ambermarine

Hi Lewis If the car is a early ls400 it is possible that the shoes on the parking brake have become so worn that they won't centralize and the leading edge of the forward shoe is binding . It sounds like a complete renewal of the shoes both wheels is a best fix. The process is fiddly and I think if you look through the tutorials on the workshop tips both here and in the states someone as done it . I have just done it and it is bit of a nightmare if you don't follow the workshop manual procedure, especially when it comes to fitting the new shoes. My advice would be to check out the tutorial and that way you can acertain what you need to take and wether you can do the job.

Hi Robban Yes they are 21 & 28 21 left bank 28 right bank but they will only come up if you do the nessarcary procedure to find them . this is a complicated procedure for which you really need a workshop maunual or take it to a lexus workshop. I doubt that a clogged fuel filter is the cause of your intermitent blips more likely to be fuel management fault probably originating at the oxygen sensors.

Hi By a process of illimination you are finding out what is not the cause of your problem If you had severe wear on the upper control arms this could have caused a knock on effect to other parts of the suspension , check out all moving parts and bushes in the lower arm and its associated parts also check the upper and lower connections of the spring and shock absorber. If you do go down the road of putting in a new bearing I would advise only lexus genuine parts there is a lot of crap after market bearings out there.

Hi robban Just checked the Workshop manual and these two codes do show at the same time ,Diagnosis as decribed in diagnostic codes as follows. code 25 Air fuel Ratio Lean malfunction; During air fuel ratio feedback correction output code 26 Air fuel Ratio Rich malfunction ; voltage of main oxygen sensor stays lean for a set period of time or longer. This seems to suggest that the main oxygen sensor on one of the banks as failed.

Hi The sound you are getting is consistent with the condition that points to upper control arm wear .If you jack up that wheel just off the ground place a bar at the bottom centre of the tyre and lift inwards ,if the bushings are worn the wheel will have excessive play . Bearing wear usually as two symptoms One is a clicking sound that increases with the speed of the wheel and a steadily increasing screeching sound as the bearing heads for its eventual failure. Also there will be play in the wheel but usually more prominent in a side to side movement.

Hi Malc The official mark and series numbers are as follows Mark 1 january 1989 september 1992 also classified as series 1 UCF10 Mark 2 1992 to 94 series 1a mark 3 1994 to 97 series 2 UCF20 mark 4 1997 to 2000 series 2a The major changes came on the series change and the facelifts when 'a' was added. There are several interesting sites that go into the development of the LS400 this information is gleaned from just one of them.

Hi Mark Hayle Having had a Mark 1 ls400 for 16 years and nothing else I can only speak from my experience,The observation you make of "something lost along the way" is I think synonemous with progress but I take on board what you say as I have several friends who say the same thing and don,t and never have had a Lexus. Their words "It looks the buisness" fits the bill. If you can find one that as a generally Rust free body, check the rear sills and under the back wheel arches also the area under the back subframe. Superficial corrosion can be dealt with but any holes or pieces ragged are a no no you won't get it through the MOT. Mechanically the parts are all still available except the rear subframe and the front cross member.There are some electronic lcds that are not available from Lexus but can be repaired or replaced from the USA.The early ls400 did not have airbags or sat nav so there is a lot less to go wrong. The Mark 1 was built up to 92 with some small variations and changes introduced when it became the mark 2 the big change in the suspension came in 94 so a lot of the brake parts and suspension parts will not fit on pre 94s should you need second hand spare parts and as the pre 94s are getting rare the second hand market as virtually dried up, the good thing is that some of these new parts are a lot cheaper now than a few years ago ie; front upper suspension arm virtually a third of the cost these days as to ten years ago. Finally I have driven a friends 98 LS400 and another LS430 I found the the ls430 to be road hard despite the adjustable ride settings I also did,nt like the 98 LS400 as that seemed to be a firmer ride and tighter in the cabin By the way my Lexus LS400 is Twenty one years old and is thought to be the oldest still on the road in the uk would be pleased to hear if anyone as an earlier car.

