PiratePete

Thanks Yaumaster, tbh I didn't think it would look like that I thought it was a rectangular panel, oh well lots to learn about my IS :)

Did a first fuel consumption test and I got 278 miles out of a tank of fuel (until the red light came on), which was mainly town driving with some A road driving over the Bank Holiday. Which frankly I thought was rubbish (unless the wife was driving like a loon which can happen). So I am going to check whether the panel filter is blocked (even though it was serviced last week I don't know whether this was done). However as the Lexus is a bit more technical that what I used to drive, I would really appreciate it if someone could post a pic of where the panel filter is in the engine, I have searched the forum but not been able to find a pic. Any help would be appreciated.

Um........wot? I was thinking that, but didn't want to say anything. What an earth is happening to the english language? :duh: Hell in a handbasket I tells ya

erm i'll have to confirm when I get home. How much do you want for it anyway?

I don't know what a top loading unit looks like but its near the bottom of the console, with the single loading slot. Sorry for the late reply :)

bumpy. Bit of advice would be really appreciated :)

Arse. Really don't know what to do now. Autosound blokey has said he can probably repair it for £160+vat, meaning I could keep the original stereo system. But the dealer has offered to put a new stereo in but single CD only (i could push for an MP3 connection). Really don't know which way to go now. If the Stereo does go I would have to get a new one fitted myself £350. So the question is even if I get it repaired how likely is it to break again either for the FM reception or the ERR1 and 3 problems? What would you guys recommend? How reliable are the Lexus stereos?

Oh right. Worcester is usually ok for FM. Well the guys offered to put a new stereo in it but I would lose the 6 CD changer. Mind you most of the music we own is MP3 now, but I gather I can get a kit to run an MP3 player from it quite cheaply of the standard stereo unit. (any linkys welcome). It might be worth taking the car to work again and seeing if the signal improves nearer Birmingham. What have you guys done. Stuck with standard or put a new boombox in? Oops, was meant to say the reception in the car is crap. When i'm in my mates' cars they all get fine reception, so I just think its the aerial that needs sorting out. But you might as well get a stereo with dab if you like to listen to the radio, as the uk will soon be digitised! So you don't think its worth getting the OEM stereo working. Go straight for a replacement?

Oh right. Worcester is usually ok for FM. Well the guys offered to put a new stereo in it but I would lose the 6 CD changer. Mind you most of the music we own is MP3 now, but I gather I can get a kit to run an MP3 player from it quite cheaply of the standard stereo unit. (any linkys welcome). It might be worth taking the car to work again and seeing if the signal improves nearer Birmingham. What have you guys done. Stuck with standard or put a new boombox in?

You mean your local lexus dealer, so Lexus Worcester should be able to do this for about £300. If its that cheap I'll go for it. Easy choice when I'm not paying :)

On my 2000 IS200 Sport everything now works perfectly apart from the FM Radio, now a quick search of the forum shows this is a common problem, but I didn't find much in the way of a solution posted and the car is out of lexus warranty. MW and LW radio work ok but it cannot pick up any FM channels at all. I can pick up a signal fine in my old car so the signal area is not too bad. Now the dealer I bought the car from has turned out to be a bit of a gem and has fixed the heated rear window, taxed, MOT'd it and generally given that bit extra by way of service, its a small family owned garage and well recommended. However when he took the car to a local audio specialist they said that they had improved the MW LW reception but couldn't do anything about the FM and it would need a new complete stereo unit (and said £1500(O'rly?)). I am presuming that the cable is connected to the head unit and the arial because otherwise you wouldn't get any radio channels at all on FM,LW,or MW. Is that right? From the forum this seemed to be the best recommendation to check first. So I'm left with a decision. He has offered to remove the OEM unit and fit a single CD player/radio to the car. We didn't discuss replacing the faulty radio with a new lexus one but that would wipe all his profit from the sale, and some, and to be honest if he had been a bit if a shyster, I would have pushed for it but I haven't the heart. Or do I just live with it and negotiate a free service out of him. OR another option which is wait until I can find one from Fleabay (is it just the head unit I would need?), and get him to buy and fit it. I understand that these stereos aren't the best in terms of reliability with this problem being fairly common, and the infamous ERR1 and 3 are mentioned a lot, so would a replacement unit be the best option and lose the 6 CD changer (but get a stereo with an MP3 connection). So.... 1. Be a ***** and demand a replacement Lexus unit. 2. Compromise on a replacement new single CD stereo with MP3 3. Wait until he can get a fleabay replacement and keep fingers crossed (current favourite option tbh) 4. Live without Radio 1 (meh) and get a free service instead. Any advice would be massively appreciated guys. Sorry about the length but the wife never complains ;)

