Steviewevie

ok thanks. Sorry, I couldn't remember the timing of when you had your springs done and the ARBs fitted.

Thanks guys. I found a very old posting from Rob in the Workshop section here which says there are three different types of tray, looks like I've got the first one. Wish I found that post a bit earlier

Can I suggest a little change to the walkthrough to say that if the felt pad doesn't pop out easily, it might be screwed in ? As for the head unit, good question, I need to start looking ! Think I might just go for a single DIN unit, I don't really need DVD/satnav etc, then perhaps I could get a more decent sound if I'm concentrating on CDs ?

Many years ago, I was on the M25 when it turned into sheet ice without any warning. The police had closed the road ahead but there were still a few cars on the bit I was on. This was while the M25 was still being completed, not nearly as busy as it is now ! I will never forget the terrifying feeling of pressing the brakes, all four wheels locking (no ABS on that car) and the car feeling like it was going *faster* with the wheels locked, and totally out of control. Luckily I ended up scraping against the central crash barrier and using that as my "brake", not hitting any other cars and escaping without injury. I know what you mean about that feeling of having no control of the car whatsoever. My experience was about 20 years ago or so but I can remember it like it was yesterday !

ok, this one had me stumped for a little while. I needed to remove my head unit (the dreaded ERR3), so I followed Wozza's walkthough. The first step is removing the dash tray, the bit with the central air vents, as shown below (mine is a plain version without Navigator). ok, so according to the walkthrough you lever off the felt pad in the centre top of the tray, to get at the screws that are holding the tray down. This is the weird bit. After using more and more force to try and get the thing off (which wouldn't budge), I ended up breaking off the felt pad. It turns out that the felt pad was screwed down into the dash tray via screws from the underside (which explains why I couldn't lever it off !), see pics below including the broken bit (which I plan to glue back together). Also, it turns out that my dash tray isn't held down by screws at all, it just yanks out. So actually there was no need for me to remove the felt pad at all, doh ! But how was I to know this ? Look, no screws ! So, what's going on ? Is this something that is just on early cars ? Mine is a 1999 model Sport.

Are you sure that's the ARBs and not just your springs though ? I hesitate to say it - but you have installed new springs over worn dampers. Could it be highlighting a problem with your dampers ? I may be totally wrong though. My roads aren't too bad here, but I must say I've noticed no difference whatsoever in ride quality. Back to the pricing, a similar issue will probably exist now with the Hotchkis ARBs, i.e. they'll be a lot more expensive now with the much less favourable exchange rate vs the dollar. If you could find a UK supplier with some ARBs in stock then you might well get the best deal. Previously I decided against those TTE ARBs at TDi because they were a little bit pricey, but I would think the price has become a lot more attractive now (if they've still got them !) because of the price on imported ARBs going up.

Yes, I think so. Yes, it sounds like it !

You got a date yet for when this work is going to start ?

990,746

Front sensor location Rear sensor location Get the garage to check the ABS is all working ok, e.g. see the procedures here

I could be wrong about this, but I *think* that the TRC system uses the ABS sensors, i.e. to detect the speed at which the wheels are turning. It's possible that an ABS sensor might have been damaged during the repair work.

Blimey, glad to hear you're ok ! Take it easy out there everyone, black ice is real nasty stuff !

List price £59.96 including VAT from Toyota/Lexus.

Toyota/Lexus ?

I've got the C-One ARBs on mine, and they're awesome, definitely not too stiff for normal road use, fine over potholes etc. I've got the OEM suspension, edeath has mentioned that in conjunction with his lowering springs he finds his a bit crashy sometimes. What put me off the Cuscos was the fact that they seem to have increased the stiffening far more at the front than the rear compared to the other ARBs, so I was concerned that would affect the handling characteristics. The TTE ones should be good too and I know Wozza loves his. When you're pricing and comparing, bear in mind whether new bushes are included or not (they're not included with the TTEs), since if you install new ARBs and use bushes that are quite old and worn (depending on your mileage etc) then you might not be getting the best out of them. Also, the C-Ones come with new mounting brackets for the front ARB which is *much* stronger than the OEM ones which look very flimsy in comparison (again, getting more out of the increased stiffness of the new ARBs). I believe the increased price of the C-Ones from Prolex now reflects the fact that the pound has plummeted against the Yen (since they're bought in from Japan).

Yeah it's as Aido suggests, it's suddenly changing the amount of throttle applied even though your foot is in the same position, that's the slight jolt you're feeling, nothing to do with the diff.

Check this thread Mine is a 99 too. On the first press the deadlocks are engaged. A second press disables the internal movement sensors. This changed on later cars so that a second press was needed to engage the deadlocks.

Take the HID bulb and holder out. Then find the original car's headlamp lead, which will be plugged into the HID ballast (the metal box of electronics that makes the HID work). Remove this lead from the ballast, plug a regular HB4 bulb into it, then insert that into the headlamp unit. Job done.

:o Try it at your own risk but I wouldn't put an acidic cleaner anywhere near my wheels, let alone something designed for cleaning bricks ! You shouldn't need an acidic cleaner even for very marked wheels, if you use the right sort of stuff.

Don't assume that what one person's car does for this is the same as yours though, Lexus changed it part-way through the IS200's life, so it depends on the model year etc. As Aido said, check the manual that came with your car, and/or do a test yourself by sitting in it, as he suggested.

The HIDs need a very high voltage to ignite the gas, then a lower voltage to keep them running. So you see a bright flash as they start up, then they settle down to their normal voltage and brightness etc. So yes, as others have said, this is normal, even on OEM HIDs.

Thanks. I've already got the button out but no bulb is visible and I haven't been able to get the case off. So the case should just unclip ? I'll have to have another look, it wasn't obvious.

I might be being thick here, but I've got a similar problem, i.e. the bulb is not working on my TRC/Snow button. I have taken the button unit out( i.e. the two buttons inside a plastic case), but I can't see how to get to the bulb or any way to take it apart. Do I need to prise the covers off the buttons from the front ?

Aargh, more post editing (without explanation), couldn't you have put that in a new post ?! By you adding it in to your original posting, it makes it looks like I have ignored that particular point of yours. I am actually trying to help Fever and fellow LOC members here, believe it or not. Maybe in a misguided fashion, who knows, but I'm getting the impression here that you think that *I* am the boogey man trying to stir up trouble. Edit - and I see that you've edited your posting *again* even after your previous edit that I just referred to, to now include a quote of a previous post of mine, so again you make it look like I'm not responding to that bit :duh:

Mat, let's say you were sold an endowment policy several years ago by a financial adviser and were totally happy with it. Then two years later some other customers of the same financial adviser found they were mis-sold the same product, and various promises about it (e.g. its returns/payout/projections) turned out to be untrue. Would you not want to know anything about it because it was two years old and you were happy ?