Thanks Baz, I checked for error codes the day after I got it back but there were none. So it's not producing any but will regularly check this. When you hit the 4000 rpm limit, there are no warnings or flashes. ...However, if (whilst driving) you slip it into N you can rev past 4000. If you then put it into D the limit seems to be there and it slows down until it reaches the speed it would be at that RPM, then just sits there. Will give this another go though. When I checked the Transmission fluid yesterday (all warmed up after a drive, cycled through the gears and left it in P with the engine running, etc.) the level was right up to the top of the HOT mark, in fact, over that part of the dipstick and slightly onto the cable. So it's not low on fluid. Will try the rev-up and floor the throttle routine tonight, to see if it still drops to 4000 RPM. Hi Mudguts Waited to hear how your diagnosis went after my last post on this subject,I suggested then there may be a problem with the information transmitted between the engine and gearbox within the ECU ,Having read your post this morning I now feel your problem still lies in the Gearbox and could be related to back pressure readings from the transmission fluid sensors .It sounds like the ECU is receiving info from the gearbox that is instructing the engine to go to safe mode,This is the mode that prevents damage occuring in the gearbox after a working part as failed, it normally puts the car in second gear and does not allow it to change up so a limited progress can still be made,although this is not the exact scenario the fact you can rev beyond 4000 revs when in neutral leads the cause to the gearbox and the information it is transmitting. I had a similar problem when I first bought my car and the second gear solenoid failed and it would not rev up beyond 4000 revs and would not change up. It might be a faulty solenoid as they work with the back pressure within the gearbox to gain the optimum moment to facilitate a smooth gearchange. Have you tried the diagnostic codes for the Gearbox as you will get these showing any faults on the electrical curcuit within the gearbox. These are read through the ect light on the dash. Thanks for the input Gents, I will digest this all tomorrow. One thing I plan to do is have a look at as much of the wiring and plugs connected to the gearbox as I can get to. On the drive home tonight I tried putting the car in '3' and easing it up past 4000 RPM, which it did. It then did something really weird: If I just slowly accelerated, it did just that but if I pushed the throttle pedal harder, it was like it cut the fuel off, it was as if it was working in reverse... As far as the diagnostic codes for the gearbox go, I connected Te1 and E1 in the small round socket in the drivers footwell, the result was the check engine and ECT Power lights just flash on-off-on-off with no codes. Hi Mudguts Sorry for misleading you the ect light is not the light that is used it is the O/D light. Procedure for reading the diagnostic codes as per workshop Manual; O/D Off indicator light inspecton, 1 Turn the ignition switch to on 2Check if the O/D OFF indicator light lights up when the O/D switch is pushed out to off and goes off when the O/D switch is pushed in to ON. If the O/D OFF indicator light blinks a malfunction code is stored in the ECU memory. Diagnostic code check 1 Turn the ignition switch to on but do not start the engine. Push the O/D switch to ON, warning and diagnostic codes can only be read when the overdrive switch is ON If it is OFF the Overdrive OFF light will light continuosly and will not blink. 3. connect Te1 and E1 in the car or on the engine connection blocks. 4Read the diagnostic code indicated by the number of times the O/D OFF indicator blinks If the system is operating normally the light will blink 2 times per second continously. If the system is normal then it is unlikely that the rev problem is in the Gearbox if it does not function as above you will need to count the blinks and momentary pauses between the sequences of the blinks to determine the code. ie code 42; gap of 4 seconds when nothing happens then the light goes on and off 4 times every 0.5 second then a gap of 1.5 seconds then the light goes on and off twice every 0.5 seconds then a gap for 2.5 seconds if there is another fault code that will follow if there is'nt then a gap of 4.5 seconds and the first code will repeat.

Thanks Baz, I checked for error codes the day after I got it back but there were none. So it's not producing any but will regularly check this. When you hit the 4000 rpm limit, there are no warnings or flashes. ...However, if (whilst driving) you slip it into N you can rev past 4000. If you then put it into D the limit seems to be there and it slows down until it reaches the speed it would be at that RPM, then just sits there. Will give this another go though. When I checked the Transmission fluid yesterday (all warmed up after a drive, cycled through the gears and left it in P with the engine running, etc.) the level was right up to the top of the HOT mark, in fact, over that part of the dipstick and slightly onto the cable. So it's not low on fluid. Will try the rev-up and floor the throttle routine tonight, to see if it still drops to 4000 RPM. Hi Mudguts Waited to hear how your diagnosis went after my last post on this subject,I suggested then there may be a problem with the information transmitted between the engine and gearbox within the ECU ,Having read your post this morning I now feel your problem still lies in the Gearbox and could be related to back pressure readings from the transmission fluid sensors .It sounds like the ECU is receiving info from the gearbox that is instructing the engine to go to safe mode,This is the mode that prevents damage occuring in the gearbox after a working part as failed, it normally puts the car in second gear and does not allow it to change up so a limited progress can still be made,although this is not the exact scenario the fact you can rev beyond 4000 revs when in neutral leads the cause to the gearbox and the information it is transmitting. I had a similar problem when I first bought my car and the second gear solenoid failed and it would not rev up beyond 4000 revs and would not change up. It might be a faulty solenoid as they work with the back pressure within the gearbox to gain the optimum moment to facilitate a smooth gearchange. Have you tried the diagnostic codes for the Gearbox as you will get these showing any faults on the electrical curcuit within the gearbox. These are read through the ect light on the dash.

