IS400

I just broke down and bought the ac retrofit kit for my 1990. It has the replacement valves and the flush fluid and a lot of silicone seals. The small ones seem obvious, but the huge ones are stumping me. Do they go in the compressor? Anyone who knows of the procedure for installing this retrofit kit would be greatly appreciated!

Now that summer is here I wanted to find the problem with my AC and it is definately the high pressure hose. Do any of you know who has them for the lowest quality price. Not looking for used since this part fails a lot according to rumor. I can find the dryer and expansion valve online easily, but the sites I have gone to that were recommended to get the hose say they never had them or they are out of stock. Don't want to go the stealer for this one. $$$$$. By the way, my Arnott upper control arms are clunking now after 1,000 miles. The low price seems to be something I am going to pay for by getting Lexus ones eventually and doing the repair twice.

What were your symptoms? A complete no start? I looked at your post and could not find anything before you tore it down as to what the problem is.

NC is right on all those points. I had a similar noise but a lot softer. With the help of the board I was able to adjust the emergency brake back to a more neutral position by doing a few 25 mph backward HARD stops. Fun! At the end the noise was almost gone and I am going to spray the e-brake area with break free and then brake cleaner to see if I can adjust them down to get all the noise to go away. Give the backwards hard stop a try and see if it sounds different

Why does a woman have to be out of shape to work on cars? Rhetorical question of course. If you live near me you know how much I like cars and boats. If I am going to get screwed by a mechanic it had better be after a date and not for working on my car. That is why we are on this forum right? I hope everyone is enjoying the spring with their cars and thanks to the guy that posted how to adjust the rear emergency brake by going backwards and stopping hard. That was fun! I did it three times and slid the car with abs lockup each time! Whoops, I'm a pretty girl and should not do brake stands or J turns either. ROFLOL! :P

The damn right rear has a dragging e-brake shoe I think. At slow speeds I hear a sound like sandpaper but it is not constant. Kind of a swish, pause, swish, pause, swish as I go by a wall with the windows down. I see people turn to look at the car when I roll slow through parking lots or shopping centers. Sucks. Checked for bearing noise and spent and afternoon using break free and such solvents trying to get the damn rotor off. Is there an adjustor I am missing that has to be backed off, like my old Mustang? Thanks for all your help guys, I hope you are all doing well! :) I can't wait to get back on my boat and get back in my bikinis! 'been a long hard winter for this Michigan girl. ;)

You boys are so hardcore! Chain wrench? I just did my waterpump and pulley on my 90 this winter and I did a write up on it. Do you guys remember? Just open up the access panel on the bottom of the tranny where it meets the engine and stick a large allen tool in one of the flywheel holes and slowly turn the engine with the crank bolt until the tool wedges against the side of the tranny housing. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! Even a girl like me can do it alone. No need for buddies and helpers and vise grips at all! Let me know if it works! :)

Why is it blackmail? They advertise the relentless pursuit of perfection. If the LS460 line is showing cases of harsh ride characteristics and not equal to the ride of the previous model, it is false advertising. False advertising is a crime and should be reported to the public. Lexus is not above the law. When dealers lower tire pressure below recommended levels or put on non factory tires it would lead anyone to believe that the way the car rides is how lexus designed or assembled it to ride. The are grasping at straws to try and get the owner off their lot and accept the car as is. Trading gas mileage by lowering tire pressure, and getting a wallowy unresponsive but somewhat better ride? C'mon that is assinine. Low tire pressure causes accidents and dramatically increased tire wear and should never be part of a solution to this problem. I expect to feel every bump in my old pick-up truck. I do not expect a jarring ride from a 60-80K luxury car. So when consumer reports says something sucks it is blackmailing the company to perform? Nah. It is the TRUTH about what kind of product they are producing and how the dealers are not being helpful and deny responsibility for giving the owner a car that rides like the demo did and every example should. It is a december to remember when you get a rough riding lexus for christmas and the dealer says, "so what?"

I'd call the detroit newspapers and tell them about your problem and that is happening to more than just your car. They will eat it up with a spoon. Any chance to bash foreign cars, especially a top tier lexus, will get lots of newspapers sold here in s.e. michigan. Just make sure to tell lexus you are going to do it before you contact the papers. Give them a chance to come out with a 4 axis accelerometer and compare your car's ride to their baseline cars. Mythbusters style!

