90LS400Lexus

I have heard so many different answers about the 1995-97 LS than any other car I have ever seen. I know that the 1990-1994 is NOT an interference engine, but like OmarG said, he knew someone with a '95 and if the belt snapped and damaged the engine, then its likely an interference engine. It sure looks like the same engine though.

It wouldnt do me any good... only a moron would think my car is low mileage. I dont have the digital speedometer anyway.

They have timing belts. The early ones are good cars and some of the most reliable of the era, but with age/mileage the power steering pumps end up leaking like a seive (sometimes steering rack too), valve cover gaskets leak and are $$$ to replace, motor/transmission mounts, HVAC display blacks out, instrument cluster lights have woes and a tiny wiring harness in the trunk can go bezerk because the wires get twisted and frazzled and the frayed wiring causes things to go nuts. Of these, the only problem I have not experienced is steering rack leaks and instrument cluster lights and trunk wiring (already addressed). If a LS dont have these problems, they soon will or already have had and it was replaced. Just dont buy a money pit like I did. Good luck.

I am going to try to change the tranny mount on my LS400 next week... I think that will eliminate alot of my vibration issues. It has 219K and its original. :o I have the cold idle vibation and when I slow to a stop and I have the radio off, etc, I can hear it making a clunking sound as it downshifts... that could be the u-joints, but I hope its only the mount causing it. Also between 35-45 I have a vibration through the steering wheel and it sometimes seems like the driveline has "slack" and the car will kinda bop back and forwad under light acceleration at those same speeds, as if the torque converter is going out, but I was told it was probably the tranny mount. The tranny shifts perfectly, so I doubt my transmission is the issue. I am sure the engine mounts are bad as well, but after that nearly $300 repair to replace my fan bearing, it took all of the money I had been saving for the engine mounts.

2005 already needing new airshocks? Unacceptable IMO. <_<

Gosh yeah.. I had a 1972 Buick Electra with a 455 engine... he car weighed nearly 5000 pounds, but it would still roast the back tires and pin you back in the seat. I most always babied that car, but there were two occasions I had to give her all she had. My current '72 Chevy Caprice and '73 Pontiac Grand Ville (both big blocks) are no slouches either, but I really baby those. ;)

Yeah, I would like more details and some photos as well. Surely someone was around outside in the parking lot that may have seen where the car was first burning? Did it start in the engine bay, or inside the car? Its true, I have rarely heard of a burned LS400 (where it was the cars fault) and have only heard of it twice. There is a report on NHTSA where a '92 LS400 caught on fire in the the engine compartment (again, the car was supposedly parked in a driveway, turned off), then I once saw an LS400 on ebay with an engine fire... the fire had started on the left passenger side of the engine... probably the alternator? <_< Had you said it was a Porsche, Range Rover, Audi, Jaguar, Chrysler, it would not be so rare... those cars seem to be plagued with engine fires... why, I have no clue. Some of you may remember the "smoking" engine bay that I had a few weeks ago that I had no clue as to what it was. I finally tracked it down to occasional puffs of smoke from oil dripping from the valve cover... its rare you hear tell of a car leaking oil and catching fire, but if it could happen the way my luck is, it would happen to me. <_< I cant afford new valve cover gaskets now... and it may be awhile before I can. I have had several cars in the past with leaky gaskets and never had issues... heck, my old LS400 had 260K when I sold it and it had leaky valve cover gaskets for the entire 60K miles I owned it and never any issues. I guess it depends on the car and how hot the engine gets and where the oil leaks. Its ironic about this coming up now, because a older co-worker has (or had) a early 90s Chrysler New Yorker with the 3.3L V6 he bought new... he parked beside of me daily. I noticed that several times I would get out of my car if he was already there and I would get this awful smell of raw gas... his car also leaked motor oil like a seive. I noticed one day that a rental pickup truck was setting in his usual space, but never thought much of it, but did notice it was a rental. Today when I left work, he was setting in it on his lunch break. I asked him if that was his fancy new truck and if he traded in the Chrysler and he said, no, that the car burned up! I was like, what?! He said one day he was off and was going to run to a nearby convenience store for some milk and he was going up a grade and the cars engine stalled... he stopped and tried to restart, but at that moment, jet black smoke started roaring out from between the cracks of the hood. Not realizing I guess, he said he jumped out and raised the hood and the engine was ablaze! He slammed the hood back down and started getting his things out of the car and someone finally called 911. He said of all times he forgot his cell phone and no one would stop... some old lady finally stopped and called 911. By the time the FD got there, the entire engine compartment was blazing, but it had not got inside of the car yet. It was a total loss anyway though naturally. He said the car had been leaking oil and brake fluid as well, so no telling what started the blaze. He had got his moneys worth of out the car for sure... thankfully no one was hurt. I have seen even alot of late model Chryslers/Dodges with engine fires... mostly the Caravans... there was a 2004 on ebay awhile back with a scorched engine. Years ago, I also knew of a car (old Oldsmobile) in a parking lot that had caught fire on the inside... turns out the old man had left a burning cigar in the car.

