KevLex

Simon, I don't know if my reply is too late. My radiator has just gone too and I've been looking into what is needed. If you have an auto there is an A/T fluid cooler built into the bottom of the rad. If you buy an auto version of the rad you can leave the two A/T connections unconnected. There also appears to be two different part numbers for the radiator depending upon the thickness of the core. A replacement rad seems to be about £90 (£280 at the main stealer). 16400 RADIATOR ASSY 16400 70620 1GFE..GXE10..ATM; CORE THICKNESS=16mm 16400 70640 1GFE..GXE10..ATM; CORE THICKNESS=27mm I cannot see any new seals that are required other than the foam gasket around the edge of the rad. You may need some replacement M6x20 bolts if yours shear off when separating the fan assembly. You will need to plug the A/T fluid pipes to stop oil from leaking out. Kevin

All my driving is around town in traffic and to be honest I am very disappointed with the economy. No matter how carefully I drive it I get about 19mpg :-( I was looking for an Audi A4 TDi Auto Avant but couldn't find one so I bought the Lexus instead. I also find the driver's seat very uncomfortable but I suspect that this is unique to mine. From what you have said I think that you would find the fuel economy and main dealer servicing costs prohibitive. Why not look for an A4 TDi or Passat TDi? £4k would buy you a reasonable one and you will get a good torquey engine that isn't too thirsty.

It sounds as though it could be that the engine control unit is not sensing the additional load when pulling away so that either the ignition is not being advanced or the injected fuel quantity is not being increased. Or it could be the electronic throttle control simply not opening the throttle when you press the accelerator pedal. I would start by connecting a fault code reader just to see if there are any stored faults. Failing that you will need some diagnostic equipment and see what is going on. In the absence of such equipment you could make a careful visual inspection around the engine bay.

The connector is located under the lower edge of the dash on the drivers side. If you put your head down in the foot well you will see it just above the accelerator pedal. It may have a white plastic cover over it. Pull it off carefully as it is captive and you don't want to break the lanyard. It might be labelled DIAG on the cover.

Find a local garage or someone with a code reader and see if there are any fault codes. See the thread on OBD readers, you could always buy your own. It is likely to be difficult to diagnose without any diagnostic equipment.

Having looked at the Lexus workshop manual at windscreen replacement it looks like quite an involved process compared to other cars I've had. Some of the interior trim needs to be removed and the bonding area on the car needs to be 'prepared' in quite a prescribed manor. The manual then goes on to talk about the correct sealant bead diameter and how some of it needs to be shaped. I think that there are 2 piece of trim which cannot be reused and these have to be replaced. Do the like of Autoglass supply these or do they just salvage the ones they removed? I think that if I were going to have mine done I would prefer to have it done at their depot where they can spend a bit more time getting it right. I have heard of quite a few IS200 windscreen replacements leading to leaks and electrical faults, you definitely don't want that. Does anyone know whether an insurance company is likely to allow the Lexus dealer to replace the screen and it be covered under the policy?

I too would be interested in the outcome of this one. Mine smells very 'rich' on a cold start and I too suffer very poor economy around town. I thought that the engine warning light would only come on if there was an 'emissions' related problem, which this sounds like. The mixture will be enriched during the warm-up phase by injecting additional quantities of fuel. This will be controlled by the coolant temperature sensor. After the warm-up phase I imagine that it switches to closed loop control using the lambda sensor to maintain a stoichiometric ratio. On an older car it would have been possible to just measure the CO content at the exhaust. This is not possible with a catalyst. Some cars have a sample point up-stream of the cat to allow CO measurements to be made. I'm not sure whether the IS200 has one. Let us know what you find out.

I would add the following checks: 1. Water leaks in the boot under the jack and on the opposite side. These can be fixed easily but until then you will have to live with the car misting up easily. 2. That the car definitely comes with a MASTER ignition key. I believe that these all have 3 buttons on them and it should be able to lock the glove box. Without this key you cannot have new keys cut easily and cheaply. Ideally you want one master key and one valet key. 3. Make sure that you are prepared for the poor fuel economy. I get 20mpg around town and 30mpg on a run and that is driving it sensibly! 4. Make sure that Mr Creosote (Monty Python) wasn't a previous owner and that the driver's seat is comfortable. If it feels odd or uncomfortable on a test drive then it will be very uncomfortable to own. 5. If you plan to have it serviced at the main dealer be prepared for very high servicing costs. The last service on mine was a minor one and cost over £300, the previous one was a major one (cam belt, etc) and there was not much change from £1500. That said, I bought a W reg SE and it is taught and in good order even at 90k miles. If nothing goes wrong with it I'll be happy with it. Happy hunting!

