beavisrules

mk1 & 11 engines , up to 1995 models were non interferance. mk111 onwards had some performance upgrades meaning valves nearer piston surfaces. personaly I'd only trust the main dealer with a cambelt change. done badly it'll be as bad/worse than a broken belt anyway. they do cost more , but then they also pay thier mechanics more. I live down the road from the chelt lexus/toyota dealer and have mechanics in the family , who would also take it there if it was thier LS. Also haven't heard any bad storys about them either. Myself am just planning on never changing the belt , its just as easy (possibly even easyer) to change a whole engine , which are pretty cheap :3

I thought the needle lights were a high voltage flourecent type device , hence the failing capacitors making them not start up. my Mk3 rear would wander too ,sure most of the time due to wheelspin . greasy roads and cheap tyres :duh: never did it again once I'd stuck the dunlop D8Z's on there.

Wouldnt have supprised me if toyota/asin specified thier own oil from the manufactor. Toyota have been the top R&D spender in the world quite a few times in the last few decades and may well have specified something odd. The oils that claim to be "higher spec" probably dont know exactly what criteria they are designing for so 'better' is going to be aplication specific. Also iirc , the T-IV bottle does say "specificaly formulated by toyota for toyota gearboxes" on it , or somethign similar?. Same as most above , wouldn't dream of putting anything other than T-IV in if i was going to change the ATF , for the sake of an extra £40? nowai!.

definetly a mk4 interior , and i guess has to have matching dash and electronics?. would be realy interested in some pics , especaily if the satnav is in english. bargains though , even if it is an oddball.

Seeing as you have done the cambelt , you have to keep it for another 10 years or 100k miles :3. mine this past 12 months was 2 tyres , oil/filter , 4 bulbs (one was £5!!!!!). personaly not doing cam belt , if it goes I'll just get another LS400 and save this one for spares. doesnt beat my old mans escort though , i know its not in the same league but still amazes me. his 1.8 n/a diesel escort , last 6 years hes done ~30k , no oil changes , only 4 tyres & a battery (all from breakers yard). A long list of advisorys MOT time , but never a fail. ~___~.

also you want fade for front/rear adjustment , balance is left/right.

Mines a 98 , so i guess yours is also a mk4 (possibly a late registered mk3?). havent used my radio for a year or so (replaced it) , but I am pretty sure the balance & fade is done on the touch screen rather than a knob.

If it's a jolt forwards , ie a surge , could possibly be an engine vaccum leak. I've heard other people (here , or .com) have problems similar when using non toyota T-4 ATF , and have cured by replacing. basicly , it shouldn't get better , as it should be right from the start. (if it did get better I'd be just as concerned still). good luck , and give them hell! (by asking them nicely to fix it properly!!)

If you are ebaying , I can recomend auctionsniper.com. (used to buy my last 5 cars) have been using them since 2006 , and love their service. they do charge a small fee (iirc first 3 wins are free) , but it is $ , so not bad.

Dont be paranoid , It's just not the most active forum section in the world. Mostly I guess as things dont go wrong. Paid £2000 for my '98 LS about 16 months ago. was in a hurry as had been relegated to an Astra :( . If you have lots of patients I'm pretty sure you could get a mk4 for your 1k. though a mint/showroom mk1 would be awesome i guess :). only other thing nobodys mentioned is make sure your LS doesnt suffer any engine stalling. test it with a long run and slow stopping. usualy bunged up throttle body , but 95/96 model could mean ecu rebuild.

the mk4 ('98 on) i think are the better choice. for: - better fuel econemy & more power , better interior (I prefer the seats over earlier ones). against: - the sat nav sucks balls (compared to a £50 modern one). either way , the ls400 boot can accomodate 3 average sized adults , so a few suitcases + tank shouldn't be an issue.(and definetly not if its in the spare wheel well. gold badges were an option when bought. means nothing but has a gold badge. (also £10 on ebay lol). we could also order extra mats and things , but nothing thats an actual feature of the car. there is the DHP models , with handling pack , stiffer suspention bigger wheels etc.. thats the only ls400 variant afaik. the usa had a few options , the satnav was an extra item for them , where it was standard here (shame) and they could specify to NOT to have leather if they realy wanted ?

have heard of issues with keys before. check the security light goes out when you put key in ignition (without turning it , transponder should activate) if you are lucky enough to have another key/fob , try that. the key has 3 functions. the blade (ignition and doors etc) , RF remote (remote unlocking) and the transponder - activated by a coil around the ignition barrel. goodluck!

funny you should mention , when fitting a new radio was having issues with interferance. my earth (the large bar in the dash) and the radios original earth would vary between sometimes up to 5v. traced it to the fuse box under the bonnet , a fair amount of corrosion ~__~. some fuses and stuff refused to come out (didnt want to break anything), so i have just added extra earth straps from neg terminal to body , wiring block and engine. all sorted. I guess even good cars can have bad earth at old age

Thats what I also understood , but a quick look through the owners manual reveals no mention of the 2nd press of the alarm fob. the motion sensor (which seems to often be loose) is under the center armrest , only an afternoons work to remove and replace. it just has a single sensitivity control on the thing .

