My LS430 in Blue Onyx

Alucard7002 · September 27, 2017

Hello all,

Been looking for ages for a Mystic Gold with beige interior on a Y plate... I know, asking for hen's dentists. In the end thanks to a weekend in Amsterdam with my brother along with EU data rules and eBay for android I bought this instead!

2001 Y plate LS430 in Blue Onyx with the Ecru (beige) interior.

Fixed a few niggles and have a few more to fix too. Nothing untoward and nothing I'm not afraid of tackling, I've rebuilt engines and welded up cars many a time in my years on this planet.

Had to bodge the offside rear ride height sensor as the arm snapped on my drive home after buying it! Fixed now with the proper part.

Need to get my LPG conversion going sharpish as I'm averaging ~12mpg with my commute.

Also need to get used to filling a 90l petrol tank vs 68l LPG tank - price difference is quite drastic for a full tank!

Polished and clearcoated the headlights as they were very yellow and let the car down, then put a HID HB3 kit in the main beams and the fogs (I do a lot of driving on the fens so lighting up the road with daylight is a must!)

The little light lenses next to the foglights are not used on my LS for some reason, perhaps a JDM/US market thing. I am planning on putting some LED 382 bulbs in and use them as DRLs

Also had a play with techstream and a £14.99 cable from eBay. All worked and told me I have two dead O2 sensor heater circuits on the pre-cat sensors. Will need to replace ASAP.

All for now, shall report back once I've found the cause of the slight knock on the nearside front and put new front discs and pads on her.

Cheers

D

The-Acre · September 28, 2017

Welcome on board! Yours is the same colour as my previous LS430, it almost looked black in some lights. Hopefully you'll have long and happy motoring from it. Being able to do your own repairs is a real bonus!

Btw, did you find it easy to remove the headlights?

Alucard7002 · September 28, 2017

Thanks mate,

Headlights were a doddle to remove. get some trim out of the way, two bolts and some carefully directed heaving.

It is a bit nerve wracking getting the lower lip over the edge of the bumper but placing a few old business cars along it as scratch protection works very well.

steve2006 · September 28, 2017

Regarding the front suspension knock I would be checking the LBJ first then the UCA ball joint.

The-Acre · September 28, 2017

1 hour ago, Alucard7002 said:

Thanks mate,

Headlights were a doddle to remove. get some trim out of the way, two bolts and some carefully directed heaving.

It is a bit nerve wracking getting the lower lip over the edge of the bumper but placing a few old business cars along it as scratch protection works very well.

That's good to know because when I changed the HID bulbs on my last one I did it with the lights in place, not easy!

ambermarine · September 28, 2017

Hi Dusan

Looking at those underbody photo's I must say I have never seen corrosion as bad as that on any Lexus.

It looks like it as been driven through seawater,you need to get the wire brush in action and some preventitive coating such as Dinitrol or Waxoyl on that subframe as soon as possible.

Alucard7002 · September 28, 2017

I've got the LS booked in on Sunday with a mate who'll chuck it up on the 4 post MOT ramps with the shaker plates. He'll let me know what needs doing. My guess is all 4 balljoints want replacing and probably the drop links too.

I managed to change the HID bulbs easily enough although I'm a Halfords Monkey by day so bulbs are second nature as are the cuts and grazes to get the things out! (Frenchies are the WORST followed closely by the Germans...)

The car has large amounts of surface corrosion everywhere on the underside but the sills and arches are all ok. It was a Leicester car originally so just far enough north for them to be using road salt by the truckload. One of the many jobs is to have the underside steam cleaned and Dinitrol'd at some point. I'll keep this LS for as long as it needs no major work for MOT (3-4 years is my guess) then try a 460 and see if I like it! If not I'll pay the extra to find a mint low mileage example.

sorcerer · September 28, 2017

Two things my friend:

1. Regarding your idea for daytime running lights - I don't know if this is worth considering in your situation but all I can say is that I've put them on my RX300 and they are excellent

Link to eBay switchback LED flasher/DRL

2. Which UV protector clear coat did you use after polishing up your headlamps? I've got a 3M Headlamp Restoration Kit but don't want to start the job until I can get a decent UV protector.

Alucard7002 · September 28, 2017

My mate has those EXACT same LED kits in his 827 Coupe. Looks the nuts. I had thought about it but it might look odd being next to the fog light and having two indicators one above the other.

