brendangeorge

Hi WM Found this for you while I was bored this afternoon - it may help. My 430 is a 2002 and the nav system plays up in the cold weather - I use a phone as a backup in the winter if it won't warm up. You could replace the unit in the boot I suppose but they are expensive. I would fix the water ingress problem asap and before replacing anything. My fuel door sometimes sticks so I waggle the release and give the door a biff - I have never had it stuck shut. Here is what I found on FixYa for the electical side of the release - At the driver side junction box (DSJB), check the 10A FUEL OPN fuse which is the source of power for the fuel door. The power is applied to the fuel lid opener switch that, when closed, activates the fuel lid opener motor and...POP! Also at the DSJB, check the 15A ECU-IG fuse which supplies power to BODY ECU 1. At the passenger side junction block, check the 20A P FR DOOR fuse. Next, at engine room relay block 1, check the 10A MPX-B fuse. These three fuses apply to BODY ECU 1 which controls luggage compartment door operation. TSW output from the ECU is applied to the luggage compartment dooe opener switch which, when closed, activates the luggage compartment door opener motor and...POP! Good luck Bren

Hi Sam I have driven 204K miles on a 430 with a rock steady temp gauge - it sits on the 2nd mark and has never changed in 11 years except when there was a fault. If you put a surfactant based coolant in the engine it will run cooler so you are probably OK (what do I know?) - don't forget the thermostat is only in the system to make the car warm up quickly and so reduce engine wear from a cold start. If the thermostat fails closed you will overheat - if it is open or is removed you will take longer to reach operating temp. The only problems I have had where when I had the rad changed - somebody left the bottom hose clip off which caused a very small and intermittent leak - also the heater did not work correctly. I could never spot the leak but had to keep topping up the system :( Eventually the thermostat crapped out - your car will not run cool then and neither will you in this situation. We found there was an airlock in the system from when it was refilled after the rad change - the thermostat was replaced - the hose clip fitted and the car is now rock steady at the second tick on the gauge again. Surfactant based coolants will make the car run a little cooler – I am not sure about the benefit of this in our climate – would be good in Death valley however – a new thermostat will not raise the running temp because when up to operating temp the thermostat is open all the way. The cooling system is designed to keep the car at the optimum operating temp. Good luck Bren

No that isn't a parking space that I am parked in. Many years ago it was originally the road. I realise its difficult to blame someone else but I can be forgiven after waiting 20 mins to get into the disabled bay that I forgot there was a post to my nearside under the hight of the door. As the pub manager said "Its been there for 20 years" I have just got another door £39 on ebay (So I have had some luck could of waited weeks for one the right colour) for her my garage will fit it on next week. As for blame, you have to blame someone, I thought the arrogance of the Chef & Brewer manager was outrageous so did his head office. We will wait to see what they say. Mike Spread the pain eh Mike - you dinked your car now you're dropping the pub manager in it with his boss :) Even if he was a bit rude that's a bit harsh. My wife once took out both my near side doors on our house gatepost - took her two goes as well. I could not understand why she was pXssed off at driving me about when I had been banned for speeding - something to do with missing her tee time. It cost me a grand and I started using hire cars as a result - I suspect there was method in her madness. Looks as if you got a good deal on a new door so a bit of luck there. Bren There was alot more to the manager and their drivers part of the story who were abusive but didn't want to bore everyone with the entire drama. Drop him in it? He dropped himself in it. Mike Savage him then :)

No that isn't a parking space that I am parked in. Many years ago it was originally the road. I realise its difficult to blame someone else but I can be forgiven after waiting 20 mins to get into the disabled bay that I forgot there was a post to my nearside under the hight of the door. As the pub manager said "Its been there for 20 years" I have just got another door £39 on ebay (So I have had some luck could of waited weeks for one the right colour) for her my garage will fit it on next week. As for blame, you have to blame someone, I thought the arrogance of the Chef & Brewer manager was outrageous so did his head office. We will wait to see what they say. Mike Spread the pain eh Mike - you dinked your car now you're dropping the pub manager in it with his boss :) Even if he was a bit rude that's a bit harsh. My wife once took out both my near side doors on our house gatepost - took her two goes as well. I could not understand why she was pXssed off at driving me about when I had been banned for speeding - something to do with missing her tee time. It cost me a grand and I started using hire cars as a result - I suspect there was method in her madness. Looks as if you got a good deal on a new door so a bit of luck there. Bren

