Razor61

Small update on a part that was missing from the car, the plastic Battery insulator or cover that fits over the Battery. It’s the part circled in the pic below. After 2 years of searching I’ve found one with some type of lagging/insulation as well and it was in Bolton 10 mins drive from where I work!
I saw an advert of Facebook for some LS400 spares, went to have a look but they were for a 95 mk3 so not for my car. There were 3 other LS400’s, 1 mk3 and 2 mk4’s plus another mk3 in storage, Gold, in excellent condition and may be for sale soon. All this down the road from where I work. Had a good chat with the guys and I asked about the Battery insulator and they said they would have a look and let me know, hey presto they had one. Will pick it up tomorrow and I’m really chuffed, not the most important part of the car but makes it more complete. Probably complete now because I can’t think of anything else that’s missing.

1 hour ago, Wherryman Sam said:

Nigel, thank you so much for your generous offer and if I was still in Norfolk, I would definitely take you up on it. Free advice AND a garage that has some knowledge of these exotic beasts is rare indeed.

So you are in Greater Manchester now? I work in Bolton and live in Darwen and, depending on where you are, I don't mind taking a look at the car. I may be able to give you some pointers and advice, PM me and maybe we can sort something out.
I can't quite figure out something though, which part of car is shown in the picture below, do you know which part of the car this is?



And the suspension arm shown below, front lower suspension arm I guess (not the front strut bar), does have corrosion but it doesn't look like an MOT fail to me. That's assuming the picture was take for that reason and not the oil that can be seen.


 

You could try the guys below but as said earlier they may not want ship it. Worth asking though, they are near were I live and I've bought a couple of bits from them.

ACD of Lancashire home page

Yes I did visit last Sunday afternoon, documented my findings along with what I thought about how much it's worth etc.
I sent this to Jayne to look through, if Jayne wants to share this then ok or is fine with me sharing it here then I can.

9 hours ago, jayne louise said:

Thank you that's very kind of you l am going to get some more detailed information from my dad and some photos and post them tomorrow maybe you could have a look at that let and then decide if its worth you coming down. We live in St Anne's on Sea .

Sounds good👍

Not easy to say really. I live in Lancashire and if you are reasonably close to where I live, I don’t mind having a look and give you my opinion if you like. Send me a message if you want to do that and we can arrange it.

1 hour ago, Newbie777 said:

Tried all day today, when cold, after motorway, when stationary bit no noise.

Really don't understand jow it  has just disppeared??

 

Maybe the tensioner causing the issue has freed itself and may stick again. The video posted by Ying Zhu by the car care nut is the one I mentioned earlier and remembered watching.

14 hours ago, Newbie777 said:

From what I can recall the tapetting noise is coming from near the oil cap. Does not  occur when car is cold and does go away and apparent when it is electric mode only.

Just to be clear about the noise in electric mode only - is the noise apparent when it is electric mode only or is it 'not' apparent when it is electric mode only?
I remember a video by The Car Care Nut on a Toyota V8, can't remember if it was the 2UR-FSE though, and there was a noise caused by one of the Timing Chain hydraulic tensioners. LH side only iirc (passenger side in the UK)
The issue was that the hydraulic tensioner was stuck and wasn't putting tension on the timing chain guide so it was slack. Not slack enough for the chain to come off though, the tensioner can't go all the way back in because of a locking mechanism which is a failsafe. Can't remember what the noise sounded like or whether the noise was from cold or when warm.
Maybe this is worth investigating though.

Just to add, I look on eBay regularly for anything LS400 related that may be useful to buy or is sensible to buy for the future. This is the first time I have seen a service manual for the audio or audio/sat nav for an LS400, if it was for a 97 -2000 LS400 it would not be for sale anymore😉

Saw this audio head unit service manual on eBay for early LS400, manual says 91 but should be ok for 90 - 92 I think and may be useful to someone.
 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385512928493

This is what I get on Amayama using the VIN number and the manufactured date is correct for your car, 1993.03

31 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

There really is another Post somewhere over these recent months specifying an independent car screen / glass manufacturer ……  I’m sure up north somewhere 🤔

This company maybe

https://www.tynesidesafetyglass.com/sectors/automotive-and-motorsport/

45 minutes ago, hockeyedwards said:

Took the battery off the CTEK trickle, stuck it back in the car and fired for the first time in a while, popped her down to the body shop to get some small marks sorted out that were noticed when she came back the first time from having lip kit. Looking forward to having everything mint.

On a side note, the drivers side inner door rubber that the glass sits on has perished 😞 (found by the body shop) as I asked them to investigate the slo-mo window travel time up/down. So will be trying to source a replacement sometime over the weekend.

Also depserately in need of some DHP wheels centre caps, I hear they are usually found at the end of rainbows...

You could try these guys for the DHP centre caps

Lexus Breakers - New & Used Spare Parts for Lexus in UK

I’ve been putting together a ‘Buyers Guide’ based on my experience of LS400 ownership.
I know I haven’t owned LS400’s for donkeys years, as some of you guys on here, and I don’t profess to know them inside out but I reckon I’ve built up a fair amount of knowledge.
So, I have a draft document for this and would like to share it with anyone who is interested in it and would like to add or correct anything.
PM me and I’ll send you the draft buyers guide.

