ambermarine

The misnomer that both springs need replacing when one fails as been started mainly by greedy workshops that are trying to make work. The springs are made individually and are not batched or continuous and chopped ,therefore the reason for failure on one adds nothing detrimental to the others. It is a common fault on all coiled springs due to the stress created and encompassed within the metal during and after manufacture metal fatigue is inherent in them and will show as soon as extra or abnormal stress occurs as in pothole or speed ramps.

This subject is now closed as far as my input goes.

If you look at the Ls400 archives there were a number of comments on this subject over the years and they all led down the same path in respect of the driving away with the handbrake applied .That is because its not a handbrake and is in fact applied by the foot,which in itself is contrary to what we all learned in our early days of driving ,we all know the procedure for starting from a standstill especially if one as been driving for 55 years the comments I made were merely illustrating a reason to a poster regarding the fact the material should not wear if used properly.

The car is easy to drive off with the parking brake on if you don't use it on a regular basis because of that I learn't from my Mark1 that it is not needed unless on a slope so I only use it rarely just to stop it seizing up. I have had these cars for twenty four years so I think I have sorted out whats wierd and what is'nt.

The trouble is that a lot of owners myself included set off with the brake on and this wears away the material very quickly and subsequently the holding power is dramatically reduced.

The adjusters on the shoe mechanism is adjusted after the drums are placed over the shoes . They are adjusted in sequence and have to be fine tuned or the shoes will bind when the parking brake is released or the car reverses with them contacting the drum. The correct way is to fit them in the lowest adjustment position ,fit the drum and then adjust the shoes alternative applications via the cog wheel until they bind then take them back a couple of segments on each cog wheel. The wheel should turn freely then apply the brake and release and if it still turns freely it is adjusted correctly. The cable adjustment is there to bring sufficient tension to the first adjustment level of the cog adjustment ,if the cog adjustment is at top and cannot be wound back the cable adjustment is too tight and needs taking back.

The type I have fitted are ER300 98Y standard 16 inch wheels for LS400 they are made in Poland and are not available in the UK bought online and shipped from Munich.

already corrected in earlier post.

There is no correct thickness the criteria is the parking brake holds the car on a hill or incline . There are several generic aftermarket suppliers of the shoes and they fit other cars of different makes, so the shoes themselves are not really a priority fit as they are not designed to brake the car as normal shoes would they are simply an holding contact. A new pair have a thickness of approx 5mm

I have trawled the Japanese warehouses in the past for LS400 parts they initially look cheap but when shipping and import costs are added they are very similar if not more expensive than Lexus dealerships, The upside is they will supply individual components from a part that Lexus dealerships won't ,as they have a wider selection. If you take for example the rear pads on the megazip site they are more expensive before shipping costs than genuine Lexus pads from Birmingham Lexus parts. So it is really about weather you can source the parts here especially on consumables

Need to make a correction on this post the name of the tyre was Bridgestone not Firestone.

You are so right Ben regarding futuristic perceptions ,I had a 1990 LS for 18 years and watched it corrode away in front of my very eyes over the years and apart from the mechanicals being kept on top of the chassis and underframe became so badly corroded that she had to go. The lesson learned on her bode well on the mint replacement in that I coated this one from top to bottom in preservatives and it as paid off, but the trick is prevention rather than cure and to achieve that you need a very good example in the first place.

I recently replaced my tyres with Firestone Turanza ER300 which were manufacturers fit on new 98 ls400 cars in the US. They have proved to be very good and highly recommend them ,bought them online and they were shipped from Germany in about three days free the tyres were about £120. Not available in the UK.

There is a rocker box cover gasket that could be the culprit also the rear camshaft bearing seal depending on the amount of oil escaping the choice of rectifying is ;the camshaft seal will be the most expensive and the rocker box about quarter of that .