From what I can tell looking at the manual the warm air is controlled by the air conditioning controller. There is a troubleshooting section that lists the following under 'no warm air comes out'. 1. Engine coolant volume 2. Air mix servo motor 3. Ambient temperature sensor 4. Room temperature sensor 5. A/C control assembly 6. Heater radiator You need to determine if hot water is getting to the heater matrix before you go any further. If as has been mentioned you have an air lock then the matrix may be cold. If there is no control valve in the water pipe to the matrix then it should always be hot. You probably need to trace the pipes and feel if they get hot. If the matrix is hot then it may well be that the air is not being allowed to flow over it. This is controlled by the air mix servo motor. It could be the motor, the controller or the sensors. You will need a wiring diagram and make some voltage measurements. The two sensors involved can be tested by measuring their resistance. The ambient sensor is mounted behind the front bumper and should measure about 1500 ohms at 25 deg C but will be higher at lower temps. The room sensor is mounted behind the 'lower finish panel'. It is not obvious from the diagram where it is located. I suspect that it may be just above the driver's or passenger's foot well. This has the same resistance values as the other sensor.

'W' 2000 91K

The battery charge indicator is a mini hydrometer mounted in one of the battery's cells. There are 6 cells in a 12V lead acid battery so it is only able to report the condition of one of the cells. When the battery is in reasonable condition the hydrometer will give a good indication of the state of charge of the battery. The problem comes when the battery ages and the cells begin to perform differently. It it not uncommon for one or more cells to no longer hold their charge when the battery is more than 3 or 4 years old. The first time you will notice a problem is when the car is not driven for slightly longer than usual and the ambient temperature is low. The only way to accurately diagnose the problem is to measure the specific gravity of each cell with an external hydrometer or charge the battery up and then perform a load test. Normally if the battery has been working well and then all of a sudden there is a problem, if you make a quick check of the charging voltage with the engine running and check that there are no excessive loads on the battery when the engine is off and the doors are closed then it is likely that the battery is in need of replacement. My original Lexus battery lasted 7 years which was quite impressive. A replacement 65Ah battery from Lexus Plymouth was about £55.

Looking at the schematic for the economy gauge it would appear that it takes signals from the engine management, the ABS controller and the speedo sender. There is some control electronics inside the dash unit which evaluates the fuel injected quantity information (from the engine management ECU) and the distance information (from the speedo sender) and produces an instantaneous fuel consumption indication. This system will take into account engine modifications as it measures the amount of fuel being injected into the engine. The distance travelled information will only be accurate if the rolling circumference of the tyres is correct, i.e. correct inflation, wheel size etc. I always find instantaneous economy indicators quite useless and distracting, particularly on a vehicle that is not noted for its frugal performance! Occasional calculation of trip economy from tank-to-tank fill up is a useful indicator that all is well with the car.

Looking closely at my rear speakers I see that there is a single pair of wires connecting to a small terminal strip mounted on the speaker (visible from the boot). The label on the magnet on the back of the speaker seems to suggest that there are 2 drive units inside the speaker as it quotes 2 different impedances and power ratings for the 2 units. This is quite common and the crossover can sometimes take the form of a simple capacitor connecting the incoming wires to the high frequency unit. The low frequency unit is connected directly to the incoming wires from the amp as no filtering is required. It sounds like my installation (2000 model year - original factory) is different to yours. Without seeing your set-up I probably can't help any further.

The rear speakers in mine have no separate high frequency units. They don't sound very good by themselves but from the front with the other speakers the sound isn't too bad.

Sounds about right from the main dealer looking at my car's past invoices. Can say that I would ever bring myself to pay that much by going to the main dealer though. My car's last major service cost more than my previous car was worth!