jccnita

Hey JCCNITA,

Why would metal in the tinting affect the Nav?

Isn't the whole car mostly metal???

JPF

You are right. That's why the signal can be transfered via the windows. And then if you use the tint containing metal, it will affect the signal to be receievd unless you have connected the external antana.

Hey jccnita. what is the cross junction part that you are referring to. and where is it?

I'm sorry that I'm not a DIYer. If you have the same feeling when you are driving, it should be the same problem. It should be connected to the PS. I just saw the bad parts they replaced for me. One is about 3-4" long. The other one is about 5-6" long.

Also, I just did a direct translation for the parts they told me. Maybe it has a specific name. Someone in this forum should be able to know this.

jccnita, are you saying that your instrument cluster would do a quick flash when you pressed the brake pedal?

It says "Tail Light Failure" & the red LED was on at the same time when I was driving in the day time. That's why I told Lexus Dealer that it must be for the stop lights. I had the same situation as you. The next day, it back to normal. This problem repeated for several times. I hate to have the red LED is on + the message "Tail Light Falure". I decided to replace them all & it was fixed.

I forgot to mention that mine is 98 LS400.

a few weeks ago, my brake/tail light warning comes up on my instrument cluster. no biggie since it's happened before and it's an easy fix, had somebody watch as i pressed brakes, checked the side that was out, but bulbs were all good. i tightened the screw that holds the bulb socket onto the gray plastic plate, warning light goes away and brake lights work fine.

few days later, warning light again, this time it's the outer tail light that isnt working when i mash the brakes. fiddle with it for a while, warning light goes away, all is well.

next day warning light comes back up again, and i figure i'll deal with it another day. today i'm driving and something catches my attention every time i brake, wasnt sure if maybe the sun had just made my eyes super tired after a few hours of driving, then i realize that the entire white display of my instrument cluster does a quick flash when i press the brake!

am i starting to suffer from the infamous "wiring harness that passes through the trunk hinge to the rear lights" grounding problem?? i know some people that had this problem caused the Reverse light to come on, but i havent heard anybody with this symptom yet!

I had the same problem before. It's because one of the bulbs is almost going to be bad. I'm sure mine is because of this on one of the stop lights. You can either replace the one(the surface should be darker) or replace them all. I replaced them all & this problem never happen again.

I'm considering tint on my 01 LS430 also. So I'll piggy back with my questions:

1. How much should a tint job cost for that car?

2. Will the dealer do it?

3. Why would it impact the Nav system? Isn't the Nav antenna that funny black thing on the roof?

JPF

If it contains metal, it will affect the Nav system.

My car does not leak any powersteering fluid. Level is always fine. I never have to add any fluid. What is the idle control valve. Is that the component that has the two vacuum line attached to it? Also, I cant seem to locate the solenoid on the rack. Is it behind the big bolt? Any pictures would be appreciated.

EM91,

Do you feel you lost powersteering at a specific angel when you turn the handler? I had this problem & the dealer replaced the cross jucntion parts(2 parts), it solved the problem. Hopefully this helps.

Instead of starting a new post I might just as well take advantage of this one.  I also have vibration noise on my 92.  Fixed tranny mount a month ago.  The noise stopped for 2 weeks, but now it came back to haunt me again. 

It sounds like that the rattle noise comes from the left driver's door panel.  If I put my left knee against the door hard enough while driving, the noise stops.  Similarily, if I pull on the door with my left arm hard enough, the noise stops.  The noise will come back as soon as there are no force applied to the door.  Are there any loose piece that I can tighten?

Maybe a loose screw or broken clip on the door panel. Do you know if the door panels have ever been removed?

To update on my car- it now has 231K, with minimal interior noise. When I first got it at 224K- it was 100% rattle and squeak free. Now, when I hit a big bump, if my front passenger side window is down, it will "rattle" in the door. I still get the occasional "tick" or "pop" sound when I hit a sharp bump, but the car is 14 years old and it has endured 14 years of sunshine, so I am sure many interior parts have shrunk. Still, for a 14 year old car, with 231K, it is impressively quiet, except for the front suspension "clunking" when I go over bumps.

To answer another question - yes- driving on rough roads will make a car rattle sooner than normal.

I have a 98 LS. In the past when i was waiting for the traffic light, I heard the sound from the front passenger's box(under the CD charger). I could stop it by open it & close it immediately. However, it happened again for the next traffic light. About 2 weeks ago, I have my dealer replaced the engine mount & Tranny mount. All of this was gone. Also, it is incrediable that the engine is super quiet & just like I'm driving an electronic car. I hope this helps.

Hi all,

I am trying to replace my broken CD changer on a 94 LS 400 with an MP3 player instead.

Has anyone done it successfully, WITHOUT using an FM modulator. I am inquiring if this can even be done.

Any advice on this matter is appreciated.

thanks,

Ravi

I'm also interested in this. It will be nice if anyone has done this successfully.

Just got the car back with the new (used) transmission. The whine is greatly reduced with this transmission but it is still audible under accelleration above 70mph. It is better but for a $70K car it should not be there at all. It is definitely a problem with the 6th gear od and the design/manufacturing tolerances. I rarely listen to the audio system so it probably effects me more than most. I am sure that Rush wouls drown it out.

