Strida

I've been a lurker here for a while, just reading and learning everything that I can. Been searching for the right LS400 for 5 months. And finally bought a 1995 LS400 last thursday and all I can say is WOW. Dark emerald with gray leather and Nakamichi stereo system. This is the most quiet car i have ever driven and amazing stereo system too. Though there's a bit of wind noise on the highway and the car jerks a little bit at 50mph when I let off the gas. But all in all I'm happy with the purchased

Worked on the car yesterday, change air filter (ive yet to do the BFI mod), pcv valve, spark plug wires cap and rotor and cleaned the throttle body.
I have some Q's though:

1. Just change the spark plugs (NGK) and gap the plugs at .031. Seems a little small but that is whats written in the owners manual. Is this right?

2. Canadian winter is coming and can't decide which winter tire, Bridgestone Blizzak or Michellin artic alpin.

squarehat

Congrats, nice color combination, and welcome to CL I'd like to recommend the Michelin Pilot Alpins, which are a little more expensive than the Artic Alpin series, but well worth the price. Excellent snow handling and fairly quiet on dry pavement. I had them on my old BMW and loved them, and a relative has them on her IS300 and is also very pleased. If you decide to go with Bridgestone, there are two lines of Blizzak, as well, so I'd check the posts around here to see if people generally prefer the LM-50 or LM-22 series.

thailegend

congrats. Dont lurk anymore

Letsride

Welcome!!

Maeve

iTrader: (2)

Congratzzzzzz

spxChrome

Another satisfied customer

How did you clean the throttle body and what did you use?

Lexozz

Haven't done a tune-up in a while, but that should be correct. NGKs are already pre-gapped so you don't have to worry, just drop them in.

Strida

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Squarehat, I still have a month at least to decide which tires to buy. But I think I'm leaning towards Blizzak WS-50. Thanks for the advice man.

Spxchrome, I use a throttle body cleaner spray that you can buy at walmart, old tooth brush and cloth to wipe the gunk. Now be careful not to launch the plastic straw extension inside or it will be a bish to take out.
Do this when the engine is cool. Remove all the intake system. You might want to check the spark plugs, plug wires, distributor caps, rotors and air filter. Replaced them if they are due for replacement because they will be accesible anyways when you clean the TB. Heres a write up that i found http://home.vicnet.net.au/~pgscott/p...enskiFile.html. Now open the tb butterfly and just spray inside, brush and wipe.

Strida

Lexozz, actually the NGKs that I got where gap at .035 so had to regapped them to .031.

Drove the car last thursday for 2 hrs and the gas mileage was awful. But now gas seems to have improve a little bit. Man I love this car But i'm still a Zed fan though

NC211

Strida, noticed this thread and you mentioned a jerking when you take your foot off the gas around 50 mph. I have a 95 as well, bought it from a dealer here in Raleigh, NC a few months ago. That jerking you're feeling? It's the main ecu unit and there is actually quite a history with it. For some reason, the ecu unit in our model years tells the engine to drop the rpm's too quickly when you let off the gas, which makes the gears overspin against the engine. I don't think it harms the car at all, but the ecu unit would need to be replaced to fix it if you wanted to. The new unit tells the engine to hold the rpms slightly higher as it slows down, keeping everything lined up better. Mine was very severe in nature "caused hydroplaning" and I had quite a nasty little spat with the dealership to fix it under their 90 day / 3000 mile warranty program. If you are interested in learning more about my experience, you can see it under a NC211 search, it's the transmission stuttering thread. They did fix it and it's all good. Not wanting to spook you at all, awesome freakin' cars! But that is what causes that little buckle you feel. They're not cheap to repair, but was is on a lexus right?

SRK

The NGK plug that is a match to the factory installed plug is the BKRP6EP-11, and the gap should be .044 inch. Those plugs are gapped to that amount give or take a few thousandths. The gap should always be checked as well as the ground electrode alignment.
Your setting of .031 is a bit tight.
Great colour combination on your car - congrats on the purchase.

Bj(CA)

But i'm still a Zed fan though, mee too!!! LOL congrats on the ls, wish you the best of luck!!

b1gredek

yeah i would always check the gap of spark plugs, u dont know how many times those things get dropped and banged before u actually put them in your car, but anyways congrat on the purchase.

Strida

Whoa, this thread is so last year Thanks again for the compliments guys. The car performed flawlessly, except for my recent starting issue, Im happy with the purchased.

NC211 - I read your thread about your problem with the dealer, glad you got it fixed. But as i said on that thread, I bought the car through a private party so no warranty for me. I actually went to a Lexus dealer to ask if there is a recall for the ECUs. They said no but they recognize there is a problem, a $2000+ problem .??? I guess its to much for Lexus to take.

b1gredek & SRK - Yeah I figured the .031 gap is a bit small so regapped it at .040. So i guess the owners manual is wrong about the plug gap? Im still not 100% sure which one to follow.

Bj(CA) thanks tt.net brother Going to 3 years owning the Z32. Im actually designing a new front bumper facia for the Z, maybe a full kit if things go well so stay tune. And im thinking of doing something for us 95-97LS owners.

big50daddy

I have a 95 ls400 also with appx 102,000mi. In addition to jerking @ 45 - 50 mph mine would die when coming to a stop after a long highway drive.

https://www.clublexus.com/index.php/...ew/2068/1/115/

I took this TSB to the dealer and Lexus warranty covered the repairs up to 80,000 miles. Then I paid 1% of the total charges for every 1,000 miles over 80,000. My car had 90,000 miles at that time & my part of the repair bill was appx $250.00.

This fixed my shifting and stalling problem.


good luck