New LS400 purchased - let the fettling begin!

[Supafly]

Completely agree and very fortunate that I am able to wield a spanner! 🙂

Every now and then I'll look at a ls430 or ls600h and then quickly realise that my LS400 does more than I can ask of it, and that the few hundred in genuine parts every now and then would probably still be cheaper than one costly repair on any of the newer cars...

Plus as they continue to age the LS400 just keeps getting nicer and nicer to look at 🙂

[Mikaelse]

On 6/22/2022 at 9:16 PM, Tinonline said:

A fair point raised. Running any car is expensive…is it worth running a 400 using a garage? At 90k miles a lot of makes are probably not in as good a place as a Lexus.

I’m glad I’m a home mechanic…sometimes.

I reckon I pay from £100 to £400 per annum. I’m at 98k. Low use.

I am proactive as much as possible. Prices to date are reasonable for the majority of OE parts but it does require shopping around and sometimes importing.

Quality OE suspension parts are a challenge.

I’m in the club that would like licensed parts suppliers manufacturing to OEM standard. Yes we will pay more. There’s a lot of rubbish and counterfeit.

Big name suppliers are also guilty of divesting their top brands to cheap manufacturers or selling out. We find out eventually but not before paying for it.

We are entering the phase of classic car ownership. Yes, even the Lexus requires a rebuild of some scale.

 

Hmm.. I run a 1995 LS400 as a daily driver.  I would not consider letting a shop mechanic work on it. To start it is often some research and a few weeks wait to procure most parts needed. Even service part of  acceptable quality.  Also it is easy to do damage to a 27 years old vehicle and sometimes fixing those mishaps is not easy at all.
I have now a rear window I need to replace on my 1998 LS400. ( someone threw a rock at it when parked is seems) and the shiny trim thing around the window costs 1000€ including everything. Trying to reuse the old one . Will probably be several more days work for me before I get that sorted and 700£ for window etc in total. Okish as long as I look at it as a hobby. If I start counting the work hours at 50£ or so it is not ok at all to be honest. 
I am starting to worry quite a bit about the front windshield blisters I have . If they progress to MOT failure . I have emailed local shops that do windshield. They have choosen to ignore me so far. A windshield for my 1995 or 1998 may be clpse to unobtainium by now. Scary !.  

 

 

[Malc]

Where are you Mikael  ?  that might cause some hiccups with your accessibility to spares and parts  .  I can't imagine for one moment that blisters around the windshield would ever progress to MOT failure 

The window glass you might be able to source from a Breaker and it's so small they could probably post it to you, courier whatever .  £700 seems a dopey price tbh .  even with catastrophic postage costs these days

Good luck with it all

Malc

[Razor61]

Aircon sight glass tiny leak is hopefully sorted, re gas will be done on Sunday morning. I fitted a new drier, cleaned up the sight glass area, applied Gorilla epoxy glue Crystal Clear, placed the glass lens over and seated it so the glue oozed out at the sides. Cleaned away any glue that went over the pressure switch seating area, waited 15 mins and fitted the pressure switch. It’s a tight fit between the bottom of the pressure switch and the glass cos the pressure switch over hangs but put a piece of paper between and it went through no problem so it wasn’t touching the new piece of glass and disturbing it. Took a few pics and if you look closely you can see the glass lens I glued on.

before

After

 

[Razor61]

Removed the strut bar bushes from the strut bars I took off the car.
I previously described the method I use and the pictures below illustrate a bit how I did it.
pics are of the bushes after removal, you can hopefully see the 2 cuts through the bush and where I knocked the cut strip at both ends with a flat punch. This loosens the bush and it was a doddle knocking out the bush with a flat punch and hammer.
Took no more than 30 mins for both arms with a reciprocating saw. Drilled out the rubber, knock out the centre, cut through the bush in 2 places 10mm apart leaving a mm so as not the damage the arm, knock the 10mm strip as described above and tap out the bush. This is the third time doing this for me and by far the easiest and you learn the easiest and best way to do it, that’s what is called ‘experience’🙃

 

[Razor61]

AC pressure tested and re gassed today no problem, ice cold as it should be if needed. The sight glass fix worked a treat and there is no sign of any leaking, the gorilla glue does dry Crystal Clear so you can see all the way in. Probably better than before to be honest. The AC guy thought I hadn’t done the repair at first until I pointed it out and showed him what I’d done.
All in all I’m pretty chuffed at the way it’s turned out.

[Razor61]

Jobs to do now are:

Rear shocks and top mounts - as said before with shock absorbers you don't know if how good they are until they are removed. The fronts were knackered on mine that's for sure, no signs of leaking either. Even though there isn't any sign of leaking or something obvious for an MOT tester to pick up, the shock can still be gone or they are nowhere near how they should be. Seals wear and the shocks don't perform as they should. I've no doubt the original LS400 shocks were very well made and will probably last longer than most but they will eventually wear and won't perform as they should. Also, as said by other people, the LS400 is very tolerant of suspension wear and the car drives well despite it.

