90LS400Lexus

Hey- that is what I might have to do!

Well, when I was in the market for my LS400, I had to branch out, as I could not find one locally, although now they seem to be more common... imagine that. I ended up buying mine out of Atlanta, but it ended up being the most costly mistake of my life. I paid $3200 for the car, $300 shipping and nearly $500 in getting it registered... that was $4000! I would be lucky to get $2000 out of it the way it sets.

My LS has about turned me against LS400s. If I ever buy another, it will be one with low miles and it will either have to be SO CHEAP or everything from the entire power steering system, motor mounts, starter (although I have not had this issue - YET) valve cover gaskets, etc will all have to have been already changed and in A1 condition. No other way will I go through this again.

Good luck with your search.

come to Dallas and take your pick.... we have a lot of them

There seem to be more 95-99s here than the 90-94s. Also, places like Atlanta or Charlotte Craigslist... tons of them. There is a fairly nice 1995 LS400 in Charlotte for $2900. If I could get shed of mine, I would consider this 95.....

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/cto/1457631003.html

ugh, no it didnt help it. :( My dad put it on there today since the weather was super nice (despite damaging winds). When I got home, I refilled with fluid and there is no change at all. Also one thing he had to do is cut the wires and swap the connection ends, because the solenoid off of the 1994 LS400 has a different electrical plug than the 1991 LS400. Strange.

Well, anyway, I know my old one was bad, because it was not clicking when powered up... this one does, but its not made a difference. I guess what I will do now is get the car in my grandpas garage tomorrow evening and get the reservoir off of the pump and clean that screen. If thats not it, the only things left is the actual pump is shot or the rack itself... both of which I cannot afford to replace, so I will have to sell it at a huge loss.

Thanks again Billy for the solenoid... it was worth a try... I was sure that was the problem. :(

OP, whatever happened with this? Did your new solenoid cure the problem?

OP, whatever happened with this? Did your new solenoid cure the problem?

I am not sure he has put it on yet, it was raining yesterday.

check his other post on this..

ugh, no it didnt help it. :( My dad put it on there today since the weather was super nice (despite damaging winds). When I got home, I refilled with fluid and there is no change at all. Also one thing he had to do is cut the wires and swap the connection ends, because the solenoid off of the 1994 LS400 has a different electrical plug than the 1991 LS400. Strange.

Well, anyway, I know my old one was bad, because it was not clicking when powered up... this one does, but its not made a difference. I guess what I will do now is get the car in my grandpas garage tomorrow evening and get the reservoir off of the pump and clean that screen. If thats not it, the only things left is the actual pump is shot or the rack itself... both of which I cannot afford to replace, so I will have to sell it at a huge loss.

Thanks again Billy for the solenoid... it was worth a try... I was sure that was the problem. :(

Let me know the details of that manuel convertion. The only guy I know that has done it around here had to have the ecu reprogrammed by a guy in New Zeland. He pulls the motors out of parts cars and puts them in dune buggies and off roadrers with a stick shift behind them. I would love to see the 2JZ swap too.

That conversion sounds like a pain in the rear, but I prefer automatics anyway on a LS, so I guess I would say that anyway. Too much work for something I dont like. lol. Everyone has their preferences though.

well the tape on the lights are because they have cracks n dont want them to shatter apart while driving

Are the foglights plastic? They are glass on mine.

I for one would love to see some photos of this ultra low mileage 91 LS400. :)

Unfortunately, this lead has gone cold and the person is not even returning phone calls after a few days and leaving a voicemail... lame.

How dreadful. Sounds like the slacker in Atlanta that had the crashed 1992 LS400 on ebay that was supposed to check the solenoid and sell it to me... I have been waiting for his phone call or email for 3 weeks. I contacted him three times and he kept saying he was too busy or forgot about it. Slacker! Well, no matter... a member here was nice enough to ablidge.

Oh well.... just seek out a nicer 95+ LS400 and make sure everything is up to date... motor mounts, timing belt, STARTER, etc. Did I say timing belt and starter? ;)

He may have been saying that the oil pressure is 0 when you are starting the car.

