91LS400Lexus

Hi all. It has been a long time since I last posted here or owned a LS400. I sold my '91 back in 2010 and havent been around here since. 😞 I have owned several cars since and have ran across a '95 LS400 that is stunning. It has 142k miles, but it looks like it has 4,200 miles - literally. Engine as clean as a pin. All service up to date, new timing belt, etc. They are asking $5,000 which is $2,000 above KBB private party in excellent condition. I know you really cannot go by KBB on an older car, but wondering what the true value is on a car like this? I am sure there is not another '95 LS this close to me within 200 miles. I really need to sell a car to make room for this one, but I think would make a perfect work car as opposed to my '04 Sequoia which I would only use for trips. Thoughts?

Thanks for the replies. I added my location... funny I did have it on here last time I was on here, but it has been a couple of years. I went ahead and updated it all. Yeah, I think $1900 is way too much as well. I sold my '91 LS400 for that back in 2010 and while it had about 40k more miles, it was as nice as this one is now. I was thinking of maybe offering $1500 and even that may be too much considering the A/C does not work and the CEL light is on. Also no record of when the timing belt was last changed, if ever?? You know when I looked in the trunk of this LS400 tonight it dawned on me about the trunk hinge wiring issues and I was trying to remember if this was the cars that had that common problem and sure enough it is. You would think that after owning a '90 from 03-05 and a '91 from '07-10 I would have remembered. I didn't worry as much about the CEL or even the dead tach that has a needle even lower than when the car is just switched off, but the temperature gauge has me concerned. As mentioned above I never seen the temperature guage more than 1/2 way up on either of my old LS400. The car was full of coolant however and it sounded like the fan was whirring as it should. I think maybe a weak water pump and I remember what that cost me on my '91 when I had some sort of bearing go out and I had it replaced. Thanks again!

Hi guys, It has been a few years... well since I sold my last LS400, which was around 2010 or so. Well I have owned several other cars since then and even won a new Honda in a contest in late 2012. lol. Well I have a new Hyundai now and a '91 Cadillac with only 70k that I am using as my second car to keep the miles down on my new car. I have decided I want to replace the Cadillac and have the fever for another LS400. I found a local '91 LS400, ironically the same color as my old '91 LS. The only difference is that this LS has the seldom seem cloth interior and no sunroof, which is fine with me. The car drives good, it has 167,000 miles, which is well under either of my old LS400s I had in the past (I had a 90 and 91). **There are a couple of issues with this one that I am looking at that kept me from grabbing it tonight. One is the temperature gauge stayed about 3/4 way up on the gauge. Even when driving, it stayed right there. If I recall, it would run slightly under 1/2 way on my LS400s. It sounds like the clutch fan is working and the coolant appeared to be full. With that said, I am not sure if it is a weak water pump, or ? All of the dash cluster lights work, but some of the lights are out in the HVAC panel and the usual outage of the LCD panel. The tachometer didn't work, it was well below zero, not sure what that problem is and lastly the check engine light was on. They said they had it checked and the mechanic said they didn't know what was wrong, but the car seemed to run perfect. IIRC, the CEL was on in my 91 as well and never had any running problems. The fuel pump was recently replaced they said. The two issues my '91 had (valve cover gaskets and motor mounts) didn't seem to be an issue on this car, yet. The A/C does not work. They said they got it charged and it worked for about 30 minutes... has been converted to R134a however. Any advice on the above? They want $1900 for the car, not sure how much lower, but I know with those problems I do not want to give $1900. The body is good, the paint is good, but there is a small dent in fender and a small dent in quarter panel. The interior is nice. Sure would be nice to own another gen-1 LS400, but not sure if I need to keep searching. I do love the white with gray cloth interior. Thanks in advance!

Does that light come on when you turn on the ignition? If so, the bulb is good and it may be a faulty sensor. My 1991 LS400 was the opposite... the light (low coolant) always stayed on (99.9% of the time), yet the coolant was full. It was a bad sensor - I am suprised the light hadnt burned out already. Since I had the temp gauge, I never worried about it. It was like this even before I bought it. Did they change the fan bracket bearing I mentioned above, or had it been replaced before? I had a clanking start up from the water pump area... turned out to be the fan bracket bearing. When one does have a new water pump installed, I recommend replacing the fan bracket as well if its never been changed. Mine went out at 221K. They may last longer though... my old 1990 LS400 had almost 280K (had 215K when I got it) and it never needed one AFAIK. Its just when they do need it, you have to take it down almost to the water pump/t-belt to replace. Mine was $60 parts and I knew a Toyota mechanic... charged $125 labor.

Does that light come on when you turn on the ignition? If so, the bulb is good and it may be a faulty sensor. My 1991 LS400 was the opposite... the light (low coolant) always stayed on (99.9% of the time), yet the coolant was full. It was a bad sensor - I am suprised the light hadnt burned out already. Since I had the temp gauge, I never worried about it. It was like this even before I bought it. Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Hopefully its not the headgaskets... this is pretty rare on an LS400. I had a clanking start up from the water pump area... turned out to be the fan bracket bearing. If you do have a new water pump installed, I would recommend replacing the fan bracket as well if its never been changed. Mine went out at 221K. They may last longer though... my old 1990 LS400 had almost 280K (had 215K when I got it) and it never needed one AFAIK. Its just when they do need it, you have to take it down almost to the water pump/t-belt to replace. Mine was $60 parts and I knew a Toyota mechanic... charged $125 labor.