Hi Dale V This issue was covered recently by myself and another Member in the LS400 general discussion section under "strut rods and bushes" I fitted the bushings to the lower arm and the trailing arm hubside on my Mark 1 and they are perfect replacements with no hassles, unfortunatly the other member had issues because the rear suspension was changed on the Models produced after 94. I cannot comment further on the issues as I did not have them ,but I think if you read the post and check out the workshop tip that accompanies the post it might help you to make a decision.

Hi Fellow Lexuns Having read this discription It reminds me of a ls400 catD front axle I bought 6 years ago for the spares.It was the exact year younger copy of my car I stripped everything that didn'nt stop it running including the bonnet boot and front wings.I swapped the front seats as they had only done 80k mine had done 140k.All of the ECUS apart from engine gearbox.all of the electrics and stowed the lot .as the car was the same colour the body swaps if needed will be simple in fact I have swapped the bonnet as I dropped a piece of wood on the original from the garage roof space. I then sold the shell to some one who was building a kit car.After taking out my costs and the sale price to him The stow of spares and replacements set me back £95. On the sublect of a failed starter motor if anyone would like to bring on a heart attack check out the tutorial on Lexls .

Hi Jim If you check through the various forums on the LS400 ,Mechanical, general discussions, workshop tips, most of the questions you pose will be answered. There as been a recent discussion on rear end bushings under that very subject , your questions are answered there.With regards to spare body parts ebay is a good source and there are two or three excellent sites that regularly put spares up for buy it now. I have found over the years I have owned a LS400 that using second hand consumables like bushing related wearing parts is a false economy and rarely as a satisfactory outcome. Best of luck with your LS and enjoy.

Hi Fellow Lexuns or ex fellow Lexuns I am starting to feel this thread is losing its direction the point of this forum is to discuss the Lexus Cars and all this talk of 1.4 this and french that is not really Lexus is it. We all have decisions to make in life and changing cars for whatever reason is one of them but to bring one's wife into the arena of ridicule over the choice of car is starting to verge on the ridiculous. Lets not forget the motto of Lexus "In pursuit of Perfection" and leave the tawdry comments to the forums on cars where they are appreciated.

I totally back up Manic Mark on the benefits of keeping the Lexus My car is twenty one years old I have owned it for sixteen .Over that time it as cost with the purchase price about twenty one thousand and it is probably good for another 10 years it as less than £400 pounds spent on it in the last five years in consumable parts replacements.The government should award free road tax to anyone keeping a car running for over twenty years as the cost to the environment is a mutiple save against the cost of producing a new car. I can do any of the jobs it needs doing and it as not lost the quality that was built into it twenty one years ago. I cannot see me driving anything else down to see my daughter in Devon 600 miles away in one trip. I stop twice to refuel and rest, if any one can surpass that in the modern day motor at zero cost, on you go. My wife can cope with the Nine hour journey better than the eight hour flight to New York, which says it all.

Hi with regard to the changing of Engine ECU It is not hard to change, it is under the passenger side front console and is accessed footwell upwards behind the lowest panel of the console, the panel is removed by screws located in that immediate area. On the ECU which is a flat box approx 15cm X 10cm X3cm there are four plugs to the back and one to each side ,these are relays. the ecu plugs only go in there respective sockets so can't be mixed up when reconnecting, they have pressure release clips on the plugs so they don't just pull out, after you have unplugged one of them you will have learned the process for the rest.Make sure you dissconect the battery before removing the ECU and dont start work for at least 5 minutes after dissconecting the battery.

