AdeV

Starter motor is missing

Accessory belt (or is it the timing belt) is missing (check the empty pulleys)

I'm sure mine has some kind of box over the throttle assembly, but I'd have to check, and that means going out in the rain...

Could be a cracked distributor cap letting moisture in.

Sorry, I've been away for a while (funny how work interferes).... the misfire hasn't been getting any worse, but it's absolutely definitely damp related. After a nice sunny day, she's so eager to fly around the place I've run out of tread on the rears!

I like your dizzy cap theory, as it's cheap to try out.

What's the recommended interval for changing the plugs/leads/coils/etc.?

Cheers,

Ade.

Lexus quite simply wasn't on my radar before the Pistonheads Shed-of-the-Week; I'd been looking for something at about £1k to replace my slowly dying Vauxhall Senator, and everything was either unreliable or rusty.... And then there was the LS400...

I already had my Lexus by the time I saw Clarkson drive the one he shot up, and May drive his very very very very very very slowly... but TBH neither would have put me off. We all know James is Cap'n Slow, and Clarkson didn't like it because of the uninvolved handling - and, it has to be said, it's a very unpredictable car when on or near the edge: I don't like to hoon mine too much; although given a nice empty greasy carpark, I've been known to try a few powerslides :D

But really, I need a limited slip diff before I could really start to like the handling.

Can't help you with the siren... but the black button you mention controls the beeper: If it's latched in, then the car should beep once when you lock it, and twice when you unlock it via the remote control.

Shame about the spoiler and the nasty twin aerials!

Indeed. The aerials especially...

That inspired me too - plus the episode of Top Gear where James May bought one. :)

I was gutted when I saw it was James with the LS400. Lovely chap & all that, and I can just imagine him owning one, but you can't help but wish that it was Clarkson or Hammond who had the LS... at least they'd have put their bloody foot down when doing the chase!

For the 2nd time, the LS400 is PistonHeads' "Shed of the Week" (where "shed" is defined as a car that costs less than £1000 OTR). The first time it was on, about 2 1/2 years ago, I ended up buying one :)

Linkety link: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=21407

nah i mean the key pushes into the lock on the boot but int wont turn, just wont budge and i dont want to break it, its worked fine before this tho!

Mine's a bit like that. Try wiggling the key in the lock a bit, it'll probably work in the end. If not, you could always shoot it up with some WD40?

For now I would start the car from cold at night and have a look under the bonnet to see if you can spot the arcing/tracking main suspect is the RH coil ( passenger side) HT lead as it passes under the timing belt upper cover, there is a gromit there which may not have been refitted correctly so the lead will chafe.

Hmm, no sign of any tracking at all, despite the misfire definitely being present... so. I guess the leads are OK & the problem is either the coil or plugs.

Leaking PAS fluid is, ISTM, the most common fault on the LS400 (Mks 1 & 2 at least). Almost every one sold on eBay mentions it. Mine had work done on it's PAS system on about 1/3rd of its dealer services, according to the receipts, including replacement of the resevoir, the pump, and various pipes. And it STILL leaks. Once I locate the leak (which first involves finding a Round Tuit), I'll try fixing it...

There were some new coils on Fleabay at £38.00 each and a set of leads at £78.00 I can't comment on quality.

Aye, the coils are still there (£39+£5 p&p each) - but the leads are now £105 + £5...

I've just looked again at the JapParts offering, the picture suggests it includes plugs for £180; there's also a picture of a dizzy cap... I'll phone them tomorrow to see what's in the pack.

UPDATE: I phoned them, and ONLY the leads are included (now for £155 inc VAT). Better deals to be had on fleabay...

You also really need to check/replace the distributor caps,rotor arms and plugs at the same time.

Damn, another £50 (£25 per side) - excluding plugs!

For now I would start the car from cold at night and have a look under the bonnet to see if you can spot the arcing/tracking main suspect is the RH coil ( passenger side) HT lead as it passes under the timing belt upper cover, there is a gromit there which may not have been refitted correctly so the lead will chafe.

Running it with a misfire could damage the cats.

That'll be tomorrow's job, then. I do know that the cats could be poisoned; and unfortunately the '94 model will probably fail emissions without the cats. I know you're supposed to have them fitted by law, unless your car is pre-'93, in which case they are optional (even if standard OE).

My Mk2 (UCF10 II) is now fairly consistently misfiring on one bank when cold, especially if the weather is damp. The misfire clears up completely once the engine is fully warmed. I reckon I'm intermittently losing 2 or 3 cyls at a time.

