Andy TT

Steve 2006 - in the 1993 service book the 'B' schedule is on page 26 - 3rd item down - it just says 'Replace the timing belt at 60,000 mile intervals, extra charge for replacement'. I have made quite a few enquiries and no-one I have come across has first hand knowledge of a timing belt snapping.

My '93 LS400 has 14 stamps in the book, 12 from Lexus dealers and 2 from a Japanese car specialist. The 'B' service states that the cam belt should be replaced after 60,000 miles - one of 35 items in the 'B' service. Is there any reason to think that a reputable Lexus dealer - H R Owen, Park Lane, London in this case - wouldn't have changed the cam belt at the appropriate service? I can't think they would do all the service except the cam belt and then still stamp the service book? If they did, and didn't comment the service was incomplete then surely this would void the Lexus warranty?

My '93 is 100% rust free. I think standards are slipping generally and I don't think the new water based paints are nearly as tough as the old school ones.

If you fancy a visit to Japan there are quite a few Celsiors around with very low mileage - see www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan%20car/toyota/celsior/15176015/. This one has 10,000 miles and looks very tidy. The shipping costs aren't too bad and this one is £3,000.

I have just returned from a 2,500 mile return trip to Venice 4 adults, 1 child and a boot full of luggage in my '93 84,000 mile LS400. The journey involved hours of cruising at 90mph+, sitting in traffic jams at 32 degrees with the aircon on full, steep mountain roads, blazing sun, torrential rain and it never missed a beat. Overall I averaged 21mpg and didn't use a measurable amount of oil. Not bad for a 21 year old car which I suspect had been off the road for at least 5 years prior to me buying it in December and a real life indictment of Lexus quality - particularly of the LS400.

I've fitted a set of Uniroyal Rainmasters to my '93 and I'm very happy with them. Good grip, quiet and reasonably priced. The tyres fitted when I bought the car had loads of tread but were old and cracked and needed to go.

If its a really nice original car [which its difficult to tell from the 'photos on eBay] I think its probably worth it. I've restored and refurbished many cars over the years and in my experience its very difficult to turn an average car into a nice one - I've learnt from bitter [i.e. expensive] experience its far better to buy the best you can than spend money on a less good one. Just my view for what its worth.

Has anyone tried the DIY aircon kits places such as Halford sell - they don't seem much cheaper than having it done for you though?

I just re-installed the ECU, turned the ignition on for around 30 seconds [that was the advice of the person who fitted the capacitors] and started the engine. The car ran perfectly from the off. The overall mileage is retained [the trip mileages are lost though] and I had to re-tune the radio as I had disconnected the battery but apart from that nothing else was necessary.

See http://www.fastrads.co.uk/ - £75 or £139 depending on the exact type.

I have an 80,000 mile '93 LS400 and have read a lot on other forums about the ECU capacitors failing through old age, humidity, heat etc. I thought my car ran pretty well but as I am intending to keep it I decided to have the capacitors replaced before they leak and possibly damage the ECU circuit board. I sent the complete ECU to a guy in America who has replaced the capacitors [which were just in fact beginning to leak] with the correct spec Japanese replacements and I refitted it tonight. I have to say the difference is remarkable. The car feels much quicker off the mark, needs notably less throttle to accelerate, the gear changes are smoother and the kickdown is quicker. I must stress this is an unscientific 'seat of the pants' feeling but it really is remarkable the more so because the car didn't seem to have any issues in the first place and it was intended as preventative maintenance. I'll also monitor the fuel consumption over the next few weeks and see if it changes - hopefully improves! Does anyone else have experience of replacing the capacitors?

See http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html

I have used 'Woolies' leather renovation kits on on an E23 BMW 7 Series and an Jensen Interceptor. The leather on the Jensen was really poor - hard, dried out and faded - but came up like new as did the BMW. The Woolies kits make it look original rather than painted. You can get the back seat our easily - just slip your fingers between the seat base and the floor pan and pull - very hard! See http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/default.aspx

http://www.wald.co.jp/english/carrange/lexus/ls/ucf20_v2/ucf20_v2_b.html

It will be interesting to see the outcome - I read on another website that the ECU for the LS400 is totally buttoned up and can't be accessed but that doesn't mean its correct of course. Good luck with it.