Rear UCA's - bigger job than I thought it would be. Drive shafts need disconnecting, rear hub assy removed with the UCA attached to get at the ball joint nut plus all the other stuff that needs to be disconnected i.e. abs sensors, parking brake cables I presume........... etc etc etc.
I had a chat with Lexus Bolton about this and I was advised to get new rear axle shafts (pic below) because getting them out of the rear hub assy normally means they get ruined and half the wheel bearing comes out with them. So that means new wheel bearings as well, I have Blueprint ones but I think Lexus OEM would be best.
Because I have brand new OEM rear hub assy's already, the plan is to get new OEM bearings with all the seals etc, new rear axle shafts, build up the new hub assy's ready to swop over when the time comes.
I've priced up all the bits from Amayama and it will cost around £400, another few hundred quid🙄 but if a jobs worth doing.........................

 

[Supafly]

In the past I've used blueprint parts and found them to be of average quality.  I would be doing the same as you if I were in your situation.

In the past I've also been able to buy the correct bearing from SKF where it wasn't a complete hub assembly.  I don't know the set up on the LS400, but looking at the picture it seems as though the bearing is separate to the hub.  They have an app....

 

Just checked for a 1999 LS400 they list:

19709 Front wheel seal x2

FW149 Front wheel bearing

GRW132 Rear wheel bearing

24877 Rear inner wheel seal

22250 Rear outer wheel seal

In the SKF app it also gives a rear 'Axle Nut Torque Spec 213 Ft Lbs'

[Supafly]

Congrats on getting the strut rod bushings done.  I still need to make time to fit my new ones too...

I was planning on cutting as you have done and knocking it out but I'm hoping to be able to do it in situ.  Do you think there's enough compliance in the suspension to be able to pull down the strut rod enough while still attached at the control arm? 

Plan is to use a bearing press kit to install while on the car (threaded rod with bearings and different size cups/plates).

My camber bolts are seized, so I bought new ones and am bracing myself to do that dance 🙂

[Razor61]

1 hour ago, Supafly said:

In the past I've used blueprint parts and found them to be of average quality.  I would be doing the same as you if I were in your situation.

In the past I've also been able to buy the correct bearing from SKF where it wasn't a complete hub assembly.  I don't know the set up on the LS400, but looking at the picture it seems as though the bearing is separate to the hub.  They have an app....

 

Just checked for a 1999 LS400 they list:

19709 Front wheel seal x2

FW149 Front wheel bearing

GRW132 Rear wheel bearing

24877 Rear inner wheel seal

22250 Rear outer wheel seal

In the SKF app it also gives a rear 'Axle Nut Torque Spec 213 Ft Lbs'

Thanks, I’ll look into the SKF bearings but to be honest I’ll probably buy them all from Amayama unless there is a big price difference. I will be replacing the inner/outer seals, snap rings and there is a dust cover as well.

[Razor61]

58 minutes ago, Supafly said:

Congrats on getting the strut rod bushings done.  I still need to make time to fit my new ones too...

I was planning on cutting as you have done and knocking it out but I'm hoping to be able to do it in situ.  Do you think there's enough compliance in the suspension to be able to pull down the strut rod enough while still attached at the control arm? 

Plan is to use a bearing press kit to install while on the car (threaded rod with bearings and different size cups/plates).

My camber bolts are seized, so I bought new ones and am bracing myself to do that dance 🙂

Thanks, it was a pain but I expected it.
Regarding the front strut rod bushes, cutting through one or both camber bolts is one thing and a proper pita in itself. The strut rods will then probably drop enough to try and cut them and knock out in situ, not even worth trying in my opinion. My strong advice is to get the strut rods off the car and use my method to remove the bushes (I don’t think for one minute I’ve discovered something new by the way) or whatever method works for you or get them done by an engineering shop. I think I’ve mentioned before that I tried a 20ton press to get them out before and they would not budge at all. You need them on a bench, ideally with a vice, to work on them.
 

[Mikaelse]

1 hour ago, Razor61 said:

Thanks, I’ll look into the SKF bearings but to be honest I’ll probably buy them all from Amayama unless there is a big price difference. I will be replacing the inner/outer seals, snap rings and there is a dust cover as well.

IF I suspected that I might get seals and bearings that are kitted and may have been in stock for LS400 gathering dust for 15+ years (NOS = New old stock). 
I would consider buying elsewhere from known brand item for item hopefully reducing very old stock risk.
Grease and rubber does not benefit from very long time in storage. What do you think guys?. 

