brendangeorge

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

Hi Mike It is more complicated than leaning the mixture a bit - there are commercial ECU remappers who advertise a 20% improvement in fuel economy if you have them work on your car. I put an external chip (connected to the ODI port) on my car for a few months and it had minimal effect - it just seemed to get hot so I removed it. Bren

Hi Keith I'm glad to see you are going to convert to LPG - a great move that you will not regret. I have my gas filler next to the petrol filler - this is the most convenient place for it. Why do you want to bend down to the back bumper when you fill up? I am fat and old so it is a consideration for me. Also your bumper (or anywhere low down) is the first place to get bumped so you may be putting your filler in a vulnerable place. Also LPG pumps can be a pain to connect so having the hole low down will only add to any difficulty. Good luck Bren

On my 430 20K miles would be awesome. Disks don't last forever so you may have some run out and they may be fixable with a skim.Bren

Hi Tom It depends how you drive but you will have a couple of thousand miles - a good tip is don't let the warning light come on because it burns the sensor cable which costs half as much as the pads - keep an eye on pad wear and swap them before they are all the way down. Bren

It worked I'm scared - is it the same on all 4 doors? Bren

I just took a look at mine and I have a very small ammount of bubbling by the drivers side door mirror - looks like I owe Paul a big thank you for the alert and I have to eat humble pie because of my rant about early model LS430s not being rot boxes - So thanks Paul - bit of a shortage of humble pie in my fridge though :) Looks as if it is only on the drivers door so I will have that apart on Sunday, if the weather is good and see what is happening. Bol"£cks not what you expect from a Lexus :( Bren

There is a control unit that sits on top of the dash but the main unit (blue box) is in the boot of a LS430 not far from the Nav DVD unit. It required a long cable to be installed when the unit was originally fitted. Bren

Good luck Paul. I think I will have a peep inside my doors my car has just started year 12 :) As far as I can tell there are no external signs of rust. Bren

Hi Guys Plenty of views but no replies does anybody have experience of going from the Gen2 Nav system to a Gen4 - an early LS430 to a later (face lift model) is probably what I am talking about. Bren

and it is Blue :) Do they make them in Norway? Commiserations appreciated Ray - I cannot get my hands in where the damn thing is stuffed so I will have to seek help Good news today though - I just had my seat fixed by my local garage. It needed weding and a fab shop next door to CGR was able to weld aluminium so my fat bum is not wobbling the seat any more. Now for the Parrot :) Bren

Looks good - their new struts are £35 delivered so I may just go for those. They are cheaper than what I bought a few years ago.Thanks Bren Is that each strut, or for a pair? Good question Keith and thanks - it clearly states Strut (singular) on their site so it is for one and hence me thinking they are cheap. So for me it is re-gassing or BMW struts as recommended by Paul. Bren

Mike, I'm not sure that driving in snow mode will help with the fuel economy. Snow mode keeps the gearbox in a lower gear so you are, in fact using more acceleration with the car in a lower gear. Try you car in power mode for a week or two, I'm sure your mpg will increase. Graham. I think you'll find that snow mode means it stays in a higher gear for longer Snow Mode sets off in 2nd so you don't spin the wheels (reduces the torque) - I expect it half shifts (or less) to keep the torque to the back wheels down. Don'f forget eco mode half shifts i.e. full torque about half throttle - PWR mode is max power shift. The LS 430 will optimise the engine and gear box performace to your driving style and the driving you do. I cannot see you wanting to drag through the gears on the motorway - you want to get up to cruising speed asap and keep rolling. On the other winding the car up and away from traffic lights or round abouts and then jamming on the brakes at the next stoppage will cost you a ton of fuel round town. So Mike is probably benefitting from this very sensible approach. Mike do you do a lot of motorway/long distance driving and have you tried using the other modes when doing so? Bren

Looks good - their new struts are £35 delivered so I may just go for those. They are cheaper than what I bought a few years ago. Thanks Bren

Yes thanks Steve - I think I may have some of their's on but from a long time ago. Perhaps the bloke there is not angry anymore because I called him a muppet :) So I'll give them a try. Bren

Hi Chaps Has anybody updated their LS430 Nav System to a newer generation? Mine plays up in cold weather so is on its way out (yes I cleaned it up etc and the DVD is not stuff) - the fault is failing to read the disk and this is common. I saw this post on the US forums (thanks guys) where a gen 4 player from a Prius is plug compatible and works in a 430 with a gen 2 system. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls430/665273-nav-ecu-upgrade-from-2002-gen-2-3-to-a-generation-4-out-of-a-prius.html I suppose the obvious two questions are the one above has anybody done it and for those with 2004 - 2006 430s with Gen 4 Nav systems are they any good? Can you navigate to a post code and are other useful features available? Another question is are any of the later gen DVD players plug and ecu compatible with the 430? Bren

Do you have the original boot Steve or a heavy new one? MIne used to do what yours did but now needs a good shove to open to the top and closed like a gin trap - I suspect my struts are shagged again. Bren

Your question makes perfect sense Paul. My boot has never gone all the way up on its own - any of the 3 controls will or would pop the boot off the catch and then the struts assist opening (as you lift it) and damp the closing so it does not slam. If the struts made the boot open all the way it would be a heck of a job to close it afterwards :) Bren

It's just the map colour that is changeable on mine Paul - I think if Mark has a 2004 he probably has an updated Nav that may have other controls. You cannot change the Nav system with an update disk only the maps. I did see somewhere else that you can change the Nav ECU for an update. I think I saw somebody put a Prius ECU in a 430 so they could use the latest system - Youtube or ebay would be a good place to research. I only looked because my system was playing up in the cold weather but is OK now. Bren

Fair point - I think I'll have a look at mine :) My cage has stopped rattling :)

A bit out of phase with my posts here - something to do with going off half cocked about rust :) The strut idea sounds great Paul if you can post or PM the details I look at that - my boot lid keeps hitting my head and I am worried about damage (to the lid not me). Bad luck with the rust - good luck with the fix. Bren

I have had a 430 for 11 years and 204K miles - it is not a rust box none of them are so to say rust is a common fault among the early models is not correct Frosty. I had a replacement boot fitted because the interference fit of a piece of chrome caused the paint to be stripped and a rust spot to appear. It was crazy that the boot was replaced when it was not necessary - fix the rubbing and then paint it properly was the correct solution. Lexus have a warranty pot and it was probably cheaper for them to go down the replacement route rather than pay out for labour - they fixed the problem so no complaints from me. I cannot speak about the later/face lift model but I haven't seen many rotting at the side of the road or abandoned on waste ground :) I had 3 LS400s and all were great - my 430 is brilliant and I would never consider going back. I'm only grumpy because I still have to get over Saturday evening :( Cheers Bren

Hi Frosty Menu Setup Map colour - gives auto and 4 options for day and night screen colour on my 2002. It is worth noting that the face lift model has a different version of Nav system so may not be the same. Bren

I was just about to do so and my drivers seat suffered a small mechanical failure - so I need to fix that first :) I think the system is charging ok - I checked it myself being an electrical engineer - I'm not an auto-electrician and cannot get my big fat hands where they need to go. Cheers Bren

Hi Frosty I had a new boot fitted because of the number plate light trim rust problem - they painted it twice and then gave up and put a new boot lid on. Problem is the new boot lid is a lot heavier than the old one and kills the struts. Good luck with the rest of it. Bren