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Today, 6/19/18, I left the '97 Gold LS 400 in the garage - again!. Second time in the last 30 days. I'm retired so I don't have to go to work, and the grocery stores are 3 to 8 blocks away. I have been trying to get my daily walking count up past 2,000 steps and a long walk is a good way to to do errands and get exercise. I love my car and I love to drive so it's not easy to just leave the car parked. I've made a list of things that I need to do later this week that include getting gas for the car (on half tank of gas right now), and getting more and heavier groceries to last for the next 30 days. Last month, I drove the car to a local university, parked nearby, and walked about the campus grounds. That was good exercise and I got to drive a little bit. One of the things I try to do is make sure my car battery stays charged by driving the car at least 30 consecutive minutes without shutting the engine off, once or twice a month. I learned this the hard way with my former car, a 1977 Toyota Celica liftback that got me 300,000 miles! Cheers!
Alrighty folks, so it was about exactly 1 month since my last post..
I believe I was saying I had 5k miles til my front driver side camshaft seal would deteriorate to the point of a major leak. Well I was right about that..
But a week ago I noticed the engine (1UZ-VVTi) was smoking. So I checked the motor and saw there was oil pooled on the DRIVER side valve cover, it was leaking towards the rear of the car onto the exhaust manifold heat shield/catalytic converter which also caused an unpleasant burning smell. I unplugged the battery and removed the coil packs. All the spark plug wells were dry except the 2ND closest to the REAR of the car, which had some oil pooling. After freaking out because I thought I had a fried piston ring or head gasket leak. My mechanic and I analyzed and diagnosed it as spark plug gasket leak. The motor wasn't burning the oil and there was no blowby or misfiring considering there was oil pooled in one of the wells. The spark plug gasket was just leaking oil into the well and onto the valve cover down the exhaust manifold etc. etc..
My car has exactly 175, 005 miles on the clock. I believe the maintenance schedule for valve covers is along side with the timing belt at around every 90k miles. I figured I might as well kill 3 birds with 1 stone especially since my mechanic was only charging $300USD for labor to do the timing belt & water pump, cam/crank shaft seals & valve cover/spark plug gaskets!
I'll probably have the throttle body cleaned as well.. I'm also strongly considering painting the valve covers as well as the camshaft gear covers, I just don't know what color!
I'll include pictures of the actual job/labor once I get my LS (UCF20) to the mechanic. Meanwhile here's the parts list and a couple pictures.
**Parts list **
1)Aisin Water Pump & Gaskets - WPT-800
1)Mitsuboshi Timing Belt - TB298
1)Bando Accessory Belt - 6PK2231AB
1)Koyo Tensioner - 13505-50030
1)Koyo Idler Tensioner - 13503-50011
1)NTN Hydraulic Tensioner - 13540-50030
1)Toyota/Lexus Thermostat - 90916-03100
2)Toyota/Lexus Camshaft Seal - 90311-A0004
1)Toyota/Lexus Crankshaft Seal - 90311-A0001
2)Toyota/Lexus Valve Cover Gaskets - 11213-50031
8)Toyota/Lexus Spark Plug Gaskets - 11193-70010
Where are you located? I want to hear more about this mechanic after the repairs please.
Spuds,
I am in Anaheim, CA but my mechanic is in Westminster, CA. In northern Orange County, California there are a lot of good JDM mechanics, plus my family and I have been going to the same mechanic for probably 10 years now. I had another trusted mechanic quoting $400USD for labor but he is also 45 mins away.. Granted I already spent about $370USD for the parts.
So that's roughly $670USD for a timing belt/water pump & valve cover job including parts, I'd be crazy to pass that up right?
Today is Tuesday, 7/10/18. On Sunday, 7/8, I honored Sunday sabbath and Monday 7/9 was a busy day. Sunday, I opened my sunroof to get much needed sunshine (vitamin D). I've worked years in office buildings, spent years indoors working on my varied projects and just never paid attention to getting enough sun IN THE PEAK HOURS OF THE DAY. Conventional research confirms it's important to get the maximum UVB (good ultra-violet rays) and not the UVA (bad ultra-violet rays). So I was making sure I exposed my head, arms, and hands while I droive the car for 30 minutes. That means I also charged my battery (required 30 minutes of driving) and got the time needed in the sun for my skin color. Vitamin D is sadly overlooked when it comes to being in good health People tend to avoid the sun, don't observe best time of the day for sun, or think sunshine through glass is ok. So, there you go. I wish I had been using my sunroof since 2005 when I bough my '97 LS 400. I still don't open it nearly enough - day, evening or night
I am in Anaheim, CA but my mechanic is in Westminster, CA. In northern Orange County, California there are a lot of good JDM mechanics, plus my family and I have been going to the same mechanic for probably 10 years now. I had another trusted mechanic quoting $400USD for labor but he is also 45 mins away.. Granted I already spent about $370USD for the parts.