You need a four digit code that as at sometime been inputted .The options on this were no code are devise one of your own when the car was first purchased.If the code was inputted when the battery is disconnected the security mode will ask you to input the correct code. The last numbers of the vin number on the car are a misnomer and could have been an idea used by someone to devise a code in the past , it will not get you back into the system if it has not been used. There is a switch dance you can perform on the forum that will get you back in and I think "Redsteve"put it on some years ago, check his input.

This is a valid question but there is also the hidden threat as to how government regulation will effect the future of these early models,with the emphasis on green energy and electric cars will they one day ban these so called monster engines and old tech from the road s which will have the affect of making them worthless. I have the good fortune of owning probably the best example of the mark 4 in the UK and it cost nothing apart from consumables to run and with 39k mileage unlikely to need anything replacing anytime in my lifetime . So to answer your question honestly ,I would not spend any money on yours other than the need to keep it on the road and enjoy it for its being .

Malc The mirrors on the Mark1 Lexus LS400 were both heated and articulating they did not droop when reversing that came on the Mark 4

There is as Ben says a large amount of co-operation and grouping of assets in Japan in terms of knowledge and shared values, no wasting energy on fighting the opposition use it to each others advantage. Its a pity we do not use the same logic in the UK ,The number of people I have seen over the years thrown on the industrial scrapheap to salve some assets stripper 's ego and derelict factories gone to the wall because of the enemy syndrome drilled into business executives. I once worked for major scaffolding group that was sold off by its parent group as a non core participant, I suffered redundancy before the event to make the company look lean and nimble on its salary expenditure and the purchasing company paid everybody off after they took over ,no intention of partying, we were the former enemy. Anyway they did me a favour I moved into another industry invented a new product which made me enough in five years to retire at fifty. The dog eat dog attitude of the UK industrial field as more losers than the Japanese philosophy

The interesting part of this topic thrown up by Pete's question is the Sumitomo brake element. The company is actually a subsidary of Sumitomo Electrics a company that is part of the Sumitomo group a massive conglomerate that operates in commodities Banking and trading in a multitude of disciplines. The Sumitono braking subsidary partnered with Aisin, Denso and Toyota in 2001 to form Advics a tier one supplier to the automotive industry in the development of electronic braking systems. To those members who used Falken tyres they were made by the Sumitomo tyre company as well as other makes unfamiliar to us in the UK. The Toyota pads that you get when ordering Lexus brake parts will still be turned out by the Sumitimo factory in my opinion. But the brand name I think as disappeared and will now be Advic's on subsequent models

Hi Pete Just an update the correct spelling is Sumitomo and they were fitted 95 to 2000 on the LS400

Hi Pete According to research the USA LS400 and 430 were fitted with Akebono ceramic brake pads, as the Ls was imported complete into the US I presume the factory fit was for all exports including the UK. Although the original brake pads I took off my rear calipers were Shunitomo and the calipers were likewise.so there may be some regional preferences depending on vehicle usage.

The original LS circa 89 was lambasted for being plain and underwhelming in the cabin the upholstery was received with praise but not that much in the US as leather was an option and expensive .I am of the view that as the exterior of the present array of luxury marques is reaching the same evolutionary mode designers are moving inside to enhance the appeal of the high end market taking life style of prospective purchasers into the mix. The interior is fabulous but much too busy for my liking and is a tad overwhelming visually and is starting to go down the road of the 80s Crown from a bling point of view.

Hi Malc you were going from the wrong cardinal point. The motorway south in Scotland is a delight to drive on and traffic density is a tenth of that in the areas you drove through even in week day traffic.

According to the original seller they quoted the original owners as the construction company we are discussing ,it is not uncommon for prestige vehicles to be owned outright instead of leasing to enable in house upkeep by their own plant facilities avoiding dealership costs,we used to buy our vehicles outright for the same reasons. Obviously the stamp in the service record cannot be applied but a service record will be held by the company's plant department.

Sir Robert Mcalpine is the name of the company and he died a long time ago, Sir William is one of his descendants,do your homework before you post.