kensigreen

All sorted!

Success! Got the bulb out without distroying the housing. Decided that all the crusty stuff was limescale so got the mad scientist head on and gave the bulb end a soak in neat vinegar for a couple of hours. Then got plumbers adjustable spanner to get a good grip of the bulb and gently eased it round, and it moved! Rotated the bulb back and forth about thirty times and eventually with a bit of patients it came out! Fnar fnar! Will now let the business end of the fog unit soak for a few more hours to get rid of as much crust as poss and will try new bulb. Will let you know if it works?!? Sing it from the hill tops cuase you cant get these for love nor money at breakers and Lexus want a mint for new. Sorry forget used Cillit Bang in the mix every now and again, not sure if the vinegar or the Bang did the best job? Old John what's 'is name off the advert will have to change his commercial to "BANG and Lexus are out of pocket!"

Ouch, presume you had to go on hands and knees to Lexus with a second mortgage for a complete new unit c. £180 ?

Hi My drivers side front fog has stoped working and I cannot get the bulb out to change it which I assume is the corresion problem that is well posted, Question : should the bulb simply twist out or should you undo somethong, i.e. there are three small screws surrounding the bulb on mine? Anyway I have snapped most of the bulb away now trying to force it out. If any one has any tips on how to get over this please it would be most appreciated? Other wise does anyone have a drivers side front fog avialable, would take both iif ts a pair? (only a passenger side available on ebay, also doing the rounds at breakers) Many thanks all,

Hi all Had some chav kids round singing Merry Christmas in half broken voices, asked them which charity they we're singing for and after a few "eeerrrs" I sent them on they way. Was'nt rude, just said I did'nt have anything for them. Wake up the next morning to find full house brick sat on the back seat and then notice hugh hole in the rear window (back of car faces out to road) Who is resposible for bringing these idiots into the world, they should be newtered or something. You can tell i'm :tsktsk: ....its the frustration that they can do what they want with no payback, that was obvious when I called the police and was put through to the crime "reporting" unit...wheres the crime "investigation" unit! Obviously all I would get was the crime number that would allow me to get it sorted through insurance. Its not the fault of the police its a resource problem. Anyway got it sorted in the same day via directline and Autoglass who did a great job. It did not appear that any other damage was done, the brick has bounced of the speaker shelf, then the center head rest and landed on the child seat that was on the back seat. I need to have a closer look but I think the head rest only has a minor scuff which is not obvious, the child seat protected the rear seat but there is a rip in the speaker shelf. Does anyone have a rear shelf in cream for sale? Anyone know how much for new? (Chris S?) They only other thing to sort is giving it a major hover out when the weathers dry, the glass has in everything, cant let the kids in untill done. Also some glass frags have got into the rear speaker cone which drives me mad with its rattling, have done the search and it looks like a weekend job to sort that with the rear seats having to come out (cheers forum for the knowledge) Sorry for the moan feel better now....let us know if there are any shelfs out there, cheers.

