Razor61

Which car was this, the 1998 DHP 31k miles which is now for sale at Kass Classics? I agree apart from the mk4 has the common rust issues sorted at the bottom of the rear arches that the mk3 has/can have. The mk4 though can suffer in a different area on the rear inner wing at the boot end though which if left will be terminal for the car, I have seen some bad ones. The mk3 rear arch rust issue can be sorted easier than the mk4 rust issues on the inner wings in my opinion. The mk3 is the best looking I think though. I wanted another mk3 but ended up with a mk4 because I couldn't find a good mk3 within my price range. I still look for any good mk3's for sale, if a good one comes up which isn't silly money I would consider buying it then decide what to do with the mk4 I have.

Don't know if this diagram below is correct for your car but it it may help. According to this diagram it's a 'short pin' and the wiring diagram from the manual, also shown below, says 'Short Pin' which seems to feed the Dome, OBD, ECU-B and MPX-B fuses maybe?

I think you will struggle to get a good used seat or the leather covers. I think you can still get new leather covers………..£1100 + from Amayama. I’ve seen some good seat repairs done on Car SOS and Wheeler Dealers so a repair/refurbishment is probably your best option.

Car is now sold and gone but here are some pics of the wheel well all sorted. I did sort out the underside of the wheel well, again lots of scraping, rust removed and 2 coats of Por15. After a bit of scraping in the boot in the corner of the wheel well there was a hole, rust removed, aluminium gauze stuck in place with tiger seal and painted. The areas I’ve done will not be an issue in the future. If I had kept the car I would have removed the rear bumper, rear exhaust and done everything on the back end. By the way, in the picture of the boot area the dirty red stuff is my blood……….it was cleaned up of course🤣

Absolutely agree, getting Textar branded pads rather than Toyota branded pads from LPD is not on, regardless of whether they are the same pads or not. We don't know if the pads are exactly the same or not. I have bought quite a lot of parts from LPD and never had an issue really. I get a price from LPD and then contact Lexus Bolton to see if they can match the price or within a few quid. If they can, then I buy it from Lexus Bolton. A lot of the time Lexus Bolton can match it, match it within a few quid or sometimes its a bit cheaper. The main thing that Lexus Bolton can't get anywhere near for price are the service kits, even at cost. Afaik, the reason is LPD have an 'oil promotion' price arranged through Lexus UK. I believe LPD, aka Lexus Swindon, are able to offer this as the 'Lexus approved' parts outlet (or something like that) but other dealers can't.

Have you replaced the bushes on the car with the PSB bushes yet? I'm interested to know what the ride etc is like with the PSB bushes compared to the original rubber bushes.

Hey, you live and learn! We are right, trust what we say😉 As said by Spock66, tackling jobs yourself is good and can save money so credit for giving it a go. Unknown to you though, you picked on the wrong job to start doing. Doing the rear brakes on an IS250 can turn out to be an involved PITA job and cost a few quid even when you have experience and know what you are doing. That can apply to most older cars when doing the brakes as well though, if they are not in good condition and sorted already.

As above and what I have advised a couple of times, get it to a mechanic or someone who is experienced who can help and can do the job. I don’t want to worry you but I suspect you will need new pads again, new discs, new/refurbished caliper assemblies and possibly new parking brake shoes once the discs are removed.

Judging by the condition of the disc in the picture, I would have replaced the rear discs and pads after sorting out the seized caliper sliders. That is what I would do or would have done. There is some info below which may help you but, as I've said before, I think you should get things checked out by a mechanic or someone who has done this sort of thing before. I presume you mean the 'pad' guide pins not the 'caliper' slider pins that are normally seized? in the picture the 'pad' guide pins are missing an these are the pins that have the holes in them. Information which may help: Caliper slider pins that rust and seize up, top one unscrews and the bottom one, with the yellow arrow, is fixed to the caliper support bracket. removing the top slider pin allows the caliper to be swung out of the way so you can replace the disc (if it's not seized of course and this is one that normally seizes) Pad guide pins Components for for the pads etc that should be present, the anti squeal shims look to be missing

Well done, the rear brakes on the IS250 are not easy to sort out if you have seized sliders. When I first got my IS250 in December 2020 the first thing I did was dismantle the rear calipers etc, drivers side bottom slider was seized, freed everything up, cleaned and greased, reassembled. I planned to repeat the process last spring/summer but forgot. Car went in for it's service beginning of November and drivers rear was seized again, I'd left it too long to grease them again. Car has extended warranty so the drivers side caliper assembly was replaced under warranty and I paid for the passenger side caliper to be replaced plus they fitted the new discs and pads I had. New caliper assembly was around £180 iirc which I don't think is too bad at all.

