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landar -- just found out the Michelin Primacy MXV4 comes in both H and V speed rating. which one did you get? the v rated cost more -- $179 per tire. i called Tire Rack and they said the H rated will work with my car (it's the lowest speed rating that is compatible with it), but they won't have them in stock until October. my earlier quote was for the H rated. the v rated are available now. worth the extra? Update: Went with the H-rated. The specs on both tires are identical, with some saying the difference is in the stiffness of the sidewall. And that the V-rated would give a bit harsher ride. I'm not going to be speeding along at 149mph anytime soon, so the H works for me. Plus I think the ride will be a bit quieter, more confortable.

Was told I had a CV joint/boot leak and that it was easier if they put in a new axle. The repair was not cheap. It's six months later and the last time I had the car in they said there's a small amount of grease around the balloons that flank the axle (?). Not sure if I understood him correctly. Is this common? Not too worried as the shop is reliable and they'll fix it, but a little concerned about anything makeshift being done to fix it. Putting on a clamp of some kind was mentioned.

As the OP, I can tell you the best thing to do is (wait for it) NOTHING. After almost four years of intermittent mooing, I no longer hear it. I kind of miss it, actually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTERBDl85k0

Pretty sure I can find a Discount Tire to match the price. As long as I still get the rebate, that works. Thanks for the tip!

Landar -- Took a look (customers are loving the Michelins Primacy MXV4) and am getting tire racks' $70 off for buying four. Thank you! It's far less than I thought I'd have to pay for new tires. $466 + tx.

No, I have not. I think I went to another discount tire website though. I was going to stay with the same tire I have (Michelin) since they just would not wear out (I'm only replacing them beause the sidewalls are showing hairline cracks) -- they are old, old and still have tons of tread! I I am not sure if Michelin even makes these since they ddi not come up in a Google search. I know Consumer Reports also does tire reviews but that seems like overload to me. I tend to listen more to others' experiences, so tx for the suggestion. I'll have a look at tire rack.

I get lost in all the data that comes up on a search. Apologies if this post covers old ground. My '94 needs new tires, and a mechanic recommended the Falkins (sp?) for "bang for the buck". I'm reading reviews saying they wear fast, so no. What I have are Michelins MXV4+, which are v-rated. Costco doesnt' sell this same tire now. The two that come up as suitable are Micheline Primacy and one other (non Michelin). I went to Discount Tire and their price for the Primacy are considerbly less. $544 for four, v $700 at Costco. In another review, someone said the Bridgetone Serenity Plus were quieter than the Michelin Primacy. I beleive you get what you pay for and am interested in quiet comfortable ride ride and good handling for Southern California weather. Those Primacy tires are "all season". We don't have any seasons in SoCal. It's summer every day here. Any suggestions? Should I stick with the Michelins? Would be interested in hearing what others like for this particular year/model Lexus. .

Ok, got it. Thank you.

I was told that the wire coming from the wiring harness control s ONLY the opening of a trunk lid latch, but that the closing is completely mechanical. Is this true?

II was told awhile back that oil was leaking from possibly the oil pan (or worse, I just do not know). Car was up on a lift and there was a fair amount of oil from there on back to the transpan. I realize the oil from up front could have traveled back on the transpan by wind transferring it. T he seal on that transpan was changed about two or three years ago, so I would not expect it to be leaking. At any rate, going somewhere tomorrow to have it all cleaned off so we can poinpoint the leak. He said he would use hoses, etc. and I just started wondering if it's possible to do any damage with just spraying in that area. Any recommended precautions? I don't think water alone would get rid of oil , so he may be using some kind of degreaser. For what it's worth, there is no oil under the car in the mornings, Would help to have info by mid-morning tomorrow (before my appt.). Thank you...

