ambermarine

Not to sure about the antifreeze mate thats a new one on me, I have heard about the peeled spud in the water and it works but not used it for many years as the screen wash you get today is good, and good motor the 375 I had the consul mk1 colum change Hi The spud idea is fine to stop the windscreen freezing but it does,nt help the contents of the water bottle,its good to get some ideas coming in on how keep the screen clear and drive safely.Incidently the consuls were all three gear column change with a front bench seat ,great love wagons and the wipers worked on a vaccum from the engine which was an absolute horror when cold freezing weather prevailed. The comments regarding screenwash working down to -15 are a real bonus as most of the stuff on the market only works at up to -5.

Dave Perhaps this pic will help to aleviate your concern ,as you are aware any submissions placed on this site are subject to a disclaimer and it is up to the individual to use their own judgement.I have owned this car for 15 years and as you will appreciate the last thing I am going to do is damage it wilfully . It is now probably one of a small surviving number of the first Lexus ls400 introduced into the UK in 1990 and designated as the 97th. This pic was taken in July 2010 and with 177k on the clock still runs as good as it looks. The comments on anti-freeze on the forums are inconclusive and the AA are a motoring organisation who although they provide a breakdown service are not chemists or manufacturers of products. If your car is waxed properly should there be any dulling it will be the wax doing its job of protecting the paintwork. I hope you have as much fun with your GS300 as I have had with My LS400 and keep polishing.

Hi Dave All looks pretty shiny to me.

Dave I have stated my case we,ll beg to differ.

I have not had any problems with it on the laquer and I have diluted the antifreeze with the screenwash which if you look on the label contains the same stuff, etheylene glycol! it is not neat and if directed onto the screen most of it will run off to the road without getting near the paintwork. It is a tip for extreme conditions and in that scenario will probably be used very infrequently I was not advocating constant use of anti freeze in the washer bottle and wether you use it or not is up to the individual,personally I would rather see were I was going than worry about something that probably will not occur.

Hi Fellow Lexuns During a two day trip down to Devon from Scotland over the xmas week I saw hundreds of people driving with salt smeared windscreens on the motorways and a lot of those were artics, on Xmas eve the temprature on the M5 must have been minus 20 with the wind chill factor at speeds approaching 50mph. My Ls400 still had frost on the bonnet when I arrived at my Destination 300 miles down the road that says a lot for the insulation in the ls400 but even that does'nt stop the screenwasher nozzles freezing as the fluid exits. A ruse I learned years ago with My ford consul 375 (am I showing my age)is to mix anti-freeze with the screenwash and water use a 3/1 ratio water to antifreeze mix and then add the screen wash .This is for extreme conditions and it does work may look a bit expensive but whats a few quid if you can see were you're going.

Is this the one for the pioneer radio? Regards Ambermarine

Hi have a nice 1990 totally original Red Ls400

There as been a awful lot of time spent on this subject by you and I presume you have spent a lot of the time of staff at lexus ,But there is a fundamental flaw in your strategy,You have involved far too many people and have become the ball they are all kicking around the car park when it becomes a nuisance.If you have a comlaint stick to one person until you get satisfaction otherwise you spread the load and nobody gives in .

There is no relay dedicated to the washer motor ,it is integrated in the wiring of the wiper relay so if any electrical component as failed or is suspect it is likely to be the motor connections or the motor itself.see my thread on accesing the motor .

Hi The way to get into the washer bottle and pump according to the Lexus workshop Manual is ; Remove the fender (Wing)liner.the front fastenings should be enough, this exposes the washer bottle There are three nuts holding it in position undo these and the bottle plus attached pump should come out. seperate the motor from the tank. to test the motor connect a positive lead from the battery to terminal 1 and a negative lead from the battery to terminal 2 if this does not operate the motor replace the motor. replace the reassembled unit in reverse of dismantle.

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Moderators Note: Ambermarine........you are not a gold member so you are not entitled to offer goods for sale on these forums

Hi The transmission oil cooler on a Lexus LS400 is an intergral part of the engine coolant radiator the transmission oil is fed from the gearbox through the radiator and back into the gearbox. this is designed to be adequate cooling of the transmission fluid for normal usage of the drivetrain. Should you require the vehicle to tow a caravan or other type of trailer with any weight ,you would need to fit a suplemental transmission oil cooler to the vehicle. advice on the adequate unit can be obtained from Lexus. Hope this helps

Hi There are four drains on the Lexus sunroof pan this is the pan that is set under the moonroof as referred to in the drivers manual;The seal between the glass is not meant to be waterproof .Water, rain .etc collect in the pan and then runs out through drains which are copper pipes .these run down the front windscreen arches and the rear windscreen panels.the copper pipes are then jointed off to a flexibleplastic pipe which on the front drains runs through the impact absorber and exits inside the front wing assembly and is inaccessible.The rear drains exit in the wells each side of the boot floor and are accessisible .The drains clog with verdigree and dust and if this occurs the water floods overflows into the roof panel hence your dampspot.SOLUTION Non of these pipes are accessible from the top unless you start dismantling the sunroof A DEFINITE NO NO. Try sending up a thin wire similar ti a welding rod up the boot drains after taking off the plastic hose .If this does not work park the car in a different orientation in its parking spot .the theory here is that not all the drains will be blocked and at some level the water will get away. I know this method works because My mate tried it.,after I advised him of the facts. Hope it works for YOU.

only gold members may offer parts for sale !

