alanr

Just to clarify the situation on the water pump - the vvti engine fitted to Mk 4s has a slightly different water pump to previous models, and has a gasket rather than the instant gasket sealant from a tube used previously. A genuine Lexus pump will come complete with gasket in the box. Non OEM pumps may or may not have the gasket supplied. Regards, Alan

This subject of ATF oil changes crops up on the forum fairly regularly over the years, and always seems to divide into two camps - the 'dos' and the 'do nots'. On the Mk 4 the service schedule is for a fluid change every second 'B' service, ie at 36.000, 72,000, 108,000 etc. In Lexus speak "Fluid change" means drain what ATF is in the oil pan and replenish - normally about two litres can be drained off this way. This does not constitute a flush of the transmission, of which approximately a further ten litres of ATF will be held in the torque converter, transmission cooler, pumps and associated pipework. My last service at a main Lexus agent was at 108,000 miles back in 2008, and despite being previously assured that all items on the schedule would be carried out, all they actually did was a standard B service without reference to overall mileage or time. When I queried the lack of fluid change, the Service Manager stated that the transmission fluid on the dipstick was a nice colour, and didn't need changing. Quite true, the dipstick oil did present a fairly healthy pink complexion, but as others have noted, this is not necessarily indicative of the true state of affairs. I therefore decided to do a fluid drain and refill myself. The fluid that came out was not pink and healthy when viewed in bulk, and had a distinctly purple/brown colour, with non of the clarity of new Type IV fluid. Proof positive that appearances can be deceptive when viewing the oil condition via the dipstick. Quite by accident, I discovered that after having left my car with its nose up in the air overnight on a set of ramps, a further three litres of ATF could be drained out of the pan, having drained back down from the torgue converter etc. So, five litres of fresh Type IV later, I had a dipstick that really did look "in the pink", and still does. I'm not an advocate of flushing auto boxes unless absolutely necessary - it can sometimes disturb sediment and cause more problems than it cures. I am however an advocate of draining two litres out every 36,000 and replenishing, as per the Lexus schedule. Aisin gearboxes are generally very reliable indeed, but I can't help but feel that the drain and refill has been put in the schedule for a good reason. For those who have horrible brown sludge or the smell of burnt ATF fluid, I see little alternative but to try and replace as much of the fluid as is practical. Regular drains and refills may just have the edge over a full blown flush. The one thing that I would emphasise is the importance of using Toyota's Type IV fluid in the Aisin gearbox - they tend not to like Dexron or other alternatives, no matter what the manufacturer's claims as to meeting the correct specification. Regards, Alan

Hi, The vast majority of front end creaks during hot dry weather can be traced to the anti-roll bar bushes drying out. These bushes are mounted on the main chassis frames and any noise generated seems to be amplified by their position. If the creak disappears during wet weather then put your money on dry anti-roll bushes if all other sources have already been eliminated. (Water acts as a lubricant for rubber, hence the reason for an increased chance of a puncture occurring during wet weather) Part of the problem is that the inner faces of the bushes are not accessible because of the front undershield. Removal of the front undershield and application of silicon grease to both sides of the bush will work wonders. When I first bought my own LS I had a very creaky front end during hot weather - I now smear a dab of silicon grease on front and rear anti-roll bar bushes whenever my own personal creaks and groans allow me to work under the car, which isn't that often these days. The bushes are still the originals and have never been changed. A quick squirt of WD40 will have the same effect but will not be a long lasting cure for these creaks. Regards, Alan

Hi Harry, Perhaps I can suggest that when you have your replacement compressor fitted, you have the system re-gassed and pressure checked thoroughly by an A/C specialist who knows his onions. Two compressors in 100k is not normal for Lexus. Also, the history of the previous owner's A/C problems tends to indicate a deeper problem that needs to be accurately diagnosed. These systems are as a general rule inherently reliable. The fact that the drive pulley has sheared tends to suggest that the compressor has suffered a catastrophic internal failure and lockup - most likely to be the swash plate and associated pistons. As a cautionary tale, before I became a convert to Lexus, one of my cars was a Mercedes Benz E Class, which was a real pain in the wallet for me. I went through two A/C compressors within six months, both suffering catastrophic internal failures and lockups. It was only when I took the car to an A/C specialist that it was discovered that there was a problem with a sensor somewhere in the system which allowed one side of the high pressure/low pressure system to over-pressurize sufficiently to cause the compressor to lock up. I can no longer remember the exact details, but I do recall that the sensor concerned was buried somewhere within the structure of the car and not accessible without major stripping. MB had no idea how the system worked - they just fitted new parts, re-gassed the system and sent me on my way each time. They certainly couldn't even begin to diagnose the problem properly. If I can manage to look out the invoices for that car, I will post which sensor was changed to cure the problem. However, I'm not overly confident that I will still have that information, as it will be over ten years ago now. Please post the results of your repair, as it's a bit of an unusual problem and will certainly add to the corporate knowledge of the forum. Regards, Alan

