Steviewevie

I've got C-One ARBs. I got them from Prolex, though of course he had to get them from Japan.

This is the wiring diagram for your OEM head unit/amp (assuming a Sport since that's what your profile says). According to that, if I'm reading it correctly (redz, do you agree ?) then there were two black wires coming from the amp to the OEM head unit, and one of them (the one going into pin 10) is the switched live (the other being for a speaker feed to the amp). That used to be connected to pin 10 of the connector on the amp leading to the head unit, so your amp bypass cable should be picking up this same feed and passing it to the head unit. Edit - ok, this has confused me slightly, but it looks like on the later cars (2001 on) the switched live feed was pin 11 on the OEM head unit, diagram here, and doesn't come from the amp itself. It is a grey wire on these later cars according to that diagram.

You might want to try taking the seat off and see if it's at least attached properly to the runners, guide here. If the seat needs further investigation inside it, there's a guide on taking it apart here. Something must be wrong somewhere there.

No, you're right, if you get the car WIM'd, then you lower it, the geometry will be altered so will need recovering again by WIM. Where I was coming from really was (just IMHO of course) if you were going to do these things separately over a period of time, what I think gives the most benefit etc. So if you were going to do springs and WIM together pretty soon, then that would be good. Although I think that if you put on uprated ARBs and got WIM'd you'd see an even bigger difference (putting uprated ARBs on might upset the geometry just slightly, but nothing like as much as lowering the car). Depends on whether you were going to get a whole bunch of things at once, or whatever. ARBs cost more than lowering springs though, so it's all a bit tricky doing the whole cost/benefit analysis ! :D If you were doing all three things separately over a period of time, I still think that the order that I put would be a good way to go about things, albeit with a re-WIM'ing being required with the springs.

IMHO the relatively straightforward mods/improvements that will make the biggest difference to handling, in desending order, are : 1. WIM 2. Uprated ARBs 3. Lowering springs (given that you mentioned springs as opposed to coilovers) The reason for putting WIM top is that you'll probably notice a fair bit of difference going in a straight line, whereas you won't notice new ARBs until you go round a corner (but when you do, what a difference !). The first two on there own will make a huge improvement.

When I referred to Blueprint, what I mean was that I was guessing they're made by a company called ADL Blueprint, who make a lot of parts for Japanese (and other cars). It was only a guess, I could be wrong, but you could ask the eBay seller where the parts are from. I don't have personal experience with them, but you might want to try searching for "blueprint" on the LOC forums. I seem to remember quite a few people saying they'd used their parts in the past, and that they seemed to be OEM quality, but I don't recall if anyone has tried their brake calipers.

I will gladly buy a caliper off eBay for you and ship if over to you, if you want and if that would help. Or the seller may ship to Sweden if you ask. Edit - according to the listing the seller will ship to other countries if you enquire about shipping costs.

There are brand new brake calipers on eBay for £100, e.g. this one. I presume that they are Blueprint parts. GS300 (Mark I) and IS200 use the same brakes. £360 sounds like the new price from Lexus/Toyota for that part. The alternative is repairing the caliper, depending on what is wrong with it (there's a kit available for about £60 from Lexus/Toyota for repairing/servicing a caliper). I don't see why you don't have a choice when you change your cam belt, if you want something for your service history then a receipt showing that it's been changed from an independent specialist should be just as good, surely ? I don't know what it's like in Sweden, but in the UK as the car gets older it becomes less important to have a service history with the manufacturer, just a service history. IMHO anyway.

There's a walkthrough on caliper painting here.

The original interval for the cam belt, which is in my Lexus service book, is 100,000 miles, you're right. But Lexus revised this down to 60,000 miles (90,000 km) or 6 years, whichever comes first. I think this was because they'd seen some belts in bad condition coming up to 100,000 miles. Considering the engine is an interference engine, meaning potential expensive damage to valves and pistons if the belt breaks, it's best to not take a chance on it. Also consider changing your water pump when changing the cam belt, since the drive belts all have to come off for that job too.

How much for a caliper and pads ? You need to shop around, don't get the parts from Toyota if they're going to charge you that much ! Your cam belt should be changed at 6 years or 60,000 miles (90,000 km).

989,659

If your calipers are working fine then there's no need to replace them. Just clean them up with a wire brush and some de-greaser (being careful not to get the pads all gunked up), and then paint them in your chosen colour. Several members on here have reported that the Mintex pads produce less dust than the OEM brake pads, though I haven't tried them myself (and beware of sets on eBay that seem too cheap, they're probably fake).

For some reason the coil packs seem to fail in pairs, so keep an eye out for that.

The common things to look out for are detailed here. Yes, cam belt should be done at 60K miles or 6 years.

There are some handy guides on posting up pictures here and here.

When does clutch fluid need replacing ? My Lexus service booklet doesn't give a regular interval for changing it. I realise that over time it will absorb moisture from the air, though I guess it's not as critical as something like brake fluid (which does have a recommended interval for change). Is it just a case of "if it looks really dirty then change it" ? Thanks in advance.

sorry to be a dipstick, but what do u mean?? not to hot on tech!! lol Stav's asking if you've got a link to the forum posting that you just mentioned about someone tripling the intake temp. If you go to that forum and look at the posting then the "URL" (the web address) for that posting should be in the address bar near the top of the screen, starting with "http://" etc. You can copy and paste that link into the forum here. Right-click on the link in the address bar and there should be a "Copy" option. Pick that, and then post here on LOC and right-click and use "Paste" to paste in that address here. Hope that helps !

In this section it gives the instructions for reinstallation, including the part number for the sealant, i.e. 08826-00080. If I was you I would check Toyota/Lexus for a price on that.

The orange is ok but IMHO it looks a bit dated these days. My dash is still orange at the moment, but I do intend to put some LEDs in there at some stage.

Try PM'ing Monster-Mat.

There are full wiring diagrams in the online workshop manual that Stav gave the link to :winky:

It does sound probably like a poor amp bypass lead. I certainly don't have the same problem with my own Pioneer head unit and an amp bypass lead. I would consider returning the amp bypass lead to the shop and asking for a refund since it doesn't work properly, and getting another one from somewhere else (e.g. eBay).

There's a bit including removing the sump here.

If you don't have a master key, then I imagine a mobile locksmith will be able to help you out at a cheaper price than a Lexus dealer. I'd try ringing around some and asking.