Schaefft
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Everything posted by Schaefft
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Haha, yes its me! Its odd that people still recognize this name considering its been years now! I finally managed to find a suitable car that someone parted out on Facebook to replace the worn out steering wheel, Im still looking for the shifter though, I think those are particularly hard to find considering the color and the fact that most of them obviously wear over time. And yeah, I've seen a write-up of the needle fix before, for now I am not too annoyed by them though to take the cluster out again. @steve2006: Ouch, those really would have helped me out quite a lot! I hope the car/parts still ended up being useful to someone though. Sorry for the lack of updates. Progress has been very very slow since I moved into the new house. I am still looking for a set of BC (or similar quality) coilovers for the car to finally replace the completely destroyed shocks. I dont think it would need much more than that to pass its MOT. Id buy a set of used shocks for now that get it back on the road, but with the replacement procedure being so complicated for the rear ones, I rather do it properly the first time around.
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License plates dont stay with the car in Germany, they change with each owner so it'll be hard to track the history of that particular car even if you had them. The only think you can do is contacting Lexus in Germany and see if they can provide you with any dealership history based on the vin, something that is pretty unlikely due to the age of the car.
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Knew they had to be from around there somewhere, thanks!
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Thanks for the kind comments guys! My legs and back were killing me after I was done but thankfully I had a Sunday to relax haha. Nope, I didnt have to move the fan shroud or battery tray, so I'm really not sure where these bolts are from. I feel like they are coming from inside the car when I installed the cluster and ecu again, but they wouldn't be small enough to fit in the bolt holes that mount the cluster to the dash (Im missing two bolts there). I bought the thermostat on Autodoc among a few other parts with a 20% discount. They slowly seem to turn into some kind of Rockauto of Europe, with tons of parts you wouldn't be able to find anywhere else and competitive prices. They constantly change their discounts, I would recommend to wait for them to be at least at 20%, especially on bigger purchases. I bought this one from Wahler, knowing that they are a very high quality brand for thermostats. I inspected the hose and it still looked good, so I kept it for now. https://www.autodoc.co.uk/wahler/1719198 Oh, and if anyone has a lead on a high quality set of coilovers that doesn't compromise on ride comfort too much (BC coilovers or similar) and at the same time don't cost much more than 500 quid, please let me know!
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A little update after a little while! My rebuilt power steering pump for the Celsior arrived a few days ago, and I received all parts to rebuild the alternator myself on Thursday. That meant I had everything I needed to put everything in the enginebay back together. Here are a few photos I took during reassembling the alternator. These Denso alternators are extremely easy to take apart, you could probably replace all components that usually fail in about 10 minutes. Some old vs. new shots. As a reminder, at least one of the diodes in the rectifier died: Degreasing car parts in your bath tub is totally acceptable, right? Alternator with new components installed: All back together: I've put both parts back into the car this afternoon, and things went much easier than removing them before. Not having to deal with a 1cm layer of oily grime definitely helped. The alternator went in first, no problems apart from one of the splash shield bolts mysteriously disappearing. No real issues with the PS pump either: Since I had to remove one of the coolant hoses to get better access to the alternator I used the chance to replace the thermostat. Hose and accessory belt back on: Air intake reassembled, replaced the old air filter while I had the chance. It needs a good clean and the battery cover, but its looking decent again. I bled the coolant and power steering systems, had a moment of panic when smoke developed where the pump was sitting. Fortunately it was just ps fluid or degreaser burning off the exhaust manifold. I left the car running for half an hour to make sure there were no leaks, and from what I can tell everything looks perfect. Very happy, it was quite an exhausting day. Took me around 7 hours in total going at a relaxed pace. Some left overs I have literally no clue about where they would fit. The 4 remaining bolts look familiar, I am fairly confident that they did not come out of the engine bay. I still need to find a set of reasonably priced (as in under 500 quid) BC coilovers to replace the old completely shot suspension. It turned out to be not much more expensive than going with original new parts, and BC is offering some absolutely amazing hardware that doesn't compromise ride comfort too much while still giving you the option to adjust ride height.
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Good question, I really couldn't tell you what might have caused this problem. Sorry for a lack of updates btw. I'm currently in the process of buying my first home so the Celsior was put lower on the priority list. I will start to order more parts soon to get it back on the road, I need to get it out of my apartment car park somewhat soonish after all haha.
