Just got a 98 ls... :d
02-10-13, 07:09 PM
#1
Just got a 98 ls... :d
WHATS GOING ON CLUB LEXUS? !
I ran into some financial problems a few months ago n had to part ways with my 06 is350.
i swear i loved that car so much i almost cried when i got rid of it....lol
Anyway i really love the way my last 3 lexus's have treated me so i wanted to stay in the fam.
after 2 months of looking and test driving over 30 cars i pulled the trigger and just bought a 98 ls400...after only 2 days im very pleased with the car and looking forward to customizing my new lex. i have to take some pix but until i do ill post the pix that were on the dealers website...
suggestions on mods are more than welcome.
ps after i test drove this car i just felt like it was meant for me.
i felt like me n the car connected lol
i ended up paying $6500
was that a good deal?
I ran into some financial problems a few months ago n had to part ways with my 06 is350.
i swear i loved that car so much i almost cried when i got rid of it....lol
Anyway i really love the way my last 3 lexus's have treated me so i wanted to stay in the fam.
after 2 months of looking and test driving over 30 cars i pulled the trigger and just bought a 98 ls400...after only 2 days im very pleased with the car and looking forward to customizing my new lex. i have to take some pix but until i do ill post the pix that were on the dealers website...
suggestions on mods are more than welcome.
ps after i test drove this car i just felt like it was meant for me.
i felt like me n the car connected lol
i ended up paying $6500
was that a good deal?
02-10-13, 08:46 PM
#5
thanx ... yea the car came with a free carfax...no damage or anything funny but the best thing imo was only one previous owner making me the second.... 
and after adding the vin on my lexus drivers it had 30 pages of history alot of maintnance done at the stealership. the car seems to have been kept in great condition. im happy
and after adding the vin on my lexus drivers it had 30 pages of history alot of maintnance done at the stealership. the car seems to have been kept in great condition. im happy
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02-10-13, 10:18 PM
#8
Looks great!
Looks like your coolant level is a bit low (I have a 98 as well). Tonight, park it on a level surface and before turning off the warmed up car, turn on the heater on MAX and run the car for a minute. Then turn it off. Then before starting the engine next morning, make sure the coolant level is on the full line.. This will bleed it out and make your heater work better as well. (I went with the Toyota brand red coolant made for this car--bought from the dealership for like $20. I mixed it with an equal amount of distilled water purchased from walmart.)
Btw, I'd change out the thermostat with another OEM one ASAP (make sure the thermostat has a jiggle valve if you don't get an OEM one). The stock thermostats on these cars have a rubber gasket/seal built in that deteriorate. I was lucky to catch mine before it completely broke apart--which would be bad on the water pump and small passages. (I intend on replacing the thermostat every 90k with an OEM one for safe measure.)
If you get any vibrations starting aorund 2000 rpm chances are your transmission mount needs replacing--mine did. $65 for the part and easy to do yourself.
Other things that might need replacing soon: Lower ball joints, engine mounts, power steering seals.
Check for front seal leaks as well. If it is leaking from the front seals, the next time you get your timing belt changed, take it to a dealership for sure because they are most likely really the only ones qualified to work on the camshaft seals of vvti heads (if they are indeed leaking)--at least this is the case in my town. [Both of my camshaft seals and crankshaft seal were leaking. It cost me $2300 including taxes for timing belt, water pump, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, drive belt pulley, 2 camshaft seals & crankshaft seal--and by the end of it they threw in 2 x cam timing oil sensors which normally cost $95 each. Doesn't leak or use a drop of oil now.]
Other things I did to my 98 (which had 179k on it) after I got it: replaced brake pads with ceramic ones all the way around for $50 from ebay--if you do this make sure you get ones with wide shims on the front brake pads as the first pair I got were too narrow causing one of the pistons to hang over the edge of the inner shim; flushed the brake fluid (i put in valvoline dot 3 & 4 fluid); did 10 incremental power steering fluid changes (using mix-mizer syringe from walmart for $4) w/ dexron iii; also performed transmission oil drain/fill (Type T-IV trans fluid only--no dexron); cleaned MAF sensor with CRC MAF Sensor cleaner. I still need to clean the throttle body and change the differential oil; put in new hood shocks ($37 shipped from ebay). Bought OEM engine air filter and an aftermarket cabin filter. I also bought a can of that BG 44k fuel additive for $30 from the dealership (expensive lil sucker).
