LS430 Build Thread

[Haylands]

Well, OK, maybe build thread is a bit steep but there are always things to be done on an old car and I'll update this thread as all those little things (and a few big ones) get sorted out to bring this 430 back to as near mint as is possible.

As some of you will know I had an LS430 about 10 years ago, it was young and mint and I loved it, I sold it because I was having trouble getting in and out of it due to an old serious back injury that left me screwed and wired back together, my mobility was getting worse and I needed a taller vehicle... well to cut a long story short, two new hips and one new knee have brought me back to a much better place so I thought I would have a Lexus again.... Up steps the 460 and I bought one, a cheap one with a few issues... the issues started to multiply when the ECU's started failing and I cut my losses and outed it through the trade... I decided to return to a 430...

We then became a bit busy with our latest life plan so finding a suitable candidate took a back seat, we are sorted now so I have bought a 2004 LS430 facelift in Blue Onyx Pearl with Light Gray leather 123,000 miles, full history, nice clean condition, no dents scapes or rust, near mint interior, drives as it should and has 4 new Pirellies. I love the colour combination and the guy was keen to shift it as he had already got it's replacement so a deal was done at £3,700.... It's only going to get used for maximum 6 months of the year so it will have to get used to it's own company for long periods...!!

Had it just over a week now and sure enough it has a few issues, first is one front parking sensor has failed, that was fixed with a £4.78 generic one ordered from China which will be here sometime in the next few weeks....

Next came the air con, it wasn't working, there was gas in it and the only fault code showing was 28 which I believe is the sun sensor and has little effect on it's working, some more looking and I noticed that the air con compressor clutch is engaged all the time even with it's turned off... This is a common fault with these so a quick text to Paul Frost and a reconditioned one is mine.....

To check it had enough gas in it I took it to KwikCrap to get the gas recharged, I had to show the guy where the low and high pressure valves were but there is not much they can do wrong as it's all handled by a machine and they didn't charge me as it didn't work afterwards, anyway, while I am wandering around the car park and admiring the Lexus from afar (yes, we all do it) I noticed that the tyres seemed a bit small in the arches... a quick check and yes the new Pirelli P7's less than 1,000 miles old are the wrong size...!!! but, worse than that they are only a 91Y load and speed rating... 91 is rated at a load of 615kg, the 430 should have 96 a rating of 710kg so as you can see they are well under, the speed rating at V is 149mph the Lexus should have W rated at 168mph, now I know these tyres would probably be fine but the problem arises with the insurance company, they will try anything to get out of a claim these days and a basic mistake on load and speed rating has LED to numerous refused claims according to an insurance assessor I know.... So four of these have been ordered

Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 245/45 R18 (100Y) It is OK to have a load and speed rating in excess of the specification from Lexus. These are A rated for wet grip B rated for economy and Class 1 noise at a very quiet 69db.

They should arrive next week and will be fitted after the original wheels have been refurbished, they are starting to look tatty... Hopefully I can offset some of the £450 they cost with selling the P7's on eBay....

Talking of wheels I bought this off eBay for £35

I am not a lover of wood and leather steering wheels and will be having it made slightly thicker and recovered totally in grained leather with matching stitching, although that won't be getting done till May as the guy is on holiday...

Today I had time to get it up on a ramp and was expecting to see a degraded bush on the front lower arm as the Lexus does thud over potholes, what I did find made me laugh, someone has tried to deceive an MOT tester and has filled in the split bush with Tiger Seal or some other polyurethane sealant...!!!

Another quick call to Paul and two new ones are mine... I'm going to visit Paul tomorrow, although he won't be there, his number 2, Colin will be, I'm picking up the compressor and bushes as well as a few other odds and sods but mainly a spare key, mine only came with one, Paul has some and there is a guy in Leeds who I will pass on the way home who can reprogramme a second hand key to work with the Lexus including the smart key function... If you don't know who Paul Frost is, he owns Europe's biggest LS430 breakers, he also sells reconditioned parts as well...  

PAUL FROST

Autotek Lexus Spares Direct

Cottonhall Street

Darwen

Lancashire

BB3 0DW

07590 072646

Going to see if he has a spare expansion bottle cap as mine fell in two when I took it off...!!!

There are always a few bits and bobs to be sorted on a new car, I do enjoy getting them to where I want... more to follow....

