What did you do to your Lexus today.

[The-Acre]

26 minutes ago, Razor61 said:

I used a piece of 2x1 today but I’ll replace them

I used a length of 2 x 1 today, I will replace them though cos I’ll always be tinkering doing something even if it’s just cleaning. Oil and filter change every 3k miles as well, oil is cheaper than a new engine as they say!

If you don't use a broomstick or similar be very careful.  My LS400 bonnet came down on my head and it's heavy!

[RgrWynne]

18 hours ago, The-Acre said:

If you don't use a broomstick or similar be very careful.  My LS400 bonnet came down on my head and it's heavy!

Now that explains everything Phil 😂😂😂😂

[The-Acre]

2 minutes ago, RgrWynne said:

Now that explains everything Phil 😂😂😂😂

I don't know what you mean sir!

[RgrWynne]

A bang on the head 🙄🙄👍

[The-Acre]

56 minutes ago, RgrWynne said:

A bang on the head 🙄🙄👍

Well maybe, just maybe, it knocked some sense into me, but I've had three LS430's since then so maybe not!

[RgrWynne]

Good answer 😂😂

[runsgrateasanut]

My theory is that if you lift the bonnet or boot slowly and don't force it up or down quickly, the struts will last forever.  My 93 still working fine but can't say if they are original

[Malc]

just thinking that if it was relevant, you might get SGS to just re-gas your existing

but it probably isn't worth the inconvenience

Malc

[ambermarine]

I bought two strutts year  and half ago off a chinese site and they came within three weeks  quick fit and still working great £25.

[BigBoomer]

She's in the garage getting new front disks and pads, new track-rod gaiters and a service. Not cheap at £800 but that's what you get with old luxury cars.

[Bluesman]

I took her down a lane where they had just walked 200 cows down for milking and she now looks as though I have been rallying. I have hidden her until I can get her nicely washed. She hates looking as though shes been dragged through a hedge backwards.

[OldTrout]

Nothing, but somebody else scraped the rear bumper. Presumably all four corner having been scraped we now have to have the flatter bits damaged. Always happens when parked and we take trouble not to park where we might get scraped.

John

[Shahpor]

8 minutes ago, OldTrout said:

Nothing, but somebody else scraped the rear bumper. Presumably all four corner having been scraped we now have to have the flatter bits damaged. Always happens when parked and we take trouble not to park where we might get scraped.

John

Sorry to hear that John.

Someone managed to scrape the front bumper of mine a while back.  All I can tell you is that the car was red

Attempting to get it fixed in a couple of weeks with the local Chips Away guy coming to work.  Fingers crossed he does a good job, although I am curious about how he fixes paintwork since he has never seen the car?

[BMCWP]

Replaced all four brake disks and new pads - not bad since the disks have been on there from it left the factory 🙂 Also quick service (all fluids and filters)  all nice and ready now for another winter as my daily driver except that drivers seat cushion - still can't get anyone to look at it let alone refoam it so I'm using one of those "eggshell" cushions bought off amazon not perfect but better than nothing. 

[BigBoomer]

12 hours ago, BMCWP said:

Replaced all four brake disks and new pads - not bad since the disks have been on there from it left the factory 🙂 Also quick service (all fluids and filters)  all nice and ready now for another winter as my daily driver except that drivers seat cushion - still can't get anyone to look at it let alone refoam it so I'm using one of those "eggshell" cushions bought off amazon not perfect but better than nothing. 

Hi Brian, Do you have a link for these cushions?

Mine is OK but the bolsters at the sides of the bottom foam make it less comfy than my S-class.

[Vlady]

I had one of these cushions, didn't like it and thrown it away. 1st of all the car started giving me an electric shock after every journey and 2nd of all heated seats did not work as good, especially I find the GS seat being one of the worst heated seats I ever experienced! Add cushion to it and you need to wait a long time to feel the heat at your bottom!

I asked Lexus Glasgow about the problem above (heated seats and uneven seat base foam wear), they checked it and said all is fine! 

But gave me a quote of £400 if I want to change the seat foam with them.

[BMCWP]

On 10/20/2019 at 1:28 AM, BigBoomer said:

Hi Brian, Do you have a link for these cushions?

