Hi. I am new to this club and hope you can help.

I just purchased a 1997 LS400 with 65K mile on it. The steering wheel is beat up, I think from rings, it has a few scratches on the outside (no major dents) and it is marked up on the back bumper. It is gold in color with brown mats. I just put on Cooper tires (lifeliner touring which are just ok). The car has the Nak stereo, traction control and NO auto suspension. It has the Gold badges. I am the third owner. I paid $17,000.00. I love this car. Do you think I over paid?

First - It does have one 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?). I have read a lot of the forums but I am confused as to what the problem is.

Second – Though I don’t believe I have a strut problem, I am thinking of changing my struts/springs. Has anyone tried the Monroe “Limited” shocks on the LS400. The T. Blues are not made for the 1997, that leaves the KYB-2, TEIN TYPE CS DAMPER KIT and Bilstiens. Any suggestions.

Third – Is there a intake kit for the 1997 LS400? I think there are for the first gens but not the 1997 model.

Lastly, do I need to replace the timing belt? Can I remove the old gold badges by myself and replace with new ones? If so, how.

Thanks for the help. I love this car.

 

>> I paid $17,000.00. I love this car. Do you think I over paid?

I think you got a good price. We picked our '97 up from the dealership and it was a good handful and then some of $K more. Granted the dealer worked it over and it was about as close to a new car I could imagine. Even smelled new.

>>Is there a intake kit for the 1997 LS400? I think there are for the first gens but not the 1997 model.

On mine I installed a K&N and enlarged the air inlet opening. The only accompanying info I can give you is my mileage bumped up about 1.2 MPG on the fwy. Best has been 27.8 MPG but typical driving mix is more like 23.X MPG.

>> Can I remove the old gold badges by myself and replace with new ones? If so, how.

The badges come off relatively easily. I used an old credit card and gently lifted the edges of the badge up until the foamy adhesive releases.

 

i had the same problem with my 91 Ls. i replaced the front sway bar bushings and it helped ALOT. so check those first. only about $25 each

 

>> i replaced the front sway bar bushings and it helped ALOT. so check those first. only about $25 each

Good to know, thanks. I was thinking about that last night and in my case, it is part of the things on the list. I'll look for some urethane bushings or at least stiffer ones to put in.

Curiosuly, how many miles do you have on yours?

 

Alright... where to we get the bushes. Here is a new noise --- when I have four people in the car, the rear creaks when i make left hand truns. Sometimes it will do it when I go over a series of bumps.. What do I look for?

 

i got my sway bar bushings from the dealer. my car has almost 218,000 miles on it and it's still going strong, looks like it has 80,000 on it!!!!!

 

Jon-

>>I have four people in the car, the rear creaks when i make left hand turns

On a past car, I had a similar creak/groan when the rubber coil spring insulator had worn through. For me, this occured only when pulling up into the driveway. I don't know if the LS's have this type of insulator though.

 

There is a rubber boot that acts as a dust shield on all 4 struts. This boot is also a damper for the strut springs and the spring actually sits on top of this boot like a thick 1/2 inch rubber pad, with the dust cover then draping down each side of the strut. If this boot is worn where the strut spring is riding against it, you will hear clicking noises when you go over small bumps or pull into your driveway. I learned the hard way about this when I changed ball joints, and control arms chasing this noise. I also had replaced all 4 sturts, but used the old dust boots! I finally replaced the dust boots and have a smooth car again. The clicking noise was very loud and worse when I had passengers in the back seat. the noise was coming from the passenger front side. My wife thought she could feel a metal thumping under her feet while riding in the front passenger seat. After I had replaced every part there was nothing left but to replace the rubber boot on the strut. The lesson learned here was that everyone should replace these strut boots when you install new struts. The reason the noise was louder with rear passengers, was that the front struts have less weight on them with passengers in the rear seat, and thus the springs were able to make the clicking noise easier between the spring and the strut. The rubber boot acts like a cushion for the strut spring to rest upon. When this is worn the spring clicks where it rests against the strut.

Hope this helps

Pilot

91 LS400
01 RX300

 

Hey Pilot,

My Texas friend. Where did you get your replacement strut Boots??

 

Abcedefghij

 

Damon

I bought the strut boots from the local Lexus dealer. Most parts I purchase thru Iron toad http://www.irontoad.com/l_home.htm. I installed them in my driveway using a strut compression tool rented free from Auto Zone. It takes about 1 hour per strut to replace the boot. It you do it at the same time when installing new struts, it takes the same time.

Pilot

91 LS400
01 RX300