Howplum

Although they are not an MoT item, I would like to get the front foglights working. The bulbs look fine and the fuse also, which is getting power. Presumably there is a relay somewhere, but where? Once found, what is the best way to test it? I appreciate non-working front seat heaters are common, but I thought I would investigate the simple options, just in case. Again, I assume there is a fuse and relay, but where. Heater seems to be mentioned more than once in the fuse blocks, and there is a 30A fuse labelled SEAT FR. Can anyone give me some guidance please? Fuse block underneath the dashboard: Fuse block in the engine compartment:

According the service history, this air filter was last replaced in 2005, 41,000 miles ago! I must remember not to buy any more cars from my friend! I also replaced the auxilliary drive belt, which turned out to be pretty straightforward, albeit a little bit fiddly getting the new belt in place and seated correctly. This is my Heath Robinson arrangement to counteract the tensioner, although it made life easier to remove it when installing new belt, and then reapply it to enable fitment onto the upper idler pulley: A trim removal tool came in handy for getting the old belt off: I was pleasantly surprised to find there was no need to fiddle the belt around the fan, as is so often the case with other cars I have worked on. The old belt looked fine, so I'll keep it as spare. However, I did notice the length of the belt I took off was 2228, whereas the replacement is 2245, but this proved not to be an issue. From what I have read online the engine seems to accomodate a range of belt lengths, within reason, without a problem. I must say the more I work on this car the more I like it, so hopefully I'll get to drive it some day!

Not much done today. I replaced the aerial mast, which was easy enough, but unfortunately the rather fragile gold retaining nut got mangled in the process because it was seized on after 24 years. I have ordered a new one from Lexus Parts Direct, albeit in chrome, but apparently they are only dispatching parts necessary to keeping the car on the road, so I will have to wait. The other job I did was replace the cabin filter, which I must say has much better access than any BMW or Mercedes I have ever owned. I wonder if the old one had EVER been changed!

Today I thought I would investigate possible water leaks further, so I simply poured some water into the upper scuttle panel, which duly appeared underneath each front wing, and not inside the car. The second test was the front sunroof drain tubes, and again the water appeared under the car, and not inside it. I am assuming (hoping?) that the previous water leaks were therefore as a result of unknown exceptional circumstances, and hopefully won't be repeated in it's future life as a pampered hobby car. One other job I did this afternoon was to replace the roof control module, which turned out to be straightforward, and only took about 1 hour. I had to release, but not remove, the front roof trim panel to give enough clearance to either get my hand inside or wriggle the module out from behind the trim, so that I could unclip the connector. The first step was to remove the switch panel by removing the plastic lens: And then removing the three screws and disconnecting the two electrical connectors: Then the middle visor was unclipped (probably the only item with no electrical connection!): Next I undid the two screws for the rear view mirror and unclipped the connector: I had to remove both sun visors, because their fittings effectively secure the trim panel to the roof. First off where the inner clips, which are both held with one screw: And clips: The visor mounting covers were just unclipped and wiggled off, although I later discovered the visor slides along the shaft, which makes it a lot easier. Note that the split faces the front of the car. Then there is the customary electrical connector to be unclipped: At this point I could pull down the front of the trim panel enough to get my hand in, but not enough to unclip the module connector. I then noticed there is a cable clip, which I managed to dislodge, and this gave enough slack for the module to be pulled out, and thus unclipped. Fitting the replacement module restored full functions to the sunroof, so that's another job crossed off the "to do" list. Out of curiosity I took the cover off the old module, but there was nothing obviously amiss. Still, it only takes one dry solder joint to cause a malfunction.

That'll be mine then!

Does it have any redeeming features?

My old climate control unit could be a source of spares for you, if necessary, although I don't think the AC button works, and the screen is shot. Let me know by PM if you're interested.

Phil, I've had a look inside the sills and they are very clean, so no cause for concern there. I also had another, closer, look at the corners of the scuttle panel and there is a very slight crack in the mastic on the passenger's side, although the driver's side is perfect. However, there are what look suspiciously like water marks on both sides, indicating to me that water has been sitting for a very long time. This is the driver's side: And this is the passenger's side, although the water mark is under the windscreen, so more difficult to see. So, I have a question. Where does the water that collects in the upper scuttle panel containing the wiper motor drain to? It look as though it goes towards each wing. If it does, how on earth would it travel down the inside of the bulkhead? There are no leaves or other debris in it to impede flow. I can see from the design of the windscreen installation that all water is directed into the upper scuttle panel. Phil, It looks as though I had more issues with the old climate control unit than I thought, because the replacement works perfectly, even delivering cold air, which surprised me. I now realise the AC button on the old unit didn't work, so I had assumed there was no gas or a major component was faulty. Two fixes for the price of one!

Thanks Phil. If you're saying the floors are double skinned I remember having an old Rover 2000 some years ago that had those, and it ended up needing a lot of welding to sort out. Still, hopefully Lexus build quality is a lot better!

Something like this looks promising: https://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIVERSAL-UPGRADE-REMOTE-KEYLESS-FOR-CENTRAL-LOCKING-KIT/330479665244 I had my troublesome alarm disconnected, so lost the remote central locking as well, and was thinking about something like this kit. For me the issue is finding the correct wires. I have used Hawk products in the past to convert old Mercedes to central locking, and they work well.

It is something I intend to investigate and monitor over the next few months. My theory is that the weeks of rain we had earlier this year, coupled with long term lack of use and being parked on a slope might be contributory factors, although the water must have been getting in somewhere. There is no obvious point of entry below the windscreen and the sunroof drains appear to be clear, as far as I can tell. Obviously there is a lot of surface corrosion due to the damp atmosphere inside the car, which has now thoroughly dried out. The localised water damage to the right side rear seat makes my suspect that a window was left open, because the upper surface has evidence of some water damage.

