91LS400LEX

Hi guys,

It has been a few years... well since I sold my last LS400, which was around 2010 or so. Well I have owned several other cars since then and even won a new Honda in a contest in late 2012. lol.

Well I have a new Hyundai now and a '91 Cadillac with only 70k that I am using as my second car to keep the miles down on my new car.

I have decided I want to replace the Cadillac and have the fever for another LS400. I found a local '91 LS400, ironically the same color as my old '91 LS. The only difference is that this LS has the seldom seem cloth interior and no sunroof, which is fine with me. The car drives good, it has 167,000 miles, which is well under either of my old LS400s I had in the past (I had a 90 and 91).

**There are a couple of issues with this one that I am looking at that kept me from grabbing it tonight. One is the temperature gauge stayed about 3/4 way up on the gauge. Even when driving, it stayed right there. If I recall, it would run slightly under 1/2 way on my LS400s. It sounds like the clutch fan is working and the coolant appeared to be full. With that said, I am not sure if it is a weak water pump, or ? All of the dash cluster lights work, but some of the lights are out in the HVAC panel and the usual outage of the LCD panel. The tachometer didn't work, it was well below zero, not sure what that problem is and lastly the check engine light was on. They said they had it checked and the mechanic said they didn't know what was wrong, but the car seemed to run perfect. IIRC, the CEL was on in my 91 as well and never had any running problems. The fuel pump was recently replaced they said. The two issues my '91 had (valve cover gaskets and motor mounts) didn't seem to be an issue on this car, yet. The A/C does not work. They said they got it charged and it worked for about 30 minutes... has been converted to R134a however.

Any advice on the above? They want $1900 for the car, not sure how much lower, but I know with those problems I do not want to give $1900. The body is good, the paint is good, but there is a small dent in fender and a small dent in quarter panel. The interior is nice.

Sure would be nice to own another gen-1 LS400, but not sure if I need to keep searching. I do love the white with gray cloth interior.

Thanks in advance!

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

read the stickeys about the trunk hinge wiring...

dicer

Too much, the AC alone would cost 2 K or more to fix at a shop. I have not yet seen a converted 134 with a working AC system. I don't think they do it right. You likely have to take out the dash and clean the evaporator and replace the seals there and everywhere else in the system and clean it all as well. The compressor oil is not compatible with the stuff for 134 either so it has to probably be taken apart and cleaned of the old oil as does every thing else that contains the old 12 oil.
Quarter panel dents not good, you can't replace them.
That is a 1000 dollar car if that.

Nishy

My LS is RIP now, but it was converted to 134 no problems. Blew ice cold. The shop had the low pressure port for the 134 where the stock high pressure is.... idk if that has an effect or not

dicer

How long did it work when they converted it? They will work for awhile, if it lasted more than a year they must have done a good flush, and replaced the necessary parts.
If it didn't cost much they did not replace seals and o rings, especially the evaporator, because its a major deal to do that.

pishta

My Dads 93 SC was retrofitted to R134 6 years ago and still blows Ice cold. I did the conversion myself following the instructions. I just inherited the car and drove it 1/2 cross country. Auto climate system worked great, blew cold when it needed to. Display is bad on the bottom though, LCD leaked....

91LS400LEX

Thanks for the replies. I am not sure how much less they would take, but I doubt it would be $1000. If I offered that they would laugh in my face I am sure, lol. Used cars command high prices around here. I am more concerning with the temperature gauge than I am the A/C at this point. I am wondering if the water pump may be weak, or the radiator clogged. I remember what a challenge it was when I had to have the fan clutch bearing installed on my old '91. Plus on this car I have no idea when the timing belt was changed... at 167k, if it has never been changed, I am sure it is due. I cannot remember if this was an "interference" engine or not. I remember something about it being highly debatable by LS owners, or maybe that was the '95-'00 model?

As mentioned above, I remember both of the LS400's I had never going above the 1/2 way mark, even in the hottest weather. This car was running a little under the 3/4 mark even when it was around 50° outside when I was test driving. It stayed there at idle and when moving down the highway at 45 mph.

dicer

91 not interference. I think a lot of people that end up doing the LS400 thing live in some Lexus fantasy world of cars. They may stumble across an article about an LS400 that has over a million miles on it and think wow theres a car that will last forever. Yes they have some good features for the time they were made and some fair quality, but they will not make it to a million mile point with out a lot of money spent on them. That is obvious by cruising these web sites, they are not a trouble free car. There are a ton of things that can go wrong with them, and like any older car the only people that should own one are people that know about doing auto mechanics and electrical. If your in the market for a car to drive and go to and from work to the store etc. an old LS400 is not for you. And this is meant for all that are looking for a car and all that are living in the LS400 fantasy world and I may not be talking about the original poster of this thread as I don't know his skills and abilities.
If the average person needs a good dependable car the way to go is buy a used car from an outfit that will offer a lifetime warranty, we have some out fits like that around here. It may cost a bit more but way less than having a shop work on your old 20 something year old LS400.

Nishy

I bought the car in January of this year, but the PO had it converted some time before. He had it sitting for almost a year before I bought it so it had to be a while back. The only problem is a leak it developed.... when recharged it blows cold.

TaninAuto

Tach for sure is cluster issue. Temp could be as well.

91LS400LEX

Thanks. Well I am definitely no stranger to the LS400. I have owned both a 1990 LS400 and a 1991 LS400. I owned the 1990 from 2003 to around 2006 and the 1991 from 2007 to around 2011... so combined I have owned an old LS400 for a total of 7 years. lol. Both had well over 200k. My 91 had issues with valve cover gaskets, power steering and engine mounts and my '90 had issues with the radio and gauge needle illumination. I agree they definitely need attention, especially when approaching 25 years old. I knew what to look for when I looked at this '91 that is for sale locally, just had a couple of issues neither of mine had - like the temperature gauge going up to slightly below the 3/4 mark... and the tach was dead... other than that, it seemed like a good car.

I have a brand new car with 3000 miles, but have another old car I use as a second car to keep miles down on my new one. My other car is a '91 Cadillac DeVille with 70k, which is a good car, but wanting something different now.

Thanks!