nicenic61

Folks, Not posted for a while cos nothing's gone wrong. My LS400 mk4 on lpg is on her last legs, or perhaps bushes, and I am looking to replace. There is an LS430 on fleabay, lpg, no reserve. There are a few issues with it including remote key and steering column motors. I have spoken to the owner, north of Bradford. It sounds like he has had it for 3 months, had the lpg injectors replaced, put a couple of tyres on it, had the wheels recon and says he is selling due to wanting a later model (2005?) with lpg. He also says the aircon works but is weak and needs a re-gas. He sounded quite genuine and my alarm bells weren't ringing. I am minded to visit him and view, before the auction ends on Sunday. If anyone has any views on this car or could point me in the way of an LS430 'things to look for' list r buyers guide then it would be appreciated, I am more than familiar with faults on the LS400 cos my car has them all. And I never did get the gearbox fixed, still only a 4-speed. Regards, Nick.

Just had it welded today by Geoff, a friend of Jonno. Geoff doesn't sound like a welder's name to me but it works, although he did say the exhaust was paper thin. Cost was 40, which I think is a bargain. Performance is much better now too. Earliest I can get my next MOT is late August so as long as it lasts a month....And I've got a boot load of heat shields for sale if anyone's interested.....Nick

Cheered me up, perhaps welding is an option. Kwik Fit quoted £623 but grunted about the cat flanges and getting the oxygen sensors out in one piece. Local garage knows a bloke called 'Jonno' who is a welder who I might get to see on Monday, failing that there is a bloke called 'Nobby' who also welds. Now if there's ever a welder's name it's either Jonno or Nobby so I think it's sorted. Then there's just the MOT to pass. Might get that looked at first before I dive in with the exhaust weld, might be time for the old dear to visit the great Lexus Scrapyard in the Sky if there's any other bits wrong. Nick

Cupcakes, Not posted for a while because surprisingly I've not had any problems. Actually, I have plenty of problems but they've just not got any worse. I probably have the tattiest LS400 Mk4 lpg in the country, with a valid MOT. It's worth a bag of grapes (seedless, mind) and all the gravel you can eat but I love the old dear, although the lpg system cutting out going round roundabouts at 50mph and having to restart in transit is getting a bit tiresome. Would be nice to have a fifth gear as well. The centre exhaust has started blowing, under the heat shields. This is the y-shaped bit. First place told me I needed y-bit and both cats replacing, over £1000. Ha, ha. Second place says the cats are fine, there's plenty of flange left, so only the y-shaped bit is needed, £493 inc VAT. It took them several hours to find the right stock. My local garage, who aren't exhaust specialists, says it's probably best to get it welded but was unsure of welding under the heat shields. First place says no chance of welding. I'm off to try Kwik Fit now, just for a laugh. If anybody has any thoughts or knows of a cheaper alternative I would be very interested.... Nic

Ambermarine, thanks for that, I've finally managed to find more information on my P0763 fault here via an e-mail enquiry with an autobox specialist: http://engine-codes.com/p0763.html Sounds like a dirty solenoid. I'm not minded to have a go myself. Still no response from the fleabay seller but I can get another 5speed box delivered for £260. Question now is, do I trust my local autobox specialist to clean my solenoid, or do I go the whole hog and simply get the box replaced? Or do I keep driving round with no fifth gear? Nick

Ambermarine, 'twas an autobox mechanic specialist that inspected my box and he was stumped. Didn't charge me. Error fault is 'P076 solenoid electric' but he said the resistance was OK, seemed to think it was a valve body fault, which means taking the box to bits. The overall problem, I suspect, is that no bugger knows much about these boxes because they never break. Steve 2006, in an earlier post you mention two boxes for the Mk4, 35010-50121 and 35010-50120. What's the difference? The Fleabay seller still hasn't got back to me about the box, looks like I'll be driving with no 5th gear for the foreseeable future, very frustrating. Thanks, Nick.

Alanr, You're the man, many thanks! I've e-mailed the seller, no reply yet. Gearbox is only £85 plus carriage, rather cheap, here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-Lexus-LS400-LS-400-AUTOMATIC-GEARBOX-TORQUE-CONVERTER-/170889437502?_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trkparms=aid%3D111000%26algo%3DREC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D14%26meid%3D2320810152186659498%26pid%3D100015%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D170889437502%26 Nick.

