brendangeorge

Sorry to hear you are still having problems. You will find that if you cant get that engine management light to go off it will fail the MOT. All engine management lights must shine and then go off in the normal manner for it to pass so even trying bypass that light wont work as it wont have lite in the first place. Sorry to add yet another problem to your ever increasing pile of issues. Mike Must have a friendly MOT man then as it's passed twice with the light on. Mike I have done 70K+ miles on LPG in my 430 and have had Lamda sensors fail - light on - replace sensor - light off. I recentlty replaced a sensor and the light came back on after 10 days - a reset then turns the light off but ten days later back on. A battery change reset the light but yes 10 days later back on. I am going to sort it out his week because MoT is in a couple of months - I will let you know what I find out Mike. I think is reports bank 2 cat low efficiency but I need to check - mine passes all the emission tests as well. Bren

CGR Car Sales in Towcester did my 200K LS430 belt change - they also got a good price on third party bits. Good luck Bren

Does your motor smell like a chip ship going up the road. I like the idea of alternative fuels - LPG for me at the moment but if it gets much more expensive I will have to plant sugar beet in my field (8.5 acres) and turn it into alcohol for my Lex. Bren

There are videos on youtube showing you how to change the bat - it is easy a new bat is less than £2.00. You have to take the the the slider off the top of the key (without breaking it). Remove the mechanism from the shell. Change the bat and reassemble. Here is the video Good luck Bren

A couple of things to add to Mark's great list. Also make sure you check the transmission and engine dip sticks - look for contamination in the oil etc. If the car has done a lot of miles check the power steering fluid cooling pipe - it runs in front of the rad and will eventually rot and leak. It is expensive to replace but a hacksaw, a piece of rubber tube and two jubilee clips sort it out. Drive it and give the brakes a good work out i.e. warm them up- the front disks can get a bit wobbley when warm - the car will stop but will not feel comfortable. I find the 430 eats front disks - don't let that put you off but you need to know. I use EBC disks and green stuff pads - you need to make sure the disks have less than 4 thou run out when fitted ot they will warp. Good luck these are great cars. Bren

I had 3 Ls400s - ran them for two years from new (about 45K miles) and they were pretty good cars. I agreee they were smoother than the 430 with air suspension - however the 430 is a better car - more refined and more features. My current 430 I have had from new (2002) and have done 203K miles with no major probs - just the normal things you would expect. When they built the 400 they had an almost unlimited budget to take on Merc and BMW with their Luxuary Export US and they suceeded in building a fantastic brand and reputation. The 430 was a reskin and update pretty good but not a quantum leap. Bren

You can close and open all the windows and sun roof with the remote - I am not sure how you only get the front windows down (or partially down) with the remote. It is handy to be able to close all the cars orifices with one button. Bren

Damn - that's bad news :) Bren

Searched for German Tyre on ebay and got this :) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WWII-German-Luftwaffe-Bomber-Tail-Wheel-Tyre-/160669317565?pt=UK_Collectables_Militaria_LE&hash=item2568a339bd Bren

My current insurer is the Post Office - I declared my NCB and they did not ask for proof - all on line. They did however say in the documentation to make sure I had proof and to keep safe in case I make a claim. Your NCB is awarded because you have not made a claim - just because the classic company will not give you a discount it does not mean others will not. I moved from a company car to a private car and my insurer respect the period I had not made a claim on the company insurance and gave me a discount. Good luck Bren

Amen to that Mike - every year I change insurer because the renewal is always a ***** take - I have even canceled renewals and then signed up with the same company as a new customer for a lower rate - madness. My insurance is going down each year for a few mins searching :) The renewal notice is quite useful as proof of your no claims bonus so always keep it. Bren

Hi MJM - you need to charge the battery to test it - a real test is its capacity and CCA (cold cranking amps) for your 400 I think you need a 610A CCA and 70AH. A battery's life is governed by how many charge discharge cycles you put it through and how deep you discharge it. Car batteries do not like being flattened - they are designed for a large number (hundreds) of low level discharges, like when you start your car and then charge the bat by driving. If you keep flattening your battery you will kill its life (i.e. reduce the number of charge discharge cycles available) and may cause it physical damge. You will soon see if your bat is in good nick in the cold weather we are having. Good luck Bren

I'm aroused enough just driving my 430 - I'm not sure what would happen if it was able to massage my chuff as well :)

Hi I thought OBD was a standard that included the connector - perhaps it does with OBDII. I saw this site on the net that had a lot of different adapters on it you will probably find what you need here and then source it locally. http://www.made-in-c...Adapter-1.html. Good luck Bren

The AA did me a good deal (sounds implausible) and I got a 3 year warranty as well. Bren

