SonicC

For what I paid vs. what it looked previously, I can't complain

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

good looking car sonic, and it sounds like my kind of repairs, oh, my OCV has not come on after 5 years now... your paint job was a bargain, and after 12 LS400's, I can say they are the best car for me... they showed the world how to build a superior automobile... and ALL our cars have improved since the LS showed up... but I just cant let go of my 99, it has 192k on it now and I love it....
current photo taken last week at my brothers house....

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

HAY, I meant to say dont use polyurethane bushings on the front of your LS...
they will ruin your ride

I got new OEM SRB bushings at TRD for 38.10 each. PN# 48674-40051..
retail is now 52.81

just tryin' to help...

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

I would not complain either.

SonicC

That's good news. I bet most could be fixed by cleaning them instead of replacing...seems like a fairly simple mechanism.
And wow...12 LS400's...just can't get enough, huh?
But i do agree, it's a really good car...a mix of Cadillac and Merc with Toyota reliability.


Oh yeah, no polyurethane on this car. I meant my other car has polyurethane bushings front and rear.




Part 2: Much Needed Maintenance
Finally had some more time this weekend to work on the car, so I decided to do some more maintenance/tuneup.

Removed the plastic covers from the right side then started removing plugs.


There were 2 plugs that were so loose, I was able to unscrew them by hand (the one on the left and 2nd one from the right). Good amount of deposit on them from blow-by mostly.

Closeup:


Moving to the left side of the car, one of the plugs was also loose that I could remove it by hand...pretty obvious which one:


Removed all the old ones then installed new ones with some anti-seize grease and torqued them to 15ft-lb:


As a side note, when I was searching for threads on how to replace spark plugs many people seem to be doing this the hard way. There's a spark plug socket with a rubber piece in it that holds the spark plug in when you're removing it from the head, so that you don't have to fish it out with a magnet. If you're not using this, you're making your life harder than it needs to be


Got a new air filter as well...


Then changed the oil, oil filter, and did a coolant flush:


And while I had all the plastic covers and pieces off, I decided to wash them with some dish soap




In the next part, I will be dealing with this (already started some cleaning, but it was interrupted by rain)

Legender

Way ahead of me Billy... I've only had 8 so far... and my last one looks a lot like yours...and getting better every day. I'm will Billy on this... picked up the last one for a daily driver and had 204k miles on it. After some maintenance and much needed tranny/motor mounts and tires... she runs like brand new, out of the gate. Smooth as silk. Swapped out the interior lights to LEDs and she looks even sharper.

SonicC

New key arrived in mail today! Got it from a seller on eBay (1010keys) for $25 cut. I didn't have the key code, but they were able to cut it from pictures I submitted. Not bad...

Old key:


Remote wasn't working on the old key. I was worried the remote was bad, but once I took it apart I found out it didn't even have battery in it. Luckily new key came with the battery, so I installed it into the remote then swapped the remote into new key and topped it off with a key chain:

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

they simply cut the key from the pictures sent by you? that's amazing and it works? nice new paint as well! i dig it!

omarg

Great work! Paint job looks great! Bravo on everything except... dex-cool!

SonicC

Thanks.
Yeah, just took some good quality pictures and sent them. They then decoded them, cut the key, and then sent me the key and code. All for $25

Thank you.

I've used Dex-Cool for the past 9 years in 4 different cars - 2 of them German - and haven't had any issues with it (corrosion or anything like that), which is why I didn't feel like paying extra for Toyota stuff.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

but the toyota stuff isn't that much more expensive. it's really the water pump you are saving not really internal corrosion from using the correct coolant. the difference may be super minute, and only time will tell.

saleenssc

Could you please post a link to that exact item on ebay. I took a look at 1010keys store and didnt have much luck finding the key. I have a 98 ls400 that only has one key (master key).
Thanks

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

Hay saleenssc, that was easy to find..


http://www.ebay.com/itm/REPAIR-your-3-BUTTON-REMOTE-KEYS-to-our-PRE-CUT-QUALITY-SHELLS-KEY-/151694964333?hash=item2351b9766d
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRE-CUT-DIY-PROGRAMABLE-Transponder-Chip-Key-for-3-button-keys-w-nite-light-/161717041578?hash=item25a71639aa

saleenssc

Thank for the help

SonicC

The first one billy posted is the one I used.

Just to note, if you do end up ordering a new cut key, get some sand paper (like 220 or 320 grit) and smooth out the cut edges, otherwise it won't go into the lock very easy.