Newbie1

The manky boot is pretty common and a £25 boot seal from ebay fixes that. The day's of the late model/FSH/clean LS400 for under £2000 seem to have disappeared. For a cheap one now it's a case of balancing required mechanical works with the level of bodywork you can tolerate. If anyone is going to hold on to one of these you have to get a look at the rear subframe. Even sticking a phone under there and getting some flash photos can give you an idea.

Comes down to how you want to run an old car. For me, worn out for a lot of suspension and steering components on a heavy car like the LS400 starts at about 60,000 miles. I know a lot of people will will say that there is years of life left in them and as long as they pass MOTs they will be fine, and that is fair enough. I didn't like the slack in the LS400 steering around centre position and wanted more road feel, so I installed poly bushes on the steering rack. High speed cruising is a lot more relaxaing with far fewer minute adjustments needed. The old steering rack bushes were serviceable, would pass countless MOTs but were past their prime and the rubber had started to deteriorate (car was at 67,000 miles.) With suspension and steering on any old car I start a program of refreshing components as I like to get as close to how it felt from the factory as possible, but that's just me and I've probably thrown away serviceable components in the past.

I went third party from Rock Auto in the US when I ordered a bunch of other stuff.

Fresh steering rack bushes and a gearbox mount are quick work for a mechanic and make a big difference, too.

Amazing old cars. Mine has had one failure for incorrectly spaced licence plate letters and two advisories for weak bonnet struts and scratches on the windscreen. Brilliant.

Had an issue with metallic objects setting of the alarm in my MkIV. Now, I just lock the physically car with the key and don't activate the alarm. No point, really.

Watch out for the clearance of the LS400's large front brake calipers.

toyodiy is good for part numbers.

I've noticed how many LS400s fail on cuts to the rear tyres. I wondered how this could be until I clipped my first kerb going around a corner. Long car.

I know. I've remedied other stuff like this over the years, too. And perhaps caused it!

A lesson in not messing with auto wiring unless you know what you are doing! Good luck. Those relays are a pig to remove.

Steve, those piezo-electric TEMS are very durable. I know of original P-E TEMS shocks still working on Toyota's from the 1980s. Much, much more reliable than air shocks. Interestingly, I've got a set in my Soarer that are not connected as I have a base model. They replaced a horrible set of coilovers. I've often wondered if the default setting when not plugged in is hard or soft. I've read the Toyota patent but still can't figure it out. Either way, they show know sign of leakage.

Avoid any car with bubbling around the windscreen. Until you remove the screen you do not know how bad it is.

Interesting that the LS400 springs and shocks will fit the 430. Very useful info.

Odd how many modern garages don't even seem to have copper grease. Has it gone out of fashion? Had some suspension arms replaced on a car last year and was pretty annoyed not to see it used at least on the adjustment bolts.

A new Toyota shim kit often helps to reduce squeal, too. It's crazy the amount of times I've bought seemingly well-maintained cars where the shim kits have been removed or reduced over the years.

Mike, that's exactly what the last owner did! Rear arch and door crunched. I have never been able to find a door in the same burgundy, but have an excellent one ready to be painted. Spring job is stripping everything down for the painter. Lining up those lower panels is going to be hard. Fresh clips from Toyota! edit: I had a pleasing moment with a friend who commented on how light the doors were on my LS400 compared to a Merc he had. When I let him pick up the spare door he realised how damn heavy they are and how well Toyota has mounted them!

Coilovers are not right for a normal driver of this car. The spring rates of most of them are about double OEM, and not much point in paying for features you are not going to need, although it might be fun to play with damping rates. They won't last as long as normal springs, either. Many come with steel top mounts, not rubber, increasing the chance of noise. Toyota got it right first time.

Safest way to buy. Great colour and many miles happy motoring in it.

That is correct. The UCF30 Celsior, versus the UCF31 C spec Euro variation offered in the UK. ETA: I am keeping my eye out for the UCF30 in Japan as finding a decent earlier UCF20 facelift steel spring Celsior is very hard.

These lovely examples show me I really need to get on with fixing my passenger door which has had an awful repair in the past...

Converting to springs probably would be your most reliable bet, and reports from the US are that conventional Lexus springs don't feel too much different from air. In Japan they offered the model without springs for the whole production run so OEM springs shouldn't be hard to source.

It looks clean, but look at that coolant reservoir. Doesn't look to be Toyota red which might give you some insight into how scrupulous servicing was.

Doesn't the fact that no codes could be obtained strongly point to the ECU?

Just part of maintenance on old cars, I suppose.