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

[Mikaelse]

Looks good Howplum. No steering fluid on the alternator it seems . Thats good. Looks like some scraping is needed for the waterpump. Are you going to change the crank seal. I did not. mine was bonedry. Looks like some oil around yours perhaps. ?

I changed my rotors and caps for BOSCH brand. 40$ total in 2017. Looked OK but a bit cheaper made compared to the original I removed. leads , I choose DENSO. 

[Howplum]

Thanks Mike. I haven't done a close inspection yet, but I would hope that after only 80,000 miles there shouldn't be any issues.

The alternator looks a lot cleaner than the rest of the engine, so maybe it's been changed. 

[Mikaelse]

Years or miles , climate . Hard to say which is worst for sure. Depends I guess
I agree with you. No issues expected. Mine where 90kmiles when I  did the belst and decided not to exchange the seals. No leaking seen. 
f it has started to sweat oil I would change it though. Easy and cheap it seems.  Last LS400 I did the belt on was recently on a 1998. 

[Howplum]

Mission accomplished! Everything went back together without a problem and the car definitely seems perkier, presumably due to the replacement distributor caps and rotor arms.

The angle iron again worked perfectly for torquing up the crankshaft bolt.

Now looking a bit cleaner too, but I will definitely be painting the slam panel at some point.

[Razor61]

I take my hat off to you and the whole thread/topic is very informative and interesting👍

[Howplum]

Thank you Paul. I must say that I find the Lexus reasonably easy to work on and on the whole am enjoying the experience. The knowledge and advice available on this forum has also made some of the tasks easier, and inspired me to "go for it", so thank you to you all. 

[Spacewagon52]

When it comes to practical mechanical car jobs, I am about as useful as a chocolate fire guard! 

However I love it when you guys post threads such as these. Your dedication and determination to see the job through is fantastic. I would love to be able to do just some of the things you manage to achieve. My crowning moment was fitting, obviously with the help of this forum, gas struts to my LS 400's bonnet! Quite an achievement for me.

 

I thank all of you for sharing your work, experience and knowledge on this site. We have all been bitten by the Lexus bug and sharing our passion with others through the club forums is wonderful. There is a whole mine of tips and advice, sometimes hidden in past posts. There is usually someone who can remember an old post for a new member's query. We all gain by sharing our experience and knowledge; overall the this online club, it has very few keyboard warriors and fortunately they tend not to stay around too long on here.

 

Keep posting lads, even for someone as impractical as me, I just love to read about your achievements.

 

[Howplum]

I've been enjoying the Lexus since doing the cambelt etc. and am pleased to report there are no issues, so have been making a bit more use of the performance.

Out of curiosity I did calculate the m.p.g. today, based on a mixture town driving and longer journeys, and it was just over 25, so not bad, considering. It's certainly no worse than other older cars I have owned with (slightly) smaller engines. I assume the modern engine design helps. Hopefully that translates to 30ish on a run.

[Spacewagon52]

3 minutes ago, Howplum said:

I've been enjoying the Lexus since doing the cambelt etc. and am pleased to report there are no issues, so have been making a bit more use of the performance.

Out of curiosity I did calculate the m.p.g. today, based on a mixture town driving and longer journeys, and it was just over 25, so not bad, considering. It's certainly no worse than other older cars I have owned with (slightly) smaller engines. I assume the modern engine design helps. Hopefully that translates to 30ish on a run.

I believe the LS 400 has lean burn technology - others will confirm - this significantly improves economy compared with say a Jaguar XJ6 of the same vintage.

Shoot me down in flames if I am mistaken!

 

I await your replies with a fire extinguisher!

[Malc]

when one's driving a 4ltr limo in supreme comfort I feel worrying a little about mpg is a little OTT

I just drive her as I need too and rarely worry about filling up

when I used to worry about it all ( years ago now )  I realised I was getting about 31 mpg on a good long hard run with the car weighed down with luggage and passengers

and then maybe 25mpg or so poodling around shopping etc.

Life's too short to worry about the mpg penny saving syndrome methinks

I fill her up usually when the orange light appears and then I know there's about 100 miles left if her 

Malc

[Howplum]

I was only curious. My driving habits are not going to change.

