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98ls400lover

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Posts posted by 98ls400lover

  1. My 1992 LS400 has been in excellent mechanical shape and I've kept up with it. My attention, though, has been turned to the interior. I don't want to sound mean, but the prior owner was quite large and in charge and the drivers side seat shown an unusual amount of wear. Well. The other morning I came out to my car and noticed that it finally happened - I have a crack in the seat. I can see the green foam.

    I'm sort of interested in replacing this car - or at least moving it to 'plan B' - but want to shore up the interior problems I've had. My carpet covers for the lower part of the door are loose (nothing a hot glue gun would be able to handle, I'm thinking)

    What should I do to fix this? Is a new seat in order? Or a trip to the real or virtual junkyard? Is there a good way to patch these?

    If you think it'll help I can venture out in the morning and get a camera phone picture. Just let me know.

    Also! Bonus round: One of the 'wood' panels in the backseat covering the window buttons are missing - where can I get one of those?

    Thanks! New swaybar bushings next Saturday - I'm excited/hoping they'll make a difference.

    Whatever you do, dont buy reupholstery from leatherseats.com - I had these for two years, and the quality, fit and finish are horrible, and they were in worse shape after two years than original seats after 12 years.

    I went ahead and swapped LS430 seats in.

    seat1.jpg

    seat2.jpg

    ss1.jpg

    ss2.jpg

    ss3.jpg

    ss4.jpg

    hi i have been wanting to upgrade to ls430 seats in my 98 ls, love what you did any difference in comfort? and was the install an easy one mine has side air bags did they just bolt in?

  2. Hi all for what its worth Pinnacle makes a leather conditioner that is fantastic, its a creamy substance goes on easy and really conditions leather, have used lexol and others and find it best for the money. i have 98 ls that looks like new and it maintains the leather great.

    safe driving to all

  3. My 1995 LS400 has 215k miles: it had 106k when bought in 2003. Except for the last 2, all my oil changes have been 'dino'/plain. Switched recently to synthetic just to reduce the trips. Even today the engine purrs like a cat ready to pounce. But, I was always religious about change interval - to the point some of my friends joke at me.

    Oil just lubricates and does nothing else.

    well i hate to burst ur bubble here but mobile 1 isnt even in the top 5 motor oils, valvoline and amsoil are among the best syn. oils on the market, mobil 1 is much like fram filters...they are not that good but spend a lot of money in marketing,but if u want the best filters go to napa and get a filter made by wix and oil made by amsoil,valvoline or even royal purple, the only advantage synthetic oil has is it doesnt break down like conventional oil

    http://www.galttech.com/research/cars/best-motor-oil.php

    I know that motor oil is like religion to some on the board......they have consummate faith in their favorites, and no others will do.

    However, the reality is, they are all motor oil. Use the proper weight and classification as shown in your owners manual, and your car will be just fine.

    I know people who have hundreds of thousands of miles on vehicles using plain old dino oil on regular intervals. I even have an old '94 Grand Cherokee that has never seen synthetic that has 175,000 on the clock and is running strong. Seeing as most don't keep their vehicles for that many years or for that many miles, and you can get that life and better awith conventional oil, what more is synthetic oil really giving you?

    That being said, I do use synthetic oil on my Lexus and my Honda S2000. Primarily so that I can use a longer oil change interval, but also for a bit of that placebo effect thinking that the tight tolerances of the S2000 will do better with synthetic.

    But, when it comes down to it, that is all you really get from synthetic oil......an oil that can last longer and offer longer oil change intervals. If you don't run a synthetic for a longer oil change interval, it is a waste of money in my opinion.

    I realize I may get flamed, and that many of you will post up your links to test results, most of which come from your favorite oil's marketing department. But all those "tests" aside, answer me this: how many of you are aware of any vehicle engine that has had proper oil changes and other maintenance, and has broken down, and it can be proven that it is a particular brand of oil that has caused it? I see many posts suggesting that some oils are magic elixirs, and that others are poison for your engines. However, I am not aware of any engine that has received proper oil/filter changes and other maintenance, and has crapped out due to a particular brand of oil, whether it is WalMart house brand, Pennzoil, Mobil 1, Amsoil, Castrol, or whatever.

    Just my "not married to any brand" 2 cents.......

    great response its nice to see some great feedback on the topic.. i guess my question is regular oil changed frequently is fine, but you have to ask yourself if you can buy 6 quarts of mobil 1 for 26$ or the extended 15k synthetic for 32$ at walmart, and get it changed locally what are the benefits of 1) peace of mind) 2) proven cleaning properties of synflo for keeping the engine clean? 3) the heat in florida and having that extra protection 4) being able to go 6,7 8 000 miles with no worries of any kind. 5) smoother engine while driving and 6) probably 1mpg better gas mileage with a synthetic oil like mobil 1 or amsoil. I think its absolutely a no brainer for the cost of the synthetics the way the have come down in price to go with them besides who would want to change the oil every 3k when it can be avoided with no penalty..

