brendangeorge

The question now is - do I get good quality 'part worns' or new cheapo Chinese budgets. I know the tyre issue has been discussed a lot on here and a lot of people like Falken's. Halfrauds can do a set of Falken Ziex's or Kumho KH31's for a similar price of around £380. Or I could get a set of part worn Michelin/Dunlop's with plenty of meat on for around £175 plus fitting,so around £230 all in. Halfrauds also do a set of something nasty for £220 fitted!. I'm tending to lean towards the part worn's at the moment,but that could all change........

I would never fit cheap chinese tyres on my cars. They may look pretty good on labels but steer clear! Also Halfords is the last place on earth to shop for tyres :) Go for part worn or new set of Falkens.

Guys (and Gals) - never skim on tyres they are what connect you to the road and keep you alive. Always buy good tyres - sure research for the best model to fit your requirements but do not go cheap/crap. I paid £165 per corner for my winter tyres and by heck they are worth it. Brilliant performance in the winter and wet weather.

Bren

Very interesting !!!!

I'm running this blog on a few other related forums, got this reply regarding spark plugs.

Will be fitting NGK iridium IX plugs

Did anyone change there plugs over to Iridium when they converted there car?

"LPG eats Platinum. Ask for Irridium.

www.globaldenso.com/en/products/aftermarket/plug/pl

Quote

Also, because taxis use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuel, a large electrode increases the required voltage, and because this places a larger load on high tension cords and coils, it affects the life of the vehicle. With its 0.4mm center electrode that keeps the required voltage low, it can be said that the IRIDIUM PLUS, is a car-friendly spark plug.

Unquote

These plugs are designed for LPG."

There are a lot of 'interesting' comments about spark plugs - the URL below isa great technical explanation. If you don't wan to read the paper - iridium plugs will last longer because they erode more slowly than copper.

Here is the relevant paragraph -

'iridium electrodes are over 2000 times harder then conventional electrodes,

permitting production of high temperature electrodes using smaller center wire,

and having sharper edges that will not melt or erode. The smaller electrode also

absorbs less heat from the spark and initial flame energy, allowing further

enhanced output.

iridium design plugs outperform conventional copper-core plug designs and provide over 60,000 miles of use.'

http://www.weaponxperformance.com/technicalPDF/SPARK_PLUG_TECH_V1.pdf

Sorry, I've got to disagree. My lexus has had quite a few sets of discs over the years, and it seems that it doesn't matter if they are genuine parts or not - they seem to last about the same. I recently changed out Blueprint discs at 20k and fitted Pagid items - both with ferodo premium pads. Wheel wobble when lightly braking was solved (again) and I've since done about 3k and all still fine. Pagid discs did look a bit more upmarket than blueprint ones I must admit.

Blueprint pads weren't great though - squealed a bit hence I changed to Ferodo.

Pete

Lexus original pads and disks were rubbish on my LS430 - EBC disks and Green Stuff pads are great - make sure the disks have less than 4 thou run out or they will judder very quickly. This usually means you have to clean things uo before installing.

Less importantly, I sometimes can't lock or unlock my smart car where I work, though the key works fine inside it. I have to move around the site until the remote will work. I assume it's something to do with interference from a nearby radio mast. (When the car won't unlock I have to use the key to open the boot and then scramble inside and over the seats - in a very undignified way - to reach the internal door handle. I couldn't do this in the Lexus, of course.)

Did you try replacing the Battery in your key? CRC2032 cost about £1.50 and 5 mins to do.

I have had 5 Lexus cars - current 430 for 13 years and 230K mikes never seenor herd of the starting problem you had - did you talk to a Lexus dealer about it?

Bren

Well, Autowindscreens Cardiff arrived this morning with a screen obtained from a Lexus main dealer. Lexus logo bottom right, correct tint. All is well.

The comming weekeng storms will test for leaks. I'll give it a blast next week and test for wind noise.

Creaks not leaks (seriously) are the biggest problem if they don't apply the cement properly. Somebody also mention the rain sensor - mine is still a pain but have not had the time to sort it out - at least it does not fall off any more :)

Bren

25 on the motor way is not bad - my wife can achive 30 by driving at 70 - I only dream of that. I can get to 25 by being a saint.