My advice is drive any 2004 LS430 at 70-85 before you buy and see if it has the problem.

Otherwise, I love the car and Lexus has tried to solve my problem.

Here in Taiwan has a Transmission recall for LS430. Lexus will do it for free from 7/14.

do u mind telling us how much they charge u?

It's Approx. US$2,321.00 for the tranny & $178.00 for the labor.

Sorry. I forgot one more thing. The price also included the T-IV fluid.

do u mind telling us how much they charge u?

It's Approx. US$2,321.00 for the tranny & $178.00 for the labor.

It sounds like your gears are slipping. You may need to rebuild/replace the gears in the transmission. If you've replaced the fluid completely, I'd go about openning up the case, unless the Toyota Master techs are saying it's something else--after looking at the car.

they replaced the Tranny for me.

My car almost instantly goes into any gear, no matter the temperature..... <_<

Well, thank you for everyone's help here. This site is very helpful. I learned from here that my Tranny is not normal. Tried to replace the whole fluid in the past. But before that, I drove my care via a street going up to a hill. When it stops & i opened the window. I found a bad smell. The next day I went to the local Lexus dealer & ask them to do close inspection for my tranny. They found out that the tranny has fluid leak & they tested the pressure when it is engaged & they believe it has been damaged & need to be replaced. As I mentioned before, it will not be engaged after 5-10 Sec. when it is cold(actually i warm it up for about 3 minutes every time.). I decided to have it replaced. I did the same test for the cold start this morning & it will be engaged immediately after the warm up for only 15 Sec. So, it's fully fixed now. Although it costs me a lot of money but i think it's worth. I would like to appreciate all of your great help here.

I don't think the condition is normal at all.

I still have two black burnout marks on my garage floor from when our cat was dying and my wife wanted to rush it to the vets. She fired up the LS and cramed it immeadiatly into reverse. The Lex burned rubber!

The marks will probably be there forever! I was glad to see the posi was working though.

It's strange that i don't have the same problem when I change the AF from P to R. It will be engaged immediately. This problem only happened when I change the AF from R to N to D. FYI, the Lexus agent here said they don't suggest me to change the whole tranny oil. I discribed this condition to one of them. he told me it is normal because the computer protects the tranny until it gets the working Temp. The other one told me it should be the tranny tranny problem. And if it does, the time will be longer & longer. Some people had the experience to wait for bout 30 seconds.

well, greeting from Atlanta, GA!

90000KM is still a young kid for a LS, but I do recall u rarely see cars in Taiwan can last over 120000KM due to the salty, high-moisture climate which is tough on the metal. maybe, lexus quality can make your car last longer.

anyway, 5-seconds does seem longer than normal even at cold-start. my 97 is about half a second.

it has been said many, many times in this forum that 10-second wait is good enough for LS to drive away at low speed which is a preferred way to 'warm-up' the car than let it idle to normal temp.

Greeting from Taiwan!

Well, appreciate you to provide me your experience for your car. I will try to replace the tranny oil first & see how it goes.

Thank you very much.

me and my wife were from Taiwan almost 20-years ago.

maybe it's time for a complete tranny fluid flush?! what's mileage (or KM)? I recall Lexus calls for tranny flush (the whole 16qt) at 10,500miles, and it costs US $250 at dealer, or about $100 at regular shop (Firestone or Jeffy Lube), what's the cost to do so in Taiwan?

is a new LS still selling close to $US120K in Taiwan? is the gas price still close to $4/gal (or $2.5/l)?

VFM,

have u ever determimed it's a good idea or not to flush tranny oil? some suggest that it may blow the seals for some high-milleage cars?! my 97 is at 97K, need to decide whether to do it fairly soon...

Wow! Can't believe I willl see someone from Taiwan for my first post. The mileage is about 90000 km. Lexus dealer said it's about US$200 to replace all tranny oil. The new LS430 is selling at about $95,450. The gas price is at about $0.71 per liter.

did you check the fluid level in the tranny? it is not normal for the 3 sec period to be there for the rear gear but the hight rpm during warm up is normal and i would recommend you to wait till it fully warms up and then put it in to gear, this will save your tranny and engine some time.

Thanks for your quick reply. Actually the Lexus dealer checked all kinds of oil during the maintance. Everything is o.k.. I also discribed this situation to them but they told me it's normal. I'm just wondering if it is really a normal situation because I never had a car like this. I do love this car very much. But I'm afraid it will have potential danger. Assume if someone wants to drive me car when the Temp is not warm up, won't it be dangerous? Will it be helpful if I replace the whole Tranny oil?

I have a 98 LS400. When I first time start the car every morning, I changed the AT from N to R then to D. If the working Temp has not been at normal level(2/5), it seems that i have to wait for about 5 seconds then the gear will be engaged. When the Temp to be at the normal level, it works perfectly. This happens when the Temp meter is at 1/5 level. However, it takes me about 3 minutes for the Temp to be at that level. If you wnat it to be at 2/5 level, it might take about 5-7 Min. What i don't understand is that we all know that we don't need to warm the car for that long because it's waste time & gas. So, this is a normal situation?