CUMan

I installed XM in the 93 LS that I previously owned. I ran the antenna to the back shelf and velcroed it beside the brake light enclosure. The signal was perfect. I wired the XM tuner into the wiring running from the CD changer to the radio. I installed a 12 volt relay to enable me to switch between the CD player and the XM tuner. Placed the tuner inside the console and installed a power outlet inside the console. The wiring for the power outlet came from the fuse box under the dash. There is an extensive thread about this installation on the CL forum.

The expansion valve is probably sticking. This is a very common problem on the mid-90's ES models. It has been discussed numerous times on this forum. Do a search, entering "expansion valve."

I would suspect that a defective (or out of place) brake switch could affect the cruise control. However, one thing it definitely affects is the ability to move the transmission shift lever out of park. When this switch goes bad, the only way to move the shifter is to use the override underneath the cover on the console. You do not mention this as a problem; therefore, I would suspect that the brake switch is not involved. This particular switch is located near the top of the brake pedal. As the pedal moves forward with the application of the brakes, a switch is depressed. This switch causes the brake lights to illuminate. This same switch is electrically connected to the transmission shift lever and allows the shift lever to be moved after the car is cranked.

I would try a couple of things. First, remove both battery cables (negative first) and clean the battery terminals and the inside of the cable connectors. Make sure that any corrosion is completely removed. If you can access the other ends of the battery cables, check to make sure there are good connections and there is no corrosion present. Put the connectors back in place (positive first) and make sure they are on tight. The second step would involve a multi-meter. First, check the battery voltage with the engine off. A fully charged battery should show a charge somewhere around 12.5-12.6 volts. Crank the engine and check the voltage again. The voltage should go to somewhere around 13.5 to 14.0 volts. This higher voltage indicates that the alternator is charging the battery properly. If the voltage reading is not this high, you could have an alternator or wiring problem.

This sounds very similar to a problem very common with the early 90's LS models. I have never noted this being discussed as a problem with the ES models; however, It could be possible. The problem with the LS models involves a wiring harness which is attached to the driver side trunk hinge. There is not enough slack in some of the wires in this harness, and the opening and closing of the trunk apparently stretches some of the wires to a point where they break. When that happens, all kinds of electrical problems become evident. Illumination of the "R" in the transmission gear indicator is a common occurrence. Transmission shift patterns are often affected, and brake applications can feel strange. An inoperative trunk release is also very common. In the LS models, the most common wire that is affected is a white wire with a black stripe. As I recall, this is a ground wire. With so many different things being affected in your car, I would suspect that a defective ground is also involved here. I would start with the inoperative trunk release. Using a multi-meter, try to determine if the switch is getting power and if the ground to the switch is okay. If the ground has failed, you may have found the source of your problem.

I had a problem with the inside trunk release on the 93 LS I owned, and it turned out to be the common "broken wire in the trunk wiring harness" problem. That being said, there are usually other weird electrical problems within the car when there is a broken wire in the harness. In the absence of any other problems, it could well be a bad trunk lock.

The 24F(or 24R - they are the same) will work; however, the 27F (or 27R) will fit in the battery holder. The 27F is about 1" longer than the 24F. My thinking is that the bigger the battery, the better. The problem one might encounter is that the 24R is commonly in stock at most auto parts stores, while the 27 size is not.

When does the overheating occur? Is it when the car is moving at speed, or when it is moving slowly or idling? A very common problem with the 94 ES and the other mid-90's models involves the hydraulic cooling fan. The fan is operated by fluid from the power steering pump. When the temperature coolant sensor senses the need for more cooling from the fan, a signal is sent to the power steering pump. The pump increases the flow of fluid, and the fan speed increases. There is a wire harness which connects to the power steering pump. This harness must be connected for the cooling fan to operate properly. It seems that this harness often gets disconnected when work is done on the power steering pump and other engine components in this area. Since the hydraulic power steering fan is not seen on many cars, many folks doing mechanical work on these engines do not realize how important this connector is. If the connector is not attached properly, the cooling system will probably work okay when the car is moving at speed where air flow is sufficient to keep the coolant temperature down. However, when the car is moving slowly or idling, proper fan speed is necessary to cool the engine. Make sure this connector is plugged in.

Check out the Rock Auto website. They carry replacement side mirror glass for some of the LS 400 models. As I recall, the glass costs around $12- $20. You probably could get it also at a Lexus dealership, but make sure you are sitting down when they quote you a price.

The expansion valve is probably sticking. This is a very common problem with the mid-90's ES models. The new valve is not very expensive, but the location of the part makes this a complicated replacement. Take it to an independent shop that specializes in auto AC.

