handygal

Well, it finally happened. During our last move, the box containing all the keys on the key rack -- every spare key to every car and house and neighbors, etc. went missing. I've been meaning to get to the dealer for a spare but haven't. I have an enormous dislike for our dealer, supposedly the largest dealer in the country. I did read here a few months ago how to order a key and program it so shame on me for not doing it the instant I saw that. The dilemna now is, my toddler son loves car keys and took off with mine. I got distracted and failed to pry it away from him. Now -- no key. None. Nada. Nowhere. He could have flushed it for all I know. He did push all the buttons though, so the car is locked. He loves the unlock button, couldn't he have held it long enough to make the windows go down?? My purse is inside. Thankfully, the car is in the garage. I called AAA to send a locksmith to open the car and thankfully they did not show up last night. Now that I'm awake I realize that without the remote, the security in the car will go off and make me crazy. What to do? Tow it to the dealer? Call them and see if the parts guy remembers me and will cut the key from the VIN and I'll have someone pick it up for me? Then what? Security will still go crazy, can I program it with that going off? I'm going to lose my mind! :)

I sure hope that's not a gold 95 with some very small yellow/orange stains on the passenger side of the center console. I sold my 95 with the only key I ever had -- one with the button on the side. I had never seen a seperate remote for it but it may have had a key with the three or four buttons on it's face. Mine just had the miniscule button on the edge. That is a beautiful car, I was very sorry to see mine go but the new baby temporarily ended my sports car days. The back seat sure isn't baby-seat friendly!! :D I hope you enjoy that wonderful, sporty, classy car.

Looks good. Not my favorite brand but they look sharp. Really like that the style doesn't show the brakes much. Where did you get them?

"Must be nice" --- yes "you drive a lexus?" --- you drive a XXXXX? As for people trying to take advantage, contractors thinking your rich, etc. Don't leave the car out when you get a first estimate. At car places just be the smart, informed consumer that you have proven you are. People will try to take advantage/comment no matter what you drive or who you are. People can be so stupid.

Well, I received the advice that they probably wouldn't "work" at all, that they would be into the fenders as you feared. You need to stay with wheels that have a FWD or "flat" appearance. The wheels with a lip will stick out. A tiny lip might be a look you're looking for and I've seen it plenty, it's OK. I would put on a tiny lip or no lip at all. I've had 4 styles on mine so far. They really do make the car look great. Just stay away from thin or really open styles. The car is too big, too heavy and solid looking to be sitting on spindly wheels. Besides, the view of the brakes isn't pretty. I agree that 245/45/18 all around is a good size. The fraction of an inch difference is irrelevant. If you have low air pressure you change the diameter more than this.

ditto, ditto and ditto '98 hood struts been useless for as long as i can remember. That is one BIG hood to have come chomping down on you with that grill -- Ouch! They cost how much? Thanks for the great fix and install info, I'll be picking those up next time I'm near an Autozone.

This doesn't answer your question but I just want to warn you of one thing when it comes to wheels on the '98 LS. Get hubcentric wheels or ask them to use METAL centering rings. The rear is a pain to get to seat properly with some wheels and gives a shimmy in the seat on the highway. Kind of like riding a Harley. What wheels were you looking at? I do work for a big wheel store, I can get you a second opinion on fitments.

* will it change the ride? Yes. * Will it change the ride enough that it will bother you? Maybe * Will 19" help? Hard to say. If you don't want the ride altered at all, 19's may not be it either. And check tire prices too. Last time I looked at 19's, the prices were crazy. If the prices are OK, then all you can do is guess and also rely ont he shop that sells you the wheels to recommend smooth-riding tires. Not all tires are equal! Where were you looking to get them from?

Thanks so much. I'm glad to know it's not just me. Since Lexus really doesn't know what to do with this and it isn't the first sign of a larger problem in the future, I'll just ignore it. I have a few quirks, the car has a few quirks. I think you guys just saved me a long day dealing with the dealership. It's a shame that such a nice car from what is supposed to be the biggest dealer in the world can have such a crummy service department. I have connections there, I do business with the service department, get them out of jams all the time and I still have problems. Jim - you aren't alone. Heck, I had my 95 SC400 there for 2 weeks while I was away. The struts were bad and at the time it was warranty problem. Friday morning I call to get it - they haven't touched it. Friday evening I come to pick it up, the cashier says "sorry, i don't have your car" and turns away. I almost blew up but ended up asking a runner to find a gold SC with my tag and give me the number hanging on it. They found the car eventually. AGHHHH! That was just the easiest of the problems. They do NOT want to hear a girl tell them about cars and refused to record what I said was happening. (8 service calls later and I was correct) I am glad to say this LS hasn't been at the dealer more than once that I can remember. My Mom's '03 GS430 hasn't seen the dealership since it's first day. Jim - I will test your theory a few times. I have to warn you, I'm not eating up tanks of gas very quickly these days. I will also try to not fill the tank right to the very top. I have suspected over-filled tank in the past. I'd like to find the idiosyncrasy for my car.