The fuel computer avaerages 22 over the life time (225K miles) - it is horrible round town.

I run on LPG and on LPG get about 18MPG for 40% of the cost of petrol. So if the petrol bill is annoying LPG is the way to go - there are many LPG disciples on the forum - I have done 125K on LPG.

Bren

Thanks.

I think I need to replace the U-section in front of the radiator soon. Already have 10mm copper pipe and was thinking of using elbow pieces. Not sure if I can make a small enough bend without kinking it.....

Sounds a bit difficult, but I read somewhere that if you fill the pipe with fine dry sand, it can be bent without kinking

I just cut the leaking section off and finished the loop with the rubber hose and a jubilee clips. A lot of maufactures put a PS cooling loop in front of the Rad - I cannot see why. At high speed, when it may be cooled, I don't think the steering is used a lot and at low speed it would not be cooled much. I did this more than two years ago and have not had any probs.

Bren

on my 04 you can hear the compressor - it makes a dull humming sound - similar to the aircon compressor but you have listen out for it

On my 2002 the air compressor has been noisy since I spanked a large cone on the motor way (front OS bumper) - I lost the inner wing liner in the process - in 2007. I have been waiting for a failure since - it is noisy first thing in the morning but once up to pressure it is not too bad. I still have noisy winter tyres on so it may sound like a Gardner 180 on the outside and I would not hear it

I had a fault with a link to a sensor and the back end collapsed on to the stops - fixed by my local indi and is now as good as new.

If you look under the rear suspension when the car is on a ramp it looks very fragile but mine did 220K before probs.

Bren

expensive yes. The cells are small but lots of them :) List price for a new hybrid battery pack is around £15,000. Not sure you be charged that amount, I'm sure Lexus would foot some of the bill for a genuine failure.

There is no timeframe for replacement. Toyota/Lexus build a lot of redundancy into their hybrid power packs, the number of failures is very low across all vehicles. Lexus provide an 8 year warranty in the US.

Personally I would be nervous with a vehicle having covered 150,000+ miles. In theory you could get a second hand battery pack from a breakers but the LS is a rare beast so finding one would be difficult. A specialist could strip down the pack and just replace faulty cells but if at some point all cells would need replacing due to a natural drop in capacity which comes from age and the number of charge cycles.

The Battery pack is made from descrete cells that can be replaced so you only need to replace duff ones. If you look on UTube you will see plenty of videos about Prius cell replacements. It is unlikely they will all go at the same time.

I am not keen on hybrids because the Battery assistance is only useful around town - once you are on the motor way you are running on petrol because the batterys do not hold enough useful energy for high speed running. Hybrids are early adopter technolgy - at the moment Battery technology is only viable in traffic jams to cut down urban polution. Fuel cell cars will be here soon - £40K models will be on sale in a year or two and that will give us sensible electric cars.

The MPG figures quoted are usually misleading - even a plug in hybrid is not better than a petrol engine because the charge comes from a power station. I saw another poster on the forum telling somebody to tell the Lexus designers they are muppets (forgive my license here I am paraphrasing) - well I will be happy to tell the marketing guys they are muppets - the engineers only design what they are told to.

If anybody wants references to back my comments up let me know - the IEEE (I am a memeber) is a great place to look.

Bren

Thanks bren, thats all good info. Starting to get an idea of what will work for me, thinking late mk4 or pre 2003 430. And non premium pack would make it a springs car if i researched it correct. Prob best to drive one of each and see which gels better. Coming from a polo either will impress !

Hi Steve I am not sure you will find any late 430s without the premium pack - they did not sell many and the air suspesion is not really a horror story.

Bren

If I remember correctly when mine sqeaked I had to have the top bush replaced?

Bren

I have had 1 X 300; 3X 400s and a 430, over the years and did did not even know there was a code for the radio. I was never given one by a dealer (4 of the cars were new when aquired). Who would nick a built in unit - except another Lexus owner? I should add I have swapped a few batteries over the years.

Clunkfish's post was very interesting and informative.