I agree. My 1990 LS400 had 270K when I sold it and the covers were seeping, but not at the smoking point yet. My 1991 was a different story.... I was getting occasional big puffs of smoke from the driver side back of the engine... I guess oil was dripping on the muffler. When I sold it, I alerted the new owner that it needed new valve covers asap.... whether she took heed or not, I dont know. Gas smell is another issue... that needs to be addressed on that car ASAP.

I had the smoke on startup... from the leaking idle up valve. It started out minor, but got bad very fast. When I started it, it looked like the car was blown up! <_< Blocked the idle up and all was fine. Countless threads on the subject on here.

I agree. Sounds like an electrical short in some wiring.

Absolutely and carry a fire extinguisher! Sounds like a fire waiting to happen! I couldn't have said it better. If you do drive it, make sure it's straight to the "reputable garage". So, how much did you pay?

Did you figure it out? I looked in my 1990 owners guide and some of those non-working things you mentioned are on different circuits, so its strange. Power locks on a different circuit than the radio. I dont think the radio, power locks had a relay.

Sounds like an odd problem. Perhaps a short in your fuse box? Do you hear it arking or anything?

If your other lights are working, its probably not the fuse. Its probably the bulb. If I recall, this light was out on BOTH of my LS400s... 1990 and 1991.

Absolutely... your LS will end up as a big pile of ash.... :o My front lighter dont power up, but the rear does, so I use it. The lighters have never been used and they are clean as new, so not sure why my front one dont power up. I just put the unused lighter back in it.

Apparently not long enough.... light came back on after 90 miles.... however, I dont think I had left the battery disconnected long enough, because when I turned on my radio, all of the presets were still in there.... leading me to believe I had not left the battery disconnected long enough since it was not even enough to reset the radio.... ?? I will leave it unhooked all night - try again.

Thanks, but I should have upated this thread as well... my steering is fine now... has been steering with ease for about 9 days now. Apparently had air in the lines. ;) Oh - also we had already dealt with the reservior. Mine was bad. It was not clicking when we tested it, but Billy on here got me one off of a crashed 94 LS400... it worked (clicked) when tested, but I still didnt have PS for a few days... it was either air in the lines and/or the pump screen was dirtier than I though... either way its fine now.

Thanks. Well the first time I checked it, I cleared it, but I only disconnected the battery for 5 seconds... it back back three days later. I thought it was where I had my vacuum lines ran wrong when I blocked my idle-up valve. It came back on, but I may not have left it disconnected long enough. This last time I left it unhooked for about 30 seconds, not on yet, but we will see. I didnt check it a second time, as code 71 was the only one showing. Hopefully it wont illuminate again.

Resetting a CEL on a gen 1 LS400??? Had a code 71, thought I had fixed it, but the light comes on about every 100-150 miles at highway speeds. I had disconnected the battery about 10 seconds, but wondering if it either should be disconnected longer, reset some other way, or if I still have an issue? Thanks!

Hey, how do you take the magezine out of the cd changer? is it supposed to just pop out when you hit the open button? Not sure... mine dont have that option. I have been unfortunate enough for both of my LS400s to be plain jane models, with only two options... leather and sunroof. Both were optioned identical.

Bravo! Sounds like a nice car and an awesome deal. KBB PPV on that car is around $3400.

Oh how I know that sound!! :) Mine would do that when I would get low on PS fluid. Fixed that with a new return line. Still had alot of PS issues after that, but after a new (used) rack solenoid and cleaning the PS pump screen (which didnt even look that dirty), the steering started working good again.... took it about 200 miles though. Now I battle a check engine light. This car loves to keep my blood pressure way up.

Curses.... came back on tonight after driving about 35 miles on the highway.

If your car was stopped could you still feel a vibration through the steering wheel? I have the same type of vibration, but even when stopped I will get a vibration through the steering wheel and an occasional buzzing sound from some part on the outside of the car - like the cowl panel or something. I have been planning on getting engine mounts for this car for a long time before I give it to my mother, but as you know, parts and replacement are very costly and I am wondering if it may just need the cheaper/easier transmission mount, rather than the engine mounts as well. Thanks.

Thomas - "90LexusLS400" here (I lost my password/changed email and could not get ahold of anyone, so I had to start a new account :( ) - so I have not been able to post here in weeks. I am not sure if you PMed me or not about the sensor... did you ever get it? Thanks. To update with my mounts - still have not got them changed - nor have I given this car to my mom yet. I want to get it repaired first. I am now having to deal with a pretty annoying power steering leak now. :( I am wondering if for now if just the easier to change transmission mount would help? Even when stopped and if I rev the engine a little, I can feel the vibraton through the steering wheel. I wonder if bad transmission mounts alone could cause that?

Can someone tell me how to go about getting back my old username? I have been a member here since 2003. My old username is " 90LS400Lexus ". I forgot my password, but the problem was that I had also got a new email address, so I could not get it emailed to me. Someone gave me a link about a month ago and I have contacted a couple of moderators, stating my username, old email address, new email address etc and asking what to do, but for some reason, I never got a reply and its been about 3 weeks. I had a high post count and would like to get back my original username and update my account info... can anyone help? Thanks.