DomTurner

I've taken the LS up there quite a few times now - going up is effortless as expected, providing you aren't following someone unfamiliar with the route. Never tried the parking brake on it though! I suspect it wouldn't hold as it certainly needs adjusting too.

Hit 170,000 miles on my 2006 LS430 today, although I missed the exact figure by 10 miles... Also I didn't realise how bad the dash cluster is scratched... any tips for cleaning it up?

I have a 2006 which should be the same as a 2004 and it had this issue - the joints on the radiator where the transmission lines connect to failed and I caught it just in-time. I opted to fit the oil cooler bypass as the other option was to buy a new radiator for around £500 which could very well fail the same way again.

The part number for the rear pollen filter is 88508-30110 and it looks like Autodoc has a few aftermarket options from around £20. I don't think mine has ever been changed but still looked really clean when I inspected it. I only change the front pollen filter at service time.

My bonnet has 2, when looking at the engine bay the left one is 53440-50060 and right is 53450-50060 but any aftermarket strut should be fine.

I struggled to find an exact radiator replacement from Autodoc, Rockauto etc... I found they are either for older LS's or for US markets which have different radiators to ours unfortunately, otherwise I would have gone with that option myself. Yep good idea, hopefully it's just that. Forgot to mention it's even more of a bargain because pre 2006 models are on the lower tax band, so it's around £400/year instead of £735/year for the exact same car.

Yes, I sent the link to your friend over on Discord. The joints where the transmission lines enter the bottom of the radiator are the usual fail area. As for the reversing cameras, I don't think they're too hard to come by on eBay and shouldn't set you back too much and again should be a nice easy DIY job to replace. Sounds like you've had an absolute bargain at £1800 with that maintenance being done recently, great colour for the LS430 too.

As it has the "5024" mark it is the more expensive of the options, a new replacement one can be found here: https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-ls-phase-3-radiator-mark-5024 . The part number is 16400-50241 ( 'MARK' 5024 Type B ). Let us know once you've had a look through the paperwork to see if/when it has been replaced. For a cheaper alternative you can install the external transmission cooler for around £150 which can be found on eBay from LexusSparesDirect and is an easy DIY job. This will protect the gearbox in the event the radiator does give out.

I've always found the Bluetooth FM transmitters to do a decent job, I bought one for my first car on Amazon for £15 and it still works now 4 and a half years later. Nothing compares to an actual CD/direct phone input and it's nice to have the steering wheel controls too. Also something that I never see mentioned is the "Set" button next to the steering wheel volume controls, I use it a lot more than I thought I would for example pulling up somewhere late at night/early morning and being able to set the volume to 10 with the press of a button.

Does the error have any more detail or does it just say "error"?

Sorry I missed out that info! The MARK is '5024', so https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/product/lexus-ls-phase-3-radiator-mark-5024/ 16400-50241 ( 'MARK' 5024 Type B ) looks like the best bet. Thanks everyone for your help!

Hi, can someone tell me where I can source a replacement radiator, part no. 422132-3836 I have looked on Rockauto and amayama and whilst there are radiators, none share the same part number - am I alright to use these? I know that some radiators (USDM maybe?) don't have an expansion tank to the left of the engine bay like mine. I have been looking at this one https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=4722936&cc=1432014&pt=2172&jsn=2797 Thanks.

This is most likely a "feature" of the smart key where holding the unlock button for a period of time will unlock the doors and then open all windows and the sunroof. Holding the lock button will close them. This becomes a problem if you accidentally sit on the unlock button when the keys are in your pocket for example - my bets are on this. If you can rule this out by trying it yourself then I'm not sure of the issue.

All MOTs pre 2006 will not "exist" when checking online as the test was not "computerised" yet.

It sounds like the pre-collision warning was triggered - did you feel a tightening of the seat belt at all? Did it look similar to this video I came across? - I hope you wasn't driving like this 😋