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It's a 1992 LS400.

I recently got a guy to clean the throttle body on my LS400. However when he was putting it all back together he messed something up. One of the things that he messed up was throwing out a plastic gasket/plastic plug type thing that is attached to the throttle body. We found half of it and kind of glued it in there as it wouldn't stay in on it's own. Does anyone know what this piece is called? Are there any other reasons that the car won't start after a trottle body cleaning. It trys to start but just never kicks in. It worked 100% before this. Thank You.

I was having the Serpentine belt replaced on my car & the guy doing it noticed that one of the electric wire things was quite frayed as it had been touching off the belt. I was wondering if anyone might know the name/part number of this part? Also, are there any instructions out there to replace this? Finally, he also thought that this might be a cause of my 'Trac Off' engine light been on. Does that sound plausible? Thank You for any help!

Hi, My 92 LS 400 has been just put back on the road after a year and a half of sitting idle in the one spot, in the Texas heat. The passenger side mirrors no longer move in any direction. Both of them. I was wondering would this be a fuse or motor problem & how best to diagnose it? Thank You.

Yes Keykeeper, This is the method. Sorry for delay in replying, I had to go out of town so haven't looked at the car since I posted.

Thanks Billy. "If there is no code in the engine system there may be a short in ecu, trac ecu, or the harness." How would I find out if there is a code in the engine system? I thought that Code 51 was the code, but is there a different way to find out the code in the engine system? Thanks again.

My 92 LS400 had been sitting for nearly 2 years undriven. When I returned I replaced the battery and it started straight up. There was about a quarter of a tank of Gas in it that had not been treated with any preserver. I added some fuel additive (Seafoam) and changed the oil & oil filter. I then drove it until the tank was almost empty (yellow Light on) and put $10 of the cheapest gas in Austin (So Stupid!). Almost Straight away the Check Engine light came on with the Trac off light. I pulled the code this morning and got a Code 51. (Problem in engine control system) This is what I've found out so far: CODE 51: ENGINE MALFUNCTION DETECTION CIRCUIT Circuit Description If the trouble (trouble which causes CHECK engine warning light to light up) occurs in the engine control system, this circuit senses the trouble and prohibits TRAC control. Diagnosis Problem has occurred in engine (CHECK engine warning light lights up) when engine RPM is 500 RPM or more. Trouble Area Engine control system. Harness or connector between ABS & TRAC ECU and engine & ECT ECU. (Short in TR5 harness). Diagnostic Chart Check the diagnostic code for the engine. If codes exist, repair engine control system according to the code output. If CHECK engine warning light remains ON but no codes exist, check for short in all the harness and ECU connected to CHECK Engine warning light. So, this all sounds very complicated & a little contradictory. If anyone could put in layman terms what this means, & what is the best way to rectify this issue, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you all.

PS. Have not changed the fuel filter yet & had put in some fuel additive (Seafoam) to clean the system. The check engine light came on after I put some cheap gas (got excited using Gasbuddy!) which was probably a stupid thing to do.

Ok guys, was able to pull the code for the check engine light. the code is 5,1. The Trac light blinked 5 times, then a pause then it blinked once. lexls.com says"51 - Problem in engine control system". Any idea what this might be? Thanks guys.

I would love to attempt it on my own but would be afraid I'd be half way through & something catastrophic would go wrong! Seriously though, would love to join someone who knew what they were doing & help out/ learn that way. Keykeeper, would this maybe be an option? I'll try to pull that code & post back.

Hi Guys, I live in the Austin Texas area and was wondering if prehaps any other members might live here & if so do they work on their own cars? I've just returned to Austin after a 2 1/2 year hiatus and my 1992 LS 400 has been sitting idle all that time. I have it back on the road now but it's in need of a good service, with the check engine light just after coming on. My old mechanic was a car enthusiast whose wife owned the same car, so he knew it inside & out. I always felt very assured that everything he was telling me was 100%, and he was great at the preventative stuff. Unfortunately he's not around any more. So, I was wondering, was there maybe another LS enthusiast who might live in the Austin area and be interested in doing some service work on the side for some extra cash?? If anyone knows anyone who you'd recommend, I'd appreciate that too. Thanks Guys! Work to be done: Change out drive belt Drain & top up transmission fluid Tighten hand brake cable Clean the throttle body Change Spark plugs & Wires if needed. Any other mechanical work they see fit to carry out after checking the car out. Finally, the check engine light has just come on recently, so they would probably need access to reader to pull the code as the car is a 1992 model. Thanks Again Guys!

Hey Guys, Two and a half years ago I had to return to europe for family reasons. It all happened in a hurry & I was forced to leave my 92 LS400 with a friend. It was last started 18 months ago and driven for about 20 miles, before that off and on every couple of months. I'm returning to the States next month and was wondering what should I include in the service. My friend tried to start it recently but the battery was dead, although some of the lights came on initially, there was just not enough juice to crank the engine. I'm going to recharge or replace as needed. The car has been stored outside in Austin, Texas, just to give an idea on the temperatures it has been exposed to. I was going to get all the filters and fluids changed (oil, transmission, coolant) as well as check the tires. Does anyone have any advice about a car that has been in storage like mine and putting it back on the road? Thanks guys. PS. Before I left the car had been putting out some black/grey smoke, and at he time everything pointed to the Trottle body needing cleaning, so I was going to do that as well. http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/EFI/throttlebody.html

Timing belt last changed on 120k

No Engine codes....

