oedipus

Before I run off to my Lexus dealer, can anyone here tell me where to get a luggage net for my IS 200's boot? Is any part number known? Is it still available new? Tips & tricks? Search didn't help a lot. Thx in advance!

I'll be at the Nordschleife on the 13th of April (Eastermonday). Hope it doesn't get too crowdy, since the GP-Strecke will be open (yes!). If anyone here is there that day, PM or reply to meet over there.

299€ plus 22€ for sending over to Belgium. Got it in 2 days. I was actually surprised they had them again. Thought I'd had to pay double for a silver box. Hope this one lasts a while... :duh:

Sorted at last. Receiving my new black box last week of January and soldered it in properly myself last Saturday and ... bingo. Problem sorted. The one thing my Lexus dealers actually helped me out on was the detection of a bad joint in tube between the intercooler & the compressor all the way down below the front spoiler. I can't believe what a difference this makes now with the bb installed again. I think I've never experienced this much hp before. I really appreciate all opinions & good advices posted. Thank you for that. PS: About the FCON: got the message. I had a chat about an HKS FCON on an IS with someone from the DE forum, who told me what a bad idea that is. It doesn't seem work at all, HKS even being very weary of FCON on IS!? He also told me briefly what happened to some customers after tuning done at TDI's. Glops.

No. I found him via the German LOC. He also seems to be the only HKS dealer and FCON powerwriter on the continent. Don't know about that. Kempower has a modified TTE kit (see website) and reprogrammes the HKS FCON IS so it completely replaces original master ECU engine part. No link between them to my knowledge. There is a link between Bemani and Kempower (Kempower fitted the 2nd gen. Bemani kits). Innocent until proven guilty.

Reply from TTE: "der Preis für die schwarze ECU ist 299,31 € ."

sometimes certain things don't go well together I have read some stories about TDI, but never dealt with them. I don't think Kempower has a direct link with them. Kempower definitely knows what they're doing. They have been around for a long while and I haven't heard bad stories about them, on the contrary. It's the serious work, not some would-be ...

You ask for help, yet all have told you black box, as has been said, your best bet would be the HKS FCD standard @ £100 From what Mark @ prolex told me the black box from TTE are 600 euros :o Gord, may I remind you what you wrote in your subtitle: "I hate salesperson's trying to sell you something you dont want(...)". :winky: No seriously, I'm not refusing advice, I appreciate it a lot to share thoughts. But had already indicated my initial doubts about the HKS FCD above. I did have (a bit too much) confidence in my Lexus dealer, which I paid that dearly: 3h work at 46€ ex. VAT per h. I should have had the reflex of taking off the compressor & bb earlier, that would have saved me €€€. My suspension savings budget has now been decimated. Btw, my doubt about the HKS FCD has been confirmed by Kempower (who is HKS dealer for Belgium), Bösing (the TTE guy, predictable no?) and e.g. in a pinned thread about the piggy back ecu's here. I'm sure it works well, but it can't be as good as the black box mappings imho. Kempower told me it only delays the fuel cut point, while the black box does a lot more than that. Finally: of course I don't need the FCON right now to solve my bb problem. But when spending money on a replacement bb (or silver box if bb aren't available anymore, but nobody's confirmed me they weren't available anymore now), I might as well invest in preparing for the future. I did have some other plans. Now I'm waiting for the pricing of a new black or silver box. Car appears to be running fine w/o compressor. But my God is it slow now.

i doubt that is the problem because u can run the engine without any problems with the supercharger disconnected and the engine runs perfectly OMG. Well, it's not the end of it. The engine stalled again with the rubbers replaced. That confirms what I had already feared and everybody's been telling me: black box dead. I've asked my dealer to take the compressor belt & black box off (which they already did). I'm taking the car home & drive to see if it cuts out again for a while. Then we'll see about replacing the black box. The TTE engineer apparently confirmed that black boxes are available (again?), but the dealer had to contact the TTE sales department. Let's see what they will learn us. The cheapest solution would obviously be the black box swap. Another option I'm considering (if the bb price is high) is to immediately migrate to an HKS FCON (S ?) available from Kempower (see www.kempower.be > road > petrol > Lexus > 1G-FE) instead of a replacement black box. Anyone can tell me their experience with this piece of kit?