On the front door the rubber weather strip at the bottom is clipped on with three fasteners and can be removed with finger pressure,then remove the clips with a screwdriver (tape up the screwdriver to avoid scratching the panel).remove the three screws and the nut from inside the bottom edge of the door panel one screw to each end and a nut and screw above them. Go to the outside of the door and from the bottom using a flat piece of plastic pry out the moulding from the retaining clips which are clipped onto the door get as close to the clips with the prying tool as possible.When the bottom is all unclipped start the procedure again at the top until the panel is off .Hint ;take it easy and slowly and don't break the clips you will need them to put the moulding back on . The back doors are much the same procedure. Good luck

Hi abs 66 I would agree to some extent with your theory on the sensors but I think according to the troubleshooting section on the engine these would show as fault codes,The theory could be extended to my theory that the ECU is faulty and is assuming these faults ,the thing that will baffle the techs is that as the ECU itself as no fault code when faulty we can't determine it is ECU that is faulty unless we try another one. This post is starting to sound like a situation comedy starring John Cleese, Si!

Hi Mudguts I have only come up with one possible fault which proved to be correct in the oxygen sensor but as you have discovered it is not the fault that is causing the problem. And having eliminated several other contenders and baffled the Lexus techs I think you should try this suggestion as a last shot before you give the car a recycling ticket. If we assume that all is well in the electronic information department from fuel and electrics and this information is reaching the engine and gearbox ecu, there could be the problem.The main engine management ecu could be either mis-interpreting the information or sending out the wrong information ,bearing in mind that the ECU receives information from the gearbox and the engine then processes that information to issue commands to both units . There are a couple of ebayers who regularly sell ls400 parts ,try a different ecu they can be had for £50 . Its worth a shot you can always sell it again if it is not the answer

Hi MalcIn answer to that very question, hopefully ,I remember that when I first got the car and had it regularly serviced at the Lexus dealership a Salesman tried to interest me in the Mark 3 which had just arrived .I informed him as far as Lexus were concerned they could quote for the job of painting the red car I have, black for my funeral,needless to say his sales pitch stalled, never to start again. The only thing that will destroy the car is rust ,I have had to have some cill repairs forward of the rear wheel arch both sides they rust from the inside and on the early cars the rear wheel arches rusted above the wheel but I got onto that early and have contained it, need to go back every couple of years when the paintwork bubbles and base it but I have succeeded so far in keeping it at bay.I have fixed and repaired most everything mechanically that needed renewing through wear and tear. Replaced the climate control lcd myself which involved several dozen emails back and forth with the supplier in California because he supplied a faulty one, I had a very swift sixteen hour electronics lesson in soldering bridges and auxillary pcbs after that experience I feel part of me is in the car now. The recent bushing replacement as given her a new lease of life and I take great pleasure in the fact that after 21 years she is still around.

I though about doing this or trying to reset the ECU. I remember something about ECUs needing to be reset after a new component has been fitted...Have taken it to Lexus MK to see if they can diagnose the problem. The technician sat in it with me and thinks it has a misfire (crap plugs / leads / coil pack). These guys should be able to get to the problem even if I have to replace stuff myself later. This is the problem with cars, you need lots of time to tinker with them, if I had serious time I could have probably tried plugs and tried other stuff. I'm either away with work or on call so dealing with this takes a long time and has to be fitted in. Now I look back I maybe should have taken in straight to the Lexus guys, but then you could be spending lots of money sorting a simple problem. Otherwise it seems to be good...A couple of minor things I can live with or tinker with when I am free. Hi In defence of the Lexus service I can't say that I feel I have paid over the odds for anything they have done on my car in 16 years they will diagnose the problem a lot quicker than anyone else and they will tell you truthfully and precisely what needs doing before they will start any work or replacement of parts. Now if you then resolve to fix the problem somewhere else you have the option,and they don't fall out with you, in fact when I had replacement parts fitted to my LS400 back in 2000 The lexus dealership fitted the parts I had sourced in the USA charging only for the labour but with the proviso there was no guarantee on the parts or subsequent knock on effects to other components. I try to fix the fixable things on my car but inevitably there will come a time that this can only be done in a Lexus workshop and I think in my particular situation that will mean a new Lexus as the values of a 1990 or pennies and any serious engine or transmission fault would spell curtains for this old girl.