I used Chemical Brothers V32-4-6-8 polishes by hand followed by the Meguiars 2 step headlight restoration kit which I bought just for the clear UV resistant lacquer that was step 2. £24 from work with my discount ;-)

sorcerer · September 28, 2017

29 minutes ago, Alucard7002 said:

My mate has those EXACT same LED kits in his 827 Coupe. Looks the nuts. I had thought about it but it might look odd being next to the fog light and having two indicators one above the other.

The idea of these kits though is to replace the indicator bulbs (as long as you have amber bulbs behind clear lenses), not have a second one (or have I misunderstood the layout of your light units? Probably have). I'm not sure if they'll fit in your units but you can see how they fit in my RX300 here:

Quote

I used Chemical Brothers V32-4-6-8 polishes by hand followed by the Meguiars 2 step headlight restoration kit which I bought just for the clear UV resistant lacquer that was step 2. £24 from work with my discount ;-)

Brilliant, thanks for that.

Alucard7002 · September 28, 2017

The light I'm talking about is next to the fog light in the front bumper. I discovered quite by accident one I'd removed the headlights that the foglights have another light lense/reflector assembly next to them on the very outside edge.

Hopefully this helps:

My thought was to place an LED light in the "?????" bit of the fog light cluster and wire it up as a DRL.

I'll see if I can snap a photo of the cluster from the back side tomorrow when I faff with the HIDs in the fogs (I need to fix the ballasts in a different way as one is rattling ever so slightly at fast idle)

sorcerer · September 29, 2017

Aha, right, I see now

I suppose you've got three options and it's just deciding which will look the best.

1. Do as you first thought - DRL in bumper next to fogs, indicator above
2. Replace indicator bulb with the LEDs I've got, which gives DRL in main light cluster
3. Replace indicator bulb with the LEDs I've got, which gives DRL in main light cluster and also put DRL next to fogs so you've got DRLs above and below.

Keep us informed

ambermarine · September 29, 2017

The daylight running lights situated were the fog light cluster is might run foul of the Mot testing station.there is certain criteria on light placements and their function on the vehicle.

I would do some research on this idea before taking it on.

sorcerer · September 29, 2017

I'm not an MOT Inspector so there may be something somewhere that I've missed but looking in the MOT Inspection Manual, the only time I can see DRLs mentioned is below:

Farqui · September 29, 2017

Isn't the issue with the MOT that you would be changing the purpose of the lights e.g. fog lamps (if you took that option).

If a car has a feature like fogs with the lamp and stalk/dash control, then they have to work as intended.

Adding to the indicator is a practical work around if your indicator lenses are clear, which looks like quite a neat solution to me.

ambermarine · September 29, 2017

Additional or optional lights may be a loophole but the proximity of the fog light is a cause for concern , clause" f " . The way to resolve the question is to go to your test station and ask .

sorcerer · September 29, 2017

I think the thing here is that he seems to have found an unused lampholder within the fog light unit. Perhaps a bulb is fitted in there in some parts of the world, possibly even for daytime running lights, but maybe the UK market didn't get them for some reason.

Lee said - Isn't the issue with the MOT that you would be changing the purpose of the lights e.g. fog lamps (if you took that option)

and Phil said - Additional or optional lights may be a loophole but the proximity of the fog light is a cause for concern , clause" f "

Personally, I don't think either will apply because:

a) He isn't changing the purpose of the lights; the fog lights will still be there to be used as fog lights. He's just making use of a 'redundant' lampholder within the unit for a separate purpose.

b) Although the lights would be physically very close to one another, one cannot adversely affect the other because as long as they are wired up correctly, they can never be on together. Daytime running lights must go off when the sidelights are switched on so that no one is dazzled by the bright DRLs when driving in the dark. Fog lights can only be switched on when the sidelights are on, so they can never be on at the same time as the DRLs.

The-Acre · September 29, 2017

I read on this forum recently about the "vacant" lamp holder. I'm not sure what it was but I seem to remember it was used in the American market but not here.

Alucard7002 · October 4, 2017

What John said ^^^^

The only thing one would fall foul of is Destruction and Abuse regs regarding type of additional lighting.

Adding sidelights is fine

Adding additional main beam lights (a la rally cars) is fine.

Adding a DRL is fine

No interference with existing lighting is planned. As long as MOT man turns the front fogs on with a button or dial that has the symbol for front fogs and front fogs come on then all is well.

I was just hoping to fill the redundant space as it irks me that someone went to the trouble of designing and building something for a specific purpose only to not use it.