Hi Malc I'm not sure agree with you about being impossible to drive in snow however you are right about the big tyres - if you put winter tyres on your LS will be better and safer to drive in the cold. Winter tyres have a softer compound and so improve breaking when the temp is below 7C. The tread on winter tyres is designed to deal with snow. So you will get better traction in snow and you will have a reduced stoping distance in cold weather along with better road holding. My wife has a front wheel drive (Avensis) and notices a big improvement in the handling and stopping of her car in the winter with winter tyres on. You will need decent tread on any tyre for them to work in the wet or snow. I have not put winter tyres on my 430 yet this year but am about to. Bren

I've never done anything like that :) My wife has never left the ignition on flattening the bat and nearly causing me to miss my tee time at the golf club :) Bren

Hi MJM - the AA if you are a member will test your battery if you call them out. I had a similar problem when I had a duff 3 year old bat and could not boost it - the AA blokes nuclear power pack got it going though. I tried to charge it but the damn thing would not hold any - I ended up buying a new bat and have no probs now. Bren

Hi Paul yes to your overdrive question A 4 speed 1989 has a 4th gear ratio of 0.75 to 1 - as you can see below 3rd is direct drive so instead of the old bolt on overdrive unit and a button they built a new gearbox and put in a forth gear and over geared it so you have overdrive. The five speed box has 1 to 1 in 4th - they now have 8 speed boxes and 1 to 1 is 6 so you have two over geared ratios. Gear Ratios for 4 speed LS400 Gear Ratios: 1st 2.450 2nd 1.450 3rd 1.000 4th 0.730 Reverse 2.222 Final 4.300 Gear Ratios for 5 speed LS400 and 430 The A650E five-speed automatic had a 3.357-to-1 first gear ratio, a 2.180-to-1 second gear ratio, a 1.424-to-1 third gear ratio, a 1.00-to-1 direct fourth gear ratio and a 0.753-to-1fifth gear ratio. The reverse gear ratio was 3.266-to-1. Top gear is overgeared so is an overdrive for each car. Bren

One of my pals owns the company (Pristine Wheels) so I did a dodgy deal with him that included tyres. I think but am not sure it is about £75 per wheel refurb and probably £10 for the centre cap. Have a look or give them a call http://www.pristinealloywheels.co.uk/. Bren

Hi Messi My car is a bit minging because of the weather so I gave a front and back wheel a quick clean and here are pics of the front and back wheels and the side. I need to go and see the poor sods who hand wash cars for a fiver but I haven't got the heart in this weather. I think the wheels would look better even darker or black. If I can get better pics I will try - I need to clean the car, better light and stop shaking in the cold :) http://s1336.beta.photobucket.com/user/snarler45/media/IMAG0016.jpg.html http://s1336.beta.photobucket.com/user/snarler45/media/IMAG0017.jpg.html http://s1336.beta.photobucket.com/user/snarler45/media/IMAG0018.jpg.html Good luck Bren

On the original Mark 1 the overdrive function was discribed as that by Lexus in the Manual and it was also inscibed on the switch embedded in the gearknob which you pressed to apply, mine was applied always but electroniccaly controlled did'nt operate under certain driving conditions.The car only had three forward gears low 2nd and drive,this meant you could actually do 100mph in second gear and I did (naughty).The overdrive would only come in when the car was cruising above 30mph and did'nt operate in the ectpwr mode it was as bren says a slightly higher ratio gear than final drive.My 98 LS as a 4th gear and then drive which I presume is overdrive its just an extention of gearing to the original ls and they have dropped the overdrive word. Interesting Paul - I never owned a MK1 400 so never saw the switch. The 5 speed LS430 has a final drive ratio of 0.753 to 1 and the 6 speed 0.58 to 1 - which are both overdrive. Bren

I'll give one a clean and take a pic for you. Bren

You are correct about the washer Ice man - I have had to replace parts after bumps (each side has £200 worth of bits in it). If it is not extending you may have a blocked pipe or the actuator is duff. Here is a link with some good diagrams - the LS 430 bumper is at the end. http://www.justanswer.com/lexus/6uxxq-lexus-ls430-provide-step-step-instructions.html Good luck Bren

Top gear is effectively over drive (need to look at the gearing though) for a LS. A LS is automatic so the torque converter can "slip" a little - however at high speed in top gear it will lock up which is the best approximation to overdrive. Top gear is usually direct drive and an over drive gear used to be fitted to manual cars with 4 speed gear boxes to over gear the car - you could not reach top speed but cruise at high speed and low engine revs. Five or more gears are now common so the highest gear can be overgeared to give you an overdrive - in the old days manufacturers bolted and extra unit on the end of the gear box however I'm not sure if they do anymore becuse I am too fat and old to crawl under cars - also I am an electrical and electronics engineer so lazily pay other people to mend my LS :) Bren