I've taken the sat vav out of my mk4 , as its crap , annoying and distracting. you can replace the A/C controls with an american one with buttons , although the screen will show wrong icons lol (would be nice if anyone knows if the celsior RHD mk4 has manual A/C controls) . and double din kits for the fitting are available , just need to wire in your own amp. I fitted an pioneer double din using the factory wiring , bypassing everything. have since added 2 amps and upgraded to some infinity speakers :3. I could do a tutorial one day if anyone needs , as it was a lot of investigating wires :3. cant find a non sat nav 430 , so probly irrelevant ~__~

:3 if you get yourself a good ls430 , I doubt youll be wanting to give it up untill it's worthless anyway. good luck!

I've never thought of keeping "spare" oil. If your ls400 is loosing oil it's not a good sign. of my 4+ years of ls400 ownership I've never had to top up anything (and i do check :) ). also use mobil 1 5/30 (so must still be available?) My garage gets it 'cheap'(lol its not cheap) on trade by the drum.

I had a pulsing brake issue with my mk3 many years ago. the disk's had worn down a lot and had left patches where it hadn't worn as much (due to heat making parts harder , i'm led to beleive). this would make a: the pedal would actualy move up/down very slightly. b: the car would judder slightly if the breaks were touched gently c: the judder could shake the wheel left/right new disks/pads sorted that one for me. (under 100quid on fleabay :3 ) , less than a hour to change. I'd be *very* supprised if a wheelbearing had gone after only 60k miles. the LS is one of the easyest cars ever to work on. when changing pads , the hardest part is jacking car and removing wheels. aiirc , the disk comes off without removing the caliper.

I just had a good look at the ones in that auction , they have a much better looking attachment method than the ones I bought. Guess these things do get better sometimes :P . let us know if they are good , mine are nearing end of life and leaving streaks.

I've been looking for OZ opera's in 17" for ages. (similar to the old AMG merc wheels from the 90's) most 114x5 alloys with an ET35? should fit (some will need a spigot ring or machining). the DHP 17" alloys from the mk3 & mk4? are probably the nicest OE.

the 'flat' style wipers are incompatible with the twin armed wiper systems. there isnt enough clearance for the catches where it should fit on. I have personaly tried them on my mk4 , and they dont fit you can make them fit , but they will not work well. they dont curve to the screen enough and are to stiff. unless there is a new thinner metal version , send them back. replace rubber in old ones of get the halfords ones.

Does seem extremely unlikely the cd's suddenly just stop reading without giving previous read problems. only thing i can suggest is try resetting the cars electrics via battery removal , maybe somethging's crashed. at end of the day , the old(as in for same age toyotas) CONNECTS2 toyota ipod adaptor does work with this headunit (stangely works better with non reading cd player) only downside is it does have folder issues.

obviously you checked right & left handedness? of the threads. (not sure if this applies) break out the blowtorch and hammers!. good luck , remeber my metro once , ended up replacing the whole corner (with hydro elastic thingy still attached) that was with a 2+ meter scaffold pole it wouldnt budge :/ also havent got the manual handy , but you might need a VERY good press. the supra one seems similar and migt help. http://www.mkiv.com/techarticles/rear_wheel_bearing/index.html

it is all possible , 1UZFE engine is quite popular with kit car building. havent seen anyone else using a 6 speed bux , usualy its the supa box with an expensive adaptor kit. If you have lots of time the LS400 wireing is well laid out fairly simple and easy (read few weekends for the lot)to remove. if you keep stock ecu there will be more work involved keeping the exhaust o2 sensors working correctly. persoanly I'd dump the ecu & fuel management and got for quad carbs. for the effort and cost , I'm thinking you could probably do an awesome V6 tubo'd ford lump that would drop straight in. but to tease you , a few peeps have basicaly done the same thing :3 see:- http://www.fordcapriforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=32955

off topic but RE: condensation from the exhausts , is a sign of a well running engine & fuel system. On an LS400 I'm thinking you just haven't driven it far enough to get the whole system hot for a while. tl;dl , water in exhaust exits is 99.999% normal also , since when has less square been good?. I love the look of square cars. Granada coupe , cortina , alfa 33 & 75 , ls400 (i do think the mk3 looks better tbh). there is no manual LS , a manual box would ruin the whole 'drive while doing hardly anything' experiance. edit , I am biased - dont like "jelly mould" styling of new cars. ever since the ford sierra cars have mostly looked like they popped out of a cooking utensil. I'd have a hard job of telling an ls200 from a mk2 astra from 50 yrds.