Tinonline

On 7/13/2022 at 7:03 PM, donkmeister said:

Does anyone know if there is a way to enable speed limiting on the LS460? Not the 155mph "don't blow the tyres" speed limiter, but rather the "don't get a ticket in a 20mph zone" type of limiter.

From scouring the user manual and playing with the CC stalk I've not found anything that would suggest the car has it. Am I just being dense? Is there a firmware update/coding option/CANBUS dongle that enables such a mode?

FWIW I have no issue with modulating my right foot, it can be a handy option to have when driving in places with a high driver workload and a stupidly low speed limit though (yes London, I'm talking about you - even my mum managed to get a ticket at 25mph...)

Absolutely.

Install my wife anywhere in the car.

On 6/23/2022 at 3:12 PM, Malc said:

well done ...  I'm sure Lexus mechanics just get their parts dropped off from the local Toyota spares dept ........  it all fits the same .....  Toyota Celsior and Lexus Ls400  .  it's just a badging exercise for it's 100% owned    " upmarket name " ..............

disgraceful of them to say they couldn't get the parts ..  you and I and anyone else would have just poped over to EuroCar Parts or whatever and bought them ..... someone definitely has them in stock .....  at  least you've swerved the £150 + vat an hour labour charge at Lexus .. and the 200% uplift in spares price too

NB  get the wiper rubbers changed too maybe .....  I'm hearing there's a desperate shortage of short wiper rubbers right now too

Good luck with it all

Malc

Doesn’t sound right but this is ringing a bell.

I needed a Mercedes part for son’s motor so rang local Merc dealer/outlet: out of stock, lines of flags dealer…they didn’t have it in stock and couldn’t get from Germany.

Bought it at a discounted rate from Mercedes of Newcastle. 

Buckets of bllcks and depends upon the group franchise owning the Merc or for that matter the Lexus partnership.

As with Lexus Parts online in Swindon vs other franchises.

1 hour ago, Pauljsy said:

You need a new battery 🤔

Yep I’m delaying the inevitable…let’s see how long it lasts…

This wfh has meant the LS400 has collected Sahara dust and Berkshire’s spiders’ webs.

Just as well I checked things out before an hours journey to see my youngest performing in Richard III at a top drama school…top means costs. Flickering of dash instruments and little else.

Lunch break: rapid removal and fast charge for 3 hours. Refit: return journey of a good 2+hours so well charged up. Amazing play btw directed by a duo of top directors. 

A week and more: car whipped into life…I’ll slow charge it overnight in a few weeks time. Battery is over 5 years old.

So Prudence…where does she come in?

With every price and tax heading upwards, well north. I’m adopting a hold pattern…which most airlines can’t even do at the moment…if ever.

My friends here, know I work to stay OEM. This year is hold. I do little mileage but it’s well driven and enjoyed. Drama school is not the same as Uni so grants are from pockets…

My Alfa in Spain…a fab wreck 155 Sport needs work plus a service (I do service) so:

This year I’m servicing the Lexus with Fuchs fully synthetic oil, blueprint oil and air filter plus cabin. But for £80 I also get the Alfa oil, cabin, air filters. One supplier and no postage. I’d say good quality if not excellent…but we can’t tell can we?

I can’t ship a cat converter to Spain but have to shell out over €300 in country as UK ones are not type compliant with Europe…didn’t take long did it? I will have to go through the Spanish parts chain…fitting and labour are nothing…parts prices are painful.

It’s the old car syndrome. Cost and return and even though I can run to OEM there are times to be measured.

Already, I see the distributors shoving up and over playing prices. Upward costs they scream…exactly,  we say, and agree, but we don’t and won’t pay. 🧐😁

What do you say?

Hang on…if the metal blade is intact you can buy the plastic housing and fit the existing metal blade can’t you?

It’s worth replacing the fitting kits but they are generally very hard wearing and if looking stressed or worn definitely.

They usually take a lot of mileage…and I’d always defer to steve2006. 😁

44 minutes ago, Razor61 said:

Thank you and I’ll try not to smash this one, if anything does happen with it I will be buying it back and remove all the expensive parts I’ve fitted, ready to fit on the next one😉

Just fitted the new ambient temp sensor and the outside temp on the centre console lcd is now correct. It’s reading 26 which is correct cos  it’s pretty warm but not 39 degrees which it was displaying before.
 

You are right that owners will let them go, the costs of making the suspension ‘as new’ isn’t viable or sensible if you think about it. It was viable for me for the reasons I’ve said previously, if mine was a weekend car or just used now and again then I wouldn’t have done it. I use mine every day to work and back and choose to use the LS400 rather than the IS250 in most cases outside of going to work. Because I use the car every day and I notice everything that is wrong or needs doing, it bugs the hell out of me and I need to sort it out. Plus it’s a hobby and I like doing it, sometimes I wish I hadn’t bothered in the middle of something but the end result is worth it.

