Razor61

My guess would be front strut bar bushes or the rear bushes. Front strut bar bushes can be checked by braking sharply/stamping on the brakes, you’ll get a clunk if they are gone. You will know what I mean when/if you feel it. These bushes ‘will’ go bad, split. You had the alignment done and it was ok for a week, not likely to be the rack then. If the strut bushes are gone and are moving position then the alignment will go out again.

Exactly, and described very well👍 Plus, if the filter slips out of your hand into the drain bowl full of warm or hot oil there will be a big 'sploosh', probably oil all over the place and on 'you' as well, especially if you are on your back under the car doing the job, as most probably will be. Filter first or not filter first..............................that is the question🤔 🤣 I remember reading something a while ago that a garage changed to removing the filter first, can't remember what the exact 'method' was, and it reduced mistakes and saved time for the garage. That's for a garage of course not us DIY mechanics who change their oil/filter every 6 months or 5,000 miles🙂

Yep, instructions got ‘lost in translation’. Not complaining at all in the context of ‘the whole job’. I provided the new tyres and it included a wheel alignment for a very very good price of £85. Granted, the alignment was just the front adjustment not the full monty cos I had removed the track rod ends a while ago to fit steering rack boots. It pays off to have a good relationship with your local Lexus dealer. Yes, the calipers had a nice silver ring on them. Some of it from this time and some from last time. Even with the new 2.8mm weights it’s a tight squeeze but they did the job.

I’m not worrying about it at all😉 I’m more than happy with the way I’ve done oil changes and checking the level for ‘god knows how long’, this topic just made me curious on ‘the correct way to do this according to the manual’ because it was brought up in this topic.

Update on this which may help other owners with a LS400 Mk4 with original alloys or a GS fitted with LS400 calipers and MK4 LS400 original alloys. The front tyres on my car needed replacing, worn on the outer edge on passenger side (another story why) I had new tyres fitted to the front wheels. Instructions were to replace the tyres on the front wheels - balance the wheels with slim line weights so as not to foul the callipers if they needed fitting to the front in future - fit these to the rear of the car - rebalance the rear wheels with slim line wheel weights and fit to the front. Resulting in new tyres on the rear and good condition tyres on the front, all balanced with ‘slim line’ weights. This was done on Thursday. What actually happened was new tyres fitted to front wheels - balanced with slim line weights - fitted to rear - rear wheels fitted to the front ‘without’ re-balancing with slim line weights. This resulted in the ‘normal’ weights fouling the front callipers. Didn’t notice this because you can’t hear it from inside the car without the windows open. How do I know this? On the next day, Friday, I picked up my daughter and family at 4:30 am to take them to Manchester airport, they were all waiting and ready. My grand daughter said ‘why does your car make a ‘tick tick’ noise?’, I immediately knew what had happened. Fast forward to yesterday morning, removed front wheels, cleaned the wheels, marked the position of the existing ‘normal’ outer wheel weights with some masking tape at either end. Removed ‘normal’ wheel weights - removed remaining adhesive - cleaned area - attached the same weight of ‘slim line’ weights - refitted wheels and tested this morning on the motorway to make sure they were still balanced correctly and they are plus no ‘tick tick’ noise😀 Some helpful info on the weights I used, I purchased 2 x types of ‘slim line’ weights. 2.2 mm high/thick and 2.8mm high/thick weights. I ended up using the 2.8mm high/thick weights. Reason is that the 2.2mm type come in 2.5 gram increments, so would need at least double the quantity of weights (maybe not a issue) whereas the 2.8mm high/thick weights come in 5 gram increments. The normal weights I removed were in increments of 5 gram and 10 gram so the 2.8mm 5 gram weights matched this but are wider. Makes sense because they are thinner, So long as you ‘centre’ the 2.8mm replacement weights you are good to go. I would of course recommend the 2.8mm variety, you can buy them from the link below. This is for a full box of them. https://www.youngautomotivedirect.co.uk/Products/trax-premium-adhesive-weights/620C-040

Further to this topic. This morning I needed to take my LS400 out to test the wheel balance on the motorway (I’ll update about this in another topic) and fill up with fuel. Engine warmed up, parked up at home, after 25 mins I checked the oil level. Oil level was over the full/max mark by about 1 mm maybe 1.5 mm which means it is overfilled according to the manual. How much its overfilled by, I can’t quantify but I’d guess it isn’t by much at all, maybe 100ml. Checking the oil level when cold/next day for me was to make sure all the oil had drained into the oil pan. I will in future check the oil level 20-30 mins after engine has reached operating temp and top up as needed. If I remember to do it on the next oil and filter change, I’ll try and quantify how much oil equates to 1mm on the dipstick. The transmission and power steering level has a cold and hot level marker, the coolant level has low and max. I’ll need to RTFM the manual about the coolant level as well. Just replaced the coolant on my LS400 with correct Red coolant so want to get this right🫡

So I ‘read’ TFM for my LS400 and will be amending my method for oil change. Although from memory I don’t remember needing to add much more oil the next day after an oil change, if I did it would have been very minimal

That is excessive for sure.

Maybe we are, maybe I need to RTFM😀

Assuming you dropped the oil when hot the volume will be greater than when the oil is cold, the oil will expand by around 6% when hot as far as I know. For 5.5 litres when cold that equates to 330ml more volume when hot (if my math is correct) and thus accounts for 330ml more oil. For 5 litres when cold that equates to 300ml more volume when hot (if my math is correct) and thus accounts for 300ml more oil. My method of doing an oil change with engine warmed up/hot - remove filter - remove drain plug - drain oil - leave draining for 20 - 30 mins - refit drain plug with new washer - fit new filter - refill oil to max - run car for a very short while - leave for 30 mins so oil is drained into sump - check level and top up so the level is just under max. Check again the next day when 'cold' and top up as needed.

Have you checked the level again after running the engine for a minute then leave to drain into the sump again? The level will drop when the oil is circulated and fills the new oil filter. I've found the level will drop and need to put another 500ml or so in to reach the full mark.

Ok, so I discussed this situation with one of the mechanics at Lexus Bolton. Good news maybe on the diagnostics side but bad news on the symptoms of the problem. First, they still have the diagnostics equipment to connect to a 95 Lexus LS400 and read the engine/transmission codes so I would guess a Lexus dealership in Spain would maybe have the same. I explained the symptoms, gearbox work/rebuild and the golden colour ATF (probably Mercedes ATF) Solenoid issues are possible but not likely because there is no forward drive at all. Opinion is the clutch pack/plates are the problem (maybe other parts as well, who knows) and using the wrong ATF has ‘destroyed’ the gearbox/clutch pack/plates. Transmission rebuild or replacement needed - this is the opinion of the Lexus mechanic. Forward gears are driven through the clutches, reverse is driven by a gear assembly which fits with the symptoms of the clutch pack/plates being at fault.

2-change transmission oil, because the one you have is not ATF due to color and smell, ATF is cherry red, this one is gold, I think the previous owner did Mercedes transmission oil I think you have figured out why the ATF is not cherry red as it should be for Toyota/Lexus, I watch the YouTube channel below, SPR Autos - Mercedes Specialist, when they drain the Transmission the fluid it is a golden colour so I think you are correct. I think Mercedes use mostly Gold coloured ATF but also use Red ATF, depending the model/transmission/year.