New-Owner of Lexus LS 400
03-21-21, 12:06 PM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
New-Owner of Lexus LS 400
Hey Guys,
Just joined the group and an excited owner of 1998 Lexus LS 400. Researched this car before I bought from the original owner. It has 110K when I got in 2016 and the timing belt and water pump was replaced in 2008 at 86K. Currentlyit has 136K miles. Here are my questions hope you don't mind.
1. Do I need to replaced the timing belt /water pump again based on the number of years not the mileage?
2. I think the suspension are all originals? Is it time to replaced?
3. A little bit of vibration of the steering wheel at the speed of 80-90 miles at the freeway. What to look for?. Bring it to a Lexus specialty shop here in Murrieta, CA (can you recommend a shop)?
Your input is very much appreciated. This will be my retirement car and will be fixing it and try to bring it back to its factory specs. I really love this car!
Thank you for your time and will be waiting for your reply.
Just joined the group and an excited owner of 1998 Lexus LS 400. Researched this car before I bought from the original owner. It has 110K when I got in 2016 and the timing belt and water pump was replaced in 2008 at 86K. Currentlyit has 136K miles. Here are my questions hope you don't mind.
1. Do I need to replaced the timing belt /water pump again based on the number of years not the mileage?
2. I think the suspension are all originals? Is it time to replaced?
3. A little bit of vibration of the steering wheel at the speed of 80-90 miles at the freeway. What to look for?. Bring it to a Lexus specialty shop here in Murrieta, CA (can you recommend a shop)?
Your input is very much appreciated. This will be my retirement car and will be fixing it and try to bring it back to its factory specs. I really love this car!
Thank you for your time and will be waiting for your reply.
03-22-21, 01:54 PM
#2
Personally, I think that the timing belt should be changed to be safe, since the 1998 is an interference engine + VVTi. Even if the belt looks good, it's been 13 years and 50k miles, and it's not worth risking losing the whole engine.
Suspension needs to be inspected to determine if it's time to replace. When it comes to the struts, I would always keep the springs and just replace the struts, as the original Lexus springs are high quality.
The steering vibration could be a few things, like worn bushings. Probably will be found during the suspension inspection
Suspension needs to be inspected to determine if it's time to replace. When it comes to the struts, I would always keep the springs and just replace the struts, as the original Lexus springs are high quality.
The steering vibration could be a few things, like worn bushings. Probably will be found during the suspension inspection
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CELSI0R (03-24-21)
03-22-21, 03:10 PM
#4
Lead Lap
well first off congrats! you bought the pinnacle model year of the pinnacle car
like celsi0r said if the timing belt breaks on your car it will mean bye bye engine, once a decade is a pretty safe frequency unless you drive A LOT and the timing belts are pretty thicc on these
if suspension is all original it'll likely need some of the bushings replaced, but if there's no weird handling characteristics or noises then i'd say don't start just throwing parts at it... the vibration at speeds is most likely from an out of balance tire, worn suspension generally doesn't cause persistent vibrations like that but if there's pops and creaks when going over bumps that's what to look at
good luck with everything, it always pleases me to see another LS convert lol... and if you do have anything replaced in the suspension always use OEM parts and not polyurethane bushings, those will seriously detract from the 'lexusness'
like celsi0r said if the timing belt breaks on your car it will mean bye bye engine, once a decade is a pretty safe frequency unless you drive A LOT and the timing belts are pretty thicc on these
if suspension is all original it'll likely need some of the bushings replaced, but if there's no weird handling characteristics or noises then i'd say don't start just throwing parts at it... the vibration at speeds is most likely from an out of balance tire, worn suspension generally doesn't cause persistent vibrations like that but if there's pops and creaks when going over bumps that's what to look at
good luck with everything, it always pleases me to see another LS convert lol... and if you do have anything replaced in the suspension always use OEM parts and not polyurethane bushings, those will seriously detract from the 'lexusness'
03-22-21, 04:01 PM
#5
welcome and don't forget to visit the FAQ for more info!
as for the timing belt, if it was my vehicle i would go with just mileage. the 90k interval has some "level of error" in it so pushing to 100k or even 150k would be ok depending on driving conditions and ambient temps. i know it sounds negligent but think about it. a car in LA traffic with 100k on it will have vastly different engine wear on another car with 100k from the suburbs who does not drive in stop and go traffic daily. since you're in CA likely the humidity isn't too damaging to the belt either. i know i'll get a lot of grief from others on here but this is my $0.02. sure it's worth the money to spend another $1000 to get this done but not everyone has $1000 to shell out. to be on the safe side, you're welcome to do it and yes i recommend it. water pump is not as drastic.
when i had my 1997 LS400 the suspension was all original and i never encountered anything abnormal other than ball joints being replaced as a precaution. i would only replace things that need attention. if they are working and the car tracks straight with no wandering or noises, you're good!
