ambermarine

HiDont waste any money trying to get another type of gearbox for the 1998 mark IV LS400 there was only one choice.It came with a 5 speed box the fifth gear is a overdrive that shows up on the shift indicator as D The 4th gear is 4 on the shift indicator. If you get so called technichans to look at your car I suggest you speak to People who are experienced in the car you have.

Hi Fellow Lexuns Will not kid anybody on about this sequence of events, let you be the judge. I am a long term member of the Lexus owners club both in the UK and The USA. The last Lexus I owned was a 1990 Lexus LS400 and I owned it for Sixteen years it was six years old when i bought it and served me well for 180k miles. I am now doing less than 5k miles a year and did not want to see 35 k of investment in a late model LS dropping away in value in my garage . So I bought a mint 98 Lexus ls 400 mark 1V with only 18000 miles on the clock,featured in the LS400 forum in July 2012 Thats the introduction taken care of. As the car was 14 years old the cambelt never having been changed the first job was to get a Lexus dealership to carry out this task. I got a great quote from Lexus Glasgow of £339 to do this and booked the car in. I got great service from the service Manager Andrea and all of the reception staff. The car was done within the specified time while my Wife and I went for a wander round Glasgow city centre. We drove the car home with no problems and then I checked the engine and to my horror found that there were gouges in the plastic covers on the air intake cowl and the relay box cover. As this car was mint when I bought it a week earier you can imagine my despair at this sight. I phoned the dealership that instant and Andrea was professional in the extreme and assured me that Alan Mc Ewan the After Sales Manager would call me within the next 24 Hours. He did and without any arguement accepted responibility for the damage and that same day wrote to me and detailed their response to rectifying the problem. Lexus Glasgow have now replaced the parts that were damaged at a cost to them of £500 and in addition have done the job at my home saving me the hassle of a one hundred mile trip . I know that we are the worst customers in the world and at most dealerships you might have to shout a bit to get this kind of problem resolved but in 45 years of owning cars this as been the least stressful experience of all. Ps; The technichen that did my car as now left the dealership.

Hi ColmI have a 98 ls400 and it as the same system you are talking about. The system displays on the screen at start up and then if you are not wanting to use it switch to the radio /cd/tape interface or the climate control interface or if you don't want anything on the display you can have a blank screen, the various presets in place will operate the sound system or climate control as normal .The control buttons are on the facia surround and designate the various afore mentioned functions and are simple to operate and understand.The touch screen control comes into play on each seperate function and is a superb quality interface for all of the functions non of which interfere with the other.Its a Lexus, enough said.

Hi Colm The display head is not just for the Navigation it also displays the air conditioning controls and the Audio controls through touch screen interface,I can understand your problem with the exclusive UK coverage which was out of date the day they produced it . To all intents and purposes the system is fairly good if your operating it on a broad scale and not wanting the latest cameras and radar checks but if you are driving within the law you don't need those. The changes on roads and streets will affect anyone depending on the usage if you are a taxi or delivery driver the system will be useless but if you are using it to get from A to B it will do fine. I think that the cd for the Irish Republic will be available somewhere as Lexus are established there check out your Local Lexus dealer. Failing that you could always do what I did on my Mark 1 stick a garmin on the screen and in the glovebox when not in use.

Hi RichPerhaps I was being a bit flippant and harsh to your predicament and please accept my apoligy, selling is the hardest game especially when the product is outdated and at such a premium price despite the discount.There have been a few comments about the lottery and a tenth of a million pounds is a chunk so the discount could intice there.Get going on lottery win and premium bond win links on the web someone may pick up on it.

The problem for this salesperson, if that is what he or she calls themselves is they are not selling it.When you are trying to sell something you are supposed to put a positive spin on things discriptions like old and left on there hands are hardly enticing and giving discounts means nothing to someone who as £85k to spend on a new motor. My postman is looking for a lexus i'll tell him about it, the end of a series always brings these scenario's .What the salesperson should do is sell it to a corporate buyer as part of a package of new models and someone within that organisation will snap it up and take more salary.When I got a choice of company car My MD said I could have a rolls royce but my wages would'nt fill the tank,so I looked for just this type of scenario as I was the Sales Director I did'nt have to compare my motor with anyone else three months later no one cares and company cars always lose their novelty after their first ding.