Interesting video by TCCN on power steering, bleeding and fluid to use. I had read about Idemitsu lubricants and their link with Toyota when I searched for ‘who makes Toyota oil’ . TCCN uses Idemitsu PSF and he said it’s the stuff used when the car is new so I had a look into buying some in the UK, I couldn’t find a supplier though. Rock Auto sell it at £3.30 a bottle so I ordered 10 bottles of 345ml for around £60 delivered including duty. Will be delivered Friday, I still can’t believe ordering stuff from Rock Auto and it arrives in a few days!!

Link to review of it, number 8 on the list of reviews

https://autoquarterly.com/best-power-steering-fluids/

TCCN video

12 hours ago, MAN842 said:

Hello Razor,

 

Sorry for the late reply; here's a link of a video of a 3UZ specialist in New Zealand, speaking about the AC system of the 2004-2006 models. 

 

Nice one, thanks for sharing it. You learn something new everyday, so the compressor is 'turning' constantly and I suppose the solenoid controls whether it's 'engaged' or 'conditioning'.
Lots of info on his channel, i.e. a link to a workshop manual site which will be useful to a lot of people without one -  https://charm.li/

2 hours ago, Howplum said:

Thanks Paul, that's looks just the ticket. I must admit I didn't even look on eBay!

 

No problem, that seller on eBay sells lots of the same type of stuff - clips, fasteners etc. 

Probably a long shot but does the bush/grommet look like this? If these are the correct ones, you can buy them off eBay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325168364614

13 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I think that's the low mileage car that was up for sale last year at around £16,000. Sold new by a dealer local to me.

Good memory, it was and the buyer posted on here about the car.

https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/133024-ls400-24000-miles-£17000-a-new-benchmark/

4 hours ago, Cotswold Pete said:

My guess would be a dry joint somewhere. which would be a bit of a do to spot even if you took the radio out.  Slight possibility of some loose push connector on the board, or worse a dry joint on base of the connector socket (seen lots of these in the days when I delved into the circuits)

 

Yep, it's likely and was my first thought right in the beginning but it would be a radio out job so never bothered and it's not the car I drive daily anymore.
I was in electronics repair years ago, TV/Video/Audio/Computers etc. so I've done my fair share of finding dry joints and broken tracks with freeze spray, and/or a toothbrush plus wiggling the component leg. I would consider buying a used unit and replacing it but it may not be the assembly itself.
If I did pull the satnav unit, I would need to check all the joints or re solder everything I can get to, unless I am lucky and it's an obvious dry joint or there is the telltale 'ring' on a joint. I may pull the satnav assembly and check the connectors and connector joints but that would be it, I'm not going to strip it down for an issue that occurs in winter a few times. Anyway, the components will be very small and most will be surface mounted, compared to components with legs going through the board which I can still see ok and work with. Different world now with electronics.
It's only me that notices it anyway, the Mrs just uses FM and doesn't notice DAB isn't working.
When the issue does happen, the Audio is 'off' when the car is started and displays 'Audio Off' on the display. I suspect the unit doesn't know what to do when it tries to power on in the 'state' is was powered off, DAB working, and when DAB isn't there anymore it powers off. I think it has got 'better' for some reason to be honest.

-3, very cold and very icy this morning, the DAB radio worked fine 🤷‍♂️ strange but true..........

5 minutes ago, Razor61 said:

Have a look at the video below, it shows updated arms with extra bracing. Around half way through the video is where the guy shows the differences iirc. It is for a LS460 but may apply to yours as well and there are 3 parts to it (this is part 3)

https://youtu.be/sgwstvV76Es?si=05urMjkhnSW6_wcM

Forget that, I've just had a look at the parts diagram and it doesn't apply. Video is interesting for LS460 owners though.

Have a look at the video below, it shows updated arms with extra bracing. Around half way through the video is where the guy shows the differences iirc. It is for a LS460 but may apply to yours as well and there are 3 parts to it (this is part 3)

https://youtu.be/sgwstvV76Es?si=05urMjkhnSW6_wcM

On 1/15/2024 at 12:47 PM, Jon Evans said:

This weekend I removed one of the rear seats so I could get the C pillar trim out to route the cable for my rear dashcam. I could do with suggestions on what to do with surface rust inside the car. Treat it with something, or just ignore it? I have some Dinitrol left so I might spray it with that before I put the seat base back again.

I have used Bilt Hamber Deox Gel and would use it in your case. It can be a bit messy though.
This is the method I've used, it works a treat and removes the rust rather than converting it. If the panel is rusted through you will be left with holes where the rust 'was'.
Wire brush, spread on thick, cover with cling film for 24 hours, wipe off and repeat if needed, when happy thoroughly clean.
Paint/spray whatever protective coating you want, I used Bilt Hamber Electrox (high Zinc content spray), left to harden for 24 hours then painted with a top coat colour (I used Por-15)