steve2006

Sorry I could be wrong here,like you I assumed 96> were OBDII but if you have the round plug it may not be, have a look in the engine bay on top of the right bank of the engine( looking from the front) and see if there is an oblong diagnostic port connector there,if so it may be the paperclip system. Could a series 3 owner confirm this please.

Hi, Have a look under the dash around the bonnet release catch area, it has to be accessible from the drivers seat location and yes it is OBDII compliant.

Hi and welcome to the LOC. I suppose it depends on whether you want brand new,refurbished or secondhand wheels as replacements.I had chrome wheels on my import LS400 and after 2 years had the same problem as you with the flaky chrome. Personally I don't think the UK weather/salt combination is suitable for chrome wheels so I moved away to some refurbished MOMO alloys from eBay but then discovered one was buckled! If you do go for aftermarket wheels make sure they will fit and if using your present tyres on them make sure these will also fit the new rims. It may be worth a look on eBay but check the wheels for damage before parting with the money for them. As far as I know there is no one within the UK that will refurbish chrome wheels. It may also be worth putting a "wanted Ad" on the forum you may be lucky.

Hi, This is a common problem on all cars at this time of year not necessarily just Lexus brands and comes about due to the harvesting of cereal crops by farmers. The mice in the fields containing the wheat,barley etc obviously make a run for it when a 10 ton combine harvester enters the field and make their nearest escape to safety. This does unfortunately include the wheel arches of nearby cars and they tend to resettle primarily between front suspension coil springs where they feel safe. Unfortunately once the car moves this frightens the mouse and it begins to squeak as you describe,particularly when you are going around a corner as the mouse has to hold on for dear life to avoid falling under the tyre. When the car is stationary and you press down on the wing this compresses the spring and gently squeezes the mouse again resulting in the squeak you hear. The solution is jack up the car,remove the road wheel and then carefully examine the upper and lower control arm bushes and ball joints,anti roll bar bushes and the strut mounting basically anything rubber in the suspension set up.Spray anything suspect with WD40 and see if the noise goes away or becomes less evident as this may assist locating the problem. If the car has had replacement poly bushes fitted these do tend to make a noise so re-lubing them with the correct type of grease may help. P.S. Don't worry about the mouse it will by now have run off!

Spotted this gem on eBay, the description spelling and grammar are sadly lacking but it was the reference to Einstein that prompted me to post especially when the seller cannot even spell the name correctly! No offence to anyone this is just for amusement. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-LEXUS-LS400-AUTO-BLACK-lpg-gas-excellent-/300455616444?pt=Automobiles_UK#ht_530wt_1139

Hi welcome to the LOC. I am a LS400 owner and therefore not too familiar with the IS250 but the bulbs will be a certain type and normally (if HID) a certain colour, The fact that a bulb has "Lexus/Toyota" on the packaging generally means 3-4 times the price of an OEM quality replacement and bear in mind Lexus do not make their own bulbs so will be a well known make (Philips,Osram etc) repackaged for Lexus. If you have managed to remove the old bulb yourself this means you can also fit a new one Good News!. Have a look in your owner manual and it will list the required type of bulb then contact your local motor factors even Halfords if desperate or look on eBay, there are some on there at the moment,a pair of HID bulbs for £20.00 but ensure you order the correct type and the colour temperature. Finally it is not forced to be the bulb it could be the wiring or the ballast unit so check the wiring 1st, then replace the bulb then worry about the cost.

Janey the Chief Moderator says it's OK to name and shame the dealer

My money's on "a seized caliper pin" 3.15 at Kempton very good odds as well!

With the condition of that O ring I can understand why it leaked!

Hi, Not sure if this applies to the LS430 but if you can hear the motor trying to move it may be the same problem as the LS400,have a look at the link below.

It's amazing that basically other owners can give possible causes as to why your transmission may have failed without even seeing the car and over the internet but a supposedly professional Lexus dealership cannot with the car right there in front of them or even have the courtesy of calling you back! I smell a rat here let me predict the next move,Lexus will tell you that the "independent" transmission company have examined the box and confirm it is "melted." Chocolate melts transmissions don't! If the transmission has melted it has overheated probably due to a lack of cooling transmission fluid, that is of course assuming they used the correct type if any. I know with your work commitments it will be difficult but you must make that call to Lexus GB and get something sorted,as I said before you trusted them and paid them in good faith for they're servicing/repairs and THEY appear to have damaged your car. If there is no objection from the moderators would you please name the dealership concerned.

Was the leak test not performed before the last recharge was made? It is now illegal to recharge an AC system before ensuring the system is gas tight.From what you say it would appear the leak was present at the time of the last recharge and that is why it is now depleted of gas after a month. Working on AC systems requires care to ensure your safety, the gas will penetrate your skin and can result in medical conditions, the correct personal protection kit should be used.This stuff does not only damage the environment! If you are planning to remove the condenser ensure all the remaining gas has been removed before doing so. Additionally all AC engineers now have to be fully trained and registered.

