The Transporter

There does seem to be quite a few guys over on the IS200 FB page who have done the conversion to the LS V8. I believe that a chap in Northern Ireland builds the bell housing conversion and engine mounts for an "easy" drop in conversion onto the existing 6 speed manual box.. It seems that the mechanical bit is the easy bit, but the electronics to make the gauges and clocks work as they should are a bit of a challenge but there is one guy who does that kind of stuff.. I think that there is even an IS V8 with a couple of turbos on..

Is the air con running? the engine will adjust itself slightly as the clutch engages..

It's pretty straight forward to just swap one injector there are only three bolt holding the rail to the car but one of the bolts is hidden under the fuel buffer thingy up near the bulkhead.. but not a bad job

I've never removed one from my Lex but the fitting appears to be similar to the ones in the switches in my RangeRover Classic so I would guess that they are a pretty common item... Someone did tell me the name of the bulb. If I remember,I'll let you know

Yes, they both light up along with the two heated seat buttons... Give that little round section a twist and you will find a tiny bulb underneath.

Yes, they are both normal..

Check around the rear lights... I found that mine was leaking around them

Yeah,it looks OK but we can't see what is going on inside of the belt and it isn't my car... It's your call..

Here, this should help..

I just yank off the bottom hose...

Whilst the timing belt is off, it may well be worth while fitting a new water pump, they can weep and the belt would have to come off again.. Most folk can change the belt with the radiator in situ but I prefer to remove it and clean out all the crap from between the rad and the aircon condenser.. If the rad looks a bit scabby with the finns falling out or decomposing, then just change it for the price that they are..

The ones from ECP are more than enough to cool the IS200, I have an aftermarket rad and the temp has never increased above normal even in stop go traffic on the motorway in the South of France in 42C weather

I understand that the 300 is a fair bit more power for no or little more fuel consumption... The down side for me is that they are all automatics. I like the six speed so the only real option for me is to supercharge my 200... A number of guys here have copied Toyota's own TTE kit for the IS200 and the kit can be assembled almost totally from ebay... The only bit that is rare is the air box which I would like to recreate to quieten down the whirr from the SC

Mine is one of the last ones and came with a neat little lip on the boot lid with a brake lamp built in.. It also came with 7 inch satnav full leather, armrest (They can be hard to find) and 17 inch multispoke wheels (Watch the wheels as they do corrode quite badly) Also check the CD player as they can give an error code... Not really an issue as many folk will want to replace the stereo or as I did fit a Grom so that the stereo links to my phone.. Easy Job.

Also it is worth looking for rust in the spare wheel well and either side of the boot low down... I have one of the very last on an 05 plate, had it from new and I still can't find anything that I would rather drive though it could do with a little extra power low down in the rev range..But I have a plan

I would have done if there had been a matching pair... I was more worried about the state of the kerb stones....

Hiya, if the evaporator (The cooling matrix in the dash) springs a leak, then you can get a blast of refrigerant out of the vents but there are certain conditions that could cause a visible water vapour to be seen coming from the vents that are not linked to refrigerant also.. I don't get why there would be bits of sponge coming from the centre vents as there is a mesh grill behind the vents to prevent that, so the foam must be pretty local to the vent outlets. I think that you need to take your car to someone who knows how to test and diagnose air conditioning as the gear that main dealers and most general mechanics have is crap and most of their guys are clueless when it comes to fault finding..

Here she is just outside the town of Xalo

Nice to see you back.. My IS has just had a mid life spruce up, resprayed bonnet, front wings both bumpers and sills and is currently sitting outside the villa in Spain looking very dirty.

Doesn't cover the IS200

Decent winter tyres and a bit of weight in the boot..... We have a Scandinavian member who seems to get about ok in the snow. The snow button simply desensitises the throttle a little and alters the gear changes on the auto box.. The IS is no better or no worse than any other rear wheel drive car

Yeah, Just had a look at my new pattern exhaust that is waiting for me to fit, the flange is threaded with no captive nuts welded on.. It is satisfactory but I shall fit a couple of new nuts and washers to spread the load when I get round to fitting it. The old exhaust has nuts.....Or blobs of rust

The nuts are there to lock the bolts to ensure that the bolts don't come loose. I've never seen an exhaust fitter use a torque wrench....Most of them wouldn't know what one was..

Mine has nuts on to lock the bolt but I can't see it being a big issue.... Chances are that the nuts were so corroded that they chucked them.... If it bothers you then pop back to the exhaust fitter who did the job...