New LS400 purchased - let the fettling begin!

[Razor61]

Few pics of the work done today before painting and after, pics got a bit mixed up but I’m sure you’ll work it out.

 

 

 

[cruisermark]

I've done fettling before- but not at that level - looking good.

It never occured to me that the petrol tank sits between boot and rear seats.

[Razor61]

27 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

I've done fettling before- but not at that level - looking good.

It never occured to me that the petrol tank sits between boot and rear seats.

Cheers, it needed to be done. There was no way I was going to fit a new boot seal with the rusty bits.
It didn’t cost a lot (boot seal was £110 though), just time, effort, paint and some masking tape plus a bit of brain power.
I caught the rust underneath the lower rear window seal/trim corner bits in time, another year or so and it would have rusted through. They won’t rust through now though. It depends on how the car is parked but the water can pool in that area so anyone with an LS400 it’s worth taking the trim off and having a look I think.

[Razor61]

The corners after scraping but before treating and painting.

 

[Razor61]

All done, gasket fitted to fuel sender and put back together, I have left the trim off so I can see if the fuel sender gasket is ok and not leaking and ther boot seal isn’t leaking anymore. New tyre fitted to the spare wheel this afternoon, old one was punctured and knackered.

[Malc]

is her colour Aspen Green ?

Malc

[Razor61]

32 minutes ago, Malc said:

is her colour Aspen Green ?

Malc

Nope, it’s 6P7 SILVER JADE PEARL

[Malc]

blimey looks so so similar to mine 

Malc

[Howplum]

An excellent topic Paul, but it now looks like I need to add another job to my "To do" list. Hopefully preventative rather than remedial though.

[Tinonline]

That’s a project car all right…lot of work?

[Razor61]

19 hours ago, Tinonline said:

That’s a project car all right…lot of work?

Not a lot of work really, some of it I expected. I didn’t expect to have as much done on the engine etc but the body is totally sound so worth doing. I haven’t spent much time on it before doing the boot seal, spent a few quid though!

The boot seal took some time of course, I could have just cleaned everything and fitted the new seal in 20 mins rather than a few days and not taken the trim off but it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do at all. Front drivers side spring has been sorted, thought it would be a doddle but it wasn’t that easy. I had to really compress the spring and even then it was a struggle to turn, then undoing the spring compressors was moving it back so out with the buzz gun to undo them. That did the trick…..

[Razor61]

Boot is nice and dry now but fuel sender gasket still leaking slightly.
I did the gasket without disconnecting all the sender plugs and clips which was a mistake. Got the sender out ok, cleaned everything, applied the gasket sealant, gasket and tried to put the sender back in with the wires connected. It was a right faff and had to disconnect the wires anyway in the end, by the time I messed around the gasket sealant was going off I think and it wasn’t all lined up and seated correctly. I’ll have another go today, disconnect all the wires, clean off all the sealant and put put correctly this time. Not sure if I can remove the sealant so I’ve ordered a new gasket just in case and may wait until it arrives.
Purchased some new SGS Engineering Bonnet struts and fitted them today. New bonnet struts had been fitted but were too strong at 650n. They were so strong I had to push the bonnet down to release the catch. Closing the bonnet took too much effort as well. Also when the bonnet was closed the passenger side of the bonnet was sitting too high and wasn’t flush with the wing. I tried pushing it down but was solid, after the new bonnet struts I could push it down and it’s flush now.
Next jobs for today, fuel sender gasket again maybe, fit rubber grommets to the holes left after a tow bar removal in the boot (bought a kit of various size blanking grommets and normal grommets), adjust boot lid alignment (it has had a little ding on the boot lid, left a small dint but no paint broken and this has shifted the boot off alignment I think), if the weather improves I’ll clean all the rubber seals and apply some Krytox GPL 105 (not cheap stuff but a little goes a long way apparently)
The Krytox stuff is used in the automotive industry and applied to rubber seals (similar to Gummi Pflege stuff) and other parts for reducing friction and noise. There are different viscosities depending on where it’s used, VW use and sell their own mix of GPL 105 for use on sunroof seals etc to make the sunroof slide smoothly and reduce wind noise which owners complained about I think.
One thing that is bugging me though is the noise that the steering wheel motors make, I’ve bought some Krytox GPL 205 G2 grease to use. Bought 10 grams but it may not be enough. Plan is to remove the original grease in the motors on the worm drive and plastic cog, apply the Krytox GPL 205 G2 grease, reassemble and see if it makes any difference. I’ll take some videos of before and after. I will of course examine the plastic gears for any signs of wear, if there too much wear then I’ll send the gears to my Dad and he will fabricate new ones. Probably make them wider as well. I’ve seen him do this before for Slushy machines and arcade machines where the plastic gears are knackered in the motor assemblies/mechanism, spare parts are no longer available and the only other option is to buy a new machine.

