pearl93'ls

yes this is an awesome how to! Mine has been pouring oil for 2 yrs now. I have to refill it every 3 days. I bypassed the valve and plugged the line back in 2001. I had to figure that one out on my own with no help from the internet

my LS now has 268k miles and has just been an old 3rd car for us. It needs so much but has alot of new stuff. (timing belt, water pump, alt, battery, tires, etc) I still have the leaky PS pump, bad instrument cluster, check engine light, low idle, no driver power window, no pass door lock, no antenna, and a rear end as loose as my last girlfriend

I dont know whether to junk it or keep it....We have had it since 95' and 10k miles....I really hate to part with it..

I do know this if it is gonna sit in my driveway anymore I HAVE TO fix this leaky pump first! It has ruined our new driveway

AndyLexusF

Power steering flush.

Thought I would clarify something.
Sure, the job is an easy thing to do... helps with two people. One in car turning it on and off and turning wheels., and other person filling and draining.
Takes 10 minutes if all goes well.

What took me 3 hours was that the hose to remove was so old and brittle, at it had to be busted off.. and the remainders on the outlets razorbladed off. I actually had to use a sawzall to get the old hose off (carefully)

After the hose is off...Save yourself the trouble, buy about 4 feet of fuel line grade hose and screw the garden hose. Attached that hose to the bottom outlet, and flush. Then when done, shorten it and reattach.

Golf tee works great to plug the top outlet.

The job is a mess, so shove a bunch of rags in there to sop up the fluid when removing the hose.

Hope this helps someone.

grindin8o8

does this work for 1993 Lexus sc400s too?

loperman

I had problem with my 94 Ls400. Was really hard to turn the wheel on the parkinkg lot but was working fine on the road. Followed the instructions on the first page and cleaned my solenoid. Now I can turn it with one finger!!! Thank You Neofate!!! Good Job!!!
p.s. I had problem with taking my solenoid off ended up with going to the local shop for taking it a part! Still it cost me only 30$

gmacrae

SW07ES... shhhh

Nice writeup NeoFate. I just did this all on mine yesterday - DEFINITELY worth it. I wanted to point out a couple of things so ill just go over what i did:

First i drained the reservior with an oil plunger/syringe, the fluid was very black/burnt. My car has 190,000kms, it might have been be the original fluid.

I removed the p/s idle up valve and replaced with a 14mmX1.5mm sump plug. I had to grind the sump plug a bit shorter for it to wind right in. I found it easier to get the valve out once i had smashed the black plastic housing off it, the spanner was able to get a better grip. My valve didn't show any signs of leaking but it was very brittle and was bound to cause problems sooner or later.

Then I pulled the solenoid off, using vice grips. It did take a few attempts but there wasn't actually that much torque holding it on. It was just a matter of getting a good grip on it first. The filter/gauze in my solenoid was filthy and completely clogged. I hosed it out with a can of brake cleaner, from inside to outside. The pressure of the spray was enough to remove most of the gunk as long as you're spraying from the inside. The mesh is very fine so be careful.

I bought a 4L bottle of castrol dextron3 trans fluid. I piped the return hose into an oil pan, and plugged the reservoir outlet. Filled the reservoir and got my GF to start the car. I just let the car run while i kept tipping the fluid into the reservoir until the bottle was nearly empty, then got her to shut it off (took less than a minute to use 3.5L - it drinks it pretty fast). Once about 3.5L had gone thru the system, it was coming out nice and pink. I hooked the return hose back up and topped up the reservior. I left the cap off, started it again, and wound the steering over, lock to lock. It only took about 5 or 6 times before it was completely silent again, but i repeated about another dozen times. Cap on, drop the car, took it for a drive, let the reservoir settle, check the level, all good.

The steering does feel like it responds better/sharper, and its good to know it's done properly.

Gene

84GTS

.. some other posts say it is ok to grab around the cylinder to unscrew the solenoid due to poor accessibility of the thin nut.. Well, I just tried it and the housing cylinder started to spin and the nut still stayed. I figured it would not be a proper way to take it off, so better grab the nut itself.. still trying...

Och

iTrader: (3)

Get a large visegrip and grab around the nut itself. Thats what I did and it came right out.

91LS400LEX

I wish I had of seen this thread before when I was having issues with my PS leak and I was dealing with the idle-up valve. Not from this thread, but someone elses advice we finally got it plugged and hoses bypassed and that took care of the smoking issue. I still had a bad leak, thinking the worst, it ended up being the return hose was leaking fluid. It was a $2 hose and while was easy to get too, it was so old and hard it was literally stuck to the nipples and I had to chop the hose off. Thankfully, all leaks are gone now!

Still have an occasional noise and shudder on sharp turns at low speeds, which it has been doing for about 3 months, but I am hoping its only air in the lines or something. I know I should clean the screens, which I will try to do soon on the steering rack by using Nates data, but I also need to try to do the one on the pump as well. I may have missed it, but I didnt see it mentioned.

Anyone recommend where I can find info on how to clean the screen on the pump?

Thanks

91LS400LEX

... and if it doesnt click? Your screwed? I finally cleaned my rack solenoid today (was fairly dirty), but I still have very heavy steering. We got it back on, I turned the switch on several times and its NOT clicking.

Now what? Solenoid bad?

xdubber

Great write up. Do you think you could get the missing pictures back? Also, what year is your LS?

91LS400LEX

Excellent thread. Its actually whant I went by (well my dad too) to block the idle-up valve and to clean the solenoid (which was dirty, but still dont work (click), but another one is on its way thanks to a member on another site.

Never did figure out the above statement though about removing both front wheels. We just put mine up on ramps and it was simple to get access to the idle-up valve, as well as the solenoid.

Next on my list, especially if the new solenoid does not correct my heavy steering issue is to clean the screen in the reservoir if I can figure it out.

91LS400LEX

Well, I have a "new-used" solenoid on the way off of a crashed 1994 LS400. Hope it solves my problem. I will let you know.

chadr

Is the solenoid screen replaceable? I cleaned the screen without removing it (I read that others removed it), but it seems to be torn at a couple openings.

unstephenk

Thank You SOOOOOO Much! I love this Forum and I love my LS 400!! 120k miles and still running magnificently!

91LS400LEX

Had to change the end on it, as the plug was different... initially it didnt help, but after cleaning the pump screen, it started working again... now I have no leaks & my PS works like new again!

I dont think the screen is. You cant even buy the solenoid itself even from the dealer.... they want to sell you (or at least they did me) a $700 part it goes into. I found one off of a crashed 1994 LS400 that cost me $50 with shipping. My original one had a small hole in the screen and the replacement did as well I think, but I was told this is not an issue if its small. Just clean the screen good and gently with a toothbrush.... it was also recommended I use 3m adhesive remover. Worked well.