BigRoj

Swan

Are you near any mobile Phone masts? I had some problems similar to yours and it was because the people who look after a phone mast near to me had cut a tree back next to the mast so the tree wasn't soaking up the radio waves from it thus making said waves stronger and interfering with the remote fob and the alarm system Bloody annoying when you don't know! One other thing may be reduced battery efficiency causing a voltage dip and setting it off. This time of year we use more of the electric bits so if the battery isn't top notch to start with it may be struggling to cope. Roj.

Plod.

OS9.2

Jensen

Mad Max

Can I ask why you shouldn't use Slick 50? I realise there is no need now we have synthetic oil, but I used to use it in the 80s when it first came over here-never had any trouble. That was when you put it in your engine and ran it for 20 mins then drained it and did your oil & filter change.

Hi Max, As has been said before on many forum threads, if the manufacturer says use a 10W-30 oil then that's what is best for the engine. However, the argument about using mineral, semi-synthetic, and synthetic only oil has many sides. Synthetic oil is by far the best stuff for modern engines, as they have been built with tighter tolerances than were used in the past, also modern oils are a little more catalyst friendly in as much as they have less harmful additives (less harmful to the cat that is). I have always used either Halfords own synthetic oil, but they don't do a 10W-30, at least not in this area, or Valvoline SynPower. Both these are top quality oils and are relatively cheap, eg, SynPower 10W-30 around £18 for 4 litres from a good factor. Another reason I use Valvoline stuff is I worked in the vehicle hire trade as a mechanic and serviced the hire fleet. We always used this on everything, cars, vans, lorries, and never had any problems at all with it. (this was a mineral oil by the way, in the 80s/90s, synthetic hadn't become readily available then) So in other words, use the manufacturers recommended viscosity oil, and use synthetic. Hope this helps. Roj.

Had this on both the LS and GS, quick squirt of silicon stuff does the trick and doesn't perish the rubber. On the anti-roll bar bushes, obviously, as maneesh said.

Drive with one eye shut, that should give you a good idea!

Hello Piperdog, Have you thought about making your own rad grill? B&Q sell mesh and grill in steel and aluminium which is dead easy to cut. Did mine the other day in steel and painted it, come out a treat, only cost £15 and I've got enough stuff left to make 3 more. It would be unique. Roj

Hi Y2Kanjar, welcome to the real, quiet ,world! Hope the weather isn't too bad down in Kent, 'cos with wet roads and rear wheel drive and off out for a "mad spin" you might have more fun than you intended! Roj.

Exterior.

Hi Chris, Just followed the thread through from your accident-I live in Nottingham and know Nottingham Knight r/about, brilliant in the dry, murderous when its wet-and I had a thought about the two front wheels that have not been replaced. Have you any video or pictures taken before the accident which clearly show the wheels as being un-scuffed? Usually such pictures are date coded which would prove your point to NU when you contact them to complain. Worth a look maybe? All the best.

Hi, welcome to the LOC, Must be one of the best colours for a car that! Is that the new rocket powered Rover 250 behind?

Could the reason we all drive sensibly/slower/courteously in our own Lexus than in any other brand of car be because they are so comfortable and relaxing and generally just a good place to be? I think so, 'coz when I want to drive like a teenager I take the wifes MX5 out for a thrash-stainless Magnex system and lowered 40mm-unfortunately I feel like a pensioner when I get out but it is fun with the top down. Even better on the Harley though.

Churchill do seem to be lenient towards Lexus owners at this moment in time. My insurance is due on the GS300 soon so I had a look around, well, confused.com did, and churchill were the cheapest and had the 2nd best excess payment, strangely Kwik-fit put in a good showing too, they usually charge the earth then bring it down when you haggle. Churchill wanted £347 fully comp, protected ncb, £350 XS. Damn sight better than £510 with Frizzell, and I'm under 50 with 2 bans and 9 points, allbeit more than 5 years ago now so they are spent. It's such a lottery getting insurance at the right price. When I got my licence back for the second time in 1995 I didn't think I would be able to get insured again, so I went to a broker-before the days of online stuff-and he explained that insurance companies target particular groups of high risk people and offer low/affordable policies just to get the business (and quite probably keep people legal). Now that premiums are getting higher as cars get more powerful it's good to know that you can still get reasonably priced policies and the insurance companies are still offering good rates to target groups, like us!

Hi Ian, Thats brilliant, sounds logical to me. And lets face it, if you hear any "ball bearing in a biscuit tin" or " two skeletons fighting in a dustbin" type noises when the nitrous hyperdrive is engaged you aren't exactly going to ignore it! Best of luck with it, going to be FUN!

Hi Ian, No, the standard Mk1 isn't vvt, that came with the end of '97 mk2. Theoretically, in a "normal" car engine, the knock sensor detects pre-ignition, often called detonation or pinking, particularly in a forced charge (turbo etc) engine, and adjusts the ignition timing accordingly (until it stops basically). But pre-igntion can be caused by, as you quite rightly say, a weak mixture but also by too high a cylinder compression and residual heat from a localised hot spot in the combustion chamber-the latter of which will be caused by a weak mixture. As for the O2 sensors if the Nitrous is only going to kick in on full throttle and the sensors detect a weaker mixture and try to put more fuel through, there aint going to be any as you are at full throttle. That was one of the reasons I asked about a supplementary injector, just so you have the back-up if you need it.

Love to see the waranty details on that! Probably given in minutes rather than months.

Hi Ian, You're right about it confusing the ecu and sensors, with all that extra oxygen from the nos plus the airflow meter getting a cold blast of dense nitrous, giving the knock sensor a work out and on full throttle/kickdown, going to be a bit exciting one way or the other! just imagine all that with variable cam timing as well. I don't know anyone offhand who does that sort of checking but I'm sure there will be, somewhere.

Hi Ian, Just a thought for when you fit the Nos kit, does it come with an extra injector to fit in the inlet manifold? Cos when you upgrade it to 150hp it will need all the fuel you can give it and more besides to stop your pistons becoming part of the atmosphere. The ignition may need re-mapping as well.

Hello Ian, Not the time of year for doing head-gaskets if you're working outside! These 3 litre Lexus engines seem a bit delicate where the coolant is concerned, or so it seems when you read the posts that have been put up. This is another problem with engines that have sophisticated management systems. If you have a problem of some sort the engine will still start simply because the ECU will either compensate for or over-ride it. Not like when you had a carb and points and the car wouldn't start if someone so much as farted near it, let alone anything else! I shall have to keep a good eye on the coolant, check every day. I do need a new rad, and the cam belt will need doing soon, so I will do all that around the Christmas break, unless it all goes tits-up before then!

Hello, I will get the hang of this replying lark! Reading IanCornwalls problem has highlighted a strange setup on my '97 GS. When the car is cold the top hose is squishy, not under pressure as you would expect, but within a minute of starting it starts getting firm. This worried me a bit as in any other car it would indicate a head fault of some sort with exhaust gasses getting into the coolant. So I ran the car up to operating temperature with the rad cap off, removing excess coolant as it expanded, but there was no bubbling up, nothing unusual at all! The temperature doesn't rise above half way when on a good run, the level in the expansion tank rises when the engine is hot and falls when it cools down as normal, so the connecting pipe is not blocked. BUT.... it is losing coolant, I have to top it up now and again but there is no visible leak which made me wonder about the head but as it's running almost perfectly with no sudden rises in temperature I am at a loss as to where this coolant may be going. I had an LS with a similar problem a few years ago but that used to gurgle as well. That turned out to be the water pump in the end (£650 to repair-yes, I know I was ripped off) Anybody else come across this?