We've gone rather off topic but to go back to the original question, I haven't found my local Lexus dealer very good from a sales perspective on a couple of occasions. Most recently, before I bought my 400 I looked at a 430 and they offered me less than third of CAP trade on my BMW 330. Without a part-ex they wouldn't negotiate on price [which was CAP clean retail] and wouldn't even have the wheels refurbished which they needed due to corrosion so I walked away. I do appreciate they need to make money but I didn't think they were very commercially minded - perhaps this is just my local dealer though.

Maybe worth trying? http://www.lexusandtoyotaservicing.co.uk/cambelts.html

I have tried to check if the springs are the correct way round but its virtually impossible to tell as the bottom is buried in the rubber insulator and the top is so far up the strut tower is impossible to see and I can't get my hands in to feel if the end is cropped or ground. I have found the marking which confirms the spring to be RD5979 and it is 3 or so coils up from the bottom BUT [and I may really be clutching at straws her] the writing is upside down so is this suggesting the spring is too, or is it likely that when springs are marked the manufacturers don't take orientation into account - this is a question I'll have to ask KYB. I am wondering if I should just use the car for a few days and see if the springs 'settle' but the garage which fitted them change a lot of springs and they say the height they are at now is the height they'll stay at and I can't see them settling 3" in any event. Thanks for all the help.

Alan, many thanks for all this information - I'll check it out tomorrow. There must be an obvious answer!

Thanks - I'll check and see if I can see any marks on the rears. I have emailed KYB and asked what the uncompressed length of the correct spring should be. I have measured the unbroken spring which was removed and that is 42.5cm long - the ride height was fine on the side this was removed from with the correct distance between the tyre and the wheel arch. Even on the side with the broken spring it had only dropped marginally as the broken ends of the spring were touching. I'll certainly have to do something about it as the car looks like a 4x4 at the moment.

The supplier said they were RD5979 but I can't see any markings on the springs so I guess they could have supplied ones for a different model by mistake. What does surprise me is just how much difference there is - the ride height is 3" too high so the spring must be much too long. The ride on the drive home from the garage was ok so it can't be that the springs are too stiff.

I bought the springs myself - KYB from a supplier on ebay.

I have had the rear springs on my '93 replaced with KYB as one had broken. The rear ride height now looks far too high to me - it looks like a jacked up 70's Capri - but I can't find anything about what it should be. I've found an old post for a MkIII which has a measurement from the centre of the rear wheel to the wheelarch lip at 14" to 15" - mine is 17.5". Is the MKIII ride height similar to my '93 - I'd be very grateful if anyone who has a '93 or '94 could measure their ride height. The springs were fitted by a highly reputable garage so I doubt there is anything wrong with their work and it looks as though the springs are at fault. Does anyone have any experience with KYB - I was told they were a supplier to Lexus - or could they be for a later model? Any advice gratefully received as at the moment I'm looking at buying a pair from Lexus.

I have recently bought an 80,000 mile LS400 and I am not sure the cambelt has ever been changed. It has a lot of Lexus dealer history but a belt change isn't referred to specifically and there's no sticker in the engine bay. I was going to have a go at doing it myself but have just found this garage - http://www.lexusandtoyotaservicing.co.uk/cambelts.html - who will change it for £160+VAT labour. At this price it hardly seems worth doing it myself [i'm getting a bit old for crawling underneath cars as well] and I wondered if anyone had any experience of them? I'd also ask them to change the waterpump, tensioners distributor caps and rotors at the same time. I hadn't actually asked my local Lexus dealer [sheffield] what the labour would be but I had assumed it would be a lot more than £160. Having said that, I'm keeping the car indefinitely so I want it to be spot on.

Mystery solved - by the time my car was built in early 1993 Lexus had removed the release tabs. Apparently there was a concern that if the plastic caps were dislodged the sharp edges on the tabs could injure rear seat passengers so they were deleted! The rear seat on post '92 [?] cars is removed by pulling the front edge sharply upwards. I suspect mine had never been removed before and was well and truly stuck but some help from a larger lever got it out. Refitting is simply engaging the prongs in the nylon lined cups in the seat pan and pressing down until it clicks.