General guidance from my experience for replacing brake pads but it depends on the type of caliper. Replacing pads………..straightforward you think and it is if the callipers and sliders are in good condition. Remove the caliper bolts or slider pins. with the pads still fitted, move the caliper in such a way as to put pressure on the piston. if you feel the piston moving easy enough and the amount you can move the caliper increases then at least the piston is moving. at this point remove the old pads and make note of where they were located so you can put them back as they were. Push the piston back in, if the calipers are in good condition you may be able to push them back in using both your thumbs. If not use a g clamp or a caliper wind back tool. Using either method should not need a massive amount of force, if it does need a massive amount of force or sticks then you have a problem and the callipers need rebuilding or new/refurbished callipers. If the pistons move back no problem then carry on and replace the pads making sure you clean everything with brake cleaner and apply the correct grease where applicable. If you are in any doubt about the condition of the calipers and pistons then put everything back as it was and plan for rebuilding the calipers or buying new/refurbished calipers.

That would explain it then, pushing the piston completely out of the caliper isn’t good but if you pushed it back without damaging it and the dust/dirt cover is back in correctly then you may be ok. That is assuming the piston was in good condition with no rust etc. I would suggest getting things checked out by a mechanic or someone that has done this sort of thing before. Just my advice of course, you can’t take chances with brakes………..

Quote: ‘It’s worth noting I did have quite a lot of fluid come out of the Piston on the driver side’ That is a bit worrying because you shouldn’t have any fluid coming out of the piston or the caliper area at all.

I’m not going to mention the VSC Off issue for now because I’ve noticed something that I need to make sure of before I commit myself. On another subject, front strut bushes, mine are not as bad as the last LS400 mk3 I had but they are on the way to being knackered. I have new OEM bushes but rather than take the strut bars off, get the old bushes out, clean, degrease and paint, press in the new bushes which takes time I bought a pair from eBay with knackered bushes. Plan is to remove the old bushes, remove all the rust, degrease and paint, press in new bushes ready to swop out when the time comes. so today I removed the old bushes, scraped off the rust, applied Deox gel and wrapped in cling film. Tomorrow they should be totally rust free and ready to paint. Removing the old bushes is not an easy job, on my LS400 mk3 I tried to press them out and even with a 10 ton hydraulic press they wouldn’t budge. It even bent the thick 1/2 inch metal plates on the press. A guy at work did me a favour and sent them to an engineering shop to remove, I don’t know how they got them out but I’m sure they used a similar method to me today cos I could see where they had sawed through in one place at the top. This time I drilled through the rubber all round and removed the inner section. I then cut through the inner metal ring and removed it, that left the outer metal bushing. I then sawed through the outer metal bushing in 2 places 20mm apart taking care not to go too deep and into the arm itself. You will tend to cut into the arm a bit at the top and bottom but so long as you don’t end up up with a deep groove all the way through it’s fine. Using a punch/drift I then knocked out the 20mm section, again taking not to gouge the arm, once that was out the rest of the metal bushing was just knocked out with punch/drift. Sounds easy but it took a couple of hours of careful work.

Thanks for the advice but I’ve already bought them😉

I don't know a lot about this area. However, I know the injectors just pull out of the fuel rail so maybe it's not a big job to get them all out and get them tested/repaired/cleaned.

I have seen a post somewhere about the fuel pump and also the injectors causing warm start issues. Apparently if one or more of the injectors are leaking then fuel continues into the cylinders when the engine is turned off because the fuel is at a high pressure.

You are right and it’s frustrating, I have an issue on my LS400 with the VSC Off light coming on. I know it’s heat/temp related but getting to the cause is taking some time. New Yaw Sensor for the VSC is £550 so I don’t want to buy one cos it may not be the cause. Process of elimination for me and taking note of when it happens is key to maybe finding the issue. Your issue sounds a heat/temp issue as well but engine related rather than electrical/electronic in my case. Lexus have the proper gear to diagnose things and maybe a Lexus specialist, I may have to bite the bullet and take my LS400 to Lexus to get it plugged in and diagnosed but I’m resisting doing it for the time being. If you take it to Lexus pay £95 to get a diagnosis and then pay them to fix it they won’t charge for the £95 diagnostics if that’s any consolation. If you are 100% sure it’s not head gasket related then I’d suggest taking it to a Lexus dealer or a Lexus specialist. Not all Lexus dealers have the experience and expertise on older cars though so it may be worth asking on here for recommendations for a Lexus dealer or Lexus specialist near where you are. In my opinion experience is the key, a mechanic can plug a car into a diags machine, follow what the machine says and start replacing expensive bits but an experienced expert will not blindly follow what the machine says and use the information to diagnose what ‘really’ needs replacing or point him to the right area. I hope that makes sense.

