Cotswold Pete

My garage using OEM parts was only about £100 more than using 3rd party, well worth it in my view, and after 11K brakes still work a treat whether low or high speed braking, and no judder, and I probably could stop on a sixpence, but I like my face the way it is, rather than embedded in the steering wheel

Totally agree kwik fit etc, avoid unless your are desperate or do not care about getting the best out of your LS. I just cannot get my head around what a waste it is that the tyre has the potential for lots of miles, but edge wear due to weight on cornering halves (at the very least) the mileage. Either Friday or Saturday off the Chris Mullins to see whats what. I do not do a lot of town driving, so that's why surprised how my Maxxis are scrubbed, mind you some ruddy huge pot holes were visited just recently. Maybe the view is if you by an LS from new then replacing front tyres every 20K (or less) is well within ones wallet capability.

Just noticed bad tyre wear on nearside front, and wanted some opinions. Been keeping a close eye on wear, but all of a sudden the rubber goblins have been at it again. See photo, of wear (at bottom as I cannot seem to get it to go here) Question 1 - Why does it scrub such a small section, and really wear it out? Question 2 - Had full front alignment 11,000 miles ago (this time last year at Chris Mullins, Glos), is this just the bad luck of living in the UK with potholes? Or could it be speed humps (which I always approach with caution) Question 3. Given my UCAs are fine (so Osaka say), could it be as a result of new shocks (does not seem likely) not aware that new shocks mean you need alignment check? Driving back from work tonight, the car seems to go in a straight line on flat road, would have thought camber out would have made car steer a little odd!!! I think I am going to go visit Mullins or ProTyre this weekend and get alignment checked out. Question 4. If the alignment is fine, what the heck can it be. I had similar problems last year, which is why I got alignment done. I have attached my sheet from last July, and did not get rears done, but the rears approaching 40,000 and although not quite even wear still got another 3 or 4K in them. Any thoughts welcome.

Sounds like a plan all round, and if you sell onto chap who just missed out on the recent local 430, then even better. I wonder how many of us are around Glos area for a social gathering. Mind you my 400 looks like rather tatty compared to these pristine 430's being talked about

Tis a shame, especially as it had been for sale for a little while. Do let us know when you manage to get one on your drive.

I am always worried when soemone says the discs are warped. The problem of judder is due to un-even surface, mainly brake shoe deposits, or other cr*p embedded in disc surface. I assume some pads will deposit more junk, and hard braking and then leaving foot on brake will enable the disc heat to bind some of the pad onto the disc, so always foot of brake and put into park or use handbrake. Trouble is re-skimming a disc is usually as expensive as replacing. Lexus OEM parts are still around, I had mine done on front a few months back, about £350 (I recall) - this included new shims, and seemed like only about £100 more than going 3rd party. Been as good gold so far, and fingers crossed they will stay that way.

I assume that means if you need Mk4 set, just let them know and they use the same measurements they did for you. Must say they look nice, and will look at maybe getting mine changed, as at 200K my drivers side is now looking a bit sad, but fair play; all my other cars I would be on my 3rd or 4th set at such a mileage.

Ben, Might be worth giving Infinity exhausts (just of M4 Junction 18) a call. They can usually do most work while you wait. I did a visit for them to look before I booked in, but reviews indicate they are pretty good at quoting over the phone. They only do stainless work, and can rebuild cat boxes etc. They rebuilt my Y-piece in under an hour (I went for a 3 hour walk on bits of Cotswold way) If you want to have a day out (or even a few days in Cotswolds) might be worth considering. Only down side is naff all public transport (as far as I know), but Dyrham House (Nat Trust) is a 40 min walk away (through some fields and under the M4), or if into golf there is a course about 1 mile down the road.