Hi Russ, The rear struts will come out from under the wheel arch without compressing the spring in situ. It's a little bit of a fiddle but pretty much covered fully in the youtube video. I changed my rear struts and springs last year and the only difference in procedure was that I removed the rear calipers and caliper brackets for better access, rather than loosening the rear anti-roll bar. Apart from that the video echoed my own experience very closely. I found that the rear seat removal and refit took just as much time as changing the struts and refitting the rear seat squab was a bit of a PITA when doing it singlehanded. The only other advice I would offer is to bolt the strut up loosely with the three top mounts before trying to align the lower eye bush. I held the suspension arm up with a small hydraulic jack and did the final alignment with a tapered drift to get the lower bolt started. As in the video, the second side went far quicker than the first. Not an easy-peasy job for the beginner, but not particularly difficult. A little bit of brute force required here and there. The rubber gaiters over the strut tube are part of the upper rubber mount, and mine were also well past their sell-by date. I didn't like the price of new top mounts so I too cut them off and am running without those gaiters now. Regards, Alan

Hi Roy, Thanks for the reply - it's always nice to know that a post has been of use to a fellow member. Having just re-read my own post above, I have belatedly realised that what I actually wrote wasn't quite what I meant. What I actually meant was that a proper screen wash is far preferable to plain water or the use of washing up liquid as an additive. I didn't mean a good quality screen wash as opposed to a poor quality screen wash. I actually buy screen wash by the gallon container from a local supermarket or DIY centre. The current brand is Homebase, but I suspect that it may well be identical to most other brands. During really cold weather (Minus 5 or below) I stick in 10% of industrial alcohol to lower the freezing point. I live in Rutland - fairly central middle England, and have lived in this area since the 1970s, but I am still not regarded as even vaguely local. I am old enough to remember the introduction of screen washers, and well recall driving a 1956 Ford 100E Van armed with a Squeezy washing-up liquid bottle full of water, and held at arms length out of the window to wash the screen when necessary. "Necessary" in this instance means when the local constabulary asked for a roadside demonstration of the screen washer. Sufficient to pass the letter of the law in those days, but possibly not in the spirit of the law. I have become slightly less of a rebel since those days, but often recall those motoring days with fondness. Regards, Alan

Blimey. I wrote that nearly six years ago now. I am still on the same car, with the same wiper settings. I now buy the cheap aerofoil blades off ebay, and replace them every year, which is about as long as they are likely to last without squeaking. A good quality screen wash pays dividends in removing the traffic film from the screen. It also doesn't freeze in winter. Regards, Alan

Hi Andy, Have just measured an old Mk 4 rear spring, which has an overall uncompressed height of 405mm, an overall diameter of 140mm, and 6.5 coils top to bottom. There may have been some minor tiredness in this spring. The distance from rear hub centre to lower lip of wheel arch on my Mk 4 is 370mm on both sides - say 14.5 inches. Measured with full fuel, empty boot, standard 16 inch wheels and new springs fitted 9 months ago. Have also just had a look at KYB's online catalogue, and the RD5979 spring is a completely different design to all later variants. The RD spring is a Type AB and has one end cropped and the other end ground flat. All subsequent springs are Type BC and have the top coil ground flat and a pigtail lower coil. On the face of it I would have to say that it would be impossible to interchange Type AB and BC, although possibly there is a gorilla out there somewhere who will lay claim to having done it. I will try and attach the relevant page from KYB's catalogue to illustrate the differences. One thought does occur to me - the Catalogue entry for RD5979 does not distinguish which way up the spring is fitted. Clutching slightly at straws, do you think that you may have had a visitation from a "Gorilla in Training" and had the springs fitted upside down? With one cropped end against a surface designed for a ground coil face this would certainly raise the ride height quite dramatically. Regards, Alan

Hi, KYB do mark their springs, but they are quite difficult to read, especially when fitted to the car. I have a brand new LS400 front spring in front of me at the moment, and it is stencilled in a dark grey paint around the third coil up from the lower end. The contrast between the stencilling and the black powder coating is very poor. On my spring here it is stencilled as follows - KYB RG3071 45/11 RG3071 is correct for a Mk 4 front spring, and I would suspect that 45/11 refers to a manufacture date of week 45 of 2011. I am sure that I have got a couple of old Mk 4 rear springs skulking around somewhere - I will look one out over the weekend and measure the uncompressed length. I realise that it's not a useful measurement for you at this moment in time, but if you do remove a strut to investigate your springs then you will at least have something to compare it with. As far as I am aware there is precious little difference between the Mk 3 and Mk 4 rear spring. I've not owned a Mk 2 so have no great knowledge of them. I wouldn't be at all surprised if KYB weren't able to provide you with the uncompressed lengths and coil details of these springs. An email to them may well pay dividends. Regards Alan