Hi Jim It sounds like you have solved the problem by trial and error I was thinking when we did ours that could be a solution to your problem (cutting the sleeves to the same length as the inserted bush) but without seeing it in the flesh was reluctant to do so for obvious reasons. In answer to your Question on the jacking up of the hub to get the trailing arm to fit ,the answer is no, as we had also replaced the lower arm bush first and everything was slack until we torqued up the body side of the trailing arm, we loosened that fixing so we could swing it down out of the way while we got the hub bushes out. We are doing the other side saturday and I will take a few pics to show the methodology of our approach to this task . After our experiences other members will need all the info they can get on what is a very demanding task and should not be attempted without the right tools and someone with a good deal of mechanical experience. Update Saturday Task completed and the ride is superb. It took less than four hours to do this side mainly because we had the tool made up to remove the bushes the trailing arm bush was gone the corrosion was really bad the lower arm bush was failed inside the sphere. Another tip to fellow members undo the bolts not the nuts as the nuts have anchor slots in the washer plate . I had intended to stick some pics on, I am not allowed to put them on this board so I have put the Pics on the workshop tips forum under a reference to this topic . The main thing to remember is be patient it is not a job that can be rushed.

Hi Jim It sounds like you have solved the problem by trial and error I was thinking when we did ours that could be a solution to your problem (cutting the sleeves to the same length as the inserted bush) but without seeing it in the flesh was reluctant to do so for obvious reasons. In answer to your Question on the jacking up of the hub to get the trailing arm to fit ,the answer is no, as we had also replaced the lower arm bush first and everything was slack until we torqued up the body side of the trailing arm, we loosened that fixing so we could swing it down out of the way while we got the hub bushes out. We are doing the other side saturday and I will take a few pics to show the methodology of our approach to this task . After our experiences other members will need all the info they can get on what is a very demanding task and should not be attempted without the right tools and someone with a good deal of mechanical experience.

Hi Jim I have to take on board what you are saying and at this point I cannot argue. They did change the suspension on the LS400 in 94 and it may be that there is some slight differences I am doing all my rear bushes tomorrow so I will report back on the experience. Incidently did you tighten up to the reccomended torque of 130lbs . Hi Jim Well we have just finished one side of the Ls400 mark 1 1990 and it took 6 hours. That is the lower arm bush the trailing arm bush and replacement of the parking brake shoes. The Trailing arm bush had virtually disintigrated within the housing so we had to cut through the outer sheave with a dremel reciprocating saw, it works but is slow because the sheave is made of tough stuff. For the lower arm hub bush we made up a bush puller (To see photos of this device and its methodology go to workshop tips and look for the link to this post)from continuos threaded rod three nuts a large washer and 50 mm of scaffold tube arranged in such a way as to pull the bush out of the housing and into the scaffold tube which sits precisly on the edge of the housing and allows the bush to pass through it on its way out of the housing,because this bush is made with a internal one ended oscillating housing it pulls everything out including the outer metal sheave. The bolts have been in place for 21 years so no amount of torque would have moved them so they needed some help from a oxy torch just to crack the bond. It is important to remember that when using this method of cracking a bond the heat as to land precise on the nut and it is virtually impossible to acheive this with any other form of direct flame, a blow torch or gas gun would not work and would heat everything up as well as the nut. The first side as been a learning curve and we have made a tool that removes the lower arm hub bush in one go so we hope to take less time on the other side. The other problem we encountered was the link arm nut as this just turned the bolt in the ball housing and we could.nt use heat as the link is made of plastic ,in the end we had to vice grip a pair of vice grips around the bolt so we could get the nut off. Reassembly was quite easy and we noticed immediatly how solid the whole suspension had become it really is a revelation.We did recieve in the bush kit for the lower arm a bush for the diff side fixing but on inspection after removing the link arm and trying to move the lower arm around we found it was ok and decided not to replace it.We also found that the bush on the body side of the trailing arm was also ok so we did not replace that either. It seems to be the two Bushes on the Hub that take the real pain and consequently fail also there have been some reports that the polypropolene bushes are much firmer and transmit noise more than the rubber bushes so by leaving the rubber ones body side in place this may reduce that possibility. With regard to your problem on the bolt and sheave size. Our bolt fitted the sheave exactly and when we torqued them up to the 130lbs they were perfect so I can only speak for the Mark 1 on the Bush being an exact replacement.

Hi Jim I have to take on board what you are saying and at this point I cannot argue. They did change the suspension on the LS400 in 94 and it may be that there is some slight differences I am doing all my rear bushes tomorrow so I will report back on the experience. Incidently did you tighten up to the reccomended torque of 130lbs .