I think I have answered my own question. I Copy and Pasted the contents of my post from the Tutorial I drafted beforehand, which I assume prevents the Edit function from appearing. You learn something every day!

I meant to mention that the bulbs appear to be number 286, which can be bought with or without the holder.

Help, I'm confused. In my last post the photographs appear twice. Once in the text and again at the end. Also I cannot find the edit function. Is it me?

I noticed that at least five of the warning lights in the instrument cluster were not working, so thought I would have a go at removing the cluster to replace them. I had seen instructions on the internet, but they mostly seemed to be for the pre 1995 models, so I was flying blind, to a certain extent. I had already figured out that if there are no obvious screws then there must be clips. This, therefore, is the procedure that I arrived at: First I removed the trim below the cluster, which just unclips and pulls out, although unclipping the ignition switch surround helped to get a purchase. Next I removed the upper part of the steering column shroud, which gives a little more room for getting the cluster out enough to disconnect the electrical connectors. There are two screws at the bottom of the cluster: I discovered at the top of the cluster surround there are two barely discernible slots: By carefully inserting a flat blade screwdriver, wrapped in tape, in the slots and levering upwards this both released the clips and moved the cluster towards the steering wheel. This is one of the clips: The cluster could then be carefully pulled out, without straining the cables, so that the various connectors could be released. There isn't much space, so it was a bit tricky. The rear cover of the cluster is held on six screws; On the PCB there are three ribbon connectors at the top and three other connectors at the bottom, which were released: Removing the PCB to gain access to the bulbholders involves removing eleven screws, which also seem to form part of he circuitry. This is one group: The PCB could then be lifted away, revealing the bulbholders. All 29 of them! Access to the bottom row of bulbs does not require the PCB to be removed, but my faulty ones were behind the PCB, so I had no choice. I noticed that some of the bulbholders were different colours, so may have been replaced in the past, but I have decided to replace all 29 bulbs anyway. Hopefully it saves doing the job again. I am a now awaiting arrival of the bulbs later in the week.

Yesterday, having acquired a used Climate Control/Audio complete assembly with a good upper LCD screen, I decided to replace my existing unit, which has the common black screen issue. I have done a "How To" tutorial for the process, which was a lot easier, quicker and more comfortable than replacing the brake light switch. In all there were only 4 10mm headed screws and a small plastic clip to be removed, everything else just being clipped in. The whole process only took about an hour, and putting it all back together again was a lot quicker than removing it. Here are some pictures:

Coincidentally I have just removed the entire Climate Control (CC) and Audio unit from my car and I have just posted a How To Tutorial about the procedure, which should be same for your 1997 model. The front of the CC unit just unclips from the main body and there is a PCB which also appears to unclip. Presumably once that is detached access can be gained to the switches and LCD screen. If contact cleaner doesn't work then I suspect you need to be handy with a soldering iron.

Thanks John. The issue of the rear brake lights staying on was intermittent, but as far as I can tell, yes it has.

Yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and replace the brake light switch, which, I have to say, was not as bad as I was expecting, and certainly didn't involve lying upside down or removing the front seat. However, I think being left-handed was a distinct advantage! I will write up a "How to" guide, with pictures, and put it under the appropriate heading, especially how to remove the lower dashboard panels. Thanks to the helpful tips from @ambermarine I first removed the steering wheel shroud, which is just three screws. After that the top and bottom halves can be separated. They are just clipped together and they came apart quite easily, although the bottom half has to be manouvred over the column adjustment button. The next step was to remove the black lower panel which contains the footwell light and diagnostic socket, and is held in place by two screws, one at either end, two clips along the top edge and a small slot and bracket at the back. Next I disconnected the electrics and removed the panel. The next step was to remove the grey panel above the one just removed. There are a couple of 10mm bolts holding the bottom edge and two more 10mm bolts plus a screw holding the top edge. One of the top bolts is in the parking brake release handle recess, but is accessible enough. The second bolt is behind the ignition switch surround, which just clips in, and the screw was found behind the coin tray. After that I had to disconnect the electrical connections for the boot and fuel release switches and the connections on the left for the temperature sensor. Finally, the bonnet release handle had to be detached by removing the two screws (a mirror was useful here). Next, the air distribution tube had to be removed, which was easy enough, since it just a push fit. Finally, a couple of cables had to moved out of the way to make access easier. I could now see the brake light switch, which looked as though it had been affected by water. At this point being left-handed definitely became an advantage! Removal was effected by slackening the locknut slightly so that I could rotate it enough to unclip the connecter, then I just unscrewed it completely from the mounting. Here it is against the replacement: I was a bit concerned that the new switch was longer, but it transpired there is enough room - just. There is surface rust aplenty under the dashboard, but I can find no evidence of where the water might have entered, so I am hoping it was a combination of lots of rain, lack of use and being parked on a slope that caused the issue. It has not rained since I bought the car, but it will be under cover in the winter anyway. Certainly something to be aware of though. It is a bit fiddly adjusting the new switch, which is where an assistant helps, although an alternative is to open the boot and prop a board up so that the rear window brake light reflects off it. Reassembly, as they say, is a reversal of the above procedure. In all it took me a couple of hours or so, which wasn't too bad.

Thanks for that tip, but I have now managed to source all the required parts from a seller on eBay.

Sounds like a lot of fun! I wonder if my 5 year old grandson can squeeze behind the dashboard?

Unfortunately not. I have noticed that sometimes the brake lights at the rear stay on after the pedal has been released, so I'm convinced it's the switch. I have ordered a new one.