Running with different tyres, especailly on front will produce all sorts of odd characteristics. As you say might be balancing, could be in need of proper full re-alignment, that always make a difference to drive, and in past has cured mild high speed vibrations I had. If rears are identical, then swap to see if it makes a difference. However even same tyres with different wear can create odd effects, though from my experience well before hitting 60mph. Might be worth getting full re-alignment done, but you could have Upper Control Arms on way out which can cause this, and some owners have reported drop links going that cause wobble, though generally at lower speeds. I have had problems with wobble (more like the feeling of driving over rumble strips) and cured some of them with new shocks on front. Other possibles, brake blocks moving around though once again usually at lower speeds. What is mileage of your LS as that might help other members come up with more focussed ideas. On the spare front, most people would say for runnning gear use LS original parts (for sure £££) but they last a long time. Some people use Amayama in Japan or Rock Auto in USA for original parts at better price. In terms of service places, Japex in High Wycombe, or Osaka in Newport (I know Osaka have customers who come down from Stafford way) I am sure other members will chip in with ideas to help, and maybe find a local garage that has some idea about what old LS suffers as it gently wears out.

I know what you mean. They do grow on you though, and I like them more than previous LS wheels. On the other hand my Omega of years ago had really nice Irmscher set, which I think were better looking than either.

I know it is bit out of your way, but Infinity Exhausts, Dodington Ash (Just off M4 junction for Bath), had mine done a few years back, Y piece gone, cannot recall exact price, around £200 i think, done while I waited (well went for a walk around the footpaths of James Dyson estate for a few hours. They seem to be of the view of you want a good repair they can do, if you want anything techically tweaked or pimped up can also do. 3 years on no problems with exhaust

You could check if it is boot seal, by gently pulling at boot seal, if it moves, then means the original mastic has dried and boot seal needs cleaning and re-seating or replacing. With both my Mk3 and Mk4, the water ingress was near the boot lock, not the clusters, even though the boot seal had actually gone near the rear window. Did once have a Cavalier where the clusters leaked, and the reason was a mild bump at back had moved the bulkhead by about 2mm, which was enough to ensure the new light cluster never sat correctly, and even with lots of silicone i could never get it to stop leaking.

Is your a Mk3 or Mk4, the back bulkhead changed between the two. My Mk3 did have a slight leak at one point, think it was just a case of taking out cluster and reseating. On Mk4, I would have thought water ingress much less likely. Do you know if it is for sure coming in the where the cluster is, or whether it is is maybe coming in from top of boot seal and working its way around the boot until it appears near the cluster.

240K for cam belt is madness, but not sure what the recommendation for water pump is.

Still on original water pump which surprises me, but it sounds fine, a very very slight whine, but been like that for the last 30K, so may not get to 240,000 which is only about 3 years away. Still amazes me how ruddy good these cars are at this age and mileage. Getting a few niggly rattles at slow speed on some roads, so need to work out where they are coming from, but at 70mph on the motorway as quite as a dragonfly fart.

199800 - I have 3 full-road-width speed ramps I need to traverse every day on way to work and then back. One of them is quite severe in incline and at 15-20mph will put shocks under stress, so I assume after 5 years of these they helped create earlier failure. I assume the people who hit them at 30mph either have company cars, or are not aware of how shocks hate these beasrts of the road. Was out with a mate of mine for beer last friday, he traded his Mk4 for a 430 2 years back, and now he has saggy air suspension (goes down over about 1 hour). Suggested he goes for coilovers, as he only wanted a 430 for the cooler cabinet. He is also fidning out that not having stainless steel exhaust is another pain. Having been in brand new 430 when they came out and 400 when new, the 430 was a different experience, but a tight 400 IMHO is a perfectly acceptable ride, and mechanically more robust over 20 years. There is one other thing I noticed last night. This is that up until Monday if I parked up and then after that drove off with full lock, the car felt like the car was sliding in direction opposite to lock. That problem is no longer, so I guess the car felt like it was sliding as the spring compressed with no absorbtion of pressure to protect it. It was a really weird feeling, almost like the wheel was going to come off it's bearing. Maybe that is one way to test if shocks are completely shot. Not expecting to have this problem for the lifetime of my ownership of the car.

I will admit that it is not as good as a Notting Hill Carnival setup, but it sounds pretty annoying to my missus if I am out cleaning the car with the music turned up. Anything louder in a car is surely going to re-arrange your internal organs, and the purpose of LS is to cosset you.