Can someone tell me the general gist of the service bulletins for the '98 LS400 issued in 2001 ---- Make : LEXUS Model : LS400 Year : 1998 Service Bulletin Num : EL00201 Date of Bulletin: JUN 01, 2001 NHTSA Item Number: 622172 Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Make : LEXUS Model : LS400 Year : 1998 Service Bulletin Num : EL00201 Date of Bulletin: JUN 01, 2001 NHTSA Item Number: 627088 Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Make : LEXUS Model : LS400 Year : 1998 Service Bulletin Num : EL00201 Date of Bulletin: JUN 01, 2001 NHTSA Item Number: 622300 Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM The summary for all is similar: Summary Description: ON SOME VEHICLES, THE MILES SINCE REFUEL DISPLAY MAY RESET TO ZERO EVEN THOUGH VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REFUELED.*JB I am having this issue and though it's just annoying now, I'd like to know what Lexus knows about it. Thanks!

I bow to the Lexus masters. The only code in the system is P0121 - AKA - Throttle Position Sensor. I am trying to recreate the problem to be sure we got all the codes before I start chasing it. Thanks for the help.

Too funny. I guess I can be glad it was 3 am. After driving around the neighborhood at 5 MPH, stopping, going, hanging my head out the window etc., jumping around in the the trunk might not have seemed so strange. On that 3 am trip I did discover that it sounded like the front brakes where being dragged a bit so I still really suspect the VSC. I'm not taking any chances on losing those codes, I just really needed the car to run today. I'm headed out of town and leaving the car at the mechanics tomorrow. I am really curious. One thing I've learned with cars, they often defy logic and the solution tends not to be what I expect.

The lights are out and the system has reset. The car runs fine for today. I will drop it at the mechanic's tomorrow and let you know what the outcome is. How I got the system to reset: Tried every tip from every forum I read. Then I recalled someone mentioned a yaw sensor had gone bad on their car. So I opened the trunk, hopped in and jumped up and down. Then I rocked the car side to side. A few minutes of this and I tried starting the car again. Initially, all the same warnings came on but then cleared after 20 seconds. Car has been running beautifully today. I appreciate the feedback and will be back with those codes!

Dumb, dumb, dumb. I have a '98 LS 400 , 55K miles. About 4 months ago my VSC light came on and wouldn't shut off. After turning the engine on and off a few times, giving up and going inside and a few calls to my husband, the mystery light went away. I didn't have the code read, I considered it a fluke. In the last few months I have noticed onboard computer resetting as if it thinks I stopped for fuel. i.e. I filled up 2 nights ago and have driven approx. 70 miles, but the car now says 13 miles since last refuel. This has been happening slightly more frequently. I had attributed it to parking on a slant or going up a steeper slope but that hasn't been the case this week. So today was the kicker. I drove home about 10 miles, mostly highway. Shortly thereafter I made a quick trip. After an hour I headed back. I put the car in drive, rolled out of my spot, pressed the accelerator, nothing. I put the car in neutral, checked all around, checked if the floor mat had crept up under the pedal, nothing. Shifted to drive. Nothing. Car is still idling at 700RPM and rolling. I floor it. Nothing. Press down about half way and release a few times. Pedal feels like mush. All of a sudden, we have contact. OK, so I settle in my seat, car feels fine, I head home. I'm cruising around the neighborhood, stop at a few stop signs, no problems. I slow to take a sharp corner, step on the accelerator and nothing again. I press harder, the car goes suddenly, backs off, goes. The VSC and engine lights come on. This is a fun ride. I'm in the neighborhood so I take the quietest road, turn on the hazards and let it roll most of the way to the babysitter's. I put the car in park and it revs to 1400rpm. I try starting and stopping the engine, removing the key in between to see if I can get the error to cycle out. I drive the few blocks to my own house in a mix of rolling and driving normally. After coasting or stopping the car doesn't want to go. Keeping my foot on the accelerator will get the car going after about 10-15 seconds but only if I have it down pretty far and then the car takes off when it kicks in , of course. It scared the heck out of my toddler so I chose to roll the rest of the way. Sorry for the long story but WHAT THE HECK IS THAT? The error lights are still on and the car will still idle up to 1500 RPM in park. It sounds like the VSC is engaging itself and one of the sensors for it has gone bad. But why will the car go again and why is the idle so fast in park? In drive it idles around 700-800. I suspect it's something else? I bought this from my mother, so I know the history and there is nothing but pretty regular maintenance. I will have it towed to the mechanic tomorrow but does anyone have any ideas?

I had something similar happen in another car. Clogged fuel filter. I just barely made it up and over an enormous bridge and coasted down the other side to the nearest gas station. My mother declared "gas filter!" having been through this many years before. My father (one time mechanic) grumbled, no way not possible. He checked everything he could think of, finally agreed to check the filter and low and behold, even I could see that baby was clogged. The trouble came on suddenly, about 3 hours in to a 10 hour road trip. We had been driving just fine, mostly on highways until then. I can't say what the emmissions were like, though I think they were kind of smokey. I was just try to not get run over on that dumb bridge. It's worth a shot. One of the least complicated possibilities.