Britprius

The window power buttons on the drivers door "apart from the drivers window" do not work after battery disconnection. Operate the windows from each door switch to open them half way, and then close them holding the switch in the closed position for 5 seconds. John.

None needed I believe. The caliper pistons just push back in on the RX along with most other Lexus vehicles. You may need to slacken off the parking brake shoes. This is done with a flat bladed screw driver through a hole "with rubber bung" in the outside face of the drum against a toothed wheel adjuster if you wish to check the parking brake shoes or change the disks. John.

Not bad, but something I will not do. I prefer to keep my car looking as original as possible. This is probably because of my age, and see no sense in raising my insurance for the sake of aesthetic boy racer modifications. I do not mind adding face lift parts that will not attract attention, but rather functionality. I will leave body kits to those that have the spare money, and an eye for such things. John.

Absolutely correct Saville also ran poignantly the under the bedclothes club. I was very sad the day Luxembourg stopped it's English transmissions. Nothing has successfully replaced it including radio one. John.

Now those were the days waiting for it to get dark to get good reception from Luxembourg if you lived in the midlands or northward, and having to re tune slightly as the valves warmed up the tuning coils making the program appear to drift from it's frequency at 208 mtrs medium wave. John.

Replacement kits are readily available on ebay. As far as lubricant goes you can use a little brake fluid wiped round the boot to aid fitting. To change the boot remove the brake pads, and push the caliper piston in as far as it will go. The boot can then be pulled off the piston, and out of the retaining grove in the caliper. It would be better to remove the caliper, and completely clean it after dismantling Then replace the seal, and the boot, but this would then require the brake system to be bled. John.

Thanks Lee. I'll have a go "when I get my car back". There is a couple of other jobs I was intending to get round to, but I guess they will wait for the better weather. One of the jobs is auto folding mirrors. I have the Ebay module for this but looking at the circuit diagram I do not think it will work both sides together as the mirror motors are not connected in parallel. However if I can find out how to remove the drop down button box to the right of the steering I think I can make it all work with a simple additional relay. I'll keep you informed. John.

I am rely missing my car. It may be 14 years older than the Merc C class loan car, but in noise level, and comfort the Lexus is way ahead of the Merc. Ok being fare the Merc is an oil burner, but I would have thought that they would have found how to soundproof the cabin from the engine noise by now. It reminded me of some of my company cars I had 20 or more years ago when after getting out of the car after a long run I could still hear that buzzing drone. I cannot wait to get back to near silent comfort, and performance of the GS hybrid. Unfortunately it could be some time as the rear door is on back order from Japan. The good side is that my car is tucked up in a workshop while I am using a loan car in the bad weather, and salty roads. I need to do my headlamps as they look to be about the same condition as yours. I do not think the clouding is affecting the light output as it only seems "like yours" to be on the top surface. Lee how easy was the kit to use? and would you recommend it?

Change the boot as soon as possible as it not only keeps out moister, but also fine grit. This will damage the chrome piston, and seals leading to seized calipers, and leaks. You can buy caliper boot, and seal kits on line quite reasonably even new pistons if yours appears damaged in any way. John.

Covering the photocell on the interior mirror will darken it, and the exterior mirrors on vehicles fitted with dimming mirrors. John.

Car AC systems are prone to leaks because of the requirement to be able to assemble the system in a car with many pipe joints that are just "O" ring seal push fit, and a simple clip to hold the joint together. If these joints were made with screwed fittings or better still brazed as in refrigerators or freezers the fault rate would drop significantly. I realise this would cost more in production, but the cost would be less than the cost of one refill, and the amount of greenhouse gasses lost through leaks would also be significantly reduced. Condenser radiators are also often fitted in vulnerable positions without any real protection from road debris. Have a look at your car to see just how simple it could be to provide good protection. There is no reason in a well designed system why it should be kept on just to help the seals from deteriorating, but wearing out the mechanical s of the expensive compressor, and increasing fuel consumption. John.

Yes. Even if the compressor did not fail if the AC looses gas in the guarantee period there must be a leak that requires fixing, and the gas restoring to make the AC work. If the AC is working then you cannot expect an AC service for no reason. John.

Does the engine make a rattling noise for one or two seconds when first started from cold? This is quite common on Lexus/Toyota engines, and is caused by the oil in the cam timing devises draining back to the sump. This in turn leads to low oil pressure while the system refills. Although not ideal in general it does not cause any other problems the cure being to fit new cam gears "a big job". John.

Servicing a car at the dealers that only does low millage's, and based on time only is both wasteful of lubricants and filters, and in general only benefits the coffers of the dealer. If safety is your concern take the car to your local mot station, and ask them to do an mot. If you are concerned the engine oil will deteriorate in the period before it becomes due on miles take it to a local trusted garage, and ask them to do an oil, and filter change. There is nothing else that requires changing till the 60,000 mile service. The only problem with doing this is any affect it has on your guarantee, but if the oil and filer or any materials used are of Toyota/Lexus specification the guarantee cannot be voided. John.

Is there any signs of oil around the top of the shocks where chrome shaft leaves the body? If so this is a sure sign that they are on the way out. Other than that there is little to go wrong. This assumes that you do not have air suspension. John.

I have been notified by the claims handler that my car is being repaired as of today 23/01/20. This could take some time as a new door is on back order from Japan, and the car has been away for 2 weeks. Already the car hire alone is close to £1000. John.

I did try entering hood, but that did was not allowed. As soon as I typed in the first o the o became grayed out in the alphabet choice at the bottom of the screen. The system also means you cannot find out how to operate say the satnav as well as look up how to use it in the manual at the same time. John.

They could not "insist" on fitting a pair of shocks as the MOT only failed the car on one. Obviously the other shock on the other side passed the test. I would say it is advisable to change them as a pair to give even stability on both sides of the vehicle. It comes under the same category as fitting one new tyre on an axle where the other tyre may only have 2mm of tread left as this would still be perfectly legal, and still pass an MOT. John.

Richard you could order a mirror from Ebay that does not mention the dimming aspect. When it arrives if it does not dim you could return it as it does not function as it should OEM, and get your money back through Paypal. John.

Richard I did notice yours was a MK11. My passengers side mirror has the plastic black surround from the glass missing "although the mirror itself is still ok". I am concerned water might get in to the liquid crystal part of the mirror, and damaging it. This surround is not available separately, and as you have found new glasses or parts from breakers do cost £££. John.

I have a GS450H, but it's a 2007 however that has the auto dimming door mirrors. I would think they all came with these OEM, but there are many replacements for sale that use plane glass mirrors. John.

It still surprises me but even in much equipment from today cold cathode tubes are still used. The problem being LED's do not like to be run dimmed over long periods of time. Contrast is adjusted by altering the LCD, but brightness is adjusted by dimming the light source. John.

I cannot help with possible clearance problems, but since all cars made after 2012 must be fitted with TPMS, and will fail the MOT if not working on 2014 on vehicles there should be no problems when fitting TPMS valves to the rims. TPMS valves fit the same size standard hole used for the old style rubber valves. John.

This could be a cracked manifold or split catalytic converter. John.

Geoff. All the Lexus range "and most of the Toyota" adjust the headlamp height automatically. This is done by ride height sensors on both the front, and rear suspension adjusting the headlamps depending on the load being carried. John.