Putting life back into a 'modded' IS250

[DnG]

3 minutes ago, H3XME said:

Tbh, some errors go away after 10min of driving or so. After disconnecting the battery. You can't really drive it now, so it's gonna be hard to tell. 

Engine sounds fine, no rattle. It's a bit loud though. Has it got an aftermarket exhaust? Might just be the video though. They never do it justice

I'll try reading errors again when my insurance comes through, and that's when I'll go to the mechanic (he tends to leave cars on the main road so yeah...)

It doesn't have the back boxes, after I'm sure the car is fine, I'll order a set of valved back boxes. I like exhaust sounds, but not all the time.

Any input on why it steams up like that and if the oil level is alright?

[H3XME]

Just now, DnG said:

It doesn't have the back boxes, after I'm sure the car is fine, I'll order a set of valved back boxes. I like exhaust sounds, but not all the time.

Any input on why it steams up like that and if the oil level is alright?

I see..

There's a leak somewhere. I'm convinced the windshield hasn't been done properly if the moulding around the window is missing. Some cowboy job. 

Oil is a bit tricky, it's in an angle so you should be looking at the drier side of the stick. Get it out, wipe it, put it back in and pull out, then look. It's filthy though.. needs new oil & filter. Wouldn't be a bad idea to run an engine flush through it before you change it.

[DnG]

13 minutes ago, H3XME said:

I see..

There's a leak somewhere. I'm convinced the windshield hasn't been done properly if the moulding around the window is missing. Some cowboy job. 

Oil is a bit tricky, it's in an angle so you should be looking at the drier side of the stick. Get it out, wipe it, put it back in and pull out, then look. It's filthy though.. needs new oil & filter. Wouldn't be a bad idea to run an engine flush through it before you change it.

Yeah, just noticed the old clips from the mouldings were still attached and painted over lol. I was thinking of getting the windscreen resealed before I put the new mouldings on, know anyone around Brum who does it? Quotes online are asking for £100-£250 just to take it out and put it back in.

I will be taking care of the engine and oil but I first need to make sure the car isn't a lemon, considering it has electrical problems error (which for some people went away whey they flushed the brake fluid??) and a weird camshaft position problem.

[H3XME]

4 minutes ago, DnG said:

Yeah, just noticed the old clips from the mouldings were still attached and painted over lol. I was thinking of getting the windscreen resealed before I put the new mouldings on, know anyone around Brum who does it? Quotes online are asking for £100-£250 just to take it out and put it back in.

I will be taking care of the engine and oil but I first need to make sure the car isn't a lemon, considering it has electrical problems error (which for some people went away whey they flushed the brake fluid??) and a weird camshaft position problem.

I'd do it through my insurance.. chip it, claim on insurance and they'll do it for £75 excess or whatever it may be for you. It cost me only £75 in excess and didn't affect my insurance. It's not a "claim" as such.. I mean it depends if you have a windshield cover too.. otherwise I don't know.

It seems like it already is a lemon, but whether it's too far gone is a different matter. I couldn't say. I never had any issues like that with neither of my 3 IS250s and two of them were £1600..the last one was £2800 but yeah, I can't help you with diagnosing them. Linas has more experience fixing issues.

[DnG]

27 minutes ago, H3XME said:

I'd do it through my insurance.. chip it, claim on insurance and they'll do it for £75 excess or whatever it may be for you. It cost me only £75 in excess and didn't affect my insurance. It's not a "claim" as such.. I mean it depends if you have a windshield cover too.. otherwise I don't know.

Not sure if that's covered with Aviva Zero, I'd much rather just eat the cost than risk playing with the insurance, I need that NCD lol.

27 minutes ago, H3XME said:

It seems like it already is a lemon, but whether it's too far gone is a different matter. I couldn't say. I never had any issues like that with neither of my 3 IS250s and two of them were £1600..the last one was £2800 but yeah, I can't help you with diagnosing them. Linas has more experience fixing issues.

Well it did drive for +140 miles so I guess it's not a total lemon, unlike my other piece of sh**t that overheats and pukes after driving for 15 minutes

[H3XME]

2 minutes ago, DnG said:

Not sure if that's covered with Aviva Zero, I'd much rather just eat the cost than risk playing with the insurance, I need that NCD lol.

Well it did drive for +140 miles so I guess it's not an actual lemon, unlike my other piece of sh**t that overheats and pukes after driving for 15 minutes

Yeah for sure. Engine sounds healthy enough. It’s probably something simple and stupid that’s thrown the errors. It’s always a ballache to find the cause though sadly 

[DnG]

16 minutes ago, H3XME said:

Yeah for sure. Engine sounds healthy enough. It’s probably something simple and stupid that’s thrown the errors. It’s always a ballache to find the cause though sadly 

Would you happen to know any Lexus specialist that I could go to in case my mechanic can't figure it out?

