New member

[Bradley-_-1995]

Hi everyone, I'm a new member to the forum, however i have been reading various posts and content for years. I live in North East England , Tyne and Wear / Northumberland border right on the coast.

 

I have recently bought my first ls400, a mk 1 series 2 (UCF20) , from Telford last weekend.

Previously owned:

98 gs300 on tein coilovers.

And a is300 with tte bodykit.

The LS400 has a BRC single point LPG injection system fitted and donut tank.

Broken backlight or circuitboard fault in dash display

Big hole in the drivers side sill where previous owner jacked it up then patched it badly

And finally spare wheel well rotten to the point the carpet was visible (still repairing now for re-mot)

I'm not a welder but I've doing all welding myself to save money, its ugly but solid now.

[Malc]

welcome to the LOC

you actually have a Mk3 car and in that light she looks quite smart  

any detail on mileage, history etc ?

there's a mile of info on your car in these forum posts, everyone is here to help

 

mine's covered 226k miles now and had her 8.5 years and 100k miles after owning a Mk1 and then a Mk2 since about year the 2000

Malc

[Bradley-_-1995]

Apparent 130k miles, belt been changed once at 60 odd thousand and again at 100 odd thousand, last recorded belt change 12 years ago, so i need to visually inspect the belt very soon to see whether i need to change it before driving it again, after hours of reading and arguments on forums including this one I learned my ls is an interference so if the belt did break the engine would be scrap.

Probably around 8 stamps in the book perhaps more.

It also has some lowering springs fitted, Mazds RX8 alloy wheels, and a badly painted black front grill.

Other minor fault is diff front bush is worn so bangs on hard accel. from a stand still or rough throttle inputs, i can drive as is, drove 220 miles home in it from telford with no issues.

[Malc]

the  cambelt, pulley and waterpump change on these is 100k miles / 10 years and whilst it is an interference engine, it is known from research that a cambelt might destruct at 150k miles without attention

It's impossible I understand to just simply inspect the belt itself, it's well hidden in the depths ... changing the cambelt etc will involve coolant top-ups and maybe also a wish to change the alternator belt too ......  it's a very very very long and challenging job, one or two members on here have done this personally ....  there are useful and informative posts about this in the main forum that will help you understand a little more about all this ............  my indy mechanic does all my servicing and repairs

I have no idea about your Mazda wheels and springs set-up, suffice to say that Lexus spent many £billions perfecting your own car with original stuff to give an outstanding drive with comfort, speed and safety 

OEM parts are the way to go with many spares and Amayama in Japan is a great place to buy from, saving maybe 50% overall on the UK Lexus / Toyota prices if you wanted original Toyota parts that will probably last the lifetime of the car again

There's plenty of advice on here if you're thinking to go that route, not inexpensive though, and of course there are alternatives available but with longevity implications in many instances.

Lots of good advice available to you and all Members will gladly help with advice and directing you on here, the main Forum is the place to be really

Best wishes with your project

Malc

 

[steve2006]

Hello and welcome to the LOC.

I’ve never seen sill rot like that before on an LS, has it always lived by the sea? The problem is I guess this  could be present but hidden by the plastic cladding over them.

Same with the spare wheel well, a known problem is the boot seal allowing water into the boot but to rot it through this must have been like it for years.

Still worth saving though and good on you for doing so.

[Bradley-_-1995]

I was hoping to be able to remove the top belt covers and have a look at the belt to make sure it isn't visibly worn or cracked on the backside at all, I would resist driving it at all until a new belt was sourced, not sure if that is even possible at all to remove the top covers easily.

 

I am a plumbing and heating engineer and have messed about with mechanics and engineering since I was much younger.

I'm not shy of replacing the belt and water pump myself if needed.

 

I believe the sill was jacked on incorrectly at some point, then a plate was riveted on, not sealed correctly, allowing all elements into the sill.

The wheel well I imagined would be a boot seal or perhaps condensation caused by the cold metal lpg tank? 

Car bought from telford not sure on location beforehand.

The photo attached shows what was visible when the sill cover was on, a small hole in driver floor well and floor carpet coming through.

 

 

[B4NDIT]

Welcome this is a great forum for information, i have just changed my cambelt and water pump not to bad a job to do

[Bradley-_-1995]

7 bolts to remove engine dress cover, remove plug lead and cam sprocket cover, easy access to view cam sprocket and look at the timing belt.

Honestly i think it looks ok, I'll leave it for the winter months.

I've done a cambelt on a hymer motorhome before where access was a mare being fwd, this looks easy enough to get to being longitudinal.

 

 

[Bradley-_-1995]

 

 

 

[runsgrateasanut]

On 11/28/2019 at 12:24 PM, Bradley-_-1995 said:

Other minor fault is diff front bush is worn so bangs on hard accel. from a stand still or rough throttle inputs, i can drive as is, drove 220 miles home in it from telford with no issues.

Does this happen on Kick down would you say? Under load overtaking perhaps, or right from moving off irrespective of throttle pressure?

[Bradley-_-1995]

On 11/29/2019 at 4:18 PM, runsgrateasanut said:

Does this happen on Kick down would you say? Under load overtaking perhaps, or right from moving off irrespective of throttle pressure?

