New Member! '96 LS400 46K
05-05-10, 06:31 PM
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New Member! '96 LS400 46K
Hey all!
I've been reading this forum for over a year now. Great place for LS fans!
I picked up mine just about last year. Had a little over 32K on it. It was a one owner, the person leased it for 13 years according to CarFax, can you believe that! Whoever it was drove it less than 3K a year. What a find! I live in Boston, I took a whole weekend and drove to Ohio to buy it. I paid 10K for it so I can't complain. It has the Nakamichi, chrome rims, and air ride as well, although I realize the air ride can cost a fortune if it goes bad. When that day comes, I'll just replace em with struts. The Nakamichi is an incredible sound system. I had a subwoofer (for extra bass) and car starter installed. While there, the sound guy pulled the door panel off and was amazed by the quality of steel and speakers used on the LS. He said you just don't find this in today's cars. Looking at the Nak speakers behind the grill, you can tell they were top notch materials.
Now a year later, my baby is running so smooth at a little over 46K. It's been nearly perfect, although I did have a few wear items done so far:
-Exhaust leak on one side at around 43K. Fix was done by a local mechanic who specializes in Japanese cars. I'm not mechanic savvy but he showed me the area underneath the driver's side where a connecting point at the exhaust had split just a little. From what I remember, he heated the area and welded it back up. Car is SOOO Quiet now :-)
-Engine light came on shortly after. 2 O2 Sensors went bad. Had the mechanic at the time do the job, but will probably do it myself next time, now that I found a site that does a step by step for LS400 O2 replacements.
Other minor areas:
Couple noises in the interior:
Plastic bezel that surrounds the door handle and seat memory buttons rubs against the vinyl door panel and makes some creaks when going over bumps. Both Driver and Passenger have made noises. I purchased some felt material and have lined the area where the plastic and vinyl meet. So far, it has worked wonderfully.
I too have the rattle coming from the sunroof cover when closed. It sounds like tapping on glass with paper clip. I can see exactly where its coming from too. Theres a aluminum or metallic lining where the cover runs along when closing. Onces its closed it will tap against the lining over bumps, creating the noise. Felt material there won't work, tried it, but it prevents the cover from closing.
Last area are various ticks I get mostly from the center control area. When going over bumps you can hear the plastic surrounding the HVAC and radio controls tick. Probably loosened up over the years, and now flexes.
But seriously folks, this is MINOR stuff. I love this car, it starts up every day without a hitch including during the awful New England winters. When the car warms up, it hovers around 700RPM's, absolutely amazing. I plan on getting some new motor/transmission mounts eventually, as well as new control arm bushings. All those rubber components have probably dried up over the years.
My previous car was a 2002 Lincoln Town Car Cartier edition, which I thought was very nice. But the LS is on a new level of refinement, amazing that it bests the Lincoln even though its older.
I attached some pics, sorry for poor quality, sunset was too low. I'll post some new better ones soon.
Thanks for reading my post, and I'm glad to be another new member!
Joe
I've been reading this forum for over a year now. Great place for LS fans!
I picked up mine just about last year. Had a little over 32K on it. It was a one owner, the person leased it for 13 years according to CarFax, can you believe that! Whoever it was drove it less than 3K a year. What a find! I live in Boston, I took a whole weekend and drove to Ohio to buy it. I paid 10K for it so I can't complain. It has the Nakamichi, chrome rims, and air ride as well, although I realize the air ride can cost a fortune if it goes bad. When that day comes, I'll just replace em with struts. The Nakamichi is an incredible sound system. I had a subwoofer (for extra bass) and car starter installed. While there, the sound guy pulled the door panel off and was amazed by the quality of steel and speakers used on the LS. He said you just don't find this in today's cars. Looking at the Nak speakers behind the grill, you can tell they were top notch materials.
Now a year later, my baby is running so smooth at a little over 46K. It's been nearly perfect, although I did have a few wear items done so far:
-Exhaust leak on one side at around 43K. Fix was done by a local mechanic who specializes in Japanese cars. I'm not mechanic savvy but he showed me the area underneath the driver's side where a connecting point at the exhaust had split just a little. From what I remember, he heated the area and welded it back up. Car is SOOO Quiet now :-)
-Engine light came on shortly after. 2 O2 Sensors went bad. Had the mechanic at the time do the job, but will probably do it myself next time, now that I found a site that does a step by step for LS400 O2 replacements.
Other minor areas:
Couple noises in the interior:
Plastic bezel that surrounds the door handle and seat memory buttons rubs against the vinyl door panel and makes some creaks when going over bumps. Both Driver and Passenger have made noises. I purchased some felt material and have lined the area where the plastic and vinyl meet. So far, it has worked wonderfully.
I too have the rattle coming from the sunroof cover when closed. It sounds like tapping on glass with paper clip. I can see exactly where its coming from too. Theres a aluminum or metallic lining where the cover runs along when closing. Onces its closed it will tap against the lining over bumps, creating the noise. Felt material there won't work, tried it, but it prevents the cover from closing.
Last area are various ticks I get mostly from the center control area. When going over bumps you can hear the plastic surrounding the HVAC and radio controls tick. Probably loosened up over the years, and now flexes.
But seriously folks, this is MINOR stuff. I love this car, it starts up every day without a hitch including during the awful New England winters. When the car warms up, it hovers around 700RPM's, absolutely amazing. I plan on getting some new motor/transmission mounts eventually, as well as new control arm bushings. All those rubber components have probably dried up over the years.
My previous car was a 2002 Lincoln Town Car Cartier edition, which I thought was very nice. But the LS is on a new level of refinement, amazing that it bests the Lincoln even though its older.
I attached some pics, sorry for poor quality, sunset was too low. I'll post some new better ones soon.
Thanks for reading my post, and I'm glad to be another new member!
Joe
05-05-10, 07:22 PM
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Sorry,
I tried to insert the pics directly, with no luck, they just came up as little icons.
Here's where I posted the pics.
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400a.jpg
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400b.jpg
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400c.jpg
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400d.jpg
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400e.jpg
More to come!
I tried to insert the pics directly, with no luck, they just came up as little icons.
Here's where I posted the pics.
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400a.jpg
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400b.jpg
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400c.jpg
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400d.jpg
http://badboy8114.fcpages.com/LS400/LS400e.jpg
More to come!
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05-06-10, 08:02 AM
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Wow, how annoying, I have to upgrade to hotlink a picture? Workaround - right click on the pics and open in new tab or new window. That seems to work.
05-06-10, 09:16 AM
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be sure to read other threads on replacing bushings, versus replacing the upper control arms. you can get ucas from arnott industries for $178 plus $12 shipping, with the ball joint an both bushings in the original rubber construction instead of the poly. the threads will explain the differences.
05-06-10, 09:29 AM
#11
be sure to read other threads on replacing bushings, versus replacing the upper control arms. you can get ucas from arnott industries for $178 plus $12 shipping, with the ball joint an both bushings in the original rubber construction instead of the poly. the threads will explain the differences.
05-06-10, 10:18 AM
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Great advice Denverdog, I'll check out those threads before making the move. I love this car, its a great place to come to after a hard day of work.
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