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So i have a few small updates i have the reveltronics fuel pressure sensor wired into the AEM ecu, wasnt too hard just had to pic some available input/output/ground. Had to extend the loom slightly to reach into the glove box so nothing major, the tricky bit was getting it setup on the AEM. After having a good look around the tabs and just generally having a play i figured out how to assign the pin to the fuel pressure and voltage channels. 20210205_123254.mp4 I also had another diagnostic tool turn up, its an intake system pressure tester so pretty self explanatory. Very good tool for getting the engine ready for a dyno and ironing out little issues that could potentially stop the tuner doing his job or tuning an engine with an underlying issue. And low and behold i found 2 issues, 1 was from a silicone hose fitting on the intercooler pipework which just needed clamp cranking down and another leak from the throttle gasket. I took the pressure up to 30psi, i probably wont be running as much as that (yet) so i know its atleast good for what i will need. 20210122_124055.mp4 For this ive ordered some neoprene rubber and intend to make my own gasket. More updates to come soon.

Modifications are 100% going to happen, but I'll keep all of the stock parts in the garage so I can revert to stock if I need to! 🙂

As member "Herbie" above says hybrids are exempt from the emissions test of the MOT, and cannot be failed on this. They can be failed if it is obvious that parts relating to emissions have been removed or the engine light is on or does not come on,and go out when the car is first started. John.

If you've got an RX400h like you imply in your other post, hybrids do not need to have any emissions test at all.

You can actually upload the images directly onto the forum here: Nice looking car 🙂

Very glad to see you are still at this, matey. I wish I had half you ability and perseverance!

Have a look at Youtube " how to pass an mot without cat" . There is somebody who did it on Saab V6 using a kit. Apparently there is a very simple modification that will do the trick. Chris.

Yeh still chugging away at it, so close to getting it finished but my to do list keeps growing. Everytime i tick something off i seem to add 2 more things 😂

Last night whilst watching Susan Calman pootle around Wales in her camper van Helen, I thought "I wonder what the MOT history of Helen is?". So I checked. The failure history is epic. It has failed almost every year. Some years it does no miles between MOTs and still fails! Clocking? I do hope that Ms Calman doesn't die in a horrific head-on with a tractor in the final episode. I am very worried about her brakes....

Roll on the summer and less deperessing short days!!!

I was just looking on this website this week to check 😁 https://www.fitmentindustries.com/wheel-offset-gallery/1143281/2002-lexus-is300-avid1-av32-eibach-lowering-springs The wheels I want are a copy of these and it seems to be fine 🤷‍♂️

Hmmm im not sure, its quite an aggressive offset +35. I will do some digging.

The tyres are 225/40 R18 and 255/35 R18. The rears i will probably go for a 265 next with a more sticky tyre.

Fronts are 18 x 8.5j (+40 offset) Rears are 18 x 9.5j (+45 offset) It did rub on the back going over speed bumps or dips in the road and the lip started to cut the tyre, all sweet now the lip has been rolled and a slight pull on the arch.

Yes, your vehicle is essentially a 2008.

I leave my a/c on permanently, summer it cools, winter it dries. In fact I have my climate controls all set to automatic, I just set the temp and let the car sort it out to the best effect.

I leave mine on all the time. The difference in mpg is barely measurable and it ensures the system keeps fully lubricated and the seals don't dry out.

Not sure on exact measurements as i changed the suspension 1st then had to raise it to put the wheels on but i would guess about 50mm. Rear arches have now been rolled so i would probably like to drop another 5mm or so on the back.