I bought a spray can of synthetic lube this afternoon and gave the latch a good soaking. I also moved the parts around using a pen...working them back and forth so the lube would get in there. So far,that has had no effect. The latch remains in the 'open' position (though I can manually move it to the 'closed' position). What exactly triggers the latch to close? There is a top part and a bottom part to the latch. In the top part, I can see a c-shaped piece that should drop and hook around a small steel pin in the lower part (when the trunk lid is closed..it should 'catch'). That's what is not happening. The upper part of the lock apparently remains in the open position, even when I push down on the trunk. I read that someone else fixed their trunk latch problem after repairing a broken wire in the trunk wiring harness. So that's the next thing to be looked at. The fuse for the fuel door/trunk os OK. Anything else I should ask the mechanic to check out other than wiring harness? I would like to have a good idea going in of all possible causes. I do not plan to take it to a dealership. I will only do that as last resort.

i agree. will let someone else deal with the wires..

False. I don't have any (and did not know what to buy) so I put a little mineral oil on a napkin and daubed around it as best I could. Probably not the same thing. I have read that WD-40 can gum up locks. What else should I use? I also looked at the wiring harness. That is no where near where I was pulling on the trunk liner, so I prob did not 'cause' this. I can see some of the black tape has unraveled in a couple of places on the harness..Probably the only way I could tell if any wires were damaged is I removed all the tape, right? IIf a lube doesn't work, then will have to take to someone to do that. That's above my skill set. Those wires carry a current, right?

Yes, that's prob the next step. I was mistaken about being able to lock the car with the trunk ajar. Because I hadn't heard the alarm previously (when I Iocked it) I just assumed it did not go off. Wrong! Heard a familiar sound so went racing out...yes, it was the alarm. So need to get this fixed sooner rather than later. The trunk wiring harness can also cause weird dash light action (which is another very annoying problem I am dealing with), so maybe I will find a broken wire that will fix several problems in one go. One can dream.

It looks like the second photo (open). As you say, I can make it move to 'closed' by pressing on it, but the minute I let up, it goes right back to the open position, and of course the trunk won't close with it in that position. I saw a thread over on club lexus where someone had a similar problem and turned out it was a broken wire in the trunk wiring harness. If it's not that, then I need a new trunk latch. As I said, I did try to remove the trunk liner about a week ago, and though I did not use much force (at all), it's possible that even gentle pressure in a certain area coudl have broken a wire. I was trying to get in there to replace a burnt out license plate bulb. Should have left it alone!

When I popped the gas cap from the interior switch, pretty sure I saw the trunk lid jiggle a little and the fuel door open. Which points to the fuse being OK. The latch was still stuck in the 'open' position though. Inserted the key a few times in the trunk but it wouldn't turn. I may try again later... Yes, there is a fuse. The fuse for the trunk actuator is shared with the fuel door opener on the later models (not sure about 94's). Try pulling the fuel door switch in the cabin to see if it will open.

That's the first time I have ever driven that car over 30 in second gear. By the second try, I was starting to feel like Danica Patrick. So on the second go, I rolled off the freeway, feeling pretty proud of myself, and apparently it showed, because I caught the eye of the fuzz, (that's what we called them in high schoo). Within minutes he was right behind me, probably running my plates. I am up to date on parking tickets, and I have no warrants out for my arrest (at least to my knowledge...though I never know what the 'ex' might get up to on any given day), so I said to myself, "Go ahead, fire up your little onboard computer, Buddy. " LOL.

I would take it to whomever did the timing belt etc and have them fix the problem (it sounds like) they created. You will also find a LOT of information on LS400 drivers with similar staliing out issues in a thread on this forum or possibly on the clublexus.com forum. It's a common problem. And stalling out at a stop sign after exiting a freeway ramp can be downright dangerous. I STILL have the occasional problem with this (no longer with stalling after slowing down from a freeway drive though). My solution was just to run the AC which keeps the RPMs up a little higher at idle. To this day, I can stall the car out by turning off the AC while I am driving. The stall happens when I slow down to a stop. As long as the AC is on, the car doesnt' stall. That might help temporarily. I will leave the permanent solutions to the mechanics in this forum.

