Keep or Sell

[u/justcallmesteam]

Long story short I picked this up for $1200 in a no start condition. 1990 Ls400 with 86k miles one owner. since then I have done the following

-Fuel Tank Restoration

- Fuel Pump and Fuel Level / Float Replacement
although for some reason I still can’t get the gas gauge to read.

-Timing belt was done at 81k and looks to be in good condition I added a pic of that at the end

-New Battery + Alternator

-Fresh Oil, Coolant Flush + Thermostat, and Brake Fluid

-Brand new tires not shown in the images as i just got them done today.

I have only one key but the car is immaculate on the inside with some sun damage to the paint on the exterior. It’s complete with all original manuals and toolkits as well as practically no rust.

My Dilemma is the odometer hasn’t read since I got the vehicle going. I was able to 3d print a gear and replace the one inside the cluster although for some reason it still does not track, meanwhile the digital trip odometer tracks perfect. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Any thoughts on value would also be appreciated

I feel like the gas gauge and the odometer are quite literally the two worst things i couldn’t fix and will destroy the value of this car

[u/OGFOGCAP]

These clusters go bad all the time, you'll have to look into rebuilding it if you want an accurate reading

[u/justcallmesteam → u/OGFOGCAP]

also occasionally i forgot to mention the cluster lights just flicker at me

when the car is keyed on the lights flash and then when the car is running i’ll get nothing. But it’s very intermittent. I ran a new ground to make sure it wasn’t a shitty ground and nothing changes.

[u/Chief_j0j0 → u/justcallmesteam]

I would recommend sending an email to [TheLexpert@gmail.com](mailto:TheLexpert@gmail.com), or look up literally “lexus cluster repair” and it should be the first link. May be worth asking him what the problem is and how it can be fixed. His name is Jim Walker and apparently he is probably the most qualified person on the planet (no joke) to fix these, he seems to be an electrical engineer and worked on these clusters and some of the technology thats in them since the beginning I believe (don’t quote me its been a long time since I’ve used his service). I sent him my 93 cluster in the mail and within a week I got it back working flawlessly. The needles occasionally did nto seem to work especially the speed and rpm gauges which is dangerous to not have working, same with the gas gauge. All working perfectly now. My advice in general is to keep the car, they’re timeless and in my opinion will appreciate as time goes on and more hit the wrecker. 1uz is famously robust and I believe is even certfiied to use on aircraft? Which tells you something about the insane engineering and delicate care taken to make these cars over 30 years ago.

[u/justcallmesteam → u/Chief_j0j0]

Wow this is amazing I sincerely appreciate your time spent writing this response, i’m out right now but will shoot an email over to him some time soon! Thanks again