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This is going to be mostly Audio for the time being, though I do have a set of Eibach Springs and KYB-GR2 struts waiting to be installed once my project Subaru is rolling again.
Going to post my updates in here rather than scatter my posts across different threads, mostly so I can keep track of everything. I find there is almost always a lack of useful detail when it comes to speaker installs and reviews, so I will try my best to be detailed. Please ask if you have any questions about what I've done. I will ask questions, and always appreciate any help. Please subscribe if you like; I go very slowly with upgrades, especially since there are some big projects I have to finish with my Subaru, which is more of a race car, and the LS400 a very nice daily driver by comparison.
I like to try different things, mostly interested in keeping things as stock-appearing as possible, and in a healthy budget.
My setup so far:
1990 LS400, perfect condition, came with Pioneer stock system.
Alpine CDE-125BT head unit, has bluetooth for phone calls only.
No external amp yet, looking at the basic Alpine F300 4-channel (50W/ch @ 4ohms, 75W/ch @ 2ohms). Will not buy this until I settle on speakers. Front speaker amp would have to fit under front passenger seat, so that narrows the range down fast.
Under passenger front seat amp space:
I did a rough measure and there appears to be space for at least a 8-1/2" x 8-1/2" x 2-1/4" and still allow for full range of seat motion, as well as toe room for back seat passenger. I have not gotten under there to fully measure space, though that would happen before buying a door speaker amp.
Polk DB401 test
I put one Polk DB401 4" coaxial speaker in the passenger side front door, in the stock plastic speaker enclosure, sealed with plumber's putty. I found these polks used on eBay, $35 shipped for the set. This is a 45W RMS speaker, getting only 18W from the Alpine head unit. Had to notch the speakers' mounting holes to fit the slightly larger (more spread out by 1-2mm each) Lexus bolt pattern. Ran it with and without the stock Pioneer tweeter; it sounds better without. I think the stock tweeters are shot or worn out, though the stock woofers look like new.
When I installed this Polk db401 in the passenger front door, I also removed the plastic moisture barrier, and applied sound deadener to to the inside and outside panels, and on the plastic speaker enclosure, but did not make much effort to fill small or big holes on the panel closest to the inside of the car. I used eDead 80, and did the tap test before and after to make sure I was applying deadener usefully. I miss that nice moisture barrier, and might make a new one out of some 4-mil plastic I have around. Driver side door is still stock.
Review of DB401 vs stock pioneer up front:
I then used my head unit's left/right balance to switch from stock component pioneer left vs Polk db401 right. They each sound about as good, though each has a hole or weakness at certain frequency ranges. I forgot where the holes are exactly, but I may run the test again. However, each speaker side's strengths compensate well for the other's weaknesses, so it actually sounds best with the two mismatched, playing together. This conclusion was drawn after spending a lot of time tuning the sound with the head unit, HPF set to 100. I like treble up some, by the way.
Infinity Kappas:
I have Infinity Kappa 60.9c Components new in box, waiting to be installed for later. http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Two-W.../dp/B0017LFSXU
I like that they're insanely sensitive (95db or less depending on which stats you read) and require only 50-75 Watts RMS, so I probably won't have to run new speaker wire from the receiver or amp, to the speakers.
Rear door speakers:
I took one rear speaker enclosure out today, and measured it. In order to keep the plastic enclosure air tight without fabricating new walls, I can only see fitting a speaker with max top-mount cutout diameter of 4-1/4". By the way, top mount space in the stock speaker hole is a hair over 4" diameter, 2" deep, with 3/4" top cone clearance if you trim the door card's plastic speaker grille, and an additional 1/2" for center coaxial tweeter clearance. If I were to upgrade these, I would probably put in Polk db501 coaxial speakers. They measure more like a 4", same basket size as the DB401 but with a slightly bigger mounting flange and better sensitivity and other audio specs. I can't see how anyone could mount anything bigger in the rear unless they cut the plastic speaker enclosure walls and lose the air tight benefit of the enclosure. After my db401 vs stock speaker comparison, I might just keep the rear stock since rear matters least of anything. That way I could stick to a dedicated 2-channel amp up front, not have to worry about the rear, which is plenty happy at 18W RMS / channel.
