changed owners and prices have went way up.

A Toyota tech I know changed the fan bracket bearing on mine (which was down to the water pump) for $125 labor.

LS430 :)

Well, thats what I was thinking. I had no issues with my old LS and it had over 260K miles.... and mine still shifts fine... just has that "bumping" to it. Yes it does! I was amazed at how much smoother the shifts are... while driving and while shifting into gears R/D. I wish I knew for sure what the bucking/lurching was... its enough to bobble my head sometimes and its annoying... its like something has too much slack. :(

Unfortunately, I forgot to report that I still occasionally have that "bucking" on light acceleration as the grade of the road changes. Its like there is "slack" somewhere and it will lunge unevenly back and forth. I am hoping its the motor mounts. If not, I am afraid its the torque converter, or so I was told by someone else. :( I thought these transmissions lasted longer than 200K miles. My car was never abused and has only received the best service. Of course, someone else also said it could be the throttle body needs cleaned. Hmmm. The transmission shifts flawlessly... smooth and smooth.

Wanted to update on this... got the mount, installed and it eliminated ALOT of vibration, but some still there. I guess the engine mounts are shot as well. :( Will do those when I can afford to spend money on it. Too many other things going on now. The transmission shifts so much smoother too and no clanking sound when I shift into gear! Well worth $62.00.

Yep, at 167K, probably needed. The tranny mount (at least on the 1990-94 LS) is super easy and cheap to replace, so start there and see what happens. It eliminated alot (but not all) of my vibration, but my car has 222K. I know the engine mounts are bad, but I cant afford that now. That steering shudder dont sound good. Is the fluid level OK? Sounds like your rack is going, but I dont know. Just a guess. Good luck.

Hello and welcome. Well, I cant offer too much help, but I will add something. :) Oil leak, I am unsure of. AFAIK, thats pretty uncommon on these cars. This is my 2nd LS (1991), it has 222K and my other (1990 and the one in my avatar) had 260K and neither ever leaked a drop of oil, but wow, does my current one leak power steering fluid! :o If your PS fluid was low - check for leaks carefully. Power steering pump leaks have plagued (or will soon plague) every 1990-94 LS400 on the road. Its a given. They have lousy PS pumps compared to the rest of the cars qualities. If its low, its probably leaking. Hopefully it had just evaporated or something. Parking brake light. My car started doing this about 8 months ago when the car was running and with the brake off. It would sometimes be dim, then it got brighter, then dim again, etc. I was told it was likely where my power steering fluid was leaking into the alternator (its below the PS pump) and it was causing the alternator to weaken, causing the light to come on. Strange, I know. I questioned it too, and wondered why it was not the battery light that was not illuminated, rather than the brake light. Anyway, mine stopped coming on about a month ago, but the light still works, so I am not sure what changed. I never really got a straight answer. My dealer (one of the local Toyota dealers) said it was where I had two brake lights, one tail light and one license plate light burned out, but they are still out and the brake lights not coming on now. Shows what they know though because according to the owners manual, it mentions nothing of this... it said the brake warning light either means the service brake (parking brake) is applied, or the brake fluid level is low. There is a rear light failure warning light, but mine is burned out... I guess from where the back lights have been out for so long. It needs a warning light for your burned out warning light. lol. Oil used... not sure. I either take mine to the local Lexus or Toyota dealer and let them change it. They use Castrol I think. Hope this helps.

Move to where its extremely hot, but you live near Phoenix, so you already do. lol. Mine too when its really hot out. :)

** AH, drove the car to work today with the new tranny mount! So much smoother! It still has a slight vibration, but nothing like it was before. Most impressive is the shifts of the transmission now. SO MUCH SMOOTHER shifting now with the new mount. I can hardly feel it shift now. I am also not hearing that clank when I shift into gear. I imagine with new motor mounts, it will be a smooth as new again! :) I cant wait. Will have to wait awhile though. :(

I've been reading on the site about mounts (engine and transmission). Would you tell me please what mounts do besides address vibrations? Don't they also address other kinds of noise problems? Thanks, franck Well, on my 91, I was also hearing a clank occasionally when shifted into gear. Its gone now. I am also getting a "buzzing" sound when the engine temp is cold... I think its outside panel under the windshield vibrating because of the engine mounts. I know the engine mounts are more involved, so it may be awhile before we address those.... my next mission is a new power steering pump! :o

Well, I am sure the engine mounts on our '91 are toast too if the tranny mount was that bad. Tell me more about them... where can they be purchased? OEM cheapest I had found were $90 each and I was quoted $150 to change the engine/tranny mounts (but I have already done the tranny mount obviously), so maybe that Toyota tech I know will do it a little cheaper for the engine mounts only. Thanks.

Well, good and bad news! Good news - I am amazed and have a great dad... I came home from work today and my dad had changed my transmission mount! I had crawled under there and saw the new shiny mount! Bad news is there was no photos tutorial, that I was going to do. Obviously its pretty easy though! :) He came by and said it took him about 10 minutes to change it... so he said anyway. :) The old one is all smooshed up like everyone elses I have seen at this age. I have not driven the car, but I started it and did not feel that "rotation" type vibration that it had before. I still feel some, but thats probably the engine mounts! A task for later. I will drive it tomorrow and see how it feels. I am also no hearing that noise I was hearing before when placed in reverse. Thanks for all of the advice and info! Here is the old mount....

Well, I posted a new thread on this, because I could not find this before. I recently noticed that my needle sets near "0" when the car is idling in drive. It will go up when driving, etc, but it seems to be lower than it should be. Has anyone else tried the above technique and had success? I am wondering if this is my issue?

Thanks for that Billy. I will print it and take it out with me. I am going to try to take my camera and do a step-by-step tutorial and post it here for others. I just wanted something to go by.... I also didnt want the tranny to fall out and crush me. lol. Thanks again!

Yow, those were trashed. I imagine the engine mounts on my '91 are like that too. :(

I have never paid much attention, but yesterday, when I was setting at a traffic light (car in drive of course), the tachometer was almost down on zero. When I got home, I looked again and it was almost down on zero. In park, its a little above zero. It goes up when accelerating, but seems like it dont ever go very high, but I know it dont take much RPMS for these engines and normal driving, but zero at idle seems extreme. Whats going on with my tach? (ALL other gauges work perfectly).

Hmmmm... my post I posted before this a little while ago vanished. <_< Anyway, yes that is cheap. I will check them on the price of the engine mounts when we do those. FINALLY got the car up on the ramps this evening, but it was getting to late to start on it. Plan is to start on it tomorrow evening when I get home from work.... if I can only find a thread that mentions all of the tools I need and what I need to do. ;)

Was it no longer listed in the owners manual in the 96 models? I know that my 90 and 91 Lexus owners manuals show how to replace the bulbs. I had to change a headlight bulb out on my '91 today... I got the book (owners manual) out because it had been awhile since I had replaced the other. The irony is that the owner manual dont mention a certain nut that has to come off to get the assembly out. :) The parking lights on these cars are a pain in the neck to get on and off... at least this has been my experience on my LSs. The license plate lights I also replaced and can also be tricky getting the lens/housing to line up.

Hmmm... not sure. I ordered it from a Lexus dealer in Florida. It has "Toyota" stickers on it. I paid $62.00 total (with shipping).