Newbie1

I first noticed the LS400 from Pistonheads when it kept on coming up in the bargain barging thread. Lots of guys bought them 5-7 years ago for very little to smoke around in and then scrap as they are often worth more in parts that sold as a whole. I recently bought an LS400 door from a guy who had scrapped a low mileage MkIV about 5 years ago, just for the engine. The rest of the car was as straight as the door I bought, apparently, which was in excellent condition.

Here's my grumble. All proprietary car sat navs are rubbish (with the exception of the Tesla's, which is brilliant. Amazing. Amazing car.) Car companies seem to be filled with engineers who think that complexity is artful. In fact, I think that all modern car info and control systems are all rubbish, and that an android or iOS system designed for cars with apps for running car systems would be the way to go, instead of each car company coming up with ways to reinvent the wheel(s).

Absolutely. When I first looked 5 years ago I was offered some lovely examples for about £1000. I bought a Soarer instead. When I looked for Mk IV LS400s earlier this year it was not an easy search finding a decent one.

Wow!

Or the serpentine belt tensioner. I've had both of these changed on both the Soarers I've had and my LS400 as they both get squeaky/chirpy.

Agreed. It's suspension so get new items in there. It hurts, especially when you spend £500 on suspension on a £1000 car (my story recently.) But, running these cars always involves digging deep at some point in the interests of safety and preserving the wonderful attributes of Mr Toyota's best.

Not sure where you are, OP, but I can recommend Tech One in Sidcup for having work done. For parts, Toyota Celica Breakers have been good for locating Toyota and Lexus parts for me a bit cheaper than the dealers.

Broadly speaking, in the late 1980s and 1990s there were two types of Toyota Electronically Modulated Suspension, excluding the hydraulic/active Soarer UZZ32 system and another similar "skyhook" style suspension that made its way into a model or two, including the 5th gen Celica, I believe. The first is the air shock based TEMS, as I had in an old Soarer, and the second is the piezoelectric TEMS which varied the stiffness of otherwise conventional shocks, which sounds like it is the one in the JDM Celsior. I wasn't aware of any sort of TEMS being offered on UK domestic market LS400s; the UK market was simply not as sophisticated as Japan. The reason I thought this UCF10 was on air was that the "hats" on top of the shocks look identical to the ones on the Soarer I am familiar with (and different to the hats on a later piezoelectric TEMS Soarer JZZ30 that I have seen.)

I suppose no MOT is mentioned as the car is for breaking. Shocks and springs would be a few hundred pounds from Rockauto. So not cheap I suppose. I swapped the TEMS air shocks in my old Soarer to Supra shocks and springs and it was surprisingly easy. Just surprised to see such a straight first generation, let alone one being broken. But I suppose it has some secrets as they all do, starting with rot.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182700399187 Looks to be in great condition, right down to the wheels and the toolkit. What a shame it is being broken. You'd think it would be worth more complete than selling off parts to the few remaining Mk1 owners. Great colour, too. Edit. Actually a very rare car, as it has the TEMS air suspension which I've not seen on UK domestic market UCF10s or UCF20s. Perhaps the reason for breaking as the air struts do fail. However, an easy swap to springs and shocks.

Reading on here about the failures of the multiple ECUs in the LS460 made me realise the LS400 is as complicated car as I want.

I do engage lower gears on my MkIV around London as a precautionary measure as the old girl does just love to coast on after a prod of the right foot...

And now with LCD screens replacing dials it's not really much of a trick, is it?

A great result. Anyone keeping a car over 15 years really should pull the ECU(s) every now and again and inspect them, if only to ensure that no water has made its way into them, which is no uncommon given their location in footwells and firewalls. Now, are you going to offer your expertise at fixing LS400 ECUs to the good folks here?

Great article. Think I have a door lined up. Not the same colour but my paint bloke should be able to sort it out and a few other bits. Damn, this car was just to waft around in for a bit and then sell on, not do up...

I was cleaning under my MkIV LS400 and on both rear inner arches underneath some under seal, just behind the brake pipes, are two metal flaps. Given that they are covered under factory underseal they must have been for some higher spec model (perhaps something to do with air suspension). In any event, both had started to perish with a bit of rust and letting moisture into the inner chassis behind the flaps. The flaps pulled away easily enough after a bit of prodding with a screwdriver, and there is a bit of rust there. I'm going to clean them up and have plates welded on both sides. Quite glad I discovered them before too much rot could set in. Not sure an MOT tester would believe me if I said "they're not holes, just where I've removed factory panels..."

There is a nice looking car under all that just wanting to crawl away and die.

Just inspected the transmission mount I had changed. At 71,000 miles the transmission mount that came off was in perfect condition. No damage or tears to the rubber. The only thing was slight compression from original specs but still pretty good going.

Quick thread revival after I had an ATF leak after I had the LS400's transmission pan dropped and ATF fluid and filter changed etc. The mechanic removed and stripped the pan down and resealed with the Toyota approved Three Bond 1281 sealant. No more leak.

Well done. I'm taking the LS400 to Netherlands and Germany in August with just a basic tool kit and European break down. What could go wrong?

Be interested to know what the quote is for changing your engine mounts. I've just had the gearbox mount done which was the easy part...if the engine mounts are anything like the Soarer V8 then it is a bugger of a job.

Cheers. Finding a decent one is not too easy, and finding one in rose red mica is impossible! But as the old girl has had some mechanical stuff done to her this month she will have to wait for the paintwork. All ready for a European holiday!

Pretty sure 1996 on were immobilised with a separate immobiliser unit but in the Mk4 it is built into the ECU.

It's only in the UK that the Japanese put the indicator stalks on the left in a RHD car. In Australia US, Japan, Hong Kong and other RHD markets the stalk is on the right. In the 1994-1999 Celica it was on the right until about 1996, when they changed it at the request of Toyota UK. The Japanese must have thought "how odd. They want a LHD stalk arrangement in a RHD car!". What is amusing is that quite a few older English cars had stalks on the right. It's because European manufacturers cut corners and just stuck LHD stalks in their RHD cars to save money, and in the UK it became the norm. Those darn Europeans tricked old Blighty.

When did Sikkim become out of bounds? Was there 20 years ago. Gorgeous and seemed empty, unlike Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.