MHT

Thanks for the replies. The Battery is about a year old from Lexus so hopefully is still good. The car had been sat for two weeks though so I guess it could be low, and the trip was only about 20 minutes so wouldn’t have given it much time to charge.

I’ll put it on the conditioner this week and check the earth connections as a starting point. 
 

Thanks guys. 

I just went out in the LS400 and there appears to be a gremlin present in the electrics.

Firstly, the indicators are working from the outside correctly. Move the stalk to indicate left and all outside lights work as they should.

However, on the dashboard all sorts is going on. With the headlights off indicators were displaying correctly. With them on if I indicate right the left arrow will illuminate and vice versa.

I’ve searched through the forums but all I could find were posts about total failure, normally linked to relays.

Any ideas? I’m hoping it’s some sort of anomaly caused by cold weather that will self heal!

We’re with Britannia (which is backed by LV I think).

Top level cover for two people with European travel is £190. It covers the drivers, not the cars so any car that we’re is in covered. The Lexus IS the main car listed on the policy so no issues with age. 
 

Just in case anyone needs tyres at the moment (and is a Costco member) they are running a Michelin offer.

Currently 4 x Michelin 225/60 R16 98 (V) PRIMACY 3 work out at £402 fitted.

No affiliation - just thought it was a good price.

On 7/7/2018 at 9:26 AM, Yoda400 said:

Right, had my caps replaced on my Mk4 and it's restored a heap of power! The chap who swapped the caps for me said that there were no leaking caps/visible damage, but that wasn't to say that some hadn't gone open circuit. 

The whole purpose of this exercise was so I could connect a code reader to the car to diagnose a missfire, however it still won't bloody connect. Tried it on my mum's Yaris and it connects perfectly so I figured it must be a dodgy OBD connector. I looked at it and it looks fine though?! Seriously getting peeved with the car now!

@Yoda400 did you use Clark Electronics for the replacement?

I just thought I'd update this as the Battery threads are a couple of years old now.

Needing a new Battery at the weekend I read some of the threads as I was going to go with this one:

YUASA 335 3000 SERIES CAR Battery - 4 YEAR WARRANTY - £90 from GSF

Called Lexus Reading, retail £126, but quoted £88 so I went with that.

I've had an ongoing problem for a while with my Pioneer head unit - it started off that it wouldn't turn on when it was cold during winter but would be fine during summer.

More recently it just won't turn on, but every now and again, say 1 in 100 trips, it will just start working again like there was never a problem.

I remember reading in the past something along the lines of intermittent problems with the amplifier could stop it working but I can't recall essentially what the situation was. 

I spoke to the car audio place that I used recently for another car and they suggested a Bluetooth system that would work with a new 5 channel amp, leaving the head unit as an ornament. I'd rather get it fixed - has any one had a similar problem, or more to the point found someone that knows their way around it to fix it? 

I've attached a picture of my actual head unit for clarity.

Mark

Yep! Can't complain at a 25+ years service life though

Hi guys,

I need to replace my PAS cap / dipstick as mine broke recently. The garage I use said they can't get one from Lexus as it isn't available any more. A bit of internet digging suggests that the part details are:

Cap Sub-Assy, Vane Pump Oil Reservoir

[12.1989 - 10.1994] UCF10

Part Number 44305-50010, later replaced by 44305-50020

Another website shows that the same part is used on the following vehicles:

GS300 1993-2005

GS400 1998-2000

GS430 2001-2005

IS300 2001-2005

LS400 1990-1998

SC300 1992-2000

SC400 1992-2000

I've ordered a used one from eBay from a GS300, there were LS400 items listed but all were in the USA. I just thought I'd post this up in case anyone else has the sam issue - hopefully the one Ive ordered will fit.

Mark

Hi Sixusel,

Could you send me the details of the company you used please?

Mark

I've got the opportunity to buy a Mk4 cheaply, but it has no keys. 