A fair point raised. Running any car is expensive…is it worth running a 400 using a garage? At 90k miles a lot of makes are probably not in as good a place as a Lexus.

I’m glad I’m a home mechanic…sometimes.

I reckon I pay from £100 to £400 per annum. I’m at 98k. Low use.

I am proactive as much as possible. Prices to date are reasonable for the majority of OE parts but it does require shopping around and sometimes importing.

Quality OE suspension parts are a challenge.

I’m in the club that would like licensed parts suppliers manufacturing to OEM standard. Yes we will pay more. There’s a lot of rubbish and counterfeit.

Big name suppliers are also guilty of divesting their top brands to cheap manufacturers or selling out. We find out eventually but not before paying for it.

We are entering the phase of classic car ownership. Yes, even the Lexus requires a rebuild of some scale.

I think it’s greenwash. Diesel is still appalling, I know every little helps but…classic and older cars are not pressing new steel and plastics with less mileage.

There are bigger fish but they’re not easy enough and there is vested interest.

Just use Premium…

1 hour ago, MaximusPrime said:

A good old fashioned thump on the dash, Malc? 😁 Was known to fix a TV or two back in CRT days haha

Oh no that doesn’t sound like a thumping fix. If it doesn’t read correctly sounds like posting it to a specialist will sort that out.

My speedo is mainly ok now and seems to have stopped sticking. Bound to happen again but it’s better for sure.

hope yours self heals. 👍🤞

Hi and welcome

Check the car will run on E10 fuel or having said that most cars shouldn’t 👍🧐🤪

I don’t use E10! 
Are you able to do any maintenance yourself? 
 

On 5/1/2022 at 1:15 PM, royoftherovers said:

Just fill her with 99 @ the cheapest price inc cost of travel.

You and I are too old now to be saving money for ourselves.🤣🤣👍👍

Yup unless you are doing stellar mileage…I’d stick to E5 highest octane.

No way am I running the new E10. I’m all for progress and new tech…E10 does not qualify for me.

Hi that’s a familiar thing…I spend fretting moments wondering if it’s the camber of the road or the steering wheel is ever so slightly off.

This has nothing to do with fixing the other side. The garage needs to make the adjustment ensuring the steering wheel is absolutely bang on centre point during and after the adjustment. They rely on the steering wheel clamp and that’s just lazy.

I’ve had to take my car back a couple of times on this issue. On one of the occasions the steering wheel was well off.

7 hours ago, MLW said:

My old Mercedes had Textar pads on it with a Mercedes star on the metal back. No manufacturer makes pads, they are all supplied. Textar usually are a top brand. I have Pagid on my 430. Very good and quiet. Last a long time too. I am planning a disc/pad renewal all round soon. Might go to Lexus Swindon who I have used before. Always in Toyota boxes. Or Pagid. Both are fine. Pagid naturally a bit cheaper.

Actually, they are all part of the TMD Friction group. Now Japanese owned. So is Mintex, and Don.

https://tmdfriction.com/about/

There’s a Merc indy I was chatting too a while ago: they gave up with non OE as the quality wasn’t up to it and too many customers complained. Textar will deliver a very different product to an OE application than to a discount warehouse distributor. Someone pays and reputation doesn’t seem to be much of a consideration…

Off the cuff…probs nothing serious…there are solenoids for adjusting to air con demands and an idle valve. Might be one of these. Any codes thrown?
Usual basics apply ensuring no vacuum leaks, good air filter, clean MAF and throttle body (usually ok to 100k miles without touching).

MAF failures usually cause stalling and disconnecting the unit runs ok…

What mileage are you at?

Yes…agree.

Amayama have gone up in my estimations as I’ve bought OE items for silly money e.g. bonnet catch £26 all in, instead of £50 and gearbox mount £36 all in instead of £60 to £70, all OE, bagged and part numbered etc etc.

Maybe they’re worth a look if you can wait a week or so for delivery?

5 hours ago, b4u2 said:

I think that within all car manufacturers, not necessarily do they manufacture every single part.

Absolutely…they use the same manufacturers around the World and specify their own requirements. Car brands make very few of their own parts.

If you go to Lexus Parts Direct in Swindon for example, (I have no associations other than a satisfied customer) you expect OE parts. 

Over the years I’ve had such grief with pad quality including the Textar bad years where they were just below average and noisy I now buy OE at the best price I can.