Because I have mechanical sympathy I haven't tried it with kick down as i know there is a fault. It is most noticeable when shifting into gear when the car is cold (raised rpm). When shifting from D to R it is noticeable too. If driven gently from standstill it won't bang, when switching from gas to petrol on the fly, the split second needed to switch makes it bang as engine loses power and then gets it back suddenly.

 

Previous owner did tell me this fault, although he failed to mention the rotten metal underneath 👀. 

However, for the price I paid for the car (£1,000), with a working LPG system and relatively low mileage, I can't be too picky can I.

Good news is I've finished repairing the wheel well. (Yes I know the welding is nothing short of shockingly hideous, but, as aforementioned, I am no welder, just an Ape with a Mig.) 😂 And at least now my gas tank won't fall out whilst I'm driving.

Next on the list is getting the clocks out and getting them repaired. 😁

[Malc]

well done

Malc

[39buss]

Hello Bradley,   Welcome to the LOC.  As stated in previous postings you will get all the help and advice needed to keep you LS running starting here.  I'm a time served coded welder and live in Washington and you're right, that's what we call " a load of lepp".  I hope you disconnected the Battery before welding. In your introduction  you cover an awful lot of ground as to where you actually live.  I only know of one LPG business in the area who works from Callerton near the airport, at the last time I checked.  He did have premises in Jarrow but left there a few years ago.   Here to help   Jim

[runsgrateasanut]

Toroidals should sit on a Felt mat.  Not that I can recall seeing one in my S320 and to my knowledge there was no rust underneath it, despite this. Bet you had fun getting it out!  

[steve2006]

It turns out the the sonic boom heard this morning over London was in fact 2 RAF Tornados intercepting another aircraft with communication problems, it was not as previously thought Bradley in Tyne and Wear welding next to an LPG tank. 😀

Good work Bradley, regarding the thumping noises I would consider replacing both engine mounts if worn ( easy to check just rev the engine by pulling the throttle cable in the engine bay and see if the engine rocks). Check the transmission mounts and the diff mounts.

[Bradley-_-1995]

Been a little while guys.

Yeah I'm a terrible welder we know that much.

I definitely disconnected the Battery when welding.

The tank is a donut and I left it "in-situ" and did the welding. With my knowledge of natural gas being a heating engineer I knew there was no real risk of an explosion unless I had a leak from the tank, which I don't.

As far as working on the LPG system I'm more than willing to have a go myself.

The car is rather good on gas, on a recent 100 mile trip it only drank £15 worth of gas at 57.7p per litre (local morrisons fuel station) which makes it better fuel wise to run than my last car a e36 323i saloon.

Clocks still broken, diff still knocking, I did contact lexus newcastle and asked for a price / parts diagram of diff bushing, guy at lexus asked for an e-mail address and I'm yet to receive diagram 😥, although, I do know that just the singular bolt was 25 quid plus vat from lexus 😂.

 

Buying a Flashlube kit from eBay soon and installing it myself (valve saver lubricant for lpg cars) It hasn't had one thus far but , it won't hurt to fit one.

I have also done an 'Aux in mod' to allow me to use my ipod or phone as an input on the factory head unit, sounds great for a little bit of soldering and 4 relays with a switch 😂😎.

Really enjoying the old beast.

 

 

[runsgrateasanut]

Good to hear you don't have any problem with the LPG system.  Single Point can be risky but I recall seeing a LS400 for sale with over 300k on the clock with single point and the vaporiser was laid on its back which is not the correct position. The seller said he never had any problems. Didn't have a Flashlube kit installed as I recall. 

I've a complete Stag LPG sequential system stuck in my Hall which if I lived nearer to Wales I'd have had installed by the people often recommended on this forum. Maybe next year?  A few things to sort as priority first.  

Quote:  have also done an 'Aux in mod' to allow me to use my ipod or phone as an input on the factory head unit, sounds great for a little bit of soldering and 4 relays with a switch unquote.  Any photo's on that?  Didn't think it ws possible.

[runsgrateasanut]

Bradley,

Any chance of more info on that "aux in mod" you mentioned? 

[S1MNN]

Hi Bradley the LS is looking great!

[Bradley-_-1995]

The information I used to create the mod was found on this american website.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lexus-audio-video-security-and-electronics/269156-how-to-build-and-hardwire-an-auxillary-input-to-oem-stereo.html

 

The OP seems to be very clued up.

The idea is to intercept the pre amp signal wires from the cd changer before they reach the head unit. 

You then use 4 X 12v 5 pin relays to either allow signal from cd player to the headunit (as normal) or , for different input, live up 12v relays and allow external input.

You need to be decent at soldering, and although it works well, when the engine runs you get a slight hiss at really high volumes, even on CD with relays switched off.

Also CD changer needs to be functional still, If your cars cd changer doesn't work this aux input mod won't work for you.

 

You need to read a few pages on his post as he says he is working on a 95 ls400 for demo but he isn't, for a 95 ls the wires to intercept are a page or two down in the comments. The LS he does has an amp under uk drivers side seat but I needed to use wires behind CD changer behind glovebox.

 

If you get stuck inbox me and I can explain it better.

Apologies for the late reply.