The Transporter

Check all electrical connections to air conditioner components, I have had several customers bring their cars to me with non functioning aircon following a service or other work only to discover that a plug on a pressure switch or compressor itself was .....errm.... lose. I'm currently replacing the cam belt on My IS, the only three electrical connections that need to be disconnected are the two fans and the sensor at the bottom of the radiator. The aircon system does not need pumping down and no pipes need to be disconnected. The drive belt needs to be removed from the compressor but that should not give a problem, but just have a looksee to make sure that the belt is on the aircon pully.. It is possible that the car is at an age where the increased pressure from running the aircon is just too much for the elderly condenser and the system has corroded and leaked..... The Winter road salt plays hell with aluminium. If you can find nothing obvious then I'm afraid that you are in the hands of an air con specialis, try to find one who knows what he is doing, I find that most mechanics know Jack about aircon other what they have learned on a one day course

51k Miles on my front tyres on my 05 IS200se They are the tyres that it left the factory with... I'll have to change thenm shortly, not because of wear but because the compound is breaking down.... Changed the rears some time ago because I don't hang about....

My 05 Is 200SE came fitted with Michelin Pilots

Well I am an impressive kinda guy.. :hocus-pokus: I replaced the rears a few thousand miles ago.... When I have done the cam belt replacement then I think that I'll fit a couple of new tyres on the front regardless of wear as the rubber compound appears to be decomposing due to age......The thing that I am a little curious about is that the geometry is as it left the factory too

Same here, grew up on cars with no power steering so dry steering was difficult.... When I was learning take my LGV test many years ago, the instructor had a bamboo cane to rap your knuckles for trying to dry steer... Cars done over 51k miles still on the front tyres it left the factiory with... estimate they'll want changing in 5k or so

He he he... Large seats too..... Very handy for some. ;)

I never did get the kiddies walking round with a little bottle in their hands taking a sip every few minutes.... I do drink a fair bit of water as when I'm working, I do tend to dehidrate, especially when crawling round lofts in the Summer but I will drink a pint or two of non chilled water at a go... Most of it gets sweatted out. I also avoid any fizzy pop with sweeteners or sugar in because the water leaving the body in the form of sweat leaves all the gloop in the body... When I worked in the Middle East, lots of newly arriving Europeans would be hospitalised within a week or two of them arriving due to drinking endless quantities of cheap fizz.

Lexus really have dropped a boob with their design.... There is nowhere to place Catheter bags for those too lazy to get out and take a pee either. Not too sure what constitutes a long road trip but when I drive off to Germany or Czech, the car usually needs a drink before I do but we both stop and have a drink together...

If your cabin filter is clogged, thenthe ammount of fresh air from the outside will be greatly reduced and so stale moist air will not be replaced and you will suffer from condensation....

Ideally you'd be best off with four winter tyres... If you fitted your two on the rear, then you'd get yourself moving but wouldn't benefit from the enhanced braking and steering... Stick them on the front and you'll have less drive. Get plenty of weight in the boot, a bag of grit, shovel, bits of old carpet to shove under your wheels for traction... I'm afraid that the IS with wide low profile summer tyres ain't great on ice... The "Snow" button reduces the sensitivity of the throttle for those who think that the throttle is a tap that is either closed or wide open and if your car is an auto will alter the gear change characteristics, it will start off in a higher gear than usual to try to minimise wheel spin.... In reality, it doesn't do much. Accelerate gently, brake gently and look further than the end of you bonnet to anticipate the need to slow down and hope that the guy behind you is doing the same... My car will stay on the drive but I am fortunate that I have a Van with Winter tyres all round and a Jeep that I use for off roading so I don't mind picking up a few dents in that.. Good luck, stay safe..

......Assuming you can get a LardRover to start in the Winter... Plenty of four wheel drives with the wrong tyres on too, they have extra traction to get going but they'll stop as badly as any other car

I see that you live in the cold North.... I can reccommend a decent set of Winter tyres and lots of weight in the boot... Sand bags, bricks a couple of dead bodies perhaps. If your area is prone to snow then some decent snow chains for the rear wheels but chains and other stuff like that can only be used on snow/thick ice as if used on tarmac they will wear very quickly indeed... In the Winter the Lex stays on the drive and I use the van which is fitted with Vredestein Comtrac Winters or the Jeep which is a £400 banger so I don't mind too much if someone drives into it.. A rear wheel drive car can be tricky to drive in snow and ice, the snow button causes the auto box to start in second gear and reduces the sensitivity of the throttle.... On the manual version, only one of these cases apply.

