amcdonal86

Fantastic! Looks better than new!

Collinite 845 is what I use. I don't think it's intended specifically for cars--on the bottle it indicates it also has marine and RV uses. It has a deep shine and is VERY durable. The water will bead off the car for at least 6 months. And the bottle is only $15 or so and will last you for several waxings! Why would you pay someone $125 to put "teflon" on your car?

Sorry to make so many threads, but I'm looking to replace my tires soon. Right now the car has some Dunlop 4000 somethings, and they are pretty close to reaching the wear bars. I'm basically looking to put new tires on the car for less than $400 (including mounting/balancing). I would like for the tires to last about 50k miles, have decent grip in rain (possibly snow) and--most importantly--be very quiet! Any ideas? Thanks!

Does anyone have any production numbers on 1997 Coach Edition LS400s? It seems like half of the '97 ls400s i find on the internet are Coach Editions!

Thanks. Not too many, I imagine. I think it just has different leather and has comes with a sunroof and memory seats and traction control. I'm new to Lexus, though!

Thanks for that. It's still interesting how some people's WORST tanks are 19 mpg with a lead foot and I can't seem to break 15mpg feathering the pedal as much as possible and not having any fun! Maybe I will try lead footing it for the next tank and see what happens. Maybe the engine is more efficient when you give it a little more go!! I saw in your thread of 12/26/08 that you "just bought a '97 Coach Edition". It may be a little early to be fretting about gas mileage. I don't see where "blacktop's" survey adequately addresses typical winter gas mileage -- which can be substantially worse than when it is warmer. I had quite a few tank averages in the 14-16 mpg range during winter on my first LS400 with a four speed automatic transmission -- and that was driving in the Kansas City metro area where the traffic usually flows quite nicely and is nothing like the traffic-hell I've experienced in northern Virginia. My suggestion is to track your gas mileage on every tank -- you will likely see trends that you can tie to traffic and weather conditions and how you are using your car. I've tracked gas mileage on all our cars for decades in a log book kept in each car that is eventually passed on to the car's next owner. I don't do it sporadically but track every single gallon. The log books also contain records of tire rotations, oil changes, other car maintenance and unexpected repairs. People in the survey seem to have reported some incredible gas mileage figures that I have to wonder about. I don't think I ever got more than the high 25's mpg in my gen 1 LS400 and that was on an west-to-east trip with a fairly strong tail wind. More typical gas mileage on long trips was more in the 23-24 mpg range. A mix of city and highway driving usually had the gas mileage at 18-22 mpg. My 00 LS400 with its 5-speed auto seems to get substantially better gas mileage than my gen 1 LS did but it can still be in the 15-17 mpg range in the winter if I stay off the interstate and it averages about 27 mpg when driven continually at the highway speed limit - 65 or 70 mpg - on long trips. I got nearly 30 mpg one time on a tank full but that was with a 30-40 mph tailwind when driving from Tulsa to Kansas City. Oh .... try driving with a "lead foot". I think you will see a change in gas mileage that you will not like. Hahaha, thanks for the info. I wonder if my gas mileage numbers have something to do with the 10% ethanol in the gas these days. I'm not fretting yet--just a little curious. Right now I'm giving the LS400 a good wash and then I'm going to polish out some scratches on the bumper and driver's door, and then wax the whole thing with some Collinite 845 that seems to work pretty well!

Thanks for that. It's still interesting how some people's WORST tanks are 19 mpg with a lead foot and I can't seem to break 15mpg feathering the pedal as much as possible and not having any fun! Maybe I will try lead footing it for the next tank and see what happens. Maybe the engine is more efficient when you give it a little more go!!

Thanks, that actually looks like a pretty good solution. I probably will just stick to my tape adapter setup, though. :cries:

I was just curious what kind of gas mileage numbers you guys are getting. I've only driven the car in the city since I've had it, and I consistently get about 15 mpg. This is with me driving very carefully, never revving over 2000 rpm (this car can actually still keep up with traffic doing that!). 14.5 mpg is not too bad in my opinion, but I was expecting a little closer to the EPA estimated 17 mpg. (I've been filling up at exactly the same gas pump to try to keep things consistent.) Maybe it's because most of my trips are short (probably less than 3-4 miles). So what are you guys getting? By the way, it's a '97 LS400.

The service manual I found says "Install the caliper. Install the 2 bolts and torque to 87 ft. lbs.)". Hope this helps.

