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woo hoo, passed 200k miles on my very well built 1997 lexus ls400. since i've owned it starting 9 months ago, i've rebuilt transmission, had the timing belt/water pump/accessory belt done, and new tires put on. it's a dream on the highway! everything works on it, all the electronics (aside from the rev counter and the speedo needles sticking zero occasionally, but frees up with a thump on the dash). the interior is also very good condition. some history i've found that it was part of a fleet at one point, points to good maintenance (i think). my daily driver. i have to; don't have garage parking. but the tinted windows seem to help with blocking UV as far as degrading the seats and whatnot. knock on wood, futures include starter, maybe cam seals, and oil pan gasket, and brakes, eventually (squeals slightly on light application of brakes). also experiencing slight lopes on idle, but not that much, yet. so add sparkplugs, HT leads, distributor caps and rotors to futures. pretty much the only reason i'm stashing into my rainy day fund. heh. my 1997 ls400
Beautiful specimen! Are you sure your oil pan gasket is leaking? They’re glued on with FIPG and generally pretty bulletproof. The most common leak points are the front crank seal and valve cover gaskets.
having had it in the shop a couple of times, with the family's trusted mechanic (Chatsworth Auto), i dont know in the history if the oil pan ever was taken off or not. both my mechanic, and also the transmission shop that rebuilt my transmission (Leon's Transmission), both noted 'slightly wet', and i've done crawled under the car myself in the street and agree with their verdicts. it's not DRIPPING or anything like that, just wet, not imperative to get the oil pan gasket taken care of for a while. I go through an automated car wash that also has the undercarriage wash standard, and it's not bad at all... i regularly check my oil cold every few days before first start, and consumption seems ok, not smoking from exhaust, very clean, so looks good to me. driving around the San Fernando Valley, where I live, i've seen 4 other ls400s, and three more on various freeways. who knows, maybe it's one of you guys i've seen. heh!
Almost every oil leak eventually ends up at the oil pan via gravity. With as common as valve cover leaks are, that is the first place I alway's look. Take a 10mm socket to a few of your valve cover bolts. On many LS400's that I've worked on many if not all of the bolts are less than finger tight. The grommets harden and shrink over time essentially loosening the clamping force.
The production number is the last seven numbers of the VIN.
The valve covers bolts are all accessible from the top under the hood. Some are in the open and some are buried but give the ones in the open a try and see if they're lose. Don't tighten them too hard as it's an M6 bolt in to aluminum. Just a little tweak with the wrist is a safe way to check it.
well vin last 7 is 0075413. gotta look at door sticker tomorrow, hopefully after a night with no further earthquakes.. southern cal. incidentally, my car has lived its entire life in the los angeles metro from the very first dealer.. nowhere else.
driving around the San Fernando Valley, where I live, i've seen 4 other ls400s, and three more on various freeways. who knows, maybe it's one of you guys i've seen. heh!
Pretty good odds that at least one, or more, of those LS400s are members here. I'm almost definite it wasn't me that you saw. Seeing how I'm in Ct.
Originally Posted by dlcoffin
hopefully after a night with no further earthquakes.. southern cal.
Just sending thoughts and prayers out to those effected by them damn earthquakes. Here on the east coast we deal with hurricanes but I can't even imagine the earthquakes from the past few days.
Good luck to everyone and I hope your damage, if any, is minimal.
Beautiful car.
About the cluster; many many years ago when I had the issue with the sticking gauges that resolved with banging on the dashboard. This happens when the gauge damping fluid leaks out onto a little tab that the gauge rests on when it's at 'zero'. When you bang on the dashboard, the shock disrupts the weak adhesive effect and brings the gauge back up to where it should be. But don't bang too hard. When it was acting up again once, I banged the dash so hard the fuel gauge dropped to zero and stopped working!
I took apart the gauges apart and used a q-tip to clean off the fluid at the little tab and it got the tach unstuck again for good. No more banging. But the fuel gauge was dead because of me. Totally loose.
Valve cover gaskets are easy. Front main seal and cam seals should have been done with the timing belt... Did you do the rear main seal when you changed the transmission? Please say yes.
The oil pan is a two piece unit if I remember correctly and it would be a royal PITA to do the 'upper' one because of the subframe being in the way.
sdls thanks for the info about the cluster. and i am unable to say yes. heh. when the transmission was rebuilt, it was an expedient job, unplanned for, so no, the rear main wasn't changed. i probably would have been reluctant to ask for that service, as it was being underwritten by my former in-laws, and i simply hate being any more in debt to them than i already am. being retired and on a fixed income, it''s difficult to squirrel away money into my rainy day fund. my mechanic nor the transmission shop mechanics noted any oil issues with the rear main. they would have noted that when they had the transmission out, and the torque converter as well, for replacement, and obvious oil leakages would have been quite apparent, no?
07-05-19, 06:11 PM
grande dame
