Stroock639

congrats it looks great! you went from no car to no better car lol

as others have said the ecu capacitors are known to go bad on these early cars leading to all sorts of potential misdiagnoses, definitely something to have looked at

Biggt

Great car I have a 1995 LS 400 started restoring it and ran into a battery draining problem.Need help just got it back from the shop they had it for a month could not find the problem.They only charged me very little cause they could not fix it.

gemcitylex

I hope you find the cause! Definitely make a thread if you successfully diagnose it. So you put a new battery in and something in the car keeps draining it?

spuds

See these threads for battery issue/ideas

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ery-drain.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...dashboard.html

StevenLS

Congrats! I recently did the same thing. About two months ago I became the third owner of a 1990 LS400. (It's my third Lexus sedan. I previously had a '97 ES and a '99 GS.) The first owner had it for less than a year; the second had it for almost 30 years. Here's what I am doing/have done to the car:

1. Major service: I did this before I drove it for the first time. Includes all fluids, belts, timing belt, hoses, a gasket or two, brakes, tires, radiator.
2. Radio: This was just done this week. I had a Pioneer head unit installed and now I have wireless Apple CarPlay as well as a backup camera. Worth every penny.
3. Suspension: All the parts are on order. Include shocks/struts and a lot of smaller rubber bits.
4. Front seat cushions: The leather is good, but the foam has seen better days. I'm hoping to get that taken care of in the next week or two
5. ECU: I read almost that entire sticky, I am planning on pulling that from the car and sending it out to be refurbished when the suspension is being worked on.

knosalaa

Hello Steven,
Any chance you could PM me or post in this thread which Apple CarPlay unit you have used to replace factory one? Also, if you used any sort of instructions how to pull factory one out without breaking things would be very helpful! I just got 1994 LS400 and would love to upgrade factory radio with Apple Carplay, possibly built-in nav although CarPlay will take care of that. Also if you by chance found anyone that replaced factory radio and well as installed tablet that controls both factory radio as well as HVAC would be awesome. I have non-working LCD HVAC display as well as clock and if there is any way to hand off control to tablet for both would be epic!
Thank you in advance!

deanshark

I don't know about installing a tablet or Apple whatever but here's a tutorial on taking out the factory head unit; http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/audio/headunit.html
If by any chance you decide to keep stock HVAC then Tanin Electric rebuilds them and they are a vendor here at CL.

StevenLS

Here's what I can tell you about my radio:
1. I didn't install the stereo myself, I went to La Jolla Audio. I can't say enough good things about them. They do a fantastic job. They seem to be the go-to for high-end car audio. The day I went to get my car, a brand new Cullinan was in their shop getting something fancy added to it.
2. The head unit is a Pioneer AVH-W4500NEX. Either the radio or the trim kit had plastic mounting brackets. La Jolla fabricated metal brackets for a more secure installation.
3. LJA also installed a microphone for Bluetooth calls, a backup camera, fixed the antenna, put USB ports in the center console, and repaired the subwoofer
4. While I didn't pull the dash for the radio, I successfully disassembled and reassembled the glove compartment to get at the ECU. (I had the ECU refurbished at Relentless Motorsports, very pleased with his work.) Here are my lessons learned: Be very patient, old plastics are brittle and new parts don't exist. Always pull or pry very gently. Get a set of flat plastic pry tools. Before starting, research as much as you can (I used the service manuals and the web). Take lots of pictures when you are disassembling. Have storage containers to keep all the screws, clips, etc... you remove.
5. I kept my stock HVAC controls. The display for my HVAC was functional but the lights were broken. LJA replaced the little bulbs. They told me it was easy to do. If yours is not working at all, I think your best bet is to have it remanufactured. I'd ask Relentless if he does it. I know he does gauge clusters, so he might also do the HVAC.