1996 LS400 Project. Let the fun begin.....!

[royoftherovers]

Thanks for the write up Howard.

Did replacing the switch resolve your problem ?

[runsgrateasanut]

Ingenuity is the Mother of invention.  Never have a second pair of hands when I need them.  High Five for we left handers!

[Howplum]

Thanks John. The issue of the rear brake lights staying on was intermittent, but as far as I can tell, yes it has.

[royoftherovers]

52 minutes ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Ingenuity is the Mother of invention.  Never have a second pair of hands when I need them.  High Five for we left handers!

And I `m left handed too Stu !

[Howplum]

Yesterday, having acquired a used Climate Control/Audio complete assembly with a good upper LCD screen, I decided to replace my existing unit, which has the common black screen issue.

I have done a "How To" tutorial for the process, which was a lot easier, quicker and more comfortable than replacing the brake light switch.

In all there were only 4 10mm headed screws and a small plastic clip to be removed, everything else just being clipped in.

The whole process only took about an hour, and putting it all back together again was a lot quicker than removing it.

Here are some pictures:

 

[Howplum]

I noticed that at least five of the warning lights in the instrument cluster were not working, so thought I would have a go at removing the cluster to replace them. I had seen instructions on the internet, but they mostly seemed to be for the pre 1995 models, so I was flying blind, to a certain extent. I had already figured out that if there are no obvious screws then there must be clips.  This, therefore, is the procedure that I arrived at:

First I removed the trim below the cluster, which just unclips and pulls out, although unclipping the ignition switch surround helped to get a purchase.

Next I removed the upper part of the steering column shroud, which gives a little more room for getting the cluster out enough to disconnect the electrical connectors.

There are two screws at the bottom of the cluster:

I discovered at the top of the cluster surround there are two barely discernible slots:

By carefully inserting a flat blade screwdriver, wrapped in tape, in the slots and levering upwards this both released the clips and moved the cluster towards the steering wheel.

This is one of the clips:

The cluster could then be carefully pulled out, without straining the cables, so that the various connectors could be released. There isn't much space, so it was a bit tricky.

The rear cover of the cluster is held on six screws;

On the PCB there are three ribbon connectors at the top and three other connectors at the bottom, which were released:

Removing the PCB to gain access to the bulbholders involves removing eleven screws, which also seem to form part of he circuitry. This is one group:

The PCB could then be lifted away, revealing the bulbholders. All 29 of them!

Access to the bottom row of bulbs does not require the PCB to be removed, but my faulty ones were behind the PCB, so I had no choice.

I noticed that some of the bulbholders were different colours, so may have been replaced in the past, but I have decided to replace all 29 bulbs anyway. Hopefully it saves doing the job again.

I am a now awaiting arrival of the bulbs later in the week.

[Howplum]

Help, I'm confused. In my last post the photographs appear twice. Once in the text and again at the end. Also I cannot find the edit function. Is it me?

[Howplum]

I meant to mention that the bulbs appear to be number 286, which can be bought with or without the holder.

[Howplum]

12 hours ago, Howplum said:

Help, I'm confused. In my last post the photographs appear twice. Once in the text and again at the end. Also I cannot find the edit function. Is it me?

I think I have answered my own question. I Copy and Pasted the contents of my post from the Tutorial I drafted beforehand, which I assume prevents the Edit function from appearing. You learn something every day!

[ambermarine]

Howard

I have been quite shocked by the amount of surface  corrosion to the ferrous metal parts within the dashboard and firewall area I stripped out a 1990 LS400 back to the firewall a few years ago and found no corrosion anywhere within the cabin .

With the corrosion to the back seat you discovered is there the liklehood that this car as been the victim of a flood.

[Howplum]

It is something I intend to investigate and monitor over the next few months. My theory is that the weeks of rain we had earlier this year, coupled with long term lack of use and being parked on a slope might be contributory factors, although the water must have been getting in somewhere. There is no obvious point of entry below the windscreen and the sunroof drains appear to be clear, as far as I can tell. Obviously there is a lot of surface corrosion due to the damp atmosphere inside the car, which has now thoroughly dried out.

The localised water damage to the right side rear seat makes my suspect that a window was left open, because the upper surface has evidence of some water damage.