Same procedure

HI Did this retrofit on my LS400 mark 1 three years ago it is a job that requires the aqquisition of a rhd drive lcd from the states thats the easy part they cost about £120 by the time you have paid all dues.Then comes the hard part the whole radio a/c unit as to come out the A/C unit is then separated from the Radio unit .then you have to get into the insides of the Ac control unit. then you have to remove the old LCD and that is the really tricky part. For this operation a degree of soldering skill is vital there are 44 soldering joints and they must be done very carefully or you will destroy either the new LCD or the AC PCB.It took me a long time and I also had the problem that the lhd drive version I was sent required an additional pcb the size of a drinking straw and wafer thin to be soldered in to the interface, a nightmare I can tell you. go to www.lextreme.com/lcdtech.html it is not impossible but think about it before you set off on this task. Do not bother trying to get one off ebay the early lcds for models upto 92 were all suspect and they only fit for that first series 90-92.

The lack of 430s as a lot to do with production and sales of this model,it was not sold in as greater numbers after the 2004 period as when it was first introduced,the revamped version was a tad late in reviving interest in the 430 as there had been some issues with it regarding road noise and looks that were extensivly covered and slated in the motoring press.Also the comparative production period of the 430 (six years) against the 400 (ten years) which should have opened the gate for sales did not happen as with all models coming to the end of their production phase the sales drop off as people wait for the new version.This is one of the reasons I stuck with the 400 mark 4 when getting a replacement for my 1990 I thought they had gone too far with tweeking the 400 after it had reached the mark IV stage.

Jaguar sell many more vehicles in the UK than Lexus so it's only to be expected that their forums would contain most postings containing problems. As for prices - have you seen what Lexus charge for a front upper wishbone? Don't get me wrong, I like the car but Lexus is by no means saintly. HiI find that statement unfair The upper wishbone on a Lexus Ls400 is a consumable item and will wear in relation to the roads and type of driving the vehicle experiences.They have a average life span of approx 100k and if the vehicle is used for mainly motorway work, twice that.We have also seen how long the aftermarket products last ,so quality does cost. The fault issues on a Lexus LS400 have been defined as electrical mainly very few mechanical faults and the rectification ratio on known faults on series upgrades is exemplry. As far as the Lexus LS400 being saintly I would only say that in value for money the Jaguar is not in the same class.

I sold my 1990 Lexus on Ebay and that sale went perfectly and the guy who bought it came 240 miles to collect it.I bought my new Lexus through Ebay but managed to pursuade the seller to take it off before the sale ended so I made sure of getting it.There are winners and losers because for second hand cars ebay is a lottery both for buyers and sellers.

HiI too have the bottle washer warning light on all the time and have just purchased a replacement float /sensor unit at a cost of £68 ,I have yet to fit it but will keep the thread in mind when result is known. HiUpdate on fitting new sensor to windscreen/headlamp water reservoir; remove the self tapping screws from section of mudguard liner that sits under the area forward of the wheel arch directly under the water bottle including the two plastic fasteners that connect to the under engine guard .Pull the liner down and you will see directly the bottom of the tank the sensor is the plug with two blue wires coming from it and connecting to two smaller guage wires through a clip connector. Prise out the rubber surround and the sensor comes out with it.Connect the new sensor to the electric clip connector. the trick in putting the new sensor in ;Insert the rubber surround into the tank then push up the sensor into it and draw over the rubber lip around the sensor bottom when it is in position.Clip the electrical plug back in position and the job is done .I have seen it on some website that diconnecting the plug from the sensor puts the light out if you think that buying a new one is not worth it .I checked my dash with the old unit disconnected and the light was still on so that means there is a processor up the line somewhere that puts the light on whatever the sensor status if it is not 100% working and connected.The sensor is a floating magnet that creates a field around a diode, when it drops to the bottom of the tank the field is interuppted and causes the light to illuminate on the dashboard,I checked the old sensor and the float works normally ,so it means that even if the float works the electrical curcuit within the sensor is dubbed.

HiI too have the bottle washer warning light on all the time and have just purchased a replacement float /sensor unit at a cost of £68 ,I have yet to fit it but will keep the thread in mind when result is known.

There are few ls400s with that kind of mileage ,Mine is a rare 20k now and thats a 98 but it is mint and uk registered nether the less I paid twice what this is going for and at the end of the day it is a Lexus, with regards the cambelt I had mine changed immediatly for peace of mind but it only cost £350 at Lexus Glasgow and with only 40k on it it wont need much else with regards the back box that could have been damaged in shipping or whatever.eventually if you want a low mileage ls400 in good nick you will have to make a choice otherwise there won't be any left.

HiIt could be, but there are more bushes in the back suspension than this one and any one of them could be groaning they usually groan if they are dry not worn and a liberal amount of wd40 sprayed in all the suspension arm bushes both ends may help before you spend £400 and find it is not that one.

