Some questions-LS430 2005

[Chris_777]

Hello from Austria!

My name is Christof (42) and I'm living in Austria (middle Europe). There are not a lot of Lexus on the roads, but I love them. Some years ago I had a LS400 (1990) and three years ago I had two GS450h. Last week I bought a 430...
Before starting to talk SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH!
I hope everybody can understand!?

My questions:
-My 05' LS430 was imported from California to Austria in 2015.
One owner, 69.000 miles, but the timing belt is 18 years old...
it will be replaced next week.
I also bought a new radiator, because I heard, in some cases the coolant mixes with the ATF-fluid. I bought it new from a guy who ordered the wrong one. On my car it fits.
BUT: Could it be, that it is made in China? There is "CHINA" written on the Top beside the Toyota part number!? (see picture)

-Should we do this radiator-job after 69000 miles? From outside, the old one looks fine...

-After changing the radiator, should we fill up the ATF? Or isn't there much lost?

-Mark Levinson Problem:
I read a lot of amplifier failures.
BUT: My radio does not give any noise... the switches are also dark when lights on and no switch is working? Fuses are ok.
When I tell the Voice-Control "AUDIO ON", the Radio is working!??? But i can not turn on/off with the button, no searching with the buttons possible, can not change volume.
On the screen I can change treble, bass, etc.
Could that be the amp, when the radio is working and only the head unit does not work?

OK... thank you very much for reading and for some answers.
Have a nice day, best regards

Christof
 

[Lmafudd]

Sorry I can't help Christof but just wanted to say how great your English and grammar is. You should hear my German!

[Scotlex]

I am unable to help either, but your English is great.

Good luck 😀

[Malc1]

Welcome to this forum Christof

I haven't seen any piccy you're referring to ! ........at 18 years young and 69k miles I would be replacing the radiator, assuming it's the correct one ok .....  no point having it just sitting in stock when it's seemingly a relatively simple job to change and you're replacing the original .  but keep the old one tho' ..  just in case !  .  there's 100,000 miles life in the new one ?   even if it is Chinese ..  they've been making excellent products for some 5000+ years on and off 😉

ATF fluid I really don't know BUT isn't it to simply replenish to a correct level ?

and the rest of your Qs there's going to be a few people around to advise

Best wishes

Malc

[Chris_777]

Hello @all! Thank you for answering and thank you for the compliments on my English :-) i do my best 

@Malc1: 

Sorry, i forgot to show the picture...

And you are right! I also trust chinese products. But i am asking, because it was not cheap. So maybe, the seller put a cheap radiator in an original Lexus-box  

The ATF can be filled up easily... Also correct. But i only want to know, because of buying it (...and how much of it). 

Thank you very much again and have a nice evening! 

 

Best regards, Christof 

[BigBoomer]

On 11/21/2023 at 2:46 PM, Chris_777 said:

Hello from Austria!

My name is Christof (42) and I'm living in Austria (middle Europe). There are not a lot of Lexus on the roads, but I love them. Some years ago I had a LS400 (1990) and three years ago I had two GS450h. Last week I bought a 430...
Before starting to talk SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH!
I hope everybody can understand!?

My questions:
-My 05' LS430 was imported from California to Austria in 2015.
One owner, 69.000 miles, but the timing belt is 18 years old...
it will be replaced next week.
I also bought a new radiator, because I heard, in some cases the coolant mixes with the ATF-fluid. I bought it new from a guy who ordered the wrong one. On my car it fits.
BUT: Could it be, that it is made in China? There is "CHINA" written on the Top beside the Toyota part number!? (see picture)

-Should we do this radiator-job after 69000 miles? From outside, the old one looks fine...

-After changing the radiator, should we fill up the ATF? Or isn't there much lost?

-Mark Levinson Problem:
I read a lot of amplifier failures.
BUT: My radio does not give any noise... the switches are also dark when lights on and no switch is working? Fuses are ok.
When I tell the Voice-Control "AUDIO ON", the Radio is working!??? But i can not turn on/off with the button, no searching with the buttons possible, can not change volume.
On the screen I can change treble, bass, etc.
Could that be the amp, when the radio is working and only the head unit does not work?

OK... thank you very much for reading and for some answers.
Have a nice day, best regards

Christof
 

Wilkommen Christof 
Du schreibst viel besser Englisch als wir Deutsch 🤣

For the timing belt some people think it is 90,000 miles/108 Months (9 years) whichever happens last, but it is in fact whichever happens first, so your car should already be on it's third timing belt at 18 years old. We strongly recommend to replace the tensioners and the water pump when replacing the belt. Once done, you can forget about those for the next 9 years.

For the radiator, it is more time sensitive than mileage sensitive, so replace it when you are doing the timing belt. The problem is internal corrosion that allows coolant to get into the ATF.
The ATF cooler section is just a pipe that runs through the coolant in the bottom of the radiator. It's a good idea as it speeds up the warming of the ATF and controls the ATF temperature better, but they didn't make it sufficiently corrosion resistant.
If the engine is cold when you swap the radiator, not much ATF will be lost from the cooler so no need to top it up. You will see how much comes out of the cooler and the hoses when you remove the radiator, so just add that much back if it is more than 20cl. If less than 20cl, then don't worry about it.