Hi abs I had a problem with my LS430 installation when first completed - the car kept going in to limp home mode when it got warm (engine management light on and missing. The installer found one coil pack that had a little corrosion in the connector - this had not caused a problem before the conversion - and swapped it (£90 at the time) which did not fix the problem. To cut a long story short after the car had done about 35 miles the problem kept happening - so in the end I had to insist on it being rectified at a Lexus dealer. One engine bay re-wire later (I ***** you not) costing thousands all paid for by the installers insurance the problem was still not resolved :( I was not amused and the problem was fixed by the dealer very quickly after that (I won't bore you with the details and they would probably be libellous) - there was an air leak in the plenum when the engine warmed up. This caused lean mixture and the ecu put the car in limp home mode - I am a little sketchy about all the details because it was years and a lot of beer ago - however my point is the problem may not be electrical. That is where my installer went by default and they were wrong. Good luck mate Bren

LPG would have saved a few (thousand) quid off the bill :)

I think JC is an helmet and talks nothing but bo$$%%ks and his pal well...... However the show can be funny as hell so I always watch. As Matt said you don't have to watch - It was great seeing Mick Fleetwood on Sunday, how is he still alive? If JC can make gazzillions from the Top Gear name good luck to him - he's still an helmet - and we all would if we could :) What's the betting he will be driving a Lexus soon :) Looking forward to the next episode Bren

Just looked at that review and the Falken tyre they are reviewing is different from the Falken I have on my car. mine are Falken ZE912. Mike The original tyres on my LS430 were Dunlop SP270 - and they are still available. They were not bad but I found it hard to get more than 20K miles out of them. Michelin were the best so far 26K - I am trying Kumo at the moment. Bren

Although I have never had any suspension clunking and banging from my 430 I have had the lower front bushes replaced. This came up in a dealer service and would have been an MoT red sticker if not sorted out. No steering rack trouble in 204K miles. However I have had plenty of fun withn the brakes - I used to be vey heavy footed and found original front disks would gruble at 27K and need to be off the car after a skim by 45K. I tried third party products and finally use EBC disks and green stuff pads. The other thing to note is only 4 tho of run out is allowed when you fit disks or they will grumble very quickly - I think this was my problem - no wobble just noise. I did find a lot of my brake problems went away when my callipers needed changing - I had two that were stuffed so badly they could not be compressed to allow new pads to be fitted and the others were not great so I replaced them all with third party products and the car has never stopped better. So you may want to look at the callipers. Cheers Bren

It's tough when you don't get all 3 keys when you buy the car - I bought mine new so did not have the problem. Looks like you are in good shape now though. Bren

I am not sure why you would change the gear box oil and coolant unless it was required. The coolant is a pain because the system is sealed and an airlock is easy to achieve. The car will tell you when the cabin air filter need changing. If the car has been dealer maintained then see if you can get the service history - I keep all my bill so have the full 9 yards. I don't believe you will gain any peace of mind by changing things unless they are needed - I never have in 11 years. The gear box is something to be careful of because of the cooling system - it can leak into it. You could find a friendly dealer and chat them up with a promise of work - I suppose. If there is no history available I'll bet a dealer will recommend the big service with all fluid changes :) Bren

LPG converted at 120 K and it still runs like a dream Frosty. Only the expected maintenence on a 200K miler - the only part of my car that is not perfect is the drivers seat (and a few paint chips). You can imagine the state of the seat after 204K with my bum in it (I am a 17st+ lump). It is the best car I have ever seen or hear about (still). Bren