I have found these threads:

These are the closest UK relevant threads I could find, but in both cases there was a key to begin with, however I wouldn't have anything.

Given this, does anyone know a solution around this without paying Lexus the c. £1000 I read would be required for a new key and ECU? Otherwise it will no doubt become a breaker. 

Mark

My 1992 was c. £43,000 (£75k at current values). I even have the invoice!

I've had my LS400 for a year this week and I've been planning the future maintenance out so that I can try and make sure that all the areas are covered.

My car has full Lexus history up to 46,930 (23/9/2002) and the service record uses a Schedule A/B/C system which takes place every 6,000 miles. I bought the car from a private estate who were the original owner. After 2002 the estate employed the services of a mechanic to visit the estate every six months and perform checks on all the vehicles and replace anything necessary. 

The problem with this is that the estate secretary filed the invoices each month and so when I purchased the car they said they weren't going to dig through 13 years of estate accounts to find the Lexus related ones - I couldn't really argue with that. So I then found myself with a car that has obviously been maintained, but not knowing exactly when last items were completed.

After I purchased the car I was provided with the details of the mechanic to contact; I went to see him and he confirmed that he had replaced anything required and whatever cost. The temperature / clock LCD displays had been repaired and the timing belt & water pump had been replaced 'a few years ago'. I'm now trying to build a T0 so that I can cover all of the regular service items in a timely manner. On purchase Japex in Hertfordshire looked over the car and advised on which items / fluids should be replaced and which appeared to be as new.

By collating information from different online sources I came up with the following which uses a 7,500 interval (from a US document I found) opposed to the original 6,000 miles. I just like the round numbers!

I have put this into a spreadsheet and attached it incase anyone else is interested.

I would be interested in people's thoughts on the following intervals (mileage / time) to add to the list:

Automatic Transmission Fluid (Drain / Refill)

Differential Oil (Drain / Refill)

Power Steering Fluid (Drain / Refill)

Mark

L400-Service-Schedule.xls

That will be a facelifted W220 model S-Class then with updated COMAND / Sat Nav and generally a better car than the <2003 models.

I would definately look into exactly which engine is in the car, if it is the M272 then it did have a reputation for being problematic until it was bored out to 3.7l a few years later. I have a feeling that this engine wasn't used until 2004/2005 (could be wrong) so it might not suffer from those issues.

Other than that check the suspension works correctly (you can raise it for speed bumps, sport and comfort) to make sure it works. If you can drive it take it up hills and feel for any vibration around the 1500/2000rpm mark as some models had torque converter issues (£1,000 ish to correct). I had an S320 (diesel) 2004 and it was pretty good.

Personally I wouldn't buy a <2003 model, it facelifted mid way through the 52 plate, but I would buy an 03 again even at this age.

I know these are dirty admission to make on such a forum but I've had a few S-Classes over the years:

2006 - 2008 ran a 2004 S320

2008 - 2013 ran a 2008 S320

2013 - 2015 ran 2013 S350

2015 - present I bought a new July 2015 S350 AMG Line last July and run it as my daily now

Which year S350 is it? 

Are Grove Garage in Hove / Brighton still the LOC unofficial preferred garage for exhaust repairs in the south? 

I'm due to collect my LS from Japex tomorrow and there was an adviory on the MOT "offside front Exhaust has a minor leak of exhaust gases" so I was going to pop down there.

Otherwise, based on Darren's post I might need to make a trip to Lancashire! Looks like a great job 

Yes, they seem to be out of production. I did find one website listing them but at £181 each. At least the brand name ties up with the originals, that's good enough for me in terms of originality.

I think I'm going to go with 4 x Dunlop Sport BluResponse for my next set. They do a 225/60/16 102W XL fitting which is £112 fitted on Black Circles. A rated for fuel, A rated for wet grip and 68db noise levels. 

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/88482/dunlop-sport-bluresponse-tyre-review

Hi Hugh,

I was in a similar situation when I bought my LS400 and I wasn't sure where to start. I collated quite a bit of information from various sources and made a spreadsheet that allowed me to fill in what was done and when so I could see which areas may need addressing in time.