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From what I was told the only problem with leaking power steering fluid is that it'll cover the internals, causing them to get hotter than intended and potentially damaging the solder points. I have tested all components apart from the voltage regulator which you would need special tools for. Its the rectifier that has at least one dead diode on mine, causing it to not charge the battery properly anymore. Very common problem. The brushes need replacing as well, they are almost at the end of their life. Both together are around 20£, I will also get a new regulator just in case which is another 24£. The bearings are all still perfect so I won't replace those either. All in all rebuilding it will cost me 45£ compared to the 110-125£ a remanufactured alternator would cost (and you dont know what components actually go replaced in those). The power steering pump is a little trickier. I can't find the parts here in the UK, the dealer has them but they are too expensive to make it a viable option.
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I've spent my afternoon yesterday and today removing the alternator and power steering pump. I never want to do this job again (not without a lift and exactly the tools I need to do the job anyway). It was almost impossible to remove the alternator without removing as many things as possible around it. The instructions say its easiest when it is lifted out from underneath the car, but I cannot think of a way how this would ever be possible, the anti roll bar sits exactly in the spot where the alternator would need to go through. So I lifted it out from the top of the engine bay, but I had to remove the fan fluid reservoir (why does this exist in the first place?!) first, otherwise that would block it from coming out. I also had to remove the heat shield while the alternator was still awkwardly hanging inside there which was a major pita due to poor accessibility. Removing the intake tubing and pump wheel, so far so good... This is as far as it would come out, even with the reservoir gone. At least with that out of the way removing the lower bolts on the power steering pump was easy, with the alternator in place this would have been next to impossible really. Contrary to the instructions, you cannot remove the pump reservoir before taking the pump off either, one of the nuts holding it in place touches the head/valve cover before it comes off. Filthiest alternator ever. All in all, really not something I enjoyed doing, especially with 25 years of oily grime covering absolutely everything. At least none of the bolts snapped which really would have ruined my day. Thats what it looked like when I opened it up, definitely still was on its original brushes. Can anyone tell me which parts I should order to rebuild the alternator apart from the brush holder and rectifier? The bearing seem perfect (probably around 100k miles on them) and the voltage regulator didnt seem to cause any issues before, I might replace it anyway. I dont think there is much else I can replace, is there? Is it a good idea to rebuild an alternator power steering leaked on in the first place?
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Getting a PS pump from Rockauto is no problem, its just that things get a little more expensive once you add customs fees, postage, VAT and so on to it. If it only was 40 quid more to buy a new one I would do it, but with all the fees added its quickly becoming more sensible to rebuild it. The parts are more expensive than they should be, but its probably still only half of what a rebuilt one would cost when ordered in the states. I will wait for a quote from a company on ebay who rebuilds them, if that is silly money I'll order one on Rockauto. The alternator should hopefully be rebuildable, the parts for it all seem to be available and reasonably priced (since I dont have to buy them from the dealer). The cheapest one I can find is 110£, rebuilding it will 30 quid max.
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I've just found out that 0444630173 seems to replace both PS pump gasket kit part numbers above, and is available from the dealer for about 41£ incl. VAT. The bearing (90363-17007) is 35£ incl. VAT. Since that's 76£ just for the parts (won't get the bearing before mid June), just ordering a rebuild PS pump might be the best option here. 😕
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Looks like Toyota/Lexus is offering a PS pump gasket kit and bearing, part # 90363-17007, 04446-50011/04446-30171 (not being able to change the color of the background in this forum is pretty annoying btw...). Did anyone try to order them here in the UK before? Since getting the pump from Rockauto seems the only way to fix the leak at the moment, I'd at least like to try finding out if I can rebuild the pump myself first.
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Yeah, already had a look on Rockauto, the problem is that I cannot send them my core, so I'd have to buy them full price. I'd prefer to buy them over here somewhere really if it makes sense cost wise.
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No, I didn't think about the needles since I haven't seen them light up before. I might do it myself at a later date. The car definitely has steel springs now, originally it had air suspension but the previous owner just replaced them with conventional shocks. I'd like to convert it back to what it was before, but I doubt I will find the parts in decent condition for a reasonable price anytime soon. No electric massaging seats in the back unfortunately, those only came in the top of the line trim. In other news, the alternator just died due to the typical power steering fluid leak from the pump, doesn't charge the battery anymore.😥 Can anyone tell me if I need to get a completely new pump, or whether they are rebuildable? Same for the alternator.
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Picked up both my ECU and instrument cluster circuit boards from Jim this morning and just installed them in the car. What can I say, he's done a brilliant job, the cluster is working 100% again and the ECU has gotten all 8 capacitors replaced as well now. Apparently it took him 3 hours to get both of them done as whoever worked on the cluster before screwed things up quite badly. Very happy, and all done for only around a hundred quid including crazy postage costs for the capacitors I ordered. Hopefully both will last at least another 25 years again.☺️ Thanks again for the tip, Jim's a great guy, quite into Lexus', too. I can only highly recommend him!
