makecopies

So when my car gets up to temp (1995 LS 400 245k miles) and soon as I turn it off there is steam coming out of the front grill. I thought I had a valve cover problem but I guess its a cooling system problem I was smelling when I turn the heat on.

I was gonna attempt to do the valve cover gasket myself but now seems like I have a cooling system problem too.

Kinda of fed up now.
Do you guys think selling it for $3000 is a fair price with the problems it has?

I just had the PS pump/Alternator/ and battery replaced just to get it running.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

i suspect the top of your radiator has a small crack in it, or it could be as simple as a ruptured hose. remove the air intake duct (10mm bolt) covering the radiator and inspect. you can follow the top radiator hose coming out of the top of the motor to the radiator. this is a simple fix.

do NOT run the car too long or you'll risk overheating the car. keep an eye on the temp needle.

makecopies

I still need to do the front brakes and front suspension. . So I have just been driving my other car

Legender

Sounds like you need to decide if you're really in love with this car or not as it appears it needs a lot of attention...
i.e., money and labor.... hard for us to judge at this distance. The brake pads should be easy and the radiator fix, if it proves to be simple, could be easy also. You've already taken care of some of the problems... just have to decide when you get it all done...do you still want it?

waterdog3

radiator comes out with about 10 minutes of work.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

Having a shop figure out what's leaking and having whatever it is replaced (be it radiator, lines, or one of the lines to the expansion tank) shouldn't be very expensive at all if you're not up for doing the work yourself.

shanjam

just pour some RADWELD,Should do the trick

Legender

Sounds like you're frustrated with too much going wrong with your car and questioning whether you should keep it. Understandable...
Have to ask yourself why you bought it and what were your expectations...
Car does appear to have some miles on it...and if not treated properly and maintained up to when you got it.. you could have more problems than you bargained for.

On the other hand... unless you're going to put a lot of money into something else... for the low price there is not a better value on the market than the Lexus... Most cars fall to a generic low price of about $3k depending on your market area. You could put that money into an Accord with 200k miles and deal with those issues, or put it into a Lexus, that started out around $50K or so and has the engineering and ride to support it.

At this point in my life.. .my money goes to Lexus as my experience has been good with 6 of these cars... none, of course have over 150k miles yet. the oldest being the 1993 that my dad drives... but we're collectively working on it.

Take time...reassess where you are with the car and where you want to be. Every used car will need some form of repair. Just easier to make the time/money commitment if you really want the car. And maybe that is the decision you have to make.
Good Luck...

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Guys this thread is from February.