1994 Lexus LS400 instrument cluster

STARTING AND DRIVING
With the brake pedal depressed, shift
while pressing the lock release button in
(The ignition switch must be in the “ON” position.)
Shift while pressing the lock
release button in
Shift without pressing
the button
Lock release button
To prevent misshifting
Parking, engine starting
and key removal position
Reverse position
Neutral position
Normal driving position
Position for engine braking
Position for stronger engine braking
than that in “2” position
Overdrive switch
For selecting either a three-speed
or four-speed transmission
ON position
(Shifting into overdrive possible)
OFF position
(Shifting into overdrive not possible)
Shift position indicator
Shows the selector lever position
Shift position is also displayed
on the instrument cluster
Driving pattern selector switch
For selecting a driving pattern suitable
to existing driving conditions
NORMAL position
for general driving
conditions
POWER position
for powerful acceleration
123
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

STARTING AND DRIVING
124Your automatic transmission has a shift lock system to
minimize the possibility of incorrect operation. This means you
can only shift out of “P” position when the brake pedal is
depressed (with the ignition switch in “ON” position and the
lock release button pressed in).
Correct use of the automatic transmission is explained in the
following parts.
(a) Normal driving
(b) Using engine braking
(c) Using the “2” and “L” positions
(d) Backing up
(e) Parking
(f) Good driving practice
(g) If you cannot shift the selector lever out of “P” position
(h) If the “O / D OFF” indicator light flashes
(a) Normal driving
“P” (Park)
position
“N” (Neutral)
position
1. Start the engine as instructed in “How to start the
engine” on page 121.
The transmission must be in “P” or “N”. The engine will not start
in “R”, “2”, “L” or “D” position even if the key is turned to
“START”.
Driving pattern
selector switchIndicator light
Power position
Normal position
2. Set the driving pattern selector switch to the NORMAL
position.
Your transmission has a driving pattern selector switch which
allows you to select either “NORM” or “PWR” to suit your
driving condition. For ordinary driving, Lexus recommends that
you use the NORMAL position to improve fuel economy.
3. For more powerful acceleration and sporty driving, use
the POWER position.
In the POWER position, the “ECT PWR” light in the instrument
cluster is on and the transmission is shifted up at higher vehicle
speeds and shifted down more responsively than in the
NORMAL position.

STARTING AND DRIVING
126If you need to accelerate rapidly while driving, depress the
accelerator pedal to the full throttle position. This provides
more acceleration by automatically downshifting the
transmission to the next lower gear or beyond, depending on
the vehicle speed.
If engine braking is needed, such as in descending a long hill,
see “(b) Using engine braking”.
7. If you need to accelerate still more, exert more force to
depress the accelerator pedal beyond the full throttle
position to turn on the “kick-down” switch.
The transmission will then downshift to the next lower gear for
still more acceleration, depending on the vehicle speed.
(b) Using engine braking
Overdrive switch
: Shifting
“D” (Drive) position
“2” (Second) position
“L” (Low) position
To use the braking power of the engine, downshift the
transmission in the way described below:
Turn off the overdrive switch. (This is effective only when
you are driving in the “D” position.) The “O / D OFF” indicator
light in the instrument cluster will come on and the
transmission will downshift to the third gear.

Shift into the “2” position. The transmission will downshift to
the second gear when the vehicle speed is or becomes
lower than 121 km / h (75 mph) and more powerful engine
braking will be obtained.

Shift into the “L” position. The transmission will downshift to
the first gear when the vehicle speed is or becomes lower
than 67 km / h (42 mph) and maximum engine braking will be
applied.
CAUTION:
Be careful when downshifting on a slippery surface. The
abrupt change in engine speed could cause the vehicle to
spin or skid.
(c) Using the “2” and “L” positions
The “2” and “L” positions are used for strong engine braking as
described previously.
With the selector lever in “2” or “L”, you can start the vehicle in
motion as with the lever in “D”.
With the selector lever in “2”, the vehicle will start in the first
gear and automatically shift to the second gear.
With the selector lever in “L”, the transmission is engaged in
the first gear.