Clearly, I need to do the coils & leads fairly soon; the best prices I've found so far are japparts (£180 for a kit of leads + 2 coils), or ePay (£210, although I may shave a few quid postage off that price). I suppose I'd better phone the local Lexus dealer tomorrow as well - I could use a laugh...

Is it possible to get the bits for less, or should I just be glad they'll do another 180,000 miles (or 0.1p/mile) between them...

Check your PAS fluid level (black knurled lid with a little dipstick on it, on top of a silver drum, on the driver's side near the front). I bet you'll find it's off the bottom of the stick, meaning you have the dreaded PAS fluid leak (fitted as standard to all Mk2 LS400's I believe).

You can double-check without opening the bonnet by turning the steering wheel to full lock (either direction), then gently trying to turn it a bit more. If the whine gets worse, it's the PAS pump demanding a fresh supplication (i.e., oil). Mine leaks so much, I just lob garage ATF in it these days.

The fob turned up yesterday i have tried for an hour to programme it useing the guide given, i get all the way to section 9 , the door locks and unlocks and beeps but when i press the lock on the remote in section 9 nothing happens?

any ideas?

Try holding the button in for longer (up to 5-10 seconds). Try pressing the button quite forcefully, it may just be a mucky contact. If all else fails, try putting a new Battery in the fob. If you know anyone who has CB gear, ask them if it's possible to tune their kit to hear the signals, so you can confirm the fob is working (I've no idea if it IS possible or not, just a wild guess)

I believe that Sainsbury's fuel is straight from BP and just rebranded anyway.

While it's true that the supermarkets get their fuel directly from the same refineries as the branded outlets, it's not necessarily true that they have the same additive package; e.g. V-power IS a Shell-exclusive package, even though Shell almost certainly sell to supermarkets. I've read that the additives are put in the tankers, rather than the fuel stream, but I don't know how true that is.

In my view, the higher octane fuel and all the arguments around better performance and / or economy are just hype.

Up to a point, if your engine ECU adapts properly, then higher octane fuel WILL give you better performance OR economy, depending on how you drive: Foot flat to the floor, you will get better performance; if you take it steady, then you'll see better economy.

The reason is simple: higher octane fuel burns in a more controlled fashion than low octane; it's less prone to detonation (pinking). You can advance your ignition nearer to the ideal spot (wherever that is...) to maximise power output for a given fuel quantity.

But, there's a caveat: Many people won't even notice the difference between Super & normal unleaded. If your car's ECU doesn't detect & alter the ignition timing, you'll see no benefit; and if you're after economy, you have to take into account the higher price of the fuel in your cost/savings analysis. But, if you want performance, there's no substitute.

Instructions can be found here: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...?showtopic=9825

(Thanks to Ruud, who sent me that link originally)

Don't worry about going too slowly. I just paced it so I was pressing a button every second or so, and it worked fine. There were no beeps either, but when I programmed it the beeper was turned off which may be why.

I bought a 1995 Mk3 LS400 and all i have is a normal key, the car has central locking but no remote fob.

i want remote locking on a fob but i am unsure how to ahieve this.

Under the bonnet is a alarm siren. I spoke to a mechanic friend and he told me all the LS400s mk 3s has an aftermarket alarm with the remote locking, fitted when they arrive in the uk ? I bought a blank key with the 3 button from fleabay but this is the wrong one.

In fleabay usa they sell the standard remotes but can they be used. Can they be programmed?

Basically what do i need to get the remote locking facility, can i replace the fob or do i have to get an new aftermarket alarm fitted with remote locking?

4 Button Remote Link

That remote fob looks spot on. It might be worth double-checking with Lexus that your alarm is original equipment; but, if it is - and if you can get one of those fobs, there's a set of programming instructions (I'll dig the link out for you later) which work just fine.

Did the old man's '96 Mk3 a couple of weeks ago, it worked first time & he's as happy as larry now.

There's a significant difference between idle speeds on my Mk2 with the AC off (around 450rpm) and AC on (850rpm). When the AC clutch kicks out, the revs drop to around 300 before picking back up to 450.

In near stationary traffic, I have to use the brake to hold the car back when the AC is active; which means as soon as the AC kicks off, the revs drop & I come to a dead halt... but if the AC kicks in while I'm drifting with traffic, then the car tries to lunge forwards - not badly, but annoyingly.

Therefore, I also turn the AC off when in traffic; unless it's so hot that it would be unbearable.