No, he said the air pressure... there is no alarms in the dashboard indicating oil problem.

Engine air pressure? I have no idea about any of that.

Is the cars engine cranking over when you turn the igntion key? If not, your starter could be out, but I think they give some sort of warning?

We got the screens cleaned alittle while ago... yeah they were pretty clogged up and were even dirtier than the ones on my solenoid, however, I think mine had been cleaned before and I bet the one on this 94 LS parts car had not been cleaned before. Anyway, they cleaned up very nicely with the 3m adhesive remover and a toothbrush! :) Also, we tested the solenoid with wires and a battery and presto, it clicked like its supposed to! :) The one on mine is dead... it would not click at all, which is what led me to believe mine was junk and hoping this is why I have such heavy steering. It literally poured rain all day long and we didnt get to do it, but at least its ready to be installed. I already have the car on ramps and I am going to leave the car here tomorrow and my dad is going to change it... then when I get home from work I am going to go ahead and try to get the PS reservoir off and clean the screen in the bottom of the pump.

I will update all of this when I can.

PS - the irony is now I think my mom wants my Mercedes instead of the LS and I may be selling the LS afterall. Oh well.

Thanks again to our forum member, "Billydpowell" ... its great to have caring forum members on here. I had no luck anywhere getting one of these and he was right there and took his time and got me one from a crashed 94 LS400... thanks to his nephew as well for taking it off!

Tony you will want to "wash" the screens and get them clean.

AND

you might want to read this... I read his (just his) comments from start to finish and found out some good info about (deep)cleaning the PS pump... spend a little time and check this.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...eering+solenoid

I for one would love to see some photos of this ultra low mileage 91 LS400. :)

Not sure... sounds like an unusual problem. I have never heard of temperature effecting ABS or traction control. Do you have alot of ice or cold temps in your area? Sounds almost as if something may be getting wet and its icing up and causing it, but this is a guess.

There are alot of knowledgable folks on here and I am sure someone will have more info.

I see alot of this "glowing red" or "Smoking" "cats" on these LS400s, but never hear tell of it on other cars... are the LS400s the only cars this ever happens to?

Yeah, the transmission mount is very easy to change and inexpensive... only about $60 for an OEM one from certain places.

The motor mounts are a totally different story, as they are about $90 each and more like what, 3 hours to change? <_< My LS is in dire need of motor mounts, but when you are poor, you make due with what you have. Maybe one of these days. ;)

3. stuck needle(s) - tach, speedometer - this is likely a mechanical problem, open up the whole instrument cluster and examine the back of the tach and speedom and use a Qtip with a light solvent to clean off any noticeable sticky substance.

I wonder if this also applies for inaccurate tach reading. At idle, in drive mine is usually pointing a zero!! It works, but is too low of a reading. <_<

Wow, you all have me wanting to drive a 1995 or newer LS400. I have only been behind the wheel of three... one was my aunts 1990 LS400 that she bought in 1992 with 21K miles! Black with tan interior, it was a beauty, I was 16 years old and I wanted it! I also wanted the all-new 1992 Honda Prelude that was on the sales floor when my aunt took her almost brand new 1991 Accord with 9000 miles in for service. :)

It was not until 2003, I bought my first LS400... a 1990 with 224K. I thought I had died and gone to car heaven. lol. The car impressed me.

My 1991 LS400 is my current car... 224K miles. Wasnt as impressive as I had already had a LS400, but I still liked it until these problems started cropping up, draining my bank account and sanity!

I guess if I were to drive a nice trouble-free 1995 LS400 I would feel like I was in car heaven all over again? :)

Whatever you decide, enjoy that LS400 if you get it.

Thanks. Yeah, we will clean those screens. I did that on my old solenoid with that 3M adhesive remover as suggested by someone else. It did clean up very well.

UPDATE - I was able to find one of my old threads on how to remove the reservoir only... once the weather breaks I am going to do that next... too much rain and cold this week. Hopefully we can at least get the solenoid on there when it arrives, then I will definitely try to clean the screen in the pump.

