BlueWagon

heads up, the one retaining screw per disc (at least in the rear) are JIS instead of philips, but it'll probably disintegrate anyway when you try to remove it. Definitely try the impact screwdriver route. I had to call a dealer for replacement ones and they had to be ordered in! I used this guide for reference https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-1st-to-4th-gen-1990-2006/737269-diy-parking-brake-service-replacement.html also see here about the adjusters, from our own

Thank you @sir john for the detailed steps. I followed them and was able to replace the upper control arm without taking hub or drive shaft off. Some alternatives and notes for anyone considering this job, I managed without completely removing the rear parcel shelf, there's just enough space to get 13mm and 14mm sockets / spanners in there. The nut to the bottom bolt of the shock has ratchet teeth on it, maybe it's just my car (year 2000). I first loosened the bolt instead of the nut. Instead of removing the central top nut, i removed all 3 nuts holding the top of the shock to the car. Compressing the spring as much as i could until the bolt on my spring compressors hits the body, the shock and spring assembly was fairly easy to get out by first lowering it, then there's enough clearance to swing the top out first past the wheel arch and pull it out. By taking the top mount out as well makes it easier to align when putting it back in, instead of trying to find the two flats of the top of the shock absorber like you described. Interestingly the UCA from Lexus came with their own ball joint nut, i now have spares is anyone needs one 😄 (for the record they were about £250 per side, 11 years on since the last post!). Also note, rear upper control arms are handed, left and right can't be mixed up! Some photos to illustrate your point 10 and 11 about the double cranked spanner vs regular spanner, means you can actually get onto the nut. These were taken looking down from above, as I had the luxury of doing this without the UCA in the way, because of some external events that removed the ball joint from the socket for me ha. Third photo shows how far you have to wind it, feels like an eternity when you're there turning it a sixth at a time!

I think I'm having the same problem - @steve2006 @Mikaelse could you share where you got the replacement bearing from? Is it a straightforward job of release tension, slip belt off, bolt out (left hand thread), press / bash out the bearing, replace bearing and refit?

@Donthavealexusyet any updates? Seems like from your profile you've bought one from 2000? If so, congrats and welcome to a fairly exclusive club! According to howmanyleft , only about 1100 LS400s left in the UK in 2021, divided by 35,023,652 cars on the road = approx 0.003%. You've now joined 1% of the 1% 😉

how late are these "very last LS400s"? I have those on mine but I thought they were all standard for the Mk4 😮

My lexus came with the Bosch aero style wipers (one piece backing instead of Y frames) and I managed to swap out just the rubber strips for about £1 a piece. You can get the refills off ebay. Don't know how long they last yet but must be coming up to a year now Took about 10 mins do each one, time was spent mainly figuring out how to overcome the one way barbs gently, to pull the end caps off the wiper

Hi Howard, how do I do that? I'm new to the forum as you can see 🙃 Is it a tag to be added...? EDIT: doesn't look like I can edit the opening post. Just saw I hadn't mentioned to grease the threads of the puller amongst the steps - it helps the threads survive when under a lot of force!