When I am back home I'll add the file to this thread.

Mark

I would echo Silver Arrow's comment; the benefit isn't just for snow, if you are talking about winter tyres (rather than snow) the benefits also extend to helping to avoid aquaplaning.

I bought a spare set of LS400 wheels on eBay last weekend (collecting them tomorrow) that I'm then fitting winter tyres to. I also a have a set for my VR6.

The average UK temperature high in the UK is 10 in November and 7 in December. I normally change them late November when the average is around 8 degrees.

That's the most I was comfortable with given my concerns for mechanical sympathy on day two of a seven day trip and also the level of traffic on the roads that day. Yes, the car is a 1993.

I'm a professional driver day-to-day and I cover approximately 40,000 miles per year. I've driven late model vehicles (Range Rover / Mercedes S-Class) on the autobahn previously at higher speeds and the LS felt just as stable.

I was mostly concerned about the level of traffic - it seems that on the autobahn some vehicles in lane three sometimes misjudge the speed of traffic in lane four. Therefore when they change lanes there is sometimes the need to reduce speed to maintain a safe distance. At 120mph I felt comfortable not only in the cruising abilities of the car, but also the braking.

@ReCat - 125mph. It sat at 100+mph for about five hours one day - if my wife was driving she more comfortable at around 100mph but I would tend to be in the 120mph region. It still averaged 23.5mpg that day which I thought was pretty impressive.

Update...

After an oil, oil filter and pollen change at Japex we headed off on a 2,500 mile seven day road trip in August. From London we went to Bonn, Munich, Zell am See (too drive the Gross Glockner alpine pass), Venice, Monaco, Turin, Dijon, Paris, London. Here's a few pictures:

Zell am See, Austria - just before the Gross Glockner

Top of the Gross Glockner - 2500m

Next, down to Venice

Followed by Monaco

Over the trip the car performed faultlessly, even after one full day of AutoBahn driving at 100+mph all day.

The trip allowed me to make a snagging list of problems that emerged over the journey. Nothing too major.

Loose headlining at the rear

Door wooden trim became loose after the heat of Venice (37 degrees outside)

Interior courtesy light inop

Lower glovebox trim loose

During the Euro trip the power steering started to whine. On return to the UK I emailed Japex as I was worried that it would affect the alternator as I'd read here. Later that day the car failed to start in Oxford (30 miles from home) whilst on the way back from Birmingham. After a jump start the car made it home, but Japex were too busy to look at the car quickly so I took it to a local garage.

They (unsurprisingly) diagnosed a leaking PAS pump, but thankfully it hadn't damaged the alternator which I thought was the reason for the non-start. It turned out to be an unrelated issue and there was a faulty cell in the Battery. I ordered a new Toyota Battery from Lexus and the pump was sent away for a rebuilt.

That is all now complete and the garage also rectified the other issues that cropped up whilst we were away as well as doing an oil and filter change (6,500 miles now covered since the Japex filter change) and replacing front and rear brake pads.

Japex advised that there was a slight cam cover gasket leak, apparently it is only slight weep. The second garage advised that when changing the PAS pump they noticed that there is slight movement in the thermostat housing which is causing a small coolant leak.

So issues to now look at:

Replace thermostat housing

Get costings / replace the cam gasket leak

Mechanically, everything else appears to be on form.

Current mileage is now c. 91,500.

Kestrel DAS6 - I can't remember why I bought that one specifically as it was a few years ago, and there are plenty of others that I'm sure do a similar job but the results are pretty good.

Thanks for the pointers Ruud.

Mark - I used a Menzerna polish firstly. They do two finishing polishes, one has more of a cut and I used this one with a Menzerna cutting pad. I then used Poorbooys Black Hole with a Menzerna polishing pad. In hindsight I probably could have used something with more of a cut for the first pass, but I was happt enough with the results.