rfworld

Looking at the picture from the top of the engine it appears that you have not only sludge but a caked on dry brittle build up on the valve cover??? This indicates that at some point during the cars life it had one or several massive over heatings. WHen oil overheats it will cake and start to clog all your ports. Even if the condition that caused the original problem IE water pump or no coolant the caked up areas will now be cancer to the internal engine and will cause sludge build up for the rest of the engines life. So now you are face with three choices. !) Tear the engine down and rebuild 2) replace engine with one from a wreck 3) Sell car as is eat you losses 4) sell car for parts Next time you buy a used car whether it be a ford taurus or a rolls royce it may be a good idea to check for this problem. Also not sure how you tested this car before you bought it but I didnt read anywhere that you ran this car from cold to hot and kept running it for at least 2 hrs before you bought it. WOuld this problem shown up during that test before you bought it? Dave 98 LS400 190k miles bullet proof car

I have a 98 with 188k and running strong. Check with Lexus and see if the timing belt and water pump was changed. very important to see if it had a starter motor done. Starters are located under the intake manifol and will cost you 10 hrs odf dealer labor = 1000 plus starter 400. If it had that done thats goo. You should also expect front strut bars to go something a local mechanic can instal if you buy the parts about 200 plus 3hrs pro labor. Everything else is going to go for a least 200k in my estimate. CHeck what records Lexus has and be patient. Look for obvious signs of abuse like curb rash and trashed interiors. COuld be worth an hour of lexus labor to have it checked out by a pro. rfworld

If you want your cigarette lighter to be "hot' when inition is off just find any fuse in your fuse box that is hot when ignition is off and jumper the source side to the cigrette lighter "out" side and place a 15 amp fuse in between. You can find piggy back leads to plug in at any car audio shop. You can also make your own by taking a fuse and cutting it open and soldering leads to it. Skip that if you are not good with an Iron.

Looking to purchase a used LS430 but want do not want air suspension. My current LS400 has standard coil over struts and rides just the way I like. Dealer told me that most ls430 come through with the air system. Who out there has what? have the LS430 air systems been as doggy as the reported LS400 Has anyone converted an LS430 to coil over strut with continued success? If you converted did you buy Lexus OEM coils and struts from places like Iron toad and simply replace? Manuals show both systems and list parts. If not for a cost savings why would LS400s convert using the Arnott and similar conversions? Is there more than replacing the springs and struts. Does the Arnnot retro fit have special hardware and does the cars electronics need any type of connections or settings other than shutting off the air supply?

You need to inspect the individual components as well as moving the parts for excessive play.