 

[Connor2x4]

Lovely thread will be nice to see more updates. Would recommend maybe using more paragraphs/punctuation though, some parts seem like a wall of text. and also put in the build thread section?

 

Good luck!

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[Haylands]

If you read it on a laptop or computer there are numerous paragraphs and no "wall of text" I can't help if you read it on a phone, formatting doesn't work across all formats on this Forum...

[ChrisM]

What a shame to cover a lovely wooden steering wheel.

I had similar on mv DHP and loved its look and feel. It was one of the reasons I bought my RX450H, as it is fitted with a wooden steering wheel.

Still horses for courses as they say 

[Malc]

I would find it all a bit disconcerting tbh.   123k miles is tiny really and especially with full history BUT new wrong tyres and sealant crap put somewhere to deceive a MOT Tester ......  sounds a bit odd to me ...  and the expansion bottle cap falling to pieces too  .......................  

Just a bit odd ..........  

Malc

[Farqui]

Looks like a very nice car you've acquired there Peter, well done 

Tigerseal on the bush tho, really?!  Well spotted.

Good to see that you're on top of the jobs but keep your eyes peeled for any other odd fixes.

[Haylands]

8 hours ago, ChrisM said:

What a shame to cover a lovely wooden steering wheel.

I had similar on mv DHP and loved its look and feel. It was one of the reasons I bought my RX450H, as it is fitted with a wooden steering wheel.

Still horses for courses as they say 

Never have liked wood, got rid of the wood wheel in my old Merc CL500 and covered all the real wood with fake stick on carbon fibre..... I got told off a lot on the Merc forums for that... I might do the same to the Lexus wood......!!!

8 hours ago, Malc said:

I would find it all a bit disconcerting tbh.   123k miles is tiny really and especially with full history BUT new wrong tyres and sealant crap put somewhere to deceive a MOT Tester ......  sounds a bit odd to me ...  and the expansion bottle cap falling to pieces too  .......................  

Just a bit odd ..........  

Malc

Malc, these type of things tend to happen when expensive cars get old and cheap... I think i have caught this one before too much harm has been done, it had a good check over yesterday and the bushes were the only sign of someone tinkering underneath, at least it still has all the underbody covers..

 

8 hours ago, Farqui said:

Looks like a very nice car you've acquired there Peter, well done 

Tigerseal on the bush tho, really?!  Well spotted.

Good to see that you're on top of the jobs but keep your eyes peeled for any other odd fixes.

It will sit on a ramp for a few days next week whilst the wheels are refurbished so I will be checking everything else then..

 

[Haylands]

Just done the first "repair." The original sat nav surround had succumbed to some abuse and had numerous scratches on it, I have seen a lot like this although I'm not to sure how it was done, you couldn't do it with rings so maybe it was sharp fingernails... anyway it looked horrible and had to go.

A trip to the local Lexus dealer revealed that this part is only £565.20 incl VAT................... a second hand one was sought... 

I got a mint one from the breakers for £35 and set about taking the dash apart..

If you want to do this or something similar it is very easy to take the entire dash out with just a few tools, the most important of which is a set of these...

  

They are just a few pounds a set and are designed not to damage the trim, use a screwdriver and you will damage something sooner or later... The other handy thing to have when working on a dash is a magnetic pickup, these are real cheap to and will stop you dropping bolts and nuts and creating rattles..!!

Before you start, unsure the handbrake is set and press the shift lock button and put the gear lever in it's lowest setting..

With the 430 you start at the bottom, the first panel just prises out, do it at the sides, one at a time, then remove the panel and unplug the wiring harness from it.

When taking all these parts out it is a good idea to use a towel or soft rag to help protect the front of the panel as you turn it over to unplug it, especially the screen unit itself.

Then there are three pozidriv screws holding in the cubby and CD changer cover, this is where the magnet comes in handy...

Don't forget the middle one, it's quite far under..

 

Then use a pry here and the other side to remove the cover from the CD changer and remove, unplugging the harness again.

When this is out the next is the radio and CD changer which is in one unit, it is held in with two 10mm bolts, one each side, then it pulls out, unplug again..

I use a 1/4" drive socket set with a rubber handle to the ratchet, with the best will in the world you will mark something if you use a metal one..!

