landar

The wiring loom is routed through the left hinge area. Just work the harness free and unwrap any tape to expose the wires. The lexls.com tutorial mentions the white wire as being the most common failure. You have to look carefully at all of the wires because at first glance they may look ok, especially to the untrained eye. But all it takes is a small nick or pull and the wire inside can be stretched and broken. If you find a break or suspicious area of the wire, your job is to secure it back together(soldering iron would be good).

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/lighting/bulbout.html

Claude, there is a well known problem with 90-94's which has to do with the trunk wiring getting stretched and becoming intermittent. It causes all kinds of strange electrical behaviours and *could* be your problem(thats where I would start). Have you ever had your trunk wiring repaired?

Something to ponder...If it were the fuel pump, why would cylinder #8 be the only one affected? The pump is common to all cylinders. Take a closer look at your distributor cap, rotor, spark plug and wire on that side. If you have not changed out the distributor caps, plugs, rotors, wires in a while, it would be good general maintenance to do so. If you do not want to go that far, swap some of those components and see if the misfire jumps to a different cylinder.

All the way forward? As in an abnormal position(one that it should never be in)? A pic would be very helpful.

You are right about buying out of state. Here is what I did. I 'shopped' around with Toyota dealers getting several prices. Then I went to the local dealer and got them to match it. That way, it was all done locally as I do not want any surprises as to who pays for what. I think I used Acton Toyota in Littleton, MA for one of the prices. Beware that once you stir up the nest for prices, they will hound you for a long time. If you really want the best prices, just sit on it for a little while. They kept dropping the price by $100 several times after I bought from the dealer. Wish I had waited a little and/or demanded several more hundred off right away. It must be pure profit for them. http://warranty.actontoyota.com/

trunk wiring?

ok. That is why you want to rotate the crank several times and make sure both cams match their marks on the block while the crank is pointing to TDC. If that checks out, then the valve timing is golden. You do not have to actually start the engine to ensure that the timing is correct. Other than that, just make sure you properly seal and torque the water pump, put all electrical connectors back in place, connect hoses and you should be good.

Yeah, mine does this too, only not very often. Couple of quick fix thoughts...some say that slightly low brake fluid level in the master cylinder can cause this. I remain very skeptical of this view, but check and top it off anyway (but only if low). Another thing to try...while releasing the parking brake by pulling the console lever, also forcefully pull up on the parking brake foot lever with your left foot (or hand). It could be that the floor lever never gets fully sprung back into the 'off' position.

Not sure I understand the issue, Charles. Once you have the new belt on, you will want to rotate the crankshaft several times to confirm that the timing marks on the cams and crankshaft are all aligned. Remember it takes two revs of the crank to make one rev of the cams. Other than that, you just need to put the distributor caps/rotors/wires back on in the proper order and bolt everything back together. Are you using the lexls tutorial site for 90-94 LS400's ? -> http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html

Good info...thanks Steve! Much appreciated.

So proud of you Richard! Isn't it a real confidence booster to have tackled this job on your own? I wish more people would know that satisfaction but we are all built differently. I will have to admit that I was a bit 'worried' for you at first, however, your tenacity and attention to detail is nothing short of amazing and inspiring to me. Congrats on a job well done! PS...I would totally trust you to work on my car any time(and I am very picky)! ;)

Another set of pads would not help as it is all up to the sensors. If the connection is open, you get the warning. I would double check both sensors again and make certain that both are closed(short circuit). Yes, 'spoofing' in this case is the same as 'bypassing'. With bypassing you are basically just fooling the system into thinking the sensors are ok. Again, it could be the sensor socket connector that is bad. If you do not care about the warning, you can cut off the sensor head and just strip back a section of the wiring and wrap them together(solder and shrink wrap them). If you want to keep the sensing ability (recommended), I would buy a new sensor for both front and rear.

As far as I know, low tranny fluid would not produce a check engine light so it may be something else. Get an OBDII scanner on the port and see if there are any stored codes. If you do anything with the transmission fluid, do not just add...do a drain and replace. You are way past the mileage for replacing the fluid. Use ONLY the type of fluid recommended in your owners manual. I would use only Toyota OEM myself but anything compatible should work.

