landar

Hand wash for free? Wow. The under body wash is very important. And a free lunch? Beware. No such thing. :whistles: ;)

It is in a "difficult" position probably for compromise reasons. Conventional engine design typically puts the starter on the bottom/side of the bellhousing where it is easier to access. I do not believe that Lexus engineers were terribly concerned about how difficult it would be to repair. And I do not believe that they made the starter any more robust than other designs. It was just a design tradeoff decision. It might make for smoother and quieter starting when cradled in the block valley. Every little bit helps in a luxury model. Maybe you were just being facetious?

Sorry. Your new home is now Arizona. Kinda hot and dry but, in time, you'll get used to it. :P Yes, it is simple. 1) Press the "Menu" button to the right of the screen(not actually on the screen). 2) Select "Marked Points" on the screen. 3) Press "Delete Home" at the bottom of the screen. And congrats on the Lex and welcome (we're the beer chugginess group around).

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=40186&st=0&p=258722&hl=+salty%20+dogs&fromsearch=1entry258722

Ditto...and just to be clear, it is not gangsta absurd to lower your Lex and put "20's" on it. :whistles: <_<

Wow. Great U-tube video on the steering tilt gear fix. You are some innovator Steve. I would have never thought of using a zip tie as a spacer. No, I would have been at the hardware store buying washers. You sound like a "Yank" in the UK. Actually, do I detect a bit of a southern accent? What are you doing "over the pond"?

I would also take a look at all the Technical Service Bulletins (TSB's) for your car and check each. -> http://www.tsbdata.com/tsb/2004-lexus-ls-430-v8-4_3l-3uz-fe.html

I would go over the fuses again to see if there is anything obvious. Perhaps it is the circuit board. The "jump" question was a possibility of accidentally crossing the cables and blowing the board.

Ok. And you didn't happen to try and jump start the car when the battery cable was loose, right? Also, check out this thread for similarities -> http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=63472&st=0&p=405858&hl="gauge%20lights"&fromsearch=1entry405858

and you did rotate the dimming knob to make sure it was not turning the gauges off, correct?

You nailed it Steve!. Good call.

They may be worth trying if they impressed you with the initial inspection. However, if they are giving away "prizes", they have to be charging more for service/parts to pay for it. Unless maybe they are plugged into some government pork plan. :P What was their estimate for doing TB/WP with OEM parts?

Don't have any personal experience with them but.... they are giving gifts for referrals. Flat screen TV's, DVD's, MP3's, Father's day BBQ grill. Why would they have to do that if they had a good rep? Red flags are popping up all over. :o Quite an entertaining site otherwise. :whistles: They do, however, have a "recommend" from Click'n'Clack readers..... http://www.cartalk.com/content/mechx/find.html

I believe you could do the tb/wp without removing the radiator...but why? The radiator is so easy to remove you might as well do it. It gives you more working room and also removes the risk of damage to the radiator core should you slip with a tool. To remove the radiator just undo the two coolant hoses, two tranny hoses, sensor connector, two bolts at the top and lift out. About 10 minutes and well worth it.

Knight him, Sir Andrew. For he hath much tenacity!

My 90 is at 205K...and long over due for a belt and pump job. Not that it is running poorly, just been a long time... It kills me to do something to it when running so well... Question: Anybody experience any surprises when they have this done on cars this old? Problems with putting the radiator back or needing to replace other stuff after dissassembly? I know that there is (bearing) noise from my passenger side timing belt pulley. Anybody replace either one of those pulleys? any idea on extra cost? Wonder how much I should expect to set aside just in case...its a great car, but at 20 years you worry that things won't go back together once they are apart! (Most mechanics scratch their head when they realize it's a 90). -Bill The pulley making the noise is your tensioner pulley. About $70 for a new Toyota OEM pulley. Some of the biggest problems putting things back together are broken wires if they are brittle from age but really there should be no big problems with a seasoned mechanic. Some mechanics just forget to hook sensors or wires back up when reassembling. Not good, wont run. All in all, a new belt, pump, pulleys, tensioner will run you about $500 for OEM parts, $350 for aftermarket. Then labor, maybe $500-700 at an Indie and $1000-1500 at the dealer. Or DIY if you have the time, skill and patience.

I have found that the Lexus is only slightly more pricey to maintain and fix than my other car. But that is because I do all the work myself. If you have to take the car to a shop, a Lexus will be more than say, a Toyota. However, the ride and safety of the LS is superior to most other lower cost vehicles. So, its a trade-off. The LS really is a very reliable car overall. Learn to do some of the work yourself and save. As Billy mentioned, make sure the timing belt/water pump has been changed because that is a high dollar maintenance item ($1k-$1500 depending). If the car has had fluids changed on schedule, buy it. You will love it. You are not really planning on taking any of that nasty money with you anyway, are you? :D

What is "common" depends so much on how well the vehicle was maintained and used/abused. However, the PS pumps are prone to leak, the display for HVAC/clock blanks out, the valve clearance can get sloppy and "tick", the starter can get noisy, the EGR pipe can develop holes, ball joints go, Upper Control Arms go, rear diff seals leak, the trunk wiring harness gets chafed and most rubber suspension parts just rot from age. Hood struts are the least worry (though they do go bad). You crying "Uncle" yet? :cries:

That is because you are 3x more anal about the LS!

The BIG question is whether the fluids(engine oil, coolant, transmission, differential, brake, power steering) have been changed as recommended by Lexus. And has the timing belt been replaced yet? It should have been replaced at ~90K miles.

Andy, interesting info...thanks. Curious, I did not see where you were necessarily wrong. The coil does not know what is going on in the combustion chamber. It's output voltage rises as the coil's magnetic field collapses and whenever the plug gap ionization point occurs, it occurs. Higher cylinder pressures require higher ionization points which results in higher energy/voltage levels. No smarts in there. I would think that with a compromised coil(insulation breakdown), anything from no spark to spark, but not complete combustion, would occur when under high pressure. The fuel/air mixture may indeed get "sparked" but may get blown out prematurely by the excessive cylinder pressure. In other words the spark was not hot enough (voltage too low) because of insulation breakdown at the coil/rotors/wires/plugs. Any component along that series chain could compromise the combustion spark.

At this late stage in the game it would take much effort to find and separate the threads. The next best thing would be an optional field in the search engine to look at the OP's profile car make. Again, probably a lot of work for someone.

Maybe you don't really need the manuals yet. There is lots of advice and tutorials on forums regarding the various maladies common to an early gen LS. What seems to be the main problem?

Mark, You will want new gasket material for the manifold and perhaps some new rubber hose for any vacuum-type lines that may have become brittle with age/heat. I guess you could clean the throttle body while you have it somewhat exposed. And you might want to pull the valve covers and check the valve clearances if (and only if) you have been hearing excessive tappet noise. So, can you describe this starter grinding noise in more detail? Maybe starter bearings are excessively noisy?

Case in point. Edmunds says this 92 LS is worth $3536. The final sale price won't even come remotely close to that. I wish I had more garage space. ;) http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Museum-Quality-1992-Lexus-LS-400-Only-22-981-Miles-/200527359244?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2eb05cad0c#ht_500wt_1182