Foeux

Here's hoping I have fixed it. There was also a peculiar process for restarting the car. Leave it with ignition on for 6 mins, turn off and then turn on again. Something to do with immobiliser. Cheers, F.

Right, it is back and the water can't get in. However, a new issue has arrived. The battery I think is goosed which has led to all manner of problems. Dodgy alarm behaviour, headlight washers doing their thing on their own, error for headlight adjustment on dash, cut out once, non-start etc. Chucked a thumping great bosch silver in and it seems to have cured it. Anyone else experienced similar problems when a battery is past best? If it isnt battery then this car may be a real pig! F

I am not treating this (frankly cheap beater of a) car to a complete underbody overhaul. I am simply having new metal plopped in where the tin mice have been and am then covering it over with whatever schmoo the bloke doing the work reckons is good. It's localised and quite easily done so I am doing it. As for treating the whole underside, there is this sort of thing that costs the earth... Madness Take her on steady, F.

I think the rear arch repairs will run to a few hundred quid (£300-400). When all is said and done and it has cost me £1500 I will come back and hang my head in shame...

When I've a little more time I'll upload some tin-mouse pics and some pics once it is repaired. Thanks, F

Dear Esteemed Peers, I have returned once more to the fold. I left when I sold M420HPC (Gary Lineker's old motor) and I sulked, moped and rued the day I sold it. I have another one, it hasn't quite the charm of the first but then it didn't cost £500 and I haven't V-maxed it on a french dual carriageway yet. It is all the things the old one was and more (some is good, some bad). It is brisker. It is better nailed together. The brakes aren't wobbly and by heck are they strong. It is rustier. It has brighter lights. It has touch screen satnav. However, in essence it is still the same fun car the old one was. The rust I am having sorted before it becomes a true pig. The inner rear arches are (I now know) prone to tin-mice and this one has had it bad. Paying someone to chase all the rust away, fabricate new panels, weld through primer everything he can reach behind the rust, weld the new panels in/on, seam seal, paint and then underseal. That will be the biggie done. I hit a pheasant at close to 3 figures on a private road the pther day and that obliterated a xenon headlight. £30 later, I had a spare one from ebay. I ran the restorer pads and compounds over it and it is as new. Will self-service it from here on. Won't be using it till the rust is treated but I am please to be back. Best, F

Had a look for nipped. Wasn't one sadly... If shot, I'd love to take you up on offer. As it is brakes a lot better now. ABS working and good power again. Odd. Will replace hoses and report back. Also going to stick some more serious brake pads in it.

Ah... I took of brake res cap but did not loosed bleed nipples. How easy is MC seal to 'flip'? Thanks for replying so swiftly.

Dear All, I just did a 3000 mile charity drive around Europe in my LS400. It was excellent and incredibly fast. I wont do any 'willy waving' but we were all startled. Anyway, going really fast means some serious stopping at times. Unsurprisingly, we warped the discs (3rd set) and cooked the fluid needed changing. With pals, it was jacked, and bled (furthest from master cylinder first) like any other car. Pedal felt rock solid. Engine turned on and the pedal goes straight to the floor. So I consulted the interned and found that there is an 'ignition on/ignition off' protocol. Did it this way, pedal felt rock solid, straight to the floor. tried activating abs on gravel. no real improvement. When discs and pads were changed, they were very very clean and the pistons in the calipers all pushed back in with moderate thumb pressure. It has had over 1.5l of fluid, some air has come out and fluid expelled on each corner is now crystal clear. What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it? Usualy a competent DIY mechanic but this has me (and the lexus dealership in bristol stumped.

So, guided by the numerous UK and US threads on the benefits of changing coolant temp sensors, I decided to do mine. Would the performance increase? Would it stop the bugger running rich the whole time? Would it be impossibly difficult? It took maybe 45 mins total, including a cuppa. It is frustrating how much has to come off to get to the sensor. I tried to cheat but soon realised there were no short cuts. With everything off, a deep 19mm was all that was needed. No coolant was lost and the only fumble was dropping the old copper washer and carefully placing the new one. The sensor that came out was grubby but not visibly damaged. Everything went back easily enough and the car started a treat. Since doing that it has done 200 miles and I can report that: It no longer runs rich once warm. It reaches idle RPM faster. It has perhaps filled out the mid-range a little. It no longer does the juddery thing it used to do when coming off mild throttle. In short, it is easy to do and cured rich running.

When renewal comes up, be sure to ring Chris Knott as they are real people (brokers) and do "proper insurance". Havig had to deal with Admiral outside of just renewing insurance, I will never use them again (nor elephant or diamond). F

I am all for having the right kind of cover but is sounds like you are being done over a bit. Who are you with and what mileage and extras have you got on the policy?

