Tinonline

Hi, no I’ve nowhere to plug it in. Previously battery would hold charge when not in use for ages…not an issue. I’m not sure how long extra it would have lasted.

Not doing much mileage at the moment and a run charges up the battery to last a few weeks but if not used it goes flat. It has lasted 7 years which is not bad as I’ve flattened it quite a few times working on the car. That one cost £88. Genuine Toyota. Got another one today from Lexus Reading for pence over £101. Great service and was at their place next day. They did match a competitive other Lexus price…if you don’t ask. They’re my go to for clips, bolts, worn widgets… All systems go 👍😁

Ok now I’m feeling very annoyed for you. My opinion and feeling is, you have to NOT give the car back to your regular garage or mechanics that have not been able to resolve your issue to date. Maybe a mobile auto electrician or just a different garage: not an easy choice. I am concerned about the rat smell you had a while back…so you need to mention that so the unexpected is taken into account. Agree this is fixable…just a pain getting to it.

Yes I thought it went straight to the chassis. 🧐

Looked too cheap

Well I’m glad it looks as though it’s sorted. Very belt and braces adding extra earth…a complete new battery Earth cable will do it unless…it will be fine now.👍

You should be able to search on your motor. The late 400s are fine from earlier search but as usual owners have to validate themselves. For some reason later 600 variants won’t take it.

I’ve stuck to E5 super. I don’t do mega miles at all so the cost is relative…doesn’t feel high…although that gauge doesn’t move up as much as it used to! Had to fuel stop at a Sainsbury over the weekend and all they had or I could get to was E10 so a few quid of that had to do. In Spain over the summer, in my region we didn’t see any E10 at all. My 1995 Alfa 155 sport doesn’t like normal unleaded…it pinks…so super really has to be used. No idea about E10. I doubt it.

That price is settling faster than it’s suspension. 🧐

I should add my 2000 LS 400 passed MOT. Tester said just change the rear tyres for next year. That’s all. And on advisories: well clean the steering rack of a bit of oil seepage. (Doesn’t need top up) and wire brush top rear spring and suspension mounts and apply some Q rust. I was gutted…🧐🤣

Classic! Fails even non trade description requirements. Value scrap. 👍🧐

Great idea and keep the car. 😂

That’s hilarious…like you can borrow a cat.😂 A ratter dog would do it… Buy a plastic rat poison box…use only dark chocolate for a few times: then introduce a large trap that fits exactly to box. Get you’re rat. You can buy as a set. Take out trap and replace with poison. Include chocolate. Leave. Be patient…there’s more than one rat…go looking for the nests.

Oh boy…a rat…my nickname was pied piper of Selborne court…we had a massive rat infestation and I volunteered to tackle it…wiped them out but it took a lot of cunning and months…damaged 2 cars. Seriously also, is there a smell under the bonnet? They will get there and chew on the wiring and cables. Sounds like a main cable in the supply is at fault. If problems started since mechanic touched it that is suspect and I’d be expecting him to check his work or a rat has caused specific damage and may continue so keep opening the bonnet and make noise. Best to set a rat trap too with dark chocolate as bait if it’s a snap trap. I think this is a very annoying issue rather than a show stopper. As long as no further damage ensues. 🫣🤞

You do right not driving the car. So following that you replaced battery cables…and fault remains? You replaced battery after the fault too? Sorry I’m not clear on events sequence…

Hang on…you wiggled the negative lead and it came on? Sorry you did say not a spark ie spark of life. Earth lead and or clean effective earth. there are a number of Earth points but none would cause complete power loss. Except a main power lead. Isn't there a restart sequence following a battery disconnect? If you don’t need to do that then it’s a main connection issue…

Oh woe, woe etc. Get to garage, wife in convoy to lift me back…Oh didn’t I get their text, call? Engineer done his back in, a ramp down, receptionist off sick…’how easy is it to access’ question raised…” Drive back home in convoy. Don’t want it do they… Picked up a small tap & die kit from Screwfix… Going to have the proverbial “ bl***y good go “ at recutting the thread… 🧐

Battery terminals don’t usually misbehave much as said but I suppose like every car something unexpected can come up. What is the battery make and spec? Alternator failure is a more likely issue but if the battery is still in good charge you have a system fault. Diagnosis is best done when the car is not operating correctly. When the car fails what exactly fails and what works and doesn’t work? Everything off - every lamp and light, dash? The more you can describe, increases chance of someone else recognising the problem. 👍🫣

Yup needed a second jack. The wheel jack worked fine and it hasn’t been used to date…spotless and I had to wrestle it free from the mould! It went under the cross member and did the trick. Knowing that Razor61 had to use a second jack took a lot of stress out of getting it to fit.👍😉 All back in, bar one bolt. I managed to get an appointment at a local garage where the specialist visits - he would not do a mobile visit as he’s quite rightly given up crawling under vehicles. I know the mount replacement is going to make a big big difference…I’ll keep you posted on the bolt thread repair. Will be a week’s time.

