LSPaul

Check the condition of the driver's side wiring harness in the LH fender, the connections to the harnesses at the distribution/fuse/relay blocks under the hood, and where the harnesses from the engine compartment meet at the fuse/junction block under the dash (driver's side). The harnesses that go into the under-dash distribution block plug then screw in (10mm or phillips head, like most everything on the car). I wonder if that connector's loose. If you're digging that far into things, it would be worth your while to buy the electrical section shop manual (if you can find a used one for a reasonable price) or buy a one-day pass to Toyota/Lexus' TIS (tech info system) online, to download the pages appropriate to your situation (wiring diagrams/schematics, etc). Good luck and please keep us updated as to what you find. Paul

Hopefully you're healing well from your fall. Yikes! In the case of my LS, I had electrical issues when I bought the car--First, no start (I first ran a jumper lead under dash to the ECU main power lead). I was able to start the car... But there was also no power to the HVAC blower, no charging light, radio, etc. In my case, I checked wiring all the way from the under-hood power distribution point, through the wiring and into the car, thinking I had rodent issues to deal with. Instead, it was a bad connection inside the car, at the fuse and breaker panel--the connector that screws into the panel apparently had enough corrosion on it to cause issues. I removed the connector, treated both ends with DeoxIt, worked it in, then re-installed the connector. It's worked ever since, four years on. Check it out when you can--can't hurt, might help. Paul

Nick, Same answer to your situation--replacing the check valve or replacing the valve with appropriate bolt should have the same results. Paul

+1 on doing the 2-day sub for TIS. I did the same thing for my '94 LS and have the downloaded PDFs organized by section, which I keep a copy of on an SD card on my tablet, as well as on my shop computer and a flash drive. Very handy.

Yes, there is a direct connection. What has likely failed is the idle air control valve, which screws into the bottom of the power steering pump and connects to the intake manifold. It helps maintain engine idle when the power steering is turned full lock. Part number is 17630-16040. $80-ish online. When they've failed, I've lost power steering fluid and had it go out the exhaust as nasty-smelling automatic transmission fluid smoke. It can be changed in situ in a early LS (at least that's how I've done it on the two LSes I've owned). Car up on stands, remove plastic pan, disconnect battery, remove serpentine belt, remove alternator, then remove this from the bottom of the PS pump. A bit of a pain getting it broken loose, as well as getting it tightened back in place. But once done, it should be fixed for a long time. I've heard of people removing the valve, plugging the vacuum lines and putting a correctly sized bolt in place of the valve, but I didn't go that route. Hope this helps- Paul

Did somebody jam a screwdriver or some such thing or try to drill it? Yikes. Hopefully you were able to get back into your car! Have you checked with a dealer to see if lock cylinders can still be ordered/keyed to your existing keys (by VIN)? ToyoDIY.com shows the part numbers for LF and RF door lock cylinders as 69051-50090 and 69052-50090, respectively. Good luck! Paul

'94 is definitely not a chipped key. I'm guessing fuel pump or other electrical stuff that makes the fuel pump go whir. Good luck and let us know what it turned out to be! Paul