Hi One of the things that attracted me to the IS in the first place was the look of it standard. One of the highlights for me has always been the five spoke alloys which look the business B) Unfortunately as many of you will know they dont stay that way for long. BEFORE Any marks you can see are just water drops. After owning my IS for over a year and a half I have been dying to get the wheels sorted but have been put of by a] not having any recomened companies in the area to do them and b] never having an opportunity to be without my car for a few days while the wheels are removed and refurbed. After hearing good reports about Pristine I wanted them to do the job but it was 2 hours away from me (not exactly convienient). Then looking on their web site I saw they have the exchange program which made it a possiblility but I would still have to right off a day to drive down to Milton Keynes, then I noticed the fact that they had agents around the country. Sorry wafferling a bit.... Anyway a quick call later and after all this time it turned out Pristine had an ageent 0.7 miles from my work in Doncaster! They're called Tyre Torque 01302 88883 talk to Brian. Anyway cause they were round the corner I popped in. Brian put in the call to Pristine and yes they had some they could send and he even took the time to take off a wheel as that was the best way to ensure the correct size was sent (apparently the five spoke is 7 or 7.5 wide (I didn't know that, and must admit wondered why there are two sizes, comments welcome!) So that was Monday and I was expecting a call by the end of the week. On Wednesday I got the call so dropped the car of on Thurs morning. Specified which wheel i wanted to keep (only got 4 refurbs cause one is hardly used) all the tyre swopping was no trouble for Brian. I picked it up at lunch time and was well cuffed with the new additions. The misses nicked the car that evening and I had to stand and watch it drive off all the way down the road cause it looked the buisness again! AFTER Cost was £55 per wheel which included fitting, swapping tyres and balancing, I noticed that Tyre Torque have a nice mordern looking balancing machine and after a quick blast down the motorway confirmed without a doubt that everthing is running smooth as a babies bum :) (hardly any garage seems to do a good job of balancing wheels round here so well pleased) They are also general mechanics despite the name and have quoted me £90 labour for a cam belt change. Result! Ok some of you have got your wheels done plenty cheaper, but for me, having a rocommend company do the job with all that convienence too was well worth it. Any down sides?.. well if I'm nit picking..I can see they have put on quite a bit of weight on some of the wheels which makes me worry that the "new" refurbs may not be very straight, but of cause thay are not brand spankers so probably can expect it? All in, I'm well pleased, well worth £220 for the satisfaction as it has lifted the appearence of the whole car, and would not be surprised if you could squeeze andother c.£220 out of future buyers of the car anyway. Not that I want to sell her now :D Anyway gone on a bit... but have had a great service from Tyre Torque and Prestine. So get on with it, there is no longer a reason for any IS to run around without that bling that attracted us in the first place (as long as theres a Pristine agent in your area :P ) now I've done the wheels... maybe now some eibachs.. minus 30mm will look even better???...the bug starting to bite Well done Pristine and Tyre Torque!

Hi I'm going back to a Toyota dealer next week as I am on my 3rd set of front discs (in 12 months) and the judder has returned again, (when braking at mod-high speeds, through the streering wheel) Its doing my head in. Toyota say they have used Blueprint discs and that they cannot find any issue with the brakes themselves, so whys it doing it??? Starting to think I must brake to hard, but surely a Lexus can stand up to some punisement on the motorways? Went on to Speedway site who seem to supply Blueprint discs and found the below information, I'll be sharing it with Toyota, and asking for them to check the "run out". Should I also ask for Lexus parts, anyone know if Blueprint are any good? Also when new discs are fitted should you also alway fit new pads? Thanks Disc Judder problem - Cause/rectification. Symptoms: Vibrations are felt through the car with a pulsating pedal when braking. If the steering wheel vibrates also, this tends to indicate the problem is with the front brakes. Cause: Usually due to variations in disc thickness (DTV). Note: These variations in thickness are usually the result of excessive disc run-out caused by mating the disc to dirty or distorted hubs. When driving (brakes off), the pads are normally in close contact to the disc, however when there is excessive disc run-out the pads scuff the ‘high’ parts of the disc on every rotation and this scuffing gradually wears the disc thinner where most contact is made. Imagine a buckled bicycle wheel, the brake blocks would catch the wheel rim (braking surface) at the same ‘high’ points on every rotation. Disc run-out is similar, but the rotation speeds on cars are slightly quicker and brake pads are far more abrasive than your bike’s rubber blocks. So when you’ve driven 2,000 miles, the pads have scuffed the same ‘high’ spots over 2 million times. Eventually the disc becomes thinner in 2 parts and causes a judder under braking. Simply replacing the discs without rectification will lead to the problem reoccurring. Solution: Replace the damaged discs, inspect hubs properly and use a dial gauge to ensure disc run-out is less than 0.1mm (0.004” ) to avoid damaging the new discs. Alternatively the discs, if only slightly worn can be machined on the car so they run perfectly true. Facts: If you fit new discs and they’re great for the first 1,000-2,000 miles and then you start to notice a very slight judder developing, you’ve probably got DTV caused by run out. If you fit new discs and they immediately judder, then it’s probable (although very rare) that they have been machined incorrectly or a flaw in the casting.

