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According to your Club Lexus posts, you sprayed silicone lube on some bushing and it quieted down. If that is so, why wouldn't you think you had found the culprit???? I mean, if I sprayed a bushing and the noise went away, I would be thinking, "bingo, I need to replace that bushing as it is probably worn out".

Hi Max and welcome. The first thing I would do is remove the serpentine belt, start it up and see if the noise is gone. If it is, you know that it is with some accessory driven by the belt. If it is still there, then maybe the timing belt or water pump area. If it is an accessory, you can get a mechanics stethoscope and very carefully probe the various components (alternator, ps pump, A/C compressor, air pump, clutch fan and so forth) to see if you can pinpoint the noise. Could even be the fan bracket pulley.

Welcome Alex. The price of $8k is steep for a 1992 but if it is in immaculate shape it will be worth far more than an average one. I would have to actually see it and see maintenance records to determine what price is 'fair'. If it is in immaculate shape, I *might* pay upwards of $5k for it. Big 'IF'. Look underneath as well. It might be fairly rusty which would detract from the value. Yes, you should always try to negotiate a lower price. All he can say is "no". On your side is the fact that not many will be interested in a 92 at that asking price.

Ok, that clears all the fusible links and door circuit breaker as far as the fuel door solenoid goes. At this point it is looking like either the fuel door switch or the fuel door solenoid is bad. Other than that, all that is left is the ground on the solenoid. Should be fairly straight-forward to figure out.

Quick question BlackLex...does your electric seat and electric door locks still work?

Well thanks, BlackLex. I want to caution you that even an '08 Buick Lasabre can have its share of expensive problems too. Like anything in life, it takes patience and perseverance to get thru these issues. So, do not get discouraged about your LS. You can still get mechanical help without using the Lexus dealer and it is much cheaper. Just find a good independent mechanic in your area. Now, did you check your trunk lockout button? I think its located around your left knee position under the dash.

So the dealer installed a new dimmer switch at your request because of the burned out low beams and just blindly installed it w/o first doing a simple bulb test? Seems somewhat unorthodoxed. They really should have serviced the overall problem and they would have found the bulbs were out. If I were you, I would check the charge voltage just to make sure it is within proper range (13.5 to 14.5Vdc) On your trunk lid issue, did you check to see if you have the lockout button engaged?

Did you verify that both bulbs were burned out? That's a pretty good smoking gun for a surge. But a surge caused by slipping with gloves on...no. Wont happen. I am also skeptical of the spilt power steering fluid(did you really do that?). Glad you got it working but I really do not know what to make of it at this point. Again, check both bulb filaments to confirm a burn out.

Well Paul, Billy did a similar posting on CL...so, as of this posting, LOC has 9 replies and 425 views (not including this one) to CL's 16 replies and 511 views. The views are not too far apart but the replies are 2:1. Interesting, no? ;)

Very clever threepwood. I like that solution although I would have to sneak the pulley into the oven when my wife was not around. Thanks for posting the solution to your problem.

A surge could take out both together. Or, maybe the supply to the low beam went out (low beam switch). Don't know at this point but you have to start somewhere. The clues will start to add up. Now, there is also a headlight dimmer relay in slot E of Junction block 2. It switches between hi and low beams. That is also highly suspect if your car is a Canadian model with Daytime Running Lights.

I have to agree with Bob on this one. In order to drag the horsepower down enough to notice, the pulley or belt would be toast real quickly. That would be a lot of heat to dissipate. Something else happened coincidentally with this change. Not sure what but guessing it was some wiring disturbed when plastic covers were moved to get to the pulley.

So you got the new crank seal installed and it is seated in place but now you are having problems getting the crank pulley back onto the end of the crankshaft? I always slide the crank pulley onto the shaft and wiggle it around the key until it "drops" in which verifies that the key is seated in the slot. If the crank pulley is not rather easily slipping onto the shaft, I would try cleaning the inside of the pulley hole with some steel wool or fine sandpaper. I suppose you could also put a little lube on it as well. I mean, it is not super loose but you should be able to wiggle it into place. There a stories of guys guessing on the key placement and they end of missing and mashing the key into the pulley where it is not meant to go. Not good. You are wise to be concerned.

Time to pull a bulb and check the low beam filament.

Great find. And to boot, I think you may enjoy the LS430 more than the LS460 too. Isn't it great to find these rare gems? I bought my 2002 LS430 in 2010 (so it was 8 years old) and only had 13k miles on it. That's what, 1600 miles per year? It was only taken out on nice days to a fancy restaurant. Got it for 1/3 the cost of new. Still seems new to me with 63k miles now. Enjoy your 'new' ride!

Welcome Eric. So, right now, your alarm is blaring because you cannot get into the car and you cannot shut off the alarm system? You tried both doors and spare key(s)?

What pulley did you replace? There are two pulleys with the timing belt..tensioner pulley and idler pulley. Are you saying you replaced the timing belt idler pulley only? That does not really compute because, while in there to do that kind of a job, I would think you would also replace the timing belt and maybe water pump, not to mention the tensioner pulley. Something just does not make sense here and I think maybe we are not fully understanding what you replaced. You are not, by chance, referring to the serpentine belt idler pulley, are you?

...or, you could ask on the UK forum.

All things being equal on maintenance, the LS400 (not "LS300") will probably be more expensive to fix and maintain. But its a different beast, more refined, smoother, bigger, safer.

Welcome, John! The GS300 and LS400 are two different cars. Not even in the same league though they share the Lexus badge. Primarily, the GS has a 6 cylinder engine while the LS has a V8. No one can really tell you which one will cost less in the long run because no one knows how each was maintained and their current condition. In general, the LS will probably cost slightly more for scheduled maintenance because it is a V8. But that does not mean you should not buy it. If it were me, I would go for the better maintained vehicle and if all things were even, I would get the LS.

A dealer bought it? You must have given it away, Billy. ^_^

Welcome to the forum, Brian! It is going to take some methodical testing to figure out what exactly is wrong. Since I do not know the maintenance history of your car, it could be a lot of things. Many times, these things are quite simple and not so bad as you might expect. One of the first things I would check would be your distributor caps and rotors. If these wear items have not been changed within the last 50k miles or so, you might consider just replacing them as a general maintenance item. It could be a coil as well but these are not general replacement items. The concerning comment that you made was that of "white smoke". That generally speaking, can indicate coolant being vaporized and is often associated with a blown head gasket. But that is a long shot at this point. It can happen but is not very likely. You say your dad was driving, when all of a sudden this problem occurred. Well, I have a question for you...moments before this incident, he did not happen to have a wide open throttle event (WOT), did he? Like passing someone or getting onto the Freeway? Sometimes, on an older engine, that stress will blow a weakened gasket. However, as I said before, think 'simple' because often the remedy is just that. Based upon what the mechanic said, I would be looking for another.

Mike, good to see you on LOC!

Fran, there probably is nothing major wrong with your car and that is why the shop found nothing. However, isolating noises like this can be tough. I would find an empty parking lot with a speed bump or curb and drive over the curb making a right turn into it and a left turn into it. See if the banging is worse in one direction. If it is, then you have isolated the side. It could be that your shop overlooked a cracked bushing. I would also consider finding a shop that specializes in front end work, like alignments, and present them with your findings. You might even convince a service tech to ride along with you so that you can explain the symptoms and drive a road that you know makes the noise(s). It does not hurt to get a second opinion.

Yeah, I was recently at my Lexus dealer and sat in the new RC350. Wow. Wish I could take one of those home and I might...some day. I will not pay the top $$ for a new one but wait patiently for a nice used one in a few years maybe.