kyk007

Ladies & gentlemen, at long last I am finally ready to jump back into the foray of everything LS400. I've been out of the mix for the better part of the last year, but have decided to buy another LS400 (after shortly considering the LS430).

With that said, I've got my eye on a nice 1999 LS400 - the only catch is that it comes with the navigation system, which I'm not a big fan of actually. In reading these forums, I know they can sometimes be problematic as well, taking the HVAC hostage along with them when they decide to go kaput.

For those of you more knowledeable than me, I wanted to get a better idea of just how hard it is to take an LS from NAV to non-navi. I know the Beat Sonic harness can be purchased, along with the HVAC module out of the non-navi models, but have no working knowledge of exactly how to do that.

The reason I'm asking is that I am choosing between two LS400's now: one being the one with the navi (it has 120K miles) and a higher mileage LS at 155K that does not have the navi. All things being equal (they never are, right), I am leaning toward the model with the navi, despite the trouble of converting over to non-navi.

Can brighter minds than myself give me some insight here . . . any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Kansas

I know there is a past thread about doing this but I'd be hard pressed to find it. I do remember for certain that the center vent assembly from a non-nav 98-00 LS400 will be needed. If you compare nav to non-nav center vents you will see that the size of the wood strip attached to the vents are difference sizes.

I think I remember that going from nav to non-nav isn't quite plug-and-play like on the GS of the same era. Look for past threads about it - I'll let you spend your time sifting through old threads. There used to be lots of HVAC models from non-nav 98-00 LS400 on eBay for around $100.

Look at the audio threads if you plan to install an aftermarket audio head unit. It's been proven multiple times that an aftermarket head unit can be installed without using a Beat Sonic or other conversion harness retaining all speaker functionality including the subwoofer. Best Buy fabricated a simple conversion harness when I had an aftermarket screen based Kenwood installed on the 2000 LS400 I used to have. Back in 2012, total cost of the Kenwood, dash kit, parts and labor was just under $500.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

Center vent is not needed IIRC, factory non-nav climate control bolts and plugs in without issue. However the radio harness is specific to the NAV cars, and non-nav pioneer or nakamichi radios won't plug in. You can either try to make a conversion harness for the radio, or install an aftermarket unit to bypass the factory amp/etc.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...8-ls400-3.html

YODAONE

...or obtain the correct harness from the donor vehicle....

Avoid the dubious artform of splice and dicing wiring

Nothing better than a job done correctly.

Kansas

Correct ... as long as you don't mind looking at a big horizontal gap between the wood strip of the nav center vents and the non-nav HVAC module: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post10075651

The wood strip at the bottom of the nav center vents is much smaller in height than on non-nav cars.

kyk007

Gentlemen, thank you for all the well thought out replies. As I had expected, there is a significant
amount of work involved in converting from NAV to non-navi. I'll need to dig up some old posts on
here that explains the process a bit more in detail, and do my homework in that regard.

Just an FYI, I'm looking for a well kept example of a 98-00 LS400 in white, and preferably the non-nav model. Of course, as a second choice, I will take one with navigation. Stay tuned for an update . . .

nate101

In the same boat as kyk007, I'm looking at both navi and non-navi cars but would really prefer to not have the screen. Assuming you had a non-navi donor car to pluck all the necessary pieces from (harness, etc), would it make this conversion less daunting? Is it something a good shop should be able to figure out?

400fanboy

A shop was able to install a head unit into my nav-equipped 98'. They said it required a custom wiring harness and relocating the stock computer. They can't remove the computer since I think one computer controls the entire audio\nav\HVAC. I think. I would imagine if you are deleting the NAV, you would have to install your own head unit for audio as well. That's one of those "may as well while I'm in here" things, since you gain so much functionality (bluetooth, etc).

I didn't actually do the work, just my 2c on the matter. Best of luck.

nate101

Makes sense, but for my purposes I'd really just prefer to have a full OEM look (as if the car had been spec'd without navi from factory). Don't really care about the extra functionality from a modern HU.

Sin1UZFE

I'm in the same boat. Did you end up doing the non nav conversion?

NunoCostaReis

Hello everyone, hoping someone can answer me this!
i have a 97 ls400 and I always liked the Nav look but min does not have it. Would like to know if anyone knows if it would be possible to install the nav on my car and what would be needed?
i imagine I would probably need to splice some cables but I have a shop that could do that on a more professional level.
Thank you all!

400fanboy

Well, you need the NAV screen itself, plus the radio, pus the entire center stack since the HVAC is unique. There's a couple of computers running the whole show which I think are different but I'm not sure. It's a whole rats nest of wires. Then you've also got the hard drive in the trunk with the map data if you want the NAV to actually, like, work. Plus who knows what other ancillaries there are. Removing is a hell of a lot easier than adding.

NunoCostaReis

Yeah, that's what I feared. Wish I could find some video of someone doing it but from what I've read people usually do the opposite of what I'm trying to do!
thank you for the reply