Ownership Verified: Four more litres of displacement ('92 LS400)

That is how they did work at the time. The purpose is that it will be triggered if someone breaks the window and opens the lock from the inside...

Ok, that makes sense, I suppose. Still unsure about those ultrasonic sensors, I might have to just pull the pillar panels off and trace the wires.

EDIT: That also means I can fairly easily add (aftermarket?) remote unlocking, because it's likely operating separately from the alarm. Presuming there's a wiring plug hanging where the receiver module goes.
 
Last edited:
Maksim within few days.. :lol:

 
Everything is much much simpler than I anticipated. This is how "the immobilizer classic" works. They've cut two essential wires (red for ecu power, and black/yellow for something else, possibly starter or iginition coils), and routed them through the key. That's it. The key is nothing but 4 pairs of contacts, connected randomly, and wired accordingly, in this case they doubled the wires up, so it's only two circuits. They even used black wires to confuse the burglar :lol:


In other news, apparently I do have remote unlocking receiver. The car must've come with remotes, which got lost at some point. Hopefully I can just get new ones and pair them up.


Just something random, I find it pretty funny that there is a "normal" position for the seat belt anchor :lol:
 
In other news, apparently I do have remote unlocking receiver. The car must've come with remotes, which got lost at some point. Hopefully I can just get new ones and pair them up.

I've been reading up on this ancient system, and... no. I can't just buy keys and pair them up. This thing works in such a way, that you have to change a rom chip in that module, which you get with your new keys with a remote control.

The fact that you can't pair up keys makes me wonder if they even use rolling codes, or is it's a "dumb" system, which can be recorded and replayed.
 
Another day, another discovery... It has a telescopic power antenna, as you do in 1992. It was stuck when I got the car, but after soaking the mast with wd40 and lubing it up, it started moving again. So now that I have reception, I've stored some radio stations, sitting in the car park, engine off. And I hear the antenna motor buzzing as I change the stations. What the hell?? Further investigation revealed that the antenna indeed moves in and out by a few cm. Wait.. can it really be?

IT ADJUSTS THE TELESCOPIC ANTENNA LENGTH TO PERFECTLY MATCH THE WAVELENGTH OF THE SELECTED STATION!!!

Holy crap, this is so needlessly complicated, for such a negligible benefit, I fucking love it.
 
Last edited:
Thats brilliant!

Sent from my NEM-L21 using Tapatalk
 
I hate unnecessary gadgets, but this is so geeky that I can't NOT love it! :lol:
 
Another day, another discovery... It has a telescopic power antenna, as you do in 1992. It was stuck when I got the car, but after soaking the mast with wd40 and lubing it up, it started moving again. So now that I have reception, I've stored some radio stations, sitting in the car park, engine off. And I hear the antenna motor buzzing as I change the stations. What the hell?? Further investigation revealed that the antenna indeed moves in and out by a few cm. Wait.. can it really be?

IT ADJUSTS THE TELESCOPIC ANTENNA LENGTH TO PERFECTLY MATCH THE WAVELENGTH OF THE SELECTED STATION!!!

Holy crap, this is so needlessly complicated, for such a negligible benefit, I fucking love it.
I love little "extra" touches like this.

Do the windows "soft close" as the approach the end of their travel? I know Lexus' have done that for a while now.
 
The memory-moving steering wheel is amazing by itself.
 
Oh, and I've got another factoid. Here's a picture comparing LHD console with RHD one (mine).



They've mirrored the layout! Even the radio, so the volume knob is closer to the driver :lol: (ok, I could only find a Nakamichi photo for lhd, but Pioneer is nearly identical)

EDIT: Jeez, now I'm worried whether the LCD screen for climate control is also mirrored, and I've ordered an LHD one.
EDIT2: Fuck! LCD is mirrored! The temp reading is closer to the driver, and the clock on the other side.
 
Last edited:
I love it, and I love your little factoids even more. Keep them coming, please!
 
IT ADJUSTS THE TELESCOPIC ANTENNA LENGTH TO PERFECTLY MATCH THE WAVELENGTH OF THE SELECTED STATION!!!

Holy crap, this is so needlessly complicated, for such a negligible benefit, I fucking love it.

Since this is 1992, it probably also took some effort and added electronic components to make it work. These days every LED flashlight has a million different blink patterns because all the necessary hardware has to exist anyway and might as well put some geek features in it. But a normal power antenna just needs a motor and a switch on each end to tell the motor when to stop.
 
It has soul, it's just very boring one :lol:
Lovely car to drive, not really inspiring in anyway, but one that makes you arrive and not even realize that you travelled in deeper sense, you might have fallen to sleep or spent whole trip trying to solve different spectrums of light. Still that broken exhaust helps a bit by sounding angry, at least when your standing outside. It has lot's of hidden secrets and gems that you seem to realize after while, like lockable gas and trunk openers, with proper lock with key, in dash.
 
This is cool, I?ve had a soft spot for these as well.
The question is whether it is as comfy and silent as I imagine it to be?

Want a ride in it!
 
Oh, and I've got another factoid. Here's a picture comparing LHD console with RHD one (mine).



They've mirrored the layout! Even the radio, so the volume knob is closer to the driver :lol: (ok, I could only find a Nakamichi photo for lhd, but Pioneer is nearly identical)

EDIT: Jeez, now I'm worried whether the LCD screen for climate control is also mirrored, and I've ordered an LHD one.
EDIT2: Fuck! LCD is mirrored! The temp reading is closer to the driver, and the clock on the other side.

Jesus they went all out, didn't they. You have no idea how much time I spent dealing with lateralization issues on the last RHD car I worked on.
 
Not that the exhaust note bothers on small amounts, luckily it is not booming sound. On comfort side it felt that it is between usa and Germany.
Oh and thank you for the test drive, it was one I looked forward for a long time.
 
Last edited:
Top