glenmore

My shot in the dark would be your alternator. Mine failed about 150m. In hindsight my parking brake light was doing strange things. It would fade a little after I released the parking brake but would remain faintly lit. Brake fluid level was fine. Then all lights went on but the one I didn't pay attention to was the battery charging light. The battery drained to zero. Got a new battery but charging light was still on and then a new rebuilt alternator solved everything. glenmore 1991 300CE 1990 LS400 2000 C280

I have a 1990 and the P/S is one finger light. I am at 155m and the PO redid the whole system back at 100m at the dealer. Maybe the other poster is referring to something else but the strut mounts are just bolted to the frame of the car and just serve as a rubber isolator between the road and passengers. My guess is that the pump you've used is not up to spec. How is your belt drive system? Belt tensioner indicator where it should be? glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

KYB makes both. They manufacture the OEM for Lexus and they make the GR2s. The KYB rep told me they are made on the same assembly line but to different damping specs. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

I did this awhile ago: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...amp;hl=glenmore If you have access to a good independent, it might be more cost effective to just have them do it. It took me a better part of a day to do it but then again I'm just your average knucklehead. There are a LOT of things to disconnect and reconnect. I asked my indie for a quote and it was very reasonable. Having done the repair via the "unhook everything and raise the engine" route, I suspect that indies take the route of dropping the subframe to do this repair. Others have needed to drop the subframe slightly to do this repair. I could not do it this way. I did it by removing the submounts also. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

I need some sort of plastic bracket in the left headlight area. The PO broke it when replacing the headlight so my headlight is always pointing down. I am in Los Angeles. Let me know how you are progressing in parting out the car. thanks, glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

My 1990 is at 156m and just passed the smog test. Could you tell us about the repair? Costs? Indie or Lexus dealer? Thanks, glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

This is the annoying thing about Lexus and that is that most parts are only available from Lexus. This is probably for two reasons. The market is not that large and most likely Lexus likes to control the quality. At the Park Place Lexus site and looking at the parts diagram, for the rears, they are #5 the two part rubber insulator, #6 bumper and #7 strut mount. You can get the KYB strut mounts on ebay. For the fronts the parts are the top three in the diagram, mount, bumper and insulator. At 4x everything, it starts to add up. Another member reused the pad part of the insulator, the bellows part is usually shredded. Best to bite the bullet and have all the parts on hand. Like I said before, you don't want to do this repair twice. This job is easily doable (if I can do it, just about anybody can, you do need good assortment of tools though) but get ready as it is probably the most physically demanding job you can do. Some of the indies around here will charge labor of about $75-$100 per corner. Not bad considering, so you might just let them do it. You won't get the satisfaction of doing it yourself though and with the $400-$500 you save, you can buy some more nice tools! glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

The problem with those octane boosters is when you do the calculations, you need gallons of the stuff to raise the octane of a tankful of lower octane gas, so they are a complete waste of $$. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

When my shocks seemed worn, I changed them out for GR2s, based almost entirely on price. The OEM KYBs from Lexus were too expensive. The GR2s are supposed to be similar in ride and sometimes on ebay get down to $250 for all 4. Shock mounts are not cheap. They are pretty beefy so if you wanted to cut corners you could leave them be. There are a couple of other (also expensive ) parts that should be changed at the same time. Bumper stops tend to get shredded so you need new ones. The combo insulators/isolators and boots usually need replacement. All these replacements fall under the theory "parts are expensive but I sure don't want to take all this apart again just to change out a mount or boot". glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

That's why I have to save $$ wherever I can! I just changed the sensor on the 300CE, because I don't think it ever has been changed. The car has 146m and I bought it at 111m. A generic Bosch O2 sensor was $25 while a direct fit Bosch was $114. My C280 just had a CEL indicating O2 sensor. Generic was $80 and direct fit was $110. The cheapest direct fit for the Lexus (on ebay) is $62 and the generic (also ebay) is $25. You are right, no splices is always better. I always think of these repairs in terms of saving money so I can buy some nicer tools. :) glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

My 1991 LS400 has always had crap MPG. I may go ahead and change out the upstream sensors. There are the 2 excellent tutorials at lexls that covers these repairs. Best tip is to use the much cheaper generics that you splice yourself. glenmore 1990 LS400 2000 C280 1991 300CE

