Straight-Six

The problem may be related to one of the following issues...

1 - Look very hard for any corrosion on the metal part that cause bad earth.

2 - Water got in the wiring system or fuse box that cooked some of the relay or electric component.

3 - The On/Off switch stick might be faulty. It sounds silly but possible

Thanks for the help everyone.Something else worth mentioning is the timing of the temp.dial dropping and drive light cutting out,it almost feels like its the element of the rear heated windscreen kicking in for ..say 5 seconds,and causing the power to drain from these othe parts.You can physically hear a clicking noise coming from below and to the right of the steering wheel when this happens.However i have no explanation to the headlights turning on when the ignition is turned offAND the drivers door is opened.I always tend to leave the lights switched on auto and what happens is the exact opposite to what would normally happen...strange :duh:

has the car had a new windscreen at any point.

i suspect there is water getting into the right hand fuse box, also hence the headlight issue

ask your electrician to use an insulation tester(safety type) on your cable looms .If he has a wiring diagram he should try and find the light staying on fault first as ovbiously a relay is being energised by some + supply .(cable loom leak).

if he goes down this road he should disconnect the ECU before doing any meggar tests.we dont want any thing worse to happen.

Its a pity i dont live in uk or i would be happy to sus it out

another possibility is bad earthing ...he should be able to see this

its not so easy to find cluster faults as it is connected into the multiplex system, meaning single wires carry multiple signals

Im pretty certain the windscreen hasn't been replaced,Lexus did say they had checked this "known fault" with the windscreen and found nothing wrong.

ask your electrician to use an insulation tester(safety type) on your cable looms .If he has a wiring diagram he should try and find the light staying on fault first as ovbiously a relay is being energised by some + supply .(cable loom leak).

if he goes down this road he should disconnect the ECU before doing any meggar tests.we dont want any thing worse to happen.

Its a pity i dont live in uk or i would be happy to sus it out

another possibility is bad earthing ...he should be able to see this

Thanks again,i am going back for the car tommorrow afternoon so i can ask if he has tried this yet(in a non patronising way!!)

Your help is most appreciated mate

Hi Justin

Is there any possibility that a wiring loom has been damaged ? maybe on a past repair and is now corroding etc....the reason i say this is that all the faults seem disjointed!

Has anything been welded on in the cars life ?I have seen this in the past where a sill repair had partially melted the witing loom and weird faults croped up 2 years later.

just a thought!!

Oh or water corroding your fuse box/boxes due to a bad repair?

Thanks for the reply mate

Lexus's initial thought was that it was water getting in to a fuse box as they knew there was a fault on the early 1999 IS200 this happened to where the water came in through a corroded seal in the base of the windscreen but they couldn't find anything.Also today after speaking to the current AutoElectrician looking at my car he has said he has checked the wiring everywhere and can't find a fault.

He is going to try and disconnect the rear heated windscreen function tommorrow to see what happens...were clutching at straws now i think.I can handle the dash faults but im not going under the bonnet and pulling a fuse everytime i want my lights to turn off!

Its very disheartening.When i asked Lexus about it they admitted they didn't have a clue how to repair it as they just don't have these types of faults.

Hi everyone and thanks for taking the time to look at this topic.

I'll summarise the problems briefly then explain futher as its a long story.Right now my Lexus IS200SE 1999(auto) is suffering from the following.

1.When you turn on the heated rear screen the following happens,the green 'd' on the instrument cluster 'clicks' on and off intermittently,and the temp dial on the instrument cluster dives to cold for that period of time,then,all goes back to normal.This happens usually after a 5-10 minute drive when the car seems to have got up to temp.

2.The rear parking sensors work normally when approaching an object,however,upon selecting reverse there is another constant tone above the usual beeping noises.This isn't always happening but most of the time.

3.The headlights turn on when the ignition is turned off and the drivers door is opened and wont turn off unless the fuse is removed.

I have had the car to Lexus Newcastle twice to fix the various problems,they managed to fix the climate system(this was blowing very cold or very hot) by replacing the system at a cost of £710,and the Alarm system was going off for no reason and the central locking wasn't working(keys reprogrammed,battery top up etc at a cost of £73.All the above problems,with the exception of the head lights,all happened at the same time approx 2 months ago.I have also taken the car to a very highly recommended Auto Electrician in Newcastle who had the car for 3 days and couldn't diagnose the faults.The final straw was the headlight problem which happened 2 weeks ago.Since then the car has spent the last 10 days with another highly recommended AutoElectrician who can't diagnose the problem so we have agreed that he has one last go at it tommorrow and then i must explore the possibility of selling the car with the faults,which i really don't want to do as i love it to bits.

So people,you are my final hope that someone may know what is happening to the car:crybaby:

Heres hoping!!!

Thanks,Justin ;)

I know BP supply Sainsbury's so i would imagine they supply other Supermarkets so your still buying petrol from them indirectly.Also most of the price of petrol is the taxation so isn't it the government that is the real problem?