Bren

It is very fiddley to get back in - I find it a real pain but make sure it is in correctly - also you don't check the box oil level when the engine is cold. You may think it is low - you do not want to overfill the box.

Check the fluid has no water in it - the box is cooled by a loop in the radiator. If you get water in the box because of a leak you will need a new one. If you are buying a car always make this check.

Bren

If you have a full dealer service history then they will tell you when to change the belt - 100K miles - I have had two done. It is not the sort of job you want to have done if it is not needed - however broken belt = scap engine.

I've not done much posting here for a while - been too busy driving my 430 :)

My thoughts on the 430 - I bought a 2002 new and stiill run it. I looks like hell but rides and drives like a good un.

The pre-face lift 2003 seems to have more reliable (rear) ride height sensors. A pal of mine had to have his replaced at 100K miles - I have a 2002 - 430 that has done 220K+ miles and I had a link break in one of my sensors. This was not at all funny because it drops the back end. My local indi made a new link because the replacement part was £400+ - it is fine now.

After 13 years I keep having to have the exhaust patched - note if an LPG converted car that has the engine light on it will probably say the cat is running at low efficiency which means a pin hole in the exhaust or a duff lamda sensor. Both are easy to fix - the engine light should never be on.

Rust early 430s have door rust probs so pull of the panels and check before you buy. The rust will come through from the inside - the 12 year warranty should cover replacement - check on the forum for other data about this.

LPG is awesome I have done 130K trouble free miles in mine - make sure you have somebody who knows what they are doing if you have one converted. If you buy one converted make sure the ECU has the latest firmware - check when you have it serviced and the filters cleaned.

The newer models have lower profile tyres which means a harder ride - the best riding Lexus by far is the 400.

If you buy a car that was owned by a fat b$gger like me and it has a lot of miles on it the drivers seat may be stuff up so really check this out - I nearly had to scrap my 430 last year because of probs getting it fix.

Good luck with buying another Lexus mate.

Cheers

Bren

Cruise control is what it says.When cruising which is not the same as proactive or reactive driving is usually best used on Motorways or roads with a reasonable stretch of road without hazards or slow moving traffic.

The Ecu works in tandem with the engine ECu but does nor extend to changing gears as that would fall outside its design remit on the Lexus and most other luxury cruising sedans.

If used properly it can save a bundle in fuel consumption but one as to anticipate when to disengage to slow down rather than using the brakes.I have found the biggest headache is when you have set the cc at 70 on the motorway in the inside lane and some knobhead in one of those suzuki or the like goes over seventy to pass you then because they are speeding pull in front of you and slow down below seventy making me reset the whole thing.

It is not a reliable aid to keeping within the speed limit as the car will exceed the set speed through sheer gravity on downward slopes,in contrast on upward slopes it will stick to the set speed.

Hi Ambermarine - I think you meant the CC will not change down to slow you down - it will certainly change gear down or up the box to maintain speed. My 430 will kick down when going up hill then change back up appropriately.

The adaptive CC will try and maintain distance to a car in front by speed control without the brakes.

My pal works for VAG and their new models (as I assume do Lexus) have plenty of speed control gadgets - below 18 MPH it is not possible to run into the back of another car, in your Passat because it will bang the brakes on. Not pleasant but will save you a lot of trouble :)

Bren

I do the same as 'cruisermark'.......

wait till the cooling pipe that runs in front of the rad rots through at 200ish K miles and after you fix it you will need to replace the fluid because you will have lost it :) That's what happened to me.

Bren

Does anyone engage the parking brake ??

Malc

All the time. I see it as a part designed to move, and if it doesn't move I suppose I should expect problems.

That's my angle on it too, though to be honest, this is the first car I've owned with a pedal operated parking brake, so I'm going on instinct.

Work the parking break every now and again or it will eventually seize and fail the MoT. When ever my car goes in to the garage - local or Lexus dealer - they always put the parking break on and when asked why it is for the reason above. As The Acre said if it moves wiggle it - I do not however use it for parking or leave it on. If you do have it stick on just put it in reverse and it will probably knock off if you back up a bit.