Hi Andy, KYB have certainly been OEM suppliers of springs and shock absorbers for the LS400 but whether they were sole OEM suppliers is anybody's guess. There were four different KYB rear springs fitted as follows - Aug 1992 to Oct 1994 - RD5979 Oct 1994 to Jul 1996 - RG6458 Aug 1996 to Jul 1997 - RG6459 Aug 1997 to Oct 2000 - RG6460 Interestingly, KYB don't give a reference to the pre 1992 cars. I suspect that you may well have the wrong springs in your car - do you know what KYB part no. you were supplied with? Regards, Alan

Hi Tom, I bought one last summer straight from Amayama in Japan for £142 plus carriage. As far as I recall there was no import duty by HM Customs. Part No for mine was 48790-59025 (Arm Assembly Upper) I think the carriage was about £40 for air freight, and I had it within a few days. The arm comes complete with bushes and includes the self-locking nut for the ball joint. Regards, Alan

Just to add a little bit of clarification to this ongoing discussion on cambelt service intervals. When the Mk 4 LS400 was introduced with the VVT engine, there were some changes made to the front of the engine compared with the Mk 3. Of principal interest to this thread is the new cambelt, water pump and one of the idlers (I can't remember off the top of my head whether it was No 1 or No 2 idler) that were fitted to the VVT engine. The other idler and belt tensioner were carried over from the Mk 3 engine. During production of the Mk 4 the service interval for cambelt changes was stated as 63k. I have no reason to believe that Lexus have ever officially revised this interval upwards, and feel that with the newest LS400 now being 13 years old, any future revision is consdered unlikely. However, the cambelt and associated idlers fitted to the Mk 4 were carried over to the LS430 - same items, same part numbers. The cambelt service interval for the LS430 is 100k / 10 years, whichever occurs first. The cambelt is part no 13568-59095, later superceded by part no 13568-09070. Both part nos relate to the same item. Common sense and logic generally dictates that an item with a service life of 100k / 10 years fitted to an LS430 should have the same life expectancy when fitted to an LS400. I have certainly made this assumption with my own car, although I do have to admit that the first cambelt change was carried out several years ago at 63k. The next one will be carried out at the 10 year interval as I am extremely unlikely to reach 163k before the 10 years is up. Also, at my age this will certainly be my last ever cambelt change. The generally perceived wisdom with these VVT engines is to replace the water pump at every second cambelt change. With all the embuggeration needed to strip the front of these engines, a new pump is a small price to pay for peace of mind. As a general rule there seems little evidence to suggest that the idlers suffer from excessive wear, although once again I shall change both idlers and the belt tensioner on my own car when the time comes. (I have always been slightly OTT with maintenance) For those owners who are new to the Lexus V8, a first glance under the bonnet can lead many to think that the water pump is driven from the rear of the fan by means of the serpentine belt. The pump is actually driven from the reverse (non-toothed) side of the cambelt, and a siezed pump can ruin your entire day, to say nothing of the damage inflicted on an interference engine. If anybody out there has seen a cambelt service revision from Lexus, do please share it with us. Regards, Alan

Hi Barry, Failure of this type of link is a fairly common problem throughout the Lexus/Toyota range. Solutions to this problem have in the past ranged from the use of meat skewers to fully engineered replacement links. My own solution is shown below, and a number of other posters have arrived at similar solutions over the years. You may care to investigate Part No 48906-60010, which is a Landcruiser item of similar, and possibly identical dimensions. This item is currently available on ebay for about £60, but may well be available elsewhere far cheaper. Any competent enginer can manufacture one of these links quickly and cheaply. Regards, Alan

Hi, When mine snapped about three years ago I made a replacement from a pair of 6mm Morse marine cable ball joints and a short length of 6mm stainless steel studding. Total cost about £12, which was an awful lot less than Lexus wanted, and will last a lot longer. Kind regards, Alan

Hi Martin, There's a clip at either side of the vents - there are some good photos of the aperture in this link together with a writeup, although I don't have a photo of the rear of the vents themselves. I have a feeling the clips may possibly be plastic and moulded integrally with the vents. They can be difficult to remove if you are not aware of how they clipped in. http://evansweb.info/2009/11/15/ls400-centre-console-illumination-repair-part-1 Hope this is of use to you. Regards, Alan

There is quite a bit of information available on all the forums, a 'how-to' guide with photographs can be found here - http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls400/343856-all-in-one-power-steering-fix-s-solenoid-acv-plug-drain-flush-bleed-system-diy.html Regards, Alan