It's never bothered me, however, as every AC-equipped car I've ever driven does exactly the same thing...

Changing the rear suspension springs this weekend. This is, if i can get the rear seats out.

Ive worked out that the rear suspension units must bolt up through the body shell under the rear parcel shelf. But how do you get the rear seat backs out. ??????

Cant find any bolts or clips and dont want to break anything through brute force.

You have to take the rear seat base out first, that reveals a number of bolts to undo in the seat back. There's at least one bolt (maybe 2?) hiding behind the base of the armrest too.

I can't remember if the seat base just pulls out, or whether it, too, is bolted in.

Here's a thought.... what if I imported a whole car from the US, which "just happened" to have a boot, errr trunk full of spares such as ignition cables, water pump, timing belt, etc...?

I'm hoping to sod off to live in Europe in a couple of years, and I want a left-hand-drive Lexus. Since the LS400 doesn't appear to have been sold anywhere in mainland Europe, I'm assuming a US model is my best option. AIUI, importing an older car from the States doesn't attract VAT or duty?

Hi Ade,

I purchase items from the States for my 76 Cadillac CDV and import fees are a problem, you need to do your calculations bearing in mind the following.

exchange rate

shipping cost.

you pay import VAT on items over £18.

duty on items over £120.

you are allowed a gift free of duty if it is valued no more than £36.

the worst thing is the Parcel Force handling fee. they pay the import fees for you when your items arrive so that customs release the goods, you then have to pay Parcel Force the duties paid + a handling fee it's a complete RIP OFF and there is no way round it, don't pay and you lose your goods,

An example being a recent purchase of mine VAT was £22.55 Parcel Force clearance fee £13.50, thats right £13.50 for them paying £22.55, the clearance fee goes up the more they pay, I only buy Caddy parts if there is no way to purchase the items over here. Asking companies to tell porkies about the value of goods is an offence for both the seller and the buyer.

Hi cdx - thanks for the reply.

I must admit, I'd not taken VAT & duty into account... I could probably get a friend in the States to receive & re-post them with altered customs info, but that's a risk... I'll have to re-calculate & see what the damage is buying UK parts vs. US parts including vat & duty. I'd use a non-parcelfarce courier (Fedex probably), I agree that PF are thieves when it comes to import fees.

My LS400 has started to exhibit a slight misfire when it's cold & damp. It always clears up once the car's warmed up properly, but I presume the coil, dizzy cap and/or leads are starting to break down. It's also working up to being time to change the timing belt (another 10k miles).

UK prices for plugs, leads & timing belts are ludicrous, but there's some good prices on eBay US. For example:

Ignition leads & plugs: $160

Timing belt & pump $160

So, $320 for all the major bits; even with $100 for shipping that's only about £260. Worthwhile purchase? Or am I better off buying in the UK?

I emailed a company about a belt kit - here's the reply:

We have the Timing Belt Kit & Water Pump for your 1999 model in stock prices as follows

Timing Belt Kit £169.99

Water Pump £136.99

We can also supply full detailed fitting instructions for the Timing Belt Kit if required.

Has anyone used them?

http://www.carparts-direct.co.uk/Timing_Belt_Kits.cfm

Pete

You could buy a timing kit + pump from eBay US for $150 + postage (maybe another $40 or $50). Even $250 is only about £155, or less than the price of the timing belt...

I've never seen pads as bad as you describe, even on a car which stood (admittedy, indoors) for 7 years. But the advice is good, especially on a car you've just recently bought: Check important stuff like brake line corrosion, brake pad wear/corrosion, disk wear/cracking, caliper condition, etc. It's not rocket science; if you can't see the pipes or pads behind the scabs of rust, get 'em fixed!

what colours range do the ls400 come in?

I see the more difficult questions have been asked, so I'll take the easy one

As the LS was (is, even) a luxury executive saloon, the colours tend to be pretty sober and fairly dark: So, dark blue, dark green, black, silver (light & dark versions), grey, and white. Most are metallic (not sure about the white ones), and some are two-tone (green over silver, for example)

Ironically, the dog-rough Mk3 I saw (subject of another thread) also had the nicest colour (IMHO), a sort of wine-bottle green metallic over silver.

Interior seems to be a choice of black, cream or grey/blue. All made out of dead cattle, of course. No velours were harmed in the making of the Lexus interior :winky:

I'd also recommend Lexus pads - they're surprisingly reasonable, considering the price of other Lexus gear. If your wear sensor wires are buggered (like mine), prepare for an eye-watering 60 quid (for a piece of wire!)