710

This weekend I finally had the time to take the thing apart. Looks like the one in Yacoob’s post http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=32327 Except my CDs are perfectly in line and look good. Gear moving and swearing doesn’t change it. Also big hammer threatening doesn’t work either, what a dumb thing it is. BTW, looking on the net, EVERYBODY, regardless of make or country or continent, is having trouble with the CD changers, not just Fujitsu (ours). Nissan drivers, Chevrolet drivers, everybody is ****** off. Sometimes they are replaced free, sometimes people have hired lawyers to try to get satisfaction. Sometimes they get results in the US, I suppose never here. I separated the radio part from the CD part. I can see how they replace only the CD part; it’s a completely separate thing joined only by a ribbon cable. I assume they destroy/permanently-disassemble the old CD mechanism to get our CDs out. Tomorrow I will pose as a repairer and try to sign up to become a customer at the fujitsu place here. They asked me if I would be a one-time customer (yeah, right, like I was born yesterday), I said these cars are getting old now and ‘we’ are getting more and more customers, thousands…bla bla bla, why do they offer so much resistance? They will lose eventually, they always do. These morons haven’t even heard of the power of the internet yet, scum. They even checked my VAT number before telling me anything. Don’t they know monopolies are criminally illegal in Europe now? Same crap with manuals, they are still ‘trying’ to get them for me. After 3 weeks! The web site says the CDs are available and they actually give the part numbers to order but Lexus-Europe’s computer doesn’t recognise those numbers for the CDs. Lexus-Europe doesn’t even know it’s possible to get the part numbers on their own web site! Sounds like they are losing the plot. They have the paper books, £200 (mechanical repair) +£70 (electrical) +£17 (body damage) =£287 but I don’t want the books, I want the CDs, then I can search. Geez what a pain. I can tell you when I finally get them they are going straight on the internet, bastards. What pathetic game are they playing anyway? It’s my car, not theirs. I can fix it if I want or I can drive it off a cliff if I want. It’s out of warranty. It’s none of their business, unless they want to pay for all the repairs and extend the warranty to 20 years, which they don’t. Man, I’m ****** off. So they have told me that the number they need is on the mechanism. I see a blue sticker on there, I’ll give them that number. They also said they will need the number on the big sticker on the radio. The tricky part about ordering will be to ensure I get the new improved replacement part, not the same old part because that’s got a design defect (obviously). Hopefully it’s superseded by the new part. The idiots can’t be selling the same defective part, can they? Well, the repair place in the UK told me it will never break again and it will not be anywhere as road sensitive as the old one, so maybe he’s getting the new ones. Like the ones used in the CD-on-top versions, it wouldn’t surprise me to find they fit, it’s really a separate unit. If someone can give me the numbers on the big sticker of the CD-on-top version, I can be sure (er). A photo of the sticker would be nice. And a photo of the blue sticker on the mechanism (sandwiched between the CD mechanism and the radio part). Why can’t we post photos on this board? Anyway we’ll see tomorrow about the mechanism. Taking the thing apart is as Yacoob says, very easy. Just lots of screws but nothing tricky (except that hook, just wiggle and bend and pull). Replacing the mechanism looks really easy. 4 little springs, take the side plate off and the ribbon cable and that’s it. If I had a new mechanism, it would take 5 minutes. Another 10 minutes to screw all the screws back in. Then another 2 to take the old crap mechanism apart to retrieve my CDs. I suspect the repair guys only make about £25-£50 on the job, most of the cost looks to be the mechanism, can’t be cheap. Tomorrow I’ll know, unless I get more pathetic resistance. By the way the instructions on the site on how to take the radio out of the dashboard in the first place don’t apply to my car (an early model IS200, 8th July 1999). I also paid $4 to the US guy’s website to get the removal instructions. They also said screws were under the felt mat. There are no screws under the felt mat on my model. Just pull the whole part off toward you. I bent my felt mat looking for the screws that are supposed to be under there. Nothing. Had to carefully bend it back after removing it. If you guys look under the felt mat and don’t see or feel any screws really soon, then stop. They are not there. Just pull, pry etc, horizontally (with a rag to protect the paint) the whole thing toward you. Mine is not the nav type. The screw thread clip thingys are there, just not used. They look to be for the nav system. When I finally get to the bottom of this, I’ll need to put a whole lot of step by step photos on here. Same with the manual unless I decide to become a Lexus ***** and charge a little to recoup my massive costs. £287 for a book, it had better be in living cinemascope friggin colour, that’s all I can say! Peter

