steve2006

It appears to be excessive crank case pressure, if you remove the oil filler cap with the engine running can you feel it blowing out of there if you place your hand above the opening? You can normally also hear a “chuffing sound”. If you can this would suggest worn piston rings and a compression test would confirm this. Could I ask what the mileage is on the engine? At one time the crank case breather pipe went straight out to the atmosphere but with today’s emission requirements it has to be sent into the intake to be burnt with the fuel which is fine until the amount of oil causes excess smoke. Another measure would be to fit an oil catch tank, this won’t stop the oil blow by problem but will reduce the amount entering the intake and being burnt. Finally oil deposits on the PS pump area would suggest a leaking valve cover gasket, this unlike a smokey engine is a common failure on these engines.

With the key fob firstly make sure the replacement battery is good, if you have a volt meter check it with that, if the fob has an LED does it flash when a button is pressed? Regarding the door lights are your courtesy lights working as they are generally all connected so come on together. Blown bulbs would be my first suspicion which may involve the door card being removed to access the fittings.

Another update. After receiving only part of the order last Saturday and contacting the supplier Furniture Clinic they finally responded on Wednesday with an apology and promise that the missing bit would be sent “with upgraded delivery free of charge”. Well it’s Saturday again and I have received nothing more so once again I cannot continue the work, should have ordered from Rockauto who managed to deliver in 2 working days from the USA something that UK company based in Newcastle can’t do again.

I’ve come to the conclusion that most MOT advisories are to cover the tester’s back side, a prime example is “under cover fitted” Take a look at part of my history from it’s 2007 MOT, those original brake hoses and discs mentioned over 13 years ago are still on the car in good condition and never been flagged up since. Regarding the tyres OK “close to legal limit” but still legal with possibly a tracking adjustment needed. But if you were selling the car would you spend £250.00 on tyres and tracking knowing you would not recover the cost.

You’re welcome, Just bear in mind a cheap part will probably be of inferior quality which is not something you need with a critical suspension component. Take a look on Rockauto.com prices are generally half the UK ones and shipping is fast, prices also include UK VAT so no hold up in UK customs. Bolts have been known to seize in the arms, if you are planning DIY fitting I would suggest a good spray of WD40 the night before.

It’s been quite a while since Tertius has been on the forums but Lexus only do the complete arm. You can buy aftermarket replacement bushes however including poly versions, prices vary between £30.00 on Fleabay and £80.00 odd from independents.

Even though there are no warning lights there may be a code stored in the ECU memory, by all means have a look underneath but from there I would get a diagnostic check done. I had the same problem on my Vauxhall Vivaro van and that was a software update requirement.

At the end of the day you have a £35,000+ plus car when new for the money you paid so a 5th of the original price. For that you have a very low mileage garage queen example with service history and should anything go wrong a statutory law dealer warranty. With no timing belt to worry about I think you have bought a winner. Just noticed when reading back through the posts the webpage photo I posted showed the new key fob price highlighted in yellow. At the bottom it gives an option for New Zealand models. That’s either a coincidence given your wife was about to travel back from there or a good omen.....😀

You just have to make sure it’s firmly attached to the nipple before insertion.

How about my custom made (patent pending) spark plug fitting tool. Made from an old electricians screwdriver (1000V rating) and 30mm of suitably sized rubber tubing glued onto the screwdriver. Simply insert plug into other end of tube, drop down the plug tube and start the plug threading, tighten up as much as possible then pull the tool (patent pending) off and tighten to specified torque. Hi, I’m Victor Kiam...forget the Remington Microscreen that shaves as close as a blade, you need one of these! Prevents cross threading, gives improved engine performance and 20 MPG better economy. Guaranteed savings or your money back. 😀

One and sixpence for RN9Ys Champion too.....e by gum where’s me feeler gauges gone again 😀

Hello Chris and welcome to the LOC. With a full service history and hybrid health checks these cars just keep on going, I think once again Lexus top the reliability leagues. In the USA there is a Lexus LS400 which has covered over 1,000,000 miles, yes 1 million and still going so at 125,000 miles the one you are considering isn’t even “run in” yet. Have you done an MOT history check? Simply put in the registration number and it will show you all the past MOT details including advisories. If you wish you can even post a link if available of the car you are considering ( I’ve never known another LOC member jump in and buy it). We can then give opinions good or bad. Obviously these are a big heavy car so apart from wear and tear items like brake pads the suspension can wear but generally rubber bushes but this is common on all cars particularly with UK potholed roads. Check that the cam belt has been replaced at the correct time and haggle the price if a replacement is due. Regarding servicing if you are sticking to Lexus they have a discounted fixed price system for older models which is quite reasonable. Good luck I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed with an RX400h.

Hi Mike and welcome to the LOC. Due to its exposed location this is a common problem on a lot of Lexus models. Some members with LS400s have replaced theirs with a shaped piece of thin cooper pipe, I think it was 10mm micro bore. Have a read on this link page 4 looks a bit Heath Robinson but does the job. The part new from Lexus is around £180.00, I wouldn’t go for a used one because it may be no better. I think our resident parts supplier Lexus Parts Direct are working via mail order. Part number is 44402-53021. As a temporary fix you could cut the bad section out and use rubber hose and jubilee clips to rejoin.

