chips229

Hi, It could be a bad earth connection somewhere on the gear lever selector,sounds like its electrical.What if you move the gear selector through the gears manually with the lights on,does it change up then?

Hi just adding to the thread. My cars a Jap import a mk1 Aristo TT. Ive had the car for around 6 months or so,problems to date are the heater matrix has been leaking so ive got to get that fixed in the near future :cries: its not going to be cheap. I also have a starting problem from warm,engine starts fine from cold no probs.If the engines switched off when warm and left for a few minutes its a real pain to restart,engine always starts fine but the idle falls away and it runs lumpy sounds like its missing,so could be overfueling .I took the idle control valve off when i had the car first and soaked and cleaned it in some spirit,someone said that might do the trick...but ive still got the same problem.....ive read alot of people have had the same sort of problem with starting and have replaced the ICV(idle control valve)and other sensors and its still not cured the problem.... Ive also cleaned the inlet throttle body but its no better.. Its a great car apart from those problems.... Cheers for now chips.

The mk1 is a great car the engines are nearly bullet proof,they can have Headgasket trouble,just watch for suspension wear mainly on the Front upper wishbone arms they arent cheap to replace!! If you push and pull on the front wheel there should be no movement,if there is you will see the movement on the arm above the wheel.Also check the footwells to make sure the carpets are dry,if the carpets damp then the heater matrix is on its way out,the labour charge wont be cheap to get it replaced. Good luck if you decide to buy one. Cheers chips.

Hi, I dont know what wheels you have to go on your car,but id bet even if you can get longer studs or spacers the next problem you wheel have,will be that the tops of the outside of the tyres will hit and rub on the front wheel arches(fenders). Theres loads of posts on this and the uk LOC with problems with aftermarket wheels.Lexus use a un common wheel offset.You many need to have the front arches rolled so the wheels wont rub. Chips.

I did the blank off each end trick on my mk1 LS 400 :chairshot: Bad idea,the car used ALOT more fuel,as it took longer for the engine to get up to temp. I swear it was also worst on fuel after it warmed up,i was told theres a sensor in the inlet manifold which senses the air temp coming into the manifold from the EGR pipe..weather there was a sensor or not i found my car ran better with a new EGR pipe.... :chairshot: :chairshot: The replacement pipe is a pig of a job to do...i didnt drop the transmission to replace it,but if i had to do the job again id take the engine out to make it easier. It took 2 of us two days to change the pipe....like it says in one of the above posts theres a bracket around the middle of the pipe,which makes it tricky to thread the pipe down to where it lives....Its also important to make sure you put the bolt into the bracket,it helps hold the pipe in place and stops the pipe from vibrating,the life of the pipe will be reduced if the bracket bolts not put in. Cheers chips.

try putting sliver foil over the front the lens with the lights on,that will reflect the heat back into the headlight and should dry it out in less than a minute.. On my mk1 the front lens are plastic and do come off,but there sealed with some sort of sealant,the seal on yours must be leaking,if you can remove the lens,just seal it back up using bathroom sealant. Good luck.. cheers chips..

Well explained,and enough said on this topic from me... It was all getting abit HOT between you guys about this topic... Lets all agree what a fine selection of cars lexus/Toyota build Cheers chips..

Yea does the same thing,like everyone else says,the car holds the gear longer and changes up at higher rpm.Also not forgetting when in the ect power mode the gearbox will shift down gears under less throttle,rather than stay in the higher gears keeping the rpm low.. If im driving my 400 with no one else in the car i keep the power button off,if i put the aircon on then i will use the ect power button because i notice how much power i loose.. If ive got other people in the car i also always use the power button or i find the car abit sluggish. chips..

Also with the engine running open the bonnet and listen for a kind of exhaust blowing sound....if you hear a chuffing sort of sound that will be the EGR pipe leaking,expensive labour change for that.... Also check the rear coil springs they have a habit of breaking... Good luck...

It took me 2 whole days to replace the EGR pipe on my 91 Ls400 :chairshot: i found theres not really enough room to get the pipe down where it needs to go...alot of the problems are because of the bracket which sticks out halfway down the pipe..... It really is one of the worst jobs ive ever done on any car ive owned :chairshot: If you do replace the pipe,the bolt must go in the bracket which i said about,or the new pipe wont last a week as its to stop the pipe vibrating.. Good Luck cheers chips.

I had the same problems with the headlights on my car... I removed the headlights from the car....the front of my headlights are plastic,the fronts will come off,but its a tricky job to get the fronts off,if you do get them off you will need to reseal the units will sealant or something or they will get moisture inside them...... I couldnt get the fronts off mine so i went for the more :chairshot: brain dead job of using a old metal coat hanger,straightening it out and tying a clean damp rag to the end of it,then removing the bulbs and threading the rag tied to the wire through where the bulb goes.... Yea it took ages to clean,bit by bit but it was worth it :chairshot: there was alot of dirt and dust inside the unit.... For the outside of the lens i cleaned them with `T cut` http://www.motormania.co.uk/product_detail...p?intDescID=257 They came up like new and i can see where im going now at night :chairshot: chips

WAY

245s will go on the front thats what ive got on mine...there 17s all round...cant remember the profile..sorry. cheers chips

try the link below they know there stuff. http://lextreme.com/forums/

If you still cant see where the coolant is going.....pull up both floor mats in the front of the car,if the mats soaking wet then youve got a leak from the heater matrix......i had that problem with my mk1 Aristo(GS300)..... Good luck Cheers chips.