Here are a few photos of the rear of the light clusters and you'll see why an LED bulb in there wired up to the sidelights would be a neat addition.

You can clearly see the fog light on the left hand side and the distinctly separate reflector assembly to the right with nothing in it!

In other news I finally did the front fog HID conversion - now all my front lighting is either LED or HID all 6000K

Comparison shot (the HID had just been turned on hence the blue tinge, once warm they are pure white with no blue whatsoever)

And yes that is a sneaky 2-tone air horn in red underneath the offside OEM horn. Great for telling off those who dare cut up an LS430.

Next job is LCA bushes on the front as they are the cause of my knocking from the front end. All balljoints have been replaced ~40k ago as were the entire upper wishbones.

Can't blame a car for eating bushes after 144k

Still averaging ~12-15mpg around town so really need to get a move on with my LPG installation.

sorcerer · October 4, 2017

Excellent! And yes, those empty lenses are just crying out to be used

52 minutes ago, Alucard7002 said:

Here are a few photos of the rear of the light clusters and you'll see why an LED bulb in there wired up to the sidelights would be a neat addition

I'm sure that being (in your own words) a 'Halfords Monkey' you already know this, but that line above makes it sound like you're going to wire the DRLs to come on with the sidelights, which you don't want to do - they have to go off when the sidelights come on.

Alucard7002 · October 4, 2017

2 hours ago, sorcerer said:

Excellent! And yes, those empty lenses are just crying out to be used

I'm sure that being (in your own words) a 'Halfords Monkey' you already know this, but that line above makes it sound like you're going to wire the DRLs to come on with the sidelights, which you don't want to do - they have to go off when the sidelights come on.

I was actually just going to wire the additional lights up as sidelights. Nothing in destruction and abuse regs that states you can only have 1 pair of sidelights on the front of a vehicle. Only the distance from the outer edges of the vehicle.

Keep them at ~5W Halogen equivalent light output and nobody will be dazzled or otherwise affected by them.

Now I look at it some more I may just have additional indicators in there. Something anyway as I 'need' to fill those lenses with something!

ambermarine · October 5, 2017

Dusan

Thanks for keeping us all informed on the regs and getting the info from the proper channels this forum is a mine of info when used properly but as to have input from guys like yourself.

stericker · October 5, 2017

Dusan. I have always thought the horn on the LS 400 is pathetic for a large car. Is your air horn legal

and where did you get it ? Is it easy to fit ?

Alucard7002 · October 5, 2017

Phil, this forum has already proved very useful for tech info and the like. I'm a complete "newb" when it comes to Lexus (Lexi?) and/or LS430s

I've been twirling spanners since before I could walk so lots of this stuff is ingrained in my sub conscious these days.

John, the Horn rules are as follows:

Horn means an instrument,not being a bell, gong or siren, capable of giving audible and sufficient warning of the approach or the position of a vehicle to which it is fitted . If vehicle first used after 1.8.73 it shall be continuous and uniform and not strident

I'E no musical horns, clash tone horn is fine. No upper limit on dB though it is possible to fail MOT for a weak horn.

The one I had there is a cheap eBay jobbie I bought for a laugh 4 years ago for my 800 - damn thing is epic and so far has not missed a beat.

Its similar to this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/139db-Blast-Compact-Horns-Truck/dp/B00LMWY1L4/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_263_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=D82GW1Z44PMEY3A5WFNB

Plenty loud enough but if you buy 3 different versions/brands you'll get a lovely clash tone that sound like 3-6 cars all at once laying into the horn. Eldest brother of mine has that in his MX5 - works a charm for reminding the lorries that he is there.

Alucard7002 · November 27, 2017

Another little job done on the beastie. Front discs and pads.

Not a huge range of tools needed.

The old discs were in very poor condition - lots of large rust spots from having stood immobile under previous owner.

This was causing vibration similar to warped discs at certain brake pressures. Very little pedal pressure = Fine, normal steady braking = HORRIBLE, Lean on the pedal = Fine.

The old pads had plenty of meat on them but as a new axle set of Genuine Mintex ones were £25 it would be silly not to. £105 all in for Mintex discs and pads.

So far, so good, done ~500 miles on the new discs and pads now and despite changing nothing else the brakes are so much better! The car never felt under-braked before but now I look back and think "Crikey, was it really that bad before?"

Next job is LCA bushes, lower balljoints and wheel bearings.