Maybe the car is like Christine? Does it drive like new again! :P

No, but I have driven a 2009 Toyota Avalon XL with 700 miles on it. It still did not ride as nice as my 1991 LS400 and the transmission did not shift as nice as it does on my LS400, despite it having about 217K more miles and being nearly 20 years old. It was nice though not to feel vibrations and have power steering leaks. I wonder how long before that plagues a 2009 Avalon? Hopefully Toyota has cured their power steering leak issues that plagued the early 90s models. Still I would take a new car over my worn out LS... I think, unless someone gave me about $1500 to get my LS up to par. ;)

Oh? What do you think it is making the steering harder to turn that normal? About a week ago it was as easy as pie to turn when it was full of fluid. Now, even with full fluid it seems harder to turn than it was. Its still easy to turn, but definitely stiffer than it was. Its like it dont want to turn back on its on after I make a turn by releasing the wheel a bit. Its slower to want to straighten back up.

Oh good Lord, how hard is that to do? I think there is a thread somewhere on it? I will search. Did I say how much I love this car? :P

No, never. :P I will still be here.... unfortunately I will have to keep the Lexus (I could never sell it for what I have invested in it) and will have to s l o w l y repair it as funds permit. :( As far as the Mercedes forums go, despite my Mercedes being 3 years older, it has never gave me any problems and I paid much less for it than the Lexus. Also the Mercedes is unbelievably easier to service than the Lexus, but the MB is an inline 6-cylinder. The Mercedes is a much less complex car as well. However, had my Mercedes been a 1992 or newer, it would probably have more problems and be incredibly complex. My current MBs design dates back to 1981, so its pretty simple. I have owned alot of Toyotas, Mercedes and two Lexus and I have loved my Lexus and they are good cars, but out of the three different 1980s Mercedes I have owned, all have needed less maintainence than my current LS400. Perhaps its just where I bought my LS at a time that everything was falling apart? Perfect timing on my part. Whats strange is that I have owned 1987-1993 Toyota Camrys and Toyota trucks with mileage as high as my Lexus cars I had and never had issues with those. More with my PS issue, my steering was heavy yesterday and I added fluid this AM, but put too much, so had to take another car to work, but suctioned out some of the fluid when I got home and drove the LS to town. Fluid is full, but steering is still heavy.... takes much more effort to steer even though its full of fluid. Perhaps air in the line? Or the pump is totally shot?

Purchase the nicest one you can afford and remember they are very costly to maintain. Parts prices are ridiculous. If you get a gen 1 LS400 make sure you dont have power steering leaks, and make sure things like the engine mounts, valve cover gaskets, etc have all been replaced. I made this mistake by overpaying for a LS400 that needs all of these things. Good luck.

Well, I hope you have better luck than me. I am on the 2nd bottle of the stuff and bottle #2 has almost completely leaked out. I drove the car today and on my way home the steering was getting heavy on slow turns, but oddly this time it was not making that growling sound it usually makes when its almost out of fluid. I checked it when I got home and there was only very little fluid showing on the bottom of the stick. I guess the pump is completely shot. I guess I will park the car for a couple of years until I can afford to fix it. <_< - and the motor mounts and the valve cover gaskets, and.... The money in my savings account is going to pay off a loan. Thankfully I have two other cars to use. I think I may take a huge loss and end up selling the Lexus. I had intended on giving it to my mother, but I dont want to give her an expensive to maintain hunk of crap. Good luck.

Hmmm... sounds like something is jamming the gear shifter. Possible that a coin is lodged in there?

I have always wondered how you change the plugs on an LS. Looks like so much fun! :) It takes about 5 minutes to change the spark plugs on my 6-cylinder Mercedes S-Class sedan. :D (which I plan on doing soon). ;)

Wonderful! Enjoy! :) Looks like you tampered with those untampered trunk wires for nothing. :( Hope all stays well in that area despite the tampering. I think it will be OK. Glad you got it fixed.

I would convert it to R134a, or has it already? The 1991 still used R12. My 1991 has been converted to R134a and the A/C works perfectly. Ditto what everyone else says... The LCD has nothing to do with it. **It may sound crazy and sound obvious, but since its blacked out and you cannot see the temperature setting, make sure you press the "temp" button down and listen for the beep and hold it down until the beeping stops. Its possible its not set on the coldest setting. You probably already know this and have did that, but I was wanting to make sure. :)

Strange, I have never heard of that issue before. I have you tried moving the steering wheel back and forth a little bit? Sounds like the lock is sticking or something?

