deanshark

First I want to say HELLO. I bought my 93 Ls400 about a month ago, 110k $1500. I just wanted to switch to luxury and comfort, seeing how I'm getting older. Sports cars are the past. I was checking and this looks like the most informative Lexus forum around. Niiice. First thing I always buy is a service manual. I already changed the normal timing belt, water pump, ps pump, plugs, wires, etc. valve cover and oil pan gaskets. A little over $1000 in parts, but I still got a good deal. I need to change the coolant soon, everyone said green is ok, but now I read more and, you know, they were wrong. I've done my own work for 30 years now so repairs are not a problem. Anyway, the questions:

1) I'm not getting heat untill I drive for a good distance. Would this be b/c of the wrong coolant, or air in the system, or something else?
2)My heated seats aren't heating. Fuse under hood is good. The lights come on so there's power to the switches. Is there a common problem for these not to work like a fusable link or something? I didn't check the relays under the seats yet b/c why would both go out at the same time.

I will have more questions in the future but this is good for now. I'm going to read more posts now to get more familiar with everyone and to see who has a sense of humor. Any suggestions would be great. TIA.

3UZFTE

Hey, welcome to CL. First let me say no one has a sense of humor... Everything is taken seriously, j/k, unless were talking about car knowledge, then I take everything seriously.
Now to you issues... Ok, coolant is coolant is coolant.... However... the main difference between the Toyota red/pink is a organic hybrid material and green is a etholyen glycol. The difference that those make is that Toyota takes into account that they use aluminum on newer models, and it has been documented by many that green will cause your radiator to breakdown more or at a faster rate. They say if you run green in with our radiators, it will cause it to deteriorate more, if you search, you will find it, maybe not the LS400 in general but as Toyota in general. I know that when I bought my LS4 of CL, the radiator was so bad that if you run your finger down the fins you would bend or break them.

1. Do you mean that after your vehicle is warm, it takes a while for heat to come out? Or do you mean from a cold start, you don't have heat right away. Cause if so, it's normal for your car to take 5 minutes to be able to warm up and have a considerable amount of heat. If it the first case scenario, I would more than likely guess that from the sound of it, you have air in your heater core as when your or whoever did the T-Belt probably didn't bleed the air out properly. I good way to try to do this is let the engine idle, turn on the heat full, and let it reach operating temperature so for about 15-20 minutes, once your about read take a 17mm socket and crack the bolt loose at the top of the thermostat housing, this is the highest point in the engine and likely is the place where air will be trapped. It is not the coolant that is causing your no heat.

2) As far as what you have check and what you haven't, everything sounds good, but I am not really experienced with the heated seats issues as both mine work, but If I were you... I would simply find the connector that feeds the heated element in the seat and see if your getting power to the element to begin with because it is normal for these to wear out over time, however 110k sounds little early.

Good luck, hope I helped some. Feel free to ask as much as you like, other jsut might not have an answer.

lexondubs

Welcome to the club its a great place for any lexus owner there is a post a few down might help you out with ur seat warmer issue and im sure somebody will pipe in about ur other issue post up some pics of ur ride

deanshark

Thanks 3UZFTE, the car warms up regularand then it takes about 15 minutes of driving for the heat to come out, warm not hot. I'll try bleeding it like you said but wouldn't that spit coolant out when I crack it open? It will be full of pressure, right? When I did the t-belt I thought the air would come out through the overflow tank. I'll check the connector on the seats within a couple days, it's just toooo cold out there now.

No pics on the car yet. (No camera) But it's just a plain jane black Ls400, nothing special. My finances just go into how it runs, not how it looks. The only thing not stock is, it's wired up with flashing lights and siren. I think the last owner was either a detective or security. I'm taking ALL that out soon, I don't need more problems with the cops.

3UZFTE

Hey, no problem, glad to shed a little light on it. Basically the overflow does do that, but if you trap a massive amount in there, usually what happens when a water pump is done, it can't bleed over that much.. very easily. I hear you about the the warmth out there, it's like 4* here in Minneapolis right now. If you look at the back of the motor there are two rubber hoses that feed into the passenger side of the firewall, those are the feed and return from the heater core if you get desperate, you can always undue the fittings and "flush" it with a hose or just fill it up with a funnel and coolant... I would try bleeding it first, then "flushing" it cause flushing it will inherently cause a little air to get into the system.

