brendangeorge

Hi Martin My 430 has never used a drop in 206K miles - if you had to put 6 liters in there is some thing wrong. Don't take this the wrong way but were you putting oil in the engine but checking the transmission fluid level. If so you need to get some oil out of your engine pronto over full is very very bad. If you had lost oil there would have been warnings on the dash also if you had a leak you would smell it if it got near something hot or you would see drips on the drive. Good luck Bren

Don't think so but I will check

Thanks - the usual suspects :arrrggg-matey:

Which auction site Mark? I have done business with one on ebay and am about to go legal because they stuffed me. No names yet however when the time comes............................................................... Thanks for the heads up on Dewsbury. I am also looking at repairers - I can do it myself but cannot find the parts :( Bren

Hi does anybody have a Nav ECU for a 430 they need to dispose of? I have a gen 1 system and it failed so bought the drive (the internal part not the complete box) from the US. However it is for a Gen 3 system (anybody want it let me know) so will not mount in my box :megaangry:. I don't care which 430 model the unit comes from if it is the box from the boot. If anybody knows of anybody breaking a 430 I would appreciate a nod. Cheers Bren

If its hellicoiled (re threaded) the new plug should be OK as long as no damage has been done to the valves or piston. & the cause of the overheating sorted. cause of the overheating sorted is a good point, do you agree that this could be the lean running, id certainly want to see the condition of the other plugs, its my regular lexus dealer and id accept a guarantee on the work. One of my pals had a 430 go bang - it was exhaust valve seat recession. The car had done 72K ish on LPG - no lights - it just started running a little rough - a compression test revealed the bad news. £5K from Lexus dealer or £2.5K from Toyoda for the head rebuild - they also recommended Flash lube :) Colin you may want to get your valves checked out before they carry out the repair - I assume they have already suggested this but........ Bren Ive got a quote from lexes dealership for the suggested helicoil and fix a reasonable sounding £700 quid, Given the advice i recieved here I asked the following questions: Where are the Bits that melted away, rolling about in the cylinder/Engine ? Diagnosis of Cause ? Condition of other plugs ? Results of a compression test ? and Guarantee on offer for the repair ? No answer rolled of their tounges but they are getting back to me, let you know ... Fantastic Colin - you asked them all the correct questions and got no answers. They need to bore-scope (put a camera down) each cylinder and check the condition of the valves etc - or take the head off (big bucks). But they need to find out what went wrong and if there is any damage - the bits went somewhere - even if they were vaporised then they are now in the exhaust - get an emission test done as part of the fix so you know your cats are OK. They probably are because any metal vapour will have condensed in the top end of the exhaust. Keep pushing (nicely) and asking until you get sensible answers - try the service manager and then the dealership principle - point out they checked the car out and said it was OK. Always be nice and shame them into giving you good service if you have to :) Bren

If its hellicoiled (re threaded) the new plug should be OK as long as no damage has been done to the valves or piston. & the cause of the overheating sorted. cause of the overheating sorted is a good point, do you agree that this could be the lean running, id certainly want to see the condition of the other plugs, its my regular lexus dealer and id accept a guarantee on the work. One of my pals had a 430 go bang - it was exhaust valve seat recession. The car had done 72K ish on LPG - no lights - it just started running a little rough - a compression test revealed the bad news. £5K from Lexus dealer or £2.5K from Toyoda for the head rebuild - they also recommended Flash lube :) Colin you may want to get your valves checked out before they carry out the repair - I assume they have already suggested this but........ Bren

Hi Colin Running lean with the light on is not within accepted params in my humble opinion - I have done 206K+ in a 430 and have usually put the Lexus plugs in. I would expect if it is running lean it will run hot. The Lexus dealer in Coventry was always great even with the conversion - I usually use an indi now and occasionally go back to Lexus for a special treat. If the Lexus dealer say they can fix it then take their advice and guarantee - and don't pay if they don't fix it. Bren bren, that seems a reasonable assumption in the circumstances my technical knowledge extends to opening the bonnet and filling the washer bottle thats why I buy lexus ... You are spot on Colin - I'm an engineer so understand some of the stuff - one of the main reasons to go to Lexus is you should be able to trust them. If they inspected and serviced my car (LPG or not) said it was OK and then it blew up I would have somebodies man vegetables on a skewer or need a pretty god explanation. Good luck with the fix mate. I see in later posts people say go to Profess - well they may be good but as somebody else pointed out they are not in every town in the Country and there are other really good people out there converting cars. I would always try and go with a recommendation for a supplier and make sure that they have successfully converted the your model in the past. Bren