I just checked it again, to see if there was anything I missed. The metal u-shaped part of the trunk latch does not appear to be moving to catch the lid closed. So the latch mechanism is not doing a thing. I did find a bulb, and yes it was on. Took the cover off and unscrewed the bulb.I could see that that light was staying on even with the lid all the way down (by peering through a crack as I lowered it)...the good news is that I was able to set the security alarm, and even tho the trunk lid is open, it's not setting it off. Is there a fuse that controls the latch? I did try to remove the liner a few weeks ago, in an effort to replace a burnt out license plate bulb, but didn't want to force some apparent tabs on the side of the trunk lids. So I stopped. I wonder if that had anything to do with this malfunction. I also found a trunk lid actuator motor online for several hundred. Say it isn't so...let this be somethin gsimple to fix.

About a week ago, I went around to the trunk and noticed it was slightly ajar (very slight...from a distance you could not tell it was even open). II figured I had accidentally not pushed it closed the last time I was in there .Today, the thing won't close at all. I looked at the latch and fiddled with it...nothing seemed to work. I put the key in the trunk keyhole and turned that a few times. there was no movement in the latch when I did that. The trunk release on the dash has not worked for some time, but I have always been able to open the trunk using my key. Now it won't close at all. Sigh. My biggest concern ithat some unseen light is on that will drain the battery. But since the car started fine a week ago after the lid had been open all night, I'm thinking that it might just be OK. Any suggestions as to what I can do? I would rather not have iit open, of course, since the tool kit and other items in there are subject to theft. It's not easy to tell that the lid is ajar, but it certainly is.

Given the last test results,I was convinced it was going to fail this time. And it probably would have but for the tips I got here. Can't thank everyone enough. I could not do everything everyone suggested, but the Techron, blowing out the cats, oil and air filter change, and a thorough engine warmup just before the test got me through. Whew. Now I can deal with the other maintenance items at myown pace, without the state breathing down my neck...

Let me rephrase that. The transmission pan gasket was leaking. He replaced it. A transmission pan seal should last "forever". But a pan seal "repair"? You can repair a pan seal?

I think I saw some reddish putty looking stuff in the seam of the trans pan. The invoice says something about 'cleaned the screen' so maybe he did have it apart. It's a bit disappointing to hear it should have lasted much much longer. You are right..in prepping for the smog test, I did drive it for stretches 'hard, though traffic got in my way m ore than I would have liked.. Other than those prep trips, the car has been used for around town driving -- low miles. II think I will clean things up on the underside, maybe have someone tighten the plugs or bolts and see if that helps. I want to sure of the diagnosis before replacing gaskets.

Struts are designed to prevent your vehicle from bouncing around excessiively. I would get the struts checked immediately. I have air suspension on my 1994 LS400, and OEM replacements were not cheap. I found a company, Arnott Industries, who sold me front air struts for literally half the dealer cost. They came iwth a lifetime warranty. Unfortunately, they no longer make them due to lack of demand (they said). You can also convert to coil spring (they offer a kit which costs around $700 for all four).

I folllowed up on several of the tips mentioned here to prepare for the smog test and what a difference that made. Thanks everyone. Last year, the car nearly failed HCs (it measured 54 and the limit was 56). This year? HCs were at 13. The other measurements were equally clean. The shop where I had this done said the car was running very very clean. It's a huge relief. Here's what I did to prepare: -12 oz bottle of Chevron Techron Fuel System Cleaner concentrate mixed with 12 gallons of premium gas (Shell)... -per SRK's instructions, put it in second and ran it on the freeway 3K to 4K RPM for a good 2o minutes with the Techron treated gas still in the tank...used up all the techron treated gas (until the reserve light came on) -filled with another 1/2 tank of gas (no Techron this time) and ran through most of that, including another "Italian tuneup' on the freeway for 20 minutes... -changed the oil twice...once at end of December, and another the day before the test...in part because I read it's a good idea to change the oil as soon after using fuel system cleaner as possible). and I also wanted to switch out and use an OEM oil filter... -wiped out the interior of the tailpipes... -installed new air fiilter (OEM) a day before the test... -filledl up with gas (again) so as to go in with a nearly full tank (takes less time to pressurize it for the evap test)... -warmed up the car the day of the test by taking another freeway drive for a good 30 to 40 minutes, some of it also in second gear, then off the exit and a few blocks to the smog test stsation. no cars in front of me, so they started the test without turning the car off. whoo hoo. we were done iin less than 20 minutes.