Hi, Beth-- Welcome to the group! Looked at your CL ad; your car IS a nice looking example. Not having navigation I see as a bonus on an LS, but lack of heated seats may limit its appeal outside of the south/Sunbelt states. Executive summary: What does Macy's do when they want to get shoes sold? Yes, put 'em on sale/mark it down! This also applies to your car. Why hasn't it sold? Harsh truth: It sounds like the market isn't interested in the car at your asking price, and it sounds like you're getting frustrated. I'm not a dealer (I enjoy cars waaaaaayyyy too much to do the car business for a living), but have some market observations and marketing insights I'll share: Even in the midwest, I haven't seen '98-00 cars selling private party for that kind of money often lately. I've seen two nice ones at dealers in my region in your price range with lower mileage.... and they've been sitting for months. From what I've seen ('01--02 LS430s with comparable miles are currently running anywhere from $2500-5500), you're possibly asking too much if you're wanting to move the car in a reasonable time frame. I've spent too much time lately semi-seriously looking for a '430 or '98-00 LS400 to potentially replace my LS400, so that's why I know far too much about this topic. I'm not sure what you're using as a market pricing guide for your read on the car's value to the market, but cars with money put into getting caught up on maintenance immediately prior to sale rarely get back what you put into them for major maintenance, unless you're turning the wrenches yourself. A good analogy: You've probably heard that when you do a major kitchen or bath remodel in your home, it will only net you a percentage back of what you put into it when it comes time to sell. Depending on region, 50-70% for those things is not an uncommon return on investment... As a long-time Realtor, I tell my clients to do those projects to enjoy the use and utility first and foremost, and for the resale value a distant second... but I digress. Back to your car and private party valuation: When I have sold cars myself, I typically have taken an average of Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds private-party pricing to come up with my asking prices, primarily because it's not easy to lay hands on the dealer's/your banker's NADA Blue Book or whatever industry valuation guide is commonly used there. I've found averaging KBB and Edmunds figures come out surprisingly close to market reality. In my region, KBB calls private party value with your mileage, options, condition, etc., at roughly $4500. Edmunds is usually much harder on used values, calling your car at $3100. Still, that's amazing resale value for a *19* year-old car. Averaging will likely get you closer to a sale at or near your asking price in a reasonably quick length of time. Other marketing ideas? Take *more* and better pictures for your ads, showing all angles of the car, inside and out. Try to use a real camera and not your phone, light things up/use a flash, even in daylight, so shoppers can see the condition of the interior clearly. One other crazy idea? Get the car detailed *very* well and take it to your next area car cruise night, be it for domestic or import metal. Show it off. Seriously. In a major metro area, there's plenty of people who know what your car is, and would recognize the quality and value (well, duh.. it's an LS--they clean up very well... I've taken my '94 to cruise-ins before--it was fun!). That might be a venue to consider if you want to expose it to a potentially more knowledgeable market. Can't hurt, might help. Hope this helps. Good luck! Best, Paul

Ooo. Not fun, and yes, it sounds like there's air trapped there in the throttle body and upper hose connection. I'd start with a pair of locking pliers ("Vise-Grip") on the outside of the filler bolt head and see if you can get it off that way. Once there, fill the cooling system from that opening and that should take care of your air bubble/overheat issues. From what I could look up on Lexus parts sites (the diagrams aren't the easiest to read), so it looks like that filler bolt part number should be 90341-20012, and the washer/gasket below that should be 90430-20017. Hope this helps. Best, Paul

Sounds like you have some sort of parasitic drain issue going on ("parasitic drain" should be part of your search phrase online). There's plenty of guides online (both pages and videos) on how to discover and measure current draw in car circuits, even with the key off (across fuses, on main power, etc). At minimum you'll need a multimeter (a digital multimeter/"DMM") and... patience. It could be a number of things--a bad alternator, open switch turning a bulb on (think trunk light or glove box, etc.), an ECU or other component somewhere in the car going south. Also check connections (main ground, check for corrosion, etc). To have a shop dig into it could quickly become spendy, as this is somewhat time-intensive work, and the fixing doesn't occur until a good tech actually does the work diagnosing which circuit or component is responsible for the current draw, even with the key off. Read/follow the guides and that should help you narrow things down. Let us know what you discover. Good luck! Paul

Yes, it should. You can also save the pages on your computer, as TIS pages are .pdfs. Should you have enough time, you could theoretically download the whole manual, a section at a time. Paul

As far as I can tell from looking at parts diagrams, the knock sensor wiring is part of the main engine harness assembly. I'm using the parts reference pictures at toyodiy.com (you will need to register to look at that info). Paul

I've used some poly bushings on my LS, with good success, but not for all the possible locations listed in that kit illustration: Rear trailing arm/carrier bushings (Armstrong) and sway bar links (Daizen, IIRC). For R&Ring the trailing arm bushings, I used a recip saw to cut out the remnants of the original bushings, which were toast on both of the LSes I've owned. For some of the others, I suspect you may need access to a hydraulic press. Installation was easy, as one would expect with three-piece poly bushings. They've worn well for me; I've not replaced them so far (a few years/60k miles). Front upper control arms are enough of a wear item that the whole thing gets replaced when the upper ball joints inevitably wear out, so I don't bother there. At least you have some options for shocks on the later cars; earlier LSes are pretty limited in the numbers of options available for good quality shocks. In my case, the poly swar bar bushings tightened things up, handling-wise. I went with an Addco rear sway bar to take that further. I've stuck with stock springing and KYB shock inserts, due to limited choices and the fact the car still occasionally gets used to carry clients in my business. I like the stock ride characteristics, but do like to be able to hustle around corners. The minor mods made my car more tossable, with fairly neutral steering characteristics in the twisties. HTH. Paul