Bren

I live in bolton and am paying 59p a litre

Found a site for checking prices link below seems to be regularly updated I know I have done it my

Self

http://www.filllpg.co.uk/

But agree with John the prices round me range can be 25p a litre difference costly on a 70 litre tank

I have only had my car a few weeks but am happy with the savings on my fuel bill

74.9p in Towcester 75.9 at Warwick services on the M40 - one near home the other on the way to my current customer - best we have had in few years was 72p. A lot better than paying for petrol :) but still make me very envious of 57p

Bren

Brendan, When you descend your hill to your drive you are probably going too slow for the cruise control to work. According to the handbook it will only work above 25 mph. You could be just on the threshold of the lower limit when you hold it in 3rd gear at 30mph. I am still surprised it won't work properly at 30 though.

To be clear the lane I live on is a hill that has a 30 limit so at the 30 limit sign in D (in a 2002 LS430 so no ACC) I make sure I am doing 30 indicated on the clock (really 28 on the GPS and local radar) - then I engage CC and the car will roll faster than 30 so I have to brake or drop it into third to keep to 30. This is not specific to the "twilight zone" that is Banbury Lane - it is the same at 70 on a motorway hill - the car will speed up under the influence on gravity even on CC - going up a hill the or on the flat the CC works well and as indicated does not operate below 25.

I am not ****** up this evening and work as an engineering consultant so am good at testing things - if the facelift 430 ACC maintains your speed going down hill that sounds really good.

Happy Cruising - I use mine a lot.

Bren

Big smile :) :) give it to the Banger Boys to race and make sure the tool who did the stretch is locked in the boot for the destruction derby at the end of the meeting - better still why not for all the races?

The perpetrator of the paint job should join them :)

Bren

I have had 400s and now a 430 and the cruise control does not stop the car speeding up when rolling down hill - the cruise control only operates the accelerator not the brakes. If your car slows down when descending a hill it is because of engine braking caused by the ECU cutting off the fuel.

Who knows I may be wrong or have been on drugs for the last 20 years or so :)

If I am wrong I need to get my car fixed because I have to roll down a 30mph hill to get to my drive and have to knock it into third to keep to 30 - I have been doing that since 1999 in a 400 and 430 :(

Good luck.

Bren

Apologies 35 years in IT and RTFM is used nearly every day.

If you have a Mark IV there are two compartments in the arm rest , a large one and a smaller one above it that is serviced by the air conditioning so keeps things cool ,normally called a chocolate box.

It all depends how you lift the arm which box you get access to.

I didn't know that, the cool box that is. It would have been useful for my water yesterday when it got up to 34 degrees in London. I thought I'd read all of the manual, I obviously missed that one. Well as the topic of this post says, you learn something new every day!

I always keep a bottle of Vintage Moët & Chandon and some Foie Gras, unsalted butter and French Toast just in case I see and stop another LS400 owner. Mike

Always the class act of the club Bluesey :)

Bren

Thanks fro the info worth thinking about. Where did you get the discs from and what did they cost?

Thanks

Barry

£50ish on fleabay - I just put a Gen4 Nav ECU in my 430 which take Gen 3/5 Nav disks. I have to hack the American ECU to get it to run properly and will post how to do it when I get the time to do it etc.

Just search on eBay for the update http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200933943753?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 is the one I used and Joerg (the seller) is great and ships very quickly. You do not need to buy all 3 DVDs. I have not found the post code function yet but then my foreign ECU is a bit troubled :)

Bren

All you fellow LS400 owners going on about your air-con,all the money I've spent on mine this year-(services/cambelt/sundries) I've been asked by my Mechanic: 'do you want me to re-gas your air-con?' Shivering in his workshop in May this year,I answer: 'nah, its not worth it,it'll be another near-Arctic Summer again' -me, and my big mouth.........nearly baked to a frazzle on Saturday last,on a day-out to the Cotswolds-good job I've got a sunroof...........

You cant do right for doing wrong. Enjoy the summer while it lasts. Mike

I find the air con as useful in the winter as the summer - it is really good at demisting the windows. I am feeling quite smug because I had my system serviced and re-gassed :hocus-pokus:

I hope you are not too sweaty it you didn't.

Bren