I believe they are OEM, and I recall when I took car for inspection a few weeks back, they said having had LS400 with KYB shocks on is never the same as going for original and they have replaced a number of aftermarket shocks when quite new because they made ride not at all good.. They did say it is not cheap to do it right. So bill was £735 - that also included fitting of new stabiliser bushes, which were starting to go. Each shock was £202 + VAT. Not cheap, but with suspension and control arms my preference is for OEM. On way home tonight I could feel the back end shocks as being not too good (on some speed humps), but I think I can live with that for rest of year, and then look at what needs to be done. Also asked about the cambelt (now on 60K) and was told not to worry about that for a while yet. One other thing with new shocks was noticeable lowering of road noise on some of the cruddier motorway surfaces along the M4, not as quite as being in a field with only the noise of butterflies and whispering grass, but will allow my wife to make herself heard more clearly when telling off for undertaking (as i was filtering left off the M5 coming south to go towards Wales last weekend), DOH!

Just had new fronts shocks fitted by Omega in Newport. Only one day driving so far, but amazed at the difference. No tramlining and the car does not crash about like a knackered old Land Rover when it traverse that great British institution - the lesser and larger spotted pothole. Also corners without trying to dive into the tarmac, and the bounce from putting on parking brake has gone. Not sure whether to get the rears done, as that is another wad of cash, but I suspect changing them will make the car even better. Need to give it a proper try out on a trip down to cornwall in a few weeks, and see if I can persuade wife to let me part with some more cash.

Matthew, Cannot recall your previous work on car from your other posts, but when I had ECU problems in Mk3, it never behaved like yours, mainly it would run at 600 to stall, never ran up to 1200. However on Mk4 I now have I had something similar and it was throttle body that needed a good clean. Also had new plugs fitted at last MOT and that has cured the odd gear shifts I got. Never had limp mode (only had that in an Omega - which was auto-box playing up), or vac light. Admittedly my Mk4 is 2 years younger, but the ECU is not showing any of odd problems, so if it is leaking it has not (to date) gone AWOL like the one in my Mk3 was doing. I know what you mean about curing one problem seems to highlight other niggles (and sometimes bigger issues), so best of luck

Totally agree, had a near miss last year driving from Cirencester to Stroud when a deer popped out onto road. I was doing 60 the car coming the other way was doing 60, it was night and when we were about 100 foot apart this deer thundered out of a hedge. Thank heavens for decent brakes. So when driving scenic routes I tend to chiil down to 30, but even at that speed I have side swipped badgers (out early evening), taken out rabbits on Watership down, and had many a near miss with grouse/pheasants and the odd cyclist (not there fault - I am a cyclist and living in Cotswoldds you hope cars on scenic roads are not trying to do a Fangio). As to motorhomes, when spending time in USA, saw motorhomes the size of National Express Coach towing a runnabout (full on Range Rover), would not wanted to have been meeting that on some of the backroads around Maine.

My view is that all these small cars look blinking huge, makes me feel like the LS400 is a Tardis, as it essnce only 40% bigger than that iQ, but probaly feels 100% bigger inside the LS. Now an original mini against an LS, the mini would be true to its name.

Never heard if the NC500 until this post, but looking at it it seems like this is a 5 day journey with lots of breaks to soak up the views (or the haar), why would you want to rush around in a day or two. Reminds me of many years ago while at the Liverpool Garden Festival in 1984, staying at a B&B in Chester and there was this American couple who had planned this trip Day 1 - Heathrow to Edinburgh Day 2 - Edinburgh - Ben Nevis drive by - Stranraer Day 3 - Northern Ireland Day 4 Southern Ireland to cork Day 5 Swansea to Chester (they were looking a bit ragged by now) and they reckon they could not find an castles in Wales (for real) Day 6 Chester to Lands End Day 7 back to Heathrow Nothing like watching great countryside just fly by the window😵 before getting back on a plane

Those single track roads in Scotland do drop the mpg. Recently up in Kinloch Rannoch, most of the runnning around in a mates Volvo V40, sure it was more fuel efficient but no way as nice as trundling my tank along the road from Pitlochry to Kinloch, though nearly ran over a red squirrel (maybe LS to quite for them to hear!!!) The run back was Kinloch, to Arbroath (for lunch) then back to Cotswolds via quick detour into Dundee, and though a long drive, felt well less worn out than my mate in his V40.

So far can only find ghost lights for LS430 and 460, none so far for the 400, so wondering if we are out of luck with our first gen LS purchase