IS400

When I did my timing belt last year I did not replace the cam seals. They looked perfect and had no leaks. I think they may have been replaced at the previous timing belt interval. I tried prying on them and they did not want to budge at all. Dry and tight like your mechanic told you. B)

I think you should have the same response as when they tell you it is necessary to clean the inside of the mufflers every 30K miles... ...please read all the DIY articles you can on this site, it is one of the best ways to find out what is a scam and what is dealer only. This upcoming Depression/Recession is going to make doing repairs yourself more and more logical and even necessary. :(

Yup. It goes off if the sunroof is tilted back. Not if it is pulled back straight into the roof. My opinion is that if it is tilted back someone could just rip it off the roof and get in the car easily and warning you that it could be stolen easier? Who knows.

The water pump will start to leak a little as it wears out. Mine leaked about a cup of coolant a week for the few months it took me to get up the nerve to do the pump and timing belt along with getting to my vacation week so I would not be rushed. I could have probably gone another six months without trouble if I had to have IMO. I just kept topping it off with distilled water each weekend when I washed it and it never overheated or gave me any problems.

Sounds like they did something to enrich your mixture. You will have a higher idle and use more fuel sitting at lights and warming up in the a.m. and such. You should have them pull the codes and make sure they are not just feeding you along to get from paying for an expensive repair under warranty. Have them put it at the factory spec idle speed and see if it is still smooth. If you cannot stack champagne glasses on the intake three high in a pyramid while it is in park and running, you do not have the lexus quality you deserve. Another thing to think of is the motor and transmission mounts. Putting new mounts in my 1st gen made it feel as smooth as a new lexus again. Good luck!

I tried getting a new key at a locksmith and he said lexus keys are lexus only. Maybe he was wrong, but looked like 100 years old and had as many keys as the keymaker in the matrix movies! LOL He seemed to know his stuff. My key was sticking and he told me it was worn and to use my other one and to squirt a small amount of graphite in the fall to help compensate for condensation making things stick when the water freezes. Hope that helps. :)

Never apply WD-40 to the inside of an ignition or door lock. It will literally gum up the works. That is why graphite powder even exists. The problem is going to get worse now IMO. I'd be sourcing out a new ignition lock cylinder or at least try one of my other keys to make sure it is not a worn out primary key instead. Your real problem is going to be when that cylinder does not turn at ALL when you want it. Don't resort to a hammer either with delicate parts. I'm trying to help here not judge, so work through the issue and don't get desperate. If all else fails you can always disconnect the battery while you find a way to fix the problem if the key ever locks in the run condition. :(

Do a search on here of how to pull codes on the engine. You jump a wire across some terminals in the engine bay and then turn the key on and count the flashes on the dash to get the codes if I remember. My guess is you have O2 sensor problems and maybe the typical power steering valve failure these cars get which draws power steering fluid into the engine and it burns while out the exhaust. Why did you remove the mufflers? Did you take out the cats too?

Since all LS400's are automatics I'm confused as to which part you mean.

If you want stock wheels, get mine. 1st generation IS300 wheels. 18" and still lexus. Lots of the residents down in Detroit love dropped 20's on their LS400s. When my girlfriends and I see those we know who is driving for sure! Rollin' on 'dubs G! Lol! Sometimes it is just a twink boy with his left hand up on the top of the wheel with the seat pushed way back. Just as funny to us girls!

Ouch! If you do a search on here I think you will find a lot of discussions about it. They are quite expensive I think. Glad I could help with what had happened to mine, anytime I find an easy or cheap repair I try to let the rest of you know so we can stay out of the dealership as much as possible!

Which means you take your car to a specialty shop and they use a mechanical arm with big plastic rollers the size of a paint roller from the hardware store, and put it under your fender where the tires are and force the metal out so that there is more room for your 'Dubs'. For years I did not know what rolled quarter panels were until I dated a guy that owned a body shop. They do it on mustangs all the time to fit them for drag racing tires.

I did all those things too. It has been a year or so since and this leak just showed up. Like I mentioned, it did not leak unless the engine was running, so make sure to do that after you wipe things down. Good luck!

If you look at the oil filter from below, you will see a 'hoop' of rubber power steering line that is right in your face. It looks like you could hang a coat hanger from it. That rubber line has a connection at the end that is toward the bumper that is a metal tubing junction that cracked and failed on mine. Last week, just before a long trip, I had noticed a drip of ps fluid on my driveway. After putting the car up on stands in the front and wiping everything off, I ran the car for ten seconds while rotating the wheel from lock to lock. After getting underneath I saw that where the rubber 'hoop' section connected to the metal line going up to the engine, it was wet with ps fluid. I made two end caps from plastic tubing and duct tape so that when I removed the line I would not lose too much fluid. The end closest to the drivers seat was simple, it slid right off after the usual liquid wrench, wait ten minutes routine. The bumper side of the rubber line was TERRIBLE! I found out why when it released after getting medieval with the vise grips, the metal inside the rubber had actually failed and cracked just above the clamp! Well that left a knarly metal tube to try to get my home made cap onto after pulling it free. Ps fluid everywhere and every tool felt like I was holding onto a slippery eel! After a quick clean up I took the part to the local store and got a foot of heavy duty tubing that was a little under sized and four high quality hose clamps. Again the drivers side of the loop was easy to put back on, but the bumper side took ten minutes just to ease the tube on and get the clamp where I wanted it. I topped off the reservoir, did the usual left and right to clear the air and left it alone over night with the cap off the reservoir. In the morning I started it up and had no noise or bubbles and took it for a drive and did full power starts and high speed runs on the highway to make sure I would not have a leak in my repair on my trip. No leaks, no nothing and I have a better feel back in the steering. Another repair that comes from years and years of small body movements that fatigue metal tubing. Like the EGR tube issue I guess, without the severe heat cycling. BTW I used one of the clamps to keep the tubing from crimping itself off at the bottom of the loop. Buying a longer length of tubing might have made that unnecessary if you try the repair yourself. Now I have to look up the actual part and see what I saved and if I should swap it out for the real one in the future.

