brendangeorge

Hi Mike I am surprised you have had 5 problems with the sensors - I have a 2002 and have had none yet! One of my pals has a face lift model and he has had to rplace his rrear ride height sensors. If you had a bracket failure then why did the sensor need replacing? From you comment you seem to be saying it is the connector that has corroded - this will have been caused by water getting in so did they fit the previous sensor properly. I don't play about under miy car but if the connectors are exposed they need to be water proofed or will fail. The protection of cables and connectors is a big topic but keeping the water out with a boot will be the best bet. Also I am not sure what conductive grease is - people often cover their battery terminals to prevent corrosion but you do not want anything other than a clean metal on metal contact at the terminal or you will cause problems. Bren

You get a bit less mpg actual 10 to 20 % but petrol is £1.32 a litre & gas 72p a litre. it works out you save around 35 to 40 % on your fuel bills. Equivalent mpg is worked out by the price it has cost you to fill with gas, then calculate how many gallons of petrol you would have got for that sum & divide that into the miles you did on the gas. = your equivalent mpg. I hope that's clear. I get mid 40's equivalent on my normal commute near 50 on the autobahn mid 50s if I really try 62mph. I don't use the brakes (52.000 miles out of my last set of lexus front pads on my last ls400). The easy way to look at theoretical cost saving is - at my local LPG £73.8 - Premium petrol £1.38 per litre => LPG is 46.5% cheaper than petrol. Factor in 73% efficiency and you have a 34% cost saving. I think 73% is a little conservative for a large engined car drived "nicely". I believe my real world numbers are 4.171 miles per litre on LPG (on a long run 273 miles 65.39 litres - not being that nice) I could get 420 miles out of a full tank of petrol (and be crapping myself) which is 5 miles per litre - ish. Which gives 19.8% more LPG used - a rough calculation but is works out. Another check - 400 miles on petrol would caost me £115.92 (84 litre tank) - 400 miles on LPG £70 - £46 cheaper on LPG = 40% cheaper - that does it for me. It is cheaper in the real world than the theoretical one. Bren My head hurts !!!!!!! Is it cheaper then on LPG (I'm only joking) Mike No, because you drive more, in fact everywhere any excuse Where we live you have no choice. To get a pint of milk and a loaf of bread is a 14 mile round trip. Mike I am a little countryfied here in South Northamptonshire - but still only an 8 mile round trip to the shops - at least I get the beast running on gas for part of the trip. Our local fuel prices are high - 74+ for LPG - and it make me very envious when I see 63p quoted from up North. I must say I have grown out of going out for fun drives - 200K + in my 430 has done that :) Bren

You get a bit less mpg actual 10 to 20 % but petrol is £1.32 a litre & gas 72p a litre. it works out you save around 35 to 40 % on your fuel bills. Equivalent mpg is worked out by the price it has cost you to fill with gas, then calculate how many gallons of petrol you would have got for that sum & divide that into the miles you did on the gas. = your equivalent mpg. I hope that's clear. I get mid 40's equivalent on my normal commute near 50 on the autobahn mid 50s if I really try 62mph. I don't use the brakes (52.000 miles out of my last set of lexus front pads on my last ls400). The easy way to look at theoretical cost saving is - at my local LPG £73.8 - Premium petrol £1.38 per litre => LPG is 46.5% cheaper than petrol. Factor in 73% efficiency and you have a 34% cost saving. I think 73% is a little conservative for a large engined car drived "nicely". I believe my real world numbers are 4.171 miles per litre on LPG (on a long run 273 miles 65.39 litres - not being that nice) I could get 420 miles out of a full tank of petrol (and be crapping myself) which is 5 miles per litre - ish. Which gives 19.8% more LPG used - a rough calculation but it works out. Another check - 400 miles on petrol would caost me £115.92 (84 litre tank) - 400 miles on LPG £70 - £46 cheaper on LPG = 40% cheaper - that does it for me. It is cheaper in the real world than the theoretical one. Bren

My back is aching just thinking about trying to get in it - if I got in I would have to cut my way out :) It does look good though.

