Hi,
My 1991 LS400 reverse is going out... Any way to save transmission at this stage? Any advice? I hope it's just low fluid - I'll find out Monday. If not, it'll need a new used transmission- too much money for this beater car- whole point in getting it was to not put money into it while I raise money to fix my regular car....
Other question: took the 91 lexus LS400 car to muffler shop this morning to figure out source of exhaust leak... man says its EGR pipe leaking and that with the V8 engine, the shopkeypro.com site says to remove and replace the EGR pipe it's 8 hours of labor.
Uh.... any helpful thoughts appreciated. Thank you. -thing is, the car passed smog with zero emissions 6/10/21, so what gives?

 

Never done the EGR pipe on a 1UZ so can't comment on that. Maybe the shop is not being completely honest. How many miles?

 

250,000 miles on the car. the shop who diagnosed the problem has nothing to gain by saying so, as they are a muffler shop- owner is nice and honest. he doesn't do that kind of a fix because that pipe involves moving the engine off to replace and he doesn't do that.
i'm near tears over this matter. monday i'll know if the car is low on tranny fluid. if it is could be saving grace to save transmission from needing replacement now. bought this car to avoid paying 3-4 grand fixing my vw but now this car needs 3-4grand also. i just threw away money that i could not afford to throw away...

 

See this thread, seems like the job is fairly difficult but doesn't require the entire engine to be removed.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...tegy-help.html

 

These four speeds are absolutely bullet proof, losing reverse is most likely just low fluid.

EGR pipe is a giant job, but instead of replacing it just buy egr blank off plates on ebay, less than 100 bucks and 20 minutes of labor.

 

Thank you so much. I will check out the link you sent!

 

https://www.lextreme.com/1uzfe-egr-delete-kit/

 

Thank you so much for your encouraging reply. I hope to goodness that losing reverse is just low fluid - that in itself would be an absolute miracle. I'll keep you posted when I find out. I pray you are right.

As for your note about buying EGR blank off plates on ebay, what do you mean? I don't understand. What I've been told is that the EGR pipe runs through the middle and bottom of the engine- in order to remove it you have to remove the engine or part of the engine. The books says 8 hours of labor. - But what are "EGR blank off plates"? Is this what you are talking about (I have 1991) https://www.ebay.com/itm/18191596744...oAAOSwtnJfB6UX and if so, how does it only take 20 minutes of labor? I don't understand how they could want me to buy a new EGR pipe and spend 8 hours of labor replacing it if instead I could buy this "blanking plate" that takes 20 minutes of labor. Please explain. If this is possible it would be a miracle in my opinion. - I'm in the market for miracles right now, for sure!

I look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you so much!

 

The EGR pipe carries exhaust gas from your main exhaust system back into the intake manifold. The EGR pipe itself is expensive and very difficult to replace, but you can buy two plates and install one between the pipe and exhaust, and another one between intake and the pipe. Technically you are not supposed to do it for emissions reasons, but on a 30 year old car, might as well.

https://www.lextreme.com/1uzfe-egr-delete-kit/

 

I'm a little scared about polluting environment even more, as well as getting the exhaust system too hot. Some mechanic told me fires can happen that way and that if i don't fix replace egr pipe that it could run that risk- however that same mechanic said he wanted 2 grand for labor to replace it when the book says (and i know cuz i took photograph of the shoppro computer screen which says its an 8 hour labor job) - anyway, a quick fix sounds great. i read that the delete is not legal.

 

I've decided to deal with it later (re: the 8 hour exhaust leak job). Bought this car as second car while I summon cash to fix my main other car, a VW. I don't want to invest any money in this. A mechanic neighbor checked out my car today and said tranny is fine and that I made a good purchase with this 91 lexus beater car. Finally after 9 days of purchasing it, I'm going to relax and not worry about it. Yay!

 

That's a good thought right there. If you bought the car as a "beater" then you don't have to fix everything if it's not 100% important. If it passed your smog test already then it must not be too bad of a leak. Save the money to put into your other car if that's actually the car you want to keep and drive. I've got a leak (rotted pipe) right after the first cat. Gonna cost $200 to cut it out and fix, but why should I? I'm gonna be buying a different car soon anyway. If it's loud and bothers you then buy the cut off kit and seal that baby up. I don't see why it's illegal...... oh, California, now I see. But anyway, who's gonna know? And if anyone does inspect it, hey, you bought it like that. Convince them you don't know anything about fixing cars.

 

Sorry to appear mean but not checking your fluids regularly, especially on an expensive vehicle, is inexcusable.

 

you can drive the car with an EGR leak (i did until i had it fixed it where i did NOT have to drop the trans as the factory manual stated hence the 8hrs of labor).
the EGR pipe is high in an odd angle, and you just need the right set of extensions and sockets to get the pipe off and replace it (OEM is your only option i believe).

 

Having the correct tools always saves ya time and aggravation.
And if it's a Ca. spec car, make sure you order the correct pipe. I'm pretty sure the manifold is different on Ca. spec cars. Best way to order is by your VIN number.