DMFs are fitted to all current diesels and they are the worst invention for many years, that is unless you are a parts supplier.. Just done a DMF replacement on my VW van and when I looked at the flywheel, even I could tell that it was worn so I would have expected experienced mechanics to have noticed that it was worn before refitting it to your car... The worst senario then would have been to fit a new flywheel and clutch whilst the engine was in bits... Even if they had argued that the DMF was a service item prone to wear the worst would have been that you would have had to pay for the parts.... In my opinion it shows a great deal of lack of common sense on the part of the mechanics.. Now I remember why I do all my own work.

But the car has LEXUS on the boot lid..... Fitted at no extra charge

Total nob... 7k for L3 XUS........ Unless you were dyslexic

It's a machine.... The less mechanical sympathy that you show it the quicker it will wear. The less stress that you place on pieces of metal the longer they will last.

Yeah, he's into junior banger racing and races a Ford Fiesta so he does all his own mechanics though his dad gives him a lift with the heavy stuff..... Ha! he even gave me a telling off for not chocking my front wheel when changing my rear wheel and of course he is right, Ive had a car roll off a jack before now

To all those who want to fit LPG to a car which is no newer than 6 years old and not the most generously proportioned, Have you calculated exactly how long it will take you to recoup the cost of the installation before you actually start saving money? If you have bought a large V8 and do lots of miles then it is worth the hassal but on an IS200 it is a bit pointless

Not as big as the emergency that you'll have when the car falls off those timbers....My next door neighbours 12 year old wont go under his car without proper support... If you're not sure what you are looking for find a friendly garage who does and will show you how to check for suspension play... Obviously he will expect the job but you will have learned how to check for yourself in the future... I thought that you had posted that you had found massive slop in the front suspension.

Yeah, I have done my own changes on axle and gearbox, first time I did them at 20k a few years ago... there was a fair bit of production swarf sticking to the magnetic plug on the axle and a small quantity from the gearbox (Can't remember if the drain plug is magnetic) Re did the axle at 30k but no more swarf so It was worth doing.... Think the changes are every 20k, easy job and helps maintain the reliabillity of these components.... Just 'cos you can't feel any difference doesn't mean it isn't worth doing....

Regards the sight glass, you should see the refrigerant flow.... When the compressor first engages, you will see liquid refrigerant and refrigerant vapour bubbles, as the systen stabilises, you should see only liquid with the odd bubble... if the system is empty or the compressor not engaged you will see little. It tells you little about pressure, for pressure you will need a set of manifold gauges reading both high and low sides of the system... Pressures vary depending on ambient temperature so the same ammount of refrigerant on one day may gige a different pressure on another day...

Ah! In which case, take him out to the back of the workshop and apply liberal quantities of grease to him...

Ormi, unless the trinary switch has been bypassed or is otherwise duff, then the chances of damaging something through overpressure is slim, most aircons have a dump valve, not sure about the IS.. the main issue with these kits is that they add either extra lubricant to the system which if has been topped up several times will leave too much lube in the system which can "Slug" the compressor with liquid lubricant and wreck the reed valves. These kits can also introduce a leak sealer which in the case of the ID stuff causes the seals and O rings to swell to stop leaks due to corrosion.. the side effect od this is that the seals eventually decompose and crumble. DIY kits also help to add air into the system as the connection pipe doesn't get purged correctly. Just had a heart attack at the price of R134a as I have just come to the end of the two pallets of the stuff that I bought three years ago...

As Ormi suggested, £40 is a gift provided it includes the price of the refrigerant.. Don't bother with the Halfords cans, they will cost you dearly down the road.

The moisture getting to an aircon system thing is a myth.. In all my years in the trade, I have never seen an R134a system fail due to moisture or corroding from the inside out, always from the outside in or cheap connections allowing leaks and the compressor to run with inadequate lubrication... Other causes of failure include leak sealer setting in the drier pack or failed expansion valves. It is essential for the system to be evacuated to remove non condensibles but this of no great importance to the average DIYer and I have given up trying to explain it