I'm a little confused now. Lexus removed the transmission from your car to physically compare it to the one from a breakers and decided it wasn't the same, surely there are type numbers and serial numbers stamped on the transmission housing which can be easily read without first removing the transmission from the car,this is comparable to going into a tyre fitters and them telling you they have to remove the wheels to tell which make and type of tyre you have fitted! The dealer is now considering sending the transmission to a local specialist for diagnostics, the car has OBDII (On Board Diagnostics) so a code reader should show some code with the transmission still fitted. I would imagine making a bench diagnosis would be difficult,for example you need the transmission ECU to control the box, the original pipe work for the cooler and a source to turn the input shaft,stripping down the transmission and having a look inside is unlikely to yield any positive results. I notice form your last post the dealer performed a service on the car, they didn't by any chance do a transmission fluid flush as part of that service did they?

I have seen posts on here suggesting you can buy them but 1 they are expensive and 2 they are not type approved, if I remember correctly the earlier series 3 tow bar will fit with modification and not long ago there was one for sale on eBay. I had an official Lexus roof rack which I sold a while ago to a guy in Sweden and there was also some roof bars on eBay but for which model year I do not know. Regarding the post re the transmission cooler I think that is only a requirement for heavy towing so a camping trailer shouldn't be a problem.

Hi welcome to the LOC, I have taken a look on the exploded diagram of the moon roof for the RX300 and it didn't help that much but if you have the owners handbook check it as some models have a manual method of closing the moon roof. This would involve removing the trim panel around the motor area (if no visable screws they are normally clip on/off and a good tug will remove) look inside the cover for a handle which you can insert and wind the moon roof Check for something jammed in the mechanism first as you say with previous work on the mirror this may have occurred.

That was probably the cheapest option! lol

Well what can I say,welcome to the LOC and congratulations on your new purchase, please follow the link below. http://www.jaguardriver.co.uk/html/

Hi Pat, Welcome to the LOC. We are a friendly bunch on here so I am sure you will receive some more welcomes before long,I can't help you with the springs but someone will be along with what you need or help you locate some. We all like pictures so feel free to post some up,we normally use Photobucket.com as a hosting site and then post the direct links. Welcome once again enjoy your new Lexus albeit with a firm ride!

I never realised that Mercedes had such precision tolerances!!!! lol plus they rust really well!

Congratulations let's hope that's sorted your problem, changing the leads and plugs is OK it's routing the leads and fixing them into all the clips and covers that takes the time, not too bad if they are the same thickness but bigger diameter leads involves some modifications to fit them,BTW did you get some dielectric grease for the plug connections so they don't stick on the plugs next time you replace them, mind you the iridium plugs are good for 100,000 so shouldn't be a problem.

This case brings back memories,many years ago in the UK there was a baby product which was basically a baby's rattle on a stalk with a rubber sucker on the base the idea being you could attach this device to any smooth surface and amuse the baby. What parents did however was attach this device to their foreheads as this was apparently very amusing but upon removal they were left with a long lasting red ring on the forehead where the sucker had been attached,this became known as sucker daddy syndrome. There was nothing in the instructions to say do not attach to forehead,had this happened today you could have sued for millions and retired early!

After several years the M1 Notts/Derbys area has recently gained an extra lane so we now have 4, I don't know if it is the same on other 4 lane sections of motorway but here for example lanes 1 and 2 are free and clear to use and you get someone in lane 3, undertaking is illegal so I have to move across 4 lanes if I want to overtake,then move back 4 lanes. Is it like this everywhere?

Hi This should help you. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=65123

The phones are I believe analogue and therefore no use in todays digital world so I would have thought like all old mobile phones would be worth very little if anything (how many old mobiles do most of us have thrown in the kitchen drawers!) So unless you have a Lexus fanatic who wants the original phone in the car which is completely unuseable but purely cosmetic give it away with the car.

I've got to agree,there are many issues here and a lot of questions to be asked and answered. When the problem started there was a noise so you took it to a Lexus dealer for diagnosis and repair, they must have surely done a diagnostic check first to get an idea of the problem, they then replaced a solenoid but which one?To replace the solenoid ( assuming it was a shift solenoid) they would have to remove the transmission sump so did they then refill the transmission to the correct level? Everything was OK for a week then the noise returns and this time it is a wheel bearing! If this was the cause of the noise in the first place how is it that replacing a solenoid made the bearing quiet for a week before returning. They then changed their minds in your absence and decided to take it out for a test drive and broke the gearbox!l So basically you took your car to a Lexus dealer with nothing more than a noise and they return it to you undriveable! Get onto the dealer,tell them it is their fault the car is now in the present condition after firstly misdiagnosing a solenoid fault, then a wheel bearing fault and now damaging the transmission,if they do not respond favourably contact Lexus GB. You have already paid money for a job that did not fix the issues you paid for don't pay anymore out until you get some answers. BTW maybe on this occasion you could name the dealer concerned (Mods permission requested) I will certainly avoid it.