slate67

I'd bet 99.999% on the starter if you particularly are not having any problems like dead or weak batteries. Here's the instructions from Lexus. It does look like a project. Found what I need in the search. Thanks.

Thanks everyone: I dove in and contacted the Lexus dealer in St. Louis (aprox 2 hours away). I spoke with the parts guy Wednesday afternoon. Wiper inserts for both driver and passengar side totaled $21. I had him ship via UPS thinking it would be 5 days and $8 bucks. I came home from work yesterday and there was a Toyota box on my porch with the inserts inside. A plus: the parts guy included a Lexus Key fob thing (Gold with Lexus laser ground into the surface). So, I am going to try to tackle the insert replacement tonight. I have done it on my Toyota Sienna van's blades so I hope it is similar. Thanks for all the feedback. BTW, the parts guy at Lexus didn't know what was on the lexus inserts. He said it could be graphite but had not heard Teflon mentioned in any of his communications but admitted e did not know. He said whatever it was it left a film on your fingers after installing and he felt it coated the windshield to make the blades more friction-free. Have a great day. Slate

Hello everyone: I recall a discussion about replacement blades for the lexus and an opinion that the OEM blade inserts was superior to off brand inserts. Note: I only need the insert, not the entire wiper blade assembly. I have tried to locate this topic but being perhaps a year ago it may be archived. Many sites claim to have OEM lexus blades but I cannot locate the OEM brand and lexus/toyota never appeared on a search. I own a 1998 GS400. What am I looking for? Bosch? Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and have a great day. Slate

No NAV. Hey, a thought. NO probs since I first posted the spontaneous return of AC. When I got into the vehicle, I hit the Auto button while the car was starting (the split second pause between the engine start and when all the lights and guages come on) and wonder if I didn't somehow send the computer a mixed signal and it went into a safe mode. I am going to follow it and see if it happens again. Thanks for all the replies, and the PDFs were very informative. Slate

Well: I guess it was a computer burp. When I left work today, the auto AC control was working like new. Perhaps turning the vehicle off rebooted the system upon start up. Does a 1998 GS400 have such a system? Thanks for the reply re: diagnostics. I would still like elaboration on how to run the diagnostics in case the need arises in the future. Slate

Can the vehicle do this or is it an external computer plug in? I do not have a dealer within 2 hours of here. Thanks for the suggestion but please advise. Slate

Hello: I went into the store with the auto AC control working. When I came out waiting for the cool air, nothing. The temp guage that reads the outside temp displays dashes. The display is still active but no air. Any thoughts? Fuse? Worse. Please help me get my "coolness" back. Slate

You mentioned chromes so it seems that you are not using original wheels that came with the GS (1998). The original wheels came with a special cylindrical tool to unlock the the wheel nut on each wheel. This tool fits in the empty space in the foam tray. ← No, I am using OEM chromes and Lexus?Toyo nuts. I do have the nut wrench in the tray. On the driver's side of the spare tire compartment there is black foam (kind of like the disposable coolers) tray and the center slot is empty. It is a rectangular shape. Any thoughts? Thanks for the feedback.

I was changing out my Blizzaks for the chromes Saturday and wanted to make sure I placed my locking lug nut key in with the spare tire gear and noticed an empty space in the black foam component organizer (tray, whatever it is called). Does anyone know what is supposed to be in this thing? I have the lug wrench in the top position, then a blank space where something must have been. Was there something exhaustable (flares, etc) that Lexus sold in the vehicle when it was new? Just curious and appreciative of any direction given. Thanks

There was a great summary from LEXUSFREAK on the tires/wheels forum (recently) aimed at GS400 tires. I have found threads for your questions, you need only go back through the threads. There are soem very knowledgeable people on this site. Good luck with your search, then may I recommend tirerack.com (as was recommended to me when I was asking about snow tires) to see if they have what you want. GO PATS. :D

Hey steviej: My folks said that you were gettign a storm from the arolinas yesterday (Sunday) so now you can join in the fun. I was born, raised, and baptized on the N.E. roads. Your points are all well taken and followed. I am thinking that in MA, Dads pass on their winter wisdom to their sons much the same as Dads in MO pass on their hunting skills. Go Pats. Big Ben who?? :D Slate (originally from Haverhill, MA)

Hey: It has been posted many times but I have to add thi. I bought a set of 1993 ES300 rims off e-bay for next to nothing and got 4 Bridgestone Blizzak WS50 tires for my 1998 GS400 (to have a set of winter and summer tires). I have to say that I am still in awe of the handling. We were supposed to get 6 inches of snow in Cape Girardeau, MO (about 2 hours south of Saint Louis, MO) and so I switched off my Chromes for the snows Tuesday night. Wednesday I woke up to 8 inches and a forecast of snow through the day. Now the important part here is to know that My city does not know what to do with snow. I have lived here for 10 years, moving from North of Boston MA, and they really suck at clearing the stuff. I left the drive and passed 4x4s, city vehicles, and overturned semis including going up and down hills with ease. Todat the total accumulation was 13 inches and it is now 10 degrees. I drove to work today without a hitch. These things grab the road like you cannot believe. The negative comments re: tire wear I cannot atest to because I now only have 50 miles on them but anyone considering them just do it. The best tires I have ever had in my life. And this is the first rear wheel drive vehicle I have ever had. It handled better with these tires than any front wheel drive car I have used with other tires. Happy wintering. :D

