Pyrex

You should find Lexus will replace the height sensors under warranty - Lexus GB told me they'd extended the warranty to 5 years on these parts. Lexus Plymouth replaced my sensors under warranty, but 2 months down the line both rear shocks have failed, and as I've done 60990miles Lexus will only pay for the parts. Anyone else had shocks fail soon after the height sensors, seems to much of a coincidence to be unrelated. And any joy out of Lexus over labour for 'just-out-of-warranty' stuff? Cheers Peter As I said previously one of my rear sensors was just out of warrantee, so they just charged for the labour, but after seeing this extended warrantee comment from 3 years to 5 maybe I should tackle em again.... Also when the NEAR SIDE FRONT N/S/F shock absorber went to Lexus heaven, they first blamed and replaced the n/s/f ride height sensor, so maybe theres a chance to get back a few squids from that as well.

Hi, how did the problem get resolved? I've had my LS430 for about 6 months and had a few problems, the latest one sounds similar; I accidently pushed the 'High' button whilst tidying the coins etc from the ashtray, but the car wouldn't return to normal and the ride went very bouncy! After a few miles I drove through some roadworks where the surface was broken and hey presto, back to the magic carpet ride. I'm planning to take it in to Lexus Plymouth next week, no doubt 'Never heard that one' will be their response! I've bought a CD workshop manual (from US ebay) and it sounds like your previous responses were on the right lines to suspect the sensors. Cheers, Peter The ongoing saga of my Suspension... As stated before in this thread, I have had the rear sensors go, so, dropped once, jacked up to the top once. Now I can add N/S/F damper fail... a slow degrading process, where initially it rumbled on uneaven roads, ending up after about a further 10,000 miles with a distinct shudder when one went over a pot hole. Interestingly during the "diagnosis" of the damper - I did tell them what it was, but hey ho - they decided that the n/s//f height sensor had gone. After it was road tested they realised they were wrong.... however they did say.... and were prepared to show me .... that the sensor was rusty inside, and was deemed ready to fail in 2 or 3 months.... so would I like to leave it in situe Sir?. This certainly seems to be an unpleasant failing with this model. Total including damper sensor and labour about £950 quid...Thank you Sir.

Well having had the suspension collaps at the back, now I have had the full height option as well... I thought my head was going to bounce through the roof. My head felt as if my brains were going to be turned to mush. My dealer says 2 days to get the part, and now it is at 63000 in less than 2 years they will pay for the part but not the labour.... ← It was done within a couple of hours of entering the dealership, and as stated Lexus paid for the part, but would not come across for the Labour. In a way I can understand this, as that is what your extended warranty is for, however, as this seems to be a part failure probably due to a design defect, and it seems to not be a rare occurence, I would have hoped for a better response from Lexus Customer Services. I did give them a call independantly of the dealership, and all I got was the " I understand your concerns, but the policy is....." They have already done a recall for a Gearbox issue, which was replaced..although I had not experienced any problems with mine, also it had a recall because they decided the fuel pump would be adversly affected by the new fuel to be used soon. This seems to be a fault of similar proportions, I would have hoped for a total freeby, or am I just pushing it too far...? This is my 4th LS, this is the first one to have recalls, and apart from a jammed arial on one which is understandable with all the crud that can go down inside it, this is the only one to have broken down. Have I been lucky thus far, or is Lexus building in defects due to over engineering.

Well having had the suspension collaps at the back, now I have had the full height option as well... I thought my head was going to bounce through the roof. My head felt as if my brains were going to be turned to mush. My dealer says 2 days to get the part, and now it is at 63000 in less than 2 years they will pay for the part but not the labour....

Changing tyres from original spec is a risky business. From what you have written it would seem that the dealer has not cured the problem at all. This is hardly surprising, as the wear you state in the ball joint is extremely unlikely at the low mileage stated. I did over 200,00 mls with not a hint of a ball joint change. A rack change yes, as I frequently drive on full lock in tight car parks, but the ball joints held up. As putting on regular tyres seems to have helped the problem, perhaps a full wheel electonic wheel alighnment would set the car up better. I seem to remember the car being skittish when it hit bumps, and the cure being alignment. Even though it was within the parameters, when reset with even toe in all round it behaved better. Also not recommended, but I have found...I am a high mileage driver....that reducing the tyre pressure by 3 - 6 lbs from the recommended pressure gives a quieter ride, and the tyres tend to wear more evenly across the crown. When they are pumped up to the correct pressure they always wore out in the centre which is an indicator of over inflation. At these prices why wear the tyres out quicker than necessary. Another word of advice, ease up on the roundabouts and the corners, resisting the inertia of the car puts a lot of strain on the tyres, and the edges wear quicker as a result. Not a tracking fault...a driver fault. Fortunately I have found the LS430 is better behaved, but I still take roundabouts slower than I used to out of respect for the rubber. :mat:

An excellent piece. It is always interesting to learn querky faults. Just a mention, in case some readers get up tight about white smoke on cold mornings for nothing. A well tuned car, and especially one like the LS with a large capacity engine can and will throw out large volumes of steam from the exhaust on cold mornings, it is quite normal, and is a by product of the combustion process. I have been flagged down by a motorist when mine was pumping out steam on one occasion. Great billowing clouds of the stuff, but unlike the fault mentioned, there was no smell of burning oil, and it dissapeared quickly, unlike oil smoke which would hang around after the car has moved off. :mat:

This is my 4th LS...the only 430 though. I have noticed a BIG difference with the latest air Suspension. Especially when hacking around bends on windy roads, also the predictability around fast corners. The ability to pump it up, hasn't been such a big deal for me, but the sport setting is definately an advantage. Also this is the only car in the Lexus range that I have driven that does not scrub out the tyre edges with repeat tight turns.

The simple answer to my question was fit the same number as was on the car already which in my case was 477-F3. The improvement has been that the brakes do not seem to "grind" so much as the previous material did.

I have a 2004 430LS which currently has 54000 on the clock. It is used extensively in and out of London, and to the Burbs, mostly 20+ mile trips. I have just persuaded it to do an overall mpg for the life of the car of 21mpg. with an average of 25mph. It took about 3 months to get it from 20.9 up to 21.... Oh yes and it has all the beeps and piccys..I turn the beeps off because the motorcycles would drive you mad!!!!

I guess it depends on your rims, mine are 18 inch and are Bridgestone Turanza from new. A small but salient point. I have found both the LS400 and the LS430 to wear out the centre of the tyres, a classic over pressure indicator. As a result I run at about 6Lbs under at around 27 instead of the recommended 33, and the tyre wear is even, and the noise is reduced. On mixed driving, mainly into London I am getting 20.9 mpg, so it can't be all bad.

I got 217,000 out of my LS4000 before selling it on, and although it didn't look any lower when empty. I noticed it did seem to be ready to bottom out on those square speed bump pads a lot more frequently from about 200,000. I hope that you changed the shocks after the bouncing event, as The dampers should have taken care of the uncontrollable bit. If the bouncing etc was after the damper change, then either you need to double check the shocks are correct, change your driving style, or find straighter roads. I frequently take from Zero passengers to a full load, and the handling definately changes according to load. You cannot do the same brisk manouvres in a fully loaded car that you can in an empty car. It wil wallow and sway more when loaded. You cannot get smooth without sacrificing ride quality. So to get the smooth ride when empty it car is like a thick blanchmange when full. The later 430 is crisper and has more suspension options. But to get almost sporty seetings for cornering you sacrifice ride quality.

I would guess that at least one of your brakes is dragging, and as the disk/pads expand it causes the system to slowly lock up. The creaking noise is likely to be the brakes cooling down I would take each wheel up in turn if you do not have Jack/stands, and pull the pads back away from the caliper as far as you can, activate the brakes and recompress, to try to clear any gunge causing the cilipers to stick. If this works, most likely the problem will have cleared, but a more permanent solution would be to dissemble the calipers and clean the gink ogg the pistons and then either reasemble as is, or replace the seals.

I have an 03 LS430 When checking out pads yesterday at the dealers for the front of the car I was told that there are now two versions, and that I should check the stamp on the back of the pad to establish which one is needed. As previously only one was available it seems logical that if you quote the same number you will only ever get the same pad. However if they have developed a second pad why was that? and what will be the differences? I have long noticed that periodically the front pads have a tendancy to grate slightly, I am guessing that the different pads are intended to get rid of this phenomenon, which is probably due to the material being to hard. The replacement pad is Black of the same stamp number is Black compared to the original being blue, and has a code 477-F3 with a box code 04465-OW 060 Whereas the other pad is coded PS534 -FF is a shade of red, and has metal strands protruding from the brake material. The box code is 04465-50250 Any ideas about the reason for the two types?