    safe driving to all

  4. Hi all, figured i would put some observations out their about mobil 1 i have observed. I should preface this post that i am extremely particular about cars and here and feel things more than the average driver. I put 3k a month on my 98 ls and love the car for many reasons. I switched at 65 k to mobil 1 synthetic and was changing the oil at 4 or 5k, my motor is great and noticed better gas mileage and it was running smother than when i got the car. I did notice around 3k the oil seems with the florida heat and my driving to break down and hear a valve difference in the motor. i dont have a valve tap or a problem have a lexus mechanic that keeps my car perfect but for example at idle outside the car with a new oil heard absolute smoothness and at 3k can hear a slight tap... walmart is stocking 5w30 extended performance at a ridiculous price of 28$ for a 5qt jug and heard the extended has double amount of synflo, well being the sensitive guy i am no valve tap absolute no break down up to 6 and 7000 miles. i was paying 34$ for a six quart box of regular mobil 1 at costco its a no brainer to use this extended performance. I realize the purple and amsoil crowd will have their own spin but for 28$ for five quarts at walmmart i have been excited...

    happy and safe driving to all

    Do you an Independent Lexus Mechanic in Palm Beach County that is not our local Lexus dealer?

    not sure what your question was

    safe driving

  5. well i hate to burst ur bubble here but mobile 1 isnt even in the top 5 motor oils, valvoline and amsoil are among the best syn. oils on the market, mobil 1 is much like fram filters...they are not that good but spend a lot of money in marketing,but if u want the best filters go to napa and get a filter made by wix and oil made by amsoil,valvoline or even royal purple, the only advantage synthetic oil has is it doesnt break down like conventional oil

    http://www.galttech.com/research/cars/best-motor-oil.php

    [/quote

    no worries they all are good synthetics, was not praising mobil 1 as being the end all,

    change the oil with synthetic ever 5-7 k they are all great the point of the post is mobil 1 is the most used oil out their thought the information about the extended performance for again 28 for 5 quarts would be helpful, i appreciate all the detail on the replys but the point of the thing is totally being missed about the value of what i was trying to convey. heard great things about amsoil and purple 70,000 miles not a drop of oil burned, 0-60 in 6.0 and motor smoother than glass and 26 mpg on the highway,

    all that matters

    peace

  6. Agree with curiousB. If you want to really know what is going on, start having a used oil analysis done at each change. Once you have a baseline, you can better evaluate what is really going with each change. The downside is UOAs cost money. If you get them done, you have empirical evidence you can point to. Without them, you have nothing more than speculation (not unlike most oil posts on this forum).

    Mike and curious hope you all are doing well just for clarification purposes i have been racing cars since i am 17 now going on 41. I have motor experience but not rebuilding lexus motors, and appreciate someone like you all that knows about motors. I wanted to clarify the comment about hearing breaking down oil.. again i have a 98 ls with 120k on it. I have been using mobil 1 since 65 k.. the car runs and looks like new except for my driver seat cracking. when the mobil 1 got to around 3 or 4 thousand miles i would here the motor wether its valves or spacers or anything not loud but sounding a little like a tap. when the oil was new it would not do that, thats 1 st thought. So if that is breaking down or not breaking down, i dont have to do an analysis to find out chemical and metal compounds to realize i hear a difference. thought 2 when i would pull up to a drive thru and the concrete wall is on my left i would hear a difference between new mobil 1 and 4 k mobil 1.. the point of the post was walmart is selling 5quarts of mobil 1 extended performance for 28 which is a steal. it has double the amount of synflo in it and i think we can all agree synthetic makes a lot more sense than conventional oil. at 6 or 7 k i am not hearing the same level of engine feedback i did with the mobil 1.. just wanted to clear up i dont want to sound like a motor guru but i am one of the most discriminating picky lover of automobiles and my opinion is for the money the extended performance synthetic mobil 1 at 28 for five quarts is the best oil you can get for the money

    safe driving to all

  7. Hi all have read many posts about problems with the instrument clusters, curious about anyone with a 98-2000 having an intermittent problem where the speedo doesnt work. It happens three or four times weekly and after 15 minutes or 5 minutes of driving usually starts to work again. the rest of the cluster is bright and with no issues but i was wondering if their was an easy fix to this. I prefer not to have to take apart the cluster for rattle issues in the future but any insight on fixing the problem is appreciated.

    safe driving to all

  8. Hi all, figured i would put some observations out their about mobil 1 i have observed. I should preface this post that i am extremely particular about cars and here and feel things more than the average driver. I put 3k a month on my 98 ls and love the car for many reasons. I switched at 65 k to mobil 1 synthetic and was changing the oil at 4 or 5k, my motor is great and noticed better gas mileage and it was running smother than when i got the car. I did notice around 3k the oil seems with the florida heat and my driving to break down and hear a valve difference in the motor. i dont have a valve tap or a problem have a lexus mechanic that keeps my car perfect but for example at idle outside the car with a new oil heard absolute smoothness and at 3k can hear a slight tap... walmart is stocking 5w30 extended performance at a ridiculous price of 28$ for a 5qt jug and heard the extended has double amount of synflo, well being the sensitive guy i am no valve tap absolute no break down up to 6 and 7000 miles. i was paying 34$ for a six quart box of regular mobil 1 at costco its a no brainer to use this extended performance. I realize the purple and amsoil crowd will have their own spin but for 28$ for five quarts at walmmart i have been excited...

    happy and safe driving to all

  9. I'm about to get a 1992 LS 400 and am having some work done on it by a certified lexus mechanic before I drive it away.