Couldn't find much about replacing the bushing on the knuckle, attached to the lower arm (toe arm) with a non polyurethane one, so I thought I'll pass on what I found by doing. Technically speaking it's a rose joint (like a spherical bearing) but it doesn't make a difference in pressing it out / in. I cobbled together a bushing puller out of threaded bars and nuts, because I couldn't wait for a dedicated set to arrive. Knowing what I know now, time required will be around 3 hours per side start to finish. Someone else's video where I got my inspiration from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2rOfYK0GME Tools / materials you'll need: jacks / stands etc for lifting up the car to take the rear wheel off general socket / spanner set, 8mm, 19mm are the only ones you need if memory serves. Ratchet spanner recommended something to go over the new ball joint to start pressing it in, I used a halfords advanced impact socket 34mm something to go over the new ball joint to continue pressing it in, I cut a piece off some scaffolding tube I had with a plate welded over one end. The key is to have 38mm OD and around 35mm ID to match the sleeve of the new bushing (the welded plate is not necessary if you have thick enough / more than one plate) something to receive the old ball joint as you press / pull it out, I used a halfords advanced 38mm (impact) and 1 1/2 socket (a lot deeper) https://www.halfords.com/tools/hand-tools/sockets-and-accessories/halfords-advanced-1--1%2F2in-ball-joint-socket-384016.html your choice of bearing puller / ball joint press / threaded bar/bolts/nuts , I used M12 high tensile studs and nuts https://www.toolstation.com/passivated-chemical-stud/p93878 but a long bolt would probably work better than using a threaded bar with nuts on both sides - need at least 160mm sandpaper / wire brushes to clean up rust and the knuckle/bushing sleeve surface copper grease decently sized hammer grease for the threads of the puller Part numbers: FEBEST TAB-021Z, these were the only replacement non polyurethane bushings I could find https://shop.febest.eu/rear-knuckle-floating-bushing-tab-021z.html Bolt 90119-12284 (81Nm, NOT 136lbft as you might find for "no.2 suspension arm", they must have changed the design / torque setting at some point. 81Nm for my 2000 model) Nut 90179-12137 Steps: Before you start, general reminder to apply penetrating fluid to the bolt/nut in question to soak overnight. And put your new bushes in the freezer overnight (not sure how much this actually helped, but every little helps on an interference fit?) Raise the car and take the wheel off (remember your chocks and to do it safely) Undo the bolt going through the bush by unwinding the bolt, the nut has "teeth" on it and bites into the knuckle Support the knuckle with your jack and remove the bolt. I wedged the lower arm out the way without undoing the other end of the lower arm DIY a puller from an M12 stud (threaded bar), a load of washers, 2 nuts and a 38mm or 1 1/2 socket. Handily one end of the studs I got from toolstation was an 8mm hex head that I used to hold the bar still when needed. You won't need to do this if you are using a bolt. If you're using 2 nuts and not a bolt and a nut, you'll find you don't need to hold the stud still after tightening it initially. The tension should hold the stud still for you. If it doesn't use a double nut on one end to grip the threaded bar. As I tightened the nut there was a satisfying crack letting me know the interference bond between the knuckle and bushing was overcome, and it will begin to pull out At some point you'll find the 38mm socket isn't deep enough to pull the bushing out in its entirety, no biggie, switch to the 1 1/2 socket and resume winding Congrats! You got the old bushing out which is the easy part done! And now you've committed to seeing this through because you can't put it back together without putting the new one in 😄 Clean up the edges / surface of the knuckle. I didn't do too much sanding / brushing on the mating surface, there was no rust and was shiny so I didn't want to scratch it Apply a small amount of copper grease to where the new bushing will slide into. This might be unnecessary or even wrong, but oh well, I've done it now and it's worked alright Put the new bush in the 34mm socket. It should fit snuggly in there with the centre rubber part in the 34mm hex hole, but the sleeve is in contact with the edge of the socket, and that's where the pressing force will be applied and not on its central part. I also put some masking tape over the rubber to keep copper grease off it, just in case Use the same M12 studs to pull the new bushing in. I put the 38mm socket on "backwards" to use as something to pull against on the other side of the knuckle, to pull the new pushing through The new bushing will most likely be wonky as it starts to go in. What I found work for me is to whack the end of the stud on the bushing side, to realign it to be close enough to straight Repeat tighten / loosen / hammer until it does go in straight. You'll know when it does because the nut becomes comparatively much easier to turn. Have patience, this step must have taken me at least half an hour of trial and error to get it aligned At some point the 34mm will bottom out with a bit of bushing left to go. Don't pull the bushing in by its central part which is what I did before I knew better, I might have ruined them? Switch to the 38mm OD tube to continue pushing on the sleeve and not the central part If you find you've bent the M12 stud, good that you bought a bag of 10 and there are spares! I needed 6 doing both sides of the car! Undo the nut often to check when it's fully home. Don't be lazy and end up pushing too far! Replace the bolt and nut, torque to 81Nm (I did this after raising the knuckle to normal ride height, but I don't think that's necessary given it's a rose joint that rotates anyway. The workshop manual also doesn't state this is necessary whereas it mentioned it for front damper lower bolt) Wheel back on, car back on the ground and reward yourself with a beer! Photos: OD of the new bushing: Test fit in the 34mm socket: The home made 38mm puller insert: Pulling the old bushing out: Nearly everything you need for this job: Old (left) vs new: First stage of winding the new bushing in: I might have forgotten small details here and there, any questions please ask. Good luck and remember to work safely!

