Ls400… long term money pit
Discussion
I’ve been browsing this forum for years but decided today will be the day that I’ll actually start a thread
So
It was 2016, at the ripe old age of 22 I realised I needed a V8 in my life. After much googling to see what my options were I narrowed it down to a Mercedes Cl500 (c215 flavour) , an e39 540i, Ls400 of any flavour or a jaaaaaaaag
The internet told me that the Ls400 would be the more reliable option, and I’m confident that’s still the case, so I found this old pig
Had about 130k on it, a tiny amount of service history, terrible bodywork and tinted windows. PERFECT
So
It was 2016, at the ripe old age of 22 I realised I needed a V8 in my life. After much googling to see what my options were I narrowed it down to a Mercedes Cl500 (c215 flavour) , an e39 540i, Ls400 of any flavour or a jaaaaaaaag
The internet told me that the Ls400 would be the more reliable option, and I’m confident that’s still the case, so I found this old pig
Had about 130k on it, a tiny amount of service history, terrible bodywork and tinted windows. PERFECT
Naturally the excitement takes hold and you learn that automatic burnouts are easy
All good fun right?
Most of you on here will know that these cars have an Achilles heel.. the starter motor
Sure enough mine was dying so after a couple months of owning it I booked it in to get done, along with the cambelt
A month later this happened..
Was at about 6pm the night before, heard a crash that sounded like a wheelie bin falling over then a car wheelspinning up the road followed by the faint beep of my alarm
So my precious old barge along with a neighbours car had been written off by a drunk driver who proceeded to drive off… at the time he was lucky he did
Long story short I bought it back from the insurance so I could then decide where to go from there
All good fun right?
Most of you on here will know that these cars have an Achilles heel.. the starter motor
Sure enough mine was dying so after a couple months of owning it I booked it in to get done, along with the cambelt
A month later this happened..
Was at about 6pm the night before, heard a crash that sounded like a wheelie bin falling over then a car wheelspinning up the road followed by the faint beep of my alarm
So my precious old barge along with a neighbours car had been written off by a drunk driver who proceeded to drive off… at the time he was lucky he did
Long story short I bought it back from the insurance so I could then decide where to go from there
She was a total loss, insurance said at the time it was about 3 grands worth of damage (of course they’ll price that using brand new parts from Toyota/Lexus)
So with the car looking sorry for itself on my drive I found one breaking locally,
Front bumper and fog lights
Headlight and indicator
Front wing
Crash bar
Little frame that holds the headlight in place
Washer bottle
Delivered for the princely sum of £300
I wasn’t giving up on this old girl
I also changed both passenger doors because they were rusty and wobbly
You can see where this is going
Oh yes
So with the car looking sorry for itself on my drive I found one breaking locally,
Front bumper and fog lights
Headlight and indicator
Front wing
Crash bar
Little frame that holds the headlight in place
Washer bottle
Delivered for the princely sum of £300
I wasn’t giving up on this old girl
I also changed both passenger doors because they were rusty and wobbly
You can see where this is going
Oh yes
BlackLS400 said:
Most of you on here will know that these cars have an Achilles heel.. the starter motor
Sure enough mine was dying so after a couple months of owning it I booked it in to get done, along with the cambelt
A bit of an arse of a job in those too, starter being in the middle of the V and the intake etc all having to come off to gain access. Cambelt is fairly easy though. 1998? so presumably a thin rod interference engine (earlier ones are non-interference), with the earlier ones as long as it looks ok you can take the risk with it. Sure enough mine was dying so after a couple months of owning it I booked it in to get done, along with the cambelt
BlackLS400 said:
Spectacular. Truly excellent save and a wonderful job.
I also bought an LS400 at 23. Sorely missed, its still going somewhere with 400k, grey over grey. Fantastic noght driving experience with the exceptionally lit display and silent cruise control.
Early LS400s had an isaue with stalling after coming off a motorway to stop if the intakes were not cleaned. This waa cured by switching on the air con to raise the revs. A hilarious fix that bemused passengers.
I also bought an LS400 at 23. Sorely missed, its still going somewhere with 400k, grey over grey. Fantastic noght driving experience with the exceptionally lit display and silent cruise control.
Early LS400s had an isaue with stalling after coming off a motorway to stop if the intakes were not cleaned. This waa cured by switching on the air con to raise the revs. A hilarious fix that bemused passengers.
Fastdruid said:
BlackLS400 said:
A bit of an arse of a job in those too, starter being in the middle of the V and the intake etc all having to come off to gain access. Cambelt is fairly easy though. 1998? so presumably a thin rod interference engine (earlier ones are non-interference), with the earlier ones as long as it looks ok you can take the risk with it.
Yeah this is the ‘thinner rod’ engine,
I was never planning on boosting it so went for this shape with the vvti ,
Still surprises me at times with the power it’s still got
Laira said:
Seriously impressive, having recently had to deal with (looking at yours) much lesser front end damage, i respect the determination to get this thing back. All black looks the dogs danglies if i may say so myself....
I hadn’t had it long at the time but the thought of it going to the banger boys or being broken up spurred me on to fix it,
If I can’t have it then no one can lol
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