    I am getting very confusing information, where ever I look, about whether or not to use a synthetic oil in a LS 400 with 118,000 miles on it, or not

    I'm brand new to this group and I'm feeling good about this groups information...but even the forums are inconsistent on this point.

    I've driven Hondas since 1973 and am anticipating even better things in a swithch to this Lexus. I'm also kind of a maintainemce nut and want to be sure I'm doing right by this vehicle. I have had my Hondas rountinely go 350,000+mi. and have used synthetic exclusively.

    Can you help me with a definitive answer on this point?

    hi daniel when i got my ls at 65 k i switched to mobil 1 5w30, found the oil was great changed it ever 4 or 5k but did notice after 3k the oil breaks down a little and the motor sounded with a valve tap not a tap but could here a difference when the oil was new, switched to mobil 1 extended performance 5w30 which has double the amount of synflo in it and it has been unreal no change at 6 or 7k.. changing the oil at 6500 and getting more mileage between changes i do 3k a month of highway.. just follow intstructions about cars with older milegage from the mobil 1 website about changing the oil at around 2 or 3 k at the beginning from switching over to sythetic, happy driving Andrew

  10. Not exactly..

    I bought my LS with ~132k. Currently has ~165k.

    Took it in for an alignment a couple weeks ago and they didn't do anything cause it was perfect.

    well if it was perfect you would not feel a difference, read my reply to jim below about the driver that is disriminating.. i think our older ls have a tight suspension and the welds and frame are probably technology from the 90's so i have noticed the car is more sensitive than my bmw's in the past. i love my ls and just thought the post would help, have a great weekend Andrew

  11. 98ls400loverm, I wonder if the alignment was compensating for worn front front suspension bushings.

    The strut rod bushings on my similar 00 LS400 were thoroughly worn out by the time I had them replaced at a little over 86,000 miles. The handling had become sloppy with quite a bit of front end vibration and poor tracking at highway speeds. I should have had them replaced about 10,000 miles earlier. Replacing them transformed the car's handling and made it feel like new.

    Have your strut rod bushings and/or strut rod assemblies (which include the bushings) been replaced? 70-90K miles seem to be their typical life.

    hi jim, they were replaced at 85k about 40,000 miles ago and did make a huge difference. i am just used to 5 series bmw and my ls is very sensitive to suspension changes, on the readout the toe was off and the cast/camber a little bit, the point of the post was that subtle differences for the subtle driver will make a difference for the avg guy cruising on the highway it wont matter, i am particular, quck question any other suspension stuff in your opinion should be changed? i was thinking of replacing ball joints or shocks do you think 120k and 11 years these should be replaced? have a nice weekend

  12. Hi all just wanted to share i have put 70,000 miles on my 98 ls over the last 2 years and am using the michelin primacy mxv4...

    just wanted to share i dont bump into curbs mostly highway miles but the 98-2000 ls seems to be sensitive to alignment changes. the ride quality changes dramatically with the camber and toe off, this week i had my second aligment done and it was not dramatically off and the car tracks better obviously but the patch of the tread to the ride is absorbing the bumbs and highway pavement much better. this is the second alignment and i remember the same result the first time.

    just thought this info would be helpful to the drivers that you read about that go 75k-100 with out aligning a car,

    happy driving and safe driving to all,

  13. Having driven a 90 LS400 from new until 183,000 miles and a 2000 LS400 from 3 years old/ 38,000 miles to its current 110,000 miles, and having owned both at the same time and driven them on alternate days, I'm doubting that installing new shocks on your 99 LS is going to give you what you want.

    I wouldn't expect the 90 LS and the 99 LS to have much in common when it comes to how "planted" they feel -- the main thing the two cars have in common are their model names -- LS400. My 2000 LS rode and drove waaay different than my 90 LS even at 38,000 miles.

    Are all the suspension bushings and other suspension components on the 99 LS in top notch condition? Do the strut bar bushings have more than 80,000 miles on them?

    My 2000 LS never felt as sporty and "tossable" as my 90 LS did but it wasn't designed to be that way.

    thanks for the information, any thoughts on changing the ball joints with over 115k on them.. just curious if doing this before the ball joints go bad will provide any increase in ride or handling for a 98 ls..

    thanks

  14. hi all, thought it wold be of interest i eliminated a hesitation that has been persistent for over a year. i was told not to change the fuel filter when my 98 was in for service with 80k on it, so i continually thought it was a fuel injector or throttle body issue. After a year of a slight hesitation and in the morning feeling like the tranny was slipping, i changed the fuel fitler and sure enough it had brown crud in it when he removed it. The performance has increased 20% and the hesitation gone. my recemondation change it at 10 year level regardsless of mileage. it is well worth the 75 bucks including install.. funny enough it looks like i am getting a little worse gas mileage since the performance increase.

    good safe driving to all

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