Sounds to me like there is something to this on an assembly level. There must be something that gets put in backwards, torqued wrong or upside down or missing. I drove the demo LS460L at Meade Lexus in Michigan and it was flawless. That is saying a lot about the car considering the mine field roads we have here. Someone on some shift is putting it together wrong. Someone on another shift is getting it right. That is my two cents. If something is not torqued to specs and then after a couple hundred miles of jarring it comes loose or out of alignment then you get a screwed up ride. My car just needs to wear out two little bushings on the carrier and the rear end starts wagging and thumping like a rap star on drugs. It does not take much play to get a harsh ride in these cars. Good luck and you have convinced me to NEVER buy a new lexus. Dealers are some fun huh? :chairshot:

Thanks for the compliment. It is just a cabin cruiser with a 5.7 I/O. I bought it for 7K with a dual axel trailer. I have a friend with a house on Lake St. Claire and he lets me keep it there for free all summer. Seems like having me around is payment enough! I think he nearly has a heart attack each time me and my female friends clean and wash down the boat in our bikinis after or before a trip to go tanning or partying. Here is a pic of it (stupid looking golf cap I know, but its pink!) Yea it is a bayliner, but I not trying to impress anyone and I hate payments. The depreciation on a new boat is one of the most horrendous things I have seen my friends make the mistake of getting into. They buy a 250K luxury brand boat and five years later it has lost 50K of that value. Let alone the interest on the principal that they pay! I am on the same water and get to do the same things they do. To keep this post on topic about our cars. I noticed when I put on my winter tires that they mounted two of them so that the wheels are not facing in the proper direction (swirl of the fins facing backwards.) Are these wheels directional? Am I going to have vibration issues and need to remount the tires? I have the two narrower tires on the front and the wider ones on the back, so I can't just turn them around and make them face in the right direction without !Removed! that up. The manual says not to run them backwards, but is it just for looks or are they really directional wheels? (1990 LS400)

Wow! 8 hours to repair that problem? The dealership is making bank on that design flaw. From an engineering side, the problem seems to have been the tensioner allowing slap in the chain and the valve timing was affected. That noise you heard was valves knocking against other parts. Ouch. Mis timed interference engines are a scary thought! I bet it was still there at higher rpms but you could not hear it. Would love to look at drivers side valve train with a bore scope. Have your engine oil checked for metal flakes too. Seriously.

My black cars look best from 5 feet away. I like the color on the Miata better because it hides scratches and is still a darker color. I think it would be a good lexus color, but they tend to be more bright or pastel shades.

Here is a pic of the allen wrench I used to keep the engine from turning so the balancer bolt could be removed. The other two are the current photos you guys asked for. I love the miata because it turns corners like a road going razor blade. It also gets about 30 mpg and is saving me a ton on gas for commuting. All the vehicles are paid off now and I am happy to have something for every need I might have. My V-6 Isuzu has got like 220 horse. That thing moves! But the soft top is a pain in the butt to see out of.

You have to remember that you are moving a relatively large car around with a 4.0 liter engine and an automatic transmission. The engine is a thirsty design. To get 250 horsepower out of that small of a displacement lexus equiped it with 4 valves per cylinder and overhead cams. Guys have turbo charged it and gotten 800 horsepower with a STOCK bottom end and just reworked heads and intake/injectors etc. It was a high tech design when introduced and incorporated many racing car (formula 1) technology in its architecture. That is why it is so durable also. 5.0 Mustangs have on average 225 horsepower and most dyno'd much lower when tested. We (mine is a 1990) get 250 with a full liter less displacement.

If it can catch fire it already would have IMO. Most polymers have a realtively high spontaneous combustion point. Unless there is an open flame they really do not burn. They can melt and char but will not pose that great of a fire risk. Remember that the area the plastic stuck itself to is designed to cope with high temperatures if it were to ignite for some reason. Unless you have pounds of it jammed on there the fire would not last long for lack of fuel (the petroleum base of plastic). If you are really worried pry off a piece of the material and see how easy it burns. If you can light it and is stays lit on its own you have problem. If it needs constant flame to burn you have a plastic that is no risk to the relatively low heat that an exhaust can deliver. The cost of any section of lexus exhaust systems is very expensive. It will a big bill to replace the section you are referring to. Price out the cats alone to get an idea of what the bill could be. Emissions would probably have a regulation that refers to changing out your cats too, depending on the age of the car I think. Good luck though!