Sorry, only just seen this. Anyway, the kit seems very good, although as I've not done an HID conversion before, I have nothing to compare it to. However, it has transformed my lighting and visibility. The only thing that does worry me is the ballasts buzz quite loudly (can only hear them with bonnet up though) although this may be normal - someone else can confirm this I hope. It was easy to fit, took about 20 mins to do. the only thing was that connecting the headlamp to the ballast was the opposite way round to what I expected - first time round the headlamps didn't work, but once I reversed the connection it was fine. Having worked at Hella for a couple years, yes the ballast will buzz, yes it is normal, but it should be relatively quiet. If the light starts to strobe badly then your ballast is on its way out. Then it will hum like a bugger. To answer the question about putting HID's in a halogen reflector assembly. I gave this a bit of thought and as long as the centre of the the HID (the little void at the centre of the HID that emits the light) sits at the same position (to within 0.5mm or so), as the centre of the halogen filament, then it should make no difference to the beam (or its legality), in fact it'll make the edges of the headlight beam more crisp. As for the colour temp, blue white good, purple white bad. Why? Your eye responds best to blue and green meaning that the forty tonner heading straight for you is more likely to see the blue headlights than the purple IRRESPECTIVE of the candela/lux/luminance of whatever they want to call it.

Well I thought I would get a more detailed answer if I offered help in my field of expertise :) Having read a few more threads I have to ask, whats a camcon, would this be any good for my unmodded IS200. As I said before I know eff all but wanna learn.

if you mean the flat spot where they have machined on the unmachined surface right in the middle of the picture, thats where they roughly machine off the 'sprue' (where the metal is poured in during the casting process when manufacturing it).

Oh noes. So If I already built and modded hi spec PC's with water cooler kits and such like then this may possibly be the most dangerous website I could go to.......... So back on topic, even if I got a piggyback ECU, just to allow the engine to be remapped would I be able to get a program that could leave the performance as it was and get better fuel economy, possibly letting me increase performance at a later date or is it all just 'hot air' unless i get an FI kit (hehehe I made a modding joke)

Cheers fella, at least someone replied which is a first on most forums ;) Its a shame as I was hoping for a bit of a 'free lunch' hehe, surely there must be some way to get a bit more oomph and make it a bit cheaper to run? How did you guys start out modding your cars? Mind you my wife is trying to get me to shut the PC down cos I was just looking at the 'Angel Eyes mod' thread, and 'The monster' thread. mmmm.....thinks........ :D

Hi guys, After 8 years of driving a goddawful car, which I am even too embrassed to tell you the make and model of, I picked up an immaculate IS200 Sport Navigator year 2000. Can I just say you guys are on the button, this car is superb to drive with a nice turn of speed and just the luxury I deserve. In fact I just took it down to Kent to see a friend of mine and came back relaxed and happy, which is a first for me driving a long distance. :) A friend of mine bought a Golf recently and was telling me about having his engine remapped and all the benefits of it. Now although I am an engineer in the Auto trade I don't know much about this so would like to ask a few questions. 1. Can I get the standard ECU remapped on this car? I've spoken to a couple of companies with responses such as "Wouldn't touch it", but couldn't get a clear reason why. If I can can you recommend a good place in the Midlands I can get it done. 2. I understand that I should be able to get a remap that would increase the performance and get better fuel economy. Is that right? I understand a software engineer comes reprograms the ECU for you? 3. The other option is to get it chipped. What sort of chip would I need to go for? How much would it cost? and again any good places you can recommend? Would chipping affect my insurance massively? Basically I wouldn't mind keeping the performance the same but making it a bit better on fuel economy, however a bit of added performance is not to be sniffed at eh guys? Anyway in return for any info I will answer any questions about modding headlights as I worked for Hella/Koito for a long time and saw a post here on the forum about getting the mastic loose to separate the lens from the housing. I did this most weeks for 5 years so heres the gen. Best advice get the lamp in an oven (preferably recirculating not direct heat) at about 120 degrees BUT ONLY 10-15 minutes and make sure the cluster is not resting on the lens! The polyprop housing will only survive short term and the PC lens will warp if you leave it too long. The mastic goes thin at about 80 or 90 degrees, undo ther mechanical clips with a screwdriver then use a flatehead screwdriver under the lens to lever it off. If you are unsure about the oven then check the lamp every 5 mins, when it is just too hot to touch take it out and get the lens off if you can, if the mastic is still too hard put it back in the oven for a few minutes. Don't use a chemical the remove the mastic as you will most likely get it on the vac metalised surfaces and mark them, I'm afraid that is just hard work with a knife, and best left until the lamp is cold again. There you go already contributed something to the forum before I even got my post answered :) Any help would be greatly appreciated PiratePete