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Just done the first "repair." The original sat nav surround had succumbed to some abuse and had numerous scratches on it, I have seen a lot like this although I'm not to sure how it was done, you couldn't do it with rings so maybe it was sharp fingernails... anyway it looked horrible and had to go. A trip to the local Lexus dealer revealed that this part is only £565.20 incl VAT................... a second hand one was sought... I got a mint one from the breakers for £35 and set about taking the dash apart.. If you want to do this or something similar it is very easy to take the entire dash out with just a few tools, the most important of which is a set of these... They are just a few pounds a set and are designed not to damage the trim, use a screwdriver and you will damage something sooner or later... The other handy thing to have when working on a dash is a magnetic pickup, these are real cheap to and will stop you dropping bolts and nuts and creating rattles..!! Before you start, unsure the handbrake is set and press the shift lock button and put the gear lever in it's lowest setting.. With the 430 you start at the bottom, the first panel just prises out, do it at the sides, one at a time, then remove the panel and unplug the wiring harness from it. When taking all these parts out it is a good idea to use a towel or soft rag to help protect the front of the panel as you turn it over to unplug it, especially the screen unit itself. Then there are three pozidriv screws holding in the cubby and CD changer cover, this is where the magnet comes in handy... Don't forget the middle one, it's quite far under.. Then use a pry here and the other side to remove the cover from the CD changer and remove, unplugging the harness again. When this is out the next is the radio and CD changer which is in one unit, it is held in with two 10mm bolts, one each side, then it pulls out, unplug again.. I use a 1/4" drive socket set with a rubber handle to the ratchet, with the best will in the world you will mark something if you use a metal one..! The main screen is held in with four 8mm bolts which are hidden behind the temp buttons, I have found it best to hook the bottom out first, then the top.. The switches are cranked so pull them out carefully, there is enough lead to not have to unplug them to remove the screws which you will see behind. Then the screen just pulls out and unplugs and you are left with this big hole... every plug behind there is unique so you can't plug them back in wrong..! Then take the screen unit to a table, lay it on a towel and remove the four screws that hold the screen to the face, swap with the new one and as the saying goes, reverse the above to replace... When replacing the bolts through the temp switches you can't reach with your fingers and they will fall out of the socket, use a couple of thicknesses of tissue paper over the head and push them in the socket, it will hold them while you get the threads started and the only thing to fall will be a small piece of tissue... I do have a set of sockets with small magnets in for this but the tissue does work well.... So, put it all back together and that looks much better...... Totally unmarked and as good as new and I saved £530.20 plus some labour...!!!! I just had to take the old one apart to see how the motorised vents work... very neat, looks like a couple of small electric motors with gears and some sort of spring clutch... I also picked up some front bushes and a recently reconditioned air con compressor so that's the next job.... Well I don't want to get bored...!!!

Well, OK, maybe build thread is a bit steep but there are always things to be done on an old car and I'll update this thread as all those little things (and a few big ones) get sorted out to bring this 430 back to as near mint as is possible. As some of you will know I had an LS430 about 10 years ago, it was young and mint and I loved it, I sold it because I was having trouble getting in and out of it due to an old serious back injury that left me screwed and wired back together, my mobility was getting worse and I needed a taller vehicle... well to cut a long story short, two new hips and one new knee have brought me back to a much better place so I thought I would have a Lexus again.... Up steps the 460 and I bought one, a cheap one with a few issues... the issues started to multiply when the ECU's started failing and I cut my losses and outed it through the trade... I decided to return to a 430... We then became a bit busy with our latest life plan so finding a suitable candidate took a back seat, we are sorted now so I have bought a 2004 LS430 facelift in Blue Onyx Pearl with Light Gray leather 123,000 miles, full history, nice clean condition, no dents scapes or rust, near mint interior, drives as it should and has 4 new Pirellies. I love the colour combination and the guy was keen to shift it as he had already got it's replacement so a deal was done at £3,700.... It's only going to get used for maximum 6 months of the year so it will have to get used to it's own company for long periods...!! Had it just over a week now and sure enough it has a few issues, first is one front parking sensor has failed, that was fixed with a £4.78 generic one ordered from China which will be here sometime in the next few weeks.... Next came the air con, it wasn't working, there was gas in it and the only fault code showing was 28 which I believe is the sun sensor and has little effect on it's working, some more looking and I noticed that the air con compressor clutch is engaged all the time even with it's turned off... This is a common fault with these so a quick text to Paul Frost and a reconditioned one is mine..... To check it had enough gas in it I took it to KwikCrap to get the gas recharged, I had to show the guy where the low and high pressure valves were but there is not much they can do wrong as it's all handled by a machine and they didn't charge me as it didn't work afterwards, anyway, while I am wandering around the car park and admiring the Lexus from afar (yes, we all do it) I noticed that the tyres seemed a bit small in the arches... a quick check and yes the new Pirelli P7's less than 1,000 miles old are the wrong size...!!! but, worse than that they are only a 91Y load and speed rating... 91 is rated at a load of 615kg, the 430 should have 96 a rating of 710kg so as you can see they are well under, the speed rating at V is 149mph the Lexus should have W rated at 168mph, now I know these tyres would probably be fine but the problem arises with the insurance company, they will try anything to get out of a claim these days and a basic mistake on load and speed rating has led to numerous refused claims according to an insurance assessor I know.... So four of these have been ordered Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 245/45 R18 (100Y) It is OK to have a load and speed rating in excess of the specification from Lexus. These are A rated for wet grip B rated for economy and Class 1 noise at a very quiet 69db. They should arrive next week and will be fitted after the original wheels have been refurbished, they are starting to look tatty... Hopefully I can offset some of the £450 they cost with selling the P7's on eBay.... Talking of wheels I bought this off ebay for £35 I am not a lover of wood and leather steering wheels and will be having it made slightly thicker and recovered totally in grained leather with matching stitching, although that won't be getting done till May as the guy is on holiday... Today I had time to get it up on a ramp and was expecting to see a degraded bush on the front lower arm as the Lexus does thud over potholes, what I did find made me laugh, someone has tried to deceive an MOT tester and has filled in the split bush with Tiger Seal or some other polyurethane sealant...!!! Another quick call to Paul and two new ones are mine... I'm going to visit Paul tomorrow, although he won't be there, his number 2, Colin will be, I'm picking up the compressor and bushes as well as a few other odds and sods but mainly a spare key, mine only came with one, Paul has some and there is a guy in Leeds who I will pass on the way home who can reprogramme a second hand key to work with the Lexus including the smart key function... If you don't know who Paul Frost is, he owns Europe's biggest LS430 breakers, he also sells reconditioned parts as well... PAUL FROST Autotek Lexus Spares Direct Cottonhall Street Darwen Lancashire BB3 0DW 07590 072646 Going to see if he has a spare expansion bottle cap as mine fell in two when I took it off...!!! There are always a few bits and bobs to be sorted on a new car, I do enjoy getting them to where I want... more to follow....

