Marklouis

..part of it has arrived my friend... http://www.teslamotors.com/ now put this powertrain in a lightweight luxury sedan, and im sold..

Congrats Friend!! Have fun - and park waaaay out there in the parking lots, I hate to see door dings on such a fine piece of work! :cries:

I have a 1990 LS400 Burgundy in and out. It has 99,400 miles. The timing belt looked pretty good, for it's age. The ildler bearing was going bad and the water pump bearing was also making noise. I had to replace the water pump so did all the work noted. I finished her tonight. started right up, idled at 1200 and as she warmed up came down to 650. I changed the oil, and will put the under carriage shield on in the AM, wash her and take her for a spin. I just acquired the vehicle from a guy who has two places one in AZ and one in CA he would drive the Lexus when he came to CA for the last several years hence the low miles. He took good care of it except he did some dirt roads in it at some point and scraped up the underside and there was lots of seeds, sand and plant parts in the radiator and nooks and crannys. Not sure what he was doing. He replaced all the steering and suspension parts he damaged, and the steering pump has been replaced. I think he upgraded the AC to new stuff which became stock in 1993 I think. Hope you have fun doing your timing belt. It's nice how all the pieces fit together and make sense when you put it back together. My next project is to put 1995-2000 LS400 Calipers and rotors on the front. I have the single piston and want to go to the 4 piston front calipers. I can get refurbished calipers for $75 each, and rotors for about 135 each, and a set of pads for $55. That would be just under $500. Your 1990 LS only has 99k? thats very low city miles for an almost 20 year old car. it would have to be immaculant if it was garaged as well! my 95 has 190k, still a young pup.

So we all agree that the LS cats are high flowing and expensive and bypassing/cutting them out will only put you at a loss, and straight piping the resonators for a deeper sound and less wieght on the vehicle is more cost-effective (on a budget for someone like me) :P. Im glad the LS is a nice quiet car, and im sure the careful engineering of the exhaust ports and headers are a big part of that reason. it just makes it easier to {quietly} pass by someone if you like the concept of quiet thunder, it just makes it seem like your car isnt even breathing hard to pass someone up. i would like to make my LS as silent and quick as possible - even though i love to hear the slight WOT noise when you punch it!! But you guys go ahead and load up the Vids and sound bytes of your Modded LS's for those who like to be heard, and see who sounds the baddest!, and i might change my mind about it.

If you do a search on the subject you will find many threads describing your problem as the Transmission mount the source of your issue, then eventually or at the same time change your engine mounts :)

I was refering to the resonators being cut out, not the cats! I would never cut cats out... :) are the resonators useless in the LS?

Most awesome!! :) but i couldnt find the tranny mount listed. found the engine mounts in there for $90. i love to save a buck or two anytime!

Most everything you read in car magazines is based on some good knowledge but mostly trial and error runs. there was a article on a guy that tried to run a huge Quad turbo system on a Chevy big block - and the poor fella never got it to run - it would just sit there and crank. He did all the math, blue print, balance, compression ratio, and he was a MIT guy of some sort. it was just a nice conversation piece that he put $10k into - a good semester worth of college tuition today. the only way if you really want to learn the difference in regular and premium is to do your own trial and error experiment - I had no choice during the Fuel shortage we had 5 months ago, no one had Premium, only 87. so i put $15 of 87 in my LS400 with a bottle of high octane booster from auto zone, and there was still a lack of acceleration, and the mileage dropped - i drove like grandpa that week for sure. of course the flashpoint is different between 87 and 91 - and im sure the ECU compensates the difference and you kinda drive around with your car engaged in safe mode to prevent any (pre-det) damage. i also have a 69 mustang 302 4 barrel (no ECU here) that if i put premium in that thing, it will lack HP and Torque, because it was built (compression wise) with 87 in mind. Go Longhorns! Thats for you ko90ls! Dem Buckeyes are goin' down!

any change in the sound? better or worse? B) is there a write up or a step by step on this?? i wouldnt want anything on a car that was useless.

nice move on the expansion tank cap! i also have a 95 LS and its good to see others with 95's chime in on the club! Cheers on the cheap fix! have you tried reseting the Climate Control system by unplugging your bat for ten minutes or so? when you connect your battery back up and turn the key to the ACC, you can hear the Climate control do its Diagnosis thing. i found that helped mine out when i was experiencing problems with my Dual vent controls. hope this helps!

