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danbobnix

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  • First Name
    Daniel
  • Gender
    Male
  • Lexus Model
    LS400
  • Year of Lexus
    1998
  • UK/Ireland Location
    Lancashire

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  1. Purely personal taste for the MK4 Malc, that's the only reason. Although I do have a soft spot for the MK3 in certain colours. There's one on gumtree at the moment, in Devon I think, looks gorgeous. I think you're right re: the money, probably will end up spending a bit more, but yes I shall tread very carefully when buying.
  2. So I'm bringing my two year old thread back to life... Sorry mods, please do let me know if I need to start a fresh? Hello again all, although I didn't meet anyone from the club I felt very welcome and was glad and very appreciative for all the help received with the LS400 I owned. Thanks again! I do wonder if it has cropped up on here since I parted with it? R298 0EE. Since the day I parted with the Lexus I've not shaken the itch for them, since then I've managed to buy a house (with the Mrs!), and currently running a little 500 Abarth as a daily driver. So two years wiser, selling some expensive aftermarket parts for the Abarth, I'm thinking of putting the money into getting an LS400 as a second car/toy. As such I'm not overly fussy about it being immaculate or needing to be reliable for the commute to work, which means the amount to pay doesn't become a huge premium, one hopes. I'm thinking between £1000-£1500 at the top end of my budget, MK4 of course. The hunt is on. Found an owner near me and noticed the car barely moves so may pop a polite note through the door enquiring about it - you never know. This being said if anyone is considering selling, I'm over here! Although I'm not not a mechanic, I've dug out the workshop manual I bought last time and willing to get my hands dirty with the usual stuff if any work needs doing. As there won't be pressure to get anything done over a weekend! (Leaving complicated and safety stuff to the pros of course) Looking forward to stepping into ownership again! Sorry for the waffle!
  3. So, not much to update on the gearbox front, but to share my experience for any other members needing advice in the future -long story short, the guys I've been taking the car too can't see where the leak is coming from, they've had it a couple of times but need to take the box out fully find it. I then mentioned after his quotation, finding a second hand box with proven history to just drop in to save labour, but got thinking- could be a 'better the devil you know' sort of scenario. They have now quoted for having te gearbox fully refurbished for a little more than the original quote of remove-reseal-replace, which is what I think I'll do. Once this is sorted I'll be waiting for MOT & tax time just after Christmas. If all goes well I'll be looking at LPG by profess :) that's the plan anyway! Absolutely loving her, still can't get over the quality.
  4. Right, bit of an update. Was about to leave Blackpool to take the girlfriend out for a meal. Started the car and set to put the car in gear. Nothing. Waited for a few minutes- nothing. Waited for the car to get upto temperature - nothing. Checked ATF fluid level and couldn't see anything on the dipstick. Got myself a funnel and poured in about a litre of fluid and noticed it spilling out on the floor- guessing I overfilled it a bit? and it was running down onto the ground, as this subsided after a few seconds. Jumped back in started her up and engaged first time... What a difference, gear changes are so smooth, can barely tell it's changing gear. Next on the shopping list, a filter and gasket for the transmission pan to get that done and hopefully solve the 'problem'. Will also keep an eye on any fluids that may be escaping any pipes or joints on the transmission fluid lines? Fingers crossed that it only needed more fluid.
  5. Welcome, looks like a very clean example! Enjoy :)
  6. I've let them know at the garage and they're going to check with who did the work. Said it was removed when the pump was done and may have bled itself with the new coolant. I'll top her up in the morning. Now for this damn gearbox! Google and forum reading commences! Thanks again guys, will have to get down to some meets and thank you all in person sometime :)
  7. Thanks for that ebay link, I'll be sure to get some ordered. Well on the way home tonight the car stalled at some traffic lights after coming to a stop, which kind of made me panic a little, ha. But she started up again and got me home. Getting home and immediately checking the transmission fluid showed me this : Halfway down the hot part, what is recommended level? Does the colour look ok? The coolant is also near the bottom of the reservoir. What coolant is recommended for these engines? Or is my mechanical knowledge just that awful that when got the reservoir will drop it's level, naturally. Sorry for all the basic questions. Thanks for all your help again!
