lexus400

'91 LS, 175k. New - struts, lower ball joints, rack and bushings, strut rods, inner/outer tie rods. Upper control arms have about 120k on them (were replaced when I bought the car and look/feel fine). I get a popping noise when I turn to the right kind of quickly. Not speed dependant and definitely a "popping" sort of noise not a clunk. Only happens when turning, over bumps is fine. Any ideas ? I have almost everything covered don't I ? thanks

It's a '96 ES....

I think I screwed up... replacing the fan motor and couldn't get the nut off to remove the fan. Used my impact to try and zip it off. When I did that it just spun and didn't go anywhere. So, I cut the nut off to remove the fan. No big deal, I'll just grab another nut and use that but I can't get any of them started. Is it a reverse thread ? thanks

No, I just found out but I will check around. The car has 250k on it so if I can find a car with even 100k used it might be worth it. thanks

Anyone know how much they run ? Is it the whole unit or can I replace the fan bearing ? It's a '96 ES... thanks, Bob

ok, gotcha.... I'm pretty sure I took the bracket off when I did mine about a year ago. There wasn't enough room to move that stud up to get it out.

I think you guys might be talking about two different things... The strutbar (or strut rod) is a rod/bushing that connects from the bottom of the wheel hub to the front bumper area. Totally different than the "strut" assembly. If you have done other front end work, you can definitely handle changing them. Bob

Akebonos are GREAT pads but I understand that they're going back to OEM exclusively and will no longer sell aftermarket. My local supply house is selling them at less than half price to get rid of them so I got their last set for my LS - $35 !

Wow, that's the first time I have heard an LS transmission fail like that. Actually haven't heard of too many failing in any way actually. Compared to the Audi A8 (my other car), $2k is a pretty reasonable number. Bob Actually...my resolution was to rebuild it. I had my own personal mechanic (30 years experience....my good friend for 25 of those...) take a look at it as the shop pulled it out. It was a catastrophic failure...appeared to start with torque convertor and got worse from there. Cost $2100...with a 2 year warranty. Oh well...

I put a new radiator in my car last week. The old one wasn't leaking but starting to show some seepage so I thought I would do it while I had the time. Word of advise, there was about 10 - 12" inches of compacted leaves and dirt between the condensor and radiator. Unless you remove the air intake and foam strips you wouldn't have any to see it and even then, I don't know if you would be able to suck it out with a vac. My car never ran hot but it definitely seems like it's running cooler when opening the hood. Anyway, is there any scrap value to old radiators these days or should I get it recored and keep it ? Bob

ok, no... rack grommets are new. This is play in the wheel itself, not steering wheel.

interesting, anyone else know any more details ? ko90s, do you have a link by any chance ? I couldn't get to autoinsider. thanks

level is good ?

'91 LS with 175k. I bought the car with 55k and at that time dealer replaced upper control arms and lower balls joints so those components have 125k on them now. Rack, struts, inner/outer tie rods are new. If I grab the wheel top and bottom, I have some play on the drivers side. Pass seems tight but I'm getting a "popping" noise from that side when driving. Would you guess lower ball joints ? Anyone had wheel bearings go at that mileage ? thanks, Bob

This is the bracket that the caliper bolts up to. Looking for the pass side, '91 LS. thanks !

I would be careful, a couple of people posted that the Brembos were fakes. I would be a little leary of these guys.

True, you do pay a little more but these guys are awesome if you have any problems. They have swapped my creeper twice with no questions asked.

