Cotswold Pete

Went out and bought the Sonichi S100 from Halfords, nice little unit works well in the LS400. Mind you it is clear - even to a deaf old g*t like me - that FM is better (when you can get a signal). I bought the Sonichi external aerial, which worked okay placed on rear parcel shelf, until condensation on rear screen yesterday made a mockery of the radio. So I tried last night on way home with the aerial mounted on roof (by nearside front pillar), but above 20mph, you get this annoying whistle (and what the LS being quiet even at 60mph - this noise was a pain), so I now have it mounted at base of window pillar (on nearside - looks a little heath robinson) and it does not whistle. Living in the Cotswolds there are some spots where DAB will not work (and FM is poor) due to the depth of the valleys, so would be nice to see if just using FM aerial would be better or worse and save on having the little whiplash stuck to front wing. I am not keen on having a rear mounted roof DAB aerial, as would like to make sure the LS400 can be kept as original as possible, while making it accept all this new tech. So I have got to thinking whether it might be an idea to split into the FM aerial, and wondered if anyone has tried this, and what the results were.

John, Driving like the vicars wife should see the pads last a lifetime. I had new ones fitted 40,000 miles ago, and they are still only 30% worn, and every day I have to descend a 600foot (1in 7) hill and probably drive more like the vicars wife when she is late for the ladies lunch, so I am surprised they have not worn down a lot more. As to a Range Rover 4.6, lovely cars expect when they go wrong, which from my bosses experience is reasonably often. Mind you nice and high up, and as quite as LS (maybe more so on rough road surfaces).

I think we used to be in this thing called the EU, and everything went metric!!!! 35Kw is 50HP. I assume capacity is not the measure, as fitting a supercharger to a moped would make that 50cc beast a lot of horsepower (or kw if you like). This must mean that the LS400 is a 200Kw motor, but the romance of 200 electric fires is not the same as 300 healthy four legged mustangs under the bonnet.

Flooded mine twice (Mk4) my own stupid fault, and easily done. If you start and then drive less than about 200 yards you find fuel is still running a bit too rich and so the chambers are a little flooded, and you have to floor the pedal on a re-start. Otherwise if you really have to only move a few yards and then shut off engine (coz you do not want to be breathing in fumes while loading the boot), then just let her tick over for about 30 seconds at stationary, move it and then you should be okay (well from my experience). In the winter if you do flood the beast, even leaving the car for 24 hours is not enough to let petrol evaporate.

Does look good, might look at getting mine done when I get around to tidying up my LS. Was it a one day job or longer

An LS is like being addicted to caffeine, it makes you feel good, you can give it up, but life will never be the same again. Having a modern frugal fuel beast is like having too many pints of Stella, you never know when things might get nasty

Maybe you could create a LS400 car pool for those of us who might need one while our ones are in for some major work. Just choose a lock-up in the middle of UK and away you go!!!

Totally agree with you on this, which is one way the LS400 stops me being so enthusiastic, which is no bad thing (until I get stuck behind Mr & Mrs Pootle-Along and Short overtaking gaps, then I wish...) But a manual box with superchargers might make me end up in a ditch somewhere.

Whatever you do, using both has to be done, as no car (not even an LS) likes to be left standing. A supercharged version would be interesting though!

Diesel is the spawn of the devil, and from my experience the best technology for destroying the atmosphere, as well as the actual engine itself. What you save by not having to keep tinkering with a LS more than makes up for the money spent keeping a diesel together. Good to hear the government are looking at removing diesels, and heaven help anyone who has a DPF that is cleaned by a fuel wash into the sump (what a crazy idea that is - Mazda, and no doubt others). The LS is a lean burn 4 litre petrol and long may it help save the planet.

Same here, or when I load up with junk for the tip. It's going onto the list of things to look at for next service, as was told at last service all the bushes were up to scratch, and had new rear spring fitted. To be honest it does not bother me as it is so infrequent, but anything rubbing when it should not be - I guess - should be sorted

An LS400 for the Knight Rider, if only I could get a Hasselhoff barnet to match!!!!

I rely more on that orange light even in the Mk4, then when it gets really low, the message low fuel comes up, but never risked working out exactly how much is left at that point, but I reckon about 20 to 30 miles commuting.

Siesta time But don't tell the boss

I suspect the rain tomorrow might give it a good test. Usually parking with front of car facing slightly downhill is enough to test whether water comes in (as it is in your original photo) I checked by placing a little rag under the plastic cover just by where the boot lock is and checking to see if it got damp (which it did not) Fingers crossed for you as well

I would think it is not to do with fuel evaporation, unless you have an issue with a leak or some other issue in the fuel line where the heat causes the crack (or whatever it is) to expand and you have a pressure feed issue. Just one other thought (based on experience with Mk2 and the failing/stalling ECU problem) is the ECU electronics maybe misbehaving a bit due to heat. I always had more issues with the ECU when it was hotter. Not sure (and others may have some different thoughts) as to whether fuel pump may be starting to give you gip. My Mk4 fires up no problem and the last few days it has registered 27/28C sat outside of work.

Had this twice with the Mk4, seems like not many tyre mechanics check the clearance, and it is pretty tight. Last time it was my MOT man who spotted the issue, as the rubbing was so slight could not really hear anything when driving.

Had same problem with Mk2 and current MK4. Cheapest route, pull off old seal, clean out the groove, and then fill groove with silicone, and ease back onto the boot lip. The water getting in generally enters about where the boot latch is, but in fact appears to get up into the seal somewhere near the top of the boot, which is why you really need to take the whole strip out and clean it. I clean out the cr*ppy old mastic with a cloth and blunted flat head screwdriver (means you do not damage the seal when cleaning). Takes about 60 to 90 mins, and saves a fortune.

Gear box total change - had mine done at 150K, it was really smelly and in need of change. Cost was about £180, and made a big difference to the gear changes. The specialist I went to reckoned a full change every 40K is a good thing, though he said he had seen LS and GS with really old oil and no failures in the auto-boxes (unlike BMW and Audis he had dealt with). Not had the diff done, and various garages say different things, but my view is anything mechanical needs new lubrication at some point, so will be getting diff done some time in next year.

I had the same, just disconnected the darned thing. One day I will sort it, might try creating a new float out of some foam I have knocking about. I was not sure if the light staying on is a MOT advisory or fail, now that they are getting more fussy with MOT, this does assume MOT inspector checks the water bottle to see it is full, but sees the light still on.

I must admit my mechanic implied if things were broken they would be more expensive than this, but to be honest if it cost £100 + labour it is worth having a working handbrake. Maybe I'll get him to have a good poke about at next service.

Might be worth a try, especially as every morning the dent catches my eye, and then later on I will get it sorted properly, as I feel the need to get my car back to great looking motor it was before all the other paint work damage, and get the headlights polished back, and the leather seats a good old clean. At least when driving I cannot see how shabby the LS is looking!!

Glad it is sorted, never thought of reverse polarity. I always take my battery out to charge, and being an trained in electrics, always double - double check polarity, as in the old days when I played around with valves, 400v reverse polarity creates some interesting pops and bangs.

That's a thought, could have been a tourist climbing a tree to get a better view, and fell on the car while trying to get a better selfie

Does make no real sense, it would be as if all the live side had shorted, and for 4 to do it seems odd. Any chance you can see by taking out all 4 fuses whether the 4 lives have all found a common connection. Other than that not at all sure without having access to a wiring loom diagram. Not sure if it would work where you take out the four fuses, then turn on ignition and insert fuses one at a time. Someone else might know whether this is likely to create more mayhem or not. I have had a few flat batteries over the years and never had a 'weird' problem like this.