How many times do you read of repair jobs that take folk minutes…and your experience points in a different direction? This is a long story… Having bought a gearbox mount from I can’t spell it Aramera or whatever as usual I got a bargain for a bit over 30 quid OEM. Jacked the car up, propped gearbox with the Jack and dinner table place mats in a bag to spread the load and set about the job. My newish fabricated Y exhaust section is a bit off normal location so the big bolts had to come out with a spanner and even then one bolt: longer front one on one side would come clear so I manoeuvred the alloy cross member about to get clearance to the mounting bolts. Nothing. To buy more space I took the Jack away from the gearbox noting minimal drop but… Back around to other side of car…wiggle and bolt drops out…cross member free so I have clear albeit close access. No idea how that happened but it’s a result. But not good. Big faff. Time ticks. First bolt out ok. (Securing mount to gearbox.) Now for second…snap. That was enough for one day so I ordered a new set of bolts and went to screw fix for drill bits, punches, extractor bits. So. Get broken one sorted in situ now or try other bolts? Called a bolt removal specialist: sorry trade only, please? No trade only. Another mobile mechanic failed to call back and another thread man doesn’t do my patch. Classic garage I know said they do t do that sort of thing. Right. Next day and a rest: sprayed the remaining 2 bolts that looked in worse condition…so slowly and gentle small movements commenced their undoing. Luckily it wasn’t my undoing. They came free and so did the mounting. Mounting looked ok and I wondered where the vibration and slight noise was coming from, everything else in ok order. Now looking closer…after 22 years and just about to hit 100k…just have a look at this… pictures below… Snapped bolt: Drilled a pilot hole after punching a hole. A bit off centre I drilled and after ages cut a small hole. Tried the extractor: nothing useful happening at all. Drilled more, tried again: no result. Sprayed top end of the bolt - it’s hard to reach. Pipes are close and I can’t smack anything with a hammer. Upsized drill bit after ages drilled through the bolt. Tried extractor: useless. Tried again: useless. Don’t want to break it. Upsized drill bit again and that’s the limit: drilled though the bolt. Managed to chip out lower piece of the bolt from one side but the threads seem mostly covered by the husk of the old bolt. I can’t tell if some shoulder damage is old bolt or shoulder… Ok now tap and die time. But I’m trying the thread specialists again now I have everything exposed…so to speak. I’ll take it to them…I’ll remove the mounting…whatever…I’m not doing any more. 10 minutes…🧐

Yup I’d start here as it’s a relatively quick replacement and worth doing anyway.

How things turn… So my son’s Merc is definitely for sale and I’ll expedite that. As much as I’ve improved and worked on the car, it’s a biter…something about it that’s just fiddly and fussy. The seats are nice and firm but too hard on lower back. The internal bulbs are expensive and horrid to replace. The tax is bonkers. So keep the Lexus 400 and in due course son will buy a bonkers car that we’ll get to use and look after. 😁 My better half uttered the magic words: “so how much would it cost to sort out the Lexus?” A few bob but it’ll transform the motor to a higher value.

My Merc was fitted with them too going back a few years. My Independent Merc garage gave up sourcing Textar from distributors and went back to buying Textar from Merc as they were getting too many unhappy customers complaining about squealing brakes.

As mentioned it’s no good skipping down the motor factor and buying cheap Textar, Javid et al pads they are not the same spec that these manufacturers give to the vehicle manufacturer. Take Denso coil on plugs: even supplied to Jaguar in the 2000’s these failed regularly so they were a service item. Denso units to Lexus? Long lifetime of the vehicle!

You do get a bit of drag sound with OEM pads but they have ceramic content and it may depend upon temperature? Rayaans mentioned Brembo and I rate them. They have, thus far, retained quality having come into the mainstream market and dumped their prices. Btw Blueprint air filter: ok but change every year; carbon cabin filter is very good. Some Blueprint items are high priced for the acceptable quality…