I think you need to get it on a diagnostics machine or buy a code reader, getting the diags codes may point you in the right direction. Lexus will do it of course and I think it’s around £95. Maybe coil packs according to this, it’s an IS200 but issue may be the same.

Hi, has anyone changed the diff oil on their LS400? If you have then what diff oil did you use or recommend? Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

Milky residue on dipstick/oil filler cap, coolant loss, overheating are a few but sounds like you have none of those. The above sounds like it could be your issue, I have bled the coolant system on an IS200 using the method above - heater needs to be on full heat for the coolant to circulate round the heater matrix and is very important. I found that after the first initial bleed of the system it took a few days for the level to stabilize and I added a bit more coolant. After that it was fine.

Could be the temp sensor for the EFI, I don't think so to be honest but may be worth changing. 89422-30030 01 07.2001 SENSOR, WATER TEMPERATURE (FOR E.F.I.) JCE10 You say it started after flushing the coolant from the system and then forgot to bleed it to get all the air out and the car over heated slightly. Don't want to be a doom and gloom merchant but head gasket/cylinder head comes to mind if its been overheated, not sure if 'slightly overheating' will do it but I wouldn't be surprised. It is possible that the sensor for the gauge was in a pocket of air and coolant at the time and the gauge displayed slightly over for the temp but the rest of the engine/cylinder head was a lot hotter. Have you checked for the tell tale signs of head gasket failure? Does the car run as it did before and is the temp gauge as it should be or does it fluctuate?

The area I first saw has been treated and some more Deox Gell applied, it needs a bit more work but from the picture below you can see the difference even though it has cling film on. before: after:

So this car is up for sale on here, Facebook and Gumtree. Had a few enquiries but they wanted the car for peanuts and is a story for another time. One of the interested people wanted photos of the boot, the left and right pockets in the boot, rear sills and lower arches. I duly obliged and took the photos. When I removed the spare wheel, which is in perfect condition, I noticed a large rusted area in the wheel well on the left just up from the floor. I don’t remember seeing that when I got the car 18 months ago. I know I’m selling the car but I can sort it before it gets any worse and I may end up keeping it anyway. Tonight I removed all the stuff in the boot, all the boot linings and had a good look round. In the boot pockets where the inner wing meets the outer skin you can see rust coloured stains coming from the sealant, pics posted to illustrate all of this, but the pockets are dry. You can see where the sealant has split and I think some moisture is creeping in or crept in before I sorted the inner rear arches. Removed the plastic trim underneath on the passenger side that covers the passenger side of the wheel well. 4 x 10mm nuts, 2 came off ok but the other 2 needed persuading with the grinder…….this gives access to the left hand side of the wheel well. This area was all rusted and I could see where a 25mm section was rusting through, not much metal left and is Swiss cheese. After much scrapping and wire brushing, Dynax Deox gel liberally applied and covered with cling film and will leave for a couple of days. When I remove it, wash down and dry I’ll post a few pics. It should be all nice shiny steel then I’ll sort out the bit that’s corroded through and paint the whole lot. More of the wheel well needs doing but I’ll get this bit out the way and do the rest.

Update on the 'VSC Off' issue and this only applies to just the 'VSC Off' light coming on not VSC and ABS lights on....................I'm convinced it is temperature related. Warm weather now and it hasn't happened as much at all, sometimes first thing in a morning when it's cold it will happen (my drive is very much shaded from the morning sun). After that when driving home after a warm day it hasn't happened and it did happen before then throughout the cold days over winter when leaving work. After a bit of searching on the web I found some posts that pointed towards the battery being the issue, the battery not being 100% and maybe a cell or 2 in the battery is a bit dodgy. Car cranks and starts ok, probably too many cranks at the moment which points towards battery issues maybe. This morning was pretty warm and the car was on the road in direct sunlight rather than on the drive and shaded from the sun, car fired up quicker than normal. More or less on the first crank rather than a few cranks, if that makes sense. Lexus Bolton have a new battery in stock for £100 so will pick it up at lunch, fit it then see if that really is the issue. I've no idea when the battery was replaced so for £100 it's worth doing anyway. I may be clutching at straws but the more I think about the symptoms the more I think it could be just the battery.