The-Acre

There's a place in East Worthing, just down the road from you that did mine for £36 including VAT. It seems to be their price for all cars. Let me know if you go there and we'll meet up for coffee. Takes about an hour and a half. http://www.elitegarages.co.uk/worthing/air-con.php BTW, the place we go to in Hove are £65+

That's what I've been told, gimmicky stuff just for the sake of it. How wrong that is. What joy today to have a cold back and bum!

May be worth contacting this company to see if they do one for your car? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/940433-NISSENS-CONDENSER-ALUMINIUM-A-C-AIR-CONDITIONING-LEXUS-LS430-01-/181760670619?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a51c7bb9b

A good result then, and don't worry about putting a curse on the weather by getting it fixed, I can't cope with this heat so you may have done me a favour!

So is there a leak somewhere? I know the gas can breakdown over a long period, but for there to be such a small amount in the system.

Glad you got it sorted. As you know the full fix is expensive with having to take out the fuel tank etc, so it seems to me that capping it is the way forward. I'd be more than happy to pay £100, sounds like a bargain. My last two LS400's didn't have rear air con and they got plenty cold enough. And you've got it done just in time with this weeks heatwave forecast!

When I had mine fitted last week they checked that the clutch was engaging before re-gassing, obviously they only ran it for a couple of seconds, so maybe it disengages fairly quickly if there's no gas?

Let us know how it goes, and how and where they cap it. I think AC in the front only is plenty good enough, it's that way on most cars anyway.

I think the compressor will engage even without gas. My last LS400 air con stopped working but the compressor still engaged, and it was holding gas OK. I bought a compressor from a breakers for £75 had it fitted and all was fine. I've just replaced the compressor on my 430, again from a breakers, this time only £50 + £10 postage, had it fitted and gassed and all was fine for a short time but then it stopped. Now it seems OK again, been blowing cold for a week, no idea why the sort term problem. If you do get one from a breakers, try to get one that's still on the car, if it's been laying around for ages it could dry the seals.

It would seem that if you were having trouble previously the mechanism could be kaput. As far as I know the same fuse is used for the fuel cap flap, so if that works you can rule out the fuse (which you've done) Have a look on the US forum where there are some posts regarding the boot, although you'll need to google "trunk". Have you tried disconnecting the battery for a while to see if it re sets the lock? BTW, welcome to the LOC!

Mine was fine for the first 9 months of ownership, including the winter months. The odd thing is, is that it seems OK now, I really don't understand it. I did have it re-gassed but that didn't help, then the replacement pump with another re-gas which was fine for a few minutes, but now four days later it all seems fine, and has been for a couple of days, weird!

Really you would be better off finding a member of the LOC who would check it for you. Lexus would only be interested if it was a car they were selling. If you've got a potential budget of 20k, maybe you should buy one of each and tell us all which is best! I guess you have to test drive the different models to see which one does it for you.

So where are you exactly that reached 41 degrees, not Lanarkshire that's for sure! and have you had your system checked to see if it holds pressure?

A good MK4 is getting hard to find, it's also now 15 years since production stopped. It all depends on your budget. Personally I would ignore all the negative stuff you read about the LS430, it is a superb car which is truly ridiculous value for money, and still looks good. Reported problems can be avoided fairly cheaply. The main concern is probably the air suspension, which may or may not give you problems. If you include in your budget the possibility of having one converted to coils struts, you have a car that you will love! If you can stretch to a 460 then you also have a corker. Either way, full service history is vital.

I believe my rear AC hoses were replaced with some kind of flexible ones by the previous owner. Still can't work mine out, it worked perfectly all day today!

I don't know why the window would rattle, but I do know the window switches on the MK2 can become a little difficult and slow. I remember one of mine being changed for that reason, easy to do. I would guess the rattle is just due to age and shrinking guides etc.

Hi Glyn, welcome to the LOC. Now you drive a car that you don't see every time you turn a bend! I rarely see another LS in my area, maybe 3 times a year. That's what I like so much about them!

The good thing is that you can buy a new condenser for about £100 (should you need one) I remember needing one for my old Volvo about 15 years ago and it was £400, although I do believe they saw me coming!

I've never found it makes any difference to fuel economy, if it does it must be negligible. It's better for the AC system to keep it in regular use anyway.

That's because what looks like a radiator at the front isn't. The radiator is an inch behind it.

I just don't understand the system. My wife has a 2003 1.4 Vauxhall Corsa, the tax on that is higher than it was on my 1999 LS400 with a four litre engine!

They did, in fact the guy doing it pointed out that it used more gas due to the rear air con. What seems to make a difference is putting my foot down, it seems to trigger something that makes it work. I first noticed this months ago, there would be no cool air until I started driving with fairly hard acceleration. I had the other compressor fitted to eliminate possibilities. Last week we went on a 70 mile or so drive in hot weather with no cold air, on the way back it suddenly started working, all very annoying.

Dave, you may know the answer to this. My air con has been playing up in that some days there's no cold air at all, other days its not too bad. I had it re gassed and the system has no leaks. I had another compressor fitted yesterday (known to be working) and it was fine for a few miles but soon went back to how it was. Today I went out ant it worked fine for a few miles, then nothing. Minutes later is was OK again. Any ideas?

I was also going to suggest the flanges. The Y piece is of course the most common problem, it needed doing on both my LS400's. No more than £50 to have a section welded on.

I think we are now drifting way off topic here but hey, apparently the RX8 engines have ceramic tipped rotors which wear quite rapidly so causing low compression and therefore poor/non starting issues. As for the original topic smells like a scam to me. Interesting that they were very keen to sell me this "absolute bargain" but completely ignored me when I requested a photo of the mileage and last service record! Also the seller/scammer said the ad was placed by a friend on multiple sites which is why it was advertised as being in Sutton, then turning out to be in Scotland. I've just checked my birth certificate and apparently I'm not one day old!