'04 LS430 minimal build
 

This is my build thread for my '04 LS430.
Basically, I bought an S2000 last summer with the intention of it being my daily driver, but it is miserable in stop-and-go, rush-hour traffic... so here we are.
Here is the build thread for that S2000 if anyone is interested. My intention is to use the LS for commuting most days. I am keeping the S2000 because it is an amazing car in its own, very different from the LS way.

The LS430 is very clean for its age and has only 68k miles. The timing belt was replaced at 58K. Always garaged and dealer maintained with all service records from the previous owner.
My intention is to clean and restore it. I will perform any necessary maintenance and make minor improvements to modernize the car.

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The first thing I had to address was to repair the Mark Levinson subwoofer. I followed this thread on here which suggested that minor cutting of the rear parcel shelf carpeting to gain access to the screw holes for the subwoofer mounting bracket. Thank you so much to whoever posted that, because it saved me so much time. I was not looking forward to removing all the panels and rear seats. With this modification, it took about 10 minutes to remove the subwoofer from the top. Minimal carpeting was cut and with the subwoofer cover in place, it is completely unnoticeable.
I used the simplyspeakers ML cloth surround kit and it was very cheap and easy to install. Just follow their instructions and make sure to let the adhesive dry or cure properly in between steps.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...b8f77bf9d1.jpg
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Next, I upgraded the interior lights to LEDs. I did all 4 door courtesy lights, the dome light, the 4 map lights. I also replaced the third (high) brake light with an LED bulb, because it was blown.
I ordered most of the LEds from superbrightleds.com and I got the map lights from Amazon.

I ordered "Warm" white, about 3000K - which I prefer for the interior opposed to the brighter, bluish white.
I still want to do the under mirror puddle lights and the rear license plate lights.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...71a0ace4fc.jpg
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Ever since I bought the car, it had a an unpleasant smell whenever the blower motor would first turn on. I thought that the AC evap needed cleaning, so I first sprayed about a liter of 70% isopropyl alcohol in through the intake vents under the wipers and replaced the cabin filter. This helped some, but not enough. I bought a can of Klima Cleaner from Amazon which comes with a tube that is meant to go through the blower motor fins, snake down to the evaporator core itself and clean it out. Well, long story short, somehow this product made its way into my blower motor, got the circuit board wet and it stopped working. I took it apart, cleaned it and dried it out, but it was fried. wet and it stopped working. I had to pick up a used blower motor from Ebay for $100.
If anyone is thinking about using a product like this, I strongly suggest removing the blower motor first. It's pretty easy to remove. It's just 3 screws and a small plastic panel.
Here is a picture of the circuit board beneath the blower motor which got wet and failed.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e6fc0d4cc5.jpg

I wanted to replace the worn OEM shift knob. I got this one new from ebay for $30... I should have known better than to get one that cheap, thinking it would be real wood (descriptions said it was). It matches alright and looks okay, but is basically made of a chunk of plastic, which I didn't realize, so it's being returned.
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So I'm giving the Nextzett Klima Cleaner another go. This time (and I strongly urge anyone else who is going to use this product to do the same), I'm going to remove the blower motor prior to using it. This is to hopefully remedy an odor issue upon startup of the HVAC which seems to be very common on Toyota vehicles.

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It's pretty simple to remove. Just pry off the black panel (below the airbag panel) which is a few metal clips. Pry from the top and it comes right out, then unplug the lightbulb harness from the back of the panel.
The blower motor has a wire harness which needs to be unplugged, then it's just three screws and it drops right down.


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Remove everything from the glove box and remove the cabin air filter.


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Here you can see to the left where the evaporator is housed (plastic structure with metal pipes running to it). This is where you need to fish the tube.


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Fish the tube through the hole.


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Empty the entire contents of the can (shaking throughout) and then wait 20 minutes. While waiting, replace everything. Then run the blower fan on full-blast for a while with the windows open to air it and dry it out.


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Foam drained out of the drain tube. You should see this too. If not, you probably have a clogged drain tube.



So far, it smells pretty fresh. Will see how long it lasts.

Heated seat light has been out so I ordered some of these cheap ones from ebay called "White T4/T4.2 Neo Wedge LED Bulb Instrument Dash Cluster Interior Light Bulb" - They were 10 for about $5 shipped. They are crap. I had to go through about three of them to get them to work right, the bases are super soft plastic which basically deforms when you try to turn it with a flathead.
The first time I tried these bulbs, my heated seat control lights started flashing a code for some reason and the heated/cooled seats wouldn't work. I figured out that they were blinking a code:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...1427957463.jpg

Here are the codes for the heated/cooled seat controls if anyone ever needs them
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Hey ,

That sucks about the interior bulbs, I tried to warn you about buying cheap lights on amazon..( I did recommend getting the OEM light bulbs...)

Great progress! Im tempted to do the subwoofer repair like you did, seems easy enough ..

Keep up the good work :)

Yeah, you were right about the bulbs. I think I had already bought them when you tried warning me. The subwoofer repair kit is super easy, especially if you go the route of cutting the carpet rather than taking the whole back seat apart. Thanks for the encouragement! I'm following yours closely as well.

Attempt #2 at shift knob replacement. This time I went with an OEM LS460 knob that I picked up cheap. It's in very good condition and I think that the wood matches pretty well. The black leather doesn't clash too much either, in my opinion.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e51d09d9f3.jpg
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That shift knob does look much better than the previous ebay one ! :thumbup:

So I installed a Grom Bluetooth unit yesterday. If anyone is following , please note that it is wrong around 0:50 when they are removing the CD cover panel, there are actually three screws (you can see the open hole in the video in the middle), not two like the video says.
Install was easy. Getting it to pair to my phone took a couple minutes. First impression, the sound quality is pretty terrible. Much worse than the BT of any aftermarket head-unit which has come out over the past 10 years. I doubt any firmware update can help it. Oh well, I know it's an old device, guess I'll live with it for now. Wish I didn't have the model with the nav screen so I could just throw an aftermarket double DIN in.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...dd604e870c.jpg

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What is the page with the blinking light codes from? I'm scouring for a fix to my driver's seat climate control which doesn't work -- the light just blinks. Luckily I found this thread but I cannot read the error codes, the picture is just too blurry. Where can I find this page?

Thank you!

Try viewing on a Desktop / Laptop if possible, the picture is much easier to decipher.

I will give that a try, thank you .