If Mark's suggestion does not pan out try Honest John's site - there are a lot of recommendations. http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/useful-websites/specialists/ Good luck Bren PS being a smart arse I always have a spare key in the house and never have them all on one ring :(

very nice - only 204K for my 2002 model. Bren

Very interesting - I was under mine at Christmas (11 year old 430 in the UK) while not pretty it is as sold as a rock. A lot of the plastic bit take a bit of a bettering from the mechanics etc and the only problem was with the exhaust. A small hole that was plated. I never wash the salt off the bottom after the winter - I find the English climate takes care of that. The only thing I would think about is what happens under the new paint? Still they used to paint the Forth Brigde every year and now they have applied a similar coating to that which Nigel is going to use and it will last 25 years - that would be cool a 25 year old 430. Bren

Why is he coming round? He has slagged our wonderful cars off since they were first built - who is paying him what? Bren

I am with you on the hardened valve seats - I need to talk to my pal when he is back from the US about what happened to his 430 - I believe the problem was the valve oil seals. I saw posts from others saying they don't bother to fill up their flash lube bottle - I forget half the time as well. Like most replying to this thread I think it is probably a waste of time. Bren

This is the first time I have ever heard of having special spark plugs because of running on LPG and I have been using LPG now for the past 16 years. Mike Marketing BS I suppose Mike - hey I bought a Flash Lube system :) I did like the LPG needs a stonger spark comment - I think that guy is missing his spark. Bren

Hi Oliver I used to average 22MPG on petrol, in my LS430, (for 120K miles car computer – not accurate but not far off) doing mixed high speed motor way and short runs – all with a heavy foot and taking no prisoners (the cops did once or twice though). My wife could get 32 MPG on the motor way. I had a BRC LPG conversion fitted and in the summer average 250 miles on the 65 useable liters in my tank – this is about 17.4 MPG on LPG. LPG has about 80% of the energy of petrol so this works on the back of my fag packet. My consumption went to hell just before Christmas and the MoT. I had an intermittent engine warning light and swapped the Lamda sensor on bank 2 cat – the real problem was a pin hole in the exhaust just in front of the sensor. I had it welded up and the beast passed its 11th MoT at 204K. I have not changed anything on the car since the conversion – I am not sure why you would need different spark plugs (I know LPG burns hotter). I fitted a Flash Lube kit because my mate had valve oil seal problems and needed a head rebuild (£5K at Lexus £2.5K at Toyoda) and I lost my bottle. I am not sure if Flash Lube is effective but is not expensive. I just checked my last two fill ups and I am averaging 15.4 MPG on LPG – this does not surprise me because it is winter and I have also been doing a lot of short trips. No matter how “nicely” you drive a two ton car it will burn a lot of fuel so LPG is the only option Good luck Bren

Do you have any working keys? If you do you can reprogramme a key that does not work - here is the thread where the answer is http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=45917 I saw this somewhere so it also may help. - I think it was ehow. 1 Close all of the doors and windows for your Lexus, then lock and unlock the driver's side door with your key. 2 Enter the car through the driver's door and close the door behind you. 3 Insert your key into the ignition and leave it there until the security light turns on. 4 Leave the key in the ignition for 15 seconds after the light turns on and press the brake pedal five times. 5 Remove the key from the ignition and insert it again to start the car with the smart key. Good luck Bren

Hi Black400 There are a lot of ELM327 OBDII products on ebay - they range in price from £8.50 to £30.00 - that are USB based for a PC or MAC and Bluetooth based for a tablet. I bought an inexpensive USB version and it works well. Most come with software (but check) and the only difference I could see in the expensive versions was extra software (that is probably not much use). SCANXL Pro works - will show you the codes, what they mean and let you reset them. However these inexpensive gadgets don't replace the expensive kit you will find in a garage. A few words of caution (apologies if you are a mechanic or technically competent) I had a recurring/intermittent code - bank 2 cat down on performance - P0430 code. It was easy to reset but kept coming back - I replaced the Lamda sensor and the damn fault came back. It turned out I had a pin hole in the exhaust just in front of the sensor by the bracket that holds up the link pipe on a 430. It was a pain and was not noisy but eventually killed my fuel consumption and would have failed the emission test for the MoT - fortunately a local mechanic was able to get his MIG welder in there and put a plate on the hole. My point is the electronic reader is very useful but you often need a mechanic to sort out things from first principles. I’d still get one. Good luck and if you need the software or help with it PM me. Bren