The replacement struts that I used are exactly like the ones you have. Note that on the replacement struts, there is a plastic clip on the ball joint end that releases the strut from the ball joint. This is the feature that means you can replace them hereafter without going through the work of removing the ball joint from the hood. Yes, the threads on the new ball joints are the same threads that are in the hood where the old ball joints were. There is no bracket for an electrical connector on the lower part of the strut on the 94 ES. There is an electrical harness close by, but it is not attached in any way. There could have been some connection originally. I probably did the first hood strut replacement at least ten years ago and just don't remember many details (other than the fact that the ball joints were so hard to remove). If you round the threads too much, your only option will then be a vise-grip. The space available is probably not enough to get a regular size vise-grip in there; however, some sort of needle nose vise-grip might fit (if there is such a thing).

It is almost impossible to separate the lift support from the ball joint on the OEM Lexus hood supports. There is a clip inside the connection which ties the two parts together. There have been postings on this site and others about drilling into the components and removing this clip; however, this would seem to not be worthwhile since the replacement struts come with new ball joints. Yes, it is difficult to unscrew the original ball joint so you can install the new ones. I suspect that there is some strong thread lock material on the threads. However, with enough effort, they will start to move. You don't need to break any parts away. I now have the after market hood supports from Mr. Lou's on our 94 ES. They fit okay and do the job; however, it seems that they have a short life when compared to the Lexus OEM supports. One good thing about these supports is that you can separate the support from the ball joint. That means you don't have to go through the hassle of removing the ball joints again.

I believe the price you saw on the Lexus site is a suggested retail price. The individual dealers are obviously free to charge whatever they may wish for the warranties. They pay Toyota-Lexus a wholesale price. You can buy the factory warranty from any Lexus dealer in the country. Toyota dealerships may sell the Lexus warranties, also; but I am not sure of that. In 2007, as I approached the three year limit on the warranty on my 2004 Sequoia, I purchased a Toyota extended warranty from a dealership in New York (I am in Alabama). This dealership promotes the warranty on one of the Toyota forums. Do some searches on this forum and on Clublexus. I have seen posts from Lexus/Toyota dealerships offering reduced prices on Lexus warranties, but I don't recall seeing any recently.

Could be a blocked sunroof drain tube. There are two small holes at the rear corners of the sunroof. Tubes are connected to these drains and carry water from the sunroof assembly and out of the car at the bottom. If one of these tubes gets blocked, the water can get into the trunk. I am not sure where these tubes are located in the trunk, but you should be able to see them by removing the trunk liner.

You are probably looking at the wrong end of the bottom rad hose. The thermostat is at the other end of the bottom hose, where it connects to the water pump. You'll need to remove the front passenger side wheel to get access to it. I may be wrong on this, but I think the thermostat location was moved to the top of the engine starting with the 94 aluminum block engine. On the iron block engines (93 and earlier), the thermostat was located at the lower left side of the engine. This location did require the wheel removal to get to it.

I would be very wary of any car warranty that is not issued by one of the auto manufacturers. There have been a lot of horror stories involving these companies, especially the difficulty folks have getting claims paid. Also, I would suspect that if you have repairs done that are covered by the warranty, the repair shop will want you to pay for the repairs and then collect from the warranty company. If a company issues you a warranty and then files bankruptcy, you become a creditor in their bankruptcy case. The odds of your collecting anything would not be great.

Yes, as Steve2006 commented, the tachometer-speedometer problem is caused by a lubricant on the back of the needles. In hot weather, this lubricant liquefies and causes the needles to stick to the stops on which they rest when at zero. I had this same problem on the 93 LS I formerly owned. I eventually got tired of banging on the dash and took the instrument display out and fixed the problem. This is not an easy fix. The display has to be completely disassembled to get to the backs of the needles. There are, as I recall, at least four separate components in the display. These are held together with numerous screws and some really strange looking screws that both hold parts together and complete electrical connections. Also, once you have disassembled the display, the area where you need to remove the lubricant is very difficult to get to. The thing you want to accomplish is to get a q-tip or pipe cleaner into the space between the back of the needle and the stop in which it rests at zero. From the front, press the needles against your q-tip and rotate the q-tip. Remove as much of this stuff as you can. There is an extended thread about this problem on CL. It is in the "stickies" at the top of the LS 400 section. There are pictures showing where to clean the needles.

