Stanwithaplan

Update; Engine Management light back on again, damn it. Next step Oxygen sensors.

Hi Gents, Thanks for all your suggestions, much appreciated. My update; Lexus Dubai, finally agreed to add me and my car to their system, so I can order parts etc from them ( its a bit of a closed market normally). I paid them to do an inspection and provide a report. It said 4x bearings and differential bushes, along with an o-ring to fix the coolant leak were required (and confirmed the indy had not fitted new bearing to the front as they had promised me ...grrr!). Lexus also recommended all 4 brake backing plates were replaced soon, but not urgent. I've had all the work done by them, it was completed the night before I flew home (yesterday), so I was only able to do a short test drive in rush hour traffic. She's running very smoothly, the droning noise is now very quiet but not gone completely. So I will work through all of your suggestions when I next go back. BTW I haven't replaced the engine mounts and was aware they would probably need doing soon, but I hadn't thought about them in connection to solving this problem.

Thanks for the help Superfly and Malc. Unfortunately the car with the issue is in Dubai. My local indy, have tried their best but I can see they have run out of ideas. So I spoke with Lexus.ae today, the first contact said they wont look at imports ("they are different, we don't have the tools"). I laughed and I escalated and got a call back. They will look at it next week, so fingers crossed we will get to the bottom of it.

Hi All, The Golden Goddess sounds like a bus between 60-100kph. As I speed up it gets louder and same on deceleration. Garage thought it was front bearings, but it isn't. So now they are removing the drive shaft and getting it tested. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Any advice will be appreciated please:o)

My engine management light has been off for a week now (which whilst not being very long, is a new personal record), after finding a hole in pipe that runs from the air intake. Picture of pipe attached but not the hole, sorry.

Quick update, I got the throttle cable adjusted and throttle body cleaned. In doing so, we found a hole in the pipe coming from the air intake, it looked like someone had tried to block the hole previously and it blew out. So it took a day of going around Sharjah scrapyards to find a replacement (because my car is an American import and that apparently is different to the normal ones normally found in the Middle East -who would have thought???). Problem solved, car now accelerating very smoothly and as a bonus the Engine Management light has been out for over a week now, which is great (cos I thought that was either faulty o2 sensors or the cat).

Not for me either. I'm trying hard not to judge:o) Somebody will love it.

Well, I am now the proud owner of another '99 LS (from the UK not US this time) with Navigation system and I can report the screen colour is not bright white but a more muted colour and there is no night mode. Also it has fold up mirrors and headlamp washers which the other doesn't.

Just been to Lexus Maidstone, to get an inspection done for my new LS400 which has water ingress. I asked the mechanic/technician how to clear the sunroof drain-holes and he said they always use an air hose and did mine for me foc.

Apologies in advance to everyone who already knows about this. My '99 LS400 has the original Navigation LCD display and a little while ago, in one of its sub menus, I found brightness settings, but there was also a mysterious "Night mode/Day Mode" button that didn't seem to work? Well today I cracked it, if you turn on night mode and then use the instrument cluster dimmer/off switch, it turns the Nav screen background from bright white to a cool green colour that is easy on the eyes whilst driving at night. I could not be happier, I swear just when you think you have discovered all features, another one turns up!

I stand corrected Malc ;o) Well she's done over 16K in the last year and is getting looked after, (just changed the rear shock mounts and bushes), so all good.

Stating the obvious, it looks great and mileage is sooo low, but the price paid seems daft. Anyway, luckily I've got one the same (but no parking sensors but it does have has a built in aerial).

Thankyou very much Supafly, your advice is logical much appreciated. I will definitely do as you advise and feedback.

Hi All, I am after some advice please? The Golden Goddess has started to have what feels like a slight delay when pulling away and lurches forward with sudden gusto. It seems particularly noticeable after negotiating speed bumps, now I can mitigate this by treating the accelerator as being more fragile than a butterfly's spectacles but its' spoiling the wafting experience? The transmission fluid was changed about 11 months/16K miles ago, so I'm thinking it shouldn't be that?? Any pointers would be appreciated please.

Seconded :o) Did you sell it in the end Richard?

Hi Graham, this is very long shot, but I had the same problem years ago, with a brand new Alfa GTV, it took months of going backwards and forwards to the dealer, they couldn't fix it. They thought it was a problem with the windscreen washers, then they resealed the windscreen, meanwhile I was growing mushrooms in my ps footwell. I finally got a friend to look at it and it was an AC leak into the footwell behind the glovebox. Fixed instantly by redirecting the pipe.

One side had failed completely when I bought my LS400, had to replace the compressor, cost equivalent of £570 including fitting, cleaning and regas :o( More recently the entire aircon struggled if left parked in the heat, took ages to get "cool/tepid", I replaced the condensor with a GCC spec one (to cope with hot climates) cost £196 including fitting, flush and regas, it is flipping freezing within a couple of mins now, nice.

I bought Michelin 225/60 R16 98V Primacy-3s for my LS400 11 months ago. They were recommended to me, because I wanted the smoothest ride and least road noise. Since then the "Golden Goddess" has done just over 16,000 miles in 11 months and I can thoroughly recommend them. The temperature here in Dubai can get up to 50 degrees, roads get very hot and tyres need to be able to cope. These Michelins have been great. They cost the equivalent of £495 for 5, not sure how this compares to the UK?

Well, I take my hat off to you Scara, bravo! It makes me very happy indeed, to see your thorough restoration of this LS400. Good decision and I know it will all be worth it, its a great car. Can't wait to see which colour you choose?

I had a 2010 Audi A8 4.2 diesel twin turbo, which was a comfortable car for long journeys, but my current and previous LS400s always seemed to encourage me to alter my driving style, to happily waft everywhere, the Audi never did that. The seats in the LS are much more comfortable than the A8 which "squeezed" too much. My old (again 2010) Lincoln Navigator was pretty good, better sound deadening than the older LS400, but again it never wafted. All my other cars have had hard suspensions. BTW I'm also considering an LS600H for my UK car, but I'm going to need to test drive one first, because the CVT may not suit me, it seems its polarising in reviews?

Many thanks Len, so I'm focussed again on the 600 and will definitely get the AA EOBD solar charger. I've got a trickle charger, so I'll see how it goes before considering investing in a Power Pack.

thanks Mark.

Many thanks Len. I like a creative solution. Didnt know these existed at all. So that puts plan A back in play. Honestly I am never normally indecisive, I am annoying myself now.