Looks like your coolant level is a bit low (I have a 98 as well). Tonight, park it on a level surface and before turning off the warmed up car, turn on the heater on MAX and run the car for a minute. Then turn it off. Then before starting the engine next morning, make sure the coolant level is on the full line.. This will bleed it out and make your heater work better as well. (I went with the Toyota brand red coolant made for this car--bought from the dealership for like $20. I mixed it with an equal amount of distilled water purchased from walmart.)
Btw, I'd change out the thermostat with another OEM one ASAP (make sure the thermostat has a jiggle valve if you don't get an OEM one). The stock thermostats on these cars have a rubber gasket/seal built in that deteriorate. I was lucky to catch mine before it completely broke apart--which would be bad on the water pump and small passages. (I intend on replacing the thermostat every 90k with an OEM one for safe measure.)
If you get any vibrations starting aorund 2000 rpm chances are your transmission mount needs replacing--mine did. $65 for the part and easy to do yourself.
Other things that might need replacing soon: Lower ball joints, engine mounts, power steering seals.
Check for front seal leaks as well. If it is leaking from the front seals, the next time you get your timing belt changed, take it to a dealership for sure because they are most likely really the only ones qualified to work on the camshaft seals of vvti heads (if they are indeed leaking)--at least this is the case in my town. [Both of my camshaft seals and crankshaft seal were leaking. It cost me $2300 including taxes for timing belt, water pump, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, drive belt pulley, 2 camshaft seals & crankshaft seal--and by the end of it they threw in 2 x cam timing oil sensors which normally cost $95 each. Doesn't leak or use a drop of oil now.]
Other things I did to my 98 (which had 179k on it) after I got it: replaced brake pads with ceramic ones all the way around for $50 from ebay--if you do this make sure you get ones with wide shims on the front brake pads as the first pair I got were too narrow causing one of the pistons to hang over the edge of the inner shim; flushed the brake fluid (i put in valvoline dot 3 & 4 fluid); did 10 incremental power steering fluid changes (using mix-mizer syringe from walmart for $4) w/ dexron iii; also performed transmission oil drain/fill (Type T-IV trans fluid only--no dexron); cleaned MAF sensor with CRC MAF Sensor cleaner. I still need to clean the throttle body and change the differential oil; put in new hood shocks ($37 shipped from ebay). Bought OEM engine air filter and an aftermarket cabin filter. I also bought a can of that BG 44k fuel additive for $30 from the dealership (expensive lil sucker).
Last edited by ls400geek; 02-10-13 at 10:51 PM.
02-11-13, 12:52 PM
#9
Looks great!
Looks like your coolant level is a bit low (I have a 98 as well). Tonight, park it on a level surface and before turning off the warmed up car, turn on the heater on MAX and run the car for a minute. Then turn it off. Then before starting the engine next morning, make sure the coolant level is on the full line.. This will bleed it out and make your heater work better as well. (I went with the Toyota brand red coolant made for this car--bought from the dealership for like $20. I mixed it with an equal amount of distilled water purchased from walmart.)
Btw, I'd change out the thermostat with another OEM one ASAP (make sure the thermostat has a jiggle valve if you don't get an OEM one). The stock thermostats on these cars have a rubber gasket/seal built in that deteriorate. I was lucky to catch mine before it completely broke apart--which would be bad on the water pump and small passages. (I intend on replacing the thermostat every 90k with an OEM one for safe measure.)
If you get any vibrations starting aorund 2000 rpm chances are your transmission mount needs replacing--mine did. $65 for the part and easy to do yourself.
Other things that might need replacing soon: Lower ball joints, engine mounts, power steering seals.
Check for front seal leaks as well. If it is leaking from the front seals, the next time you get your timing belt changed, take it to a dealership for sure because they are most likely really the only ones qualified to work on the camshaft seals of vvti heads (if they are indeed leaking)--at least this is the case in my town. [Both of my camshaft seals and crankshaft seal were leaking. It cost me $2300 including taxes for timing belt, water pump, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, drive belt pulley, 2 camshaft seals & crankshaft seal--and by the end of it they threw in 2 x cam timing oil sensors which normally cost $95 each. Doesn't leak or use a drop of oil now.]