First, it takes a LOT to get me post something negative about any person/company. Read below and then decide if you want to deal with Leatherique.... This is EXACTLY what's happened to me. I typed this email and sent it to them a couple of days ago giving them ONE last chance. No response. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For those that don't know, Leatherique makes leather dye and conditioner. Most people use their products for redying car seats. Part of their service is sending a swatch of your leather so that they can match the color. This is where the fun begins for me. I'll spare all of the exact dates since it's the overall timeline that's the punchline to this joke: 1) I send in a swatch of leather. Receive dye and some time goes by before I try it. It's not even close. 2) Contact leatherique and they suggest going to an art store and adding black paint (it's gray and too light at this point). Ok, I say. How hard could that be ? Not sure why I needed to send in a swatch since now I'm matching the color but I just want to get it done. 3) Well I can't. I go back and forth with them adding more black and I just can't get it right. My wifes car has been off the road for over a week now (removed the seats). 4) I'm under the gun to get the car back on the road, think I have it close and spray the seat. It's way off... 5) Leatherique sends me to a website which has leather colors and asks which one matches mine. I reply with a 3 digit number and they decide to send me a new bottle. The old batch is no good because at this point I've mixed too much paint into the dye. 6) I'm not happy but at least they are trying to do something. However, getting that bottle took 2 weeks. Why you ask ? I'm calling every day, "did it ship yet" but I never getting a straight answer - EVER. I checked Hoovers, they have THREE employees. The typical response is "I sent an email to the shipping department but never heard back". At least 6 unanswered emails and another 4 phone calls go by... With all the back and forth the car has now been off the road for almost 3 weeks. FINALLY, I get a hold of them and the give me a tracking number. Delivery should be on a Friday so I can get it all done during the weekend. It's been a long road but there's light at the end of the tunnel. Not so fast... The package never shows up. I call/email, no reponse. I call Fedex, they don't know anything about the package. Turns out that Leatherique gave me a tracking number but the package never left the building - way to go. Another week goes by. I send an email offering to pay for 2 day shipping so I can get it done the following weekend - no response. I also suggest that they return swatches with a dab of the matched dye applied. Hey, there's a novel idea, why not prove that you actually matched the color ? I say this because I'm pretty sure they never matched the swatch I sent in to begin this saga. I call/email over and over. Finally get a tracking number and another bottle shows up. Ok, the car has been off the road for a month but I should be good to go. Put on a small test to check the color and it's exactly the same as the first bottle. Now I KNOW they never matched to the swatch. I tested this batch right next to the first one and it's a perfect match. Email them again. Get some reference to fading, etc. Now for the record, the swatch I sent originally was cut from inside the rear seat pocket on a hardtop sedan that's always garaged. I don't think there's a whole lot of fading going on. The match between my swatch and the original seats is dead on. As I said before, even if that were the case, returning the swatch with some matched dye applied would eliminate that issue. Their job is to match the dye to the swatch, any matching after that is my issue. Now, with the new bottle they send me some of their black dye to tint. I paint cars as a hobby, so I'm pretty well versed in mixing things. I can't get it right. It's off by miles. Two unanswered emails later, I finally get a reponse suggesting that I "send back the dye" and we'll mix it for you. Ok, I box it up and send it back two day delivery. That was two weeks and a half weeks ago. Since then, I have sent 5 emails and called 6 times. I never got a response to my emails but got a hold of someone on the phone three out of six times. Each time I got a reponse like, "haven't heard back from colormatch… I think it was done ?" Hmm, I’ll check and call you back.”. I haven't received ONE reply from any phone call. None, zero. As soon as you hang up with them (if you don't get their voicemail) it's as good as never calling. Do you think with 3 employees someone could go pick up the friggen box and send it to me ? No, this is like trying to get an answer from the IRS. It's now been SIX weeks since this nightmare started and I'm no closer to getting this resolved. I give up. This place is a nightmare to I would strongly suggest using something else. So, the final scorecard is: I'm out of commission six weeks, hours of aggravation, about $85, the cost of another dye PLUS whatever time it'll take to redo the whole thing. Thanks Leatherique !! Bob

I would think twice about getting one at all, on arguably one of the most reliable cars on the road. I have the same opinion on extended warranties on electronics, appliances. They're not offering them to be nice guys, they're doing it because statistically they come out ahead. That's reason enough for me to NOT get them... Just my .02, you'll always hear stories from people about how they came out "ahead"

I was just thinking about this the other day. At what point do they fail ? (probably a rhetorical question ) 20, 25 years ? It's not too far away...

I did mine a few months ago on my '91 and it was reverse threaded. Try that first... I couldn't find a procedure in the manual to verify, I just had a feeling since it wouldn't move the other way.

highly unlikely that an LS engine would seize unless it was run w/o oil.

MB has a very bad reputation the past 5-6 years. I would say just the opposite at this point...

I dread the day mine goes. It's a '91 with 180k on it !! I hope I have a few more years to go ! Excellent updates and pics that will help someone along the way. You're probably saving close to $1,000 so it'w worth it. Just don't figure out your hourly rate :) Bob

Mine does that occassionaly as well ('91) and has for years. More so in hot weather I think. The gas cap vac noise is normal.. I wouldn't worry about it.