About half way through changing my second front strut (spring and damper), here are some thoughts before I forget: 1. Contrary to the tutorial on lexls.com, it wasn't necessary for me (2000 model year) to disconnect the top wishbone ball joint in order to get the strut out. What worked for me was compressing the spring in situ (not sure how much that helped but hey), a lot of wiggling and turning the steering between neutral and away from the side working on. Although it was slightly more difficult on driver side because of the front ride height / headlight angle sensor getting in the way a little 2. Impact / undo the bolt of the bottom through bolt. The nut has some keys on it that digs into the bracket and makes it a lot harder to turn when it's tight 3. The front springs are long, be prepared with another set of spring compressors or ratchet straps in case there is still tension when releasing the spring compressors when swapping damper / top mount over 4. When putting the strut back in, I did by roughly getting it in first without compressors. Clear the flanges of the bottom bracket first before beginning to align the top mount. Then compress spring in situ to get the top mount / bottom through bolt aligned. Bolt it all up, then release tension 5. It always takes AT LEAST twice as long as what anyone says on the internet 😂 Part numbers: Bottom bolt 90105-14087 Bottom nut 90179-14045 Damper KYB 341159 Spring KYB RG3071 That's it for now, hope that's helpful to anyone who might stumble on this post 🙂

Following this inspiration, I used steering boots from a Mercedes. It turned out to be a pretty good fit inside the original insulators and over the spring / damper after cutting off the small end to get it over the end of the damper. Part number is 2004630296, costed £6.21 each. Quite happy with this bodge and £100 saving vs buying replacement insulators from Lexus 🙂

for me none of the lights for my buttons on the whole centre console worked, until I replaced a fuse in the driver's footwell fuse box. New fuse and they all came back to life. Suggest you take a look 🙂 only one of mine works 😄 following thread for solutions

I used Cuvva before when I test drove an LS400 before buying, maybe they also cover cars without MOT?

So the air cooling lid has quite a complex geometry and the air tunnel inside too, I'm not sure how to get all the measurements you might need

I know the ECP deal was time limited, but it came to £40 per damper 😛 Currently buying some filters and small items from autodoc (which i believe is the same company as buycarparts) - will be seeing how their service is

I can measure after the bank hol 🙂 could you give me a nudge if I dont get back to you?

Around the battery or over the top of the battery covering the terminals? I have both 🙂

crawled on my knees for 4 hours to renew brake fluid and had a good look at all my suspension bits. Don't think too much needs doing which is a relief 🙂 does anyone know where I can get rear shocks insulators (dust covers)? I've seen LexusPartsDirect have them listed but they are very dear...

I'm not affiliated with EuroCarParts in anyway, just want to share a good deal i stumbled on in case anyone here is also after some front shock absorbers! Their current promo code TOUR60 gave me 35% off when I checked out, leading to a lovely £79.98 for A PAIR! Code expires in a little less than two days (midnight between Thurs and Fri by my count) Shame they don't have the rears in stock, would have had those too 😞

this happened to me once after parking in a supermarket, turns out the negative lead simply fell off the battery. Hope it's also as innocent for you @deelcee

Richard, is it possible to share the specialist who did your timing belt in October, perhaps in a PM? Think i will get mine done soon, open to travelling to Yorkshire for those sort of prices!

Thanks, I think that's exactly it! I could see the water in the wheel well was coming from around the boot lock but then no where else... until I spotted there were traces of it coming from where the rubber seal grips onto the body. Hopefully a new seal / clean & reseal will cure it

Spent yesterday and today drying the boot wheel well and chasing the leak. Suspect it's water running down the inside of the rubber seal (where it clamps onto the metal), gonna have to pull it off and take a better look

Ok ok I'll spill haha. It is just over 20 years old and over 180k miles. it's had a relatively comfortable early life, been serviced by Lexus themselves, and I hope to continue that. I'm lucky to inherit a rather nice interior considering its age! Only flaw being the b pillar by the driver's shoulder has worn through 🙂

Thanks all for the info 🙂 In the end I used some 3M VHB tape on the plinth, to stick to the top of the number plate. And then in the cut out part of the plinth, I used some 6mm foam tape from Halfords to give the plate a bit of support and to help me feel better about it (it only reaches down to around half way down the plate anyway) Will update here if I run into any problems

Looking for your experience about using double sided tape to attach number plates please 🙂 Here is the area where the plate goes on the front, there is a "plinth" made of plastic that goes between the bumper and the plate. It is an n shape, with no plastic supporting the plate for most of the bottom Because of the shape of the plinth, I'm a little hesitant about essentially only taping the number plate on at the top. Has anyone experienced any problems with taping only the top? Anyone using a backing plate?