STARTING AND DRIVING
129
Turning on the system
To operate the cruise control, push the main switch. This turns
the system on. The indicator light in the instrument cluster
shows that you can now set your desired cruising speed.
Another push on the switch will turn the system completely off.
When the ignition key is turned off, the main switch is also
automatically turned off. To use the cruise control again, push
the main switch again to turn it on.
CAUTION:
To avoid accidental cruise control engagement, keep the
main switch off when not using the cruise control.
Setting at a desired speed
Bring the vehicle to the desired speed, press the control lever
downward in the “SET / COAST” direction and release it. This
sets the vehicle at that speed. Now you may take your foot off
the accelerator pedal. If you need acceleration − for example,
when passing − depress the accelerator pedal enough for the
vehicle to exceed the set speed. When you release the
accelerator, the vehicle will return to the speed set prior to the
acceleration.
Cancelling the preset speed
You can cancel the preset speed by either of the following:
a. Pulling the control lever in the “CANCEL” direction.
b. Depressing the brake pedal.

STARTING AND DRIVING
130If the vehicle speed falls below 40 km / h (25 mph), the preset
speed will automatically cancel out.
If the vehicle speed drops 16 km / h (10 mph) below the preset
speed, the preset speed will also automatically cancel out.
If the preset speed automatically cancels out for other than
these reasons, have your vehicle checked by your Lexus
dealer at the earliest opportunity.
Resetting to a faster speed
Press the control lever upward in the “RES / ACC” direction and
hold it. Release the lever when the desired speed is attained.
While the lever is held upward, the vehicle will gradually gain
speed.
When the difference between the actual vehicle speed and the
set speed is less than 5 km / h (3 mph), the set speed can be
increased 1.6 km / h (1 mph) each time by pressing the control
lever upward in the “RES / ACC” direction quickly within 0.6
seconds.
However, a quicker way to reset is to accelerate the vehicle
and then press the control lever downward in the
“SET / COAST” direction.
Resetting to a slower speed
Press the control lever downward in the “SET / COAST”
direction and hold it. Release the lever when the desired speed
is attained. While the lever is held downward, the vehicle
speed will gradually decrease.When the difference between the actual vehicle speed and the
set speed is less than 5 km / h (3 mph), the set speed can be
lowered 1.6 km / h (1 mph) each time by pressing the control
lever downward in the “SET / COAST” direction quickly within
0.6 seconds.
However, a quicker way to reset is to depress the brake pedal
and then press the control lever downward in the
“SET / COAST” direction.
Resuming the preset speed
Press the control lever upward in the “RES / ACC” direction.
The vehicle will resume the speed set prior to cancellation
unless it is caused by the vehicle slowing down to less than 40
km / h (25 mph) or to a speed 16 km / h (10 mph) below the
preset speed.
Cruise control failure warning
If the “CRUISE” indicator light in the instrument cluster flashes
five times and then goes out when using the cruise control, it
means that there is trouble in the cruise control system.
Contact your Lexus dealer.

STARTING AND DRIVING
137
Brake pad wear limit warning light
When your brake pads are worn enough to require
replacement, the brake pad wear limit warning light in the
instrument cluster comes on.
If the warning light comes on while driving, have the brake pads
checked and replaced by your Lexus dealer as soon as
possible. Expensive rotor damage can result if the pads are not
replaced when needed.
TYPES OF TIRES
Make sure what kind of tires your vehicle is originally equipped
with.
1. Summer Tires
Summer tires are high-speed capability tires best suited to
highway driving under dry conditions.
Summer tires are, however, inadequate for driving on
snow-covered or icy roads. For driving on snow-covered or icy
roads, we recommend using snow tires. If installing snow tires,
be sure to replace all four tires.
2. All Season Tires
All Season tires are designed to provide better traction in snow
and to be adequate for driving in most winter conditions, as well
as for use all year round.
All Season tires, however, fall short in acceleration and
handling performance compared with Summer tires in highway
driving. Snow tires have better snow traction than All Season
tires.
CAUTION:
Do not mix Summer and All Season tires on your vehicle
as this can cause dangerous handling characteristics,
resulting in loss of control.