is200 Newbie

I posted a "How To" in the guides section An easy job - all you need other that the standard tools is the oil filter housing removal socket. It can be a messy job without the aid of a ramp so I would expect there will be very few videos around as no ones going to hold a camera while doing this..

The tow hook area does look a bit iffy as if its been towed at some point and the weight of the car has distorted the plastic around the bumper Got to question why ?

That's handy to know - checked mine tonight and it had fault codes running back to 2009 / 2011 and 2012- have reset them all to see if they re-occur. I can see the reverse camera calibration becoming handy for some people. Was hoping to see if it would report on a non working DVD player but stated it was "OK" Anyone know of any other "secret" menu's ?

It will be worth your while for a blast up North to get it done Also its a good idea to get the other belts replaced while they are at it as they need to come off to get to the cam belt - shouldn't cost you any more in labour as they need to put the belts back on, only cost will be for the new belts

That's a horrific price ..... I had this work done on my 2004 IS200 at the end of 2012 and it cost me £300 from Lexus Chester - I did ask them if their initial quote could be reduced and they did reduce it. Its the only work on the car that I would insist Lexus carries out - just for piece of mind that the jobs done to spec as a wrongly fitted belt change can damage your engine.

Could this be an issue with your brakes? With the car stored for a while they could have seized up - in pressing the brake pedal you are not getting enough travel in order to light the start button and in turn start the car Just a thought ...

so .... when it clicks over to 0 again ... it will be a new car !!

Nice job on the lights Has it altered the beam at all (brightness etc...) and any idea if this will pass the MOT I wont mind giving this a go myself when I have a bit of time

Any updates?

Nice job ... did you do that yourself ?

As with Colin above who pointed me in the right direction when mine went - if you want the correct OEM sensors then you need to source these from the USA. And like previous posts and what Colin has also confirmed, the cheap ones will require soldering to the existing wiring. If you do opt for the cheaper ones and solder them then you will have to remove all of the parts you will have had to remove if you had bought the OEM ones so its false economy really. Cost for mine fitted (for 2) was £680 through Lexus - cost for parts I sourced from the USA was £150 but I fell lucky in not paying duty. To be honest, the longer you leave it, deciding what to do and searching for them in the UK (and they are not available here unless purchased from Lexus probably on a weeks lead time), then the longer the car will be running rich unless its off the road in the meantime. Sourcing from the USA will take a week and a bit to be delivered so you need to factor in this time to get them delivered and possibly another week to get the car in to the garage to get them fitted unless you are doing them yourself - frankly, seeing the state of one dead sensor I took out of mine I personally would not run the car with two gone so the longer its left the more damage could be occurred. The only damage I can see this creating is cokeing up the cats and also damage to the down stream air sensor 2 (one on each pipe) ... if your cats do go (not sure how hot they get to burn off any soot/fumes) then you will be looking at a few thousand pounds to replace your exhaust and a further sum in replacing the sensors.

I would use an OEM part to replace this as its an important part that will control how the car will run. When I was looking for a replacement sensor I found quite a few cheap ones which were the sensor only (meant to solder onto the existing wiring) and ones other than OEM but a few searches found the non OEM ones were not that reliable - if you see one that's been removed from use you will see why as it does get caked on "soot" I have included a picture of a good sensor, cleaned up a bit (I replaced both of mine even though only one had gone as I thought they had been in the car for the same time - makes sense to do both while you are in the engine I think) - very big noticeable difference on petrol consumption and a relatively easy job to do. Two pictures below - one of the removed good sensor and one of the part number on the box the replacements came in. By the way this part number is ok to do both sides as the wire is long enough for the left and right banks. See my post on how to replace both banks.

I have noticed this on a few cars (but might be just me) Does anyone notice the responsiveness of cars increase when the tank gets low (range of 80 miles or less) I have noticed it a few times on this car - anyone know why?

Chester quoted 680 for the parts and fitting - 180 I think per sensor - buying from the states was a lot cheaper although there was a wait for them but by the time it would have taken to book the car in to get them done then its probably quicker doing them yourself.

I took the head unit out today (was surprised at how easy it came out..) - had a root around for loose wires but could not find any. Put it all back together. Checked all the fuses (2 for the audio in the engine compartment) and all good. Checked the connections with the amp (didn't take the amp out but all were good. Cant resolve this one so will need to live with it rather than replace the amp / headunit

If your sensors had gone you would have seen the dash board light up (VSC / Traction etc) These will initially be erattic (off and on) but as the sensor dies the warning lights will stay on. The fault will be stored for reference but have you had any lights on?

The sensors require changing between 70 and 100k, you will find (I was told) that they usually fail within this period. One of mine went last year but I decided to replace both as they were both original parts and best to replace them together. An easy job to do yourself. I posted a how to on the forum for changing both. I think it took around 2 hours to do but I took my time. Parts costed around £150 from the USA ... Quoted from Lexus Chester for the replacement of both was £680.!! While I was waiting for the parts I had no choice to run mine off and on for a week .. The only result in that was I noticed a bit of sooting up on the exhaust tips. I must say though, after replacement, there is a noticeable difference in petrol consumption (better)

Pictures ......

I have not used them but heres a local doing wheel refurbs .... WS Wheels / West Shore Body Repairs / Herkomer Road / Llandudno / LL30 2YZ Let me know how you get on ...

Air filter need cleaning ?

Did you check the rear brake shoes IN the disc (there are pads and shoes on the back wheels) .... coming to think of it is your parking brake on? It wouldn't be the first time I have moved the car with it on .... quite easy to forget to take it off.

You have said its noisy - would have to ask how noisy? If your exhaust is blowing then power will be down no matter how hard you accelerate. It will be quite easy to rule the exhaust out either by putting it on a ramp or having a look at the exhaust yourself, listening for leaks or looking for soot marks down the length of it - check especially behind the resonator (between this box and the back boxes) you may need a hand from someone to rev the engine a bit if you are looking at it yourself What's the mileage? I would say if its not your brakes then it could be the exhaust ... the exhaust does "smoke" in this cold weather but its only condensation and will go once the exhaust is hot. I have not heard of the Archoil, maybe someone has? The BG44 is a treatment for the petrol system, reportedly to remove carbon deposits, used it myself with no issue and I believe myself that it has worked on mine but I cant see this producing the problem you have... Changing the oil and filter wont have a noticeable driving difference you have described and I cant see any recommendation on the service schedule regarding changing the gearbox oil up to 110k miles

Is it auto or manual? Have you checked the exhaust?

It lists the replacement for an engine air filter in the service schedule as every 15k miles (doesn't mention a time period though) The condition of that filter is ridiculous especially considering its had a service by Lexus - have a look to see if you have been billed for the replacement when it was in... Like you say, its all the more reason for you to do the services yourself as they are quite easy to do if you have the time and space to do them. you will know whats gone into the car and that the work has also been done.

John Its not a problem - mine has been broken for over a year and I have had absolutely no issues with it at all. You will probably find the broken tabs still held in the resesses they attach to. I have tried gluing them back on but cant find a strong enough adhesive that holds. You will probably hear a small rattle from it when driving at speed but if you place a blob of blu tac on the broken tab then it will hold it enough to stop the rattle. I have yet to find a decent priced one on ebay - used ones sell for around £100 on ebay and I am not prepared to pay that.