Yet Another Newbie Question

[FinnGs]

Hi!

Just bougth a 1998 mkIV LS 400. Feels nice, just have had for two days now..

As I don´t have the owner´s manual for the thing haven´t yet figured

out what that "function"-button in the steeringwheel is for?

And should a light light up in the dash when you push the "shiftlock override"-button. I know

it has got something to do with a extra gear or something?

Thanks.

[lutonmatt]

hi and welecome i dont know what the button on the wheel does asi hav a mk3 not 4 but the shift over ride button is if it ever brakes down you can take it out of park with out foot on the brake or ign. on

some should be along with what the steering wheel button does soon

[chips229]

Hi and Welcome to the LOC :)

I owed a mk1 LS so again sorry i cant help you,but others on here with mk4s should be able to help you.

Cheers..

Chips.

[GoldfingerLS]

Congratulations on your purchase, this car really is the business

The ‘shiftlock override’ button is as Matt says. You can’t take the car out of park unless your have the brake pedal pressed, but if you hold the shiftlock override button down while taking the car out of park you should be able to do it without pressing the brake pedel.

As for the function button: Usually the computer under the speedo will display fuel consumption figures, or cruising range etc depending on what you have selected from the Mode button. But lets say there is an error message displaying e.g. ‘front brake pads’ this error message will stay on until the problem has been fixed (in this case until you have replaced the brakes etc) in the meantime if you don’t want to see this annoying error message simply press ‘Function’ and it will toggle to the trip computer again.

Try it with the driver door open, it should say ‘Front door open’ and with the door still open press the Function button and it will return to the trip computer.

[FinnGs]

Thanks for the info. Trying to get a copy of the manuals.

The car itself feels really nice. I have driven Mercs and BMWs, but this

is something different. The only minus being the gas mileage...

Its a ´98 mk IV with 130k km (i guess 80k miles?) and has

a full Lexus service history. It was previously a company exec car and

has been driven by a company driver. Last service was at 126k km (breakdisc + pads +

other stuff). Also one of the shockabsorbers was replaiced (It has got air supension).

The only problem I´ve found is that the steering alignment could be wrong.

When I center the wheel it seems like the car still steers a bit to the left.

Should I get the wheels/angles realigned? Or could the suspension be going out?

How long the air suspension usually lasts?

Thanks again.

[GoldfingerLS]

No problem man.

130,000 km is nothing for this car.

Do you mean the car is pulling to the left for example you are driving along in a straight line and it drifts to the left without you moving the steering wheel ? If so you might need tracking alignment done. Was it a front shock they replaced ? If so chances are when they dismanlted the suspension to replace the shock the alignment probably got knocked out of place. But it usually needs re-alignment periodically.

The best thing to go for is 4 wheel laser tracking alignment. Over here in the UK it costs between £60 and £120 but it is well worth it. Also get the wheel balanced aswell at the same time. I think it may be best to eliminate tracking alignment problems first. It is also wise to have this done because if the tracking is out it is usually wearing out the tires unevenly or faster than they should be.

Not sure how long air suspension lasts. In the UK all of our LS400 have the normal coil suspension (apart from the imports from Japan). However the LS430s all over here all have air suspension and I dont think it is a common problem. It all depends on how the car has been kept before. Toyota have been putting air suspension in LS400s since 1989 so if there were any major problems i think they should have ironed them out by the time they built the Mk4 in 1998 :)

The reason why your shock could have been replaced was maybe it was just the odd bad part. I replaced the starter motor on my Mk4 last month which is very odd for a Lexus considering it only has 62,000 miles on the clock.

One thing to remeber with air suspension: NEVER jack the car up with the engine running. Always switch off the engine before jacking that car up. If you do need to jack the car up with the engine running there are 2 particular pins on the Data Link Connector No2 (DLC2) you need to connect together before jacking it up.

Hope this helps.

Any more questions let us know.

[FinnGs]

The problem seems to be that when I hold the wheel

exactly in the middle the car steers a bit to the left. If

take my hands off the wheel it seems to keep on going

a straigth line. Going to get the alignment done first

thing next week.

Also found out that the trunk seal is leaking and there was

loads of water in the boot. Luckyly the spare wheel was ok.

Going to get a new seal.

The main problem now is that when I open the hood it won´t

close. When I pull that leveler under the wheel it will stay up.

Then when I keep on pulling it it snaps back to it´s place.

So it seems to be stuck somehow. Anyone else having this

problem ? What should I do ?

Thanks. And hope you understood that hood part right. Rusty

English you know...

[GoldfingerLS]

Yep, best to get tracking sorted first.

For the water in the boot, try also looking at this earlier thread:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=37170

It seems it can be fixed with a bit of silicone sealant...cheaper than a new seal. If not you can still replace the seal.

Do you mean the hood won't close into the catch when you have lowered it all the way down ? and when it has closed it wont open again when you pull the release ? It sounds like the spring mechanism might have moved out of position or the spring is not working ?

Has anyone else had this problem with the hood ?

[FinnGs]

Finally found the owner´s manual under the driver´s seat... So now I know how

everything should work.

Going to try that silicone on the bootlid seal.

Problem with the hood is that when I pull the release the handle stays up.

So the hood opens but it won´t lock down when I push it down. When

pull the release a few times it slips back to the original position and then the hood locks.

Maybe a bad spring in the lock mechanism or something?

So has anyone in the UK got air suspension? I just occured to me that the

problem with the steering might have something to do with that one

airshock being replaced. I think that the heigth controller has to be reset

after that. Does anyone know how to do this?

Thanks again.

Going to post some pictures when I get the car all washed&waxed.

[FinnGs]

Got that hood lock fixed, loads of dirt inside. Took it off (three bolts/nuts) and washed it. Now works

perfectly.

Took the trunk seal off and put some silicone around it. Hopefully it´ll hold now.

Maybe should check it for leaks once in a while. New costs 125€, so anyway I won´t

be buying a new one...

I also downloaded the service manual for the thing from techinfo.lexus.com for 10$.

Very neat thing from toyota. The service data in the manual states that it is normal to

have a 1cm difference in the vehicle heigth between sides. So I suppose that with

air suspension it´s perfectly normal if your car is not perfectly balanced.

I thought I would get my upper suspension arm bushings replaced before I get

the wheels aligned. Has anyone order replacement bushing from the US ? And from

where? Will they fit the European models?

Thanks again.

PS. The car just feels getting better by the day. Just wondering what to drive if I ever need to

let this one go... :)