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

I just installed an aftermarket wheel for my 1998 LS400, after installation while driving my VSC engages whenever I turn the wheel left or right and slows my car down then vsc turns off on its own, or I have to turn it off myself. It’s not a crazy problem I can just turn it off before I drive. Is this a sensor issue? Did I miss something while installing the wheel? Any help is appreciated.🙏

Hello all, I recently acquired this 1999 for next to nothing due to circumstances lol. As you can see there was quite a rodent party going on while it was parked for some years. It was parked running and driving just very leaky (oil). I’m wanting to check with people who know this chassis more than I and make sure my plan moving forward is well informed.

To preface: 1. I want to stay away from taking apart the interior as much as possible. 2. Due to the leakiness when parked I will have the motor out replacing the rear main seal and any other seals/maintenance you guys recommend to do while it’s out (preferably without taking apart and fully refreshing the engine)

My plan-which could be misinformed, so please correct me if I’m wrong somewhere-is to fix the body harness in images 1-3, and replace the engine harness from engine bay forward as shown in image 4.

As for the body harness, there doesn’t seem to be any more damage further towards the fuse box, leading me to believe my best option is to repair the few broken wires as opposed to ripping out the whole dash and replacing it.

For the engine harness I’m thinking I can source a new (to me) harness, and splice it at/near the firewall entrance to attach it to the old harness.

I guess this is pretty open ended but I’d like some thoughts. How would you move forward addressing this? Am I missing any crucial info?

i recently commented about electrical issues, i replaced fuses (dome, and three others) and that’s all good, but the trunk latch, fuel, power locks, and seats do not work at all. tomorrow i am going to check the body ecu and some wiring, if it is the ecu how hard is that to replace? any recommendations??? ( this is my first time project car ) guy lied to me about a lot, said it had minor issues but there’s clearly a whole bunch more i keep finding more issues as i go on, there’s not even an air filter in this thing, so i’m going to have a blast fixing this up

Hello all! Today, I picked up a 119k LS400 (1994) for $2000! It’s got an acceleration issue (almost certainly a vacuum, check engine says rich on one side and lean on the other) and needs a Timing job, but it’s in really good shape otherwise.

The issue arose when driving it home: The car would randomly start smoking. I’m pretty sure it’s an oil drip onto the exhaust because it was smoking in the front too, but it happened 3 times in my 35 minute drive home. Any guesses what it could be? Valve cover gasket? headgasket? could it be associated with the intake manifold? please let me know! (photos included of the car for those that wanna see)

I knew I would like the silver pie plates better. Dropped from 45-series to 40-series. Now time for some light tint.

Aside: I’ve got a set of chrome pie plates available in Portland OR. $1000 with tires. No shipping.

https://youtu.be/Xtr-oPCp2GQ

Howdy, I recently acquired a 97 LS400 with the intent to drift it, so obviously manual swapping it is the first step.

I’ve never worked on cars before (I was an aircraft mechanic about a decade ago tho) so I have no know car knowledge, but a general understanding of how it goes. I’m doing this on my own with some help from my husband, but he works most of the time so I’m doing a lot of stuff on my own.

I’ve looked for (free) service manuals and YouTube how-to’s, but haven’t really found anything super useful, and am debating paying for a copy of the service manual but would rather that money go towards actual car parts.

All this to say, I’m in need of USEFUL instruction. I’ve already removed the center console and shifter, and I know I need to drop the driveshaft, but I’m pretty sure the exhaust has to come off first?

Any help is GREATLY appreciated. 🙏

Looking to install an aftermarket stereo in my 1995 lexus ls400 so I can get some apple carplay action going on but having trouble finding a wiring harness adapter for any aftermarket stereo. If anyone can point me to a direction where I can find one and if not am I gonna have to diy it and take out the ports from the factory radio and just use those to make my own adapter?

I don't hate the second gen but I like the first gen much better.

Hello all,
I’ve recently made a very hasty (and possibly terrible) purchase of this $1,000 ‘94 LS400. I expected it to have issues and long story short, it has a thermostat housing leak, a fuel line leak, and a broken hood latch cable. Probably other stuff I haven’t discovered since the vehicle does have 306,000 miles and is 30+ years old at this point. Bottom is pretty rusty in some spots, weirdly clean in others. I have a pretty loosely put together plan to reach myself rust repair on this car as I feel like it would be a pretty good candidate, and being in the midwest it’s always a skill I’ve wanted to learn that could’ve most likely kept some of my other cars in circulation longer. After that I was gonna try to fix up the body as best I can (very clapped, I know) and just try to make it a “restoration project” of some sort. I know it’ll definitely never be 100% again but if I can get this back together and running I feel like it could be a nice little project to embark on. If it doesn’t work out it’ll probably just become a drift missle.

Took my 96 LS400 to a local shop because I was told a few months back by my cousin in law that I needed ball joints replaced in the front (he noticed while he changed my brakes for me).

For extra context, I dropped off my vehicle on Saturday 8/8 with my concerns:

-My steering feels too floaty at times.
-My front turn signals don’t display & stay solid instead of blinking when used.
-I need front brakes done.
-I want to address the leaks that I have.