 

[ambermarine]

Hi Howard

One source of investigation would be the cavity between the floor if you remove the oblong rubber bungs in the chassis just forward of the wheel arch at the back door there is enough room to place your fingers inside and feel what the surface is like it should be smooth and rust free. If it is wet or rusty It would point towards the cavity between the floor panels being filled with water at some time.

Another way of checking is to remove the cill rocker plates this gives an even easier access to the cills and floor cavity and can be inspected visually, again this area should be clean and dry and lightly spray painted in the body colour.

 

[Howplum]

Thanks Phil. If you're saying the floors are double skinned I remember having an old Rover 2000 some years ago that had those, and it ended up needing a lot of welding to sort out.

Still, hopefully Lexus build quality is a lot better!

[ambermarine]

Howard

Yes it is a double skin with the cavity filled with soundproofing material but it still as a fair area of open space.

[runsgrateasanut]

You are doing a great job on this Car.  I don't think you have mentioned if the Heating and Air con system work, but pehaps you have?  That Climate control unit you replaced looks like it may have been filled with water?

When you take off a Door Card, should it be necessary, I am guessing you will find out if the Car has broken down in flood water or  has had some other unhappy episode. Being parked on a slope with leaf filled drains no doubt would also cause a lot of water to settle inside and condensation trigger the rust behind the Dash.  You no doubt have experience of this from your Mercedes restorations! I know I have!

[Howplum]

Phil,

I've had a look inside the sills and they are very clean, so no cause for concern there. I also had another, closer, look at the corners of the scuttle panel and there is a very slight crack in the mastic on the passenger's side, although the driver's side is perfect. However, there are what look suspiciously like water marks on both sides, indicating to me that water has been sitting for a very long time.

This is the driver's side:

And this is the passenger's side, although the water mark is under the windscreen, so more difficult to see.

So, I have a question. Where does the water that collects in the upper scuttle panel containing the wiper motor drain to? It look as though it goes towards each wing. If it does, how on earth would it travel down the inside of the bulkhead? There are no leaves or other debris in it to impede flow.

I can see from the design of the windscreen installation that all water is directed into the upper scuttle panel.

Phil,

It looks as though I had more issues with the old climate control unit than I thought, because the replacement works perfectly, even delivering cold air, which surprised me. I now realise the AC button on the old unit didn't work, so I had assumed there was no gas or a major component was faulty. Two fixes for the price of one!

 

 

[ambermarine]

Howard 

I agree with you on the scuttle plate drains and this is why I was concerned as to how water was getting in to the top of the bulkhead and contaminating such a large area with corrosion.

If water was getting in somewhere surely the water would run down a specific path in a localised manner not spread itself all over the metal work.It is a conundrum and your discovery of standing water in the scuttle plate may have LED to a leak through the seal at the bottom of the screen and this as got into the sound insulation material on the inside of the bulkhead which would act as a sponge .

The fact you have determined regarding the floor integrity looks to have excluded the possibility the car as been submerged at some time and that is good news as treating that is virtually impossible.

You are obviously on top of the situation and your work so far is worth the rewards you are getting ,keep it up.

[Malc]

makes me wonder what did happen to all those cars sitting in flood water all that time back ............

Malc

[Howplum]

Today I thought I would investigate possible water leaks further, so I simply poured some water into the upper scuttle panel, which duly appeared underneath each front wing, and not inside the car.

The second test was the front sunroof drain tubes, and again the water appeared under the car, and not inside it.

I am assuming (hoping?) that the previous water leaks were therefore as a result of unknown exceptional circumstances, and hopefully won't be repeated in it's future life as a pampered hobby car.

One other job I did this afternoon was to replace the  roof control module, which turned out to be straightforward, and only took about 1 hour.

I had to release, but not remove, the front roof trim panel to give enough clearance to either get my hand inside or wriggle the module out from behind the trim, so that I could unclip the connector.