I am assuming that you are referring to the condition where the speedometer and/or tachometer do not move off zero until the car has been driven a while. You don't give any details as to what is happening with your car. If this is what is happening, it is not an easy fix. The instrument display has to be removed and taken apart to get to the needles. The cluster is composed of about four separate sections, and it must be completely disassembled. There are numerous screws to remove, and there are a number of a special type of screw that both holds the cluster sections together and completes electrical circuits. Your goal in this disassembly is to get to the backs of the speedometer and tachometer needles, where the needles rest on a stop when they are at zero. There is a tiny bit of lubricant on the needles at this resting point. In warm weather, this lubricant liquefies and causes the needles to stick to their stops. The fix is to remove this lubricant with something like a q-tip or pipe cleaner. The difficult part of this fix (other than the cluster disassembly) is the tiny space in which you must work to get the lubricant removed. A full size q-tip will not fit in the space available. A pipe cleaner will fit. That being said, I was able to do this fix on my 93 LS; and it solved the problem. I believe there is a posting (with pictures) about this fix on CL. Look in the "stickies" at the top of the LS 400 section.

When I googled "lexus speedometer repairs," Mr. Whizard is the first name that comes up. Their website indicates that they work on Lexus speedometers. There are several other repair services that also come up.

That doesn't sound like the most common speedometer (and tachometer) problem(s) that the early to mid-90's LS models have. The most frequent problem seems to involve needles which stay on zero when the car is cranked during hot weather periods. After a few miles, the needles will jump to the proper position. Also, they will often jump off zero when the top of the dash is rapped once or twice. This problem was diagnosed as being caused by a lubricant on the needle stops at the back of the needles. In hot weather this lubricant liquefies and creates a sticky material which holds the needle to the stop. The fix is to remove and disassemble the cluster and remove the material from the back of the needles with a q-tip or something similar. Your comment about the needle jumping to high numbers makes your problem sound different. Since you have already replaced the speed sensor, it would seem that the problem would involve some of the electronics within the cluster (or some problem with the needle connection). My suggestion would be to contact one or more of the speedometer repair places that specialize in Lexus vehicles (Mr. Whizard is one of these). Describe your problem and see if they have previously done repairs for this particular thing. Most cluster repairs on these LS models will cost around $200.

Not necessarily.... True, but made easier with this tutorial:http://web.archive.org/web/20070814133557/...hood_shocks.htm I used that tutorial to replace the original hood struts on my 90. I was aware of this "workaround." However, why would one want to go to all this trouble when replacement hood struts with new ball joints are available on e-bay at prices far below the cost at Lexus dealers?

If you are going to replace the Lexus hood struts with non-Lexus parts, make sure that the new struts come with new ball joints. It is very difficult to separate the ball joints from the old original Lexus struts. They don't just pull apart like a lot of these struts do.

This thread caught my eye because I had new tires installed on my 2004 Sequoia this past week at Sam's Club. They have a waiting area with windows where you can watch the tire employees at work. They have a very detailed multi-step tire installation process posted on their wall in the tire area. The final steps in the process involve tightening the lug nuts with a torque wrench. An interesting additional step is that a second tire mounting employee verifies the torque setting after the first employee has torqued the nuts. In watching them work, this full process was followed on each set of tires that were mounted. I checked the lugnuts' torque after I got home, and they were all at 80 lb ft. This is the correct setting for the Sequoia. Their price on the tires I had installed (B F Goodrich Long Trail T/A in 265/65/R17) was at least $10.00 per tire less than any other place (other than Tire Rack). Their tire installation fee of $15.00 per tire seems like a good deal to me. This includes road hazard warranty, free rebalancing, tire rotation, and flat repair. It also includes a roadside assistance 800 number for tire related problems. All of the process was not perfect. The installation took about three hours, which was too long. They didn't have enough people working on tire mounting.

It seems that one of the most common problems involving the ES models of the mid-nineties involves the unusual power steering pump-operated cooling fan. Most mechanics are familiar with belt driven and electric cooling fans. Many of them don't seem to comprehend how the hydraulic cooling fan operates and how critical proper operation is to engine cooling. A common theme that seems to appear regularly on Lexus forums involves a connector that plugs into the rear of the power steering pump. This connector carries a signal from the cooling fan control module located underneath the glove compartment to the power steering pump. When more cooling fan speed is needed (e.g., when the car is moving slowly or idling) this connection causes the power steering fan to speed up, thereby providing more cooling. I don't know how many posters on this forum have reported that they found this connector hanging loose under the engine. The connector apparently gets removed when power steering or engine work is done and then is not reconnected properly. There will not be a problem with overheating while the car is moving at highway speed; or, perhaps, during cooler weather. However, when the weather gets hot and when the car is moving slowly, a cooling fan running too slowly will very quickly cause overheating. Make certain that this connector is in place on any ES model that has the hydraulic cooling fan.

You need to remove the ash tray-lighter assembly and check out the wiring in the rear. Use a multi-meter to make certain you are getting power and have a good ground leading to the lighter assembly. The assembly is fairly easy to remove. The wood panel around the transmission shifter has to be removed. It is held in place by clamps. Insert a small putty knife on each side and lift up. After this panel is removed, the ash tray-lighter assembly can be pulled out by reaching your fingers underneath it.