The main screen is held in with four 8mm bolts which are hidden behind the temp buttons, I have found it best to hook the bottom out first, then the top..

The switches are cranked so pull them out carefully, there is enough lead to not have to unplug them to remove the screws which you will see behind.

Then the screen just pulls out and unplugs and you are left with this big hole... every plug behind there is unique so you can't plug them back in wrong..!

Then take the screen unit to a table, lay it on a towel and remove the four screws that hold the screen to the face, swap with the new one and as the saying goes, reverse the above to replace...

When replacing the bolts through the temp switches you can't reach with your fingers and they will fall out of the socket, use a couple of thicknesses of tissue paper over the head and push them in the socket, it will hold them while you get the threads started and the only thing to fall will be a small piece of tissue... I do have a set of sockets with small magnets in for this but the tissue does work well....

So, put it all back together and that looks much better......

Totally unmarked and as good as new and I saved £530.20 plus some labour...!!!!

I just had to take the old one apart to see how the motorised vents work... very neat, looks like a couple of small electric motors with gears and some sort of spring clutch... 

I also picked up some front bushes and a recently reconditioned air con compressor so that's the next job....

Well I don't want to get bored...!!!

 

 

 

[Malc]

wow.............  the patience of a saint !

Malc

[Farqui]

Well done, very satisfyingly to save a bunch of cash [emoji106]

[ambermarine]

Peter

Well explained procedure and some good advice on tool usage,the problem for most of us when tackling jobs like this is fear of the unknown.

Your pictorial explanation helps to dispel that fear and enables the timid to take on something they would not dream of doing.

Keep it up and I look forward to the next installment (no pun intended).

 

[Cotswold Pete]

Amazing to see the work going on here.  I would love to have the time to smarten up my LS a bit more, but other things keep getting in the way.

My only 'must do' is to repalce the headlight link on rear wheel, now the replacement has arrived from SGS. Should take no more than an hour or so, but the missus wants to go out and about this weekend, because summer seems to have arrived.  Ah well!

 

[cruisermark]

Excellent thread and work! - I have done this but I lack the ability to think outside the box like using a bit of tissue lol! Brilliant

[DaKa]

I appreciate your posts here Peter.

I had to replace my CD player recently and found a couple of good youtube clips to explain the procedure you kindly detail.

Packing your socket with a little grease can also prevent those awkward bolts from falling into the never to be seen again crevices.

 

[floggit]

Lovely car, are you going to lpg this one? Seem to remember you have prior knowledge 

[Chris Skelton]

Wrong tyres! Amazing. At Costco, they refused to fit -Michelins!! - on our Micra because of the rating. Not on a hyper-car, a MICRA!

Good to hear you can now fit in a car easily. Comfort/ease of access vital when you're +50 (ahem....)

My reason for looking at Nissan Cubes! And RX350s-lpg -  on here.

Comfort! (Sez the ex owner of 4 Citroen DSs)

[Haylands]

Thanks guys, the purpose of this is to encourage people to have a go, fixing and sorting cars isn't rocket science, with a few pointers most people can do far more than they think with some cheap and basic tools....

Don't think I will LPG this one, I don't do that many miles these days, I'll only be using it for half the year..

Had a few lights pop up on the dash today...

Funny car the 430.. you would think something is wrong with the VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) or the TRC (Traction Control) but no, this is a CEL (Check Engine Light) fault, an emissions related fault, the car isn't sure if it will affect other features so it turns off the VSC and TRC. A quick plug in and it brings up the code I thought it would P0051 which is a Lambda sensor fault, I code read the vehicle before I bought it and it was showing an historical P0051 so I wasn't surprised to see it back.. The OBD2 (On Board Diagnostic) reader shows it is Bank 2 Sensor 1. Bank 2 is the drivers side (RHD) and sensor 1 is on the exhaust manifold, there are four Lambdas on the 430, two before the cats which do most of the work, they report to the engine ECU and tell it how far away the fuel/air mixture is from the preset map in the ECU, the ECU then uses its ability to trim the map and supply the correct amount of fuel for the conditions. It does this multiple times per second. The other two sensors are after the cats and ensure that they are working correctly. (this is a very basic description..) I cleared the fault as sometimes it can be caused by a spec of dirt on the sensor but it came back after a few miles so I will change it next week...