[H3XME]

13 minutes ago, DnG said:

Would you happen to know any Lexus specialist that I could go to in case my mechanic can't figure it out?

There aren’t any tbh😅 potentially Soars Performance in Wiltshire. He does IS200s but dabbles in other Toyota/Lexus too

[DnG]

Ok so I spent a few hours trying to line up the bumpers, but they don't line up with the clips... I don't have enough space nor the patience atm to take the entire bumper off. In doing so, I thought I might as well try and fix the washer fluid reservoir but then I came accross some other things.

So first of all, there's a black hole in the bottom of the reservoir and it doesn't hold it water, is that normal? Should I just replace it? Also, the hose going up to the bonnet washers isn't connected and I couldn't find an obvious hole where I can connect it.

Also, there's 2 wire harnesses, one is cut and the other is covered with a white plastic cap..? They're near the right side fog light, connected to the bottom ground bolt. The fog light isn't connected, making me think, due to only having 2 wires, that it's for the fog light, but I'm not sure about the other harness that is capped off.

I'll order a pair of LED bulbs from aliexpress that have a ballast and connect to only 1 connector, the left, which is working, until I manage to go to a breakers yard to grab the connector and fix it.

 

And lastly, I found these 2 bolts, the bigger one in the glovebox and the smaller in the boot, anyone got any ideas where they'd go?:

 

I know I shouldn't have bought it, I shouldn't have went all the way and at night to see a car, I pretty much went by trust. The seller was honest about the big problems and I thought I could trust him, but I'm the fool for trusting people after all this time. Anyways, at the moment my goal is to have it running with no problems so I can go places, then I'll fix the bits and bobs, change the bumpers with actual SE ones and fix the small things, no point dwelling on it now, I've learnet my lesson and I'm accepting it, I'll just send a bit of money and time slowly bringing it back to life (as the title says lol)

[Texas]

That ‘hole’ in the wash reservoir is where a pump should be! Prob the one for the headlight jets? Or if they isn’t another pump then that’s where your pipe for screen wash jets should go! So how the hell did this pass any previous MOT with NO wash pump🙄

[H3XME]

34 minutes ago, DnG said:

Also, there's 2 wire harnesses, one is cut and the other is covered with a white plastic cap..? They're near the right side fog light, connected to the bottom ground bolt. The fog light isn't connected, making me think, due to only having 2 wires, that it's for the fog light, but I'm not sure about the other harness that is capped off.

And lastly, I found these 2 bolts, the bigger one in the glovebox and the smaller in the boot, anyone got any ideas where they'd go?:

 

I know I shouldn't have bought it, I shouldn't have went all the way and at night to see a car, I pretty much went by trust. The seller was honest about the big problems and I thought I could trust him, but I'm the fool for trusting people after all this time. Anyways, at the moment my goal is to have it running with no problems so I can go places, then I'll fix the bits and bobs, change the bumpers with actual SE ones and fix the small things, no point dwelling on it now, I've learnet my lesson and I'm accepting it, I'll just send a bit of money and time slowly bringing it back to life (as the title says lol)

The bigger “bolt” is a brake caliper slider pin. The smaller one I recognise I just can’t remember.

harness by the fog light plug can be for the headlight washer jets. I don’t know about the rest. Seems like someone bodged everything

[DnG]

6 minutes ago, Texas said:

That ‘hole’ in the wash reservoir is where a pump should be! Prob the one for the headlight jets?

Weird, it's an SE, it shouldn't have headlight jets, no?

3 minutes ago, H3XME said:

The bigger “bolt” is a brake caliper slider pin. The smaller one I recognise I just can’t remember.

harness by the fog light plug can be for the headlight washer jets. I don’t know about the . Seems like someone bodged everything

So there's a caliper with no slider pin?

It's a bit odd since the last owner did tell me the car never had parking sensors or headlight washers since it's an SE and that's an SE-L option. I'll slowly restore it, I'm making a list of parts and when I get my insurance first thing is to find breakers that have IS250s.

Also, eventually I might decide to change the front bumper to a 3IS or 4IS, depending on which is cheaper and more available, since the current bumper is glued on...

[H3XME]

1 minute ago, DnG said:

Weird, it's an SE, it shouldn't have headlight jets, no?

So there's a caliper with no slider pin?