There's such a thing as a transmission filter?

I've been having spluttering problems w/ low idle recently & after reading on here I've decided that the Throttle Body is going to get a good cleaning. While I'm @ it, what else should I replace to give the car a good service? I have a mechanically minded friend who is going to help me, need to know what to buy.... Here are some suggestions, please add or remove if you think it's appropriate... Clean the throttle body plugs, wires, caps, and rotors Fuel Filter seafoam or Meet oil and air filter, added fuel cleaner and an octane booster 92 LS 400, 163K

Also the idle has started running @ rock bottom....

My alternator just went out on my 92 LS400 due in part to a slow leak from the PS reservoir. In determining this, all the lights on the dash would come on together and then go out & which stage the car would not start. Left it for four hours, car started and I got it home, but once I turned it off, it would not start again. The car sat for around 2 weeks before I replaced the alternator. I drove the car for 4 miles, it ran great. The next time I got into the car, 4 hours later, within a few blocks of driving the car started to splutter and seemed to lose all power when going forward and putting my foot on the gas pedal. The lights on the dash remained on, which indicated to me that all was working well with the alternator. I left it sit for another 10 days waiting for my mechanic to come take a look @ it. Due to health reasons he has not been able to come out. I started it up and drove for 8 miles, speeding it up and slowing it down. No issues. A couple of days later I drove it for 18 miles without much issue, on the last 1/2 mile (luckily B4 I got to my house) it started to splutter again & I struggled slowly home. The next day I brought it to a shop and they tested the alternator and connections and told me that the alternator was holding a charge and were not able to replicate the problem. They want to do a full diagnostic, but funds are low at the moment. I've driven it for a further 10 miles with no issue. I know I can't trust it and don't want to be left stranded on the highway some day soon. The car is overdue an oil change by around 3k miles, and has 163k miles on the clock. Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong with the car?

Hi There, I've just replaced my driver side tail light (the old lens was cracked & wouldn't pass Texas inspection because of it). The new tail light works perfectly, the only thing is that the tail light warning light is always on. The warning I'm talking about is an amber light in the shape of the car from an aerial view, with 3 concave bars where the tail lights are located. Anyone got an idea why this is coming on? I would like to get it off of there before I bring it back in for inspection, don't want to take the risk they'll fail me again. Thanks in advance.

That's entirely possible. Could be some junk is getting sucked up around the "sock" on the fuel pump intake, and from time to time gets knocked off from a bump or whatever, restoring fuel flow. However, there could be an intermittent fault with either the fuel pump itself or the regulator which is located on the main rail in the engine compartment. Have them checked out. Thanks, Ross. Is there anything that I could do myself or would I have to bring it to a mechanic for sure?

Hi There, I have a 92 LS400 for over a year now. Around 6 months ago, when the fuel tank was getting low, the car started spluttering and heaving. The car had no power and would trundle along, then suddenly the RPMs would go way up and the car lunges forward. It then reverts to trundling along, followed by a powerful lunge forward. This pattern continues until the car is filled with fuel whereby the problem disappears. This, as you can imagine, is quite dangerous as it is quite possible to cause an accident by rear-ending someone. I was thinking that maybe there is some sediment in the bottom of my gas tank that is causing the fuel filter/line to get clogged up when the fuel is low. Does this sound plausible?? How would one go about rectifying a problem like this? Thanks in advance!!

Thanks AzHotLS. I hadn't found that other post but it was very informative. The one thing that they didn't clear up was the color of smoke. They mentioned a White puff of smoke but mine is definitely a darker hue, blue or even black. One guy mentioned that it was the pressure switch on the pump, and that the O-Rings needed to be replaced. Do you think that BOTH the ACV & the pressure switch/O-Rings need to be replaced? Or should I start with the ACV and see how it goes? Lastly, if the ACV is replaced, will that fix the constant topping up of Power Steering fluids? Thanks again for replying.

I've been topping up my power steering fluid on a regular basis over the past 4 months. Can't seem to find a leak though. When I open the reservoir, the fluid appears frothy, like it has air bubbles in it. In the last few weeks, Blueish/Blackish smoke bellows out of the car on startup. After startup, it appears to run fine. I did an earlier search and someone had a similar problem. It was suggested that it might be a faulty vacuum valve, on the PS pump. The previous poster never responded with the results of changing the vacuum valve, so I don't know if that was actually the problem. If you think this is the problem, I would be very interested to find out where is the best place to secure a vacuum valve for a PS pump. Also, anything I should look out for when replacing it. In this economy, Price is of the utmost importance! Many Many Thanks in Advance! suggestion from previous poster: "Sounds like you have a faulty vacuum valve (located on the PSteering pump). If that valve fails, power steering fluid gets sucked into the engine's intake manifold and will cause your engine to smoke. Install a new vacuum valve on the PS Pump. "

What condition are the seats in? I need the 2 front ones. Cheers. indigent4ever@yahoo.com.