I am a new GS400 (1998) owner since June and I think it is great. 50,000 and no problems. Routine maintenance is more expensive than what I was used to (Camry and Sienna Van) but in the same category as the Audi. My Dad had a 1976 Audi Fox and it was constantly breaking down. HAving said that, German engineering has not fully evolved from the skilled craftsman to a consistent defect-free frame of mind. Toyota (Lean/TPS, etc.) is very precise and their designs show it. Audi/VW/Porche still have a sense of the skilled craftsman in their manufacturing and haven't reached the level Toyota has. In fact, no other manufacturer has to date, though some are making strides. After using Toyota vs Ford as the topics for my MBA thesis, I could not find an argument against Toyota/Lexus. If it is solid manufacturing you are loking for goLexus. I personally find my 1998 GS 400 a freakin' thrill to drive. Not since my Kawasaki Ninja Zx-10 have I enjoyed commuting so much. You decide. A test drive will be in order, and that should assist you greatly.

I grew up in Massachusetts (Go Sox) and credit cards won't work on the ice that we get in Missouri (Ice storms are more frequent than snow). What should the scraper surface be made of? Plastic, metal( I saw a brass one once)? I use rain-x and love it. Thanks for the assistance. I guess there is no simple answer to this.

Can you describe "nice" for me? I have used the spectrum on other cras but don't know what I should look for. The cheap plastic one I have currently concerns m. Thanks for the feedback.

Hey, It's almost that time of year and I want to know what is recommended to scrape ics/snow from the windshield of my 1998 Lexus GS 400 (lexuses in general)? Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated. The vehicle is garaged at home but during the day it is in the open air in a lot at work. Thanks.

Thanks. I considered short ramps but the clearance was too low to get the front end up hgh enough to get underneath. Have a great day.

Why not. We're used to it. One day we'll have bragging rights, until then Nomar, I mean no more.

steviej: Thanks for the info. I viewed your tranny file and could not see where you jacked it. Does your vehicler have a plastic skirt underneath the front end (beneath the radiator and timing belt section of the engine I had to remove this to change my oil. If you do have it, does this need to be removed before jacking? My dilemma was that I used the jack points on the frame to jack the car and then had nowhere to place the stands. I will also look at the underside more closely. I couldn't find the drain hex nut. As I said in another post, in the Camry and Sienna the oil and tranny drains are located on opposite sides of the front end. I am looking for a repair manual on e-bay and hope to find one soon. The cost of a set froma dealer is over 200.00 and e-bay appears to have the sets for $125. Thanks for all of your assistance. Go Sox. Screw the curse (I hope that is not an unacceptable word on the forum). Slate

I posted a question re: placement of lift to place front end on jack stands and it was moved to the GS 400 site. No responses there. :cries: Can anyone point me in the right direction re: this placement so that I can drain and replace my tranny fluid? I have a 1998 GS 400 and bottles of T-IV waiting to meet each other. Thanks so much.

When purchasing a repair manula set can a subsequent year's manual be used if the series is the same. I have a 1998 GS 400. I cannot find a 1998 manual set but there is a 1999. Since 1998 was the year of the remake with only minor changes to the 1999, 2000 (from what I have read) can a 1999 manual set be used as a guide to repair a 1998? Will there be any problems with part numbers and diagrams that anyone is aware of? Thanks.

I perform these routine maintens=ance on my 2000 Toyota Sienna van and my 1989 Camry LX but what the heck. Some things aren't cultural and repetitive between Toyota and Lexus. I would like to know where to place a jack (hydraulic) to ultimately place the front end on jack stands. Also, where do you place the jack stands? I was going to replace the oil and tranny fluid on my 98 GS 400 yesterday and have never used jack stands or a jack on it. I ended up using the jack on the normal jack point on the passenger side front and left the car on the jack when I drained and replaced the oil. I know there is another place the jack stands can be located other than the same place the jack is lifting. Secondly, where is the tranny pan/drain plug? In my Camry and Sienna, it is just opposite the oil pan. I had the skirt off the Lexus and spent about 5 minutes looking for the hex nut but could not locate. Admittedly, I didn't have much room under there to crawl around because of my ignorance with the jack and stands. Any help would be greatly appreciated so that I can begin to mend my pride.

I bought mine used June 13, 2004 from a private seller. 1998 GS400. I have placed AC cabin filter ($18.00), Wheel balance and align ($91.45) and change oil myself. I am coming up on 50,000 within the next 2 months. The guy that did my alignment commented that I have a car that will give me many years of trouble free driving and he has been doing alignments for 30 years. If you lok at the message boards, the lexus owners have some pretty fine cars with many miles on them. My belief is that if a Camry (which I sold before gettign my Lexus) can go for 200,000 without any major mechanical problems, then a Lexus should be at least as good (and I bet much better). Good luck. Very pleased with mine. very, very pleased. :D

The follow up. to the above; I took my vehicle to a great alignment guy here in town and he balanced my wheels (one was way out of balance) and the rear needed an alignment (the wheels were toeing and cambered the rear wheels (cupped the middle of the tread somehow). The car drives very differently now, even at city speeds. They test drove it on the highway and noted there was no vibration. I will be on the highway next week and will be able to tell but I guess the solution was simple. And it only cost me $91 and some change from an Independent alignment guy. Awesome. Thanks for the advice everyone.

Thanks. I learned long ago that what I think isn't always correct so I appreciate all the feedback I can get. I guess there is some truth in the saying that the older you get the less you know. Have a great day.