Other things I did to my 98 (which had 179k on it) after I got it: replaced brake pads with ceramic ones all the way around for $50 from ebay--if you do this make sure you get ones with wide shims on the front brake pads as the first pair I got were too narrow causing one of the pistons to hang over the edge of the inner shim; flushed the brake fluid (i put in valvoline dot 3 & 4 fluid); did 10 incremental power steering fluid changes (using mix-mizer syringe from walmart for $4) w/ dexron iii; also performed transmission oil drain/fill (Type T-IV trans fluid only--no dexron); cleaned MAF sensor with CRC MAF Sensor cleaner. I still need to clean the throttle body and change the differential oil; put in new hood shocks ($37 shipped from ebay). Bought OEM engine air filter and an aftermarket cabin filter. I also bought a can of that BG 44k fuel additive for $30 from the dealership (expensive lil sucker).
Looks like your coolant level is a bit low (I have a 98 as well). Tonight, park it on a level surface and before turning off the warmed up car, turn on the heater on MAX and run the car for a minute. Then turn it off. Then before starting the engine next morning, make sure the coolant level is on the full line.. This will bleed it out and make your heater work better as well. (I went with the Toyota brand red coolant made for this car--bought from the dealership for like $20. I mixed it with an equal amount of distilled water purchased from walmart.)
Btw, I'd change out the thermostat with another OEM one ASAP (make sure the thermostat has a jiggle valve if you don't get an OEM one). The stock thermostats on these cars have a rubber gasket/seal built in that deteriorate. I was lucky to catch mine before it completely broke apart--which would be bad on the water pump and small passages. (I intend on replacing the thermostat every 90k with an OEM one for safe measure.)
If you get any vibrations starting aorund 2000 rpm chances are your transmission mount needs replacing--mine did. $65 for the part and easy to do yourself.
Other things that might need replacing soon: Lower ball joints, engine mounts, power steering seals.
Check for front seal leaks as well. If it is leaking from the front seals, the next time you get your timing belt changed, take it to a dealership for sure because they are most likely really the only ones qualified to work on the camshaft seals of vvti heads (if they are indeed leaking)--at least this is the case in my town. [Both of my camshaft seals and crankshaft seal were leaking. It cost me $2300 including taxes for timing belt, water pump, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, drive belt pulley, 2 camshaft seals & crankshaft seal--and by the end of it they threw in 2 x cam timing oil sensors which normally cost $95 each. Doesn't leak or use a drop of oil now.]
Other things I did to my 98 (which had 179k on it) after I got it: replaced brake pads with ceramic ones all the way around for $50 from ebay--if you do this make sure you get ones with wide shims on the front brake pads as the first pair I got were too narrow causing one of the pistons to hang over the edge of the inner shim; flushed the brake fluid (i put in valvoline dot 3 & 4 fluid); did 10 incremental power steering fluid changes (using mix-mizer syringe from walmart for $4) w/ dexron iii; also performed transmission oil drain/fill (Type T-IV trans fluid only--no dexron); cleaned MAF sensor with CRC MAF Sensor cleaner. I still need to clean the throttle body and change the differential oil; put in new hood shocks ($37 shipped from ebay). Bought OEM engine air filter and an aftermarket cabin filter. I also bought a can of that BG 44k fuel additive for $30 from the dealership (expensive lil sucker).
timing belt and water pump were changed at 110xxx...ill do the brake fluid in a month or so...
new ceramic pads were done before purchase.....so yea ill just keep an eye on everything and do whatever is needed... im ocd with my cars lol
02-15-13, 06:58 PM
#13
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congrats i'm new to the forum also because i just picked up a 99 LS400 myself..beautiful car... btw who else thinks its funny that it says "gas saver" on the car. *in a yoda voice* Great car she may be, but gas saver she is not...
02-16-13, 10:08 AM
#14
My bf asked me if I wanted some cheese with that whine or if he should call the waaaambulance.