chromiez

I'm sure a lot of you guys ran into the same problem with the 1st gen ls400 broken window switches. my master window switch (driver side control) has 2 broken off buttons: door lock and passenger window.

my question is are the older ES250's (1st gen es's) switches the same as the LS400's?

they look the same and i seen alot of them on ebay. they are much cheaper to replace too.

anyone?

well i dont know if i could be considered a veteran, but driving this car for 3years got me quite familar with it.

my car has a good 133k (1991) on it and still runs pretty smooth. the gas milage is kinda iffy i say i get around 220-240 miles when i hit the 1/4 tank line.

i've observed some small things and i was wondering if you guys have noticed it on your early 1st gen ls400's

-for some reason when i'm using the cdplayer and i turn off the car, and when returning say hours later its back on the radio, when it should be playing the cd.

-odd rattles and shakes on two of my doors, passanger and rear right passanger. it sounds like the whole door is lose or something, like the window is lose.

-on and off sluggish performance. sometimes i feel the car is all mighty and powerful with good response. then later it just feels slow and sluggish its different each time

what do you guys think?

went to my local mechanic and he couldnt find any visible leaks and apprently it was leaking into the engine area or something? he said i had to replace the pvc valve i think. my alternator seems fine to me and i havent had any trouble with it.

I have a 1991 LS400. one day i was moving my car and then it wouldnt start. the battery working because the radio and every other electrical thing worked. at first i thought it was the starter, but a mechanic checked it out for me and told me the netural safety switch was faulty and i could only start my car in N not P. luckily it hasent happened too often where i have to start the car in N. at lexus a replacement netural safety switch goes for about $280, but i was wondering if anyone else had this problem.

i replaced mine with a rockford 8inch sub. Works very well, but the stock sub woofer unit has a built in mount that i need to hold the speaker in place or else it will rattle. I have to drill holes soon to fix it. Another thing is that the center speaker is not well powered. It isnt pushing enough wattage so you can hear and feel enough omph. My friend sugguest that i'd get an amp for it.

actually i think my 1991 ls400 factory sound system sound great compared to other stock systems i have heard. my sub is also blown out too and i heard it can be replaced by a 8inch even though i am very sure that the factory sub is only a 6inch. did anyone have any problems fitting the cover back on with a new 8inch sub? (based on even though it was a 6icnh sub!)

mine has been blown out for awhile now :chairshot:

if i'm correct its a 6inch subwoofer by polk audio right?

does anyone know, or does anyone know where i can get a good replacement?

hasent happened to me, but my lumbar support is dead. anyone know how to fix that?

the 5w-30 is the prefered weight, but since most of out ls400s are old now its better to have a heavyer weight oil such as 10w-30. 10w-30 is variable oil that will protect your engine in year round conditions. the mechnic i was talking to said to put 10-30 in mine since its an older engine (i have about 127,000mi on my 1991 ls400)

try snythetic oils, they dont burn as fast. seems like alot of people here use mobil1

on my 1991 ls400 i get about 250miles on a full tank. about the same with everyone else 15mpg in the city, but for me i cant really tell a difference on the highway, i think i kill more fuel on the highway.

same here my 1991 ls400 seats arent very comfy. also my lumbar support stopped working anyone know how to fix that? i also find myself sliding alot if i use some kinda leather cleaner/protectant. i'm 6ft and my legs end up pretty close to the steering wheel at a comfortable position.

take me a hour or more to change my bulbs, i guess i'm doing it the stupid way taking out the airfilter and battery to access the bulbs

if you dont want the "gangsterish" blue color you can always try sylvania silverstars. very bright and pretty much beam outs white.

i hear razo and piaa platinum series have the true white colors, isntead of that typical blue tint.

samething for me, mine actually hasent broke off yet but its very rough when opening sometimes even getting stuck.

you could probably get one down at autoparts.com or try a salvage yard.

well in the new lexus magazine this guy had a 1990 LS400 with 555,000 miles on it!!!!