But what are your main kind of driving conditions? I mean M/Way, 50/50% M/Way & Town or mainly country roads? the drving conditions make massive differences in mpg 40 mpg equivalent is pretty good - the best I get out of my 430 is about 32 mpg equivalent - I recon I am saving 45% on fuel costs bearing in mind a couple of glasses of wine this evening (not while driving before you ask). I used to average 22mpg driving my 430 like the war wagon :) So I am very pleased. LPG is a great investment. Bren

I'm for a 430 on LPG - I had 3 400s and they were great. I have an 11 year old 430 running on LPG and it is spot on. I would agree with the comment about the leather - my driver's seat is knackered and I need a new one asap. It may be something to do with the 17 stone hulk who has been sitting in it for 11 years. So check the drivers seat for any rocking. BTW the air con blowing up your chuff is magnificent - but don't get pork pie crumbs in the holes :) The car is quieter than the 400 - it has a lower CD BUT because it has lower profile tyres and is quieter you will hear a lot more road noise and the ride is a little firmer which may make it feel less comfortable than the 400 - this is very subjective and important with today's crap roads. You can always get rid of the air ride system. Somebody made a comment about a broken CAM belt being more serious on a 430 - I am not sure about that - a broken CAM belt is really bad no matter what and the engine on the 430 is basically the same as the late 400. In fact the 430 is a really a re-skin of the 430 with extra gadgets (I like gagets). Both are awesome on LPG and as was pointed out in a previous post, you need to keep the car for long enough or do enough miles to pay the circa £1500 bill. The car will be better on LPG (check the oil out at change time) because it burns cleaner. LPG has none of the nasty stuff they put in petrol or the imputites that are inherant. Don't confuse cleaner with greener (less CO2 being most people's definition) because it is not - LPG only has 73% of the energy of petrol but is a lot cheaper. I will always go with LPG. Best of luck Bren

Definately the best way to go and if you lose a key get a backup made immediately. I think you can have 4 connected to the car. Bren

I'd rather have an un-nickable car than one with an engine I can put in a Dune Buggy after I scap it. It depends on your priorities. Bren

If he is bidding on and buying his own stuff they will chuck him off eBay when they catch him (shill bidding) - I suppose there are enough dull people out there who will bid despite being told a thousand times if it looks too good it probably is :). However he is flogging number plates not cars - so you will probably receive a Dinky toy car or something Bren

The manufacturer, the WD-40 Company of San Diego, disagrees with you. They describe its uses on the Material Data Safety Sheet (thanks google) as "Lubricant, Penetrant, Drives Out Moisture, Removes and Protects Surfaces From Corrosion". Well Chris you are obviously an adertising execs dream. WD40 is oily so it will lubricate but is primerily sold as a releasing agent because it is a powerful degreaser it dissolves things and displaces water. You would be a bit daft if you spayed 5W30 on the ignition leads of your old MK2 Cortina on a wet morning when it did not start - WD40 worked well. WD40 in my Lexus V8 would be equally daft - extreme analogies but there we are. I regularly use WD40 in the padlock of my garage to clear out the muck and release it - I don't oil the lock because that would attract dirt. Cheers Bren

I found most service stations in France had a UK adaptor for us Rosbif - I carry my own just in case. I have never had a problem finding LPG in Europe - it is a pain not being able to use the Tunnel. Bren

Hi 5 W 30 is the spec and if you changing the oil you could use semi synthetic or synthetic - if you are topping up you must be consistent. There is no reason to go to 10 W 40. The first number 5W is the cold (0C) viscosity and the second number is hight temp (100C) viscosity. You should use the manufacturer spec rather than your intuition. Why would you want thicker oil when it is cold? Also there are possible complications with the extra additives needed to make 40 weight oil perform at high temp. Have a read here for a resonable technical explanation - http://www.upmpg.com/tech_articles/motoroil_viscosity/ I use fully synthetic 5W30 the Lexus spec and backed up by the explanation in the link. Good luck Bren

Hi Barry - I'm glad you like love the car. I have put 205K miles on mine in 11 years and have had to replace the steering column tilt and rake motor twice. The Lexus dealer will probably quote 2.5 hours of labour to fit the new motor - it takes 20 mins (my local independent) but the job is speced by Lexus at 2.5 hours. The last time I had it done in 2012 a third party replacement part was about £120 and even charging me 2.5 hours at £40 ph it was cheaper than the original equipment spare for my local garage to supply and fit the third party component. I’ll bet the part came from the same Chinese factory as the original. Any competent mechanic will be able to fit the part and any decent indi garage will be able to source the part. Good luck Bren