I'm sorry but as soon as I saw the wheels were painted in Golf RCF Blue I stopped. It's almost as bad as a white car with a black bonnet JDM Style ;-) @Flytvr

I saw this post a couple of hours ago, its taken me that long to stop laughing, dillusional.....all of you........RCF??????? Pffftt

Another (nice) surprise. Wrote to Lexus about the failed light bulb and it is covered by warranty so refund on its way to me. Thanks to all who prompted me to write.

Thanks guys, the purpose of this is to encourage people to have a go, fixing and sorting cars isn't rocket science, with a few pointers most people can do far more than they think with some cheap and basic tools.... Don't think I will LPG this one, I don't do that many miles these days, I'll only be using it for half the year.. Had a few lights pop up on the dash today... Funny car the 430.. you would think something is wrong with the VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) or the TRC (Traction Control) but no, this is a CEL (Check Engine Light) fault, an emissions related fault, the car isn't sure if it will affect other features so it turns off the VSC and TRC. A quick plug in and it brings up the code I thought it would P0051 which is a Lambda sensor fault, I code read the vehicle before I bought it and it was showing an historical P0051 so I wasn't surprised to see it back.. The OBD2 (On Board Diagnostic) reader shows it is Bank 2 Sensor 1. Bank 2 is the drivers side (RHD) and sensor 1 is on the exhaust manifold, there are four Lambdas on the 430, two before the cats which do most of the work, they report to the engine ECU and tell it how far away the fuel/air mixture is from the preset map in the ECU, the ECU then uses its ability to trim the map and supply the correct amount of fuel for the conditions. It does this multiple times per second. The other two sensors are after the cats and ensure that they are working correctly. (this is a very basic description..) I cleared the fault as sometimes it can be caused by a spec of dirt on the sensor but it came back after a few miles so I will change it next week... Tyres will get delivered tomorrow and wheels booked into the refurbishers on Monday.... now do I stick with silver or go something close to anthracite...???

So this afternoon my chrome indicator bulbs arrived which meant it was time to modify those eggy front indicators. I've modded a few sets of headlights in my time but these were nothing like headlights, and so was a new learning experience meaning that it wasn't a brilliant first time at it. However if you never try you'll never know. And should I do another set in the future I'll have a much better idea of what I'm doing and be able to do a much better job at it. Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Wrong tyres! Amazing. At Costco, they refused to fit -Michelins!! - on our Micra because of the rating. Not on a hyper-car, a MICRA! Good to hear you can now fit in a car easily. Comfort/ease of access vital when you're +50 (ahem....) My reason for looking at Nissan Cubes! And RX350s-lpg - on here. Comfort! (Sez the ex owner of 4 Citroen DSs)

Oh *****, she is more interested in how she looks, which actually reminds me of some of the RCF lot on here, she cant drive and if you asked her a technical question she would be fuc@ed.....................

It is a very smooth, fine grain surface. A grain size not really found in the UK. The sound measurement is also at the kerb rather than inside the vehicle and tyre manufacturers can design a tyre to throw more sound into the vehicle and away from the kerb to get a better rating. Essentially the tyre noise rating is completely useless to understand how much road noise will be inside your vehicle.