Many threads have been written on LS400 suspension problems. There are pictures and step by step guides to remove and replace the various arms, joints and bushings that can all cause noise and steering issues. What the DIY er who does not want to replace every component in the front end at a huge cost needs is a test guide to determine which components are the real culprits. Hope this helps... Here are the front end components and their approx prices purchased online. Price are for Lexus OEM Strut bars complete 100.00 x2 sway bar bushes 20.00 x2 sway bar end links 69.00 x2 lower ball joints 75.00 x2 tie rod ends 50.00 x2 lower control arm 200.00 x2 upper control arm 250.00 x2 cheaper if you don't go OEM shocks(strut cartridges) 100.00x2 strut mounts 50.00 x2 upper strut umbers 20.00 x2 Disclaimer... roughly going off pure memory as to what I found online so prices may be some what different" ball park" So we are in the neighborhood of about 2000.00 in parts and a lot of DIY hrs to replace everything and hope that your LS400 is now good for another 100,000 miles. Inspections Strut bars With car up on stands and front wheels hanging and wheels turned to limits shine intense light into both sides of each of left and right strut bar bushings AKA "bushes" and see if cracks turn into tears as you rotate and elevate the wheels. These tears and cracks will cause not only thumping but instability so much that the LS will drift more on windy days. Driving over crack and sharp bumps IE RR tracks and manhole cover plates will cause the LS to bang and shift position off the impact. The impact noises will travel through the strut bars and up the steering knuckle and resonate in the shocks leading the driver to believe noises are coming from other components and locations. Pops rattles and other annoying sounds,vibrations. Ball joints The tie rod ends, the lower ball joints and the upper control arms all contain ball joints that will wear and cause vague feelings of drift. When these ball joints get to the point where they not only have lost their firm socket resistance but are now able to move vertically due to the ball and socket being cracked the LS will jump on small rd bumps and make banging noises that can also travel and resonate through the front end misleading the diagnosis. Pull the joints apart using a 25.00 puller from pep boys and compare to a new joint for what a tight feel is like. IF gravity can get a joint to flop over it probably is done. Do nOt use pickle fork or you can kiss that ball joint rubber cover good bye. The sway bar links have small joints on each end and while they probably won't make banging noises they too can become limp and take away from the sway bars job which is to keep the LS stable during turns. Upper and Lower control arms bushes these bushes are hard to inspect while in place. If you use intense light can see tear outs in the bushes replace. If you place a large screw driver or pry bar under the arm where the bush is installed you may be able to move the bushes enough to see tearing. If you cannot let your wallet be your guide as you leave these two most expensive parts as last inline on the elimination process. Strut cartridges or shocks. If you do the basic bounce test where you press with all your weight on the corner of the fender and the car does on bounce and returns to normal you are probably okay. Inspect with intense light the cartridge for oil leakages. Excessive leaks mean a replacement no brainer. If you go for new cartridges get new bump stops inside if they are dried out and check the strut mounts for worn out rubber or corrosion or dry rot. It is too much work to skip over these additonal parts if there is any doubt after visual inspection. Sway bar bushes. Replace at 100,000 miles no brainer as they are relatively cheap and easy to install. remember to grease , white lithium okay on inside of sway bar bush to keep squeaks to a minimum. Removal of all above parts will need various techniques. Certainly a two foot breaker bar will be needed to influence the stubborn hardware. Try soaking all hardware days in advance with your favorite IE liquid rust, WD 40 ect. A baby hand sledge will help as will various pry bars. One particular stubborn bolt can be the lower shock bracket. this bracket fastens with two bolts. The problem bolt can be the small bolt that fastens into the lower control arm. It is short and may be frozen. It is a good idea to order two of these bolts before you start and grease with anti seize for future removal. If you cannot get this 17 MM to turn carefully apply the torch so that you do not burn the nearby brake lines or wires for break wear or ABS. If you strip this head off you might seriously think about replacing the lower control arms all together as you will be dealing with drilling easy outs and other very difficult processes that may end up destroying the threads in the lower control arm. Your best bet is to heat that sucker cherry red before you even make your first crack at it with the breaker bar. DO NOT USE THE IMPACT HAMMER! Bushes that tear , stretch and move can also create enough "jar" in the system to make the ball joints reach their limits which will create additional metal to metal banging noises. Strut bar bushes can somewhat sling shot or whip your front end on bumps and your LS will get a nasty whip in movement in addition to horrendous noise. Research leads one to believe that the strut bar is the number one culprit in cars that have reached 100,000 miles that are still on the orginals. The sway bar links also can be very stubborn to remove. They also have 17 MM nuts on those ball joint ends . Heat them with a torch once you have committed to replace the links to get the nuts to crack and move. Then use you Allen wrench to hold the inner thread while you back the nuts off. PITA !!!! More additional savings if you mark your geometry with a sharpy you will save on a 100 dollar Lexus alignment. If you pay Lexus to replace everything above at 100 per hour plus 50% mark up on parts over places like Iron toad you're looking at possibly a 4000.00 job. DIY 2000.00 Find the real culprit and replace only that and you might get away with 200.00 plus some !Removed! knuckles. Of course more mileage will eventually cause all these components to fail and here you will sit again in the front wheel well. Every component wears over time and each ones small looseness will add to a larger cobined loosness in the front end REPLACE EVERY COMPONENT IN PAIRS! in other words replace the left and right side strut bars! Hope these observations help you. Check out his link for a great pictorial. rfworld 98 LS400 black 08 Corvette coupe black 05 Accord EX silver V6 for sale 05 Highlander contact me direct Dave rfworld@aol.com This info is for a 1997 LS400, probably the same as yours, but check. Hi, replace both strut rods, The strut rod part numbers are 48670-40011(LH) and 48660-40021(RH). They come complete with bushings and 2 pressed-in bolts. they run about 95 each. http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/Fj9WH6CM

