lexuslspro

Hey all thanks so much for your generous input when I was on the fence about buying an 98 LS400 with 40K miles.
I did buy it. :blink:

I seem to have inherited some problems though :chairshot: .

I had a looong road trip back home, just about 1100 Miles.

This has given me a great opportunity to test it.

I'll list the problems I've noticed as of yet.

1) Check VSC came on once I pulled into a tight parking spot at a grocery store. It almost felt like ABS was kicking in on the front wheels. It seems to be intermittent though. It restarts usually when I restart the car. Sometimes I get lucky and the message never gets displayed.

2) When I press the brakes I hear what sounds like some springs creaking. I hear the noise only when I am parked and hit my brakes to get into drive or park

3) Speedometer sometimes doesn't work when starting off...but usually starts after a short while... 5-10 minutes.
The first time this happened I turned off the car and restarted it. Speedometer started working again.

My old Volvo forum had some VERY well mechanical versed folks on the forum. I'm kind of excited to see how mechanically savvy you all are. But then again I'm sure those folks were very well versed because they spent many MANY hours fixing their Volvos. :blink:


Thanks very much my new friends!
:cheers:
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bmoore

"Technically," it's not new. It's a 13 year old car which has been sitting more than it's been driven... so that can lend itself to some unique problems all its own.

I can speak to number 2 that it may be the transmission mount bushings worn out letting the drivetrain move when you put it into park or reverse.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Congrats on the new ride.

First things:

Do the 90-100K maintenance.
That will get some nice fresh fluid into the tranny, differential, brake lines and fresh coolant. Timing belt routine and all it entails.

The suspension shouldn't be worn but the strut bushings front and rear may have deteriorated since these are known issues. Age here does not help and it is a relatively easy check for any cracking. Same too for the engine and tranny mounts.

After fresh fluids and maintenance to bring it up to date you should be pretty Post up a pic for us to see.

ucfjon

iTrader: (1)

rubber dry rots more quickly if the car isn't in use regularly.

congratulations on finding a low mileage vehicle, unfortunately like bmoore said, there are unique age-dependent problems that will rise because of the special circumstances.

McSwine

The brakes on my 2000 used to creak. When I replaced the brake pads and installed a new shim kit, the creak went away.

2eXceL

iTrader: (2)

The speedometer issue could be due to "leaky" Capacitors, it's a known issue on some older LS400's.
I dont know but this may have become a problem sooner in your case if the Car was left off for long periods.

JBrewster

#2 Check your strut rod bushings.

mark98ls40

If the strut rod bushings are cracked badly, what problems would that cause, like over bumps, etc.?

Thermactor

iTrader: (1)

smack the top of the dashboard the next time the speedo doesn't jump up to attention.

lexuslspro

Thank you very much everyone!

I will have my vehicle on a lift soon so I will be sure to inspect all those things.

I find the speedometer problem pretty crazy. I realized today that the tachometer also sometimes doesn't work either.

I'll check for the creaking when the car is on a lift.

Thanks a bunch!

Kansas

Besides a little creaking/clunking noise, when the strut rod bushings went on my 00 LS, the main problem it caused was "wandering" and vibration at highway speeds and less stability in cross winds.

Strut rod bushings or the entire strut rod assemblies on a 98-00 LS normally need replacing every 75,000 to 100,000 miles but there have been reports of them failing at much lower mileages mainly due to age.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

failing strut rod bushings will also cause the brakes to "creak" and "groan" when you press the pedal in, even when you arent moving.

dicer

Don't know these vehicles very well "yet", but in other ones I'm familiar with
the VSS is sometimes the culprit. Vehicle Speed Sensor!

So where are these capacitors located, and what are they for? To pass a signal or ground it?