Tyres will get delivered tomorrow and wheels booked into the refurbishers on Monday.... now do I stick with silver or go something close to anthracite...???

 

[The-Acre]

I had the same on my GS, VSC check due to a duff sensor.  I read much about the dangers of buying non OEM so I bought a Denso one from Rockauto.  A third of dealer price but nearly two weeks to get.  

[Bempa]

Great thread, great sense to details

[Haylands]

9 hours ago, The-Acre said:

I had the same on my GS, VSC check due to a duff sensor.  I read much about the dangers of buying non OEM so I bought a Denso one from Rockauto.  A third of dealer price but nearly two weeks to get.  

I've always bought the cheapest going to be honest, they either work or they don't and if they don't then the CEL light comes on. Can't see how a "cheap" one could   harm the engine, they have a small amount of zirconia and platinum in them, if it's there they work, if it isn't they don't, I know from when I fitted LPG to the last one that they don't actually do much on the 430 as the base map has been so well sorted the STFT (Short Term Fuel Trims) are very close to 0 anyway, it was a pleasure to setup the LPG as the car ran so close to perfect anyway.... I've ordered one online, with the correct plug, not a generic one, for £19.99... we shall see how long it lasts but I bet it will be a long time. I'll check the STFT and the LTFT after a few weeks and compare the two banks with a genuine one and a cheap one and share what I find...

[Chris Skelton]

Graphite wheels? Won't they just look mucky?

Each to his/her own. Still got a set of DS23 hubcaps in loft-when cars HAD hubcaps!

Though I seem to recall the Citroen SM (1970-5) had graphite (the material, not the colour) wheels.

 

(Thinks; WAS it graphite......?)....no, Carbon fibre!

https://jalopnik.com/michelin-made-carbon-fiber-wheels-for-citroen-back-in-1-1543922374

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, Haylands said:

I've always bought the cheapest going to be honest, they either work or they don't and if they don't then the CEL light comes on. Can't see how a "cheap" one could   harm the engine, they have a small amount of zirconia and platinum in them, if it's there they work, if it isn't they don't, I know from when I fitted LPG to the last one that they don't actually do much on the 430 as the base map has been so well sorted the STFT (Short Term Fuel Trims) are very close to 0 anyway, it was a pleasure to setup the LPG as the car ran so close to perfect anyway.... I've ordered one online, with the correct plug, not a generic one, for £19.99... we shall see how long it lasts but I bet it will be a long time. I'll check the STFT and the LTFT after a few weeks and compare the two banks with a genuine one and a cheap one and share what I find...

I'm more than happy to try "cheap" parts if they're easy to get to, I certainly wouldn't buy them for the steering though. I haven't ruled out returning to an LS430 at some stage, even though I said I wouldn't!  I'll see how the GS performs with our trip to Vienna next week.  If all goes well it may be a keeper.

[big_rob_sydney]

21 hours ago, Haylands said:

I've always bought the cheapest going to be honest, they either work or they don't and if they don't then the CEL light comes on. Can't see how a "cheap" one could   harm the engine, they have a small amount of zirconia and platinum in them, if it's there they work, if it isn't they don't, I know from when I fitted LPG to the last one that they don't actually do much on the 430 as the base map has been so well sorted the STFT (Short Term Fuel Trims) are very close to 0 anyway, it was a pleasure to setup the LPG as the car ran so close to perfect anyway.... I've ordered one online, with the correct plug, not a generic one, for £19.99... we shall see how long it lasts but I bet it will be a long time. I'll check the STFT and the LTFT after a few weeks and compare the two banks with a genuine one and a cheap one and share what I find...

Hi Pete,

  I have similar small jobs to do with mine. I've owned this ls for a bit over 4 years now and really love it, but am moving on (another topic for another day).

  I want to refurb my wheels, and also have the same VSC error you describe here. Another poster very kindly pointed me towards this thread.

  If I can ask, would you be able to provide advice on where to get the correct sensor (any part numbers?) and where to refurb the wheels? If you could post up details in this thread, that would be really helpful.

 

Many thanks,

Rob

[Haylands]

Whereabouts in the country are you Rob..??

[GrahamG]

Rob, to refurbish my wheels I asked my local Lexus main agent who they used.