Marklouis

ehh, i don't really give them much credit as they have a history of not holding up on their dates. i would however grab a set of steering rack and sway bar bushings. polyurethane control arm bushings ride WAYY to freaking hard for the heavy-!Removed! LS. I was afraid of that with the dates...so you have already tried poly bushings?? did you feel every bump?

finally, have been waiting on these: http://www.daizensporttuning.com/model/lexus-ls.html really hope they will be available next month, as the site states.

glad you got it sorted out! love the above shot of the LS, I can tell its a fresh wax job with the reflection of the apt. building across the street. B)

they must have blown one or two of the fuse blocks when they hooked up the portable jumper to knock out your instrument cluster. take off the black fuse cover right behind the battery, and look on the very left side of the fuse cluster. use a flashlight to look through the tops of the fuse blocks and see if any connections are blown...if so, these can easily be replaced at any auto store. there are 10mm bolts holding these blocks in place, make sure you remove the bolts before attempting to remove the blown fuse block. thats as much as i can help...good luck!

Might have a lot to do with the electronically controlled valve timing, which frees up 100+hp by itself! 280hp from the 4.3 to 380hp 4.6....i would love to put one in my 95 LS just for kicks.

...let it die.... -_-

still one of the best known secrets about these cars...people think the parts for these cars are like Merc or BMW, just cause it's a Lexus! you just reminded me i need to replace my hood struts.....this is the longest i have ever kept the hood closed on any car. ;)

good choice indeed....all that discipline paid off for sure! i just hope others made the same choice as you, im sure you werent the last one he harrassed, maybe the police will catch notice of him.

Good pointers...should definately be pinned!

now at 202,000 :D totally missed the turn at 199,999 :cries: stupid cell phones!

how funny! had to smack my dash before i took off to Birmingham to attend a Chris Botti concert at the Civic Center. it was pretty awesome! B-hams concert hall Blows Huntsvilles away! Good to know there is a fix for the Speedo problem!

...indeed interesting. i even read the Mobile 3309 .PDF on thier website - its seems specifically designed for the Aisin Transmissions... ...BUT! theres always a but around here :P i believe it still comes down to preference on what is most available, and how people feel about what product label they use in thier cars..even though its the same fluid. If i was driving a clunker, i would definately use a cheaper brand label if indeed it is the same stuff. but we are driving no clunkers my friend! i have to stick with what i know is a for sure thing, if Toyota slaps thier name on it - then i know for sure its good! Great research anyways!

To my knowledge, nobody but oil companies and quickie lube places have ever recommended 3,000 mile oil change intervals. My personal opinion is that 3,000 mile oil change intervals are a waste of money and resources. My Lexus Owner's Manual Supplement specifies either 5,000 (typical short trip, stop n go driving, or "special conditions), or 7,500 if you drive distances greater than 5 miles and in temperatures under 90 degrees. For those commenting on the color of your used oil, the color means nothing. If you really want to see how well your oil is holding up, send a sample in for a used oil analysis to Blackstone Labs. fleets use oil analysis to dermine oil change intervals, but for the average motorist, oil analysis is too expensive and inconvenient. The cost of the oil analysis is almost as much or more as an oil change... 22.50 charge from Blackstone labs.... ...and the color of the oil does have some signifigance, if its still clear after many miles, you have a very efficient running engine that does not have carbon/sludge/ash/metal buildup...however your additives life in the oil could be depleted and the oil still be clean. thats why its good to change the oil at least at 5k. but if your oil darkens right away after a couple hundred miles of driving, but your car doesnt smoke or it doesnt have an oil leak, and your oil filter up to date, the darker color is usually remnants of the old oil and carbon molecules - no harm done. also, here is an API rating guide you's motorheads can use.. B) API_ratings.pdf

exactamondo! ive seen many people put 93 or higher in thier car, which doesnt hurt it by no means! but it doesnt improve it otherwise.... ...now back to the cheap power topic before another "fuel grade" discussion erupts! you may also want to consider cleaning your throttle body also jaw5885 as jcrome and others have done, that has helped in regaining power as well.