My advice is to get blizzaks (sp) for your car if you anticipate driving in snow regularly. The first genation traction control is more of a nervous nanny that has power over the brake pedal and engine rather than a modern traction control system. You can get a good idea of it by flooring the pedal from a stop in the rain and see what happens. It seems to be just an all or nothing kind of system. It basically just tells me when the car is losing traction, it has not helped me regain control, which is a REAL scary situation in a car as large as this. If you would feel comfortable driving a camaro or mustang in the winter you will be the same with this one. With great snowtires the weight of the car is a plus and you should feel pretty darn safe out there. Good luck! ;)

SRK, some people here in the U.S. have bad vision and may feel more comfortable typing in caps. Send him a private message rather than being rude please. Oh, are you saying these cars have solid lifters or hydraulic lifters? Just want to make sure I PM you the right response SRK.

Great tip about taping the window in place! You should do a write up and post it. :D

I apologize for Killerfatty and his rudeness. Those remarks were unacceptable.

If I remember from my timing belt repair, that the fan is a pain to take off. You have to remove four small bolts that are on the fan hub and cannot be seen with the fan shroud in place, so free it up if you can. Good luck!

These are supposed to be life time fuel filters. How cold does it get in Puerto Rico? 68? LOL! A good one to check it dragging brakes when it is cold, especially if you use the parking brake. The cable can fail to retract all the way, especially if you use it infrequently. Just and idea, but good luck!

I have a feeling that the computer would not like it one bit. You would need to modify sooo much to get a clutch pedal, modify a bell housing, linkage, mount the reservoir and get the console cut and patched back together, on and on and on... Really one of the most reliable automatics ever made and you want to replace it? <_< I am all for out of the box thinking but this is a project for a wealthy shut-in or a prisoner with a life sentence. In other words doing it just to say you did it with time or money no object. Just think of the weight difference of the cars too, you will have a lot of issues with reliability and clutch life IMO. :o

I did not have any problems, just the usual fiddling with shrouds to get space to take things off and such. Remember to check for electrical and transmission cooler lines before you try getting it out. The fan bolts were a bit of a problem for me but it was straightforward to do. I did not use the radiator drain petcock since mine would not budge no matter the method or chemical I tried. I just took off the lower hose and thought it would be better to make a mess on the garage floor than to twist that little valve off the radiator trying to get it to open. Good luck!

I reconnected and soldered the trunk wiring that was broken (black wire) in the area of the drivers side hinge. It was way up in the loom and I had to take off a lot of black tape type factory wire wrapping and a few sections of flexible routing to get to the section that was broken (almost to the bulk head). I was there to fix a non functioning trunk release and ended up getting SOLID braking as a bonus. I'd replaced a lot of brake parts and done two brake jobs trying to get the car to brake like my old ES300, but the ground wire in the trunk was what finally fixed my brakes! Hope it works for you!

Your clanking noise most likely is coming from the bushings that attach the strut wishbone (upper control arm) to the car. They are pricey, but I got a couple of them for my car from Arnott industries. They were quiet at first but made a little noise after a while. Any clearance on those bushes and the car will make clunks and bangs over slow speed bumps and speed bumps in subdivisions. I know the sound is embarrassing for such a high end car, but it is a common complaint as you will find if you search for 'upper control arms' on this board. BTW, Summit is one of the biggest rip offs in the idustry as far as price points. Find anyone of their products somewhere else and you will find they charge at least 10% beyond other retailers. Summit uses their stores to finance their racing efforts. Race gas is near $40 a gallon and you will pay for it in your parts from them! Good luck!

I'd say you have an air pocket like mine did after doing the timing belt. Take off the cover (thermostat) when the car is cold. If you do not have water spilling out when you take it off you are not properly filled with coolant. Turn the car on and get it up to temp so the stat will open and fill from that open cover and then turn the car off and reinstall the cover. That is what I did and it worked. My next question is are you getting cabin heat? If you are then you probably do not have an air pocket IMO. Remember the stat can be installed improperly too! It has a little wobble part with a hole that has to be lined up right. Call the dealership and ask how it needs to be oriented. I did a timing belt repair write up that tells you the right way, a year ago, but I forget off the top of my head. Good luck! :)