I use Chris Knott for every day insurance and Footman James for classic. Classic on the lexus is <£200 and a mere £46 for a Peugeot 205.

I took my fobs apart and they had a little corrosion in. Contact cleaner, emery board, new battery, done.

Chris Knott are very very competitive: 0800 917 2274 (Option 2, Option 1) Footman James are even more competitive: 0333 207 6120 This is only my own experience, yours may differ.

Hub face very clean, used a wire brush followed by a load of brake cleaner and rags. Discs changed due to a large lip and ferocious squeaking. Thought it would be 'like new' if I chaged the lot. It seems I have just created more hassle. Not fakes. 100% feedback ebayer with long history to track back through. As above, hub was super clean. Did not replace the 'hold the disc still' screws as the others had to be removed with a chisel, half a turn at a time. Could this be a problem? I will look into the lubes you recommend but the shake is so sever I doubt it is that alone. That said it is useful to know about copper slip's properties for future work. I am going to replace the discs re-supplied by the ebay seller and re-re-check all nuts, bolts and clips. At motorway speeds, when brakes are applied, especially with any steering input, the judder is alarming!

This is what owning a cheap, fun car should be all about. Well done that man.

I changed the discs and pads in my ls400 this weekend. I was really pleased to see that the calipers had been rebuilt when pushing the pistons back. They all moved back smoothly with thumb pressure only and look to have been rebuilt at some stage. The disc retention screws were made of soft metal and rounded instantly, despite plenty of penetrating fluid and waiting, they were removed with a punch and hammer which took ages. The new discs were cleaned off and put on. The new pads were copper slipped to stop squeaks (hopefully). Everything was tightened and checked again. A pal and I service and maintain a modest fleet of cars between us and have plenty of experience and can see nothing else wrong (pads not contaminated, all pins and clips secure, all bolts and nuts done up). Sadly, the discs are already 'warped', vibrating really strongly when brakes are applied, the higher the speed the brakes are applied at, the worse the wobble. Also seems worse once brakes are warm. It took 3h for this fault to surface and it was not there before on the old pads and discs; just squeaked a lot and we're running low. Having looked around the Internet, warped discs seem common but I wonder if anyone has experienced them this soon after changing. The eBay seller has agreed to exchange the discs and cover return costs which I think is great. The discs were 'blueprint' ones. Any similar experience?

I can not offer 1UZ specific information but have had exactly the same symptoms before in another car. It was the TPS or throttle position switch. That said, I have had 'ignition type' problems before and they can be difficult to solve quickly.

Woof! There have been some really good responses so far. Thank you all. Two further points: 1) Can anyone advise me specifically on the merits (or otherwise) of two 'true' straight pipes, an 'H' pipe, a 'Y' pipe or an 'X' pipe where the two pipes join? 2) Would anyone like to hear the exhaust as it sits now with the middle resonator removed and replaced with straight pipe. It gets plenty of compliments as is...

I know, I know. However, I will keep thew old zorst...

I have been researching on this forum and others about the ways in which you may 'straight pipe' an LS400. I would like a conclusive thread on exactlyy what the best method is. I am aware that some of you may disapprove but the car was very cheap. I bought it because it has my favourite engine (of the affordable ones) in and I want to be able to hear it in all its glory. If I dislike it, it is reversible. Currently my exhaust lacks the central resonator, it has been replaced with a piece of pipe. However the stock silencers still mute it a little too much and I want to be rid of them too. My main question centres around back-pressure. If I were to straight pipe the car, should I run two totally separate pipes from each bank? Should I have an 'x-pipe' and 'H-pipe' or a 'Y-pipe' where they meet? Also, aesthetically speaking should I hide the tips or have some nice spangly (tasteful) ones?

I like my £500 Lexus LS400 a lot. I like that everything electric just works, I like that it sounds good with the middle resonator on the exhaust cut out, I like that mis-matched Chinese ditch-finders on the back make it do skids everywhere (especially in the wet). I like that the stereo is obnoxiously loud when needed, I like the leather seats, I like a lot about it. However, one of the main points of contact is the slightly tired old leather gearknob. I am changing this as we speak… I have a pal, Mark, who has owned one of the most prestigious kitchen and furniture companies in the UK, perhaps the world. He is semi-retired and likes tinkering. I have asked him to make me an ebony gear knob for the Lexus, he has agreed. He has taken my knob and replaced it with a temporary solution, a nickel re-cast of a 1928 bonnet mascot that looks just like him. It cost ‘many hundreds of pounds’ and he had to borrow the original from Beaulieu Motor Museum. I will of course show you the ebony knob when finished but in the meanwhile, here is the gearknob that costs more than my whole car…

Thanks for the pointers. And thanks for the correction.

I too am a 'newbie'. The welcome and the goldmine at your fingertips on the search function and the archive are brilliant.