elclassico

150, 000 miles, LS 400 1990. time to change the oil. the car consumes some oil, not much. i was wondering if any one could recomend a blend? probably something thicker then recomended in the manual? i heard no synthetic oil for higher milage cars, but synthetic blend ok? any brands or oil types anyone can suggest. thanx!

rybikowsky

Mobil 1.

Pilot

I would run standard oil with one quart of Marvel Mystery oil for 1000 miles. Then change oil and filter and run Mobil 1. The Marvel Mystery oil will clean the rings and help them seal better. It will also mildly clean the entire engine very gently. I did this to mine and now run Mobil 1.

Pilot
91 LS400
01 RX300

LexFather

Well, no engine problems in either SC 400 or ES 300 with over 200k miles and no engine problems in the GS with 100k miles.

I am a firm believer in Castrol. I add stuff like Mystery oil and oil additives from time to time as well as a Synthetic oil change every now and then.

elclassico

higher mile cars do need extra love. you cant use what it says in th o/m. especially this ls consumes some oil...so thicker is better. its also known that synthetic isnt good for higher mile cars so...i went with a synthetic blend by castrol sae 20w-50. partly synthetic. i would recomend the same in a similar situation. ran much smoother and thicker so it consumes less. thanx to all who responded!

1994 LS400

Hello ~
My 1994 LS now has 111,000 on the clock, well back @ 104,000 I switched her to Mobil 1. All was GREAT till 109,000. I got home from vacation and the car sitting for 2 1/2 weeks, and found Mobil 1 oil ALL OVER the garage floor (Rear Main Seal). Now I am not able to blame the Mobil 1 100% as the car is 9 years old, and seals do wear, however I am now very weary of Mobil 1 in older engines. Most people are A OK with Mobil 1 and have not had any problems, guess I was one of the lucky few . I am currently using Valvoline MaxLife 5W-30 (blend) on my way back to Penzoil reg dino oil 5W-30.
Best Of Luck.
Paul

spxChrome

my lex dealer uses castrol no synthetic and they claim to be servicing lexus with over 400K... most people here suggest mobil 1. but my car isn't fake so i don't put fake oil in it

but what do i know

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Howdy, this is my first post here.

Our '97 LS has a tick under 70K miles and I'm going to have some Eibach Pro Kit springs put in. While it is apart for this, I wanted to have new strut cartridges installed. I really like the Tokico HP's but I haven't seen them for this application. What struts would you recco to be close to these?

Thanks.

MF
'97 Coach ed

jbatast

I also have a 97 LS with 65K. The T. Blues are not made for the 1997 as far as I know, that leaves the KYB-2, TEIN TYPE CS DAMPER KIT and Bilstiens. I think I am going to go with the KYB-G2.

Did you have the following problem.The car makes a “clunk” when I travel over certain bumps. For example, if I make a left hand turn across the road into a parking lot that has a raised concrete lip of an inch or two, the suspension makes a clunk (as if it bottoms out) when it hits the lip. This happens regardless if I am on the brake or not. Also, if I travel on a bumpy road, the car handles ok, but if I travel the same bumpy road and apply the brakes, it make the clunk noise over the bumps. I tend to loose some control in the steering that is the steering feels loose. I am convinced it is not brake problem related.

Lexus and two other mechanics all hear the problem but cannot determine what it is. They say everything looks tight. They do not think it is the struts. Neither do I. I think it is a bushing problem on one of the bars (strut, sway, upper/lower control arm… I don’t know and everyone uses different names for the same bars…it would be nice to know what the correct names are?). Good luck

RA40

iTrader: (6)

>>the KYB-2, TEIN TYPE CS DAMPER KIT and Bilstiens. I think I am going to go with the KYB-G2.

Toysport suggested that a stock type replacement will be fine with the Eibach Pro Kit. They could order a JDM cartridge but at ~$200 some odd each , I'd be shy from the Tein coil overs by the time I'm done. I'm leaning toward the Bilsteins.

Has anyone been adventurous and tried fitting any of the more generic GS parts on the LS? Those guys have oodles of goodies. If the GS400 cartridges measure out the same I don't see why not. What does that car weigh and if it is stiffer, it should balance out me thinks. <shrug>

>>The car makes a “clunk” when I travel over certain bumps

Yes and from the left front on severe road disturbances, like 2-3" deep pot holes. When I did an oil change, I tried wiggling what I could under there and couldn't find it. I suspect a hidden thing like: strut cartridge, strut hat or wheel bearing.

On a past car at 165K miles, it was a tie rod that had worn. From my limited experience, I had removed a cartridge that had a dead spot for whatever reason. Felt almost fine when compressed but at a certain point, it had little to no resistance. Didn't make sense to me.

I hope to do the springs and struts in a few weeks if all goes well.

jbatast

Need an answer to this question

RA40

iTrader: (6)

This interests me as I intend to install Eibach wiith Bilsteins. As I recall, BiIsteins are HD and probably a OEM spec type. <shrug> May be similar in feel to the KYB GR2 which are also OEM type replacements.

SilverFlare

my LS hv bilstien & lsportline setup and the ride is almost same as the stock even with 19" rimz,
I highly recommend this set up to u, it won't scarfice the comfort of ur LS.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

How does the car corner with this suspension? If you were to give it a percentage over stock.

Lexkost

I have the bilsteins and eibach(not the lsportline) I run the front set-up on the lower strut setting and the back on the higher strut setting and I like the ride..............handling is great and the ride is complete different........