Mine is OK but the bolsters at the sides of the bottom foam make it less comfy than my S-class.

If you go to amazon and search for 

Rocboc Coccyx Cushion Gel Seat Cushion Non-Slip Gel Cushion Relieves Sciatica and Coccyx Pain

That will get you to the one I have - yes the heated/cooled seat function won't work as well but you are not supposed to use heated seats with these anyway (it says so in the instructions) but as I rarely used mine its no biggy and its used for long runs (over 20 minutes) its not perfect but better than any of the others I tried. 

 

 

[Razor61]

On 10/13/2019 at 8:18 AM, The-Acre said:

The thing about doing your own work is that you get to see for yourself how well built they are.  Keep us posted on how your dad reacts, that'll be interesting!

Well, my Dad was very impressed with how smooth and quiet the LS400 is. He had a good drive in it, loved the drive and the build quality. At the moment my Dad drives a 2005 C230K saloon which has seen better days to be honest, I drove it to Liverpool and back last weekend (100 mile round trip), it's difficult/not fair to compare but I'd rather drive the LS400 any day and don't care if it uses more fuel.

Regarding the LS400, it was at the main dealers on Saturday morning for a 'health/safety' check and the result is below. After the check I sat down with the service manager and went through everything they found, they love getting a LS400 in and we spent some time discussing all about them. The service manager has worked for Toyota/Lexus for a long long time and is very passionate and knowledgeable about the LS400. All the people were great and nothing was too much trouble.

The results:

Underneath is very good (after the work I did removing rust and treating etc), timing belt needs replacing as it's 10 years since the last one (according to an old receipt) and maybe a thermostat plus water pump depending on what they find doing the belt, front strut bushes are split, missing front brake backing plate (I didn't notice this but I was concentrating on other things), front brake discs and pads needed (I knew this and have these ready to fit), brake fluid needs replacing, needs an alignment, rear discs are good but pads need replacing really. I'll be fitting poly front strut bushes @ £38 for the pair and see how it goes, if they turn out to affect the ride etc too much I'll have to bite the bullet and pay for 2 x new arms but for £38 it's worth a go I think. I've read that the Toyota Century front strut bushes ( part# 48674-40051 ) fit the LS400 but I don't know if that is correct. If I could get them from Lexus UK at a reasonable price then I may try them so will need to give them a call. Oil level slightly low so they topped it up.

The car is going into Lexus Bolton in a few weeks for them to do the following:

Timing belt plus thermostat and water pump if needed, new front brake backing plate (there is a way to do this without removing the bearing etc apparently), new rear pads while they are at it, full alignment and brake fluid replacement. Before it goes in I'll be doing the front discs/pads, drop links front and rear, anti roll bar bushes front and rear, front strut bushes (drop links and anti roll bar bushes will be done if they arrive in time). I will be doing the capacitors in the ECU soon as well.

Sorry this isn't exactly 'what I've done today' but more like what I will be doing or having done.......

[ambermarine]

I replaced the brake fluid on mine a couple of weeks ago and to be honest the fluid was pretty clean and so were the nipples which loked like the rubber boot had never been off .

A retired garage owner friend helped me with the pedal pushing and was amazed the condition of the fluid after twenty years.

I cannot say it as been in that long but it as never had a Lexus service for that long so it could have been.I did find the brakes a tad more keen after the job and there was some air in the system when we did the expulsion of old fluid.

The fluid changes on the Lexus service schedule are aimed at worst case scenario of wear and tear of moving parts and of course time, but I change my oil every two years because I do less than 4k a year and the car as done 43k so I won't be changing the transmission fluid as it is as pink as a baby's bum and smells like new.

[Malc]

1 hour ago, Razor61 said:

Timing belt plus thermostat and water pump if needed,

the waterpump I think you should change, even if it looks and performs ok. It will be in there for at least another 10 years / 100k miles and should it fail in the meantime it's a hell'of'a job to just change that alone ....................  not a high value for the waterpump and resultannt coolant so, I would suggest it be done

Malc

[Razor61]

3 hours ago, Malc said:

the waterpump I think you should change, even if it looks and performs ok. It will be in there for at least another 10 years / 100k miles and should it fail in the meantime it's a hell'of'a job to just change that alone ....................  not a high value for the waterpump and resultannt coolant so, I would suggest it be done

Thanks Malc, I will get it done and the thermostat. I’m not saying the thermostat is knackered but worth doing at the same time.