I don't doubt that your mileage figures are correct but the difference you are getting is exorbitant. Great idea that I won't have time to try Mike! For now, I'm watching the LPG LED lights go down one at a time. So far, done over 90 miles and the first light (of four) has only just switched off. Also, the tick over sound of my car on LPG is noticeable different (and slightly louder) than when running on petrol. Anyone else notice this? I never take any notice of the lights on the LPG gauge as they are not accurate. I can fill up and within 20 miles one of the lights goes out which is nonsense. Most people as I am sure you do just run on the tripometer. As for the sound your engine makes I get no difference in audible engine noise and have never had a difference on any of my cars that run on LPG. Mike. The gas injectors will tic when you run on gas so the engine will sound different - my 430 is a little louder outside but not in the cabin. On the fuel consumption my petrol long term average (the only real measure not Mike's race track idea) was 22mpg in 120K miles of mixed fast motorway (a lot) and town. My LPG consumtion (over 85K miles) is 65 litres (useable bit of an 80l tank) gives me 17.9 MPG - LPG has 80% of the energy of petrol so my back of a fag packet calculation looks as if the car is running well. The gain is in the price difference at the pump - 78p vs £1.35 where I live = 43% on my fag packet. If I drove nicely I could use less fuel and do better than 43% savng on petrol. I have a 4.3l V8 that does the equvalent of 30 petrol mpg when running on LPG. The LPG fuel indicator is a joke so I don't drive on that - I fill up on mileage. Bren (the only real measure not Mike's race track idea) My idea was not a race circuit, bloody cheek, but to do a journey twice of around 50 to 60 miles in length keeping to speed limits of course that would give you a good range of driving conditions that in turn would give you some more meaningful results. NO RACE TRACKS INVOLVED Mike I think you take offence too easily Mike - a long term average is the best way to determine consumption - smooth data is what you need. Cheeky Bren :)

Great idea that I won't have time to try Mike! For now, I'm watching the LPG LED lights go down one at a time. So far, done over 90 miles and the first light (of four) has only just switched off. Also, the tick over sound of my car on LPG is noticeable different (and slightly louder) than when running on petrol. Anyone else notice this? I never take any notice of the lights on the LPG gauge as they are not accurate. I can fill up and within 20 miles one of the lights goes out which is nonsense. Most people as I am sure you do just run on the tripometer. As for the sound your engine makes I get no difference in audible engine noise and have never had a difference on any of my cars that run on LPG. Mike. The gas injectors will tic when you run on gas so the engine will sound different - my 430 is a little louder outside but not in the cabin. On the fuel consumption my petrol long term average (the only real measure not Mike's race track idea) was 22mpg in 120K miles of mixed fast motorway (a lot) and town. My LPG consumtion (over 85K miles) is 65 litres (useable bit of an 80l tank) gives me 17.9 MPG - LPG has 80% of the energy of petrol so my back of a fag packet calculation looks as if the car is running well. The gain is in the price difference at the pump - 78p vs £1.35 where I live = 43% on my fag packet. If I drove nicely I could use less fuel and do better than 43% savng on petrol. I have a 4.3l V8 that does the equvalent of 30 petrol mpg when running on LPG. The LPG fuel indicator is a joke so I don't drive on that - I fill up on mileage. Bren

In my 430 I get 250 miles from 65 litres (85 litre tank) - probably a little less in the winter - so 250 from 50 litres is pretty good. Bren

If the belt has been changed by a Lexus dealer there will be a sticker under the bonnet with the mileage when it was done. Bren