Press and hold while the ignition is on / engine running for the LC500 (non h)

Almost done with the loom now, managed to sort all the injector plugs, TPS, power steering, cam sensor and vvti controller. Wires cut, loom sleeves fitted then rejoined the wires with solder and heat shrink. I then put heat shrink on the sleeve ends to stop them moving and fraying open. Its turned out pretty well! So far ive only had the lengthen 3 lines, this was for the TPS, vvti controller and power steering. Still got some more to go and looks like the coil pack wires, alternator plug and crank sensor will also need the be lengthened. Just had to order another 5 metres of loom sleeve, suprising how quickly it gets used!

Thank you very much. 👍 All the others just take the **** out of my Calibra!

Lovely car, are you going to lpg this one? Seem to remember you have prior knowledge

I appreciate your posts here Peter. I had to replace my CD player recently and found a couple of good youtube clips to explain the procedure you kindly detail. Packing your socket with a little grease can also prevent those awkward bolts from falling into the never to be seen again crevices.

Excellent thread and work! - I have done this but I lack the ability to think outside the box like using a bit of tissue lol! Brilliant

Amazing to see the work going on here. I would love to have the time to smarten up my LS a bit more, but other things keep getting in the way. My only 'must do' is to repalce the headlight link on rear wheel, now the replacement has arrived from SGS. Should take no more than an hour or so, but the missus wants to go out and about this weekend, because summer seems to have arrived. Ah well!

Have a look in the electrical section, it's there.

The colour choice is purely personal, when it comes to mk2 IS I am completely opposite - I would give a miss to any car with Cream/Grey interior and would only go for Black. As for newer cars, I don't mind Tan or Dark Rose - overall light colour is nice in new car, awful in used car over 10 years old. But you have a point, Lexus doesn't give much choice and that is not only for interior colours. In one hand that is good - every time I check used BMW I remind myself why I am stuck with Lexus - on BMW/Audi/MB everything is an option and you will never find right options for you in used car. On the other hand Lexus comes in 3-4 tiers and that is it, you get SE-L (Premier now) you get everything. One thing I believe they can do better (as you pointed out) - give little bit more interior colour options, few more different style rims, that would not inherently change their offering, but would allow customers to specify their cars to better suit the taste.

Sorted it, I tried pressing down again on the rotary knob while in map and it enabled movement to the compass icon. Pity they didn't state that in the manual

Peter Well explained procedure and some good advice on tool usage,the problem for most of us when tackling jobs like this is fear of the unknown. Your pictorial explanation helps to dispel that fear and enables the timid to take on something they would not dream of doing. Keep it up and I look forward to the next installment (no pun intended).

Well done, very satisfyingly to save a bunch of cash [emoji106]

Rod, an IS250 SE-L will be a splendid choice. I've had one and it was a cracker. I'm sure you will find exactly what you are looking for if you take your time. When you find one and it entails a bit of a journey, it will be well worth it. Good luck with your search.

wow............. the patience of a saint ! Malc

He loves the LFA too so cannot question his taste

I’m sure everyone knows, but this post is tongue in cheek 😂

Wierd, all I'm getting is: A new LS went past me on the motorway this morning, which is the first one I've seen. Quite striking and the ES is of the same mould. Will be very interesting to see technical details.

What I recall from my old Honda after entering the post code it would then ask you to select the street name from the list, then the number and it would take you where you needed to be.

I had the same the other day going to Northampton put the post code for the car park, the sat nav told me I had arrived but being in a queue of traffic at traffic lights just didn't seem like the right place to park?

My father in law is exactly the same. His Ford Fiesta Ecoboost is white, just like my RC-F

Never have liked wood, got rid of the wood wheel in my old Merc CL500 and covered all the real wood with fake stick on carbon fibre..... I got told off a lot on the Merc forums for that... I might do the same to the Lexus wood......!!! Malc, these type of things tend to happen when expensive cars get old and cheap... I think i have caught this one before too much harm has been done, it had a good check over yesterday and the bushes were the only sign of someone tinkering underneath, at least it still has all the underbody covers.. It will sit on a ramp for a few days next week whilst the wheels are refurbished so I will be checking everything else then..

I offered £350 for one of their £408 sets of "Hoshi" wheels that had 24hrs to go, and they counter-offered somewhere in the middle. I was happy to oblige, so more or less got them with free shipping. The quality is superb and they pretty-much nailed the "Titanium" finish these wheels are supposed to have. They were also extremely well-packaged in tough company-branded boxes. These people are definitely not cowboys offering "too good to be true" deals!

I would not be bothered too much, if anything press car would have been looked after the best... yes little bit of tire burning, power sliding ... and a lot of picture taken. Nothing Lexus car cannot handle. I would be much more worried about modified, wrapped examples which were previously owned by rich "street racers" and instead of Lexus service seen independent services usually called something "top/turbo/performance/tuning".