Have you tried Halford's yet?

When i had my Focus they did specific shapes for diferent cars such a the Rover 75 style.I would have thought they would have the large size for the Lexus

I wish they hadn't put that mpg needle on the car...i will crash one day watching it and urging it to creep over the 40 mark!!!

I try not to watch it now as it depresses me...i knew what the fuel economy was when i bought it so i am determined not to drive like the blue rinse brigade in a car with a beautifull sound above 3500k revs

The price sounds right to me....if you went to Lexus you would get a v or w reg car with the same mileage for that price.

I didn't kow you could negotiate a deal to not have the warranty so that sounds like a good idea as you are getting a hugely reliable piece of kit :winky:

I would still try and negotiate a better price before mentioning the warranty bit though but i doubt any dealer will go down to 9k from that price...its not like they are hard to shift on the forecourt but you may get it for £9750 if you try hard enough :)

I would try Newcastle first as they supplied the car there is a good chance they did the 10k service

Then try Twickenham to get that 20k stamp,they may have even done the 30k.If not then i would look at the previous owners addresses on the service records to get a short list of the nearest dealerships to those addresses and then ring around untill you get a positive answer.

I had no service book with mine..just printouts of the service and work carried out.I had to buy a new service book (£5.88) and get it stamped from 60-110k by the 2 dealers i knew about nut i haven't got a stamp for the 10-50k services and haven't tried to ring around yet

Hope this helps mate ;)

Also around the dials the new model has a silver detail going on and looks very nice.Noticed this on the IS200 sport 05 plate i had as a curtousy car :D

Does anyone know why we have a 3,2,L on an auto box if its not for engine breaking then...apart from towing caravans up steep/very steep..and silly hills

Im sad i know but have just got my manual out to find out the answer..

"3-Position for engine braking(shifting into overdrive not possible) "

"2-Position for more powerful engine braking "

"L-Position for maximum engine braking "

So surely if this is what these gears are what Lexus designed them for then thats what we should be using them for.I think if they were worried about harming the engine they wouldn't recommend the above...no?

I was quoted only £280 from more than  :D

32yr old 4 yrs no claims with a 'new' second driver on the policy,totally standard :winky:

I tried these.. http://www.insuresupermarket.com/motor/knowregistration.asp

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thanks for posting that link , you have just got saved me 80 bucks on the best quote ive had so far :D from bell

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Your welcome fella...thats what were here for ;)

I was quoted only £280 from more than :D

32yr old 4 yrs no claims with a 'new' second driver on the policy,totally standard :winky:

I tried these.. http://www.insuresupermarket.com/motor/knowregistration.asp

Mine passed the MOT with the blue reverse bulbs and the silvertech front indicator bulbs (which was surprising).

:D

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Silvertec's should always pass as they reflect orange...thats the requirement of the indicator on an MOT :D

Do the blue reverse bulbs reflect blue or white?

welcome to LOC matey....I love Scarlatti Red...very subtle,not

Welcome to Loc mate :winky:

Just done a quick search on Autotrader and there are quite a few between 8-10k with 30-40k on the clock on w plates

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/WWW/cars_...rch_full=SEARCH

I read a post recently of someone selling there IS for 6.5k with fairly low mileage,wanted a quick sale for some reason...can't remember the name of this person though..sorry

Funny the top poster in the last club i was in was a :winky:

I do pop down to Nottingham a few times a year so next time i do i will post up to see if a meet is on...would be nice to put faces to names.Mind saying that if Aido looks anything like his avatar i might just give it a miss :winky:

Nice area on the country fella B)

Still no one in the Newcastle coastal area then ....I am billy no mates

Jesus what a price you got there...Newcastle have just charged me £216 before vat just for 2 Dunlop sp 9000's tyres

@Rillo....cool avatar,obviously you are a top bloke with that avatar...shame you live so far away,lol

@besty...whereabouts in the NW are you based mate?

@Dodgy...your the closest i have to a neighbour on LOC then?

This is a sad situation,i see plenty Lexus around the coast,i thought someone would be a member here..looks like im having a very mini meet

Interesting topic....Would be nice to know the definitive answer as any help on fuel consumption would be great

As for the engine braking,i always try and use the d---3----2-----L as much as possible to save the brakes,i would have thought that was the main reason they were there

I was always told to use N when sitting at junctions as it saves the engine...don't know what the hell that means but i do it

*shuffles off to find Lexus manual*

Welcome along mate :D

hey hey, what about these free air con check ups???  :duh:

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I think they just want your money,when they find a bacterial build up in the air con system....and they will find something ;)

I also got an invitation to test drive the full range of Lexus at Seaburn Hall...or somewhere like that anyway

almost NE i'm just in the North, York.

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Hey mate,glad someone answered the post

I think im the only person in the club from the NorthEast