By the way, front and rear stock pioneer woofers, are the same stamped model number.
Rear sub:
Not sure what to so about this. Thinking budget sub and reasonable amp. Maybe an Infinity Reference 8" or preferably 10", in a sealed custom enclosure, in the OEM deck space (so cone facing up at rear windshield).
The rear deck sub port is only 6-3/4" diameter, which completely sucks. I would HATE to cut into the deck sheet metal, but will if I have to (and would then do it very cleanly and would paint bare metal afterwards to avoid corrosion). At any rate, I won't mess with the rear sub until I get the car setup and tuned with front Kappas, rear stock, and factory sub/amp, all running off the Alpine head unit. That's the next step.
This is by far my favorite mounting solution I have seen so far: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/7065196-post269.html
Maybe the speakers won't be the next upgrade after all.
Rewind, I have Eibach springs and KYB Excel-G struts sitting around.
Found the Eibach springs via saved eBay search. One day, after months of waiting, a pair popped up for the 1st Gen. Bought them that minute. The box has a shipping label on it from the year 2000. They had been sitting on a shelf somewhere, and were covered with a firm of oil and soot. Victory, I found the only springs worth a damn for this car.
In the interest of minimal downtime, I'm going to assemble complete strut/spring bodies, won't try to salvage parts off the car. Only thing I would really take a chance on are the rear strut mount tops. Fronts might have worn bearings (car lives on the East Coast, and is 23 years old now). Insulators are shot all around.
Just ordered KYB front & rear strut tops aka strut mounts aka top hats. That leaves the business of the insulators, only available from Lexus as an OEM part at $52 ish a corner. NOT happening.
Instead, ordered Moog bump stop & bellow kits for front and rear from Rock Auto, for the 1995+ LS400. I read on here the bellows are a little long, so I will cut them if need be. But I might return them, because:
I ordered Energy Suspension polyurethane bellows. http://energysuspension.com/universa...isolators.html
Not sure if they will fit, but there is not serious variation from strut to strut when it comes to fitting a bellow.
I am serious about keeping the elements away from the struts, and might even buy coil covers to assist in shielding the struts. Depends on fitment on price (there is not a lot of inventory to choose from out there).
If the Energy Suspension bellows work, then I'll just order Energy Suspension universal bump stops.
Separately, Moog strut bumpstops for 1995-1998 LS400 fit well and appear to be good quality. I'm not in love with the firmness (medium for the rear Moog bumpstop), which is a bit taller and a bit firmer than the SOFT OEM rear bumpstop). May or may not replace that after doing more measuring to see if it even matters.
Had to swap rear KYB struts, Summit Racing sent me the wrong ones. Got them cheaper on Amazon. But EXCELLENT service from Summit.
Energy suspension bellows never arrived (lost via USPS, or fault of eBay seller), but the Moog are good quality, probably better than KYB plastic bellows that people on Amazon really don't like.
Not the easiest suspension uprade I've done, but it will hopefully have been worth it.
Edit:
Energy suspension bellows are discontinued, supposedly; don't need them either way since Moog are good.
I sort of wish I had bought Moog strut mounts instead of KYB. I'm sure KYB will be fine, but the lack of precision in the positioning of everything prior to filling with rubber, is evident.
Gave up and ordered separate OEM part 4825850010, REAR BOTTOM SPRING ISOLATOR. Basically there is a .2" gap between outside of rear KYB spring seat sidewall, and inside diameter of Eibach / OEM springs. The Eibach are in fact a hair bigger. This stupid extra bottom isolator that does not need to be there in theory, and is not there on the front or on either end of many other very nice cars. It is however used on many Lexus / Toyota rear suspensions of this era. So I bought new ones, there goes another $42. Would be far too much trouble to make these, and did not like the air gap that would have been present in using Energy Suspension slide-on spring isolators.