Maybe I'll get one of my girlfriends to take a pic of me in the car tomorrow. How about a quart of synthetic atf instead? I used all my oil when I changed it after the timing belt. Broke the torque wrench. It only went up to 150 pounds. Damn harmonic balancer bolt! :chairshot:

I'm blonde with bigger !Removed! than her, as the guys that saw my pics on here previously, before I took them down, . I'll post a fully clothed pic here if you want it, but I do not want to offend those that did not appreciate me in bikinis again.

If you are worried about if your belt is cracked or showing age, there is an easy way to check it. At least on early model LS's. Take off the distributor cover on the drivers side. There are four little bolts. 10 or 12mm I think. One is hidden under hoses on the ac side, but the rest are obvious. The cover is long because it incorporates with the spark plug cover. I'd guess it is nearly two feet long and shaped like a club, with the distributor cover at the 'big' end. Once it is off you can see a large portion of the timing belt as it sits on the driver's side cam bank. Mine had deep spider web cracks all over it and it looked like it was heat cycled a million times by the look of the rubber surface. Crank the engine without starting it and check more areas of the belt. If you are lucky you will spot any big crack or defect like mine had and know it is time to schedule a replacement. On the other hand if it is pristine and new looking you can breathe more of a sigh of relief that either you have time left or that the shop ACTUALLY REPLACED it as you paid them to do. I'd check it and mark it before the repair if someone else is doing it and check it at home after. Trust is earned and I don't trust mechanics anymore unless I know them personally. Especially with a repair that is going to take them 15 hours if they do it properly. Too tempting to cheat, especially if they figure out the owner is not mechanically inclined. IMO take it to Lexus and pay the big bucks, do it yourself or check the belt before and after to be sure. If I'd have known how to check the condition of the belt I'd have done it a long time ago. Wondering about that belt keeps us up at night as many of you I'm sure can agree.

Thanks for all the kind words! I really appreciate the time you all took to post your opinions on my overhaul job. Looking forward to helping in your repairs if I can. The Lexus Dealer was stunned with the price on the Arnott UC arms and took down the website to see if they can recommend their product to others with clunky lexus front ends. Shipping was $10 and no tax! Pretty hard to beat.

If your coolant level is borderline it will throw cold air if you are not reving the engine like you would driving. Try reving it at the stoplight another 1,000 rpm for ten seconds and see if you get warm air. I knew my water pump was leaking because I had the same symptoms. If you just winterized the car maybe they did not fill it up all the way or an air pocket gave them a false fill reading. Worth a try, it is free and will not get your hands dirty! LOL. "Bakersfield Wilson, it's from Bakersfield." What movie does that reference to? Could not resist since the movie made a hero out of a porta potty. Well at least you are a lot warmer in Bakersfield than us stuck in Michigan.

Thanks! That really means a lot to me. You have an non interference engine? I think those engines started in 98 right? Those must have the belts changed like clockwork or you risk it imploding if it breaks from what I understand. Cheers!

