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Good morning, This is my first post as I have just purchased a 1998 LS400. The car has 109k on it and is pretty clean with all original body panels, Glass including the windshield and original single stage paint which needed a little bit of love. Overall I am highly impressed with the quality of the car. Everything seems solid and has had various suspension parts replaced like the strut rods using oem parts. Car came with a consistent service history from the Lexus dealerships which was a plus as I can use my database since I work at a Toyota dealer and former Lexus dealer to pull the history by the vin. I have plans for this car to change wheels and suspension but this thing rides so good i'm debating on leaving it alone lol. I attached a few pictures of its current state.
Nice one 109K is low. I got mine with 120K and have put 20K on her with no issue. I believe the second owner did not take good care of mine since the original owner sold it at 90K and the car fax and Lexus report go silent. I got it at 120K and had to replace the timing belt and all that 90K work. What is odd tho my engine has that yellow paint that usually salvages yards put on so if they replaced the engine why did they not do all that work . But after doing all the maintenance 0 issues and runs like new. I love her so much I may think of another LS in the future You will love this car :P
Also as a side note reading about the engine in the LS400 supposedly if the timing belt broke the engine won't self-destruct.
Nice one 109K is low. I got mine with 120K and have put 20K on her with no issue. I believe the second owner did not take good care of mine since the original owner sold it at 90K and the car fax and Lexus report go silent. I got it at 120K and had to replace the timing belt and all that 90K work. What is odd tho my engine has that yellow paint that usually salvages yards put on so if they replaced the engine why did they not do all that work . But after doing all the maintenance 0 issues and runs like new. I love her so much I may think of another LS in the future You will love this car :P
Also as a side note reading about the engine in the LS400 supposedly if the timing belt broke the engine won't self-destruct.
Very cool, I'm definitely excited about the car and can see myself with more lol. As far as the markings you found on the engine the manufacturer will mark certain bolts and items on the engine as well with a paint type marker to indicate that they've been torqued to spec. I need to do the timing belt and waterpump service as well only because there is no sticker on the timing cover stating that its been done and vvti are interference motors. I also have a tiny leak from the front driver side valve cover or the cam seal which is on the inside of the cam box which requires removal of the cam but ill find out for sure once I take the V/C off.
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new purchase. You didn't hear it from me, but I think the 1st/2nd Gen LS's are better looking than the 3rd Gen cars...
Very cool, I'm definitely excited about the car and can see myself with more lol. As far as the markings you found on the engine the manufacturer will mark certain bolts and items on the engine as well with a paint type marker to indicate that they've been torqued to spec. I need to do the timing belt and waterpump service as well only because there is no sticker on the timing cover stating that its been done and vvti are interference motors. I also have a tiny leak from the front driver side valve cover or the cam seal which is on the inside of the cam box which requires removal of the cam but ill find out for sure once I take the V/C off.
Here are the pictures of the markings. My mechanic is the one who mentioned it to me. He also told me someone else must have been working on the car themselves since some bolts and screws were missing. Everything is all bolted up now, and he did say it was in good condition and 2 years later still runs like new
If someone does know what the markings mean that would be awesome since I always wondered
Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new purchase. You didn't hear it from me, but I think the 1st/2nd Gen LS's are better looking than the 3rd Gen cars...
HAHAHA Well I am a little partial to the 2nd gen, However I do like the 3rd gens too. Thank you!
Here are the pictures of the markings. My mechanic is the one who mentioned it to me. He also told me someone else must have been working on the car themselves since some bolts and screws were missing. Everything is all bolted up now, and he did say it was in good condition and 2 years later still runs like new
If someone does know what the markings mean that would be awesome since I always wondered
Those markings do not appear to be factory. The cam covers should be clear of anything like that. It does appear to be some sort of salvage company/yard inventory number. That's my guess. I would have to wonder WTF happened to the first engine. These engines are nearly indestructible. It must have been ran out of oil or something.
Here are the pictures of the markings. My mechanic is the one who mentioned it to me. He also told me someone else must have been working on the car themselves since some bolts and screws were missing. Everything is all bolted up now, and he did say it was in good condition and 2 years later still runs like new
If someone does know what the markings mean that would be awesome since I always wondered
Image of the markings Image of the sexy engine
These markings indicate that the engine did come from somewhere else, Typically some bolts will have a small check mark of sorts on them but not full writing as in your instance.
These markings indicate that the engine did come from somewhere else, Typically some bolts will have a small check mark of sorts on them but not full writing as in your instance.
Yea, not that concerned about it tho since I was told it looks in good shape and I have not had any issues with it yet. I wonder what happened to the original one since it seems these things are hard to kill. Also find it odd on if it got replaced why not do the timing belt and other things while replacing it. I was hoping to see if there was a VIN on it so I can check to see how many miles it had.
01-24-17, 05:04 AM
New Member, First Post
. But after doing all the maintenance 0 issues and runs like new. I love her so much I may think of another LS in the future 
You will love this car :P
