A sign of impending doom?.

thatfatbloke · December 14, 2016

Wafting along today at about 60 m.p.h.,when the E.M.L. put in an appearance. Never seen it before. Car still drove normally,so carried on and when I stopped and restarted it was gone - for about five seconds and came on again. Stopped again later on and it hasn't appeared in the past ten miles or so. Probably coincidence,but on the last restart the rev counter and speedo didn't start working 'til about 30 m.p.h. Diagnostics,or don't worry about it?. Ta.

steve2006 · December 14, 2016

Should be stored code(s) so if you have a code reader worth hooking it up perhaps.

How old is the Battery?

doog442 · December 14, 2016

Yep code readers are pretty cheap nowadays ..think mine was £15...and do the job. Worth buying one to see if any fault codes are stored.

Scribe · December 15, 2016

Re Steve's reply: when my Battery was on the way out, the electrics went haywire even though the car started okay. So it's worth checking that first. I'm trying to use the car every week at this time of year, just to keep the Battery charged up.

MLW · December 15, 2016

My Toyota Prius was like that. These modern cars often need a very good solid positive 12 volts. If it wavers in any way because the Battery is a 'tad iffy' all sort of things play up. Check the Battery first and if that REALLY is tickety-boo, go on to the other fault codes.

Oldboy · December 16, 2016

Please can you share make and model of fault reader...it's going to go on my Christmas list :-)

sorcerer · December 16, 2016

I doubt that the Battery has anything to do with the problem (although there's no harm in checking it) for the simple reason that the Battery is only used to start the car. Once the engine is running, the alternator supplies all electrical systems and charges the Battery with any power it has left available. Because your symptoms appeared with the engine running I doubt the Battery is at fault.

I'd be checking the tightness of the engine earth strap. In fact, undo the bolts, clean the connections and make sure they're tight when you replace them - and that goes for the Battery connections too.

sorcerer · December 16, 2016

1 hour ago, Oldboy said:

Please can you share make and model of fault reader...it's going to go on my Christmas list :-)

This is the one I've got but there are lots available out there

Tulpen · December 16, 2016

Scribe said: I'm trying to use the car every week at this time of the year.

I know we all have different life circumstances, but I can't help thinking 'Why own a wonderful car like a Lexus, if you aren't going to use it all the time?' In my 19 years of LS ownership, they have always been my ' every day' transport.

I can understand if you have a specialised work vehicle or live on top of Ben Nevis :) But for everything else.......it has to be the LS.

JIM PIKE · December 16, 2016

I'ii second that Tulpen,

I am only 3 years into ownership, but I use it every day even if only to get my morning paper ?

I have a work vehicle which is also getting on to be a classic which is also fun to drive, but the LS just seems to "FIT" whatever your mood it performs to suit, never fails to put a smile on my face

Long live the LS.

Spacewagon52 · December 18, 2016

Trying to keep it as "young" as possible is my excuse for limiting the mileage, but also it helps you forget how good it is when you get back in! I do use it for longer journeys but I am a bit paranoid where I park it. I do agree with the above comments but I find it hard. If I could guarantee being able to get another one in such condition, I would not hesitate. I know this is not logical....... but.........

sorcerer · December 18, 2016

2 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

Trying to keep it as "young" as possible is my excuse for limiting the mileage, but also it helps you forget how good it is when you get back in! I do use it for longer journeys but I am a bit paranoid where I park it. I do agree with the above comments but I find it hard. If I could guarantee being able to get another one in such condition, I would not hesitate. I know this is not logical....... but.........

Not wishing to be rude but, to my way of thinking, not only is it "not logical" but it's also irrational. Ok, I understand that you love the car, but surely the whole point of owning a car that you love is to use it! Back in the '60s my uncle got a brand-new Hillman Minx and he also loved his car. He kept the factory-fitted plastic protection on the seats and washed, polished and cleaned the car every week but hardly ever used it. Two years after buying it he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly and the new owner got all the pleasure out of the car that my uncle never did.

I sometimes wonder if my uncle is ever looking down and thinking that he should have used and enjoyed his car more than he actually did.

Spacewagon52 · December 18, 2016

1 hour ago, sorcerer said:

I sometimes wonder if my uncle is ever looking down and thinking that he should have used and enjoyed his car more than he actually did.

That is also my worry!

sorcerer · December 18, 2016

35 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

That is also my worry!

Then stop worrying and get on with it! Life is not a rehersal - you're not looking after the car in this life so that you can drive it in the next. Get out there and enjoy it or sell it to someone who will

It's like the folks who win the lottery and then say it won't change their lives - why even do the lottery if you don't want your life to change? All they've managed to do is to rob someone else of the chance to change their lives.

Verbout · December 18, 2016

2 hours ago, sorcerer said:

Then stop worrying and get on with it! Life is not a rehersal - you're not looking after the car in this life so that you can drive it in the next. Get out there and enjoy it or sell it to someone who will

It's like the folks who win the lottery and then say it won't change their lives - why even do the lottery if you don't want your life to change? All they've managed to do is to rob someone else of the chance to change their lives.

Rock on my friend

Mine is a car, it sometimes gets cleaned, it has dirty footed rugrats climbing all over the seats wiping bogies on the door cards and does the run to the tip with all sorts of rubbish.

Its not a memorial.

Spacewagon52 · December 18, 2016

You cut me deep Shrek! You cut me deep!

thatfatbloke · December 22, 2016

Something I neglected to mention in the original post. At about the same time as the EML came on, the remote central locking fob started messing about in that 9 times out of ten it won't unlock the car and I have to go to the enormous trouble of using the key in the door lock. The locking function seems to be unaffected and always works .I took the fob to the guy that always makes me new/replacement keys and he tested it on a rig where it worked fine. The car was parked outside his shop and it locked and unlocked as he was testing it,but as soon as I went to get back in the car it wouldn't unlock again!. Getting a new fob Battery today,(a CR2016) but doubtful that it will make a difference.

sorcerer · December 22, 2016

Back in 1974 I started a four-year apprenticeship to become an electrician at Courtaulds factory here in Preston.

Don't ask me why, but management decided it would be a good idea for apprentice electricians to spend four weeks in the garage with the auto electrician, working on the trucks and cars. One day, one of the skip trucks came in and the driver said, "Watch this".

Every time he pressed the footbrake the windscreen wipers came on!

It turned out to be a faulty earth connection. They can produce all sorts of weird and wonderful effects, so my money is still on that being your problem somewhere.