Hi Colin Running lean with the light on is not within accepted params in my humble opinion - I have done 206K+ in a 430 and have usually put the Lexus plugs in. I would expect if it is running lean it will run hot. The Lexus dealer in Coventry was always great even with the conversion - I usually use an indi now and occasionally go back to Lexus for a special treat. If the Lexus dealer say they can fix it then take their advice and guarantee - and don't pay if they don't fix it. Bren

I'm with Mike - the light should never be on under normal operating conditions - if the EM light is on you have a problem - read the codes from the ECU via the OBD port - you can get an interface for you laptop or tablet on ebay for a few quid. Any competent garage/mechanic will tell you this and will also be able to check the fault for you. If the Lexus designers think light on is a fault how can anybody else say differently. Good luck passing the MoT with the light on. Bren

Hi Colin I have done nearly 100K on LPG and my engine light is never on. Except of course when there is a fault. I had a pin hole in my exhaust that was very close to the Lamda sensors and was a swine to weld up but I got it done - this caused the light to come on. The short term data will be cleared from the ECU if you disconnect the battery or clear them from the OBD port - I could do this and the light would stay out for a few days but soon came back on. If you had the car serviced at a Lexus dealer what did they say? I did not wait too long to get mine sorted out - I am interested who told you that the light being on was O.K. and what the faults where in the system that caused the light to come on. I hope you get a good result mate - if a dealer serviced the car and said it was ok....................... Bren

Hi Colin Commiserations - any idea how the plug came to melt? Are you going to scrap your LS just sell it as is? How many miles did you put on it on LPG? Bren

Spot on Mike - QW can be described as a proper journalist which is probably why he is no longer a Top Gear presenter. Bren

In the past JC and Co have always disparaged the LS and have favoured the big German 3 - why would they change now?. They would probably start dropping pianos on our favourite cars. Those 3 guys do not work as serious motoring journalists they make entertainment using cars as props. It can be great fun and I usually watch - I never watch 5th Gear (that tries to be more serious) because it is a bit boring. Ray I think you need to add when blokes have a few beers they love to behave like to Top Gear 3 Bren

Hi Messi Is it cranking strongly? If not your battery may be weak. Also your key battery may be low - other radio sources may interfere with the operation of the transmitter if the key battery is low (mobile phone in your pocket etc). The unlocking and immobiliser are separate systems and I think I have seen what you are seeing with my 430. The key battery is £1 down the market or £3 in Maplin's followed by a Youtube video on how to change it. If I remember correctly the bat is a CR2032. Bren

My wife would have saved me the trouble and done him herself :whistling: There is no excusing the shiny purple shirt and pointy brothel creepers but he did have a point about banger racing. None of our members will have watched Banger Boys (except for me) - they had a scrap 400 and turned it into a banger and it did very well. They had to take the alloy V8 out (far too complicated and delicate for a banger) and replaced it with a Dagenham Anvil (Ford V6). I am now sitting here waiting for the excrement storm that will probably come my way - just like the Australian Rugby team :) Bren

I av finally sorted oot my spulling cherker I have finally sorted out my spelling checker It is not the web site it is your web browser that must support the function - I use Firefox and it needs an add on installing. With my core skills I am embarrassed it took me a while to figure this out - to be fair I usually write in Word and paste it in. There is even a grammar checker for Firefox - hint :) It was good to see the Lions are better at playing Rugby than I am at playing IT. It was majestic this morning. Bren