the muffler delete does sound pretty mean and racey, but the straight out the heads would never be legal, and im sure most of the sound bandwith couldnt be recorded, making it sound absolutely horrible!! :(

...yea, its amazing how much these gas tanks pressurize, mine always sounds like a small jet taking off whenever i remove the cap to fill up! :D

Man! the 430 even took him off the line!! that was AWESOME SAUCE!!

is the transmission fluid check performed on the LS when the car is running in nuetral or park? i dont have my manual at the moment.

not sure would like to kno to, but of course the bigger the gap the more electric power you need, but tha ls400 is pretty good at burning all the fuel allready so to put on an msd ignition or any ignition timer to that effect would jus make the car that much better, although not much but wouldnt hurt... id wait till i had the fish kit on or alot more power before i decided to openem up and give it a longer spark, it generates alot more heat as well... i stay wer its pretty hot i wanna keep my car cool as possible. :) ...OK...do you think it remotely possible that when you side-gapped your plugs, and deburred them - that really you truly just cleaned the carbon off to show bare metal? therefore giving a cleaner, more efficient spark?? ...now the MSD electronic ignition will truly give you a "hotter" plug, because it "forces" more power to the plug, that i cant deny... as far as generating more "heat" in these combustion chambers, the cast aluminum alloy does a wonderful job of Dissipating heat, another reason why these V8's are a good candidate for turbocharging! ...now to see if side-gapping truly gives more power.. got an old lawnmower that cranks? it's ignition system is the same as your car but on a smaller scale... pull your old used plug out, and reconnect to your coil - let it hang or secure it so you can se the plug gap easily.. ..have someone crank the lawnmower while you record/watch the spark intensity in a shaded dark area. now clean the spark plug and repeat. do the side-gap process and repeat again. now if you dont have a new plug, for the sake of science buy one for 2-3 bucks - your gonna need one for your lawn mower any ways! take the old plug off, put the new one on and record/watch the spark intensity. do the side-gap on the new plug and repeat. now you can download the videos and freezeframe the each process you did with the plugs and compare. I know you cant record the actual voltage, but usually a higher voltage spark is brighter and thicker. now you can come to your own conclusion about side gapping. Science is so cool! B) even if it is shadetree science!

no doubt lucky13... all i can suggest synical is to use the search option in the top right header, there are plenty of topics on this subject...beware of overexposure!

what color is the smoke? what does it smell like? where is it bellowing from?

Make sure your gas cap is sealing properly also.....i dont know if the trunk wiring harness would be a culprit of this or not, i would still do a search on it anyways to be sure.

lol! im sure it will be a keeper on my "favs" list. :D

I love watching your friend text for 20 seconds. I wish I could get that time for my life back Sounds horrible straight from the headers. I need to get new vids of my system for you children B) Thats what i've been waiting for someone to post...a true Muffler Delete soundbyte!

Tight tolerances and a well sealed Lubricating system. the results speak for themselves on these well thought out and well engineered Drivetrains. I have rebuilt a few engines in my lifetime, and im here to tell you that most engines ive rebuilt only made it to the 90k to 150k mark and the compression is totally gone...and its usually the older american or even domestic engines. after breaking into the Toyota/Lexus V8, checking compression at 180k - only 2% - 5% drop still well within the compression limits - i am blown away at the tight tolerances these motors were built...from the factory. my oil stays clear after 5k as well. usually loss of compression is part of what gives oil that black color, among other reasons, it seeps into the combustion chamber past the worn rings, gets toasted, then comressed back into the lubrication process, this happens usually when the motor drops below 15% of the minimum compression spec. These cars are easily capable of going 5k before changing the oil...i would say 7.5k is pushing it, but more for heavy footers. if your light-footed, this should be a fine interval. Cheers to the Lexus engineers!! wonder if they knew these cars would go this long with so few problems??