Replacement cheap as chips Lexus pads won’t have ceramic content, won’t perform as well or last as long. That suits many motorists fair enough, I prefer to fit and forget for as long as possible. 😁

13 hours ago, cruisermark said:

It came in a blue Textar box - I think it has one of their white stickers on it with info - with Lexus invoice.

It was not a Lexus or red/white Toyota box

Oh…that’s not what I’d expect from Lexus Parts at all…I wouldn’t have been happy with that…🧐

That doesn’t sound right…was it presented in the OE Toyota parts box?

Have you tried Lexus Parts Direct in Swindon…part of a Lexus dealership? They post etc and have the OE at good prices so you get the top quality and ceramic content  etc…

2 hours ago, cruisermark said:

I recently bought some brake pads for my LS430 from a Lexus dealer - the ones on the car had plenty of wear but the groaning sound when coming to a stop was annoying me.

Firstly when the pads arrived I noticed they were Textar brand - these can be bought for much cheaper from reputable outlets online - that was my first disappointment.

Now that the pads are fitted they emit a ssshhh sound when braking (its minor but can be heard even at low speeds)

They also emit alot of brake dust

Has anybody else experienced this

I might change them for a different brand this summer - Can anybody suggest a brand - they need to be quite, have a good bit and zero dust

So Mark what packaging did they come in? Textar or the usual red/white Toyota branded box?

 

Well good, as these cars are criminally undervalued.

But it’s the last of the line 400 for me for the performance and relative easier maintenance over early variants.

I had a big couple of blows from my Y section and further up…nothing deemed an MOT failure which I found staggering. They were proper holes.

I’d recommend fixing the exhaust…maybe an O2 sensor is failing…

My LS400 failed an MOT 2 years ago on emissions at idle. I replaced the air filter and ran Cataclean through on 1/4 tank of fuel. 
Passed on retest and no further problems.

Y section was a later issue.

On 3/27/2022 at 8:25 AM, Razor61 said:

I’ll do that thanks, car is a 1998 with 90k. If there is no play in the UCA’s then I’ll carry on with the drop links and maybe remove the struts, strip them down and make sure the rubbers and top mounts are ok, clean/lubricate them and put them back.

Ah so you’re at the same car/similar mileage age etc. as my car. 
Lower control arms can be trouble.

If I get any more knocking or noise it will be the UCAs. They seem to be ok though…

On 3/24/2022 at 4:21 PM, Cotswold Pete said:

Had front bushes done just before covid and rear a few weeks ago (along with new drop links all round), and it make the car a lot quieter (way less background rumble), and also rolls a heck of a lot less.

Still got a slight knock on front, but not sure if that is upper or lower control arms needing a look at.  Need o get my service records out and see when the control arms last replaced, but car is on 215,000, and not as 'tight' as my wifes 4 year old Mazda 2

By the way be interested to hear whether transmission mount makes that much difference when you fit, as I cannot detect any difference in creaks and rumbles from being in gear or coasting, so assume mounts okay(ish) for now

I’ll let you know. I’m coming to the probs obvious one that 22 years in and with some mileage…those bushed parts just need replacing and us drivers get used to a drop off in performance although we might not be happy about it. 
We really get it when we get the car back to original spec…

But it’s that juggle of what to replace and when…mechanic I used to know said if it ain’t broke don’t fix it…that might be too reactive but we don’t want to waste time and money doing pointless work when the objective is effective cost control and sustainability…the latter is not appreciated by government…keeping an old vehicle on the road is absolute sustainability…optimisation particularly if their mileage is low.

🧐😁

10 hours ago, Razor61 said:

I have some annoying knocks and creaking on the front but nothing drastic, I checked the front UCA's and they looked in good condition. What method do you use to check the control arms?
I've replaced the lower ball joints and that improved things, I also sprayed WD40 on the drivers front strut rubber spring mounting pads and the spring. I'm reasonably sure that has stopped some annoying creaks and noises on the drivers side so will do the same on the passenger side.

It’s that Lexus front end journey we are often are all on. 😶‍🌫️
I had the lower control arms done with pressed in OEM bushes, new lower ball joints and a wheel bearing driver’s side.

The front anti roll bar bushes have made a big difference.

The problem is the MOT just does not pick up wear when we as drivers are hearing and feeling it…

Get a bar under the wheel and check for movement for UCA…but what is your mileage and age of vehicle? 

We are lucky we’re not running Jaguars…they need suspension at 30 to 40 k miles not the the 80-100 + where we are at…

I need to road test more but my creaking seems to have gone with the anti roll bar bushes…maybe less stress and strain on other components? No idea…