YES THATS RIGHT 555,000 MILES!!

i read the article and this guy owns some kinda apple farm so he has to do long trips back and fourth. based on the pictures, which lexus couldve edited, the start was still looking great.

my door power lock switch on my ls400 broke off on both sides passenger and driver. also one of the power windows button is broken too.

anyone know how to replace these?

have any diagrams or anything? i dont see a damn thing when i look behind the headlamp

i have the same problem on my 1991 LS400, the needle is faded and works sometimes. i got the same price for replaceing it as you did, but a mecahnic i know said he could do it cheaper, cause all he had to do is buy a aftermarket needle or a salvaged one for a couple dollars and replace it. you can give that a try, but i'm not too worryed since its a good way to excape a speeding ticket :D

same with my 1991 ls400, the mecahnic told me the ps was leaking into the engine because there was a bad tube or somethin? something like that i forgot already, he told me he could fix it but it would cost me $140 for a new ps pump, but he also said the the ps pump wasant the problem and it was something with the tubing which he couldve repair by replacing it for $8. that mustve sound confusing, but my memory was fuzzy

I understand. They certainly made something simple into something quite complicated. The only other suggestion is to make sure the nuts are on the back of the mounting screws for the headlight unit because mine have come loose which causes the base of the headlight to tilt inward. Since the nut on mine was missing I didn't notice it at first. I just sat there rocking the thing and looking at it and suddenly I saw what the problem was. I looked in my misc. hardware box and found a nut, put it on and I am good to go. Tell you what, I am heading up to New Jersey later today, then to Syracuse on Friday. When I get to the 'cuse, I'll look at it and see if I can come up with anything better. Since the Lexus is up in New Jersey right now I can't go out and look at it right now. Maybe a couple of things you can help me out with, like how do you put a picture of your car below your name on this website? I saw you had it. I did put a few pictures of my rig in the gallery. And also, does your book give info on switching out the A/C compressor?

Thanks, Denny

thanks alot denny

i took a picture of my car with a digital camera and then reduced the size to fit the standards for an avatar. thats what your looking for an avatar, its under "my controls" when your logged in i think you can figure it out from there. all you have to do is find a picture the right size and then upload it.

my book dosent say anything really about changing the a/c compressor at all. try to do a search on the internet, i'm pretty sure someone has done it themsleves.

i give up denny! i was looking at it for a good 20mins, couldnt really figure out anything. all i see is the long screw moving the bottom screw, but only to a certain point and stops. when the screw is turned it only moves the bottom screw a small bit and stops even if you keep on !Removed!. everything else seems to be stationary to me. can you help me out here? i dont think they changed anything from the 90-91

actually there is an aftermarket clear headlamp. i seen it on another lexus forum freakin nice!!! but too expensive...i think i remember the guy said it cost around $1000 to import it here to the USA atleast.

i have a 1991 ls400 too, how much did it cost you for the HID kit? i was thinking of getting one. how does it look? cause the stock headlamp isnt clear, it has those werid patterns on it.

I got a set of hood struts for my 1991 LS-400 through www.irontoad.com. I don't remember the exact price but it was around 1/2 of the amount that the local Lexus dealer wanted. Installation was a cake walk. The new ones included new ball joints for each end so all that all that had to be done was take an open-end wrench of the correct size (different for each end), unscrew the ball joint at each end of the old strut, screw in the ball joints and snap the new strut into place. They're even labeled as to which side is which.

just checked it out and it list $60 for each strut. I guess you can buy it for an ease since it comes with the balljoint already. at autozone you can get it for $16 each, but you have to use your old balljoint which requires some work. you have to drill it and such to get the ball joint. the whole process is shown on www.cureline.net/lex under how to section

you could actually program it yourself according to this website:

http://www.cureline.net/lex/howtos/howto_k...programming.htm

i also lost my master key!! the one i had was the single masterkey with 1 button on the side for locking/unlocking doors. i asked the dealer and he said thats gonna cost me atleast $85 and a spare vallet key is $55. freaking expensive if you ask me.

i also have the same problem you have toddLS400, my vallet key when the key ring is also broken. i tryed super glue and that worked for awhile untill i dropped it, otherwise i always ended up leaving it in my pocket.

how much is the big master key? the one with the lock, unlock, trunk and panic buttons? will it even work for my 1991 LS400?