I just finished a major repair job on my 1990 LS400. Took 3 days of wrenching and two days in between resting. As a 120lb girl working by herself, I don't think I did too bad. The results are amazing. 1. Got Timingbelt/waterpump kit from CA via E-bay. All Japanese parts and lots of extra stuff like s.plug seals etc. ($200). 2. Lower ball joints and tie rod ends for the front. Wish I had not done them, the old ones were pristine and were tight, but once that pickel fork cuts the seals, not much you can do but replace them. Got the parts off e-bay as suggested by a site member here and it was a nightmare. Three attempts and I still had to settle for a mismatched set of tie rod ends. ($120 for all four parts + my own grease and tie wrap to make the driver's side tie rod work until I can get a spec part to replace it.) Watch out for Miami suppliers. 3. Upper control arms (pair) from Arnott Industries. Beautiful pieces. My god they are sweet looking. ($199 pair) Drop the spindle to the floor using a jack and the spring gets out of the way to unbolt the old ones and put in the new. Jack it back up in place to re attach the strut and you are done. 4. Replaced the PS control valve as a cross referenced tercel part and cleaned out the screen of the servo by the rack again. ($80 + fluid) 5. Two bags of cotton rags to sop up all the oil and fluids that seeped by the drivers side valve cover where the last mechanic from lexus failed to tighten either the bolt on the valve cover at the corner or the distributor housing at the bottom corner. (That is where I had been losing a quart of oil an year and could not find the cause.) The timing belt had been slinging it everywhere! Used nearly a whole can of degreaser just cleaning plastic covers and crevices around the timing system and crank! Analysis: The engine had been serviced by someone regularly. That someone, probably a mechanic and not the owner, did not seem to think of failing to torque things that are designed to keep fluids and dirt from migrating into the engine. My distributor housing, with the cam sensors (look like little silver coins) were covered with a 1/16th of an inch of crud. All from the housings not being tightened or gaskets jammed on and showing gaps and warped edges. Lots of places for things to invade the timing belt cavity all day long in what ever weather or debris the car encountered. The radiator had pounds of stuff between the condensor and radiator. Surprised the car cooled itself at all. The throttle linkage had about 1/2 inch of play before the pedal moved the throttle plate. Adjusted and now the car takes off smartly from a stop. Speaking of which, the car is SMOOTH running again. That timing belt had stretched a lot. The new one is much thicker in construction and looks like it is either a factory redesign or the maintenance on my car had been fudged. The timing belt looked old and had cracks everywhere. One crack was 9/10ths the way across the non toothed face of the belt and when I twisted it I heard fibres breaking. I was probably a few weeks away from being stranded. The seal around the thermostat was torn and needed to be replaced. It looked like the person that installed it was in a hurry and just jammed it on and threw it in there no matter how it was oriented. The steam hole with the little pebble sized flapper was not pointing straight up like it should either. Replaced both pieces along with the o-ring for the housing ($40) at the local Lexus Dealer. Ouch! Glad I was not forced to buy the other parts there! The car runs smooth now and does not clank or bang over expansion joints or irregularities. Now though, those rear carrier bushings are obvious and the next thing on my list. BTW the best method I found to keep the engine from turning while removing the harmonic balancer when doing the timing belt, is quite simple and a tool we all have at home. Get under the car, look for the access panel where the trans meets the engine and take off the two bolts and look for the round holes (big) in the flywheel. Take the largest Allen Wrench you have (90 degree style with a short and a long end, not the T handle ones) and slip the short end of the wrench inside one of the large openings. Slowly turn the engine over with your breaker bar and you will feel sudden resistance in about a quarter turn or less. Now you can take off that 180 foot pound bolt with no problem. I had to get on the fender and use my legs since i am a girl, but it is the perfect tool to make it a one person job. Just remember to take it out before you start your engine! Eeek! Alert: My 1990 did not have obvious timing marks for the cams. I marked the cams with a sharpie and eyeballed a fixed point behind them on the sparkplug wire holder. Kind of like dead reckoning in the woods. See a tree on the heading, go to that tree, pick another tree on your heading, etc... Well I had set everything and had marked the crank and taken off the belt and was about to go to lunch and thought I really can't see any marks to interpret on the cam gears, so i made my dead reckoning marks and ran the new belt around to see how the stiff new one was going to be getting in place and --whizz, the passenger side cam gear rotated on its own about a 1/3 of a turn in a split second. My heart jumped and I thought oh no, I lost my timing! I took a look and turned the gear back to the mark and realized it was under compression or at the top of its stroke or something. I felt a good amount of resistance until I got it back on mark and it rested there and did not move again. I have a feeling if I had not made that mark I would have had to guess or at least not felt confident I had done the job right when I turned the key to start it up the first time. Mark your stuff as soon as you get the crank at top dead center. Do not mess around with knowing where you started from because weird things can happen when you least expect it. Last FYI. The tutorials do not list the huge bolt running perpendicular in plane to all the other bolts. It runs through the housing under the ac compressor and needs to be removed to take out the water pump. When your engine is covered in crude you cannot see the seams where the metal meets. Look at your new part and use it as a guide. When you remove the old pump don't use a chisel like the tutorial says, there is a tab on the pump in the passenger side quadrant that lexus designed into the part to make it easy to pry off. I just used that same allen wrench like I would open a beer bottle. A flick of the wrist and the seal is broken and you can pull the old pump off a little at a time until it slides free. Happy Holidays everyone!

You saved my !Removed!! It is a cute one too, as I am female and wear bikinis all summer on my boat. Think playboy bunny that works on cars and likes to fish! I used to have pics on here until one of the members became offended. Now I am just a ghost and lurk until I get stumped like on this problem. Mwahhaahaaa! Happy Holidays!

Now that is worth checking out. If it is an access panel, instead of pulling the tranny, I may be in business...