I still can't get mine to show photos of a USB drive. It will play music and let me change the welcome screen graphic but will it do the slideshow? Will it heck as like. "But why do you want to do this Mincey?" I hear you all cry in unison. Well, the manual alludes* to the ability of the car to do it, and I need to show off to someone! * @royoftherovers - here's what I mean :-)

Ok so a new update on this. The waterpump and tensioner were apparently fine. I did pre-warn them that I wanted justification for the extra cost if it did need them.. so I’m not sure whether they just gave it the thumbs up to avoid the confrontation with me. The tech did have a pop about the non-genuine radiator being fitted though 😄 One of the unfortunate advisories to come up was the NSF shock is weeping, which they showed me on the video inspection. The quote they’ve given me is £1400 😭 A look over the pages of history supplied by the dealership and I can see the first owner spent a lot of money over the years. He replaced the steering adjustment motor twice! And he also seemed to go through a couple of tyres a year!! 😳 not quite sure what he was doing with them! Also interestingly enough the car maybe came with an in car phone as there’s an entry in 2006 for this being removed. Anyway back to it. I got the spare wheel refurbished because it was an absolute state, and a new Pirelli fitted as the tyre was bald! I wish I took a photo of it before handing it over, as it did look like it just came off the titanic. Unfortunately due to the LPG tank being in the spare wheel well, I’m resigned to a lot less boot space. Next up was the paint work. As previously mentioned the whole car is a bit of a mess from a body work perspective. I’m not looking for a show car or concourse, but just acceptable. The paint has suffered a lot from scuffs, scratches, a key mark! It actually looked like it had been scraped by other cars on multiple occasions. From a correction perspective there was stuff I could do to make some of the panels look presentable.. but the NS was beyond help. it’s very hard to capture from a picture but try to focus on the chips and deep scuffs rather than the scratches The quality isn’t great on this site for uploading pictures but there is a long key mark just below the chrome trim going along the whole width of the door and into the quarter. So I’ve always known that you get what you pay for with bodywork. I know some people get happy when they find somewhere that will respray their whole car for £2k.. but from my past of working with body shops and in the trade.. we all should know to stay well clear of cheap paint jobs. HOWEVER with that being said. I just couldn’t justify top spend on this car. I found an average priced body shop and went with it hoping for the best. Again I struggle with the imaging on this site so you can’t really see how good it is.. but I was fairly pleased. I guess I’ll find out in a couple of winters if the lacquer starts to peel 😄 In terms of the rest of the bodywork. There are some other blemishes that I will not be able to get out.. but aren’t entirely obviously. There’s also a lot of swirl and scratches around the rest of the car from poor washing techniques and maybe from a few hits.. but I’m confident a good compound will sort this out. So once the weather warms up in the spring I’ll dedicate a weekend to working on it. That’s pretty much all for now. Next on the list is to refurb the rest of the wheels and get new tyres all round. Mechanically I’m happy for now. There are just a few things that need doing. Two new wing mirrors that actually fold and heat like they’re supposed to. An inspection of the electric window mechanisms on the OS as they’re slow and noisy.. and I’ll probably change the lock actuator on the OSR door as it’s loud and intermittently working. With all the salt and snow on the road I don’t intend to do anything for a few weeks now. So I’ll smoke around in the 5 series and let the warmer weather come before I tackle anymore jobs. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

Indeed. But it can read the file and tell it can't play it.🙂

The main reason im selling the skyline. A lot of the jdm stuff is of a higher power than our versions so it wouldn't surprise me about your celsior

Not a clue mate hopefully something happening in the summer but who knows whats in store, itll definitely draw a crowd i especially love the sound but the little details your putting in are equally impressive.

Go to jail? No chance. They'll get a trivial slap on the wrist (unless they've got serious previous)

Good job! Well done police! Now we need more reports like that so make us feel safer! These three guys seems awfully young to do it professionally but here you go. Just wondering if they will be penalised before they go to jail, if they go to jail.

Ha yes i know exactly what you mean, definitely worth it though its an amazing build.

Schoolboy error on my part - my lance has a mixture adjustment knob, I thought that turning it towards the + would increase the foam/water ratio...apparently it works the opposite way round. The mixture control is an air bleed screw, turning it towards the + allows more air into the lance thus weakening the venturi effect and sucking less product from the bottle. Stripped the lance, cleaned and rebuilt, results to be checked when it's car washing weather again 😄

A small crumb of comfort for the good guys.... https://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/news-article/three-arrests-made-after-catalytic-converter-found-car-boot

Nice car!

