Steviewevie

Is the engine check light currently on ? It would be useful if you had an OBDII reader and you could check what is happening each time it cuts out. e.g. is it always producing the same codes when it cuts out and turning on the engine check light ? Then you can reset the light and see what happens next time. I'm not suprised that changing the plugs didn't help, given they'd be recently changed anyway. Cutting out could be for lots of reasons, but I'm wondering if the codes are misleading and whether they do or do not happen each time ?

I don't think there's any reason the Snow light will flash unless there's some sort of electrical glitch. Water ingress seems the mostly likely reason, and given that it's been raining a lot in the last couple of days, that could be connected - e.g. a windscreen seal that is now perishing ? How long have you had the car ? It's unlikely that you will know for sure whether the windscreen was replaced by a previous owner unless you've had it from new. What maker's mark is on the windscreen ? I would check for signs of water around the fuse box on the driver's side in the footwell. Otherwise it's possible there's a loose connector or something like that, e.g. if you've had the dash out recently (your signature says you've put LEDs in your dash).

The Security light will stop blinking when either the master or "sub" (valet) keys are inserted. The difference between them is that if you insert a master key, the Security light turns off straight away. If it's a sub key, then the Security light stays on for a second before extinguishing :)

Have you had your windscreen replaced in the recent past ? It does sound like water getting into the electrics.

Looking at the online manual, the carrier is described as a "torque plate" and the other bit is described as the caliper. I naively assumed that both bits together were the "caliper", so I guess that strictly speaking if you don't get the carrier then that's fair enough, although the picture is still misleading (not like they're showing the whole thing mounted on the car). They still would have to be "brand new" as described though.

Really ? Items like this one on eBay say "brand new", surely they can't be reconditioned if that's how they're described ? It doesn't include the carrier as shown in the picture ? Well that's a total rip-off then ! :duh:

Are you sure ? Assuming it's accidental and comes at a time when you're not expecting it, as opposed to deliberately inducing it ? Oversteer is potentially a lot more dangerous if it comes on you suddenly, e.g. on a wet and greasy road.

I would tell him that you know someone else only paid £32 for a set, offer him the same and don't budge any higher !

989,511

Nice pics, Mr Mole ! :D

The kevlar belt should in theory be stronger and more durable. But I don't see it'll make any difference if you stick to the OEM schedules for change, i.e. 60K miles or 6 years.

I don't remember edeath saying anything else was changed, I'm pretty sure he just got the new shocks and that was it.

Yeah, I think they just added that control valve, as you say. And that change appears to have only been on the IS300 (including IS300 SportCross), not IS200. Whilst I don't know for sure, I would guess that any part number changes weren't changing the spec as such but just very minor things to do with maybe reliability etc ? I would be amazed if the KYB Excel-G shocks aren't absolutely fine.

How much more do we need to raise to get you to promise to dress up as Borat, Steve ?

That's a very good price then ! :D

X reg I think. Do you have a reference for that ? According to section 7 of this they were gas-filled from the start.

Does that include the idler and tensioner too ?

Happy Birthday ! :D

Don't put new tyres on the front if you're only changing two, it's generally recommended that you put new tyres on the rear, i.e. so that you've got most grip on the rear. Otherwise you could get into nasty oversteer situations.

edeath reported that when WIM changed his OEM shocks for KYB Excel-G shocks, they said that the new ones (KYB) were identical to the old OEM ones that they were taking off.

Yes, that's the one. ok, so it sounds like the expansion tank is empty, as suspected. Just get some coolant from Toyota (don't use plain water ! Get the proper coolant) and top it up. It's probably fine if it's not overheating, don't panic. Just get it topped up when you can.

I don't really think an upgraded timing belt is worth it, a standard one should be good enough. That does sound a pretty good price including the tensioner and idler too. You can easily take out the pollen filter yourself (a 30 second job) and see how clean/dirty it is, then decide whether you think it needs changing. You just need to release the sides of the glovebox to let it drop right forward, then pull off the cover where there filter goes, then the pollen filter just slides out.

Another great story of LOC members helping each other out, that's what it's all about ! :D

Welcome. You're right there should only be one offset. I don't know where you've seen these two figures referred to exactly, but I can try and make a guess (which might of course be wrong) as to what was being referred to. Perhaps someones was talking about a range of offsets for suitable wheels, or perhaps different offsets for front/rear ? Sometimes people do run different width wheels at front and rear, with different offsets. Sorry that I can't help you any more, as I really don't know a lot about the GS.

Well, it's still the person in the moving car's fault for hitting a stationary car, even if it was parked illegally. Just like if you came around a blind corner and hit a car up the rear that was legally parked though you didn't see it till too late. It would be more complicated if the moving car had knocked over a child crossing the road by the school, and the driver said that their view of the child was obstructed by the illegally parked car. That actually might help the defence of the driver, I would have thought (assuming their view really was impaired by the parked car). I didn't know it was 3 points for parking there either. But that's pretty sensible, and it really needs enforcing.