my first lexus
06-19-13, 09:25 PM
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my first lexus
Just bought a pair of lexus ls400's. one is a two tone silver/grey with a dark blue interior and the other is a 93 parts car that is black with tan interior. the worst part is i am not even home to enjoy and start going over the cars. my gf and a friend of mine went and picked them up for me since i am out of town. my buddy loves the 91, and says it rides extremely well and my gf says that the tail lights, turn signals, and speedo dont work. on top of that i know that the front windows wont go up and the sun roof wont work either. the guy that i bought the car from said that they stopped working when he installed the hid kit so it seems likely that he just screwed up some wiring.
for electrical problems
like the topic says this is my first lexus but it is not my first toyota. i have had many over the years and i am quite mechanically inclined. i have had 3 mk3 turbo supras, 86 celica gts, and 89 celica gts. currently I have a 77 Celica GT with a 7mgte and r154, a 72 Celica ST with no motor, and my gf 92 Celica All Trac(left hand drive). I have several motors to chose from and just added another to the list. i have a 70's 18rg, 87 7mgte, and now a 93 1uz.
Current plans for the LS are to figure out if it has the air suspension, then wiring issues, then what parts i want off the 93 (brakes maybe suspension, heater control, maybe swap the interior, etc). i also lucked out with the fact that the 91 has the clear front corner lenses and the jdm tail lights. personally i think they really suit the silver car where as the stockers look good on the black 93 although i think they have been tinted cant tell from the pic my gf sent me
Photobucket album here http://s1230.photobucket.com/user/dr...brary/LS%20400
for electrical problemslike the topic says this is my first lexus but it is not my first toyota. i have had many over the years and i am quite mechanically inclined. i have had 3 mk3 turbo supras, 86 celica gts, and 89 celica gts. currently I have a 77 Celica GT with a 7mgte and r154, a 72 Celica ST with no motor, and my gf 92 Celica All Trac(left hand drive). I have several motors to chose from and just added another to the list. i have a 70's 18rg, 87 7mgte, and now a 93 1uz.
Current plans for the LS are to figure out if it has the air suspension, then wiring issues, then what parts i want off the 93 (brakes maybe suspension, heater control, maybe swap the interior, etc). i also lucked out with the fact that the 91 has the clear front corner lenses and the jdm tail lights. personally i think they really suit the silver car where as the stockers look good on the black 93 although i think they have been tinted cant tell from the pic my gf sent me
Photobucket album here http://s1230.photobucket.com/user/dr...brary/LS%20400
Last edited by drr999; 06-23-13 at 10:51 PM.
06-19-13, 09:30 PM
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over all my goal for the car is just a nice cruiser. gonna put some new bushings in it, lower it a little bit with some bigger wheels and a repaint. been looking at wheels and im thinking 18 or 19 although going to a 20 has crossed my mind but i dont want to go too big. really liking the avant garde m310 but im no where near that right now.
06-20-13, 09:56 AM
#3
Sounds like you have a lot of fun ahead of you... good for you. Use the forum as there is loads of information and help about known weaknesses in these cars (ECU as an example) and then some low cost fixes to keep them running great.
Pics are of course welcome.... and welcome to the club...
Pics are of course welcome.... and welcome to the club...
Would like to see a pic of your TA22 with that 7M motor in it. 
06-20-13, 10:50 PM
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here is my 77 RA29. it has JDM bumpers, ae86 megan adjustable suspension f+r, 79 supra rear axle with disc, 7mgte, r154, custom gauges and racing buckets. now that i bought the LS this one is going to get the body work done.
my 72 ra21 is stock except that its lacking a motaor. bought it cuz it was a great deal, came with lots of spare parts, an origional black interior with an uncracked origional dash. down side is it was pretty well disassembled and had 1 major rust spot and a few small ones. this project has been getting neglected for quite a while and will probably sit for a while longer before anything happens
my 72 ra21 is stock except that its lacking a motaor. bought it cuz it was a great deal, came with lots of spare parts, an origional black interior with an uncracked origional dash. down side is it was pretty well disassembled and had 1 major rust spot and a few small ones. this project has been getting neglected for quite a while and will probably sit for a while longer before anything happens
Last edited by drr999; 06-20-13 at 10:54 PM.
06-20-13, 10:55 PM
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oh and the motor that is sitting in the ra21 is a siezed 18rg. i have been trying to decide what motor to put in the 72. i have another good 18rg i really like the 17's on the 77. i was worried that they were gonna be too big of a wheel and look funny but as soon as i had them on the car i new i went with the right size. i have had nothing but compliments on the car other then the occasional jab that the car resembles a fast back mustang.
i have been doing a lot of reading up on the LS and making a list of what to pull out of the 93 LS400 parts car that came with it. i have also been checking up on what maintenance should be done expecially for the auto because its been years since i have dealt with an auto. i was disappointed to find out that i couldnt have picked a worse car to do a 5spd swap on so i am going to put that on the back burner for now. hopefully when i am done with what i need off the parts car i will be able to post in the classifieds section, if not then it will all be on ebay.
just incase you are wondering the 93 is black exterior with tan interior no front bumper, no headlights, and no FR door
http://s1230.photobucket.com/user/drr999/library/
i have been doing a lot of reading up on the LS and making a list of what to pull out of the 93 LS400 parts car that came with it. i have also been checking up on what maintenance should be done expecially for the auto because its been years since i have dealt with an auto. i was disappointed to find out that i couldnt have picked a worse car to do a 5spd swap on so i am going to put that on the back burner for now. hopefully when i am done with what i need off the parts car i will be able to post in the classifieds section, if not then it will all be on ebay.
just incase you are wondering the 93 is black exterior with tan interior no front bumper, no headlights, and no FR door
http://s1230.photobucket.com/user/drr999/library/
Last edited by drr999; 06-20-13 at 11:13 PM.