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Checked the site, apparently mine was build in 08/92, and has the 209 tooth belt. Part # 1356859045
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The car did drive since nobody replaced any capacitors on the ECU yet, the bad soldering job you see in the photos is on the instrument cluster circuit boards, I hope they are in decent enough condition to clean them up professionally and solder the new capacitors on there. About the timing belt: The previous owner actually told me the same when he had the car at the Lexus dealer to get the belt checked. I didn't quite believe it but I guess its true! Do you know if that belt difference is because its a different model year, or because its a JDM market Celsior? From what I can find on Ebay, there's one with 211 Teeth: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Timing-Belt-Cam-Belt-for-TOYOTA-CELSIOR-4-0-93-00-CHOICE1-2-1UZ-FE-Saloon-ADL-/371901202981?hash=item56970a0225 And one with 209 Teeth: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-TOYOTA-SOARER-V8-SC-LS400-209-TOOTH-34mm-GATES-TIMING-BELT-T190-1356859045/292435985886?epid=1116058384&hash=item44168b05de:g:xjUAAOSwor1adh2r The seller even mentions it in the description there. Considering the label on that belt doesn't mention the Celsior even though it lists other JDM only models, I assume I need the belt with 211 teeth.
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I've dropped off all the components at Jim's today, he'll have a closer look at it on Monday. Thanks for the tip!
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Excellent, I'll give him a call tomorrow.
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I think if I decide to go with brand new shock absorbers, I'll get a set of KYBs. I haven't heard anything bad about them at all, and they are the OEM for tons of manufacturers, while being cheaper than whatever came in the LS400/Celsior originally. Same for the springs. I can get 4 springs and front shock absorbers from them for around 230 quid incl. shipping, I hope the rear shock absorbers on my car are still usable. I'm just wondering if I should get the front shock mounts replaced at the same time, I'm not sure how long these usually last in an LS. In other news, I've ordered all capacitors for both the gauge cluster and ECU which arrived today. I've noticed that the capacitors on the cluster were replaced before, but not exactly to what I'd call acceptable standards. Also one of the capacitors on the ECU must have failed already as you can see in the photo. If anyone in the Newcastle area would like to help me with soldering these to the boards (I dont wanna do it myself, I'll probably destroy them😂), please let me know. I'll also get set of wheels installed on Saturday. Its the same wheels I have on the car right now (16inch MK3 alloys), but with tires that should be slightly better than what I have right now. I've only paid 20 quid for them so we'll see.😂
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Possibly, I've now bought another set of wheels very cheaply that should have decent tires (for the moment), so the old ones will go in the bin anyway. If anyone is interested in a clean set of MK3 alloys, please give me a shout Apparently the rear springs/shocks on the first gen are supposed to be a little more tricky. The springs are a different part number so there has to be some differences. Thanks for offering your help. Do you have a link to an online parts catalog with drawings I could use to look up part numbers? Absolutely invaluable if one is available.
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I'll probably have new front shocks coming in fairly soonish, they are supposed to be easily replaced but a helping hand probably wouldn't hurt I've replaced front shocks before, but those were airsuspension ones in my Lincoln (similar to what the Celsior used to have).
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Very cool, and it looks clean! Can you tell me if there are any relevant differences between the Celsior and LS400 that I should be aware of, i.e. timing belts or specific parts/electronics apart from TEMS and air suspension?
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I've just checked the tires again, they are 16 inch wheels but the wrong size tire. I've also had a quick look underneath the car again to look for anything unusual, nothing to report really, its still looking pretty decent under there for the age of the car. No bad rust or anything, nothing dripping on the floor either. The tires are leaking air though, so I will need a set asap.
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I'm not sure, I think the car was stored on a driveway for those 4 years, I've only seen it in the Newcastle city center before I bought it. Im located in Gateshead (for some reason Tyne and Wear wasn't in the list...), any LS400/Celsior specific help would be very much appreciated! EDIT: Definitely wasnt mine, different color and not a Lexus.
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I dont think this wheel style came in 15", the facelift changed to a very similar style to the ones I have right now, but Im fairly sure mine are MK3 wheels with the original center caps, not the MK2 16" wheels I'd actually like to have. Also, Im still a little confused whether this is a facelifted LS400 or not. I have the digital-only gauge cluster but no passenger side airbag. I thought both of these were introduced with the facelift. Hm..
