killerFatty

parts.com is by far the cheapest. I just checked ignition parts for my car and it was the best. I have bought everything from windshield wipers to power steering hoses from them and they are the best and cheapest.

I like how you compare the LS's tranny to that of a Ford focus... just thought I'd through that in the mix.

My EBC redstuff brake pads for my 93 are tapered too.

I have talked with a few of those extended warrenty people and even having a 1993 w/ over 182K I could still get them to cover engine, trans, ac, water pump, window motors, radiator(I think), and many more other little things for somewhere around that price ( I don't remember exactly). If you really want to get a plan like that check out a few other companies and you can get a better deal than that. HOwever from what I've heard most of those companies are devils when it comes to fine print. Make sure you know exactly all the conditions that you agree to before handing over any money. Also think about what happens if you have a susspension part bust or run into a fire hydrent. If something major like that happens that is not covered you will have definetly wished you saved that $2600, which might I add is right around half the value of your car. Put some of that money into preventive matinance and you will be much more satisfied.

pond

My bumber, never previously repaired, cracked just like that as well. I was able to get a replacement bumper for about $150 off a parts car. I removed it myself, which was not difficult really just undoing a lot of little clips and screws as well as the huge frame bolts. The guy that pulled my frame reinstalled it as part of the frame job so IDK how much labor is for that. I resprayed it to match and got good results for about $100 in materials. So over all it cost me $250 to replace my crunched up bumper with all my own labor. Since it's cracked just respraying it would look silly, so I would recomend replacement. Hope that helps some.

From what I've heard it could be an ignition coil. I have never had one fail but I believe the symptoms are similar to what you are discribing. Some one please correct me if I am wrong. FWIT even someone as careless as me wouldn't spray either all over a hot engine... or at least I hope.

Lost

I just repaired my gauge cluster lighting. They were flickering and most of the time not even coming on when its cold, but like you, once they came on, they were on for the rest of the day. What you have to do to fix it is replace a couple capacitors on the circut boards insde the cluster. If you do, get the capacitors that are meant for a wide temerature range so they don't do the same thing. I can solder alright and had no problem installing a new head unit for my sterio, but the capacitors are a royal pain to solder. I had them done by a pro and it took him a hour just to replcae the two tiny little things. Cluster removel, dissassembly, and reassembly took me a total of about 4 hours. It was my first time and I was patient so it will be faster if you have had experience with it. Heck if you want send me your cluster and I'll replace those little capacitors for about $100 :D . Good Luck

Thats true, so I did a little more research and found that the 6.0L GM LS2 V8 burns around .75-.8 GPH at idle, and the average economy 4-cylinder burns between .2 and .35 GPH. Both figures are from cold starts. So I would guesstimate the trusty old 1uz to be some where around .5-.6 GPH. My first guess would still be the coolent temp. sensor, and seeing as it doesn't have to completlely fail, just become slightly inaccurate to send the engine into open loop mode, if you dont have a CEL it would be a good place to start. The T-stat is also inexpensive and simple to replace, so those two would be first on my list. I believe the O2 sensors will through a code if they get bad enough, but the temp. sensor seems to be more common so I would start there. Best of luck

You might need to replace the coolent Temp. Sensor. When I first got my LS a 20 mile trip would burn 1/4 tank of gas, and after I changed my coolent temperature sensor I got much more reasonable gas mileage. Like you I didn't have a CEL. Another possibility might be O2 sensors, but I have no experience with them. BTW a 5 minute warm up at idle, even in open loop, will not affect gas milage significantly. A full size tractor trailer takes an hour to idle a single gallon of gas so assuming you are burning fuel at the same rate as a big rig in 5 minutes you burn 5/60 or .083 gallons. If you regualerly get 20mpg without idleing for 5 minutes then with idleing for 5 minutes on every gallon of gas use will only drop youir mpg to 18.34. No were near 3mpg and that is asuming you burn fuel at the same speed as a simi truck.

I have been wondering for a while if I can use the PS pump of an SC400 in my LS. I doesn't have an idle up valve which the main reason why I would want to use one. Will it fit on my engine the same way and can I use my current resivour or will I need an SC400 resivour too? I already have the little nipple like things on the intake manifold that the the idle up valve's vaccum lines go to capped, but fluid still come out of the lines themselves and leaks all over so I would like to get rid of the whole idle up system. My pump is suprisingly still the original factory pump and it has seen better days so replacing it will need to happen in the near future anyway.

lift

are you kidding me??? Honda more of a performance car??? SUBARU more of a performance car?? Lexus almost as reliable as a Cadillac???? I don't know which comment makes less sense... :o I couldn't agree with you more. I think this guy has lost all credibility and some of those comments make me think he needs to get off the dope. If you want reliability Lexus will deliver. Take care of a jap or most german cars and they will last longer than nearly any cadillac or gm product. Nearly every blue oval car I've seen has ben a total POS. They can do trucks pretty well but othar then the crown vic all their cars are junk.