I know you are but I was asking about Iripiribo as it says located outside the UK on his profile. 😀 Been working in Glasgow a few times, never realised when you got there how far I still had to drive to Wick, Skye was similar went over the bridge and the sat said 30 miles to destination, didn’t think it was that big.

It helps to agitate the leather cleaner to release the dirt, a shaving brush with the fine bristles does a great job without causing damage because it limits the amount of pressure you can apply Work a small area at a time in a circular motion and wipe off immediately with a clean microfibre cloth before it dries.

No part number stamped on it?

Hello and welcome to the LOC. Where abouts in the world are you?

Furniture Clinic have got back to me now, very apologetic and sending the missing stuff next day delivery....tomorrow could be the day 😀

Update. The surgical clamps arrived today so i could crack on and get the job finished, managed to get them on the metal remains of the plug cap, clamp them shut and pull them off. Got the dizzy caps and rotor arms in yesterday, bolts on the lower belt covers are an absolute pain. Routed all the new leads, you can immediately see the difference in quality to the crap ones I did have on and they slot onto the plugs with a reassuring click. Got most of the plastics back on, coolant back in and vacuum pipes refitted. Started immediately, smoother idle and much more responsive on the test drive. Bit more to fit back but it’s moving again.

Cheers Howard, as expected the leather place has not even replied to my email yet but the more efficient, it seems, USA based Rockauto delivered my ignition parts today so been cracking on with that job

I thought it wise to start a new topic rather than mix it up on my seat repair thread. As I previously mentioned I have for some time had a new set of NGK iridium spark plugs sat on my garage shelf. This and the fact that I now have more spare time available spurred me into action to get the job done. Both the leads and plugs were replaced around 8 years ago ( in that time I have probably clocked up 15,000 miles) so it should be a relatively simple case of plug leads off, old plug out, new plug in and plug cap back on. Although the plug caps were tight they came off after a bit of twisting to break the seal until I got to cylinder 1 when the wire parted company with the cap. Unfortunately this happened twice more on cylinders 8 and 6 on the other bank. Now resigned to the fact I was going to require another new lead set I then tried to remove the plugs but found that due to the caps remaining on the plugs from the broken leads the socket would now not go over the plug far enough to extract it. Due to the position of the plugs deep down the tubes of the valve cover there was not way a standard pair of snipe nose pliers was going to grab the caps so I decided to order a very narrow pair and also a pair of surgical clamps. Next was a new set of plug leads. Usual sources available and the cheapest set of quality NGK ones were £116.00 from the bay. I suddenly remembered Rockauto in the USA so took a look, £60.00 for the very same leads. Knowing the distributor caps and rotor arms were the original ones I also looked them up and was amazed to find the prices for Bosch branded were a fraction of UK ones so I added these to my order. Distributor cap UK £40.00 USA $13.99, Rotor Arm UK £21.00 USA $4.80 Total cost was £114.00 this included pre paid VAT and shipping! The only downside was the delivery time quoted as being between 29/05 and 02/06 from when the order was placed last Thursday. I needn’t have worried they arrived around 30 minutes ago by DHL !!! 😀 Bosch parts have “Made in Japan” stamped on them and the leads are thicker like the OEM ones even down to the protective white plastic spiral on them. Unfortunately the pliers and clamp ordered the same day from UK suppliers are nowhere to be seen but at least I can do most of the job today.

I did try the pre-mixed colourant referred to a “Sand” on an “inconspicuous place” and found it was lighter than the present colour. The missing repair kit is beige but comes with various other colours to mix and obtain the correct shade so I am hoping to do the same with the colourant. Being a Bank holiday weekend I have yet to receive a response from the supplier, the ignition parts have been shipped from The USA so it’s a waiting game again.

Many years ago I was selling a white Rover 820 and used Tipex correction fluid to fill some pock marks on the bonnet, didn’t make much difference as I virtually had to give it away.

Hello John, No idea where in the world you are located and what your postal system is like but the bolt part number is 90910-02138 priced around £4.00. It is described as a “Standard Part” so a similar bolt of the same size and specification should be fine, again unknown if the bolt needs thread sealer or the torque setting. Personally with it being such a critical part I would get the correct one from Lexus or Toyota. Link below for various sources around the world. https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&source=hp&ei=INzMXsGyEIa4lwTRh5rIAQ&q=90910-02138&oq=90910-02138&gs_lcp=ChFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocBADOggIKRCDARCTAjoCCCk6BQgpEIMBOggIKRAWEB0QHjoECCkQCjoFCC4QkwI6BQgAEIMBOgIIADoCCC5Q3SlYgmNgnGloAHAAeACAAYMBiAHtB5IBAzcuNJgBAKABAbABDw&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp

Been looking at the Japanese auction sites again. I never realised how many Toyota models are actually made with names I have never heard of. They all seem to be going up in price especially the earlier LS400 models, when you take into account the “landed” price plus the taxes plus the registration etc the ones on the likes of Fleabay are quite competitively priced when you consider it’s the “On the road” price and will have a warranty if purchased from a dealer. When you need a part and put your registration number in and it finds nothing and Celsior or Century aren’t in the drop down box you know at that point you’re heading towards the dealer. I often see one of the national motor factors vans with “Any part for any car” on the back doors....one day I’ll put them to the test again. “What model is it mate? ”Toyota Celsior” ”Toyota Celica?” ” No Celsior” ”Never heard of it, just a minute”..........dial tone 😀