On your audio problems, it could be a broken amplifier or a broken radio unit, or a broken connector between them.
If you can turn the radio on and off, I assume that the head unit is working. What happens if you use the radio controls in the rear seat armrest?
Do you get sound from the radio or is it always silent?

[Chris_777]

32 minutes ago, BigBoomer said:

Wilkommen Christof 
Du schreibst viel besser Englisch als wir Deutsch 🤣

For the timing belt some people think it is 90,000 miles/108 Months (9 years) whichever happens last, but it is in fact whichever happens first, so your car should already be on it's third timing belt at 18 years old. We strongly recommend to replace the tensioners and the water pump when replacing the belt. Once done, you can forget about those for the next 9 years.

For the radiator, it is more time sensitive than mileage sensitive, so replace it when you are doing the timing belt. The problem is internal corrosion that allows coolant to get into the ATF.
The ATF cooler section is just a pipe that runs through the coolant in the bottom of the radiator. It's a good idea as it speeds up the warming of the ATF and controls the ATF temperature better, but they didn't make it sufficiently corrosion resistant.
If the engine is cold when you swap the radiator, not much ATF will be lost from the cooler so no need to top it up. You will see how much comes out of the cooler and the hoses when you remove the radiator, so just add that much back if it is more than 20cl. If less than 20cl, then don't worry about it.

On your audio problems, it could be a broken amplifier or a broken radio unit, or a broken connector between them.
If you can turn the radio on and off, I assume that the head unit is working. What happens if you use the radio controls in the rear seat armrest?
Do you get sound from the radio or is it always silent?

Hello BigBoomer!

Thank you very much for this long and helpful answer! It helps me a lot! 

Today my car goes to and older Lexus/Toyota mechanic...

He also changes all parts (waterpump, tensioner, all screws,...)

I hope, everything will goes fine...

 

Radio:

I can only switch it on/off with the Voice-Control. Nothing happens, when i push any button on the head-unit.

The screen shows the Equalizer and i can change the settings on the screen... but nothing on my head-unit. 

I have not the President... so only heated seats in the back 

 

 

Thank you very much, have a nice day!

Christof 

[BigBoomer]

You also have some Volume buttons on the steering wheel, behind on the left side. I assume that those don't work either?
You didn't answer if you can get any sound from the radio or not.
You may need to remove the head unit from the car to check all the connections. It may be that someone has modified the wiring.
It is easy enough to do with several videos online showing how to take the radio out.

 

[Chris_777]

3 hours ago, BigBoomer said:

You also have some Volume buttons on the steering wheel, behind on the left side. I assume that those don't work either?
You didn't answer if you can get any sound from the radio or not.
You may need to remove the head unit from the car to check all the connections. It may be that someone has modified the wiring.
It is easy enough to do with several videos online showing how to take the radio out.

 

Hello BigBoomer!

Sorry... yes, i have sound. The buttons on steering wheel are also not working.

Only Voice-Control is working. 

 

Best regards, Christof 

[BigBoomer]

If you have sound (as in music/talking on the radio) then the amp is working fine.
It does sound like something is disconnected behind the radio unit.
Have you removed it to inspect the wiring back there?
It's not difficult to remove.

[Chris_777]

10 hours ago, BigBoomer said:

If you have sound (as in music/talking on the radio) then the amp is working fine.
It does sound like something is disconnected behind the radio unit.
Have you removed it to inspect the wiring back there?
It's not difficult to remove.

Hello again!

Thank you very much! THIS is really helpful and not only a theoretical supposition. 

But i can check this -maybe- next weekend. This time the car is in the Service station to get the timing belt, waterpump, radiator replaced...

I'll tell you if i know more.

 

Have a nice evening! Best regards, Christof 

[Chris_777]

Hello and sorry for the late answer! 

 

I did not any work on my car. Too cold, i hate the winter, etc.

 

BUT: Now my Radio is working.

The preowner was so nice and ordered a other head-unit in the U.S.

It came to Austria last wednesday. Yesterday i did this work and changed it.

 

Everything is fine now! 

 

Thank you, best regards

 

Christof 

 

[Malc1]

On 11/27/2023 at 7:39 PM, Chris_777 said:

This time the car is in the Service station to get the timing belt, waterpump, radiator replaced...

I'll tell you if i know more.

Chris hi .......  did all this work get done ok ?

Malc

[Chris_777]

32 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

Chris hi .......  did all this work get done ok ?

Malc

Hello Malc! 

Thank you for answering and asking! 

Everything is fine! The guy did a good job and inbetween i enjoyed some trips in my LS. 

Since yesterday, with Radio! 😅

 

Best regards, Christof 

[Chris Skelton]

Set right thought the sound system in the LS400 was the best he’d heard.

As a music/hifi fan,it’s a large part of my liking the cars.