Any update on this? I too will be having a crack at this soon, would like to know how you got it sorted? Hope you did Cheers

Hi Mine also pick up a big chip on the motorway, Direct Line sent me to RAC Windscreens in Donny who said they would fit an aftermarket, I asked for proper Lexus and they said ok. When I asked if insurance would have a problem they said no! Just shows it depends who's behind the counter that day?! should be one policy for the whole company. Anyway, all this happend the week before xmas, and they said it would take a little longer to get from Lexus over the Xmas period. However I'm still waiting! Not impressed.

Hi My water pump is ouzzing coolant from every joint and will be getting it replaced shortly. Toyota have quoted £325 approx for changing the pump. Should they lob on a timming belt while they are there, for just the price of the belt (£20 approx)? I presume like some garages they may scatch their chin and want to charge a few more hours labour. But from what I have read on here there may not be much more time involved in putting the belt on while changing the water pump. Anyone know? Also being a bit dumb I'm not sure how urgently I need to get it done. Currently the pump is showing signs of coolant leaking out of the joints (pink crusty stuff), and the coolant level is slowly reducing over a few months (still above the "Low" marker), could I just get some coolant, top up and keep going (saving many sqids) or am I risking some sort of catastrophic engine meltdown while bombing down a motorway one day? Many Thanks

Appreciate the help fella's, I'll let you know how it goes.

Hi My 99 IS200 SE is comming up to 60k and the cost of getting the plugs changed at the garages looks really expensive. I have seen the posts on which plugs to get and they look pretty cheap, but is it easy to fit new ones yourself. I have never change plugs in a car before but have not thought it would be beyond me, e.g. pull lead off, use socket to remove old and space if necessary (not so on IS plugs I believe) and screw back in! Heres the embarrising bit.... I can't even find them in the IS! Are they in an inecessable place that makes it a "take loads of other bits off first before you can touch them" job, which for me would be best left to an expert? If there are post describing this I cant see it, any help appreciated.

Hi I am on my second set of front discs to cure the same problem, and the judder is starting to return after a few months. Its been the same both times they have been changed, it sorted the problem completly only for it to return after a few months. It makes me think the discs are not up to the job, or not fitted correctly (as per the comments on cleans hubs etc). I spend alot of time on the motorways so they probably do get a hammering with high speed stops up slip roads and such. But of course this is a Lexus we're talkin about which should be built to deal with that level of punishment. I have seen the posts on not holding the brake peddle down when at a stop to minimise imprint, so I don't think its that in my case. They have been fitted at Toyota with what I assume are the standard discs, so I will be asking them to have another look at the next service which is comming up. I mentioned sticking claipers but they dismissed it (don't know wherther they actually checked) Hope you get it sorted

Hi Had the same issue, all three keys stopped working when using the buttons. Reprogrammed one key ages ago and it was a pain getting it correct then, but it worked eventually. Only recently got round to reprogramming the other two keys and it took me ages to get right. Got to the same point as you and alway got the two locks and unlocks, but kept going and after about ten time it locked and unlocked once, so I quickly got both keys sorted. So its worth keeping going. I'm affraid I'm not sure what made the difference, apparently the timing of all the button pressing etc is critical, have you tried different posts that show the procedure (sure I have seen it more than once) to see if theres any variantion? Try searching on "Alarm Programming Procedure" Hope you get this anoying problem sorted.

Hi and welcome I had this once, its definately worth checking the battery in the key (does light blink failry bright on key when button pressed), on mine it turned out the car had lost the codes on the keys. (Codes harded wired to key I think i.e. key does not need reprogramming after battery change) To correct it there is a procedure that involves opening and shutting doors pressing locking button on door 5 time etc etc. Its posted on the forum somewhere. After a few failed attempts mine was sorted and has not been a problem since, saving me a trip to the garage (and more embarring alarm set offs) Hope you sort it