Hi Adam, Whilst the power steering pump can be troublesome on the LS400, your symptoms may possibly point to a blocked solenoid strainer/filter on the rack itself. I've never cleaned mine, and as far as I am aware the strainer is not available as a spare part. However, it does seem to be relatively easy to remove and refit. A blocked strainer is a known problem, and is highlighted on the LOC forums, especially on the USA forum, also the Toyota forum. Continuing to run with a blocked strainer will impose very high pressures on the pump and hoses, and will probably cause further problems. If your strainer has blocked, then hopefully you will have caught it in time and saved the expense of a new PS pump. It is well worth having a Google for "LS400 blocked steering rack solenoid filter" or similar. Hope this is of some help to you. Regards, Alan

Hi Nick, The Mk 4 gearbox for the UK market in 1999 had the part no 35010-50121 on a large yellow label attached to the top of the gearbox housing. There is also a small blue Aisin label down on the right side. There may well be other part nos for the identical item, as Toyota seem to have a habit of issuing updated part nos on a regular basis. See attached photos for comparison with the ebay item. Regards Alan

Hi, They are tuned mass dampers - one to each downpipe, and are there to prevent any unwanted resonance and vibration/noise in the front part of the exhaust. Regards, Alan

Hi, If this is the normal starter motor problem (solenoid clicks but motor does not run) then a solenoid repair kit is available from www.repairkitsuk.com tel Carl Dawes on 07500 197742. The kit comprises solenoid plunger, copper side contacts and insulators, and cost me the grand total of £15.95 including vat last month. For a Mk 4 LS400, you need to specify a vvti UCF20 solenoid kit, as they are different to earlier marks. Removing and refitting the starter motor is a long job on the Lexus, as it sits down in the Vee of the block under the inlet manifolding. There are some good tutorials on the internet, and much has been written on the subject on both UK and USA forums. If your problem is other than solenoid related, I can only suggest a breakers yard or a Nippon-Denso repair specialist. Regards, Alan

Hi Philip, Welcome to the LOC. I have had an MOT advisory about 3 years ago on my 1998 Mk 4 for surface corrosion to the rear subframe. However, the subframe is a pretty robust item, and in my case the corrosion was made to look far worse by old underseal and paint peeling off it. I have subsequently jacked up the back end, pressure washed and scraped the flaking underseal off, and then given the entire subframe a liberal brushing with old sump oil, which has transformed the old beast. I am not aware of anybody having changed a rear subframe through corrosion, although I stand ready to be corrected on this. It may well be that the MOT tester concerned was a bit over-zealous with his failure certificate. I can only advise that you have a good look yourself to see if the corrosion is serious or merely surface and cosmetic. The brake pipes run above the top of the subframe, and they are certainly prone to corrosion after 10 or 12 years, so these may be now past their best. I can't help but feel that if the drive home was good, with no feeling of excessive wander or rear wheel steering, then the back end may not be as bad as it first appears. If you do need a subframe, then Maurice (Benfur) on this forum will most like be able to help you out as he breaks LS400s for a living - he is a very helpful chap. Regards Alan

Actually it's not too bad a job to do, and well within the realm of a DIY mechanic. You will need a decent quality socket set, and also an Allen headed socket to hold the anti-roll bar link steady while you undo the nut. There are several available lower ball joints on ebay for about £25 - just do a search for LS400 lower suspension ball joint. As Parrot of Doom says - the anti-roll bar rubbers can cause horrendous noise, particularly during dry weather. I spray mine with silicone grease, which keeps them nice and quiet, but they are easy enough to replace if required. Regards, Alan

Have just checked on mine and there is no rubber strip between the headlamp and bumper. The gap is minimal - you could probably just about slip a knife blade in there. The adjustment for the lamps is on the rear of the housing, and not very accessable. Regards Alan

Hi, You may well find the rear height sensor link has snapped - they are a bit prone to this. The front links tend to stay intact. If this is the case, look at the following site for repair information. - http://evansweb.info/2009/11/23/ls400-ride-height-sensor-repair After I replaced my rear link I had to adjust both headlamps, and found the easiest way was to take the headlamps out and adjust the beam a quarter turn each time until the correct setting was achieved. I chalked a mark on the brickwork to make it a bit easier. Trying to adjust the lamps when they are installed was too difficult for me. Perhaps if I had small hands it might have been possible. From memory, I don't think there is a rubber strip between lamp and bumper, but I will check in the morning for you. regards, Alan

Hi, This is not an uncommon situation now that the Mk 4 is 13 years old. They were introduced as a requirement with HID headlamps, and are mounted on the front and rear lower off side suspension arms. When my rear one broke, I made a new one from a couple of small marine ball joints and a length of 5mm stainless studding. Sod's law being what it is, I came across the following link about three months afterwards. http://evansweb.info/2009/11/23/ls400-ride-height-sensor-repair Regards Alan