IMO, this is normal behavior. My '97 with 91k miles does the same thing, and I noticed it also does have quite a bit of power at that 1200 rpm idle--it can pull the car up a 2% grade or so if I take my foot off the gas. I believe the ECU sets the idle high until it warms up when it's cold (cold weather, that is). If you idle it in your driveway, it will stay like this for about 10 minutes and then will methodically decrease to the desired about 600rpm. If you find anything that contradicts what I just said, I'd sure like to know!

'97 with 91xxx miles. Hopefully I'm in for a hundred thousand more! I'm a little skeptical, though. "Trouble free" miles does not mean maintenance free miles. There will be thousands of dollars of repairs to get to 200k miles, but that would be with any car!

Thank you for the information!! I will do it as soon as I find a good deal on two rear rotors. I was gonna give Ebay a look, but not if they have good rotors for sale. Anyway thanks again for the help!! Steve :) WOw! That is a fantastic tutorial! I wish there was something like that for the 430! If there is anyone in the South Florida area that wants to start one, I'll pony up the parts, the car, the camera and the bandwidth (I have a web page that I'm doing nothing with). All I need is someone that knows what they are doing. My brakes are not quite ready for a change, but I'll do it anyway. Who's game? PM me! Here is some more info: Does anyone have any idea what document those PDFs came out of? Thanks.

Not sure about the LS400, but typically this is something that is done every 30k miles or so. Otherwise they become very noisy and you risk having one break (and leave you stranded somewhere).

Well, I just took the LS out for a spin in spite of my doctor's advice. I did not notice the same issues, even with all of the accessories on. Actually, the backlighting for the climate control still seems to dim a little bit randomly, but it's barely noticeable and there is no correlation to that and the alternator. I think I will let this slide for now and if I'm feeling really anal later on, maybe I'll try to solve the problem. For now, I'm perfectly content trying to find a new cabin air filter (currently I'm not running with one because it was filthy and deteriorating).

Forget it. I just figured it out and it was REALLY easy. In the '97 (and other applicable) LS400s, you just need to open the glove box and remove that little insert in the back, giving you access. Then there is a white panel with two little clips on it that can be carefully pried off with a flathead screwdriver. The cabin air filter is in sight!!!! Remove it and replace everything!

Is this process similar for a '97?

How high is your deductible? Isn't this kind of incident covered under uninsured motorist coverage (which is usually covered under liability coverage)? I can't imagine your deductible being higher than the cost of repair. Any photos? Best of luck!

I, too, love the sound of the LS engine. It puts a lot of cars with much more sporty intentions to shame!!!

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately I sprained my right ankle on a drunken new years eve rampage so I can't drive the car anywhere. (Actually, my girlfriend drove me around in my LS400 and I felt like royalty sitting in the back seat!!!) As soon as I can drive anywhere, I will take it to advance auto parts and see if the alternator is bad. Something tells me that nothing is wrong and that I'm just being silly. I haven't noticed it the last few days, but then again I haven't been thinking about it.

The sticker indicates that the timing belt and water pump were changed at 60k miles in February 2003, so it's probably due soon because of the time that has lapsed. I will probably wait at least until the summer, though.

I would also be interested to do this in my '97 LS400. Is it possible?

Hi, I'm looking to purchase or look at one in PDF format online. Does anyone know where I can find one? Thanks!

That sounds incredibly simple!! At least compared to the '98 Accord my girlfriend has where you practically have to disassemble half the dash to get to it!

You should be fine on repairs, cost-wise, then. Your car has so many fewer miles on it than mine that I bet it'll be very reliable. My Miata was awesome!! We bought it for $9700 when it was just three years old or so, drove it for over 3.5 years and sold it for $7500! The only repairs I made was the brakes and shocks (upgraded to adjustable shocks). That was a good deal. My Miata was a whole different story. Here is a list of major things I had replaced and the mileages I had them replaced at: Clutch/rear main seal 125k rear calipers/pads 127k motor mounts 130k convertible top 130k catback exhaust 133k driveshaft 146k EGR tube 147k Now that I think about it, it wasn't that bad, but those are just the major things. In total, I spent $4500 on maintenance in 3 years, not including oil changes. I hope I don't have to invest any more than that on the Lexus! $1200 a year is my conservative allowance for repairs, but I would truly like to spend only $600 a year! (I'm dreaming, right?) :) Anyhow, about the Miata--I bought it for $3100 in January '06 and sold it 3 years later at $3275. But I did have to invest a heck of a lot into it. That was a great car, but oddly I don't find myself missing it--at least not yet. Maybe when a warm spring day comes around... :( I think the Lexus is the right car for me at the right time!!