The first step was to remove the switch panel by removing the plastic lens:

And then removing the three screws and disconnecting the two electrical connectors:

Then the middle visor was unclipped (probably the only item with no electrical connection!):

Next I undid the two screws for the rear view mirror and unclipped the connector:

I had to remove both sun visors, because their fittings effectively secure the trim panel to the roof. First off where the inner clips, which are both held with one screw:

And clips:

The visor mounting covers were just unclipped and wiggled off, although I later discovered the visor slides along the shaft, which makes it a lot easier. Note that the split faces the front of the car.

 Then there is the customary electrical connector to be unclipped:

At this point I could pull down the front of the trim panel enough to get my hand in, but not enough to unclip the module connector.

I then noticed there is a cable clip, which I managed to dislodge, and this gave enough slack for the module to be pulled out, and thus unclipped.

Fitting the replacement module restored full functions to the sunroof, so that's another job crossed off the "to do" list.

Out of curiosity I took the cover off the old module, but there was nothing obviously amiss. Still, it only takes one dry solder joint to cause a malfunction.

 

[Howplum]

Not much done today.

I replaced the aerial mast, which was easy enough, but unfortunately the rather fragile gold retaining nut got mangled in the process because it was seized on after 24 years. I have ordered a new one from Lexus Parts Direct, albeit in chrome, but apparently they are only dispatching parts necessary to keeping the car on the road, so I will have to wait.

The other job I did was replace the cabin filter, which I must say has much better access than any BMW or Mercedes I have ever owned.

I wonder if the old one had EVER been changed!

[Malc]

such longevity eh !............ 24 years old methinks !

Malc

[Howplum]

According the service history, this air filter was last replaced in 2005, 41,000 miles ago!

I must remember not to buy any more cars from my friend!

I also replaced the auxilliary drive belt, which turned out to be pretty straightforward, albeit a little bit fiddly getting the new belt in place and seated correctly.  This is my Heath Robinson arrangement to counteract the tensioner, although it made life easier to remove it when installing new belt, and then reapply it to enable fitment onto the upper idler pulley:

A trim removal tool came in handy for getting the old belt off:

I was pleasantly surprised to find there was no need to fiddle the belt around the fan, as is so often the case with other cars I have worked on.

The old belt looked fine, so I'll keep it as spare. However, I did notice the length of the belt I took off was 2228, whereas the replacement is 2245, but this proved not to be an issue.  From what I have read online the engine seems to accomodate a range of belt lengths, within reason, without a problem.

I must say the more I work on this car the more I like it, so hopefully I'll get to drive it some day!

 

[Onslow]

Absolutely brilliant thread! 😃

[Howplum]

On 4/10/2020 at 2:52 PM, royoftherovers said:

Did replacing the switch resolve your problem ?

Not immediately, as I discovered yesterday. However, I am getting quite adept at removing the dashboard lower panels, so it didn't take long to adjust the switch enough to solve the issue.

Because we had a lot of rain last night I thought it would be a good idea to check and see if any had entered the car, and fortunately everything was dry, so that was a relief. I wonder if melting snow at some time in past might have been the cause of water getting behind the dashboard.

As mentioned in my more specific topic, I discovered that what I thought were non-working front fog lights do in fact work, but only with the engine running, unlike the rears.

I am currently awaiting delivery of sidelight and warning light bulbs, and then the car should be ready for an MoT, which will be a landmark.

[Howplum]

Today I changed the spark plugs, which all went according to plan.

I also decided to change the power steering fluid, which was dark brown, so presumably is 24 years old. It's the one on the right!:

I followed the procedure shown in this link:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/steering/psflush.html

This is my setup, which worked well enough:

The low pressure return hose is 10mm internal diameter, if you want to try it.

Unfortunately, what I didn't realise was that when I briefly started the car the bottom end of the hose extension would flail around under the car and not stay in the jug I used, so it made a bit of a mess. That aside, after that brief burst and with the engine off the fluid continued to drain out, albeit very slowly. All I had to do was keep topping up the reservoir, eventually using about 2 litres. However, after an hour or so I got bored, so reverted to the usual method of using a turkey baster to empty the reservoir, as much as I could anyway, and refilling with clean fluid, doing that several times. The neck of the reservoir is quite narrow, so I could only empty the reservoir to about halfway each time.

Anyway, the job is done now, and the fluid looks much more like it is supposed to, and in all I used about 3 litres, but then the fluid was particularly mucky.