I thought there used to be one Mike but it seems to have gone - probably with an upgrade to the site - one of the Mods may help us - it would be handy. I usually open a Word document and then cut and paste it in - especially if I am on one of my long technical rambles (more interesting than work). If I don't use a WP to spell check I usually have to make several edits to fix my Chimp English. Cheers Bren

430 is belt drive change it every 100K miles - I am not sure about the 460 but I am pretty sure it is as well. - Edit just read the 460 has a chain. Bren

I also just watched the last night's WD in the iplayer - I must admit the rest of it is quite good as well as the BM'er story. Chain CAM drives are in many ways better than belts or so we are told - probably because they can take more abuse. Honest John thinks they are great but I'll bet not when they are put at the back of the engine. I suppose you could say if they are designed to last forever then it is OK to put them at the back - so how the heck do you check them if you cannot get to them? From the video it did not look as if the chains broke rather the tension systems failed - but I am not sure. I love my belt driven Lexus and it is not that expensive to change the belt every 100K. Bren

Clever marketing and the general sheep like behaviour that seemingly sensible people exhibit - i.e. it is more important to keep up with the neighbours than do something different and sensible. So they by Mercs, BM'ers and Audis, Bren

Interesting - when I used to tell my German pals I had a Leuxs they said AH a Mercedes clone. You check them out especially from the back :) The comparisons all stop when you consider the engineering, manufacturing quality, luxuary and ride. People who fix cars regularly tell me that if I had an equivalent BM'er or Merc it would have had two engines, a new gear box and back axel by now. I don't believe any of us buy the LS for its looks. Bren

Having a bit of fun measuring the drain on my battery I just had a look at the current drawn from my 430's battery. It has been parked over-night after 160 miles yesterday. I used a clamp-on ammeter on the -VE cable. Ignition switch off 1.1 amps Ignition switch to accessories 5.5 amps Ignition on 17.5 amps 7.5 - 8 amps when running (charging the battery) Not an exhaustive test but it seems to suggest you will need a float charger that supplies around 1amp (which is nuts) and more importantly my 70 amp hour battery will only last for 70 hours if the car draws 1 amp while sat still - also nuts. This means the ignition off number I measured is wrong - the others look OK. From some digging around I saw the maximum permitted drain is 200mA (I need to substantiate this) and 45 mA is reasonable but I need to investigate more. It takes up to an hour for all the cars systems to shut down and having the bonnet open (unless you wire round the bonnet open switch) they never will which is why my ignition off number is wrong. So I need to investigate more. If the car draws 100mA while sat still then my 70Ah battery will last for a month until flat - however the day before it goes flat don't count on it starting your car. In the past I have had no probs after two weeks with a decent battery - after airport parking or holidays etc. From looking about there are plenty of bits and pieces, on the car, that could fail and keep running after you switch off so if you have a decent battery and can't leave the car stood for two weeks it needs looking at If anybody does connect a solar charger directly to their battery they must put a fuse in - note must not should - because a shorted charged car battery could deliver 400 Amps. Also a regulator of some kind would be a good idea but if you have one of those 4 or 5 watt jobs it is hard to see how in England you could over charge the battery. In fact a solar charger is likely to be ineffective because we never get any sun shine :) Bren

It is reasonable to see some exhaust from a cold start this is condensation of some of the water in the exhaust (water is one of the combustion products) on a cold exhaust pipe. It will stop when the car warms up. On very very cold winter days you can often the steam form just after the end of the pipe. I think other people have mentioned this. You should never see blue smoke from a LS on startup (in my humble opinion) and I have never on mine in 206K miles - nor has it ever burnt a drop of oil. Steve mentioned white smoke - is it smoke or steam while warming up the car? Did somebody mention they start take their car for a short run every now and again - this is not a great idea short runs are one of the biggest car killers. I am amazed that 150K older model Lexus start to smoke - my wife's Avensis has done more miles and is sweet as a nut (I am for it now) and does not burn oil or blow smoke on starting. Cheers Bren

LS external styling has never been great - the 460 is better but not the front of the new one. I always think that when I am sitting inside driving one of the best cars made I cannot see the outside so who cares. A Ferrari or Lambo may look great but would you want to drive 400 miles in one on our roads? Bren