I have had my 1998, basically the same car, for 1 year. Bought it with 88000 and have put 32000 miles on in one year. This is what I spent on repairs so far. Starter motor 1300 Dont let any one but a lexus certified mechanic do this job. The top mounted starter goes bad in these cars. Check the service records by calling upo lexus and give the vin if yourluck it already got replaced. timing belt/water pump 1000. Yours will be due at 90000 and if you ignore this it could be a 4000 error your front end suspension will strat to give out aroun 100K If you dont mind clunks and a sloppy steering you can drive this way for anoth 50000. If you want to keep the beautiful ride you will start feeding the cars in the way of ball joints, upper and lower arms, strut bars, tierod ends and maybe more. If you are a DIY than expect to feed the car 1000 every 50K miles after the car goes past 100k if you go to a local mechanic raise that number to 1500. If you take it to Lexus e raise that number to 2000 per every 50000. you will get 23MPG highway with a light foot . On long trips possibly 28MPG. Around town 17 or 18 I run regular and the car runs great with no klnocks but some mebers on this board say that is car poison, I do not get better gas mileage with premium although if iI floor it will knock with regular. I drive with a light foor so no issue. I also had 3 maximas and the 1998 maxiam was the most trouble free and cheapest car I ever owned that i took to 200000 and sold. That car literally never needed anything but tires,brakes and oil. Nakamichi is the premium sound but stock is also excellent. When replacing tires go for the MXV4 primacy Michelins they give you the buttery ride you want, 650 installed on a set of four at COSTCO The lexus is a pure luxury compoared to the maxima. WHen your fornt end is clunk free and tight the car is basically like a magic carpet. It is a pleasure to tune out the world and float home after a day at work. The seats are incredible. I am pretty sure that I will buy another possibly a ls430 the price you have negotiated sounds good. I would take it to LEXUS. Ask for an inspection. They claim no charge for inspections. Good luck and let me know how you do . Dave rfworld@aol.com

Thanks for responding, My strut bar bushes are tight and do not have cracks. I don not get the speed bump clunk or the hit brakes hard at 5mph clunk that most LS owners associate with stut bars. My next prob is going to diasseble the strut shocl assembly and inspect all including bump stops and strut tower mounts. Since you are experience the same i will let you know how I make out and vice versa if you can Dave rfworld@aol.com

120K on this LS400 Popping rattle coming from front suspension both sides on rough surface under 25mph. Not a thud on speed bumps or 5 mph hard braking. Okay old topic but need help so not to waste money replacing parts that are good. So far, replaced lower ball joints. This took care of the big bang sound on sharp bumps IE railroad tracks, big pot holes. replace tie rod ends slightly smoother and firmer steering but pops still there Inspected UC ARMS by disconecting their ball joints, checked rotational firmness and bushings for play. All seemed firm. Strut arm bushings and LC Arms are firm without cracks no play. Brand new MXV4 primacies all around really helped restore original ride but the pops still creeep in there and you know ruin what can be a perfect ride. Get rid of the pops and the car would be basically riding as well as whne it was new. All bushing play checked by unloading and prying with long driver Stut shocks tested okay using standard test, no visible leakage Lexus tech says strut shocks can go bad and cause rattling as can upper strut mounts. other posts descrinb strut shocks with dried out bump stops inside shock gator can cause ratle pops Anyone out there go straight for the shock bump stops and nail the problem. Can the strut rod bushings inspect okay but still send vibrations up thought the shocks??? Hate to spend money replacing parts and not nail it plus wasting time sucks as well. rfworld 98 Ls400 black 08 Corvette coupe black 05 Accord EX silver V6 for sale 05 Highlander