Lastly, ordered 70A durometer urethane, ordered custom MDF rings for pouring my custom urethane insulators... almost there with this project. It's not as fun anymore. Maybe I'll be smiling again when it's done.
UPDATE:
24 highway, going FAST, road trip. 430 miles so far this tank, near E with gas light on.
Gas cap unscrewing has been letting off a lot of pressure
So ordered new gas cap with new rubber seal.
Also ordered used Evap Canister on eBay, $45 shipped. Going to use Lester's walkthrough and open it up, put in new filter and charcoal, spray inside with gas-safe paint if there is such a thing. Then JB weld or use some fuel-safe gasket and t-bolt clamp to close it back up.
Not sure whether higher pre-pump tank pressure would raise rail pressure; I'm only familiar with turbo rising rate FPRs and fuel systems. Will have to read up on the older Lexus.
A/C is gone, so now the to-do list is this:
Make poly insulator bushings.
Refresh spare charcoal canister.
Inject UV dye into A/C system.
Take car out of service, put it up on jack stands.
Find A/C leak, fix it. Convert to R-134a.
Replace coilover assemblies.
Replace charcoal canister.
Install JBL P660c front speakers.
Wire up rest of door speakers to headunit.
Powerwash wheels (stock), possibly polish and seal them.
Grease brake pads, calipers.
Replace radiator temp sensor.
Replace cluster coolant temp sensor space wire connector.
Replace trans pan gasket with felpro, filter as well.
Replace slowly leaking power steering low pressure hose.
Replace power steering fluid to Valvoline Dex Long Life or whatever the Dex 3 alternative everyone on BIOTG is raving about.
Oil & filter Change.
Possibly assess front bumper, get it perfectly true.
Inspect under car for worn ball joints, bushings, bellows, etc.
If nothing else, this Lexus is a) showing its age despite low mileage, b) still going to be a benchmark of old vehicle mechanical and operational condition.
Might also order some new Michelin Defender tires. I was wrong; the old Goodyear TrippleTread are in fact terrible. The wet grip is to the point of being downright scary. I've gotten the tail out so many times around town that it's becoming a problem.
Happy to take pics. Please say which specific jobs you want pictures of. I dont want to waste time taking / uploading brake pads if people only want to see the AC repair and coil spring insulator molding and casting, for example.
Only update is I bought Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires, with V speed rating . Nice improvement, just a bit better than the Goodyear Tripple Treads in every way. Gives the car that nice air-like cushion without sacrificing on turn-in, cornering, braking, too much. Also injected the UV dye into the AC system. UV light and yellow glasses arrive today or tomorrow.
Newbie-type question:
I would have thought that having pressure release when you unscrew the gas cap would indicate that the gasket was sealing properly (otherwise, the pressure inside would tend to equalize with the outside air - at least when the cause of the pressurization stopped, presumably when the engine was turned off).
Also, what fault causes the pressurization in the first place?
Thanks.
Newbie-type question:
I would have thought that having pressure release when you unscrew the gas cap would indicate that the gasket was sealing properly (otherwise, the pressure inside would tend to equalize with the outside air - at least when the cause of the pressurization, presumably when the engine was turned off).
Also, what fault causes the pressurization in the first place?
Thanks.
The gasket at the gas cap should allow air in or out at a certain pressure differential, so the gas system does not implode or rupture. Positive pressure should vent through the charcoal canister, which is under engine vacuum. That canister gets clogged over time, since gasoline is a dirty fuel. Symptom is the gas station pump automatically shutting off before the tank is full. That canister system exists because the EPA would rather have excess fuel vapor venting to the engine to be burned, than into the atmosphere.
Ordered more A/C parts. Already have o-ring kit. UV dye goes nuts around the compressor, so going to rebuild it, except the clutch, which I hope will last a lot longer.