Those timing marks on the belt are you best friends at this point. Get the CR aligned with the dot on the crank, the L-CAM aligned with the dot on the LH cam and then 'wrestle' the R-CAM onto the RH cam tooth. It takes some doing. Don't worry that the cams have rotated some, that is why you set the timing to 50 ATDC. Gives some breathing room. From your pics, it looks to me like you are off by a couple of teeth on the L-CAM but maybe it is camera angle. You MUST be dead on with each mark and tooth. Do not be concerned with the block marks at this point. Just get the marks on the belt aligned with the respective dots on crank and cam. Recheck and readjust as necessary. Once you are satisfied that the marks are correct, you can put the tensioner on and pull the pin. Then put the crank timing cover back on and pulley (harmonic balancer) and turn the crank 720 degrees CW (rotate two complete revolutions). Then recheck the timing marks on the covers and cams. They should be exact (crank at TDC and cam dot align with block). DISREGARD the belt timing marks at this point. They will no longer match and are no longer relevent. The ONLY thing important at this point and hereafter are the actual timing marks. Rotate two more revs and recheck. If ok, then you are good to go. If not, the tensioner needs to come back off and start over. However, if the printed timing marks on the belt are dead on to begin with, you will not have any further problems.

From what I understand, the wear sensor is simply a wire that gets cut when the pads wear to a certain level. So, a cut would mean open circuit(hi-z). An uncut sensor should be very low resistance, zero ohms in theory. Now, perhaps you need to leave the battery disconnected for a longer period to reset the warning. There is a third possibility that perhaps the sensor connector is corroded/dirty and thus essentially opening the circuit to the computer. Check that carefully. You can 'spoof' the system (permanently or temporarily) by shorting out the sensor system with a piece of wire at the connector itself.

Yeah, same thing happened to me. It is going to take some patience and trial and error to get this belt on correctly. If you accidentally unloosened the cam bolt then you will have to retighten it before moving on. I think the torque spec on it is 80 ft-lbs but recheck that figure. You do not have to torque it to spec right now, just get it tight enough to move the belt to produce slack on the RH cam side. The 'proper' way to move the cam is with (of course) an SST. Try holding the cam somehow and retighten, at least enough to be able to move it CCW again. I think I might have wedged a tool under one of the smaller bolts to hold it. Once you get the belt on correctly and tensioned, you can properly torque that cam bolt. If you look at my past posts to this thread, you will see that I cautioned that this step would be one of the most trying...so keep at it, you can get it aligned. Frustrating yes. But it can and will be done. Amen.

What tests/checks did you perform to conclude that the sensors are ok?

Nice. I made a tool out of 1 1/2" PVC piping to press the seal back in but you could probably just tap evenly around it to get it seated. "This is definitely a 200K replacement item imo and I would definitely recommend at every timing belt change.." Did you really mean "every OTHER belt change"?

A bad coil (you have 8 of them) will not cause flickering lights as you have described. Again, check connections very carefully(battery cables and grounds) and perhaps try a different battery... especially if it is older than three years (could be an intermittent cell). Almost sounds like the alternator was changed out to try and fix this problem but did not(?)

You will have to get an OBDII scanner hooked up to the test port (in the 'knee area' on drivers side) to read the trouble code(s). If you do not have such a tool already, you can drive to the nearest Autozone, Pep Boys, Advance Auto, etc and have them scan it for you. Or you could invest in a tool. They are relatively inexpensive (approx. $50-100).

I guess you've got 15k miles until the timing belt change 'major' repair. Then its time! Have you considered a nice, clean, late model LS430? Heck of a car and I have heard better than the 460 (certainly cheaper).

I would also add that I would not drive it much in this condition. Something is seriously spiking(up/down) the voltage on the system and the electronics, which are expensive and delicate, are being subjected to that spiking. Not good for their longevity.

Yes she does look nice. But life is short and if you would like a 460 and have the coin, I say 'go for it'... none of us are getting any younger. Keep this one for a 'spare'. ;)

It all sounds like an electrical power issue as you suspect. Now, it might help to back up a little and let us know how your car was behaving BEFORE the alternator change out. It could be that the alternator was not the root problem and it is something else. Of course the battery and post connections/cables are always suspect in a situation like this. Sometimes, it is as simple as someone forgot to tighten down a connection or properly clean a connection. Could be that whoever installed the new alternator missed tightening a connection(s). Could be that the battery is just shot (very common). If it were mine, I would pull out my voltmeter first thing and check the voltage at the battery while it is running. I would turn on some heavy power draws (like lights, rear defroster) and see if the voltage fluctuated. I would also check for any AC (alternating current) component on the system. Could be that the new alternator is bad. Not likely... but it does happen. The battery and poor connection(s) is where I would start the search along with the voltage check. Check at the battery posts AND at the clamps. Keep in mind that it is probably something very simple such as a loose/dirty connection or a bad battery.