06-22-13, 11:10 PM
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so i narrowed down my electrical issue. i did not have power to the am1 and abs main fuses. it took pulling the connector off the rest of the fuse block and opening it up to figure out that the 120A fuse popped in a wierd spot. i pulled the cover off and checked the wire on the inside and it was intact and reading 12.08V. so swapped it out with one from my parts car. re assembled everything and got a good spark when i went to re attach the battery terminal. so i started pulling things off and found that the wire that is bolted to the 60A abs fuse is causing spark. i cant tell what the color of the wire is other then white because i dont have enough light and i dont feel like pulling out work lights. now i have 7 fuses 1 relay and 3 pins in a junction block to check tomorrow. it would be nice to put the windows up and put the tarp away.
in having to pull the fuse from the parts car i noticed that i am missing the afm. i am very unimpressed with that. i checked the picture that my gf sent me of the engine when it got dropped off and it wasnt there but she said it was running better then the drivable one. i hope it is just in the trunk with some of the other random parts that are there.
in having to pull the fuse from the parts car i noticed that i am missing the afm. i am very unimpressed with that. i checked the picture that my gf sent me of the engine when it got dropped off and it wasnt there but she said it was running better then the drivable one. i hope it is just in the trunk with some of the other random parts that are there.
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06-23-13, 09:48 AM
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thanks i love them too. they just have such awesome curves and lines. and they handle pretty good for being 35+ years old.
Last edited by drr999; 06-23-13 at 12:51 PM.
06-23-13, 10:37 PM
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so i figured out some of the electrical problems. i have a short in the dome light/radio circuit and the heater/air suspension circuit. unbolting the heater/airsus wire from the fusable link box allows most of the other electronics to work. this allowed me to close my windows & sunroof and remove the tarp from the front half of the car. while trying to figure out where this short was coming from i found that i was missing the 20A radio no1 fuse so i replaced it and it popped. i also noticed that the dome fuse was a 15A when its supposed to be a 10A so swapped that out for a 10A and it popped. put a 20A back in the radio spot and it didnt pop so added a new problem to the list. tomorrow i am going to buy a circuit tracer detector and that should let me find the break fairly easily with out stabbing wires all over.
06-23-13, 10:50 PM
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since i was able to untarp the car i took some pics
it needs a repaint but i'm actually pretty happy with it especially for how little i picked it up for. i also really like the celsior front corner and tail lights. it really suits the color combination of the car.
it needs a repaint but i'm actually pretty happy with it especially for how little i picked it up for. i also really like the celsior front corner and tail lights. it really suits the color combination of the car.
06-23-13, 11:22 PM
#12
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read the FAQ - it will save you a lot of time
and I would like to give you a cheat sheet I wish I had been able to get when I first got on Club Lexus, here are the likely areas where you may have issues that ya might wanna take a peek at:
strut bar bushings
lower EGR pipe
transmission mount
motor mounts
Idle Air Control Valve (IACV)
ECU capacitors (failure rates on ECU caps are highest on 93-97 LS but affect all LS years)
PS leaks (which kill alternators)
cig lighter fuse link
climate control or radio LCD screen
upper control arms (UCA's)
+ side battery terminal
wiring breaks inside curve of driver's side trunk hinge causing all kinds of weird electrical issues
and I would like to give you a cheat sheet I wish I had been able to get when I first got on Club Lexus, here are the likely areas where you may have issues that ya might wanna take a peek at:
strut bar bushings
lower EGR pipe
transmission mount
motor mounts
Idle Air Control Valve (IACV)
ECU capacitors (failure rates on ECU caps are highest on 93-97 LS but affect all LS years)
PS leaks (which kill alternators)
cig lighter fuse link
climate control or radio LCD screen
upper control arms (UCA's)
+ side battery terminal
wiring breaks inside curve of driver's side trunk hinge causing all kinds of weird electrical issues
06-23-13, 11:33 PM
#13
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PS - wires do not break in LS400 unless the vehicle has been in an accident, pretty much all electrical problems come down to some idiot modified/cut/rigged up or added to the factory wiring while installing some aftermarket crap sound system, HID lighting, security system, ipod modification, lowered suspension, etc.
get the wiring back to stone cold factory original and surgically remove all non-original electrical wiring and electronics and the problems will disappear!
you can get the REAL Lexus factory dealership wiring diagram on ebay for around $40, get the printed version, it is a tan colored thin book
get the wiring back to stone cold factory original and surgically remove all non-original electrical wiring and electronics and the problems will disappear!
you can get the REAL Lexus factory dealership wiring diagram on ebay for around $40, get the printed version, it is a tan colored thin book
06-24-13, 08:57 AM
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Thanks for the cheat sheet. I was out of town for a week when I had my gf pick up the car for me and I was doing lots of reading. I did check the FAQ and lexls.com (I think that's it) to find out the weak points and what to pull from my 93 parts car. The only aftermarket mod that I know of was an hid kit but I have removed it and I wasn't spliced into anything. There is something stuck to the back window with wires heading into the headliner but I don't know what it is and it's not currently priority on my list. Slowly working on problems on at a time. Then do all the maintenance and check the ps lines as clean the filter on the rack. I know that maintenance can make a huge difference in how a motor runs. Changed out the denso plugs on my 7m to iridiums and it mad a huge difference(no I didn't put denso plugs in that was the po)
