Looking at LS400 tomorrow...

[runsgrateasanut]

This should help you out.  Get the filter from Rock auto possibly.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qvxum

 

[MotorDevil]

Ya that's the video I followed but when I popped off the cover there was no filter... Now that I think of it somebody must have removed and not replaced it. I'll open it up again and have a deeper look for where the filter would fit and order them up. 

Rock auto is a good shout, must find the part number and see what options there are.

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, MotorDevil said:

Ya that's the video I followed but when I popped off the cover there was no filter... Now that I think of it somebody must have removed and not replaced it. I'll open it up again and have a deeper look for where the filter would fit and order them up. 

Rock auto is a good shout, must find the part number and see what options there are.

Now that I think of it I don't think mine had a filter when I looked and I can't remember ever putting one in.  Somewhere in the deep archives will be my question asking where it's located and what I did.  

[The-Acre]

I just answered my own question and found the answer from my 2011 post!  I found loads of muck but no filter!

 

[MotorDevil]

So done the oil+filter and air filter today. Also fitted the cabin filters since they were missing. Should freshen it all up well.

Noticed a small leak on the steering rack boots, seems to be common enough but fluid isnt going down so will see how that goes.

Smoke on startup seems to have stopped, maybe the car just needed a good drive!

Messaged a few of the LS breakers on eBay looking for the electric aerial and motor, would like to sort that out next. 

[The-Acre]

32 minutes ago, MotorDevil said:

So done the oil+filter and air filter today. Also fitted the cabin filters since they were missing. Should freshen it all up well.

Noticed a small leak on the steering rack boots, seems to be common enough but fluid isnt going down so will see how that goes.

Smoke on startup seems to have stopped, maybe the car just needed a good drive!

Messaged a few of the LS breakers on eBay looking for the electric aerial and motor, would like to sort that out next. 

I think it's brilliant that you're taking care of a majestic old girl!  The more I think about my 93 LS the more I realise how it surpassed my later 4 LS's in reliability.  

[MotorDevil]

Took the wheels off today to look at the suspension, lots of muck in the arches as previous owner lived on a farm.

All looks OK except for the rear drop links, I was able to move this by hand which I would imagine isn't good. Need to go find some parts now. 

Sorry for the bad picture angle but you can see the sway bar and link here which is easy to move.

[The-Acre]

Rockauto have a pair of rear links for £11. If you pay vat up front and choose FedEx it should still save on UK prices.

[steve2006]

While you are in there remove the black plastic trim pieces from the edges of the wheel arches ( 4 or 5 cross head screws) and jet wash the arches, use the hose on normal pressure to clean out the arch lips and clean the trims before refitting. 

[MotorDevil]

@The-Acre Any particular ones from RockAuto you can recommended? Seems to be RAYBESTOS / MEVOTECH / MOOG / ACDELCO / PROFORGED?

Or does it really matter, your taking a chance with any non-oem parts.

 

@steve2006 Good call on the trim pieces and arch lips, definatly something thats need to be done.

 

 

[The-Acre]

5 minutes ago, MotorDevil said:

@The-Acre Any particular ones from RockAuto you can recommended? Seems to be RAYBESTOS / MEVOTECH / MOOG / ACDELCO / PROFORGED?

Or does it really matter, your taking a chance with any non-oem parts.

 

@steve2006 Good call on the trim pieces and arch lips, definatly something thats need to be done.

 

 

I guess the best bet might be to go for a mid price range one.  Mevotech seem a popular brand in the US.

[runsgrateasanut]

Raybestos no longer US. Moog or ACDelco may be best.

Look online to find out where manufactured. Moog = German? ACDelco may be US? 

Fact is that the famous names are only importers now and not manufacturers.

 

[steve2006]

Amayama have the OEM ones in stock which are less for the pair than one from the UK.

[MotorDevil]

It would be nice to get OEM from Amayama, just will get done for the customs duty too. 

[ambermarine]

14 hours ago, steve2006 said:

While you are in there remove the black plastic trim pieces from the edges of the wheel arches ( 4 or 5 cross head screws) and jet wash the arches, use the hose on normal pressure to clean out the arch lips and clean the trims before refitting. 

