ehancock

spong should have read "sponge".

Is the power steering shroud you mention for the alternator or for the alternator? Is it an item available from Lexus? My leak seems to be from other than the shaft seal, probably from the reservoir O-ring seal. I looked carefully at the shaft bearing area and it was dry and clean. I have temporarily put a spong between the pump and alternator while I get things sorted out. Ernie in Vancouver

91 LS400 starter is now repaired and works just fine. Wow, what a job, especially those two bolts securing the starter to the block. Now I notice my power steering pump is starting to leak. New topic is posted.

After fixing my 91 LS400 starter I noticed my PS fluid is low. The seal is starting to leak. I see from pictures in the lexus service manual that it may be possible to simply pull out the shaft and bearing, then the seal, without complete dissassembly. Then I would press in a new seal and reinsert shaft and bearing. The shaft has a spline fit into the pump rotor and should just slip out and back in, at least it looks that way. Has anyone done this successfully? Ernie in Vancouver BC Canada

I have 230000Km on my 91 LS400 and 110,000 Km on my second set of pads, which I bought from Lexus Canada. The first set had more than 110,000Km on them when a caliper seized and caused a pad to wear out early. The fix for seized calipers is to remove the pistons and sand out the outer lip of the cylinder where the rusting and jamming occurs. Next I completely fill the rubber boot around the piston with brake silicone lubricant, thus reducing or eliminating the contact with salt water. So far I have gone 4 years with no sign of seizing. Flush your brake system once each spring. Only takes an hour and a little brake fluid. Much better than badly seized calipers, or even worse a corroded ABS system. The way I drive, not heavy on the brakes, slowing down early for lights that are going to be red anyway, I don't accumulate much brake wear. I also use my gears for long downhills, rather than the brakes. If you drive aggresively I'm sure the pads and disks won't last long. A major cause of disk warping, and the resulting vibration, is excessive use of brakes on long steep downhills, rather than using a suitable lower gear. You have to get the engine above 1800 rpm where the fuel cuts off, and on a steep hill 3000 or 4000 rpm for max braking. If you have hot brakes and drive thru a pool of water the sudden cooling will warp disks pretty quickly. I have followed cars driving down from ski mountains and seen smoke and steam pouring out from the brakes. Relying entirely on the brakes on long slow steep downhills can leave the brakes glowing red. Ernie in Vancouver BC Canada

I have many photos but all over 100K so will send via email to you Bob. I just have to find a few moments to sort thru relevent photos. I'm picking up all my parts today and will start re-assembling. Ernie

Hello Greybeard Yes I took lots of digital photos. Not sure how to attach them to this board though. Any suggestions.

I have my 91 LS400 starter apart now. I jacked the rear coolant bypass pipe up enough to get tools on the two bolts. It was very slow and difficult :yack: removing the two starter mounting bolts. It is not necessary to remove the rear bypass completely, just jack it up without removing it. The wiring harness makes removing the rear bypass pipe almost impossible. The problem with the starter appears to have been the ground side starter contact which was worn down so thin it was making intermittent contact. The positive side contact and the plunger contact plate appear to be worn only slightly. The brushes and commutator are still in good condition, but it was definitely time to remove a huge buildup of brush dust which would have caused problems soon. After 13 years and 240,000Km the starter does need attention. It is too bad it is such a huge job to do. Putting it all back together is going to be a challenge, but I photographed things as they came apart so with patience it can be done.

I've almost got the starter out of my 91 LS400, but the rear coolant bypass pipe is tight against the wiring harness and won't come off. Any tips on how to remove it, or some other way to access the two bolts holding the starter in place? Thanks, Ernie in Vancouver BC

I am removing the starter on my 91 LS400, almost there, but the rear coolant bypass pipe(casting) is very tight under the wiring harness against the firewall. Any tips re removal of this bypass pipe and the way to lift this rather tight wiring harness. Ernie in Vancouver BC Canada

Your alternator should be putting out at least 14 volts at the battery as soon as the car starts, unless your battery is very low. Nevertheless you should get at least 14 volts within a few minutes. If not, your alternator is not working, perhaps due to worn out brushes. Make sure no glove box lights, trunk lights etc. remain on when you park the car. That will kill the battery after a few days. If your battery is more than 4 years old it should probably be replaced, although I have had batteries last longer, but not in hot weather country. Ernie