The-Acre

Good stuff. Did you take it to the new premises of Grove Garage?

For all you LS430 owners who have the thought of corrosion at the bottom of the radiator in the back of your minds! It may never happen, but as this was an easy job, at least I now don't have the concern of water in the transmission at some stage. The cooler (13 row) including hose and fittings was £66, and I had to get an engineer friend to make me two reducers from 12.5mm - 10mm. If I did it again I would try to find a kit that comes with 10mm hose rather than 12.5. The only other thing I needed was some metal brackets that I shaped accordingly. The cooler is fixed to the thick aluminium behind the bumper with stainless self tappers, and one more bracket at the top. The best part is that it was all done from the top, so no crawling under the car. I've taken it for a drive and all seems OK at this stage.

Hi Barry, Welcome to the LOC. I regularly see two SC430's here in Worthing, If you don't find anywhere local it may be worth travelling and having a day out when getting your car serviced. Just avoid the likes of Halfords etc! Maybe worth considering a Toyota dealer? Hopefully a Hampshire member will recommend somewhere. Enjoy your car, I think the SC430 is a great looking motor.

I went to my local Toyota dealer today and they said, "sorry, we only sell it in 5 ltr containers" I said I only want a small amount to fill the new cooler. The outcome was that I've booked it in with them for a full fixed price service and they're going to top up the transmission at the same time. So hopefully if I find the time to connect it all up at the weekend, it'll be topped up on Tuesday. As you say, their price was £60 for 5 ltrs. As it happens my brother is off to New York soon....hmmm

That's excellent, less than your new gear knob!!

Hi Rob, How was your first one, did it suffer with any of the common problems?

Thanks Colin, I suppose I shouldn't be so lazy, I will check the manual as well. I'll get some photos posted when the job is completed.

Feeling lazy after walking 40 miles in Cornwall, so instead of doing a search, do Toyota sell different fluids or only one? I've fitted my new cooler, and as it'll be connected in the next few days I need a small amount of transmission fluid. Thanks

I'll second that. I've had a MK2 & 4 and the 430 is slightly harder, but takes the corners like a sports car!

Yes, at least I'm assuming that's what Lexus call the AC filter, although I Know it has others in the seats etc. The one I took out did seem to have most of Southern England in it, including bits of birds! After doing a search (which I should have done first) I found the info on this forum, held the AC off button down for 3 seconds and the message has gone.

Thanks Steve, I really appreciate the gesture! I'll post some photos etc when it's done. £66 so far for the kit + some Toyota trans fluid.

Having worked away from home for nearly two months I've put this off, but finally got around to buying a transmission cooler to by-pass the radiator. I'll try to fit it tomorrow but won't be able to make the connections until the end of next week. Hopefully it won't be too bad a job. If anyone has any pearls of wisdom in the meantime they'd be appreciated. My thinking is to put it fairly high up to so it faces the open bonnet grille, any thoughts?

Did you know you can take the sensors apart to clean them? It's water ingress that messes them up, so cleaning them internally, and possibly putting a small amount of sealant on the casing before they go back together wouldn't be a bad idea. It was too late for me as I had to replace one a few months ago, and I think the other side may need doing as well. I think lubricating the linkage should be a service requirement. Interestingly, on the American forums there's much talk about "the lean" It seems that many LS430's especially early ones have a lean on one corner, my rear near side is about 20mm lower than the off side, but there's no loss of air. It seems to me that if one of these cars came up for a good price, with good history, it would be worth changing the shocks for coils, maybe getting the rear AC pipes replaced, and fitting a transmission cooler (I have one on order for delivery next week) it would then be a car that should last for years with no more problems than an LS400. It would cost a fair bit initially but may work out to be a good investment, just for peace of mind if nothing else. Apparently the air suspension still lasts longer than Mercedes and Audi, according to the US owners that is.

When my first LS went on a low loader after 5 years I was gutted, so I know exactly how you feel! I face the same predicament, I need a more practical vehicle and went to see an e class estate but it just wasn't the same. Volvo's are great cars, I've had two. All the best, and at least you know you'll be driving a safe car.

Does anyone know how to get rid of this? I had the message come up to say change AC filter, which I've done, but the message remains for a couple of seconds every every time I start up. Not really a problem, just slightly annoying. I'm also wondering whether the AC is as cold as it used to be, maybe related? Sorry, after doing a search I see the answer is already on the forum!!

I think that looks fab, makes it a little bit individual as well.

Hi Ross and welcome to the LOC!

If you follow the info in this thread you should be fine if you've got reasonable knowledge. Take photos or video to help when replacing. Most importantly bung the holes when the manifold comes off, dropping anything down there would be a disaster!

I honestly don't know if they would fit. This is my first lexus and i only bought it last month. I think they should fit though. Does you car have the tpms system. Mine doesn't have the TPMS system and I'll be looking for wheels without tyres anyway as my tyres are new.

I'll be monitoring your interest with interest Phil :) Just don't be too interested!

If they fit an LS430 with 17" wheels then they're not worth much at all, especially as I may be in the market!!!!! Although of course I'm not allowed to show any interest.

At last! After probably three hours or more trying to get to the bottom of this, the horn is working again with just 10 minutes work. Thanks to Steve's last post it made me think a bit more logically. The problem was that the steering column wasn't earthing properly, and as I found out, not at all uncommon, and on many different types of car. So all I did was add an earth link as seen in the photos.

Well the new clock spring arrived from Germany today. Unusually for a Lexus it was a very easy job, about 15 in all. And lo and behold, still no horn! After using a multi meter I was 99% certain it was the clock spring, fortunately it was only £30. It can now only be an earth issue (I hope) as when I yank the steering wheel round with the engine off, the horn will sometimes work with the tension kept on the wheel. Looking on line it seems that a horn not working due to a steering column not earthing properly isn't so uncommon. I've run out of time now so it has to go in next week to a local garage. Anyway, here's a picture of a Lexus clock spring (of which I now have two!) and which you are very unlikely to ever need to get to. PS The multi meter only showed 7-9 volts, which isn't enough to fire a 12V horn!

I will do for sure, just in case it happens to someone else. If it comes tomorrow I'll post over the weekend, otherwise I'll be working away in London so it'll have to wait until April.