Before you refit the plastic trims spray the lips with dinotrol or waxoyl as the pressure washer will remove some of the old protecter.

[MotorDevil]

So my LS update status:

My electric antenna wasnt working, the previous owner had mentioned this. When I took it apart it had been replaced my just a normal antenna that you pull up, it worked but I really wanted it as per OEM that it goes up and down with the radio. I sourced a fully working antenna and motor (from Daveyboy20 on here who was breaking his later model LS400, thanks David!). The frame that attaches to the body inside the car is different so I swaped over all the bits to the frame I have and plugged it all in and works, perfect. However, the rubber mounting at the top of the antenna that stops water getting into the car, its a different fitting, which I really should have guessed. Anyway, the fitting I have wont work, and the fitting on the new antenna wont fit either. So I need to source the rubber mounting for a Gen 1 car, which is near impossible. I was thinking about buying one of those cheap antennas on eBay that come with the various different rubber fittings.....what are the chances of one of them working? See example below.

 

 

I also noticed the speedo needles are not lit up all the way, so another issue added to my list. Seen some DIYs on how to fix them, looks manageable I think....

[ambermarine]

I used one of those antennas on my Mark 1 and it did have a grommet that fitted but you may be able to buy just a selection of grommets on eBay.

[MotorDevil]

Thanks @ambermarine, have ordered one with the grommets so will have a go at fitting when it arrives.

Successfully fitted some new bonnet struts, had to get the dremel out to remove the bolts from the old ones, must have been the original struts. 

In the meantime I started to clean out the muck from underneath the rear arches. I noticed where the rear bumper meets the arch there is some more muck jammed between, so will have a look at removing the rear bumper next time to give all that a clean out. Bumper looks tricky to remove (had a quick look and some rusty looking nuts present), would also like to remove the moulding behind the rear door too, will check out how that pulls off.

[ambermarine]

The moulding on the wheel arch simply pulls off there may be some silicone on the inside faces but the fastenings are push fit plugs, if there is any corrosion behind the moulding you may end up with bigger holes were the plugs fit.

[MotorDevil]

So you think there's a risk in taking off the moulding?...from what I've seen so far there is little to no corrosion and the area around the moulding looks very good, just has some muck stuck between it and the arch. 

Any idea what type of silicone I would need if I to reassemble it?

[ambermarine]

The risk is you may break the plugs and then the relocation is not as precise ,if you take it off refix with a 3m silicone ideally marine grade.

[Cotswold Pete]

18 hours ago, MotorDevil said:

I had that and more muck out of mine, and I do not live on a farm.

I had rust galore in the arches (both sides), no rusting up by the trim (thank heavens) and the worse rust was where the muck collects behind the mudguard. 

Have you given the arches a good poke with a bradawl from where the arch rim is to about 6cm in, that will let you know if you have the tin-mice nibbling away.

[MotorDevil]

Had a look at the EGR filter today...and its pretty bad, past the point of cleaning so need to try get a new one. Lexus only sell the complete part with the valve. Anyone know where / what kind of material would be handy that I could cut to size?

 

[MotorDevil]

Instrument Cluster needle repair (part 1)

So, the speedo and rev needle in the cluster were only half lit, rather annoying with the speedo especially as you have to take a second glance to be sure what speed you are doing:

I followed this lovely guide and I went about repair: http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/lighting/clusterneedlerepair.html

After taking it apart it was clear that the cluster had given some issues before, no surprise since it seems to be quite common. Hopefully it was the capacitors I should have to deal with that in the near future then!

Its quite awkward to apply the grease without making a mess but I managed to get some in there. You can see in this pic the needles are surrounded by a piece of black plastic (means the light from the needle looks sharp rather then glowing around the edges), however it started to crack and come off so had to stick it back on:

I had no way to test the unit when it was out of the car (12v source) and ran out of time today so stuck it all back together….and it now kind of works / flashes a bit. At least I know I'm doing the right thing. 

 

I’m going to pick up a 12v probe and then next weekend apply some more grease and it get it fully working before reassembly. I’ll put today down as progress at least 🙂