gemcitylex

Hello! I recently bought my first Lexus. I'm joining this forum to learn more about it and see what other people are doing for maintenance and mods. I have been car-less and using a motorcycle as my main source of transport for about a year now. I love the bike life, but it has its limitations. In early October I found myself flying down the highway at night during a thunderstorm. As lightening arched overhead and freezing water roared against my helmet, drenching me to the skin while wind nearly blasted my 300 cc Kawi off the road, I thought to myself...

...Maybe I ought to get a car before the really bad weather comes!

I wasn't specifically shopping for a Lexus, but I loved this car the moment I saw it. The understated, almost timeless style, smooth handling, and well-maintained condition won me over. This LS has 119k miles on it; I am the second owner. It has been maintained at the same dealership for its entire 30 year life, the same dealership from whence it came brand new, and to which it was traded in just months ago. I had a full inspection done at a shop that works on lots of old imports, so I have an idea of what maintenance it will need soon. I already knocked out transmission service and had them replace the transmission mount while they were at it.

Overall the LS runs great and shows no signs of imminent disaster, but I want to learn as much as possible and try to knock out some problems before something fails completely.

Here's a list of things I want to address with the car:
The big things

• Suspicious shifting behavior. The LS seems to shift too soon, and stays under 2k rpms at all times. It also idles very low in park and in drive. I have read about some potential causes for that on this forum already. ECU?? Vacuum issue??
• Power steering rack has a leak.
• Left valve cover has a leak.
• Belt looks fine but it was last done in 2009 at 91k miles so sooner or later I'm going to take it in for that.

The little things

• Getting rid of those stupid front license plate holes (should be done this week)
• Fixing a stripped out license plate hole (ditto)
• Paint correction
• Modify OEM head unit for aux cord
• It's stupid, but I really really want to to put a nice-sounding exhaust system on.

And of course, here's a the picture, taken the day I brought it home. I love the Jade Black Pearl paint!

• 

fgpalmer71

1st, welcome.....2nd, nice find! That's a beautiful car.

CELSI0R

Very nice. Yet another twin!

Enjoy the stock exhaust for a little bit. See how you like it. It's very high quality

I always love how I can drive off from some place, and not even be heard just a block away. The car is quiet, and it makes commuting that much better after a hard day.

Please share before/after photos of the paint correction. Very interested to see the results on the upper and lower halves. Just started a mild paint correction on mine, but might be buying a DA soon to do surface leveling.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Welcome to Club Lexus. That '90 looks good! Congrats.

spuds

There are folks here who have taken off a couple mufflers and like it.It is a good sounding motor IMO.

greasegun

Welcome aboard! Nice find, what you need is a spare working ECU to diagnose your car and it will tell you if something wrong in the car. Capacitors in the ECU aged and becomes unreliable. Enjoy your car it's a bullet proof.

deanshark

Welcome to the club, good choice on your "first" Lexus, can't go wrong.
The quick shifting is pretty much normal. Both of my LSs shifted quick, like around 5 MPH. I thought something was wrong also when I bought my first one. How low do you call a low idle? It's supposed to be 650 RPM at idle, give or take 50. But read the ECU thread and see if you have any other symptoms of it being bad. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...capacitor.html
The valve covers might just need to be tightened up and not changed. They are known to come loose over time. I'd say half the people here had that problem.
The Timing belt I wouldn't worry about until you do something else in the same area to combine the labor. If it does fail it's not a catastrophic failure. (non-interference engine)
Do some reading on here, you can never get enough knowledge. I'm sure everyone is wondering......What'd you pay for it?

spuds

Dean makes a great point on the valve covers,mine were loose too,on my 98 it was real easy to just snug em back up,very little force when you do so,just snug.Real common.

gemcitylex

I definitely will. It's pretty cool how silent it is. You're right about it being relaxing. Polar opposite of motorcycle commuting! I just love that classic v8 sound tho... In any case I'm not bothering with that until it's warm again lol
​​​​Once I get underway I'll start a thread on it!​​​Still researching what products, technique I want to use. There's a few big ol scratches, and lots of etching into the clear coat. The rear bumper also has that typical weathering / UV damage. I'll post some better pics of the current damage when I get a chance.

gemcitylex

Taking off maybe two of the four (!) stock mufflers might do the trick. I would like to improve the sound without also becoming the most hated neighbor 😂

gemcitylex

Do you mean just any other ECU if I can find one in a junkyard/online? I read the sticky thread about ECU restoration and the capacitors they used. And thanks, this one has been well cared for, so I hope to enjoy many years of good use

gemcitylex

It idles right around 650 on startup, but after warming up and driving a bit it drops way lower:




Please excuse the fuzz on the dash 😅
​​​​​​Interesting. Would it be worth replacing the gasket before tightening?

I'm actually a little embarrassed because I let the dealership walk all over me. I'd never bought anything at a dealership before and they could tell. I went back and forth with the sales rep until he brought over his manager and it was 2 vs 1. They've serviced the car since they sold it new in 1990 and they were very proud about it. In the end I got them down from a somewhat crazy 7k to a still not ideal 6250.

Thanks for the info, I am doing lots of reading on this site and also on lexLS.

spuds

No,just tighten it up snug.As for the low idle you need to clean the manifold,its done on the car.Yamae can post up that thread where he explains it,looks simple,no teardown needed.Takes 2 cans of part spray.Lots of good tricks here for car repair/maintenance

Stereorob

so few of these left in that condition. nice car!!

CELSI0R

Before you go any further, can you take a look at what the cluster looks like when it's turned off? Specifically the tachometer needle's position (compare with photos in post linked at the bottom).

The needles on these first gen cars sometimes come off of the motor shaft, leading you to think it's idling/running lower than it actually is.

I had to repair mine, which was showing 2k rpm when the scan tool said 3.5k rpm (yes, an OBD-I scan tool), and had about the same reading as yours around at idle. I noticed when I would turn the car off, that the needle would drop below the 0 marker.

Many other cars of the time and of the early 2000s have a little peg below 0 to hold the needle and prevent it from dropping. This car relies on the connection between the needle itself and the motor.

Amskeptic and I have a few repair posts about the cluster on this site, if yours has this problem as well.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...l#post10423044