[cruisermark]

3 hours ago, Malc said:

when one's driving a 4ltr limo in supreme comfort I feel worrying a little about mpg is a little OTT

I just drive her as I need too and rarely worry about filling up

when I used to worry about it all ( years ago now )  I realised I was getting about 31 mpg on a good long hard run with the car weighed down with luggage and passengers

and then maybe 25mpg or so poodling around shopping etc.

Life's too short to worry about the mpg penny saving syndrome methinks

I fill her up usually when the orange light appears and then I know there's about 100 miles left if her 

Malc

I remember when I went from a 400 to 430 I was anxious that it would be alot thirstier - but now i could'nt agree with the above statement  - I just fill and enjoy!

[royoftherovers]

2 hours ago, cruisermark said:

I remember when I went from a 400 to 430 I was anxious that it would be alot thirstier - but now i could'nt agree with the above statement  - I just fill and enjoy!

Just remember you two that not all Lexus drivers are as fortunate as you !

To be fortunate enough to be able to fill one`s tank whenever is not given to all.

I am not meaning to be respectful

[rich1068]

More to it than that John. I'm not a wealthy man and none of my recent cars have been economical but they have been enjoyable. None have been on finance either and that lack of £xxx per month buys a lot of fuel!

[runsgrateasanut]

Only once had the yellow light come on in France and worried the life out of me as the nearest Station was quite a long way away.  No remaining mileage indicator on my cluster.  Not a good idea to wait until the yellow. Seen that mentioned somewhere suggesting crud etc, can block the injectors if it passes through the filter, or increases the chance of the filter becoming blocked.  When I replace my own I cut the old filter apart and found nothing to talk about.

[royoftherovers]

34 minutes ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Only once had the yellow light come on in France and worried the life out of me as the nearest Station was quite a long way away.  No remaining mileage indicator on my cluster.  Not a good idea to wait until the yellow. Seen that mentioned somewhere suggesting crud etc, can block the injectors if it passes through the filter, or increases the chance of the filter becoming blocked.  When I replace my own I cut the old filter apart and found nothing to talk about.

On one occasion when I was driving back from Limoges to Wirral in the Merc Estate, I was feeling really pleased with myself as I had set a new World Record of travelling 750 miles on one full tank of Diesel. I had arrived home with the yellow light still on and feeling rather tired I did not drive for two days. When I was ready I jumped into the car, she fired up immediately and I set off for the local petrol station,,less than half a mile away. As I approached a junction controlled by Traffic Lights, the lights changed to Red and I had to stop on an almost unnoticeable incline. The engine stopped as the fuel was insufficient to be drawn along the fuel line. It took 15 litres of fuel and a lot of walking to and from the garage before it would fire up again.NEVER AGAIN SAID I.

[BigBoomer]

I drove my S320CDI from home in Essex to the Circuit de Castellet (Circuit Paul Ricard) in the South of France on one tank of diesel.
It did 795 miles on just 81 litres of diesel (tank is 88 litres) giving 44.5Mpg.
The range and the comfort of the Merc were the ONLY things that were better than my LS430.
Bloody long day in the car too! 
 

[royoftherovers]

1 minute ago, BigBoomer said:

I drove my S320CDI from home in Essex to the Circuit de Castellet (Circuit Paul Ricard) in the South of France on one tank of diesel.
It did 795 miles on just 81 litres of diesel (tank is 88 litres) giving 44.5Mpg.
The range and the comfort of the Merc were the ONLY things that were better than my LS430.
Bloody long day in the car too! 
 

Great days eh ?

[Howplum]

Whilst the weather prevents any outside work and my son's project is occupying my garage AGAIN, I have been researching what's involved in refurbishing the rear suspension and subframe, which is all looking very crusty, as is common with these cars. Also, the shock absorber insulators/dust covers both need replacing, as do the shock absorbers, with evidence of slight misting on one.  This is the beginning of the slippery slope!

I'm going to wait for the warmer weather next year, but in the meantime would appreciate any advice that you might have.

I will not be paying Lexus prices but have established that Amayama are considerably cheaper for what I assume are OEM parts, although there is shipping, VAT and Duty to factor in.

However, as far as the various suspension components are concerned it looks as though aftermarket bushes are available separately, although I prefer to avoid polyurethane so that the ride quality is as originally intended. For example, on Autodoc's website most of the bushes are Febest, which is not a make I have heard of before. Does anyone have experience of these?  I did try Rock Auto, but suspension bushes seem thin on the ground. Other than eBay, where many of the bushes are unbranded, are there any other sources I could try?