When you crack that bolt, it will be under very minimal pressure, nothing that will cause any bursting or anything, as it's a bolt and the more you unscrew it the more fluid comes out, so just keep cracking it a little farther until you see a fair amount of fluid out, then shut it. Make sure your car is at operating temp, and you have the heater on high, etc.

deanshark

Thanks, I'm not gonna attempt anything with the hoses, it's just too cold for that work right now but good to know for the future. I'll try bleeding it tomorrow, it's supposed to be 44*. I'll try and look at the seats also.

deanshark

Well, I bled it the other day and the only difference is it seems colder. But now it's only 5* outside. When I bled it I had it up on jack stands to make it even higher. (had other things to do anyway) The cable for the heat valve is stuck. I unhooked it and tried it in every position, same results. The heater hoses get hot (both) so it is getting in there. It seems to me the heater core is bad, is that hard to change? I didn't look in the manual yet. It doesn't BLOW hot air but when I drive the air comes in warm. This is after it's warmed up and driving for about 20 minutes.
Anyone have pics of the heater valve in the open and closed position so I definetally know which way is which. I can just unhook the cable and leave it open. Thanx

3UZFTE

Ok, sorry bleeding it didn't solve your problem. The heater core isn't terrible, however it's a little time consuming as everything is up under the dash and it's tight quarters. You very well could have a clogged heater core. Have you tried actually moving the heater core valve manually? If both hoses are hot, before and after the heater valve, I would assume it's the heater core cause obviously coolant is getting in there. However if your heater valve is only opening like 1/4 of the way, it could possibly be leading to the same result... follow?

JimsGX

Here's a picture of the water valve that's located in the engine compartment on the passenger side up against the firewall...

deanshark

Ya I follow what you're saying. I did manually open it (all positions) and pretty much the same results. Hoses are hot in and out. It must be the heater core. Like I said, it comes out warm while the car is in motion, fresh air coming in. If the heater core is clogged can it be flushed out or would I need to get a new one? Obviously I would remove it to flush it. How much would a new one cost? (ball park)
For some reason I can't open the file for the pic but I looked it up in the manual and seen it.

toxictv

http://www.a1partsdepot.com/1993-LEX...e-P251272.aspx

$165.50 up to $300 something according to Google.

I'd hit up a salvage yard if you want to save some cash and don't mind doing some dirty work.

deanshark

I definetally don't mind the dirty work at the JY to save some cash. Been doing it for 30 yrs now. Plus I can rip apart another vehicle b/f I take mine apart, that way I know what to take off so I don't screw up mine. But the JY I use keeps the expensive cars seperate in a different section were noone is aloud to walk through. (The bastards)

3UZFTE

That's def a good way to learn. That's too bad, our u-pull yards are import, domestic, etc., no segregation here, hell they can't even tell what car it came off of. About pulling the parts... spare LS400's aren't a dime a dozen, but they can be found with some good know how. Here is a website, http://www.car-part.com, that will not only search your local wrecking/salvage yards, but national as well. Some will have it in the vehicle, but most will have already pulled it and tested to see if it's actually good. Keep in mind most junked LS400 are in the yard for a reason, not that I wouldn't do the same thing... You might want to think about how valuable your time might be when your pulling apart the dash just to get to a 20 year old part, if something were to break, bend, or it's not good in the first place, you've wasted your time. They range from $65-100 around me, so you might be able to even find something cheaper but will have to have it shipped.

deanshark

Thanks man, I checked car-part.com and it only shows 2 in New England for $100. 1 1/2 hour drive each way I might just get it somewhere else and pay for shipping, if I decide to go that route. I gotta check around here first. I know the yard I use has 2 cars there (I saw them when I got my PS pump) About my time being valueable, usually it is but now, that's all I have is time. (This recession sucks) I got ime to look around b/c I don't have the finances right now anyway, no matter how cheap I can get it.
Oh, did I mention "This recession sucks"

Garage7RP

iTrader: (1)

Check the heater control valve first.