Welcome! Did you pull the codes from the computer to determine what the fault code is (so you can dig in? Also, go back and check the basics--caps, rotors, plugs, wires. At that kind of mileage, there's certainly a chance that they've never been done. From my experience, the ECU capacitors can look just fine but still be bad. Replacing the capacitors took care of the issues I had (bogging down like you're experiencing and the check engine light code of 47, which is for the secondary throttle position sensor for the traction control system. Good luck! Paul

I went through similar issues last year with my car. My guess is that the ECU is at fault in your case. Replacing the TPS sensor for the TCS brought no joy for me, even when adjusted properly. The throttle position sensor is both a variable resistor and microswitch. The solution in my case was to replace all the electrolytic capacitors in the engine ECU (plenty of writeups, and some good places out there that do 'em). I did mine at home, buying a kit of the correct electrolytics off an eBay seller, carefully unsoldering and replacing one at a time. Once back together and in the car, the codes cleared and all was good. To test voltages, one has to either carefully pierce the insulation of the wiring to the TPS or else rig up a jumper that one can connect a volt-ohm meter to. Best, Paul

Wow, that stinks. Tracing through the electrical system to find damage, especially from mice is a seriously tough job, even for pro mechanics. It's no surprise that plenty of cars get totalled out by insurance carriers for that reason! I don't have any experience with the second-gen cars, but in the case of the first-gen cars (up to '94), I bought mine in non-running condition, and eventually fixed it. There's multiple wiring looms that run inside the fenders (behind the fender liner) from the engine compartment (and the power distribution points under the hood) to the passenger compartment. Most of those in my case were on the driver's side. I'm not a tech and I had another LS400 at the time I bought my current car, so I was able to dig into things in spare time. I fiddled with things on and off for the better part of a year before getting the car up and running (thankfully not a rodent issue with mine, but with a loose connection under the dash, between the fush/junction block and the dashboard wiring harnesses). 1993 and 1994 cars had issues with backlighting on the instrument clusters, which can be repaired by replacing some capacitors on the circuit board. I have no knowledge of whether this is an issue on '95-on cars. I suppose it's possible that connections weren't put back together properly when the techs dug through the wiring harnesses, trying to find and repair the breaks. Perhaps there's more damage? Fingers crossed that the solution is a fairly simple one. Best, Paul

This. Especially on a first-gen car. I haven't sampled many of the conversion kits other than the Strutmaster kit, which, while had a nice spring rate and ride characteristics, the ride height on their springs approximated that of the air suspension in the high position. I'd probably look for OE springs and strut inserts.

For that matter, stock '93-94 LS rims should be relatively cheap since they're somewhat unloved, style-wise. '97-2000 LS rims (the 5-spoke flavor) will look good on the earlier LS. Good snows (I've used Blizzaks and General Altimax Arctic) and TCS on that gen of LS will work pretty well in even western MI snow conditions. If you do drive it in snow and ice, keep it clean when you can and it'll stay surprisingly rust-free.

From my experience with AW transmissions (most recently in a Saab) 12-13 ohms for solenoids will be in the ballpark. I don't have the manual download for '96, so I can't help further. Sorry. Paul

Aftermarket is the only way to go here for the rear carrier bushings. The ADUS poly bushings have held up well in the LS400s I've had. Getting the old ones out goes quickly with a recip saw (just don't cut into the arm!), and putting the poly bushings is a pretty quick/easy job. Rear strut options are pretty limited for the LS. I installed new KYBs with fresh OE Lexus springs a couple years back. Even so, I feel the earlier cars are way under-damped in a stock-ish situation... not sure how the second gen cars do. In the case of your car, I'd look for Bilstein HDs, as they do make them for the second-gen cars. I'm not sure coil-overs would be the way to go, especially if you're wanting to maintain a stock-ish feel. Paul

That's something I'd love to find for my LS. The extra reinforcements attached to the body would instill much more confidence.

