The-Acre

I didn't realise two screws were hidden by the steering wheel, easy when you know! I was actually only wanting to get the housing off to get access to the clock spring which I'm hoping will arrive tomorrow. I thought that if I asked for info for that I may not get any replies, it's apparently not a very common issue with a Lexus. Anyway, it's all in bits, all I've got to do now is get the steering wheel off the splines! One thing I've learned from this is the importance of letting the capacitors in the air bag loose their power for a good 15 minutes before removal. I've not had to learn the hard way I hasten to add! £244 for a new clock spring from Lexus, hopefully my German purchase for £30 will be OK. The horn not working was the only reason for an MOT failure, more than happy with that! Thanks again for the help.

Welcome to the LOC. I may be wrong but I thought this was for the headlight leveling. If it is I believe one of our members has made some. Give Steve 2006 a pm, I'm sure he won't mind me suggesting it!

Thanks all for the info, I'll give it a go tomorrow.

You should get a decent 01-02 for 2-3K as these are just before the face-lift. History is vital, and remember there can be issues with suspension which is costly to repair. Even so, a massive amount of car for not much money. Keep us posted.

Is it the two that release the air bag?

Welcome to the LOC. If there was a choice between buying this and travelling on the Titanic, I'd take the ship! Look up the sellers name in a search.

I don't know if yours has the perforated seats like the LS430 and others, but if you do, you can look forward to the blower in those heated seats blowing out a warm version of everything that's fallen down those tiny holes over the years So enjoy it while it lasts!

I can't find this doing a search, so can someone tell me how to remove the plastic housing around the steering column? All I can see is one screw underneath, but that doesn't seem to release anything. Thanks

Sounds pretty good to me, especially when you consider what you would have paid for a conversion a few years ago! Interesting to see how you get on with it.

my MOT is due in April and this has made my blood run very cold hmmm I've owned two LS 400's, a 93 and a 99 with not one failure in 7 years, I'd sit by the fire and let your blood warm up again!

Is the price for both sides, and does it include bulbs?

If it was me, and the body was good, and it ran well, I'd certainly have it done. You won't find anything to replace it with that's as good, and that will last many more years. Mine went for an MOT this week, and apart from it not passing because the horn doesn't work (which I knew about) the only advisory was a chip on the windscreen. Not bad for a 13 year old!

Mike, maybe you do this already, but I find that logging in with Google Chrome makes everything accessible, including a right click for spell check, and adding links etc. When I log in with Internet Explorer it's not much good. Phil

The clock spring or squib ring appears to be the culprit. I can't imagine what Lexus would charge for one of these! Fortunately I've sourced one from Germany via ebay for £43 including delivery. It won't even be worth doing a tutorial on this as it must be so rare for it to fail. I've never had one fail in 43 years of motoring.

Has anyone ever heard of this happening to a Lexus? Trying to trace the fault re my horn not working, I seem to have traced it back to the clock spring (the part that allows the steering wheel to move and still provide electrical contact) I'm assuming they can't be repaired, so it looks like a breakers. Has anyone ever removed one? I wouldn't have thought it was all that complicated.

I read on a US forum that duff height sensors can cause this. Only £360 + each!! They often seize but you can take them apart and free them up, which sometimes works. Not difficult to remove either.

Well I had a good look at this today, but no joy. I checked all the connections that I could access, including the fuse. Thanks to Brendans post I got the horn pad/air bag off very easily, but all seems fine. Does anyone have any ideas? It's going in for an MOT next week and if I can't sort this out, it'll mean taking it somewhere and no doubt paying through the nose. Very occasionally the horn will work very briefly, although it hasn't made a squeak for the past week. Thanks.

It wouldn't concern me making the journey. Many times you hear of the old timing belt looking like new when its removed.

52K miles? wear does cost; can't deny physics? But: do bushes, etc., decay with AGE as well as miles? certainly the cam belt is supposed to be 60K, OR 4 years. How about other rubber? (Nice car at banger price here though!Pity it's Beige) To be honest I would rather have one with normal mileage. A big V8 isn't designed for sitting around, and short journeys (if that's what it had) won't do them any good. I wouldn't mind betting an engine with 200K motorway miles would be in better condition than one the same age with 52K.

It does look nice, which makes me wonder what was so special about the red one that sold for £4,000!

Congratulations on your new purchase. I'm considering going over to the dark side with an E Class estate......maybe

My quote was for the water pump and cambelt kit. If I intended to keep the car I would have the pump done at the same time. Others may disagree!

On the LS430 and LS400 the cost of the cambelt seems to vary from £250-£500 depending where its done. I wouldn't have it done without replacing the water pump, and for that I was quoted £500 in total by a Lexus specialist. And as Brendan said, standard unleaded is fine.

Welcome to the LOC Bet you're glad fuel has come down!! Actually, I don't really find that having a 4.3 is that bad if (and that's a big if) I drive sensibly.

So now we know, if anyone wants any advice, whether car, pets, gardening or even relationship advice, post it in the LS forum. BTW, anyone know when to prune fuscias.....