Hooptie430

Greetings all! I recently picked up a new to me 03' LS430 Crystal White and in all honesty she's rough! I've always wanted an LS as I feel they have a timeless design (prefer the update 04-06) but stumbled across this beauty one afternoon search on CL (yes, people still use it). The car was listed for 18 days for $3500 with 161k so I assumed it would be gone. The ad was very descriptive with: Needs new wheels, mirrors don't work, radio doesn't work, coolant leak, etc. Its pearl white but in the pics I could tell the paint didnt match on the front end even though it had a clean title. Long story short, I met the seller who was a firefighter and inherited the car from his dad who passed away. He drove it back from Louisiana to Oregon and had a blow out necessitating new tires. It got hot and he had to add coolant but made it back. This was in November of 22'. Fast forward to last August and the car has been sitting pretty much ever since as his daughter didnt want it for a first car (for free!). We BS'd for the afternoon and he accepted my $3k offer and drove it to my house. I drove it around a few days to "test" the issues. Honestly for what it is it drove very well. Engine was smooth with no overheating, transmission shifted smoothly, AC and cooled seats were icy and radio worked (get to that in a bit).

The seller had no service history (including timing belt) aside from the 4 new tires he ended up installing. I called the Louisiana Lexus dealers and they had some service up to 80k. Car fax confirmed no accidents but offered little else with service history. He did have all the books, a few tire receipts, and the original window sticker ($62,607!!) Fast forward from then to now:

- Replaced timing belt, water pump, thermostat, etc. Timing belt had been replaced at some point with a Gates and an unknown water pump which was weeping.
- Driver mirror was floppy. Removed and disassembled and found the tension washer had given up. Ultimately did a cotter pin to hold it in place and functions about 60% as it doesnt fold in all the way but is stable.
- Inspected ML Speakers,. Every one was a mess. Foam was gone and two of the speakers had detached from the cone and were dangling. Replaced with some cheap-o JVC's that sound decent.
- Oil leaks!!! Valve covers appear to be fine but the tube seals for the spark plugs are weak and leaking a little oil. Resealed lower oil pan (good), resealed transmission pan (bad).
- Play in steering. Drivers inner tie rod worn out. Replaced inner and outers on both sides with Beck Arnley.
- Stripped and painted all four wheels


Here is where I am at today: This is not my daily driver. I have a full shop with a lift that I installed years ago because why not??? My daily driver is a 2016 tundra that loves fuel! The Lexus is a project, something for me to mess with in my off time. The question is how deep do I dive into this project? Mechanically it runs/drives well but leaks... After resealing the trans pan gasket I found the the driver shift seal is leaking and needs replaced. Unfortunately there isnt anything on the wild web for an easy fix. I have a feeling that the oil pump may be leaking but havent confirmed as its been dry since replacing the water pump and its been sitting. Interior is in decent shape but dash is bubbled and pass front seat has a tear.

Do I keep plucking away and project at a time or ???

Good: Clean title, 161k, new tires, new brakes (previous owner), newer KYB front struts (previous owner), no rust, runs/drives well
Bad: Front end has been repainted poorly, however all original body parts per vin stickers. Oil leaks, Map DVD hit and miss, tear in pass seat

Future thoughts: Continue to tackle projects, polish the turd as best I can, install RSR springs to negate the fender gap, cruise it!






Thanks all!

weldthedif

161k miles is nothing for these, there's still a lot of life left in that car, despite how rough around the edges it might be. what seal is leaking? is it the transmission? I'd keep fixing it until it doesnt leak, and just enjoy driving it. These cars make incredibly nice daily drivers, i look forward to driving my 04 every day, even though I have several trucks as well.

Hooptie430

Engine leaks: Hard to tell at this point. Lower oil pan was a mess so I started with that as it was the easiest. Looks like the dipstick seal as well which I plan to tackle. Cam seals looked okay when I had the timing belt off. Crank seal / oil pump seal are my concern. It was too messy with grim and coolant to really tell if there is an issue. I've ran it a few times to bleed the cooling system and havent seen anything yet. Time will tell...

Transmission leaks: Started with the pan gasket, No go, but it was worth dropping it to peel inside and get an extra 1.5 qts of fluid out. I only had black FIPG at the time and since discovered its supposed to be red so I will do it again after I run it to cycle fluid around. It appears the shift seal on the drivers side is the culprit. Grabbed a couple of those but not excited for the R&R process as it looks like a tight fit and I dont want to pull the trans or the valve body. Hopefully I can lower the trans enough to get a better angle.

weldthedif

Nice pickup, looks great. I'd flush all the fluids if you are concerned about deferred maintenance

JaySco

Sweet lift!! Oh yeah, good deal on the car too

Hooptie430

Update! last weekend tackled the trans shift seal hack style and dipstick o-ring. Lowered the transmission as much as I could and pried the seal out with a pick. Came out too easy in all honesty. Installed new seal by lubing it up with petroleum jelly and push it in by hand as much as possible. Couldn't get a socket in due to clearance so used a punch and slowly seated the best I could. I give it a 50% chance but so far it hasn't leaked even after topping it off and driving around a bit. Now comes to the oil pan dipstick tube and what a nightmare. Accessing the bolt is a real challenge, plus on 01 - 03's they have a trans dipstick which it is attached to. Those bolts were a bastard to get to. Ultimately was unable to remove all the way due to clearance and cleaned off the best I could with brake clean and shop air. Used a gun cleaning bristle to clean out the oil pan itself. The old o-ring was hard as a rock and broke apart taking it out. Installed new o-ring and used as you guessed it more PJ! Did a tape measure alignment and took it out for a spin and so far so good. Located a set of brand new RSR springs that were scratch and dent online for $225. The front struts have already been replaced with KYB's so ordered a set of rears from Amazon (best price) and of course they sent me one correct one and one for an F-150... Sorted that out tonight so I should get the correct one Wed. Also ordered a new foam surround for the ML sub as the existing one is non-existant. Pass door lock doesnt work so also picked up a new motor.

Plans for this weekend: Install new pass front door lock motor, install RSR's in the front, remove rear sail panels, package tray, sub, and struts in preparation for the new KYB's and RSR's.

Good times!