for the speed vibes you're experiencing, i'm 90% certain it's your transmission mount. it's a common problem that contributes to driveline vibrations on these cars. i changed mine and the speed vibrations went away! it's pretty easy to do yourself if you're handy but should be cheap for any indy shop to tackle within 1 hour! the part is very cheap too from the dealership!
more (see post #15 with pics and part numbers):
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...le-solved.html
as for the timing belt, if it was my vehicle i would go with just mileage. the 90k interval has some "level of error" in it so pushing to 100k or even 150k would be ok depending on driving conditions and ambient temps. i know it sounds negligent but think about it. a car in LA traffic with 100k on it will have vastly different engine wear on another car with 100k from the suburbs who does not drive in stop and go traffic daily. since you're in CA likely the humidity isn't too damaging to the belt either. i know i'll get a lot of grief from others on here but this is my $0.02. sure it's worth the money to spend another $1000 to get this done but not everyone has $1000 to shell out. to be on the safe side, you're welcome to do it and yes i recommend it. water pump is not as drastic.
when i had my 1997 LS400 the suspension was all original and i never encountered anything abnormal other than ball joints being replaced as a precaution. i would only replace things that need attention. if they are working and the car tracks straight with no wandering or noises, you're good!
for the speed vibes you're experiencing, i'm 90% certain it's your transmission mount. it's a common problem that contributes to driveline vibrations on these cars. i changed mine and the speed vibrations went away! it's pretty easy to do yourself if you're handy but should be cheap for any indy shop to tackle within 1 hour! the part is very cheap too from the dealership!
more (see post #15 with pics and part numbers):
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...le-solved.html
03-22-21, 06:15 PM
#6
Congrats man, drive it in good health.
03-22-21, 08:05 PM
#7
Lead Lap
lol so now we've got 3 different possible causes for the vibrations
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benlex400 (03-22-21)
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03-22-21, 08:52 PM
#8
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Thank you and really appreciate the input, I learned something from you about using OEM bushings. I will definitely consider and check all things that you recommend.
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Stroock639 (03-23-21)
03-22-21, 08:56 PM
#9
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Your analysis is definitely true especially about the driving conditions and the temp.I will definitely check the tranny mount and the other spots that fellow owners pointed out. Thank you guys. Be safe out there.
03-24-21, 11:55 AM
#11
Hey Guys,
Just joined the group and an excited owner of 1998 Lexus LS 400. Researched this car before I bought from the original owner. It has 110K when I got in 2016 and the timing belt and water pump was replaced in 2008 at 86K. Currentlyit has 136K miles. Here are my questions hope you don't mind.
1. Do I need to replaced the timing belt /water pump again based on the number of years not the mileage?
2. I think the suspension are all originals? Is it time to replaced?
3. A little bit of vibration of the steering wheel at the speed of 80-90 miles at the freeway. What to look for?. Bring it to a Lexus specialty shop here in Murrieta, CA (can you recommend a shop)?
Your input is very much appreciated. This will be my retirement car and will be fixing it and try to bring it back to its factory specs. I really love this car!
Thank you for your time and will be waiting for your reply.
Just joined the group and an excited owner of 1998 Lexus LS 400. Researched this car before I bought from the original owner. It has 110K when I got in 2016 and the timing belt and water pump was replaced in 2008 at 86K. Currentlyit has 136K miles. Here are my questions hope you don't mind.
1. Do I need to replaced the timing belt /water pump again based on the number of years not the mileage?
2. I think the suspension are all originals? Is it time to replaced?
3. A little bit of vibration of the steering wheel at the speed of 80-90 miles at the freeway. What to look for?. Bring it to a Lexus specialty shop here in Murrieta, CA (can you recommend a shop)?
Your input is very much appreciated. This will be my retirement car and will be fixing it and try to bring it back to its factory specs. I really love this car!
Thank you for your time and will be waiting for your reply.
03-24-21, 12:06 PM
#12
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
LS400FAN Thank you for your info. I am in the process of doing all those maintenance and will update everybody as it goes on. It was a one owner car and obviously the first owner was very meticulous and did all the maintenance here in a Lexus dealer her in CA.
03-26-21, 07:55 PM
#13
Racer
definitely do the tranny mount. I did on my 99' with 159k recently and it made a huge difference at highway speeds even though it wasn't torn, but collapsed and sagged over the 21 yrs. Its only a $50 part at the dealer so I would only suggest getting a Lexus mounts, as the rubber is far superior than anything else aftermarket.
03-26-21, 09:59 PM
#14
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Hi Losiracer2. Yes I will definitely do the tranny mount and the rest of the other suggested maintenance. It is surely a very nice and highly dependable car.
03-26-21, 10:06 PM
#15
Lexus Champion
definitely do the tranny mount. I did on my 99' with 159k recently and it made a huge difference at highway speeds even though it wasn't torn, but collapsed and sagged over the 21 yrs. Its only a $50 part at the dealer so I would only suggest getting a Lexus mounts, as the rubber is far superior than anything else aftermarket.
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benlex400 (03-27-21)