I used to run 10% ethanol gas in my cars (which is what most stations have), but I was told that non-ethanol was better, so I have been using that for about a year now. Went to city-data forums and there was talk on the local boards about stations in the area with 100% gas. There are about 4 places here in town with 100% gas. One local place that has it is a newer local supermarket (Food Country) and it is only about 5 miles from where I used to get it (Super Wal-Mart) and its not much more costly. I refilled today with it and it was like $2.12 per gallon. My LS400 gets about 21 mpg in town driving if I use it, which I usually do. I always take my Mercedes there and fill it up. I have two older 1970s cars and I have not put 100% gas in them, but I guess I should start since they are older cars. I didnt know any Krogers sold gas.... our local Krogers dont, but its been there since 1995. I notice the original poster is in SW Virginia, which is very near me (SW VA borders the part of TN I live in). Our local grocery store chain that has alot of stores is Food City and they sell gas. On Friday they sell premium at mid-grade prices, so thats attractive. I used to do that, but like I said, I go to Food Country mostly with 100% gas. If gas goes back up to $4.00, I will go back to the cheaper 10% ethanol and get it on Friday at mid-grade prices. Strike that, if gas goes back to $4.00 per gallon, I will start riding my bike to work! :)

How funny.

My 1990 LS sputtered when I bought it... I ordered the dealer to install new spark plugs before I bought it, they did and then it ran perfectly. Maybe your issue as well?

My '91 LS has a very soiled engine bay. Its mostly years of dust/dirt. I really dont want to do it myself, but my uncle knows a guy that completely details cars. My grandpa has a 1993 Mercury Tracer LS wagon that was really dirty. When that man finished detailing it, it literally looked like brand new, even in the engine bay. I was amazed and would love to have my engine this nice and clean. I am not sure how knowledgable he is on cleaning these engines... maybe he just sprays cleaner and blasts away with a pressure washer, but I dont want anything damaged on my car. Does anyone advise against cleaning the engine (with cleaner/water) on a LS400? I have cleaned engines on some of my cars in the past, but they were 80s Hondas/Toyotas and I often ended up with a temporarily misfiring engine and/or check engine warning lights until the engine completely dried and wondering if letting this guy detail my LS's engine would be a no-no? Any particular areas on the engine that should be kept dry on these cars? Thanks in advance. Here was my engine a couple of years ago... it still looks just like this... (I want the white to be really white again! :))

1990 - Sounds like the trunk hinge wires were original, untouched until today. :) I guess that was the only and last LS400 that still had the original untouched trunk hinge wires. Unusual that they were all still original and excellent. Hopefully todays tampering didnt cause any damage that may cause future issues. I never closely checked my old 1990 LS400 to see if it had been worked on because I never had any issues, but I am sure it had been at one time? It didnt appear to have been done though... if so, it was professionally. Does anyone have photos of an original, untampered trunk hinge wiring loom on a 1990-94 LS400? Yeah Drparj - alot of problems crop up because of these trunk hinge wires, so I think thats why everyone was emphasizing on them. Apprarently the wiring gets all twisted and frazzled and causes an array of electrical woes. I dont think anyone was clear that you had completely checked all of the wires and no one meant anything bad by it. You will find there are alot of knowledgeable guys/gals on this site that will be able to offer alot of helpful info. I know that problems on these cars can sometimes be frustrating and hard to track down. I was having a "smoke from the engine" problem with my car that I thought was electrical and was told it would be trunk hinge related, but I think my trunk wires have already been tampered with at some point, so I didnt think that was the problem. I was frustrated, but found out the smoke is from a valve cover oil leak. <_< I dont have any electrical issues, so I guess all is well, but from the looks of my trunk hinge wiring on my current 1991 LS400 (photo below) it looks to have been poorly done, but since all is well, I am fine with it. At any rate, I hope that part fixes your car properly. Good luck and keep us posted! , but s Good! I was just trying to make sure that you really, really took a close look at the hinge wires. Countless people have taken more than one inspection of the hinge wires to find broken ones. You did not answer my question ... have the trunk hinge wires been fixed in the past? You should be able to tell. The reason I ask is that about 0% of gen 1 LS400's make it to 17 years without the hinge broken wire problem arising.

Yeah, I hope it reconditions the decent seals that are not yet leaking on my car. It dont seem to be leaking on the alternator on my car either, but the panel under the engine is soaked in fluid. Also, my "brake" light is illuminated and I was told this was an early sign of alternator failure, but the light has been on for a very long time. I would think that the battery light would be the one illuminated, not the brake light. <_<