Hi The part you are showing in the photograph is the rear no1 lower suspension arm and the bit marked 0range is the cam and bolt body side. If they are saying the bush needs replacing then you will probably have to buy the whole arm. Make sure you set the cam to the position(mark it with a sharp point) it is now when replacing the arm or your suspension settings will be out

Having done this job with mixed results here are my findings.We did the shoes on my mark1 when I renewed the rear suspension bushes two years ago they were fine initially but the foot pedal had excessive down travel and came up as an advisory with mot .I followed the workshop manual instructions and adjusted the cable adjuster which is on the end of a single cable coming from the foot pedal, this adjuster then pulls on a horseshoe mid car in the propshaft tunnel.I then found the drivers side started binding when released.The cable from the adjuster to the brakes is a single cable sitting accross a horseshoe and when the adjuster is tightened up it tends to pull more on the drivers side,the solution is to release the cable too the brakes from the horseshoe and let it equalise the pull across the brake cable,then readjust, the problem is that the adjuster is in a pig of a place so you need someone to push down on the pedal whilst you manipulate the cable too the brakes so the pull is equal on both sides.The problems are that the cables stretch and also freeze up in their sheaves as they get older.

The motoring press have slated since its inception the lack of road feel that the LS400 as .Having owned a mark1 for 16 years I was aware that the steering on that model was vauge and wooly I have now moved upto a 98 mark4 which is the same as you are looking at and can report a vast improvement in the road feel through the steering ,but your perception of driving in the two cars is swayed by the fact the 300 was built as a luxury drivers car not as a seamless luxury sedan and over time you will appreciate the sublime difference.Ho and by the way the LS400 is not one of the best built cars in the world the Lexus LS400 is the best built car in the world bar non.

The problems that occur when you ship anything that can suffer damage through handling are many,First of all the guy that picks up the wheels is not likely to be the one who delivers them ,the wheels could change carriers upto four or five times depending in which part of the UK you live.The company who takes the contract to deliver them will ultimatly be the one you take to task if they are damaged but might not be the one that damaged them.Thats why they insist on the wheels being wrapped.

HiIt sounds like the upper arm ball joint .Probably not worn enough to fail the ticket and difficult to ascertain wear if the car is stood on its wheels without knowing the procedure for finding the problem.Jack the wheel off the ground, place a bar at the bottom of the wheel and lift and push in whilst at the same time holding the joint in your hand if it is worn you will feel it knocking .The joint we are talking about is the one at the middle of the upper wishbone that connects to the axle hub.

The Guys in Oz love playing with the Lexus engines and beefing them up Lextreme.com is a good site to see what they get upto all a bit to high revving for me but I can see the attraction.

Having just aquired a 98 400 I did some research on the subject and the following info is not exhaustive .The lexus 400 built after summer 98 was subjected to a lot of changes but very few up to the end of production in 2000.Go to www.lexls.com. and enter in search box "evolution of the LS series"

The answer to your question depends on your perception of a Lexus Ls400 and value for money.I owned a Mark1 1990 for sixteen years which cost me £19k when it was 6 years old with 50k on the clock and have had all the experiences with repairs and niggles that model threw up.but when I sold it last month for £600 it did'nt owe me a penny. During its latter years I being Lexus forever mulled over the 430 and the 460 as a replacement but could'nt see the improvements that justified the 460 sitting in my garage losing thousands when I only do 3000 miles annualy.The 430 was a step too far in its development for my liking.So I set my stall out to look for a Mark4 .Lo and behold one appeared last month with 18k on the clock and in factory condition I paid £3750, thats about 1500 over top book price but it cost £52000 when new and its no different to when it was new and if anything serious was going to go wrong it will have shown by now.The amazing part of this story is that this car in the states in exactly the same condition would attract a price tag of $15000 and they are cheaper there initially. There are examples of well kept 400s but they only come up rarely as like me when you have a good one you don't want to let it go.

Hi Steve You are right,The owners handbook for the Mark 1 1990 Lexus LS400 states;Timing belt does not require change unless the car is used as a delivery vehicle or a taxi this would of course refer to excessive start ups which puts enormous strain on the belt.but as you say my answer to Harry would have been ?

Hello fellow lexunsThis timing belt issue is a variation on what causes a headache a night on the the booze or the wife,I had until very recently a mark I ls400 which had 187000 miles on the clock when I sold it .I bought it with 50 K on the clock way back in 96 and had the belt done at 60k I then had the belt done again 6 years later at 120 k and then at 131 k it failed because the water pump siezed cost £800 to repair but the engine was saved because the first engine were none interference. It ran great until its departure to another lexus fan last month.The replacement a 98 ls400 with 18000 on the clock had never had the belt done but after my experiences of the past it went straight to Lexus Glasgow( £325 including belt) now I can sleep soundly at night .