Latest news: TTE guy and the Lexus dealer guy found the black box sane and working just fine (after troubleshooting in lab conditions). At 5V it tops off as it should (was it to 4.43v or 4.3v or what?). They did find something else that appears to be the cause: the rubber securing the tube that comes out underneath the compressor and is connected to the engine inlet was broken. Aha. After tests the engine took false air in some circumstances, which triggered the underpressure sensor to go berzerk and engine cut. They replaced the rubber and the car will be tested tonight and tomorrow morning (mechanic will drive it home - with my permission). Let's see if this is the end of it.

"Catalytic converter protection" > that's what I presume the 50rpm lower rev limit is intendend to do (I didn't write what I didn't hear him say). I did read your PM. The car is at the Lexus dealer's. I doubt they'll put an HKS device on it. I'll phone them again today to get a black box if they're still available.

Was contacted back by the TTE engineer this morning. He wasn’t so sure it was the black box. There are several other options open to explain the symptoms I was experiencing. The compressor bypass should be checked for good functioning. He thought of possible damaged cable or tension problem. On the electronics side, there too were several possibilities open: damaged cable(s), failing blackbox connections (soldering, cable error, heat …) or eventually a failing black box. I asked my Lexus dealer to contact him directly, his explanations being too technical for my skills & (mainly theoretical) knowledge. Wait & see. As already extensively described elsewhere on this forum, he confirmed me that the black box has one function, whereas the silver box has three. The common function is to prevent the engine from the main ecu’s built in behaviour to cut the fuel or engage the emergency program in case of positive pressure in the engine inlet. The engine is na (naturally aspirated) and pressurizing it needs some fooling around that standard ecu behaviour. With the black box, the main ecu is never aware of positive pressures and doesn't panic. The silver ecu adds catalytic converter protection and some other function he didn’t mention further (forgot to ask). He confirmed me that replacing the black or silver box wasn’t a problem (contrary to what I read previously, will have to see about that!?). It will be merely a question of price and warranty. After all I’ve read on the UK & German fora, personally I do prefer a black box and not a silver box nor an HKS Fuel Cut Defenser. No compromise. Thank you for your useful suggestions, I’ll update on any status updates. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me & others.

Previous owner did together with his brother. He bought it in a group buy off this forum some years ago. Why? I specifically asked the Lexus technician whether it was well installed. He said it was done by a pro. Cables were nicely connected etc. So he didn't expect any trouble coming from there. But he did say he wasn't sure about the black box. He said it could maybe come from there, but that was his last option. He didn't have experience with it either, so far I understood. If it's the blackbox, it should be solved rapidly. I really hope it is, or id something even cheaper to repair! The underpressure sensor was as expensive as a new black or silver box. Would that also mean it shouldn't have been replaced?

