Tinonline

Alternater is on that side nearish to the wing...I suppose that might crackle away?

It's perfectly acceptable to let it all hang out. The suspension doesn't take much to resettle and I wonder if some grease or dirt has been dislodged and moved where it's not welcome. You don't mention your mileage and if or when any suspension work has been done. It may disappear or might have unsettled a worn out bush or joint. My wife'a car developed post MOT a dreadful clatter front end. Dutifully I removed the front wheels and did a visual inspection, pushed and pulled, spun the discs and saw nothing amiss. No more noise. Bonkers.

Paid a visit to an excellent little garage near where I live to have a 'new' tyre fitted. When I say new it was a Continental I bought with 7mm tread and no repairs - reason is, I'm fighting fast wear to the inside edge with tracking spot-on. I need use of the car whilst I get around to fitting the new Lexus Lower control arm bushes - (garage will drift out old and refit new for a few £'s). What greeted me was the lack of a key for removing the lock nut...there was me thinking it just had normal bolts. So a few miles later and a day, I bought one from a Toyota dealer and eventually job done. Luckily the pin number was on the original card in the boot. I know the previous owner who had the car and tyres fitted at the same Lexus dealership for 10 years...wonder where the original key went then. As I did with my Jag, out came the lock nuts and in went standard nuts...there was a set of x4 new ones in the boot. The nut key, a three pronged Z4676 cost me £24 That and the lock nuts and caps are posted in another place. See if I can at least recoup something. Sometimes some things are complicated.

Yes they do although regulated by a spring thermo device, its a mechanical fan clutch.

Yes I agree check the aux belt first before going into a more progressed concern mode.

Malc, I sense you are pulling out the red rag...yet alas the Merc, any Merc is a bit of a cow to the Lexus bull. No animals were hurt in this metaphor and any reference to male/female gender is coincidental in the context of the metaphor.

Fair point. I remember my TR6 on ramps in the street as I changed the clutch in Fulham. Harder to do nowadays... A parking space with some ability to move around is all you need. As for skills I'm self taught as are many.

It's going to be a great project for the new lucky owner. These motors are still a bit of a hidden secret and getting a deserving price for a sorted one still looks tricky. Demand remains eclectic. We'll loose more to repair costs and light accident damage.

So many lady owners out there...can you share the MOT history?

Interesting this...Pagid are not the old Pagid. They sold out. So the brand is used and now applied to multiple specs and orders. In principal this is what premium manufacturers do for all motor manufacturers but the risk is inferior products. Merc Pagid pads from Mercedes garage are superior to those "identical" on the distribution market. Bed the brakes in. If you haven't cleaned and put brake grease on key areas for years then they will squeak. There is a hard bedding-in surface on new pads that cuts to the disk, it squeaks and groans. Don't buy cheap. I've done it.

Let them bed in and they'll be good.

Sounds a bit gearboxy doesn't it? But as you say the box takes signals and might be a bit slow to respond. I'd check the basics: when air filter and plugs were changed. Do you have too much slack in the throttle cable? An ailing airflow meter will cause these issues but in my experience once these go, they really go and pack up. So the car will stall at tickover and unplugging it is the only sane way to get home! Could be throttle body related. I doubt cleaning will make huge differences as they don't get so clogged up they do this kind of issue but the sensor can fail. I do caution cleaning as there is a protective film on the surface and only correct cleaning agent should be carefully used. I doubt there is a gearbox fault...

Yes it was a cambelt...picture and ref was the cambelt...

T298 is the cambelt as noted. drive belt is also term used for the ancillaries belt and that goes on the steering/alternator/et al

I bought a Gates kit that included a water pump. You can get a light kit with the essentials or a bigger kit with more parts. I reckon everything needs changing at 70k miles. You can't not change the water pump as it might not nor is likely to last 140k or 180k miles... If you're doing the work yourself it's a no brainer: high bang for buck.

Sorry the links don't appear to work. if you go to the How to section I've written up my experience of a cambelt change...there's a picture in there...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231720536712 or this, again just for example of what it looks like: please check application etc

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401296474208 something like this but please check application and there are plenty of sources and prices available...

Yep and there's a tube shaped drop down tensioner that's worth replacing too. One with the ring pull.

£20 for a Conti worth fitting yourself

I had a Brembo set up on my XKR and was worried about cars running into the back of me as boy did it stop. The pads were Jag boxed...my S type runs on mintex bit squeaky at first now very good. Lexus have ceramic content and when due I'll fork out for the OE.

Hi I combined the plug change with an air filter change and adjusted the throttle cable slack. All around I felt an improvement. The iridium plugs are designed to last for ages. The ones I removed looked quite worn but to be fair performed fine and performance and mpg were excellent.

Yes it's an official outlet. Toyota/Lexus sell via eBay and on line. Some Lexus dealers do too and I have good experience of Lexus in Birmingham doing same. This is big branding of Lexus and you simply can't do this without authority. Don't dismiss resellers of genuine parts though from sellers...I've bought good over stock that's not knock off. Might be from a private buyer who's decided not to do the work or trade that's got lumbered or is doing a stock refresh and wants rid.

A few months ago at 75k odd miles I replaced my spark plugs from my mk4. I couldn't see any evidence of past replacement and was puzzled by very worn plugs bearing the NGK brand in pale blue. They looked old. I did a write up; that's in the how to section. What I put in were Denso plugs and that's what I'd expected to remove. All the mileage checked out. However, having a trawl through the handbook I spy that original fitment listed as Denso SK20R11...and NGK IFR6A11. That solves the riddle: I removed the original NGKs.

Yep and not impacted by the price of oil...? 🙄