Part Number Part Type Price EA Core EA Quantity Total
No Vehicle Specified
LISLE 47900 Hose Removal Pliers $ 6.17 $ 0.00 1 $ 6.17
1990 LEXUS LS400 4.0L V8
DENSO 4780107 (478-0107) A/C Receiver Drier / Accumulator $ 14.08 $ 0.00 1 $ 14.08
DENSO 4750106 (475-0106) A/C Expansion Valve $ 47.79 $ 0.00 1 $ 47.79
FOUR SEASONS 54759 A/C Evaporator Core $ 99.79 $ 0.00 1 $ 99.79
FOUR SEASONS 24037 A/C Compressor Seal $ 14.14 $ 0.00 1 $ 14.14
FOUR SEASONS 26777 A/C System Valve Core and Cap Kit $ 9.34 $ 0.00 1 $ 9.34
Discount $ -9.57
Shipping Priority Mail, Ground $ 24.63
Order Total $ 206.37
So these aren't really upgrades, just R&R. Oh well.
Also contemplating switching from Stoptech front pads, to Centric 106 series pads, which are the 3rd best thing, and 2nd best thing offered by Centric (highest level performer from them is the Stoptech). Originally I was all about the stoptech pads, but will reconsider after the suspension upgrade and other things are done. The stoptechs squeal at very low braking pressure, not sure if that's because I washed out all the grease when pressure washing all the dust off the wheels :lol: Also they are not great for cold temps, but I knew that going into it, and that won't be a problem for another 9 months. Plenty of time to wait and see what I want to do with those.
-Rebuilt the Denso 10PA20C AC Compressor. WAS NOT FUN TO Remove. I found it best to remove the radiator fan and clutch at the clutch-to-bearing flange by removing the 4 nuts there, loading the belt tensioner to keep the pulley from spinning while removing each of 4 nuts, then unloading belt tensioner with breaker bar / 14mm (IIRC) socket to rotate the pulley to reach the next nut.
I had to order the compressor rebuilt kit from Century Auto Online, kind of had to piecemeal a kit together since you need the 10PA lip seal, the installation sleeve for said seal, and the 3 big o-rings for the compressor sections.
-Replaced the Receiver Dryer. Underneath right front headlight.
-Replaced most AC o-rings while I was in there.
-Vacuumed it down then charged with Duracool (glorified propane).
Future notes: Still want to replace the evaporator core and expansion valve, so that I never have to touch the AC again.
Will charge this time with R134a, just so it's one less custom variable to think about in the future. This will also ensure the OEM AC fan switch (which opens at 190-200 high side PSI will be triggered so the front pusher fans come on when the AC system is pressurized.
I also learned to buy a NICE R134a manifold gauge set (and test it out within 30 days for free return if bad) or buy twice. Bought an Asia-made "Mountain" brand gauge set on Amazon, and pretty sure the low side reads 10 psi too low, not to mention everything else about it does NOT inspire confidence. Oops.
Electric Radiator Fan and Shroud Project:
Ordering the following:
Johnson-Rose 21-3/4" x 15-13/16" x 1" aluminum cooking sheet pan - Amazon.com.
Procomp 14" S-Blade Electric Radiator Fan, 10-11amp, BS CFM rating. - Amazon.com. (Taking a chance).
Total under $50 so far, though that will go up.
Plan:
Attach 14" radiator to aluminum shroud. Rig of mounting such that shroud slips into bottom lip of radiator core end tank, and mounts up top via bolts into the factory shroud nuts. Idea is to be able to unplug the power connector and remove easy access 10mm bolts and have the shroud removable from the car within 60 seconds.
Wire to the OEM front push fan #1's (passenger side) wht/red wire, which is fed direct from the engine bay fuse panel with ign on power via 30amp fuse that only feeds the two front fans at max 4 amps each though they usually run at less (and important to not forget the power-on amp spike typical of fans). Fan will be always on, which is fine for summer.
This round 1 plan is this rough install to see a) how I like the fit, b) how it cools in Texas 100*F summer, c) what kind of MPG increase I get (this is the most commonly reported benefit.
Options for round 2 include:
a) Cut up two of these pans and rivet together to make a 15.8" tall x 30.7" shroud that holds 2x 14" fans.
