New LS400 Needs Advice Please (1 Viewer)

[3FE Dave]

Hello,
My name is David and I foolishly sold my 1991 FJ80 about six months ago as it needed A LOT of work and on my budget it was just too much.

I made the mistake of replacing it with a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 single cab with the 360 which I bought due to it's low miles but the tranny is having issues with that one and I want to return to a Toyota.

Anyway, last weekend I purchased a black jade metallic LS400 (1992) with 170,000 miles.
Cosmetically the car is in very nice shape however there are a few mechanical issues that are going and i am seeking you advice:

1. The starter stays engaged too long- This only lasts for one second/two tops once the car is running and does not happen on every start. Again the car has 170k miles and I am not angered by the fact this is going out but I am seeking a guesstimate as to how long it will approximately last until it wont start at all.
Local Lexus shops are quoting around 1,250 and I am in SoCal so if anyone has some shop recs I would appreciate it.

2. The transmission jerks slightly- When i test drove the car I floored it a couple times and it wasn't super responsive (I know it probably needs a full tune up and it is also not a sports car) but the transmission shifted smoothly, and it does overall. However when the car is cold the transmission makes the car jerk. The worst was when I was coming back on the freeway after the purchase and when i hit 70 it started jerking bad. Drove the freeway again a couple days later and no jerking at all. The owner said the car was sitting for a month if that makes a difference and the time it jerked the most was when I took the freeway after a month of sitting. Then it happened ever so slightly this morning in first gear at low speeds but was hardly noticeable and then after a little driving around my town it shifted fine.
I know it's a safe bet to flush the trans and put the OEM fluid in but from what I described is my trans shot?

Thank you all for reading,
David

 

[fj55-100]

starter sounds like will need replacement soon . it lives under the intake manifold , hence the cost . jerking and lack of power sound like a spark plug /wire combo are shorting to ground . especially so if there is oil in the spark plug tubes . i was a lex tech in so-cal for 20 years (now in utah)

 

[gregnash]

Sounds like you really should go through and do the baseline things like you did to your 80... change all fluids regardless of what the PO told you, change wires, cap, plugs, etc. and possibly go and flush the coolant. Have battery and alternator tested to ensure they are in good working order. See if you can find any FSMs online or get the chiltons if they are not available and then start going through system by system.