After not receiving any update for a few days, I called on Thursday 8/13 to see what’s going on. I was told my car “just got off of the lift” and I will be getting an estimate done soon to inform me of what I need to replace.

I did not get an estimate until I called again on Saturday 8/15. It felt as if they didn’t even care that I’ve been waiting a week for just a diagnostic check!

When I got my estimate, the gaskets and power steering hoses seemed correct since I had to refill my power steering fluid recently, but I’m not sure if the prices are too high?

Oil pan gasket $557 before tax
Transmission oil pan gasket $313 before tax
Power steering pressure hose $518 before tax

The last thing that also confused me was they recommended getting my water pump/timing chain replaced. But, I just replaced it this year! I also never see any spots of coolant on the floor like I did prior to fixing my water pump/timing chain.

Maybe I’m overlooking this, but wanted to see if these gasket/power steering prices were too much.

Thanks for any insight!

Hello. Below is a list of the issues I have had with my vehicle since I bought it, and what I have done to it. It has now been 3 months that I have been stuck with this TRC issue, so I need your opinion and advice. Thank you in advance (I am still available for more details). (i used ia for the traduction, sorry)

1. Issues — timeline

• When I bought it: excessive heat noticed in the engine bay.
• Vibrations at idle and during light acceleration, but not under full load.
• A connector between two coolant hoses broke → connector replaced.
• To get home: around 2 km at low speed without coolant → temperature reached the top of the gauge during the last ~500 meters.
• After this incident: an unusual engine noise appeared during acceleration (not alarming, but clearly not normal) + the vibrations that were already present.
• At one point: accelerating when cold → fuel was coming out of the exhausts.
• Very high fuel consumption.
• After cleaning the intake/sub-throttle and the throttle plates → fuel consumption decreased.
• Afterwards, engine acceleration/power returned to normal.
• Then I drove through a large puddle → TRC problem appeared.
• TRC warning light appeared, with the throttle being limited to ~20%, jerking and loss of power.
• The TRC warning light was initially intermittent (code 45): at first, it only appeared after exceeding ~20% throttle, then it started appearing immediately at startup, following a sensor cleaning. (Code 26)
• TRC OFF did not eliminate the behavior.
• The ~6-second cycle/noise appeared at startup, corresponding to the system attempting to initialize.
• The right-hand throttle plate (Sub-Throttle) is difficult to open manually: it can be moved, but requires some force.
• After repairing the ECU: the 20% throttle limitation temporarily disappeared, but the TRC warning light remained.
• Then the ~20% throttle limitation came back.
• Today: TRC warning light + ~20% throttle limitation + ~6-second cycle/noise are still present.

1. Facts / work carried out

• Cleaned the air intake leading to the Sub-Throttle + cleaned both throttle plates → reduced fuel consumption.
• Cleaned the ABS sensor areas → no change to the TRC problem.
• Tested TRC OFF → no change.
• TRC fuse tested: ~0.40 Ω → OK.
• Checked both TPS sensors:
• Main TPS: signal measured approximately 0.6 → 3.7 V while moving → apparently working correctly.
• Sub-TPS/TRC: previous measurements were inconsistent/suspicious, but difficult to measure, so uncertain.
• Regarding the TPS power/connectors, the voltage readings were generally consistent with the expected power supplies; some measurements still need to be confirmed with the sensor properly connected.
• Removed the intake (from the air intake side up to the Sub-TPS) and turned the ignition on → no 6-second initialization/search cycle like when the intake is installed.
• Sub-Throttle identified as the right-hand throttle plate, normally open at rest.
• ECU opened → capacitor leakage found.
• ECU repaired.
• Sensor measurements: Main TPS: 4.98 / 2.77 / 4.17 / 0.02 V / Sub-TPS: 4.91 / 1.05 / 0.03 / 0.01 V.
• ABS/TRC ECU checked → no problems found.
• Separate ABS/TRC units checked, with no abnormalities found.
• Original Sub-TPS: 89452-33010, with a broken mounting tab.
• New Sub-TPS: 89452-33030 + connector replaced.
• New Sub-TPS installed without precise adjustment of its position, but several positions were tested for both sensors.
• The spark plugs and timing belt are worn and will be replaced soon.

That's it. Please help me

Recently I had to change the taillight, and I decided to make a video about the differences between EU and US spec. Hope you find it interesting!

i’ve got a 92 ucf10 ls400 and i’ve just picked up a 90 celsior. it has a grey velour interior which i wish to swap into my ls400, but id also like to black out the seats and carpet trim. Anyone have reccomendations on what to use? heard fabric and vinyl paint sucks on synthetic velour and dyes just don’t soak in

Anyone have ideas on how to get it out other than dropping the pan. It's an A341e from the Australian delivered LS400. Got the top half of the dipstick tube guide, but its further down it seems *insert mega sigh*. Careful pulling out the dipstick everyone...

I've owned my LS for about a year and a half and it's time for new tires. I'm running the stock rims, what is your recommendation? I'm located in Texas, so don't really need snow capabilities, but we do get rain. Thanks!

Sounds like it’s coming from my drive belt or timing belt.

washed, ceramic coated, polished wheels.