Stupot

Yes, I was thinking that... there are often 'spoof' adverts on ebay for high end items that are objects of desire (the LS clearly fits that category ) that are basically fraudsters hoping you are so desperate to have the item at the 'bargain' price that you will send them payment/deposit in advance etc etc. I'm not saying that's the case here, just that I have seen it before when I was looking for an RX400h on ebay. The pictures and often the sellers ID get lifted from another genuine ad.

Welcome aboard, I know your going to enjoy your ride.

Mine also work without the key in or in the on position (Mk4 1998 LS400) so I'd assume that's normal, but it did take me by surprise the first time I discovered this. I wander what other circuits are permanently live. It can not help with battery drain down issues.

I think that's some 'gaffer' or carpet tape, so probably a tear there.

Yep, pretty much exactly my thoughts when I spotted this on ebay last night. The interior looks higher miles than 56k, and as you say, far from showroom condition with that exterior repair.

Those bonnet stays arrived, I've fitted them and they seem good. Although less chunky than the originals, they are way more powerful. I had to re-use the original attachment nuts with ball ends and to get them out of the old units involved hack sawing the old cups in order to prize them apart enough to pry them out. So not totally starlight forward, but for just under £17 for the pair delivered... I'm happy. Thanks again Simon for the tip.

Yep, I use replacement cut to length rubbers (slide into existing wiper), cheap from local car part store. My main bug bare is they ALL seem to squeak these days which is highly irritating on a long drive in the rain. Are expensive ones silent? if so I might have to bite the bullet.

Here you go Pete https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-Series-E30-Car-Electric-Aerial-Replacment-Antenna-13-Different-Adaptors/251064089005?hash=item3a7495f9ad:g:VkAAAOSwAN1bvz4W:rk:1:pf:1&frcectupt=true

I've ordered some bonnet struts, thanks for the info.

Has the EML gone off? If it has and the car is running fine, I'd just wait and see if it comes back before proceeding down any expensive avenues.

Malc, have you noticed any change in the driving experience after having this done. Did the new UCA's cause any vibration/wobble/steering probs after fitting?

Stuart, like you I was planning on trying the soldering myself... but I bottled it before I even removed the ECU, mainly because I found that local repair chap and knew he was going to do a MUCH better job than me and I hoped he would not be too expensive. The name of the chap at dieselecurepairs.co.uk is Neville. I should stress to both you Stuart and Andy, if you use his services, that Neville did not want to give me a quote until he had the ECU open and could assess damage/time required to replace the caps. So I would not necessarily bank on it being £40. Sad to hear that the replacement caps have not resolved your problem Stuart. I had a couple of incidents where the 'Check engine' light came on and car went in limp mode. Stopping and restarting car cleared it, so it seemed a bit random. So far, since the caps replacement, I have not had that problem again, but it's too early to really say for sure considering the infrequency of the problem.

As it could be so many possibilities, I'd either purchase my own code reader or try and find a local indy garage or mobile auto electrician etc who will read the fault code for you... I know it'll cost a few quid, but it will give you a starting point, otherwise you are just shooting in the dark. They might clear the codes and light and job done if all is currently well.

Just to add... you are right in as far as the chap that replaced the capacitors in my ECU told me I was lucky because there was no leakage or damage to the board. He said if there had been damage, then things get very time consuming and thus can get very expensive. So worth doing the ECU preemptively! Edit: Copy n paste error...that quote above is not from me, but from runsgrateasanut

Luckily, because of your posts Stuart and others on the USA Lex forum, I was well prepped to find the hidden glovebox nut and then give it a good pull to remove it. I agree... I was nervous about buying those ECU caps kits on ebay as I was aware of there being fakes around from the USA thread, indeed, I started a thread on here asking if anyone knew about the seller or if it was a forum member etc, but no replies, so i guess no one knew. I took a punt anyway and bought a kit. The seller on ebay is also selling some Lexus diff oil and the other items they have for sale make me think they are genuine. So I purchased a second kit of ECU caps for a 98-2000 LS just in case I changed my LS for another in the future. The second kit of ECU caps came in a small bag with some 'Digi-key' labelling which gave me comfort as this is the recommended USA outlet for buying the caps from. Lastly... I watched the guy take my ECU apart and remove the first capacitor and clean up so he knew how long it was going to take him in order to give me a quote.... he said come back in an hour, which I did, he had just finished and he had the old removed capacitors to show me. He knew his stuff and he was proud to show me his special flux which you can not buy anymore. He's obviously been doing this kind of work for decades. This was the outfit I used https://www.dieselecurepairs.co.uk/

Hope I did not make the ECU removal sound too difficult, I'm sure you could do it. Imagine you've got your Freeview TV box, separate HiFi system, Broadband router etc all behind the glovebox of your car, all you have to do is remove the glovebox and un-hook them all (take photos of every step to aid re-install) and then put them back and re-hook them all up... sometimes while lying on your back in the front footwell. It's awkward, but not difficult.