Looks like you are in luck. There is an ebay seller offering Lexus/Toyota fan brackets for $90. (Search "ls400 fan bracket"). Mine failed at 150m and I was stuck 400 miles from home and was reamed by a local repair shop for $600+. The lexus part price was almost $300. You could see a little pile of aluminum shavings below the pulley. glenmore 1990 LS400 2000 C280 1991 300CE

Joe, Glad to see you got them in! You may be able to jury rig something but the Lexus parts would be best. They are expensive and only available from Lexus. Lexus refers to them as bumper stops and insulators. I skipped the bumper stops and there doesn't seem to be any adverse effect. You certainly need the insulators, not so much for the boot but for the pad part between the strut mount and the spring. For the rears there are two pieces, one rubber pad at the bottom of the spring and the insulator/pad/boot at the top. If you just reassembled it with what was left of your insulator, i.e. the pad part without the shredded boot, you will probably be OK. Otherwise, you get to do the whole job all over again! Yup, remove strut, compress spring, etc. etc. glenmore 1990 LS400 2000 C280 1991 300CE

As mentioned, the key to getting the shock in and out is to twist it 90 degrees. If you are expending great effort here, STOP! It will literally fall out on its own weight when you twist it right. Also as mentioned watch your axle boots because you can damage them when dropping the shock assembly. I also had problems with the shock not being square to its bottom mounting bracket after securing the shock mount at the top. The key to doing this is that you have to compress the spring very evenly and uniformly. Then look down the length of your assembly from the shock mount end. Orient one of the bolts of the shock mount at 12 o'clock. Then as you sight down the length of the assembly, the bolt hole of the shock at the other end should be vertical also. If not, with the spring compressed, rotate the shock into position. You have to maintain this orientation as you slowly uncompress the spring. (For the front struts, with the shock mount stud at 12 o'clock, the bolt hole is oriented horizontally.) As careful as I was to do this there was still a slight twist to it after I installed the assembly. Then what I did was with the shock mounted, I marked which way it needed to be twisted, took it back out again, compressed the spring, gave it a little twist and tried again. Good Luck, glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

Must be the season! I have a 1990 LS400, 155m. My CEL came on for the first time ever today and I just finished reading the diagnostic code and it was 71, EGR sensor signal. Could you describe what you did to clean out the EGR? And how do you clear the code from the ECU? There is no rough idling with my car, no noticeable difference between before and after the CEL. Thanks, glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

I just did this on my 1990 LS400, 155m. The battery discharge light was on, even after I put in a fresh battery. I bought a rebulit from a seller on ebay that happened to be local to me, only $55 with core. It fit fine except for the heat shield. On the original alternator it was attached with IIRC 4 screws but on the rebuilt one, there was only 1 or 2 screws. The body of the alternator was not tapped for the other screws. If you do send it to this Southern California ebay seller, keep your heat shield and screws. Replacement pretty straight forward. It is a bit tiring as it is heavy and you are trying to shot put it with the one hand and secure it with the other hand. In another thread, I had questioned whether this was the type of alternator problem that could be solved by just plugging in a new voltage regulator (like on my 1991 MBZ) but another member posted that his brushes were fine and the problem was where the brushes contact which apparently is very soft. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

I just did this on my 1990 LS400 and got the radiator off of ebay. A rubber gasket in the old radiator deteriorated to the point of plugging up some of the tubes so check this out carefully. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

A clunk when shifting from P to D is typically the flex disks. I would just crawl under the car and take a look. I've changed my motor mounts and tranny mount. Tranny mount is easy, motor mounts are a chore. As to a loose shifter, this is common in older Mercedes and the fix is replacing worn out bushings (small plastic delrin) in the shifting linkage under the car. I thought that a slight rattle I had with my Lexus was possibly do to the same bushings so I did the same repair on the Lexus. Turns out the bushing (small rubber, about size of a dime) at 150m was just fine. glenmore 1990 Ls400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

When I test drove my 1990 LS400 before buying it, I noticed the hood shook a lot. Turns out the engine mounts were near kaput and changing them solved the problem. glenmore 19901 lS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