Only 38Ah on that Optima. People with the 51Ah battery as originally fitted in the RX450h complain that depletes too quickly if car left at airport or not regularly charged by Lexus procedure, trickle charger or solar panel. I am pretty sure that even the Prius has a 45Ah battery. The Optima would serve but I am sure you could do better given the available space in the RX400h and the stated fact that a standard flooded lead acid would be suitable and might also be cheaper.

Just had a similar conversation with my son and daughter in law who have new born twins. When my kids were small I was driving a Mk III Cortina and used a 2nd hand baby seat. Apparently nowadays on Mumsnet I would be consildered to be Beelzebub himself along with a host of other demons for endangering my children in such a way. Apparently child seats are a massive can of worms and my son says he can now (unfortunately) talk for hours on the subject. He says the 2 golden rules are Isofix is a must and never, ever, ever 2nd hand. Prudence tells me to keep my thoughts undisclosed but if ever you feel your blood pressure is too low, Mumsnet is worth a visit!

Just done a little research on my BC racing coilover spring rates and mine came with 62.200.010 10kg (front) and 62.220.006 6kg (rear). These are pretty soft and i may switch to a slightly stronger spring depending on how i feel about them when driving hard. It would seem that alot run with 12kg front and 10kg rear.

Hi John and many thanks for the advice. I've since been looking at various dealerships and taking their finance packages into consideration, they make for some compelling offers. I also was able to take my work colleagues car for a short test drive last week, he has a 2016 Sport model, finished in what I would call, primer grey, with 17" black alloys, a very nice example. The seating position was comfortable and just as I've read, the ride was firm, very firm in fact. I was trying to remember if my TT was that firm, but I don't think it would be a deal breaker? One other thing that did bother me a little was the steering wheel, do Lexus use real leather or a faux leather? The material on this example was very shiny and smooth, almost to the point of slippery. I wasn't too keen on that, I also noticed that where the material is pulled around the spokes, it was creasing, again is this normal? I know it sounds like I'm nit picking but as a main contact point I would have expected the quality to be better, maybe it was just that one? I'm now also considering the IS300h since I found out the rear seats can found down, which means I should be able to get my RC planes in the back? I do like the look of that car. I'll keep you all posted, although it may be a while as it'll most likely be around the summer before I actually make a purchase. Thanks again. Mike

Forgot about this little gem.

Glad you like the car, I got 54 mpg on a similar run earlier this week, wait until summer when you don't need the heater on, it gets even better. As for the USB sticks, I'm not sure, maybe it's the formatting, have you read the 900 page infotainment manual? The windows can be key operated, but unfortunately a Lexus geezer has to plug his laptop in to activate the feature. I was going to get mine done but with the air con blowing through the seats I forgot all about it.

LV gave me a refund last year (£50?) One off payment. maybe this year?

Open the passenger door. Get a plastic spatula and lever rubber seal open by 5 mm. watering can. Pour water liberally in gap. See water flow freely out of door bottom drain holes. Good. Look out for seepage and leaks along door card. These will go straight into carpet sill. Also water can run forward from trunk area leaks.

Snap. August 2019. Southern France. 40°C ambient heat. It was brutal. AC on full time Car always ran temp gauge dead centre. Then original rad blew. Had to drive 50 miles to holiday destination on battery, downhill recharge and short engine burst. Thank god for wide French road verges and no hedgerows Changed new Denso rad back home. Holds water ok and temp needle sits just over halfway55%. One more flush and clean and full Toyota coolant should put needle bang on centre I hope