Oh great knowledgeable ones, I've just forked out for my Mk4 lpg to pass it's mot, new wishbone, spring, rear pads so now I'm thinking of changing the useless gearbox, no fifth gear. Been looked at, gearbox man, auto specialist, couldn't find the fault, even with the fault code. Wanted at least £300 to poke around so I declined. There's a 5 speed gearbox for sale on Fleabay (other auction sites are available), rather cheap, have a look. I don't have a manual. I seem to recall that there were perhaps two gearbox types for the Mk4, both 5 speed of course. How can I be sure that the Fleabay one is exactly compatible with mine? Numbers and plates to look for and where to look for them would be very much appreciated. One day I might buy that workshop manual. Nick

Hi all, still got my shabby Mk4 on the road. Front brakes just went, metal on metal, no warning light, got new disks and pads fitted at my local for £220 a few days ago. Not much use for your brake light problem, but an indication of costs. The ride is now much better also, the disks were warped which meant it was shake city on heavy braking. Now its just the struts, or possibly the arms...... Nick

More bizareness, my headlamp levelling fault has returned, but not fully, or perhaps it has. Starting the engine and turning the lights on, the lights dip, raise to normal and then the headlamp levelling faults bings and the warning comes on the dash, as it always has done since I've owned the car. Fine to drive, just no automatic dipping with a heavy load, not an MOT fail and an annoying fault light on the dash. However, now after about 10 seconds the headlamps dip further and go into superdip heavy load mode and the dash fault light goes out! Crap to drive with in the dark, but no warning light on the dash. Your thoughts would be interesting. Suspect that I need to get this looked at for the MOT. Only thing that has changed recently was a complete set of four new tyres last week (£264, Micks Tyres, Mansfield), doubling the value of the car. Now, where's that hammer....Nick

Hmm Sir John, if you remember my earlier posts from way back when, I've got a mk4 lpg, 185000 miles, shabby, with a dodgy solenoid meaning I don't get 5th gear. And lots of other things wrong but it still got me to Sunderland and back last week and Swansea and back this week from the Midlands.....currently getting a quote to get it fixed (sharp intake of breath), looking for a breakers replacement, or simply might not bother!

Still running my Mk4 lpg limited edition 'shabby' version, which I purchased June 2011. More faults than I have bandwidth but surprisingly passed it's mot with no advisories last September. Still not fixed my 5th gear or oxygen sensor, this month maybe. Replacing the aerial was 'king epic and involved stripping down the motor. It lasted 2 weeks and I'll be doing it again this weekend. Bizarrely, my permanent 'headlamp levelling' fault, which fortunately is not an MOT failure, has today stopped. I no longer get the warning on the dash and that bloody annoying permanent red light. I'm taking odds on either it's fixed itself (100 to 1) or the sensor that senses the sensor is now also buggered (101 to 1 on). Might get the wife to jump up and down in the boot when it gets dark and see what happens. Never a dull moment with this car but lovely on the motorway, even in fourth and with the cost of LPG getting silly. Nick.

'tis 4 methinks, two for the sensor and two for the heater, since I have looked into this but still haven't got round to replacing my dodgy sensor (passenger side, upstream). Cheapest replacement was £45 from, of all places, Amazon I seem to remember. Nick.

I stand corrected. Shell Ollerton have now gone up to 86.9. Gobsmacked, it was 76.9 a month ago, then 78.9 a few weeks ago. About time my local Morrisons installed LPG. Nick.

There is a dearth of lpg stations in the East Midlands. My nearest independent recently ran out but I was pleasantly surprised when they refilled and kept the price at 79.9. The other nearest, 12 miles away, Shell Ollerton, have just increased theirs from 76.9 to 78.9. There is a very small garage in Ripley, Derbyshire that was charging 68.9 and I fill up there whenever I venture south. Sadly, no lpg at my nearest Morrisons or Asda, was well chuffed when I filled up in Newcastle for 67.9p recently. Nick.