I've just removed/re-installed my 98 LS ECU and I have to say it was not super easy, but do-able with a 6/10 PITA factor.... the Scoty Kilmer video rather craftily does not show the removal of the upper bracket nut which is behind another small box of electrical tricks with it's own little bracket that hides the upper nut... this little box does not seem to budge, but wiggle wiggle got it out, eventually!! But as Stuart says, your 93 LS ECU is laying differently, so hopefully easier to remove. I purchased the ECU capacitors separately as a kit from ebay and I had a local ECU repair company remove the old and solder them in for £40 (took about an hour). Repair prices I've seen quoted on here range from £30-£80, so £150 sounds a lot. I don't think you should sell the car until you've tried replacing the ECU capacitors. Check this thread out https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-1st-and-2nd-gen-1990-2000/656360-all-my-crazy-lexus-issues-solved-ecu-leaking-capacitor.html

Thanks for that update Matt. There is little doubt that various suspension parts on my 160k LS will be a contributing factor to the occasional steering wobble/vibration I experience between 60-70 mph, but I find it interesting that the vibration seems to be worse when the drive train is working harder (up hill. acceleration etc) than when the car is coasting on the flat or going down hill. Thus my interest in the trans mount.

Yes, I guess once you've factored in the costs of decent bushes and the labour... fitting complete OEM UCA's looks attractive at the costs you've managed from Amayama

Resurrecting this thread as I've just replaced the ECU caps on my Mk4 1998 LS400. ECU was a pain to remove. Found a fantastic local PCM repair chap who soldered them in for me for £40. Re-install was pretty straight forward. I followed the advice to turn the key to 'run' but not start to let the ECU acclimatise for a minute or so (lots of whirring noise, VSC check light came on, then off etc) Fired up great, to huge relief. This was all done in a day, removal, repair, re-install. But I was lucky the repair chap was down the road and did it straight away. First thing I noticed on driving, I did not need to ease the accelerator pedal from standstill or near standstill to avoid the power take up 'jolt'. So tranny seems smoother from start. More low end power accelerating off the slip road. I did have a rough idle when gear in drive but at stop for first 10-15 mins (after warm up but before fully hot). This happened for my first two short drives. So I took the car for an hours run on the dual carriageway and now the ECU seems to have learnt and that problem no longer exists. So... all good. Hopefully in time I will discover if it's cured the random engine limp mode problem that I experienced twice in the last two months. That problem was cured by pulling over, stopping car and re-starting when it then ran as if nothing had happened... fault code read O2 sensor which can apparently be a ECU cap warning sign.

Matt... aware of your other thread...'Keep. Scrap. or Save' thread. I was going to order a transmission mount, but now re-reading your other thread, it sounds like the transmission mount replacement did not cure your vibration issues after all? Or did it help a bit? Cheers. Stu

Thanks Pete. That's a very useful article and confirmed my concerns on the poly bushes... more noise, more vibration, harsher ride.... all the things you don't want from your waft-tastic LS400 Before digging too deep into UCAs, I'm going to order and fit a new transmission mount as they are relatively cheap (if ordering from USA ebay) and easy to fit. Might cure some vibrations according to this thread.

Just like Pete... I'm looking into UCA replacement as I'm getting judder/vibration between 60-70. (already replaced tyres and had them balanced) The rear UCA's came up as an advisory at last MOT, so probably the culprit. I notice there are several press in bushes for the rear UCA's on ebay for not lots of money, Is this an option you looked into Malc? I know not every garage will want muck about with pressing the old out and the new in etc, but I'm hopeful I can find someone. But then that still leaves the pin bush of the UCA which I guess is why complete replacement is inevitable? An example of some bushes I've seen on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lexus-LS-400-Rear-Upper-Arm-New-Poly-Polyurethane-PSB-Bushing-Kit-5-1989-8-2000/183252926870 Great that your LS is feeling better for the work you've recently done Malc.

Phil... If I owned yours, I would not sell it for nine grand either, but out of interest, would you buys yours now for £9k if you did not already own it?

Thanks Flying Scotsman for replying to this thread to give us your sellers perspective and some dealer insight into higher end of the market for LS400, all interesting stuff. As a non car trade casual armchair observer of the market I can only guess at the market price by observing vehicles for sale, their asking price / verses and how quickly they seem to sell. Whereas dealers have more access to actual selling price data. My observations on the LS400 market at the moment (and it's always changing) is that once the mileage goes over about 140,000, they become less and less appealing unless they are in exceptional condition with great service history. Very low mileage and very nice examples such as yours, well, it's not so much about asking the market price because the market is small, thus a price is hard to judge. Instead, it seems to become a fishing expedition, waiting patiently for that one bite... and indeed, your bate looks mighty fine, so good luck with your sale.