TigerFish

I always though the little clear'ish red knob on the dash was the motion sensor for the alarm. I now know this is the solar sensor for the aircon. This leads me to wonder how the car detect/protects the interior. Where are the interior sensor(s) for the alarm? Anyone know?

I did some minor cosmetic mods on the car over the weekend. First job was putting the chrome calliper stickers on. The fronts The rears. I used the silver stickers I had for the rears as I have a new set of rear callipers to go on. I'll paint them up and use the chrome ones on those when I sort them out. Also fitted some clear side repeaters (waiting for the chrome bulbs to arrive to replace the orange bulbs supplied with them). These are the clear ones off an RX300. Bit pricier than buying the universal fit ones but I like the factory fit as these fit on exactly as the old ones did. Also broke out the orange "cup" in the front indicators and put the chrome bulbs in. Makes the front end look much better I think.

Is the power steering fluid level OK. That will mke a noise when turning the wheels and if it is really low will make a noise all the time. If the level is low, could be the "O" ring between resevoir and the pump leaking? I seem to recal that being quite a common issue.

Assuming the IS's work the same as the GS's, I think the main thing that the reset does (most noticeable) is for those with auto gearboxes. It will relearn your driving style and change gear accordingly. If like me, you bought your car from someone who obviously never put their foot down, it made a huge difference in the non "pwr ect" mode. The car was much more responsive and was more eager to change gears instead of struggling in the wrong one. That made the car feel much more responsive after the reset.

Only asked 'cos the car was up on one and I assumed you did it today Would be a handy piece of kit to have at home.

I'd always wondered about that when I saw the big intercoolers going on. Looks great. BTW, you have a sky ramp at your house?

I was watching a program the other night, might have been "police, camera, action", not sure. But the police they were out with had the light meter gadget with them that they could stick on either side of the glass to check the tint level. Even watched one guy peeling his tint off to avoid the car being clamped. It certainly looked like they were starting to take it more seriously.

Can you get a mirror in there to take a look? I've no idea where the core plugs (round discs blanking off water way machining) are on the engine but is it possible one of those has gone? That should be a cheap fix if it is and could avoid the expense of head removal etc.

So the car can remind him of a taxi

Either that or the oil isn't getting back down to the bottom of the engine quickly enough. More likely the sensor if you have definately got enough oil in there. Worth checking the oil level again I guess, just because there was enough yesterday doesn't neccesarily mean there is enough today.

I would check the callipers first before anything else.

Must admit, I can't believe they would do pictures of the interior in that state.

On my Mk1 GS300 the oil can with the "waves" under it is for low engine oil level. The oil can without the waves is the oil pressure. Hope that helps

I'm no expert on the symptoms of ball joints on Lexus, although on other cars I've had I would expect a worn ball joint to clunk or bang over sharp bumps. I wouldn't expect it to cause vibration particularly, but would amplify any vibration caused by something else. As far as tyres go, I wouldn't expect them to cause vibration either unless the tyre is damaged in some way. A worn ball joint may wear them unevenly if it was bad enough I guess. Hopefully someone else will have first hand experience of warn ball joints on a Lexus. The only bad vibration issues I have had with my Lexus (Mk1 GS300) has both times been caused by a seizing calliper, once on the rear and once on the front. When the front one was sticking on (last week), the judder was horrendous and was made even worse under braking. Might be worth a look to see if this is a problem on yours.

Sounds like a nice motor. Looking forward to pics B) Just out of interest, I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what all the hoohaa is about the auto lock thing Why is it so important? Does it unlock again below 5mph? or stay locked once they lock like an anti-hijack type thing to stop folk opening the doors from the outside when sat at the lights or in traffic?

How much were the kids? The price on the kids hasn't stopped yet

I was thinking the same Primarily I see it as a lump of metal, although it is a piece of metal I do take good care of, and take pride in. After the kids and the house, it is the most expensive single item that I have bought, so it deserves to be looked after almost as well as the kids.

True, although the other symptoms would tend to point to something else. Wheel balancing doesn't normally make a car pull to one side.

From an MPG perspective it has always given better consumption on any of the cars I have used with cruise control fitted. Without it you always end up dropping a few miles an hour on speed and then need more gas to get back up to speed again.

Mk1 GS300 Sport, 158K miles, avg mixed driving 24-25mpg, motorway at steady 75 on cruise 29-30mpg (although I had a sticking calliper at that time so might be a bit better now).

Halfrauds do them for the indicators, not side repeaters as I found this weekend :( Otherwise ebay or places like http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk have them.

My house is in Derby, I work in Basingstoke and live mid week in Dorking in Surrey. So I can mostly be seen driving the Dorking/Guildford/Hogs Back area Tuesday to Thursday, and the M25/M1/Derby area Thursday night to Monday night. And still never seen another LOC stickered Lexus :(

Visual Basic analyst/developer for an insurance finance company.

Tell me Tigerfish how do go about testing / releasing a siezed caliper. The first tell tale sign is feel the centre of the wheel after a long'ish run. If the brake is binding the wheel will generally be warmer than the rest. You can also jack up the car and try spinning the wheel by hand, on mine it could barely be turned. After that you need to get the tools out and take the calliper off (no need to disconnect brakelines or anything), force the pistons back in and then place it back on and press the pedal. Do that a few times to see if they pistons free up. Also grease the slide pins while you have the calliper off. If the pads are quite low, replace them as the pistons being further in can also clear the problem.

A siezing calliper does do this, had to do my front offside (Mk1 GS300) last friday due to the calliper not releasing properly.