Hi Fellow Lexuns I can see both sides of this debate having owned my 16 year old ls400 for 10 years when I first purchased the car ,not from a lexus dealership I must add I took it to a lexus dealership that then existed in Rochdale and they found a couple of faults that were quickly put right and paid for under the purchase warranty.the car was then looked after by them for the next five years well into 100k miles,in that time they never quibbled, I had personal service from the Mechanic assigned to my car for its whole life with them,who looked after it like it was is own and they allowed me to buy my lexus parts elsewhere and only charged for fitting.That now Toyota garage still employs the same Mechs after twenty years so I think that says something about the Lexus Experience.I cannot say the same about the Lexus set up in Scotland and have taken to doing my own services these days.The points made in this debate are valid and genuine and reflect only the reasons for having the Lexus experience at a budget to suit the owner,thats life.

Hi Milkman The antitheft and imobiliser ecu is on the right hand side of the dash actually in a cluster of ecu,s just above the cruise control ecu .do not touch it or pull any plugs out as this will stop the car starting. the ecu that as probably failed is in the boot on the left side of the petrol tank. you take off the fibre panel that is at the rear of the boot 4 screws at the top and four at the bottom. The wireless reciever ecu for the key fob should be marked as wireless reciever. If you have to replace it you will also have to have new keys with the transmitters fitted to send to the new reciever,I had this done on a warranty and it cost £300 and only Lexus can supply the keys if you choose to dispense with the Lexus system and fit an aftermarket unit .you will need to rewire the door switches and having just stripped a Lexus Ls400 that had a aftermarket unit fitted I could see this as full days work.My advice is take it to Lexus and get them to do it ,or you could end up with a nightmare. Best of luck Ambermarine :)

Hello fellow Lexuns I have just bought a donor car for my own Lexus 90 LS400 I had stupidly damaged the bonnet and the same colour donor car(would have done another ten years but for suspension damage beyond insurance scope) came with a clean bonnet at half the price for the car as what Lexus wanted for the bonnet renewed.I have sold the drive train and with various other sales of parts I did'nt keep have recouped the initial outlay.and benefitted from 40 spare parts .I have carefully dismantled the car so it can still be driven less interior including dashboard and seats and all linings door panels and all electrical components motors ecu's etc ,less those associated with the engine and gearbox .This as been a terrific experience the car is built in such a way that any potential rattles have been eradicated with the use of modular wiring conduits foam rubber ,anchors to elimanate any slack in looms every electrical connection to any source is by means of non movable plug and sockets.contact points between brittle surfaces are padded including all the air conditioning ducts where it might contact metal.It seems that the design engineers were under pain of death should any car be recalled for a rattle.In my 40 years of owning cars from frog eyed sprites to jaguars the lexus ls 400 of 1990 was a truly remarkable feat of engineering in terms of automobile construction. :)

Hello fellow Lexuns Intrested to read of another wary lexun regarding recco from mftr reps,In the early mark 1 lexus ls 400 owners handbook ,it actually says and I quote; "unless the vehicle as been used as a taxi or delivery vehicle it is not nessacary to change the cambelt at all". And armed with that info I told my Lexus dealer not to change it,he insisted in changing it so I went on to Lexus Uk who agreed that the hand book said as much but a new engine was £5000 so you do the only thing that any sane person would do you change it. some years later as some people will note from a earlier contribution my cambelt went for an entirly different reason 10k after renewal and no damage occured in the engine, because there is a safe clearance between pistons and valves .So there you have it ,it takes 10 years of owning a Lexus to gain all these valuble snippets but along the way you pay for peace of mind. :

Hello Fellow Lexuns I have been following the topic on transmission fluid change with some mixed feelings,I was concerned by the constant referal to the type t-1V and its implications of non application . I had my lexus looked after in the Manchester area by the same guy at a lexus dealer ship for eight years,Ihave lived in Scotland now for 4 years and have done the services myself.I contacted the Lexus dealer in Glasgow who;s workshop said they put in dexron type 111.He insisted that the lexus reccomendation stated that dexron was an acceptable alternative to toyota products.I then contacted the Mechanic who looked after my car as if it were his own and he confirmed this.He went on to say that the only difference you will notice, if at all ,is the smoother gear changethat t-1V achieves. As my Ls400 as the smoothest gear change on fluid that as done 150000 miles you could wish for I think there may be some kiddology going on from the pricing of these products.After all Toyota don't make the transmission fluid ,they commision an oil company to do that and they're hardly likely to promote something with thier name on that as a General motors trademark. Anyway I did the change using 12 litres of dexron and simply shoved a 4mm nylon tube down the dipstick and with a qwik -drain pump outfit, pumped a litre and a half out then pumped the same amount of new in. Ran round the block, repeated the process, until the colour of the fluid was as near to the new sample I started with.Total cost £28 and I did it standing up. And no, I did'nt take off the pan or change filters in the box because to my knowledge there have been no builders or gardeners in there lousin the place up and it probably wants to be left in peace anyway.Thats not to say that it might blow up next week ,but I think the sealed system speaks for itself .By the way I changed the fluid in my power steering pump the same way, without of course the trip round the block. :)