Ignition caps and rotors (and wires) are a bit of a pain to do after the TB job, but not impossible. The biggest hassle is getting to the bolts that hold the plastics on at the front side of the engine. For the wheel locks, look in the tool kit inside the trunk. It has its own spot for it with the tool kit. If you have the owners manual set, look through for wheel lock info. McGard in NY State still makes replacement wheel lock keys if you have the key code, and you can order one from them. Maybe consider a second one to keep with your tools at home and as a back up--they're inexpensive. Otherwise, the one time I had to get the wheel lock off without they key, I hammered a large socket (7/8"?) over the whole tapered lug nut, then was able to remove with a 1/2" breaker bar. Stock headlights on the early cars are pretty horrid. A lot of it has to do with the stock bulb 9004 fitment ('93-94 cars went to an 9003/H4). The rest of it has to do with the optics of the headlight, itself. I switched to a set of clear-style headlights made by Eagle Eyes (bought them a few years back online); H4 lamp (you'll need to convert or adapt your connector), good optics, giving off a decent impression of a proper E-code beam pattern. '93-'94 cars have slightly better stock headlights, and might be worth trying out if you can get them cheaply enough in the junkyard. For the rest of your electrical maladies, if there's an electrical section in your shop manuals, start there.

Like I said, for light duty hauling, a class I is just fine, even if you think it looks like it wouldn't hold. It will. As for the washer tank, I haven't seen anything on here, but the procedure from the shop manual (you can also download individual pages from Toyota/Lexus' TIS site) is pretty straight forward: 1) remove the LF fender liner (10mm socket or Phillips screwdriver) in addition to removing the LF tire 2) Disconnect the hoses and wiring to the pump 3) Remove the screws that hold the tank/pump assembly in (there's three) then remove the tank and pump. Installation is the reverse... Wiper_And_Washer.pdf

Congrats on the purchase! My sole project MBZ experience (W202, what did I expect?) was educational at best. By the time this is done, your temporary car may become one you want to keep around for a long time. Dig around the archives here for answers to many of your car's issues, as well as some of the other Lexus forums. There's close to a couple decades' worth of wisdom and knowledge here. Thankfully used parts in junkyards are still pretty inexpensive, and depending on where you live, still fairly plentiful. Many of the other answers will be found in the repair manuals (that's a massive score, by the way!). 1) Radio: If you have the standard radio (Pioneer, not Nakamichi), wiring harness adapters for aftermarket radios are cheap and install's pretty straightforward. Pioneer speakers are pretty indestructo, but the Nakamichi speakers sound great, even now. If the speaker foam has disintegrated on the Nak speakers, consider re-foaming--they're worth saving. Naks have the amp separate from the radio head, so basically are a line-out set. I'm not aware of a wiring adapter for that. 2) Washer pump might be the pump, itself. 2A) Start with the switch when it comes to the mirrors. 3) Brakes sound like they need re-bleeding. Follow the procedure in the shop manual to the letter (an assistant is helpful, but otherwise use a stick or long piece of wood to hold the brake pedal all the way down when closing the bleeder screws on the calipers). 3a) '93 and '94 cars have bigger brakes and different calipers, and should be a straightforward swap. 4) 16" wheels are plug and play. If you DO go with later brakes, the stock 15" wheels won't fit, so you'll need those 16" rims. 5) Driver's seat sounds more like an adjustment issue, as they generally don't wear out. 5A) If you do go junkyard shopping for seats, you are limited to '90-92 seats; '93 and '94 seat wiring is completely different and won't work, even if the seats bolt right in. 6) The timing belt/water pump job is a big project, although if the belt that's in there has less than 100k miles on it (and OE belts will go *much* longer than 100k), it'll be fine for now. It's a non-interference engine, anyway... 6A) A coolant change would be a good idea, though. 6B) As for timing belt vendors, Aisin's good, Continental (nee Goodyear) timing belts or Gates belts are just fine, too. 6C) There are also coolant drain petcocks on both sides of the engine block, if doing that change. I'd go with the proper pink coolant here, not green or other colors. 7) The steering column may be a matter of the gears needing attention (adding a shim, re-greasing). 8) Parts-wise, shop around. Many Lexus dealers also sell OEM bits on that auction site. 9) While a stock LS is a bit wallowy around curves, it will stick longer and better than you'd expect, as the suspension design is actually quite good. If you're going *there*, stiffer shocks, poly bushings on the sway bars and a larger rear sway bar (Addco makes a solid 7/8-1" rear sway bar for the LS) will tighten things up and flatten things out. After all that, you'll still slide around in the driver's seat! ;-) I'll repeat the mantra: Search the forums. ;-) Have fun! Paul