My beloved MY00 Lexus IS 200 Sport with TTE Compressor is giving me some trouble recently. I'm writing down the full story, to make sure no events are left out. Any help would be very much appreciated. The first time was at traffic lights on the motorway (yes we have that on the Continent ). I was accelerating swiftly in first, revving to some 5500rpm in 2nd and when going to 3rd, suddenly the engine died. I had to make an emergency stop on the hard shoulder. Engine cut out and couldn't be started up again. No error codes to be seen. It was as if I was starting the car without fuel although there was 1/3rd left in the tank. Everything was looking ok, but it didn't start up anymore. Car was taken to the Lexus dealer's. They couldn't find any reason. After a checkup, they put an additive in the fuel tank to dissolve any dirt that had possibly stuck together. That's the only thing they could think of. Actually they did propose to have a look at the fuel filter, but since it was very improbable and a costly affair we decided not to go for that. Two days after, the car did it again. Same tank of fuel (now at 1/4) and the car died on me at 40kph when I lifted off the gas to prepare for a stop at a fuel station to fill her up. I didn't make it. After some pushing, I did manage to fill the car up with Total Excellium 98 (was always going to the same DATS24[=Q8 fuel] pump previously). Meanwhile I had also phoned the wife to come and pick our baby up and... the Lex started again. No error codes, nothing else seemed abnormal. Third time, it didn't start up anymore after going to the supermarket. When I was ready to go home, the car wouldn't start anymore. After some attempts, I saw the engine icon illuminated and the TRC off flashing. After waiting for 10m it did start and I managed to get home without any more trouble. I had the car taken to Lexus again and they told me one of the three "underpressure sensors" was giving erroneous values to the ecu. The technician also told me he wasn't sure if there wasn't anything wrong with the black box, but he couldn't read it out. After this very costly repair at 700€, the car actually felt smoother at low speeds. When lifting off the gas, it now eases off a bit more instead of instantly responding. But this wasn't the end of it. The next (Saturday) morning, I went to fetch a bread. Parked the car in the garage. After 20m came back and it wouldn't start anymore (4th time). I didn't have time so took the other car. When I came back in the evening, the Lex started without any trouble. I took her for a drive and had no hassles. I drove her calmly, savagely, but nothing abnormal showed up. On Monday, I drove to work and after some 5 km it died on me again (5th). She was only just getting a bit warm. I waited for 2m and it started again, so I managed to get to work AND back without further hassles. Next day drove to work (27km) without trouble. On the way back, just after half way home it died on me again on the motorway. I was driving 120kph (read: 140) in 6th and had just eased off the gas to let a slower car go out of my way. When accelerating again, there was nothing. The car kept on slowing down. I managed to evacuate to the exit that was just coming up and there I stood. It wouldn't start up again after multiple attempts and several dozens of minutes of waiting. Called Lexus assistance AGAIN and just when the tow truck showed up, I managed to get it started again. I had fiddled with some wires that come out of the VVTi and go down between the compressor and the engine. Can't believe that did the trick. Since I could't trust the car anymore, I took the replacement and now it's at the Lexus dealers again. This sixth failure showed an error message, but don't know which one yet. Tomorrow, I hope to find out more. I'm not in confidence with Lexus anymore. I bought one to be free of trouble, but that seems to be too much to ask. Lexus weren't able to correctly diagnose my problem. I even called TTE (got Bacchus I believe), but they were not working in the holidays. The guy that developed the TTE ecu was on holidays and would give me a call back to see if he can help out. Does any of this sound familiar to you? I PM'd some members that had experience with blackbox failures, but it doesn't seem to match the symptoms all the way, does it? So what can this be? Fuel filter? Fuel pump (was read out and no errors)? Black box? What else? :tsktsk:

Sure looks good, but what does the ride say? Are those Teins adjustable? How? I mean inbound/outbound or just height? Does the car stay comfortable? I'm looking around myself for a coilover setup. Looking for a comfortable ride, but adjustability for occasional amateur track use. Lots of advice that KW V3 is good, Tein EDFC even better (but no homologation down here in Belgium). But I value first hand experiences much more, so looking forward to your reply!

Some two weeks ago, I bought a gromaudio device off the GROMaudio eBay shop for my Lexus. It got delivered earlier this week and I installed it tonight. Couldn't believe how easy it was. I took it very seriously and spent a lot of time looking how to remove the tray and buttoncovers (below radio). That's why it took me an hour and a half. The actual installation took less than an hour. I have to say that Lexuses are built like a rock. Incredible how all bolts are turned in the exact same position and everything fits so tight. No difficulty taking the audio unit out nor putting it back in. Went like a dream... of course mainly due to the very good manual described here. :D Thank you! What puzzled me a bit is where to put the iPod adapter. It wouldn't fit in the space behind the radio. I finally put it behind the glovebox in a narrow space where a cable holds it in place. That seems like a suitable place without too much temperature differences. Now I have to see that it stays put and doesn't start to make noises. Any suggestions welcome!

:blink:I am also on the lookout for a new suspension for my '00 IS 200 Sport. Currently I have lowering springs on it that are very low on the front (too low for me) and a bit too high on the back. I would opt for a TTE suspension, since they do their homework well. But I have a few questions my Lexus dealer can't seem to answer. What difference is there between the complete TTE suspension kit and the TTE springs only? Are the springs identical? Can I for instance first fit the TTE springs only and change the dampers later? Or are the springs on both different? When changing the complete set, how is the comfort harmed? Can I really set it up for a more comfortable ride as stated on the TTE website? I would like the adjustability, but couldn't live with a harsh ride. Other mod I have on my planning is the TTE stabilizer. Is there a big difference with the standard stabilizer on the sport models? Thanks for your reactions!