The car has only done 81,000 miles, and passed the MoT without comment, but the rubber components are nearly 25 years old, so I'm sure replacing them will be beneficial.

My plan is to remove the rear subframe assembly, dismantle it and have it media blasted before reassembling it with new components. At least there is no air suspension to worry about. Sounds easy.......!

I will also do the front in due course, but hopefully that is a little more straightforward.

I'm hoping that both front and rear come in at well under £1,000, which is probably borderline uneconomical, but that's not really the point, although no doubt my Financial Watchdog (i.e. wife) will need convincing!

This is a diagram of the suspension, although there are more bushes holding the subframe and differential to the body:

[Mikaelse]

Hi Howplum.  

I have had the same thoughts as you.  Time to exchange bushings in rear? I have a 1995 and a 1998 LS400 with about 120k on them both. I would not exchange any of the bushings until they show evidence of perishing or gives other problems. Rubber ages sure but it depends a lot on the stress and strain or lack of it,  My rear suspension have not had any bushing changes at all yet and I do not se any need any time soon. 
OEM from AMAYAMA or some US sites OR aftermarket simmilar from a few acceptable suppliers like FEBEST seem to be the options available. Unless you go polyurethane which seems uncomfortable. I have so far onlu used OEM (in front) .I have though expereinced an acute need to adjust wheel angles in the rear since it was wearing tires fast. Adjusted to OEM spec myself Ok four years now. I had problems with seized bolts through the bushings. This may actually warrant new bushings by itself since adjusting to spec may become impossible,   

 

[runsgrateasanut]

Trying to be thrifty, I used something like these which my mechanic cable tied to the remains of the Gaiters when he replaced my Rear Springs and does the job perfectly well. May have the box in the garage with the exact vehicle they fitted but too cold to explore right now. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Motorcycle-Rubber-Front-Fork-Dust-Cover-Gaiters-Gaitors-Boots-Shock-Absorber/383597054666?hash=item59502a8aca:g:37gAAOSwj1hfM53v

[Malc]

2 hours ago, Howplum said:

but have established that Amayama are considerably cheaper for what I assume are OEM parts, although there is shipping, VAT and Duty to factor in.

my purchase of Amayama goodies , all OEM and actually stamped Toyota, worked out at Amayama cost price plus about 100% on top of that for carriage, VAT, Customs Duty and flippant Royal Mail charges too ......  and that in total worked out about 50% of retail UK Lexus/Toyota prices

Malc

[Howplum]

I appreciate that there is a good argument for leaving the suspension bushes alone until they become an issue, but it seems to me that to address the rust issues properly involves at least some partial dismantling because access is difficult otherwise, especially on the upper surfaces and in the nooks and crannies. This is why I was thinking of removing the entire assembly and having it blasted by a mobile operator.

Although technically all that really need doing are the shock absorbers and dust covers, to prevent further deterioration, some of the rust is quite heavy, so I feel should be addressed. And then, of course, I think that having gone that far I might as well go the whole hog!

I know there will be seized bolts, but maybe it's a good idea to refurbish whilst the eccentric cam components are still available and reasonably priced. About £40 for all four.

Stuart, that repair looks quite neat, so I will certainly investigate that option once the "isolator" is off the car. Lexus want £50 for a new one and Amayama's will work out at about £34 by the time it arrives on my doorstep. Thanks for the information about import costs Malc.

 

 

[Razor61]

On 11/20/2020 at 3:45 PM, Howplum said:

My plan is to remove the rear subframe assembly, dismantle it and have it media blasted before reassembling it with new components.

That is exactly what I planned to do next year and purchased everything needed whilst still available (including the CARRIER SUB-ASSY's - 42304 and 42305 on the diagram) all OEM Toyota/Lexus parts. This won't be happening as I no longer have the car and all the parts I accumulated are now for sale, apart from the rear UCA's which I sold last week. Some bits are listed separately and there is a list of everything in another post in the Buy and Sell parts forum. It's not a sales pitch and I'm not desperate to sell them, just wanted to let you know in case you were not aware.

[Howplum]

Thanks for the heads up Paul. You were obviously going to "go to town" on the rebuild, so must have been devastated when the accident happened.  Anyway, I have sent you a PM.