These videos are the stuff of nightmares. The car is a Lexus LS460 that had been in a flood. Instead of walking away from a hopeless mess, the owner insisted on fixing it. Big mistake. I feel bad for the mechanic. He deserves a purple heart for deep-diving into the hell that is the LS460 wiring. He's got the entire dash apart in video two to hunt down a module, and it's some kind of miracle that he ever got that mess back together again.

 

I've done it on a S500

 

on a flooded merc?
old S500s have horrendous (read brittle) wiring based on what i've learned from yamae's experience that break and start shorting each other.

any job this extensive will require pure dedication, time, and funds to pursue. per the vid, there is someone out there that meets these requirements.

 

Yes. Idiot driver went into a "puddle" and hydrolocked the engine and required me to replace the floor mounted everything (harness and ECUs and all the carpet and mat) and make sure it all worked again.

 

What is wrong with the owner of this car?!? Why in the world would you be so adamant about having that fixed?!

 

Mechanic repeatedly said to walk away but if the dude has the money and he willing why not? Go for it!

Good videos tho

 

Damn. I thought my 93 LS400 was bad pulling the dash to get the heater assembly out just to remove the heater core. There was a boatload of wire and computers but nowhere near that LS460. I applaud this guy for doing this job and getting everything back together, and working. I woulda threw in the towel (no pun intended) on that one knowing it was flooded.
Must be alot of sentimental value with that car. Who would be crazy enough to spend that much money on a project like that? Must not have had flood insurance.

 

Oh do I have some stories for you......lets lead with a BMW that is the poster child of someone doing dumb things with a car that is already dead and in the grave that someone decided to yank out.



So I had to do the following work to swap in a "new" engine because naturally the customer didn't want to order a reman or good forbid allow me to have my machine shop properly take care of it. The engine experienced total failure above and beyond the typical BMW V8 valve guide seal and alternator oil leak in the form of the cam reluctor gear on the left hand exhaust bank cam that is screwed on to the end of the cam unscrewed and fell off and into the valve-train and introducing metal shavings into the entire engine all the while throwing a bunch of codes and rough idle issues that naturally no one could figure out since as is becoming typical I am the person in the area who "works on BMWs" and I actually am able to fix these. Anyway I had to go through a LOT of work to get the engine out and the book time with a lift table and transmission lift adaption piece for a trans jack both of which I do not own/have access to since I do not normally have to deal with these cars and $1000s in tools for rare cars makes no sense for a small shop but even if you do have all the special tools it calls for 26.7 hours WITHOUT transfer of parts that was needed with the donor engine. Add on the hydraulic sway bar control valve block having almost all of its fitting seize on the lines and requiring me to create new replacement lines and the general state of disrepair and difficulty and the resultant costs in labor and parts you will quickly see the total insanity of some customers. Make no mistake I tried HARD to get this guy to not touch the car and even offered to scrap it for him no charge and give him all the proceeds he still wanted it fixed, the condition of the car in the pictures below will explain the level of insane person we are talking about here. I will lead with some images showing the how annoying the car was to work on and end with the condition of the car in question that someone actually bought for $3000 before I did over $5k worth of work on overall. This was only one of many instances of this happening.



Not so bad....right?



Super easy right? Just remove the whole car.




This part was actually not hard prep for removal, the upper half of the job is quite easy to complete since everything is setup with quick connect systems that actually work and don't get stuck like GM/Ford. A lot of the stuff you see routed behind where the engine was is impossible to service without taking at least the intake off.



Every single exhaust bolt and stud was totally rusted and seized.




The lines and valve block you see here are for the sway bars, the fittings seized on the lines for most of them and required me to create new ones by hand. There are other areas repaired to the right you can't see.




My lift device since I don't own the adapter and you must be very careful to avoid damage to the case or plastic pan.





The gear that unscrewed itself and killed the engine, because naturally it would be screwed on.






Bare subframe and the starter location that is similar to the LS460 if you ever wondered why the starter repair labor quote is so high and the 10qts of bargain basement oil the customer used since he didn't want to use proper stuff.

 

And finally the cosmetic condition of the car as a whole.













Bonus pic, the same year 7 series in the air with my LS430 in the foreground intake off so I could replace the knock sensors and starter contacts before driving back home at the end of the day. Night and day between the two brands.



The 460 in the OPs videos is a FAR more sensible thing to repair than the stuff I have had to deal with.

 

Wow, thats truly crazy...

 

I knew the 460 was complex but, WOW! I am truly impressed with how reliable these cars are considering the level of electronics and mechanical devices installed. I really can't fathom why anyone would pour that much money into a flooded car that will never be right.
Great video and the mechanic's skills are truly impressive! He won a few battles but I think the war is lost.....

 

That BMW owner must have some mental issues...no one in their right mind would spend that kind of money on a 745 in that condition.

 

He is restoring it !

 

I really hope he is.....my job was done successfully and the car had everything worn or broken replaced/repaired in the suspension and engine/driveline and was tested to 120mph to be working. Interior/exterior is not my skill set to bring back and with how far gone that one is I imagine total replacement will be needed.