  8. Thanks Malc, responses always welcome - an idea is a potential problem solver. I'm an LS400 driver, yes. Potentially - i've read bits and pieces on the capacitor issues (can't remember if it's the uk forum or american one) but may look into that if todays fluid check doesn't give much. Hopefully i'll know more when i check the fluid, like i say, it's just a delayed change and a bit of a shunt when it changes. It also has a bit of a delay from me selecting the gear and it engaging in the gear. If i find anything i'll be sure to report back. Where do people buy the toyota type 4 fluid from? or is it as simple as - toyota only? Thanks all
  9. Ok so, had the belt and water pump changed, new spark plugs, aux belt, air filter, cabin filter, fuel filter. Brakes stripped, checked and cleaned/re-greased, along with a 'health check' which pointed out i need a couple of new tires come mot time. Noticed a definite improvement already. I did ask them to look at the transmission but it appears they haven't or completely forgot, i needed the car for a few days so took it from them and parted with quite a bit of cash. I'm going to check the transmission fluid when it is light tomorrow and see where that is and what colour it is, hoping it's low and in a horrible state to explain the poor gear changes and erratic behaviour of the gearbox, thats only been in the car for <10,000 miles. Any other things i can check that would affect the gear changes? They are quite jumpy from 1st upto 3rd and the revs will fluctuate when cruising, almost like it's kicking down when I'm cruising at about 50, and then changes up again (with no extra pressure on the accelerator). Usually starts behaving when the engine is warm but the gear changes are still very noticeable. It's the only thing that I'm a little concerned about upto now. Any info from people who have had similar problems would be appreciated :) Thanks all
  10. This is going to sound odd, noticed a teething problem- either that or I really need to get used to driving an auto more. Noticed when the transmission shifts when pulling away from a stop in (maybe) 1st 2nd and 3rd, it tends to hesitate and shunt into gear. It's fine shifting down and picking up to overtake... Which by the way is brilliantly effortless :D Checked through service history tonight and it had a second hand gearbox fitted in 2011, 10,000 miles ago. I'm only wary as I'm due to drive it to Manchester on Thursday morning early doors to get us to the airport for our jolly's! Just hoping it gets us there ok- which I'm sure it will. I know it's hard from a poor description as above but but wondering if any of this has been experienced before? Cheers folks :) Edit: reason for failure was leaky pipes therefore lack of fluid in the system!
  11. Looks very good Barry! I also have noticed the need to adapt to the throttle response of driving an automatic!
  12. No problem thats the way they are meant to work. Mike I turn the key, not turning the engine on, and the message 'CHECK VSC' is on the display, and the VSC OFF symbol showing with it. After that period which feels like a while, they both go off and i don't see them again. Will get it checked when I can. Thanks for clearing the two up. I'm in Hambleton, 8 miles from Blackpool. Might be a bit far from you depending on which side of Manchetser you are. However i wouldn't bother about me making the trip down and meeting a fellow member and having a starting point like you say :) Thanks for the offer and I'll see what the health check brings from the service at the garage! I need water in the bottle, thanks for reminding me, ended up smearing bug innards all over the windscreen before the heavens opened, whilst on the motorway. I have them ready to fit so i'll be able to get my hands dirty doing them. Just purchased a 'bomb' and new pollen filter for the air con cleanup to try and shift the smell of an unused air conditioning system. Big thanks to everyone for the input and suggestions with all of the previous and above, what a top bunch you all are :) Feeling very welcomed into the club and looking forward to a lengthy stay here!
  13. I pretty much went to Stirling straight away (picking up the better two thirds from a friends house that she's visiting from university) down the M9(or 8, can't recall) and she lives in Alva, nice little village. Saw the huge steel horses en route too. Just very wet and misty! Thanks Malc, I do wait for it to go off before I start the engine, hope it's nothing major but will try more searching. Tempted to just start it while it's on to see if it goes away but don't want to provoke anything disastrous! Likewise, seems to be a few things that can cause it, when I take it for the belt/pump to be done I'll mention it before the garage give it a once over. First job is to replace the bonnet struts, or rather, find a suitably sized piece of 2x2 timber, to let me change the struts!
  14. Well, not much to report, effortless drive from Edinburgh over to Stirling and then back down to Blackpool on Saturday afternoon. Using all but half a tank of fuel, also added in a bit of pottering about today. Trying to track down some details of past services from stamps in the book, and still reading bits of the manual for all the extra functions I didn't know about- I bloody love it already, just need to give it a good clean inside, smells a bit 'musty'. Going to see how much money I spend on fuel for a bit and may potentially get it gassed- can see me driving it for a very very long time, and I'd enjoy paying 70p a litre! Just a quick question- when I insert the key and turn it (not to start the engine-just when the dash lights up) 'check vsc' appears and stays there for maybe 10(?) seconds, probably less actually, with that red light and then goes off with no extra trace or appearance when driving, can't find anywhere if this is a fault or normal or what? A very happy owner over here :)
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