No Fear..was it a hard knock or a loud tapping noise? it may have been a fuel injector/s making that noise - given the time it sat and the frigid temps, your fuel injectors may have been slightly dry, and they needed the fuel to lubricate the pumps. no biggie, just next time it sits for that long, turn your key at least 3 times before cranking it to prime the injectors better. this is my best theory or .02$ worth. ;)

I looked into things several years ago, and the above is pretty much the exact conclusion I came to as well. So, when friends ask me for advice on this (as they often do after they've bought a new car and want to do what's best for it), I tell them that if the manual says their car works with 87, they might be doing worse with 91, even without considering cost. Lexus LS400 of course may be different. So far, I just put in 91 in my '91 (not just because it's got a ring to it), since that is recommended, and I have not yet been convinced the engine management can handle 87 without problems, but for example ... for my 1985 911, it requires 91 (92 actually, but can't get it), and being just old enough, the engine management can't accommodate lower octane. So if I drive aggressively with 87 in there I could damage the engine. In this case there is no option - I use 91. Once I filled up with 87 by mistake. I drove like an old lady for half a tank to protect the engine, then filled with 91. I noticed my mileage increased by about 5% for that half tank, but it's hard to tell if it was the low octane or the granny driving style that did it. To tell for sure, I'd have to drive granny style on 91, and I'm just not willing to do that. B) for my wife's minivan, it says it will get 210 HP running on 91, 205 HP running on 87. Clearly 87 is OK, so we use that, giving up 5 HP for all the other benefits. To potentially launch on another tangent, I never ever (now that I know) use ethanol. If nothing else, it has about 2/3 the energy content of gasoline, so if the fuel is 15% ethanol, it's like getting fuel with 95% (85 + 15*2/3) of the energy in gasoline ==> 5% loss in mpg. There are engine-life issues/doubts beyond mpg. If the fuel has ethanol in it, there will be a sticker on the pump saying so. Ed ethanol, hate the stuff...wish i knew who didnt add it to thier fuel. my gas mileage has dropped 7% since that's all i can find here in north alabama, the ethanol capitol, and who knows what it's doing to my internals in the engine.

Congrats!!! <_< ya buncha show-offs!! I kid!

Hello fellow Bamian! that sounds very interesting! i heard of Dupont making some sort of Teflon wax product for vehicles years ago, but never knew what came of it. Is teflon sprayed on just like a topcoat of clear, and will he have to tape off the glass and trim? if you do such a trick, please take some before and after picks. I know that a plane takes much more abuse in the sky over a course of time than a car on the ground would, so maybe the Teflon would last longer on your car? or is one year when the protective coating loses its quality??

Here is Batman filling up his new ride now...

From the Definition: WD-40 is a fine product and has many uses, but it is not real contact cleaner. It leaves a sticky residue that can attract dust. WD-40 should never be used in locks for the same reason. Locks should be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol, allowed to dry thoroughly and lubricated with dry graphite powder. Dont know if you can take the ignition out or not and clean that puppy, but i would do my best to get the combination of WD-40 and graphite powder out of there. maybe your key is worn down as earlier posted - is there a spare you can try? hope you get it figured out.

Wow..we need to talk..you exactly described whats been going on with the jerking and low idle at times (A big jerk can be felt letting off the gas at certain speeds and around the parking lot. It can also stall and have low RPM at Idle.) - the check engine light is on, but only for a faulty o2 sensor right bank. i really did figure i needed to change the engine mounts and tranny mount, but the ECU i never would have thought! is this a common issue for the 95 LS? is there a repair procedure for the ECU maybe - like solder contact points or something? Yoichisoma you have really made my day thanks so much!

The problem with that scanner is it is not CAN approved and will be junk if the perons ever gets a newer car... A Code Reader can be used to read and erase diagnostic trouble codes as well as other additional features depending on the tool. These tools work on all vehicles 1996 and newer. All Actron Code Readers are CAN compliant. Now, if you are really into cars and what is going on inside the engine, check out this tool. Very neat. You use your computer to show a virtual dashboard of all kinds of info. Its costs more but could be a fun toy! http://www.autotap.com/ Thanks for the link - that is most awesomness - yes, i would like a PC capable reader cause i like to know details, just got to save up some pennies and ask for gift cards for christmas.

I also have a 95 ls and i havent come across such a strange issue - heres what you can try, I know that you cannot turn the key to lock if the shifter is in drive - it has to be in park for the key to turn to the lock position. when you have the key in the crank position, shift out of park and then back in park, holding the brake down at the same time of course - and see if it turns to lock then. also try turning your steering wheel back and forth slightly also while trying to turn your key to the lock position. to the best of my guess, there must be a short somewhere thats not allowing you to take your key out while in park, some others will Chime in as well that can help. please post back your findings. :)

B) This is what she looks like at a 2" drop!

you are absolutely correct - i need to test the coils to see if they are within specs and replace if need be - thanks!

Did they specifically ask the Dealer for PA? is it a Lexus dealership? if so, i would say the dealer needs to correct the issue somehow - Lexus should work with you/them on this.

CAN approved....so look for one that is CAN approved? - because i will be getting my wife a newer Lexus soon...

Thanks for the QR! I'm sure that would work on a 95 LS - i could only try and see, a special adapter may be needed...i will post my findings in December.

there are also hard rubber spacers that you can insert in the Coils to stiffen them up as well - you can get these at any auto parts store i believe.