When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
(4/30/18) Took 1997 LS 400 to dealer for oil change. It's been since June 2017 since oil was changed and drove car from Calif to NMex in Sept '17. Car has 126,000 miles and in good condition. The dealer found and showed me three problems: 1) a corroded battery terminal and wire (needs immediate replacement), 2) new battery (old one about 3 years old), and 3) gasket/connector to coolant reservoir was rusted/compromised. I am now in the loaner car until Wednesday. My bill? I'm guessing... $450. This is a lesson for me to check under my hood much more often!
So there seemed to be muck coming from my power steering pump going down the high pressure return hose to rack and pinion, as well as out of the ACV solenoid connecting with the 2 small high pressure air hose. (2000 LS400, 1UZFE VVTI - UCF20)
To sum it up I replaced everything in the title of my post.
The high pressure hose I went with was after market and was advertised for our vehicles.. Needless to say it was indeed made for the 1UZ possibly even for the 2UZ & 3UZ but was a pita to fit in the under belly of the UCF20 frame. Granted, there wasn't much space if you were like me and didn't remove the alternator, engine mount & oem header heat shield. The hose is fairly solid, I believe it is braided SS wrapped in some type of rubber coating. It's light compared to the oem metal & nylon pressure hose. I however, was definitely not impressed with the metal hardware connecting the hose to the power steering pump & rack. It just seemed like some some cheap lightweight metal that honestly started stripping because it had a hard time sitting on the grooves of the oem banjo bolt. I looped the crap out of it with white thread tape, kept it nice and snug. The hose came with washers as well but they didn't fit the hardware properly and wouldn't lock down, it just made the hardware keep spinning?? I didn't end up using the poorly designed or ill conceived washers. Like I said I just used thread tape, don't worry I kept it just on the threads so it wouldn't deteriorate in my PS lines.. So I don't want to hear it.
The ACV was straight forward. It's way easier to access it when you have your power steering drained and high pressure hose off. I should have taken my accessory belt off to make both processes easier but honestly that was another thing I didn't want to have to deal with.
Next is probably timing belt kit. I noticed light muck in the front of my motor around & under the driver side camshaft gear case, head gaskets seem good for now. But I figure I have a solid 10k miles before the camshaft seals become a real headache.
I'll probably start a build page I've got some plans for my LS. Leaning towards showcasing the performance of the 1UZFE VVTI on the UCF20 chassis.. Next performance mod I'll probably be ditching the clutch fan and oem catch can/intake "resonator". Go with a temp controlled electric fan and a aftermarket catch can with some filter pods and a drain spout.
This week I replaced radiators in two of my three LS400s. The 1996 and 1999 both had years of junk blocking the flow. We tried brushing them clean but both cars still got warm in upper 80s temps with A/C blasting. Super cheap on rock auto $50. I don't think either car deserved the denso at this point. Opinions certainly vary.
This week I replaced radiators in two of my three LS400s. The 1996 and 1999 both had years of junk blocking the flow. We tried brushing them clean but both cars still got warm in upper 80s temps with A/C blasting. Super cheap on rock auto $50. I don't think either car deserved the denso at this point. Opinions certainly vary.
I replaced the radiator on my LS a couple of weeks ago.
Could not have been easier & cheaper
Truth be told I purchased my radiator from a highly rated local ebay seller (Los Angeles) because I needed it quick, the aftermarket radiator is holding up just fine.
As I said in my previous post, next I plan on removing the oem clutch fan to minimize parasitic drag on the motor. I'll replace it with a temp controlled dual radiator fan setup. Kinda like in the 2UZ and 3UZ.
well I thought about getting under mine and making sure the cross member bolts were good and tight, then checking the thickness of my front brake pads to see if I need to replace them..... but (being 84) I drifted off to sleep and will get that done by someone younger... being old is not fun..
I printed up a sets of nylon rack mounts for my 89 Celsior. Had to print them in 2 parts and had to modify the printer somewhat to be able to print Nylon, but they are now in and my rack is now not moving from side to side everytime I turn the wheel.
Found another issue while I was under there, will fix that once I have recieved a new part (RH rack end has a few millimeters play in it).
I printed up a sets of nylon rack mounts for my 89 Celsior. Had to print them in 2 parts and had to modify the printer somewhat to be able to print Nylon, but they are now in and my rack is now not moving from side to side everytime I turn the wheel.
Found another issue while I was under there, will fix that once I have recieved a new part (RH rack end has a few millimeters play in it).
I should have taken pics before installing, but I'll try and get pics next time I'm under the car (seems to be a weekly thing at the moment).
These mounts are only an experiment. I'll keep a close eye on them to see if they delaminate over time. But as people have successfully make Nylon gears and the like with their 3D printers, I'm hopeful.
Today I decided to park the gold Lexus LS 400 and walk down to Whole Foods with my 2 cloth bags. Would I buy too much food and barely be able to bring it all back to the house? Would I have to put food back on the shelf because by basket was to heavy/full? I haven't walked enough and I haven't gotten enough vitamin D from the sun. Today was a good day to do both. I'm here in Albuquerque, NM and it was a beautiful day. I love to drive, and I love my car, but today, it stayed in the garage.
Put new tires on the Car today. Nothing special, its just that not only were they basically worn out and nearly due for replacement, but they were also really OLD. Lots of radial cracks on the tires close to the rim and close to the tread. Yesterday one of the rears suddenly developed an egg in the tread (several lateral bands broke and the tire started to delaminate, causing a large bump in the tread). As I'm going on a 600km (372 miles) round country run next week, I decided it was time to change the tires. I was going to just do two for now, but after looking at the old tires again, I decided the chance of something more catastrophic happening on the trip was simply too high. $530 later and I had a set of new stock tires - Yeah, we get ripped for tires here in Australia.
04-30-18, 03:08 PM
Oil Change Service
Parked the LS 400