[Razor61]

1 hour ago, Mikaelse said:

IF I suspected that I might get seals and bearings that are kitted and may have been in stock for LS400 gathering dust for 15+ years (NOS = New old stock). 
I would consider buying elsewhere from known brand item for item hopefully reducing very old stock risk.
Grease and rubber does not benefit from very long time in storage. What do you think guys?. 

Good point, I’ll have a think about that🤔

[ambermarine]

12 hours ago, Mikaelse said:

IF I suspected that I might get seals and bearings that are kitted and may have been in stock for LS400 gathering dust for 15+ years (NOS = New old stock). 
I would consider buying elsewhere from known brand item for item hopefully reducing very old stock risk.
Grease and rubber does not benefit from very long time in storage. What do you think guys?. 

Toyota/Lexus Cambelts are vaccum packed so they do not detiorate over time, they are obviously aware of timescale affects to Rubber products.The term rubber is all encompassing when reffering to bushings and the composition of these parts are quite complicated with other ingredients and processes involved. On a recent survey of my 24 year old mark 4 I found no discernible detioration in any of the bushings in the suspension.

[Supafly]

Thanks again for the advice.  I'll proceed with caution 🙂 

I think we're probably now in a situation where everything for the LS400 unless recent aftermarket is likely to be New Old Stock, be it from Lexus or any other supplier. 

Really interesting to hear about vacuum packing to preserve parts Phil.  I too have noticed that some parts on my car show little to no signs of aging in comparison to other cars I've owned or worked on.

[Razor61]

Latest picture of the car

[Malc]

looks like a   " scrapper  "   to me  

Malc

[Supafly]

20 hours ago, Razor61 said:

Latest picture of the car

 

Looks amazing 🙂

[Razor61]

One thing I haven’t mentioned is the handling on the car since I rebuilt the suspension.
There is a route to work and back, which I don’t normally take, that has twists and turns, ups and downs, is a good test of how a car handles and I know it like the back of my hand. In the past I drove most of the same route on a daily basis in various cars, Lexus IS200, BMW E36 M3, BMW E46 M3, BMW M140i to name a few.
I have taken that route a few times in my current LS400 before I rebuilt the suspension, no surprise that it didn’t handle like an M3. I avoided it because it’s not the best road surface at all and showed up how knackered the suspension was.
However, since rebuilding the suspension and having the alignment done…………..I’ve driven on that route back home quite a few times due to traffic conditions and it handles really really well now.
I was surprised at how well it handles now to be honest.

[Razor61]

Dent in the boot lid done today, looks much better and I won’t get nagged by Lexus to get it done cos it spoils the car😀 £50 to get it done.
The mk4 wheels I bought a while ago have been refurbished by Lepson’s and new Falken tyres fitted.  Cleaned with Gtechniq panel wipe and applied Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour this morning. Not fitted the wheels yet because the centre caps I got with the wheels and touched up by Lepson’s are too ropey and bent to fit with the new wheels. I didn’t see them and Lepson’s said they would send pics of them but I said just do your best with them, they’re pretty bad to be honest. One of them is ok and that’s it.p
I have a spare set I bought a few months ago which are in very good condition and not bent, I’ll have a proper look at them tomorrow and put one of them on a wheel and see how they look. If I’m not happy they will be sent to Lepson’s and be painted in the same colour. Few pics of the refurbished wheels after applying the Gtechniq C5

 

[Malc]

what did Lepsons charge you for the 4 wheel refurb ?

are your centre caps solid plastic like mine on the older car wheels ?  solid colour too right thru' of course 

Malc

[Razor61]

It was around £400 iirc, centre caps are solid plastic like the mk3 but a different design.

[Malc]

10 minutes ago, Razor61 said:

It was around £400

that's the general price area I was quoted by Lepsons and SMART locally ,,,  but I went with a more local guy who's been around a very very very long time too and ( cash ) £250 sealed the deal but NOT touching the centre caps .  the colour matches ( I think ) or as near as dammit 

Malc

[Razor61]

10 hours ago, Malc said:

the colour matches

£250 is a good price, hope you’re happy with them. What colour/finish did you go for? I was advised to get them finished in straight silver.

[Razor61]

Had a good look at the centre caps I bought a while ago and they are not solid plastic, there is a metal plate/cover on the outside. That explains the original diamond cut finish to match the original finish on the wheels.
Cleaned them up, clay barred, buffed and polished. They are very very close to the finish on the wheels and in great condition with a few marks, not worth getting them sprayed and should look good.
They have been sprayed in the past so I may try removing the emblem/badge and use some thinners to get the chrome finish back. Or I have the emblems from a set of mk3 centre caps which may fit.