Just curious... if I bought this car, and did all repairs/maintenance necessary to get it up and running healthy. How much would it sell for at that point?

If its in mint condition..... probably $10,000 or more, but thats a guess. 18K miles the car is not even broken in.

Car may also need valve cover gaskets (mine does), but not sure if that one has not been driven much, they may still be OK. Not sure if since they have not been exposed to engine heat that much if that would make a difference or not.

I'm not sure about that air suspension? Keep in mind I'm not a car guy at all.. very casual knowledge. How would I be able to tell if it had air suspension when I go look at it?

Neither of my LS400s had this option (while it is nice (because they ride so smoothly when working), its costly to repair when it breaks). To my knowledge beside of the gear shifter on the console, it will have an addition button that reads "high-low" or? I am sure someone where will have more info on this. I also know that on the lower left corner of the instrument cluster there is a light that will have "HEIGHT". If it has that, it has the air suspension.

Well if its had the fluids changed and started every now and then I would jump on it so fast my head would spin. I paid $3900 for my 1990 LS400 in 2003 and it had 224K and I paid $3200 2 years ago for my current 1991 LS400 and it had 203K when I bought it.

Like 1990LS400 said, find out more details.... has it been setting and not started in years, or? All fluids will need to be changed, timing belt if it hasnt been changed, etc. Its a low mileage car and these cars can go mulitiple of hundreds of thousands of miles, but it being nearly 20 years old, I am sure some hoses and belts are getting tired. The PS hose on my LS400 was as hard as a brick and leaking.

Anyway 18K is ultra low miles for an LS400. I would check it out, maybe offer $4K and get some of the maintainence done on it.

Post pics if you can! Good luck!

Ah, that sounds great Billy! MANY THANKS! I am praying this is the problem.. if not, I will have to continue on until I can figure it out, or try to talk my mom into letting me sell it and give her my Mercedes. ;)

Oh yeah, I bet it was a task jacking it up on soft ground and getting under it... thats a risk too, especially on soft ground! Its been pouring rain here as well for a couple of days. I had mine on ramps on the concrete and I was still skittish to get under it. lol.

I would have felt bad if it had of fallen on him! :( Glad it went well though. :)

I am going to get my dad to put it on.... I could not figure it out. I am glad he was able to get it off.

lol.. yeah we may can split a piece of .5 cent bubble gum. lol

Well, thanks again a million and I will let you know when it arrives and I get it on there. Fingers are crossed for east steering again!

OK Tony, it is on the way, priority mail, it looks good, car was smashed on drivers side so I think it will be a good one..(they had to be driving it).... and I hope it was your problem.. let us know.

I talked him down to 25, gave my nephew 20, it was difficult to jack up on soft ground (been raining) and get it broken loose, then it was a snap. that left me 5, so I sent it priority, 4.95.... so I beat you out of a nickle.... if I ever come that way I will look you up and we will go spend it... glad to have been a help... cheers. bp

Welcome!

Stunning LS!

Just so you can gasp below is a picture showing the difference.

Ah, I did gasp. :) Did it appear clean on the dipstick, or not that noticably dirty until it was in the container?

I have looked at mine on the stick and it appears to be light pink in color... should be OK for awhile.

Steve...does your wife know you used her good measuring cup??! :o

LOL! :D

Thanks. I just sent it to your Paypal... $50.

Gee, those mailboxes dont hold many messages do they? :)

Billy... sent you a PM. Yeah, if you can get that for me, I would appreciate it. LMK where to send the money and how. I can send a money order, paypal, etc. Whatever is best for you.

I am desperate at this point. No one else has replied... I think I have got alot of spam from those so-called parts places. <_<

Thanks again!

Mine is up to 224,000 now on my 1991, but it "acts" more like it has 884,000 and its not even been abused or poorly serviced... just alot of little annoying issues going on with it now. ;)

My old 1990 LS400 (as seen to the left in my avatar) that I sold in 2005 had 278K and didnt have any issues other than the radio had stopped working. Dang I miss that LS.