Hi Lord Jim Check out frostyboy's (Paul) topic and the posts, of a couple of weeks ago, about rust on door panels before you start painting anything. If you have rust on the outside and you have an early 430 then it may have come through from the inside - yes it sounds unbelievable but read the topic - in which case you may need to invoke the body guarantee. Paul posted how to take the door cards off to check. I was lazy I paid the local garage £30 to do mine and take pictures. Mine "War Wagon" also needs a respray - a lot of miles and years will cause that - however the respray will probably be 3 times the value of the car. Good luck Bren

Here is my Nav DVD - Gen1 2007-2008 ver 1 - this probably means the map dates back to 2006 or earlier. http://s1336.photobucket.com/user/snarler45/media/NavDVD2007-2008ver1_zpsaf420dfb.jpg.html I just checked online and there is an udate from 2011 for €114 - very good considering it is now 2013 :( The cost is not as high as it used to be but the maps will be 3 years out of date. I will be in a hydrogen powered 460 by the time they get their act together:) Bren

All you get is an unpdate to the maps - if you want a new gen system you can change the unit in the boot. I posted some stuff about this earlier this year. What is your current disk? You will have to pop it and look at the number on the front. I will see if I can make a "working backup" of mine if it is newer :) Bren

What do you think?? Mike It needed lengthening anyway :) Bren

Are you talking about the cost of just servicing the LPG system or an engine service?? Profess now will sell you a cable that you plug into your Laptop and car (about £30) communicate with Profess through your Laptop and they can read and adjust any parameters that need adjusting. If fuel filter is needed they just pop that in the post, takes only a couple of mins to fit new filter, link up with Profess again and they again just check all the parameters and adjust if necessary. All done no need to pay them a visit. Mike Sounds great I know what system I will probably use for my next conversion. Bren

Hi Mike I note you have a 2001 and Andy a 2004 so your systems are different and the disks incompatible. Check this out http://www.lexus-mapupdates.eu/Shop/Index You pobably have a Gen 1 systems (like mine) and Andy a Gen 3. Bren

Not sure where it is in an IS (this is the LS part of the forum) but there is a DVD unit in the boot under the RHS carpet in and LS430. Bren

Hi Paul Here is the place you can buy a new set - http://www.lexus-mapupdates.eu/Home/Index If I remember correctly it is 3 DVDs for Europe and was just over £200. It was ages ago that I bought one. I am not sure when the last update was so check. I (nor any of my pals) have been able to copy one and make it work - a little disapointing considering my core skills :) It would be good to know what the year the latest update they are selling is - you will need the part number from your current DVD - if you are going to order an update. Good luck Bren

Thanks Paul - I have some external rust on my OS driver's door but nothing external on the others, so I assume I'll get that done at least. My car was registered in Jan 2002 so it only has 8 months to rot through. Bren

Great result Paul - I had all my door cards off and have rust on all 4 so many thanks for the warnings. I will now engage and see if I can get them fixed. Did you go straight to Lexus or via a dealer? Attached is a photo of my OS front door. http://s1336.photobucket.com/user/snarler45/media/OSFDphoto_zps41d346ed.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0 http://s1336.photobucket.com/user/snarler45/media/OSFDphoto_zps41d346ed.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

We all know Boris is a half wit - I thought why would you want to drive in London unless you live there so what the heck? The answer is I would struggle to get to Heathrow - the M25 is not included but the small roads are so it looks as if you would have to walk in. As soon as somebody points this out to the bond fool it will go away I am sure. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/17678.aspx#tkt-tab-panel-2 It is April the 1st is somebody pulling my pud? Mark :) Bren

The Lexus dealer local to me (Milton Keynes) is part of the Sytner Group and will not work on any LPG cars - they had a leak and blew up a garage apparantly - a bit of a shame because they are good. Coventry Lexus who are part of a different group will work on LPG cars. I use a local indi these days - they will work on the car provided they don't have to touch the pressurised part of the system. I have not found the LPG conversion has increased my servicing costs - looks like you've had a bit of bad luck with your garages Gorodish. Good luck in the future Bren I think that's a bit of an urban myth cos if the LPG leaks it stinks & can be detected immediately. The only case I know of was a motor home which caught fire whilst filling up because the owner hadn't screwed on the adapter properly. Urban myth or not old lad - Synter Group will not work on LPG cars. Bren