Downside to this is the upper coolant hose would need to be removed in order to remove this fan/shroud assembly.
b) Upgrade single pan fan from 14" to 16" Flex-a-lite Syclone, which offers probably an extra 1000 cfm (net 2500).
This would require better wiring (draws 17amps after start surge), so I would want a fancy flex-a-lite variable speed controller, which does fun things like soft start, 60% speed for A/C on input, and self regulate between 60%-100% power depending on temp probe.
Downside is the 16" fan would overfill the top/bottom of this shroud, so more custom metal fab would be required to to close off those .75" overlaps top and bottom. Not that hard to do.
LED TAIL LIGHTS:
I bought 6 total of these bulbs: 3 of JDM ASTAR 800 Lumens Super Bright AX-2835 Chipsets 1157 2057 2357 7528 LED Bulbs For Brake Lights Tail lights Turn Signal, Brilliant Red - Amazon.com.
Was attempting to free up some alternator capacity (reduced 12 amps to power the 6 brake lights).
ONLY problem so far is there is no current separation between the low and high bulb circuits. So when the headlights are OFF, when I press the brake pedal, current flows from the brake light circuit into the running tail light circuit, makes the controller think the tail running lights were turned on, and then the whole cluster switches to night dim mode until the brake is released. This is not a problem when the running lights or headlights are selected (and cluster is thus already dimmed). Will pull up the wiring schematic on alldata later to see whether it's worth it (easy enough) to isolate the running light power wire with a rectifier diode. Otherwise will just return them and try again. Bad $50 experiment so far.
Bought a Air Nibbler from Harbor Freight for $22 with coupon. That thing is a piece of junk, took forever disassembling and reassembling all of it just to get it to work.
But I used my radiator fan as a stencil jig bolted up to the aluminum cooking sheet pan. You can see how the nibbler followed the six mounting areas, where the edges are not smooth. Very cool toy, too bad it's garbage. Next time I'll buy the Neiko air nibbler, return it if it too is garbage, though the online reviews say it's fine.
Now I see a 16" would have fit, with a little overflow top and/or bottom, might bump up to 16" if needed.
I had to go buy M7 hardware (bolts, nuts, washers, lock washers, and 5/16 washers from Lowes to mount it up. I found some vinyl hollow tube weatherstripping, which I will put on the edges so it doesn't rub metal on metal with the radiator. I'll loctite blue the nuts before final installation.
Just need to make up some upper mounting brackets and attach them, posi-tap two wires, and be done with it. Going to skip the thermostat for now, hopefully this single 14" fan is enough that the front fans never come on fully by reaching the trigger point of 180*F after radiator cooling. Might get this completed in September.
Just changed my 1990 ac compressor/drier/condensor orings/and had no problems at all.All you need to do is remove both head light assys, battery and lower engine cover.The orings for the condensor are easy to get to but the drier and oring and braket are alittle hard to get to they are located behind the passanger head light light assy.The cost of a frist time fit denso new unit is 300.00 and that includes shipping and the drier is 20.00 and the orings are 2.00 each I got them at the parts store.You will need to have the sytem evactuated and filled with 134a freon but that cost only 160.00 and they will test everything at that time.I have spent lots of time on ac and this is the best way to go.Remember that the new unit comes with extra oil to put some in the drier just add about 1 oz of oil to the drier and use the new gasket suppied with the unit.good luck.Ps make sure you spin the unit about 10 turns before opening up to get oil and change gasket also VERY important clean the condensor fins I have 93,000.00 on my LS 400 and the condensor was 90% full of dirt I just could not believe the amount of dirt that came out of the condensor fins,I used a gargen hose with a lite spay and flushed until no more dirt came out.
12-21-12, 12:38 PM
ClimberD's 1990 LS400 Upgrade Thread
. Nice improvement, just a bit better than the Goodyear Tripple Treads in every way. Gives the car that nice air-like cushion without sacrificing on turn-in, cornering, braking, too much. Also injected the UV dye into the AC system. UV light and yellow glasses arrive today or tomorrow.