Does anyone bother rebuilding an alternator or do you just get a rebuilt one? I have removed mine and I am guessing the failure is due to worn brushes. No sign of the dreaded leaking P/S fluid killing it. Bearing seems fine. From the manual, the brushes seem fairly easy to get to, but I've never seen this part available at the online shops. The problem started with all sorts of idiot staying on after startup. Lo oil, lo coolant, lo brake fluid, etc. I checked a few of them and the levels were fine and stopped there. Of course the discharging battery light was for real and soon the car would not start. A new battery started the car I but still had all the idiot lights and the real one showing a discharging battery. A rebuilt alternator is just $55 (with core) around these parts. Thanks, glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

Finally an alternative to the dealer! Looks like you can also get them from ebay, free shipping too! glenmore 1990 LS400 2000 C280 1991 300CE

I changed all the shocks on my 1990 LS400 and it is probably one of the most physically demanding jobs you can do on a car. You need a good assortment of tools as well as a good jack and jack stands. This car is a little more involved because it requires the removal of the rear seat and there is only tight access to the shock mounts. You'll need to rent a spring compressor also. So if you're a relative beginner, the cost from an independent is well worth it. New KYBs are as little as $250 for all four on ebay. Installation averages $75-$100 per corner but may be more because of the rear seat. glenmore 1990 LS400 2000 C280 1991 300CE

The key to doing the rears is in removing the old shock. If you are struggling to do this and using lots of muscle you are doing it wrong. Keep the shock pretty much vertical but twist it 90 degrees. Sometimes you need to depress the suspension a little, but it will literally fall right out. Installation is the same. You need to twist the shock as you raise it into position. Mostly what you are doing is twisting your shock/spring/mount assembly so that the shock mount clears any obstacles. Be careful around your axle CV boot. You can damage them if you bang them too much with the shock. Also in using your spring compressor, you need to compress and decompress your spring uniformly. This helps when you are trying to align the bottom shock bushing with the shock mount. This is very important or else you get to do the repair all over again. Dry fit your new shock assembly and make sure the lower shock bushing is square in its bracket before tightening everything up. glenmore 1990 LS400 1991 300CE 2000 C280

I just put in a new radiator, 1990 LS400. Here are a few notes. The operating temp was fine, but I kept losing coolant. I noticed that the top of the radiator was wet all around where the top is crimped to the body. The fellow at a well known shop said that a Lexus core is excellent and usually what is needed is a new rubber gasket at the top, $250. I bought a knockoff from ebay for about $120. Overall OK fit except for two spots noted below. Removal is straightforward, just don't forget to unplug and plug in the sensor at the lower drivers side. Have two small squares of rags to plug the radiator when you unplug the tranny lines. You can position the long tranny hose to prevent fluid from flowing out. I tied up the short tranny hose. You might cover these openings with rags because when you pull the radiator, all sorts of crap, dirt, leaves, rotten foam goes flying all over the place. Something was seriously wrong inside my radiator. When I removed the banjo fitting that goes from the overflow tank to the top of the radiator, it was nearly plugged with bits of rubber. I cleared that out and I hope that no rubber worked its way back to the tank. After you transfer all the fittings from the old to the new, dry fit the shroud to the new radiator. There are two small "U" rubber bushings at the bottom where the shroud fits into the radiator. The fit wasn't great here, so fit the shroud and radiator together here and install as one unit. It is also tough fitting the nuts into the little slots that hold the shroud. Don't assume that the capacity of the new one is the same as the old. I returned all the coolant to the car but needed to drain some. glenmore 1990 LS400

If the car does not reach operating temperatures, this is typically a malfuntioning thermostat, which is a cheap DIY fix. Fix as soon as possible as the thermostat on my Mercedes was doing that, making the engine run to cold, then it finally failed in the closed position and I overheated. As to the hot air coming out of the vents when no AC or HEAT is on, others have had this complaint. I sometimes have this problem. I am guessing the problem is the servos that control the flaps are getting old and they don't close and open as they should. When this happens, I turn on the AC and then turn it off. Somehow this moves the flaps enough to deflect the hot engine compartment air. glenmore 1990 ls400