I did actually do something today because I got home early, jacked the front of the car up, put it on axle stands, took the front wheels off, removed the calipers and pads etc ( they are meaty ‘proper’ callipers indeed!! ), cable tied them to the springs, removed the discs after drilling out the retaining screws, wire brushed and rust treated the disc back plate ( the one that is still on the car ) and that was it, it went dark and started raining. The retaining screws were a pozi head and were not coming out with a screwdriver bit at all! First bit of ‘not so good’ engineering but maybe the OEM original retaining screws were torx and the ones fitted were not the proper ones. I’ll find out when I buy new ones. Tomorrow when I get home it will be cleaning all the brake parts, spraying the back plate with a few coats of paint and then fit the new discs and pads over the weekend and probably remove the strut arms, press out the old bushes and in with the new poly bushes then refit. All weather permitting of course. After having a new car and not doing any mechanical stuff, I’m quite enjoying it to be honest. I’m in IT and it’s a nice change to do car mechanical stuff again and enjoy doing it.

[Razor61]

5 hours ago, ambermarine said:

I replaced the brake fluid on mine a couple of weeks ago and to be honest the fluid was pretty clean and so were the nipples which loked like the rubber boot had never been off .

A retired garage owner friend helped me with the pedal pushing and was amazed the condition of the fluid after twenty years.

I cannot say it as been in that long but it as never had a Lexus service for that long so it could have been.I did find the brakes a tad more keen after the job and there was some air in the system when we did the expulsion of old fluid.

The fluid changes on the Lexus service schedule are aimed at worst case scenario of wear and tear of moving parts and of course time, but I change my oil every two years because I do less than 4k a year and the car as done 43k so I won't be changing the transmission fluid as it is as pink as a baby's bum and smells like new.

Lexus said the brake fluid failed the ‘brake fluid test’ and I intended to change it anyway as the brakes didn’t feel right but still stopped ok. I did suspect the the master cylinder as pumping the brake pedal didn’t ‘harden’ it as I expected when there is air and/or water in the fluid and the pedal still went down but will see when the fluid is changed if it improves.

[B4NDIT]

Changed the cam belt kit and water pump

[Vlady]

Dropped my Lexus off at Lexus Glasgow with 4-off new tyres to be fitted and wheel alignment to be done.

Also asked them to check rear pads, I bought these from them couple months ago and noticed that they a bit smaller then the old ones as rust is appearing at the edge of the brake discs which tells me that the pads they sold to me are not correct ones and probably for GS250/300h!

I received a report today on complimentary health report and everything came up green, I am glad! Even rear pads are green! I just hope they will call me to discuss this issue! Will see!

[Vlady]

14 minutes ago, Vlady said:

Dropped my Lexus off at Lexus Glasgow with 4-off new tyres to be fitted and wheel alignment to be done.

Also asked them to check rear pads, I bought these from them couple months ago and noticed that they a bit smaller then the old ones as rust is appearing at the edge of the brake discs which tells me that the pads they sold to me are not correct ones and probably for GS250/300h!

I received a report today on complimentary health report and everything came up green, I am glad! Even rear pads are green! I just hope they will call me to discuss this issue! Will see!

Well, just had a text from Lexus Glasgow that my car is ready to be picked up and not a single word about pads, so I called them and they confirmed that the pads are correct. Anyway, I think this is me being stupid and I should remember it - the pads have a chamfer at outer edge and the thinner pad gets the bigger area is covered!

Wheel Alignment was quite off and had to be done, I felt that for a last month or so, the car just wasn't stable at motorway speeds and felt like a boat moving within a line and always required an input from steering wheel. I hope I will feel the difference!

I miss the car already and will pick it up on Friday as I am working away for a few days.

Thanks to Lexus Glasgow, the car was booked for the job above for this Friday but they agreed to take it earlier and keep it for a few days while I am away and look, they have done it all today! Well done!

I think the overall price is about £118.

Vladimir