Hello And A Couple Of Questions

Skoff · October 30, 2012

Hi all,

I just picked up my first Lexus! It's a 2001 GS300, and I am very pleased with it.

It's a very nice car and I am sure it will serve me well as my daily commuter car. It does have a couple of things that need sorting out, but I factored that into the purchase price of the car, which was criminally low considering how refined the thing is. It has a full Lexus service history, the most recent of which was carried out 1 month and 1000 miles ago including a new cam belt.

So, on to my questions...

There is an advisory on the MOT about wear in the upper ball joints - is this a big / expensive job? I have a sizable repair fund as the car was purchased well below my budget, so if it is that's not a problem - Though if it's not too tricky a job, I might even consider tackling it myself.

The N/S fog lamp is cracked - I have found one on that well know auction site, but it's from a '96 car, do you guys know if it will fit my 2001 car?

Finally, I am based in the South West near Taunton... Are there any good Lexus specialists in that area that you guys would recommend?

Thanks!

TigerFish · October 30, 2012

Welcome to the world of the mk2 GS. Great cars B)

Does it say if the advisory for top ball joint for the front or rear? Front ones are easy enough, there is a link in my signature to a tutorial I did for the mk1 GS300 upper wishbone, but it is the same as the mk2 GS300 and GS430.

A '96 fog light won't fit yours as '96 is a mk1. You will need a '98 to 2005 one (mk2/Gen2).

Skoff · October 30, 2012

Hi TigerFish,

The advisory says 'wear in both front upper ball joints'

Also thanks for the advice on the fog light, that saved me £18...

One other silly question, is it possible to remove the auto gear knob? The one on my car is pretty old and dirty, I'd like to replace it.

Thanks again

steve2006 · October 30, 2012

Looking at the exploded parts diagram the shift knob simply unscrews from the selector shaft so any decent after market replacement should fit providing the hole/thread size is the same.

Coincidentally a new one from Lexus retails around £400.00! Ouch!

Upper control arms are a common problem but generally fail due to wear and tear.

You can buy aftermarket ones but quality varies so if you have the budget go for OEM Lexus/Toyota replacements. Retail is around £400.00 each.

Skoff · October 30, 2012

Cheers guys, great advice.

I got the gear knob off, and it actually cleaned up quite nicely, the 'wear' was actually just dirt (urgh!), so I don't think I shall be replacing with an OEM one at £400 (ouch indeed).

The wishbone replacement looks pretty easy to do (great write-up TigerFish!), so I will probably have a go myself. Do I need to worry about camber settings? Parts seem a bit pricey at £400 per side, but if there's an advantage to OEM parts then I can swallow that.

TigerFish · October 30, 2012

In the end, you take pays your money and takes your chance. There have been a few issues with cheap wishbones on the LS forum I believe, but I've also known plenty of non-issues. Can be worth a punt if you keep an eye on them. As far as camber goes, as long as the bottom arms are left alone, you should be fine.

Skoff · March 9, 2013

I just wanted to say a big thank you to TigerFish... I used your instructions for changing the top control arms today and it worked really well.

I had fun and games getting the inner arm bolts off, and I couldn't get my torque wrench on them to tighten them up so had to guess that bit, but I got there in the end and the wheels didn't fall off after the test drive, so I guess that's a good start.

Thanks again!