So that's roughly $670USD for a timing belt/water pump & valve cover job including parts, I'd be crazy to pass that up right?
Today is Tuesday, 7/10/18. On Sunday, 7/8, I honored Sunday sabbath and Monday 7/9 was a busy day. Sunday, I opened my sunroof to get much needed sunshine (vitamin D). I've worked years in office buildings, spent years indoors working on my varied projects and just never paid attention to getting enough sun IN THE PEAK HOURS OF THE DAY. Conventional research confirms it's important to get the maximum UVB (good ultra-violet rays) and not the UVA (bad ultra-violet rays). So I was making sure I exposed my head, arms, and hands while I droive the car for 30 minutes. That means I also charged my battery (required 30 minutes of driving) and got the time needed in the sun for my skin color. Vitamin D is sadly overlooked when it comes to being in good health People tend to avoid the sun, don't observe best time of the day for sun, or think sunshine through glass is ok. So, there you go. I wish I had been using my sunroof since 2005 when I bough my '97 LS 400. I still don't open it nearly enough - day, evening or night
How does shaded light work for D production? I really cant tolerate too much sun at this point in my life,I do take D3 supplement 2000 IU a day and my level is in the middle per lab results.
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So for those of you that have projects or repairs you want to do to your LS400, post in here.
I just got a great example of a '96 and tomorrow I'm fixing the only problem - a misfire caused by a faulty spark plug wire. I kept a replacement from the old car. I would do it today but I'm dead tired.
These cars are amazing. With a misfire in one cylinder because the spark plug wire is simply shoved in the boot, making minimum contact, yet the car seems to find that perfect timing to where they all fire. My wife said she thought I fixed it already... It will be nice to drive Lexy 2 in completely good standing - something I've been working towards for a year and a half!!
As for what I'm doing to the car today, I want to clean it out. I need to vacuum it and get a couple stains out. It's nice having a vehicle that doesn't have 20 things that need to be fixed... Speaking of... The center console keeps popping up (the part the latch grabs on to is broken - simple fix).
got tints done on my 00 Imperial Jade Mica. 15% all the way around. totally changes the look of the car inside and out. its spooky boogieman dark inside at night and basically gotta roll the windows down to see around me, which is the only drawback.
stays much cooler inside now tho!
One of the things I try to do is make sure my car battery stays charged by driving the car at least 30 consecutive minutes without shutting the engine off, once or twice a month. I learned this the hard way with my former car, a 1977 Toyota Celica liftback that got me 300,000 miles! Cheers!
Same issue with my Jeep.I just installed a 10 watt solar panel on the roof.Now Im at 100% charge always.
WELL today is Aug 13th, 2018.. and one of my high mount brake lamps went out on my 99LS400.. took them out and they were both Koito 921 bulbs....
they were original equipment.... 19 years.. so I bought two Sylvania 921's and replaced both, but kept my good koito bulb... to see how long these will last, since I dont have any plans to get rid of the 400.., I am 84, but I have a young wife of 76 and she loves it also.. we bought it in 2000 and have never replaced a bulb until now..
Nice work Billy... I would have dropped an LED in there if you wanted... I'm sure I've got some laying around here someplace. I did the interior LED swap out a while back and really like it.
for the first time since i got the car in 2011 the check engine light came on while driving, plugged in the ELM327 and got the P0135 for the front left O2 sensor
i don't have a lift and i'd really rather not mess with exhaust related stuff so i took it to my guy, a new sensor and 1 hour of labor later things are back to normal
that sensor had a pretty good 20+ year 185,000 mile run i'd say
06-18-18, 05:30 PM
Parked the LS 400 - 2nd Time
Sun Roof Use - 1997 LS 400