Update: Thanks Star a. The guy in the US just told me the new “CD mechanism” they install is a newer one that isn’t so sensitive to bumps (and of course won’t jam or give errors). Supposedly it’s the same mechanism as the one in the radio with the CD slot at the top, but I’m not sure because when I asked him, he just said “ya”. He said the head unit is a Pioneer. The speakers (and amps?) are Nakamichi. If I got it right… So he said to contact a supplier of parts in Germany that supplies Pioneer/Nakamichi OEM parts, give them the number of the radio on the back, and they can cross reference the CD mechanism if I don’t have a drawing/manual (which I don’t). Then we can order and install them ourselves, save big on shipping and labour. It’s a mechanical install, not electronic (no soldering etc). So next week when Germany is open, I’ll try to track down a supplier there and see if that info is correct. I’m new to this forum (had car for 2 weeks), why hasn’t all this been done before if everybody’s CD is broken? Peter

does anybody know if the radio is a Pioneer or Nakamichi or...? (i haven't taken mine out yet.) (year 1999. IS200 6 cyl) Yes, for two weeks it worked fine, the previous owner said that too (he would). Then I put a self made CD in and it gave the error and jammed. But then the next day I was able to get the self made one out and it has worked fine (with bought CDs). Until now. So I think you are partially right. A CD RW will give the error. Then it “gets better” and plays normal CDs again. Then, because of other reasons, probably wear, the whole thing goes to hell. My car has 140,000km on (87,500 miles). Another problem, the CD player is really sensitive to bumps, much too sensitive. Does the newer model radio (the one with the CD slot at the top) work better when on a slightly bumpy road? Did they improve that too, or is it the same as mine (CD slot lower down)? Has anyone had theirs repaired? Is their repaired one better on a slightly bumpy road? Peter

Well even though I did a lot of searching before I posted I didn’t actually see the post about Autosound in the UK until now. http://www.autosound.co.uk/contact.cfm So while I was speaking to them, I asked what it is they actually do. He says the CD moving mechanism is defectively designed and they get newer generation ones (not the same old ones) from Germany (Fujitsu or something). It’s the whole new carriage mechanism they change; I assume the US guys do that too. Autosound in the UK. 270+vat = £317.25. I would like to find the supplier of these parts because just shipping it to the UK or the USA will cost me about £60 each way… But he would not tell me the name of the supplier in Germany. Here I go. If I find it. I’ll let you know because I’ll bet we could do it ourselves… Peter

Ok, I just phoned them, they say they have 3 being repaired just now. All the same problem CD ERR3. I asked if they just repair with normal Lexus parts so we can expect the problem to reoccur. They said no, the problem won’t reoccur because they actually upgrade the parts inside there. Not just replace. They don’t have any cores, so I must post mine and I get mine back. They will send any CDs that are stuck in there back. costs $275 (+/- £150, €225), takes a week or two. They say wrap it up well in Styrofoam and put in a box and tape it up really well like a mummy. Put on the shipping documents “defective for repair, £/$0 value”. They ship it back in the Post (cheaper but slower), that’s ok for you in the UK because your Post actually functions, but the Belgian Post looses everything, so I never trust them, I will have it shipped by TNT or something. Peter

Well 2 weeks ago I bought a 1999 Lexus IS200 and today I get the ERR3 message. I searched this site for info, other than a lot of jiggling, the only solution seems to be replacement at the Lexus dealer (££££€€€€). There is another way. I have an NSX and on that site (NSXPrime.com) everybody uses: http://www.carstereohelp.com/lexus.htm for repairs. $275 is a lot cheaper than £350. If nobody has any other ideas, I’ll post my stereo to them. First I’m going to phone them tonight to ask if they can guarantee their work (so do they permanently fix the problem…) I’ll keep you posted. Peter