It's a bit odd since the last owner did tell me the car never had parking sensors or headlight washers since it's an SE and that's an SE-L option. I'll slowly restore it, I'm making a list of parts and when I get my insurance first thing is to find breakers that have IS250s.

Also, eventually I might decide to change the front bumper to a 3IS or 4IS, depending on which is cheaper and more available, since the current bumper is glued on...

SE doesn’t have them but some cars come “pre-wired” for other stuff

 could just be a replacement pin. Putting them in is simple. Getting them out can be a PITA as they’re normally seized if not greased up regularly. 
 

the car had a front end ding. All the front end abnormalities don’t shock me. And front parking sensors were an option on all trims. You’ll find SELs without them too.. my SE had rear ones

[DnG]

4 minutes ago, H3XME said:

SE doesn’t have them but some cars come “pre-wired” for other stuff

 could just be a replacement pin. Putting them in is simple. Getting them out can be a PITA as they’re normally seized if not greased up regularly.

the car had a front end ding. All the front end abnormalities don’t shock me. And front parking sensors were an option on all trims. You’ll find SELs without them too.. my SE had rear ones

From what the previous owner said, he did recently changed the slider pins, one of them apparently had to be drilled out.

If only there was a vin decoder website that tells you what options the car came with from the factory, like bimmer.work for BMW

16 minutes ago, Texas said:

That ‘hole’ in the wash reservoir is where a pump should be! Prob the one for the headlight jets? Or if they isn’t another pump then that’s where your pipe for screen wash jets should go! So how the hell did this pass any previous MOT with NO wash pump🙄

Question is, how the hell is it going to pass in a month's time lol I need to get this sorted but the reservoir is weird, it also has this gray connector at the front:

I might just wait for my insurance to start and I'll let the mechanic sort it because I've never seen a more complicated washer reservoir, and there's no videos or photos of how to replace it

[DnG]

As an update to my previous reply:

I managed to find a diagram online on a parts catalogue and for some reason the car has a headlight washer reservoire and that hole is indeed where the motor for that is supposed to go. I don't don't know where to plug in the hose for the windscreen washers and what that gray connector is. I will take it out tomorrow and start rebuilding it since I found really cheap parts for it on AliExpress, on eBay they're like £50+ just for 1 part !!! I might even retrofit washers in the future lol.

I also found a set of fog light connectors on AliExpress for £5, to fix that cut wiring.

[DnG]

Update:

So I managed to connect the hose to the washer pump, which was behind the reservoir (thank god since I'd have to take out half the engine just to get to the reservoir bolts) and I ordered a £7 headlight washer pump just so I plug the bottom hole. Also just installed the nozzle neck and cap on the water reservoir, it's slowly starting to come back to life 😄

Also, I tested the cut wired behind the bumper and they are indeed the wires to the fog light connector. I ordered a connector, wires, harness tape and wire joint crimp connectors so I can make a proper connector and harness the wire.

• While also messing with the rear bumper I found the vent covered with tape, could this be the reason it steams up inside the car?

The 2 errors, P0020 and C1201 are still there... I swapped the sensors, cleared errors, took out the Battery for the 30 minutes and started the engine after for like 10 minutes and the errors are still there...

• I also found the air temp sensor (outside temp sensor) dangling behind the bumper, does anyone know where that should mount to?

• And lastly, I keep hearing a whine whenever I accelerate on a cold start, what could that be?

 

 

[H3XME]

1 hour ago, DnG said:

And lastly, I keep hearing a whine whenever I accelerate on a cold start, what could that be?

 

 

It does that when it's cold.. don't rev it cold 😂

Also I find it weird that your CEL is not on when your TC is.. TC light comes on with CEL.. maybe it's been taped over / hidden.. can you see the CEL before you start the car?

[jeffrosie6]

23 hours ago, DnG said:

Ok so I spent a few hours trying to line up the bumpers, but they don't line up with the clips... I don't have enough space nor the patience atm to take the entire bumper off. In doing so, I thought I might as well try and fix the washer fluid reservoir but then I came accross some other things.

So first of all, there's a black hole in the bottom of the reservoir and it doesn't hold it water, is that normal? Should I just replace it? Also, the hose going up to the bonnet washers isn't connected and I couldn't find an obvious hole where I can connect it.

Also, there's 2 wire harnesses, one is cut and the other is covered with a white plastic cap..? They're near the right side fog light, connected to the bottom ground bolt. The fog light isn't connected, making me think, due to only having 2 wires, that it's for the fog light, but I'm not sure about the other harness that is capped off.

I'll order a pair of led bulbs from aliexpress that have a ballast and connect to only 1 connector, the left, which is working, until I manage to go to a breakers yard to grab the connector and fix it.