 

[Malc]

27 minutes ago, Razor61 said:

if there too much wear then I’ll send the gears to my Dad and he will fabricate new ones

he sounds a amazing chap that could earn a little £££s from members here !

Malc

[Razor61]

6 hours ago, Malc said:

he sounds a amazing chap that could earn a little £££s from members here !

Malc

Yep, precision engineer and he can make anything really and has done over many many years. Making some gate bolts and nuts for a ‘well to do’ country house that where originally hand made a very very long time ago, working out thread pitch, adjusting things until it all works as it should is one example. Proper skill, knowledge, experience, it has to be correct and excellent work ethic which I aspire to. If 10% of that has rubbed off on me I’ll be happy😉

[Razor61]

So todays work…….not as much as I intended to do.
Fuel sender gasket leak
removed everything again, cleaned and remove all traces of the sealant. I noticed the plate on the fuel sender wasn’t exactly as it should be (a bit bent and not square) so straightened it as best I could. Reassembled and fitted everything without any sealant this time so the rubber gasket will do it’s job as intended. Went for a drive and intentionally drove to slosh the fuel about, stopped at fuel station, put £40 fuel in and repeated. Got home checked for leaks and it looks good this time but time will tell. Note to myself, don’t try and be clever….just replace the bits as intended and don’t use fancy sealant as well.
Put in the blanking grommets in the tow bar holes, of course the grommets I bought were not a perfect fit but I made them fit.

[Razor61]

Well, I removed the needed bits to get to the tilt motor worm drive and and gear. Gear was in perfect condition, removed all the original grease, applied the Krytox stuff and put it all back together. Is it quieter………not sure but I think it maybe quieter on the tilt bit. The telescopic bit I couldn’t get to easily but I will do in the future.

I did take some videos before and after but it’s difficult to tell if there is any difference, it seems quieter when the key is removed and the steering wheel returns to to the in and up position. If there is a difference it wasn’t worth 2 hours doing it all but I wanted to try.

Video before

 

 

[Razor61]

Video after.

 

[Razor61]

As for the Krytox stuff on the seals, spent an hour applying the stuff. It’s pretty thick and applying a small amount does go a long way but when applying to old rubber seals it takes a fair amount of stuff. I bought a 30ml bottle and have about half left. I did the bonnet, boot, door seals but not the bottoms of the doors themselves (I’d had enough by this time) and the headlight seals. If nothing else the seals look good, like new now. As with anything else of this type of stuff, time will tell if it’s worth it compared to Gummi Fplege or equivalent stuff which is easier to apply that’s for sure.

[Razor61]

On 1/29/2022 at 9:30 AM, Razor61 said:

New bonnet struts had been fitted but were too strong at 650n.

Correction, they were 600n and not 650n

[Malc]

you've done well .......  let's hope you live long enough to outlive your " new " Lexus 

Malc

[Razor61]

3 hours ago, Malc said:

you've done well .......  let's hope you live long enough to outlive your " new " Lexus 

Malc

Thanks Malc, I'll do my best👍🏻
There are some noises on the suspension, nothing dramatic at all, I can hear some dull bumping/thudding noise coming off a speed bump when the suspension comes off load. Going on the the speed there is also some noise,  it's different but maybe caused by the same issue. It's not really bad by any means but I can hear/feel it.
Not sure if it's the front bottom ball joints or the UCA's, when a set of new bottom ball joints arrive from Japan I'll fit them and see if that cures it. Then it will be front drop links, anti roll bar bushes and track rod ends, if that doesn't fix the issue then it's probably the front UCA's (I have a new set anyway but didn't want to fit them just yet)

[Razor61]

Fuel leak all sorted, filled the tank to max yesterday, checked this morning, no smell of fuel and no leak from the fuel sender gasket.
I can fit all the trim in the boot now, fuel leak sorted and a dry boot

[Razor61]

Received most of the parts I ordered from Amayama today, ordered them on 24th of Jan so pretty good service.
Rear UCA's, front lower ball joints, tie rods, rear drop links, front drop links, front and rear anti roll bar bushes, various clips/covers and grommets and the 09812-00010 'tool' for loosening the door bolts to adjust the doors while I was at it (pic below). Wouldn't have ordered it on its own but made sense getting it with the other bits.
That will keep me busy for a while😉
I'm waiting for some other bits from UAE, front and rear pad wear sensors and an new antennae.

[Malc]

this'll be the first      £££ million    Ls400 then 

Malc

[Razor61]

5 hours ago, Malc said:

this'll be the first      £££ million    Ls400 then 

Malc

Ha ha, maybe by the time I’ve finished🤣
I need to claw some money back now so if anyone needs a new set of OEM front ball joints for a mk3 then let me know…………