What MarcRS200 says is completely correct. The position the caliper is mounted has no effect at all on the braking effect. The position on the steering rack, however, is important. Behind or in front, different suspension effects toe-in on bump or vice versa, as Mark says. So if a manufacturer decides to put the steering rack behind, then he puts the calliper at the front. This is so it doesn’t get in the way of the steering arm. And vice versa. The manufacturer will decide to put the rack behind or in front depending on: On cheap cars it’s the room and packaging that determines where they put the rack. On performance cars it’s the effect of the bump steer and other suspension effects that determine where they put the rack. caliper up or down: Down: Brake calipers are not usually put in the lower position because they collect mud etc. and they are hard to bleed. But it is better for centre of mass. F1 cars do this. Up: The calipers will usually get in the way of a strut or something if mounted upward. Plus they are hard to bleed. Here is a way to imagine it. Pretend you are a calliper. You are sitting/strapped down on a really big suspension upright. The car is moving forward. You reach over and clamp the disc with your right hand. You squeeze your hand, get friction on the disc, and the force is trying to pull you off your seat on the upright in a certain direction. Then you try squeezing with the other hand. Same thing; you will feel the same force and same direction. Then you move your hand around the disc while squeezing, from front of the caliper to the back of the caliper. Move your hand all around the disc while squeezing. You will be pulled off your seat always in the same direction no matter where you put your hand. It doesn’t matter where you put your hand and it’s the same with the calliper. peter

If it’s the Control Arm (one branch of the lower “A-arm” or sometimes called the “compression arm/strut) , its part no. 4866053010 (left or right, I don’t know ) and 4867053010 (left or right, I don’t know ) from Toyota. It won't be the upper A-arm. See photo of arm (hey, how do I post a photo of this arm? I can’t find the upload page. Anyway I have a nice photo of the arm here, if I could only post it.) €132 each dealer/garage price (ex VAT). £88 €158 each for private person/customer. £105 That’s £105 end user price excluding VAT each. There is one on each side of the car a left hand and a right hand version. Took me about 15 minutes to install each one. They are VERY easy to change. The bush only is not available. It’s bonded into the arm. The passenger side goes first because this is where all the bumps are as you drive around the cities, potholes are usually near the pavement. But the bush should not go after only 30,000 miles. But this bush takes most of the pounding so I guess it could be bad. peter

Workshop manuals. I tried to register as a new user to get the CD manuals (on the above site), the website doesn’t function. So I phoned them (in Belgium) and then sent the person there an email with my order. We will see next week if they respond. Meanwhile I would like to put a hidden kill switch in my car, does anyone know where the wire is and what colour wire it is to the fuel pump? I will cut this and put a hidden switch in there. Peter

I have a question about IS200 theft in the UK/Europe. I have had my 1999 copper coloured 100,000 miles IS200 for one week and really like it. I didn’t know anything about them before. I bought it because I liked the way it looked and drove and I needed a sporty family car (4 doors) and the price was good. All my other cars are definitely not family cars. But now I’m reading posts on this site and on the internet, I find that my “family car” is quite popular (no wonder actually…now that I’ve driven it for a while). I live in Belgium but visit the UK regularly. My car is a LHD. In the UK; Is it high on the stealing list? Is it a problem like my Cosworth? Should I be afraid to leave it while I’m in the cinema? Is it easy to steal? Does it have an immobiliser in a chip in the key like most new cars? Does the security system have a siren? What exactly is the security system? (has light on instrument panel) If so, I’ll start to arm it better before I leave it anywhere. But that was not exactly the idea when I bought it. All I wanted was a sporty family car. Thanks for any info or links. Peter

Hi, This is my first post here, I recently added a Lexus IS200 (Altezza) to my collection of cars. It’s a nice copper colour. It is a really nice car to drive, and I'm saying that while owning an Honda NSX, Cosworth Escort, Lotus 26R and about 4 other cars. I'm really glad I bought it. I would like to find a workshop manual (PDF, CD, paper, anything) for it. I do all my own work on my cars and have already repaired a few things on my IS200. I have searched and it does appear there is a manual somewhere. Anybody have any idea where I can find this? I have already searched on Google and in this site and haven't found anything. Also my car has those nice 5 spoke wheels. But they need to be cleaned. Is there a way I can use an attachment on an electric drill for example? In the boot is the original one, never been used, beautiful! It has shocked me into trying to clean my wheels. A first for me. I’m generally too lazy to clean my wheels. Peter