 

And lastly, I found these 2 bolts, the bigger one in the glovebox and the smaller in the boot, anyone got any ideas where they'd go?:

 

I know I shouldn't have bought it, I shouldn't have went all the way and at night to see a car, I pretty much went by trust. The seller was honest about the big problems and I thought I could trust him, but I'm the fool for trusting people after all this time. Anyways, at the moment my goal is to have it running with no problems so I can go places, then I'll fix the bits and bobs, change the bumpers with actual SE ones and fix the small things, no point dwelling on it now, I've learnet my lesson and I'm accepting it, I'll just send a bit of money and time slowly bringing it back to life (as the title says lol)

That bolt is for aftermarket tuner wheel nuts, if you have after market alloys. Do not use tuner wheel nuts with std alloys.

[DnG]

27 minutes ago, jeffrosie6 said:

That bolt is for aftermarket tuner wheel nuts, if you have after market alloys. Do not use tuner wheel nuts with std alloys.

Yeah the car has a set of OZ Racing alloys.

40 minutes ago, H3XME said:

It does that when it's cold.. don't rev it cold 😂

Also I find it weird that your CEL is not on when your TC is.. TC light comes on with CEL.. maybe it's been taped over / hidden.. can you see the CEL before you start the car?

So what do I do at night if I have to go somewhere? I'm supposed to be picking someone up from the airport next week at 3AM and was planning on starting the car and driving off quick, neighbours are gonna hate me, gotta get pair of valved backboxes ASAP 🥲

Also, if by CEL you mean check engine light, then sadly it is always on just can't see it in that last video, only for a split second at the start.

[DnG]

Anyone know what diag tool and cable I need for the Lexus? I've just read somewhere that depending on the tool used, I can see a more detailed error message for C1201

[scudney]

Try techstream 

[DnG]

8 minutes ago, scudney said:

Try techstream 

This any good? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355836861577

[McShmoopy]

1 hour ago, DnG said:

Anyone know what diag tool and cable I need for the Lexus? I've just read somewhere that depending on the tool used, I can see a more detailed error message for C1201

Techstream should do, this is the cable I use for it also works like a charm

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124808047632

[DnG]

Quick question, is it normal to have a 44.5mm exhaust pipe? I'm looking for a set of mufflers but the pipe that's currently on the car is only 44.5mm in diameter which seems really small, and also the car only has a backbox delete and the pipe is fairly rusted looking stock, The smallest diameter muffler I can get is 51mm, is there something I'm missing here..?

[Linas.P]

On 10/3/2024 at 7:16 PM, DnG said:

As an update to my previous reply:

I managed to find a diagram online on a parts catalogue and for some reason the car has a headlight washer reservoire and that hole is indeed where the motor for that is supposed to go. I don't don't know where to plug in the hose for the windscreen washers and what that gray connector is. I will take it out tomorrow and start rebuilding it since I found really cheap parts for it on AliExpress, on ebay they're like £50+ just for 1 part !!! I might even retrofit washers in the future lol.

I also found a set of fog light connectors on AliExpress for £5, to fix that cut wiring.

Well - that is simple to explain. He smashed the SE, but the breaker car where ever he got the spares was SE-L... So you have all SE-L bits. We already know about the bumper with washers... that doesn't belong on the car. So I am not too surprised to also see SE_L washer bottle with the hole for headlight washers... That said it is so stupid that they bodged it like that, if they just removed the pump, then yes it sit's kind of half way down and it will leak washer fluid.

3 hours ago, DnG said:

This any good? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355836861577

That is similar to what I use... so yeah - should work. I also paid something similar £35 maybe. There will be some challenges with set-up as there are some challenges with drivers on W10, but I got it working without problems. Also you will need CD/DVD reader that reads mini-disk... nowadays that is not so common... 

Then you can "rent" official Techsterm from Lexus, or just use one supplied... the one supplied is usually little bit out of date, but it isa moot point for 2007 cars (it is usually something like 2018 version).

1 hour ago, DnG said:

Quick question, is it normal to have a 44.5mm exhaust pipe? I'm looking for a set of mufflers but the pipe that's currently on the car is only 44.5mm in diameter which seems really small, and also the car only has a backbox delete and the pipe is fairly rusted looking stock, The smallest diameter muffler I can get is 51mm, is there something I'm missing here..?

It should be 2", but rear section is weirdly bent (even factory bends are quite horrible and crushed... haven't they heard about mandrel machine?!), so depends where you are measuring it could be more or less ~2". Aftermarket stuff can be literally anything... if you measure 44.5mm then it is 44.5mm. 51mm would be exactly 2" (50.8mm)...