Yeah they did. I have a feeling that I was one of the first to go through the process (or at least that iteration). My phone has unlimited data (5G) but then each time I got in I'd need to remember to setup the wifi hotspot on the phone as it turns itself off when nothing connects. There are two bits of car functionailty that I'm finding somewhat useful that I suspect rely on wifi: a) Lexuslink battery status and car finder b) Sat nav traffic information I also have the car registered on the home wifi so the battery status bit (I check regularly in these Covid times) might not require the subscription and the traffic I could probably get using my phone on longer trips. I'm not quite sure how often the Lexus Link stuff gets an update I have feeling it's overnight. Basically when it drops to "critical" (Seems to be around every two weeks) I take the car for a quick drive on a motorway which seems to top things up. The car is on a driveway so I can't easily charge the battery. Once the "freebie" bit is over I might subscribe to the lowest level and use a phone as hot spot when travelling longer distances. I like the integration between the in car sat nav and the HUD so there is a little bit of value there. I can't wait for all this covid stuff to be over so we can go and visit folks.

No, but I'd like to know too. In theory, it shouldn't. The 12V battery in any car, conventional or hybrid, is only used to start it. Once the engine is running/READY light on, the alternator (or DC/DC converter) then supplies the whole electrical demand of the car and keeps the 12V battery topped up, so the 12V battery shouldn't even be in the equation.

That's a good point, they should do a refund for most drivers!

I don’t know if this is a record but at 26 years old and just over 92,000 miles mine is still on all the original discs with just a perceptible lip. Talking of horse power could you imagine a cart being pulled by 250 horses down the M1 😀 If you ever see a pile of manure in lane 3 take extra care!

maybe it was corroded too much and would have broken whatever. I also replaced the AC Compressor last year (replaced the drier while I was at it), one of the connectors/pipe came off no problem but the other one was a a swine to pull out. I needed some pump pliers in the end to grip it enough and pull it out correctly, took quite a while though with stopping having a rest and calming down in between attempts😉 The advice from the AC guy about not twisting or wobbling it out stopped me from being impatient otherwise it could have been a disaster.

Hence my post here 😉 always looking for another way out! 😛

Pleased to hear this but a word of caution. WD40 eventually turns into a thick sticky greasy goo. I have used dry film lubricant which doesn't do this and also doesn't attract the dirt.

So seeing as my wheel arch roller has come i decided to give it a go. Tried my best to not crack the paint but i think its pretty much impossible. I heated the paint/metal with a heatgun and gently kept adjusting and rolling until the lip was rolled and arch slightly pulled. Only a couple of slight cracks on the edge, prettt hard to see so i will probably have a go and get this cleaned up and painted. Anyway heres a few pics... Image quality seems to have been completely killed by the forum, i tried 😂. Also got my Fuel pressure sensor installed too but still need to pin this into the AEM, pretty easy install, just removed a screw plug on the regulator and used an adapter to fit the sensor.

Had a few more bits turn up this thing is still slowly coming together..... Got myself a turbo blanket, this is much needed as the small amount of driving and testing has already started to affect the valve cover paint!! Also got some wrap for the down pipe so will eventually get round to doing that. Finally got an oil pressure and temp gauge, i went for the SPA digital gauge. Real good bit of kit, can programme hi and low alarms for both channels, choose what colour backlight and also what colour alarm backlight flash.Went for amber to match the dash lights. Managed to trial fit it quickly to test the kit and programme the settings, just need to get it installed now.

So i got the wheels waxed, spigot rings and center caps fitted and thrown back on the car. I also decided to weigh the wheels and compare them to the old 1s just out of interest. Even though the wheels and tyres are bigger they are 5 1/4 lbs lighter on the front and 4lbs lighter on the back. So an 8.4kg saving all round which tbh is very suprising, im not getting too caught up with weight saving as im not really going down that route....... yet, but still nice to know.

Managed to lower the suspension a little more, dropped another 15mm on the back and 20mm on the front. It will settle some more after a drive but i think it will be spot on. Also chopped that massive tail pipe finally, can walk around the back of the car in the garage now without having my shins cut and bruised🤣.