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REPAIRED FOR £7 !!! Hi all, I have finally repaired my transmission oil pump on my GS450h !!! After many months of 'trying to find time' to repair it, I finally got the car on a ramp today. Firstly drained the ATF fluid from the gearbox (approx. 4.5 litres came out). I them removed the exhaust bracket mounted on the gearbox (4 bolts). Then I unbolted the oil pump (4 bolts) from the gearbox and unclipped all the connectors from the oil pump controller and wiring mounts from the chassis and fed the cables back from the engine compartment to the gearbox area. I then checked out continuity of the wiring from the connectors to the pump. All were fine. Next I removed the pump housing from the motor and inspected the shaft by trying to spin the shaft on the output of the motor. It was seized. I tried moving it with some mole grips and the shaft moved, but grated. I then took the pump assembly apart to look for brushes (had to drill out 3x M5 screws as they were seized on), only to find that it is a brushless motor with 3 coils, like a stepper motor. I checked out the front shaft bearing and found that it was worn, causing the shaft magnets to grate against the motor coil assembly. Bingo.!!!!! Fault found!!!! I then visited my local bearing specialist and, hey presto, he had the correct bearing in stock! I also purchased the rear bearing too, just as a matter of course, totalling £14 in parts. They are only little 22mm bearings, and are common parts. Then I started to reassemble the motor with the new bearings. I had to drill out the 3 M5 screws completely and re-tap the threads to M6 and fit 3x new M6 screws in place. I then reversed the removal procedure and then filled the gearbox with ATF. I started the car. The same Hybrid fault came up. So I plugged in my code reader and cleared the P2797 code, and HET PRESTO. NEXT TIME IT WAS STARTED, THE CAR RAN PERFECTLY. I now had full Hybrid functionality and a fully wrking car. I am ecstatic. and extremely pleased with myself. Considering Lexus say the only remedy is a new oil pump at the cost of £3240. I have fixed it for £7. All in all, it took me 5 hours to repair (not including finding a bearing supplier). Lets hope this is good news for all of us GS450h and LS600 owners (same pump on both cars). Regards, Giles.

You can prise my LS400 Mk4 keys from my cold dead hands, in fact, you can bury me in it

Go to dealers and ask for an inspection for £70. When i took mine in they spent 4 hours on it. They then gave me a tour of all the issues that needed doing. Forget the independent garages dealers know exactly what they are doing and gave expert advice. Strongly recommend

One thing that strikes me, low mileage doesn't necessarily mean low use of the ignition switch, in fact, the opposite is more likely if you think about it.

I Had been viewing a few cars on e bay being sold by Lexus chap over a couple of months, he writes a very impressive advert on e bay he comes across as a real Lexus enthusiast, like he is so passionate about Lexus he almost does this in his spare time as a hobby, I called him enquiring about a 430 he told me the car was sold but had another one just as good, he mentioned part x in his advert so started to tell him about my 1996 low mileage very clean ls 400 fsh and what he would offer me, judging by his passion that comes across in his ads I was almost expecting a very anorachy chat about the 400 lol, he instead switched straight into full car dealer mode spoke over me constantly and basically dismissed it as a pile of old junk that was worth no more than a couple of hundred quid. At that point I saw through him and have never bothered reading any of his ads since, I have no problem with him being a dealer but reading this thread I must admit I am not that surprised, I wonder what name he will crop up with next.

If they are like the ones on the RX and GS you shouldn't need to get behind. You can push them back and pull out by grabbing onto the front of the lens.