I checked the fuse and it was blown. I can't believe I had to start a new thread to tthink of that LOL. Any way I replaced it and teasted out the gps for 20 minutes and the charger worked perfectly. I didn't blow again which makes me wonder why it fried in the first place though. Thanks for the help.

FYI all GS's are RWD.... Id say get either bridestone potenza, OR yokohoma's... cant go wrong with those. Not all GS's are RWD. You are going to loose a decent amount of grip when you switch. The 3.0 liter in your car isn't all that powerful, but if you enjoying gripping fast around corners, and the handling your GS has, then stick with the V rated. The change in speed rateing has NO significant effect on cornoring grip! All it means is a tire can sustain a certain speed for ten minutes with out being in any structual danger. The rubber compound and tread pattern have infinitly more impact on cornoring characteristics than speed rating. As far as any vibration, the speed rating has no affect on that either. That is an alignment or balancing issue. Bottom line is switch speed rating is only a problem if you like to cruise down the highway at WOT for hours. In which case if your not severly injured, I'll bet your drive train will be.

I got a GPS for christmas and when I went to plug in the charger I got no charge. I tried the plug behind the center arm rest and it doesnt work either. At night when I have my lights on, the green lights all around both outlets light up just fine. I tried a cell charger and plug in seat warmer too, but neither of them got any juice so I know its not the GPS chrager that is the problem. Is there an easy way to fix this??

hear is a good pic.

I have noticed though that I have about 5 gallons left when the gas light comes on. On other cars I've drove it doesn't come on untill there is only about two gallons left. With 5 gallons in the tank I wouldn't be that concerned about the fuel filter getting clogged. That is of course if you dont drive another 50 miles after the light comes on. I also totally agree that you should keep a full tank in the winter. It not only keeps you form worrying if you get stranded, but it also puts some more weight over the rear tires which will help with traction.

The GS accomidates a more aggressive driving style while the LS is (when WELL maintained) a silky smoth cruiser. The brakes were upgraded in 93 as well as a few other things on the LS, so if your getting a first gen go for 93-94 if possible. I have not had any issues with the engine or trans in my 93LS. The only (non-collision caused) problems I've had was a slight chugging at 40-50 mph which was fixed by some new plugs and wires. I cleaned the throttle body, changed all fluids (coolant, oil, tranny, and diff.), fixed trunk wiring and havn't been forced into any more work since. Which ever you buy you will be happy with the reliability. Lexus should last many more than 200K miles.

I saw those posts too. I dont believe the 98 LS400 has an IACV. I checked for that, looked in the pdf manual and asked local parts dept. I could be wrong, I am not a mechanic by trade. I was thinking of maybe changing the o2 sensors. I wouldn't expect that bad sensors would make so much trouble. BTW the 98LS as well as every other vehicle with the 1UZ-FE(ALL 89-00 LS) has an IACV. It's located on the front of the intake manifold and is circular in shape with a couple hoses running to it. It may be partailly covered up by the piece of plastic covering the wires that connect the two ignition rotors.

Definitely! I stayed in the shop while the man cleaned my throttle body and it was bad. The red cloths were turning black! I could hear it... it sounded like honey being stirred. He actually first sprayed some brake parts cleaner on the cloth, then resorted to some "2+2" stuff... it was called something else, like "gum cutter"? It really started getting it he said. Must have since its running perfectly now. Makes me sad now that I am selling it that its running so good after doing that hesitation and lurching it had the past two years I have owned it. <_< btw - the CE never came on again... maybe it was adjusting itself or something. If you clean the TB yourself, spray some carb cleaner or seafoam into the intake mainfold while the TB is off. I sprayed about 3/4 of a can of carb cleaner in there and used a rag on a stick to wipe as much of that cra pout of there as I could. It wasn't nearly as clean as I got the TB itself, but it looked alot better.

Danny, you should check out the LS400 auto tranny. I have seen several at 220+K completely original. In fact I would be shocked to see one fail at 150K. I would suspoect foul play if that were the case. Mine is doin fine a 190K and several, if not all, LS members with many more than 150K miles have their original, non-rebuilt, tranny's.

wrench

are you talking about the coolant temperature sensor?