Hi....i replaced the EGR pipe on my series 1 LS400 a few months ago... I did the job myself,it took me nearly two days :chairshot: The easy bit is getting the old pipe off,theres two bolts that hold the pipe tight to the induction manifold by the bulkhead,at the back of the engine when your looking at it from the front of the car...Theres two bolts holding the other end which bolts onto the down pipe of the exhaust,and theres one more bolt which going through a bracket and holds the pipe steady in the middle (length wise)... When driving your car,with all the windows up,you wont really hear that the pipes blowing(leaking) exhaust gas....with the engine running,open the bonnet and listen near the bulkhead area,on my uk car the pipes on the left hand side of the engine,as looking from the front of the car....anyway listening,gentley tickle the throttle,i found i could hear the noise better when the engine was started from cold....tickle the throttle and you should hear a noise,like when the exhaust manifold is leaking... The tricky part of replacing the pipe is `A` the price of the pipe £98 roughly here in the uk from Lexus :chairshot: and `B` trying to get the new pipe in place.... I tied rope to each end of the pipe to help pull it into place.....Cos of the shape of the bracket which sticks out from near the middle its a real fiddley :chairshot: job to get into place....thats where the time went...i had to get a friend to help by pulling on the rope,well i tryed every which way to push it into place :chairshot: I think id rather take the engine out if i had to do the job again.... Its one of the worst jobs ive ever done on a car. Improvements were......the engine warms up quicker from cold,as no gases are escaping.......the engine now runs smoother and quieter and the cars abit better on fuel.... After all that hard work now im trying to sale the car :chairshot: Hope thats been of some help to you all. Cheers chips.

Hi Brian... BRAKES The question about your brakes...Heres a tip my father told me....try this Do this overnight..... With the engine running so that the brake servo helps you press the brake pedal down hard....find a stick or something to keep the brake pedal down..press the brake pedal down so its under pressure and use the stick to hold the pedal there under pressure....turn your engine off and lock the car up and leave it like that overnight... When you come out and have a look at the car in the morning you should find the sticks on the floor and no longer against the brake pedal..... This should remove any air in the brake system and hopefully firm your brake pedal up.... Also check to see if you are loosing any brake fluid from the brake master cylinder the rubber seals might need replacing.. AIRCON Id say your aircon is low on gas....i had the same problem with my car....if you shut all the vents and open and shut one at a time you will find you get cold air from any of the vents,but as soon as you open all the vents like you say theres different temp air coming from them,thats because theres not enough aircon gas in the system to maintain a cold temp to all vents... Make sure if you get the aircon checked out they put a dye in the system so they can find the leak quickly or if you loose the gas again they can find the leak... The dye is invisible to the naked eye so dont worry your car wont be covered in it I had the same aircon problems as you,now the leaks have been fixed and regassed its working spot on with cold air coming from all vents open at the same time... SHAKING STEERING WHEEL Id first get all the cars wheels balanced...if its then no better check for seized brake caliper pistons causing the pads to rub on the rotors. Hope some of this has been of help Brian.....let us know how you get on mate ;) Chips.

Hi...the company said that the 18s would fit with out checking first,so it came back to bite them in the end cost them money to have them machined so they learnt the hard way Id think twice myself next time about buying after market wheels for a LS 400... If i do replace my Lexus with another Lexus i will be keeping me wheels for the new car save all the problems again Chips.

Hi Glad your Happy with your new car...look after her.

Hi LSB, Like you say 2k for wheels..id hang on abit try and find someone who has 20s on there car to be on the safe side...like ive said in me other posts ive 18s on my car and had loads of trouble because of the offset..that was the companys fault for telling me they would fit my car,so i was lucky because they paid for all the machine work to make them fit.

Hi... I saw somewhere on the net,think it was on the lextreme site a graph of the output on a LS 400....with and without a K+N filter and the engine ran more power with the stock Lexus airbox :o Many be someone else can back me up on this? Good luck with your service....i was told by a Lexus mechanic to only use a Lexus timing belt as other brands have been know to be not as good quality ;) Chips.

Theres something else ive learnt ;) Thanks for the info for us any :)

Ive found since driving my LS i dont seem to be on the ball well driving like i used to be when driving other cars ive owned :chairshot: I dont seem to pay as much attention because i feel detached from driving,i like how quiet and smooth the car is :) but i feel worry that i myself might fall asleep at the wheel....everyone who rides in the car always says "I COULD GO TO SLEEP IN HERE ITS SO QUIET"....its a double edged sword Glad your ok GS....you might have knock the wheel alignment out so watch the front tyres for uneven wear Chips.

meaning removal of the catalytic converters? Yes mate.The catalytic converters Over here if the cars a 1993 or new then they must stay on the car and cant be removed as you will be breaking the law :o Mines ok its a 91 ;)

What models this one then...not seen one of them before?