fredsmith

Update: well, something unexpected has happened. I took it to a small local independent garage. When I told them Lexus had said I needed new driveshafts at a cost of £2K, they laughed and that was before they’d even looked at the car. Anyway, when I returned later on, the mechanic said he wasn’t sure there was actually anything wrong at all. He agreed there were signs of grease but saw no evidence of a leak or any damage to the CV gaiters. He even hoisted it up again and invited me to take a look around the underside of my car. (First time I’d ever stood under a car, and found it a bit unnerving!) He'd given the axle and driveshafts a thorough clean and rubbed off the surface corrosion that Lexus had presented me with photos of. He's asked me to bring back the car in a couple of weeks and he’ll take another look. If more grease has appeared, then we’d take it further. If it’s still clean he reckons there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll update further after that. Once again, thank you everyone.

Hi Colin, sorry to be a nuisance but can you provide a link to that part please? I’ve looked at Rock Auto and can’t locate it. I've booked the car into a local garage for tomorrow and will see what they say.

Thanks for the additional info which is a bit more encouraging. This is a really great forum and you guys have saved my sanity several times over the years. One thing though — before I took it to Lexus I did get a full service from a local garage (well, one of those Formula One Autocentres) and asked them to look at the CV gaiters. The guy seemed to know what he was talking about and said (I scribbled some notes at the time): 'the CV boots seem fine, but there’s a sort of metal cup that goes over the joint and there’s CV grease leaking from the metal cup. But I can’t get the metal cup off to investigate. It probably needs a special Lexus tool'. Which is why I went to a Lexus garage. They didn’t take it apart either, just did an external check before telling me I’d need two new driveshafts which would cost about £2.5k (inc about £1700 for the parts). They gave me two pictures which mean nothing too me but here they are: is it the view of the forum that the work really does require special Lexus tools and knowledge, or should any decent local garage be able to sort this out? A long shot — does anyone know anyone in the East Sussex area they could recommend? Otherwise I can try talking again to another local garage that might be more clued up. Thanks people. Maybe I can avoid ditching my 15-yo IS 250 after all.

Thanks. I took the car to a Lexus dealership. They took a look and told me I need 2 driveshafts at a total cost of around £2,500 inc labour. Looks like I’ll be buying another car. I can’t justify spending £2,500 on a 15 year old car with a book price of around £1500. A shame. The car is in good nick and drives very nicely apart from this issue.

Thanks, that’s encouraging. I’ve just moved back to the UK after >12 years in mainland Europe so I’ve no established garage here. From what you say, sounds like I should 'gaiter' another local garage and get another opinion. If generic is ok, I’ll feel happier. Cheers.

Hi Everyone, can someone enlighten me here please? I am totally car-illiterate. I’ve owned my IS250 from new in 2008. My wife had the AA replace my left rear wheel following a recent puncture. The AA guy told her: "the CV joint gaiter is leaking grease, so probably needs a new gaiter. The garage will need to take out the drive shaft to re-grease it before putting it back." I asked a local garage about this (unfortunately no Lexus garage anywhere near me), and the guy sort of shook his head uncertainly and said I probably needed a special Lexus part. Is this true, and is a Lexus one easy to get hold of? If not, would a generic gaiter do the job? I have a service soon and would prefer to bring along the required part rather than ask them to source it for me (unless someone advises that this would be a better idea). Any other helpful comments for this car dumbo? Is it true that they have to take out the drive shaft? Sounds like that could be pricey. Sorry for sounding so stupid, but a big thank you to anyone who might be able to assist.

Hi Herbie, Thanks. You're right, the topic has meandered a bit. I'm actually quite happy with the installation of the dashcam (until told definitively that it's wrong). The issue is that I've twice used the dashcam with the sat nav (which is powered by the cigarette lighter socket) and twice the latter has stopped working -- fused the first time, according to the garage, and presumably fused the second time again. This seems like more than a coincidence as nothing else has ever fused in 12 years of owning the car. So I guess my more general question should be: what could be the explanation for this, and the therefore the solution -- given that I'm an electro-idiot. As shown in the photos, the dashcam is wired to the passenger side fusebox while the fuse for the cigarette lighter is on the other side, and seems to have no connection to the dashcam. So I'm trying to understand what's happening here. Thanks.

I'll have to read your post again Len for the finer detail but my car is a British RHD. The Halfords dashcam hardwiring was to the passenger side. The 10/11 cigarette lighter/power socket are on the driver side.

No, it's a British RHD. I'm working in Switzerland at the moment but brought my car over. TBH, I don't know what the amps are for the piggyback -- I'm finding it very hard to get to it at my age!

I've finally managed to find the fuses and take some rather blurry snaps. You were right -- the cover was not on either. The Halfords guy was definitely doing something on the passenger side when I saw him working on my car. I presume that's the cable seen running to the passenger side fusebox. On the driver side is the fusebox with (highlighted) fuses for cigarette lighter socket and the other power source found in the armrest. the lower blue one is probably the one added by the garage last month when I asked them to look at why the socket wasn't working. (I didn't know then what I know now about fuses!) The question is what's best to do here. I can replace the fuse again (presuming it's blown) and run the sat nav off the armrest power source instead. A bit inconvenient as the armrest won't close with a device plugged in there. Or could I reposition the dash cam cable and plug it somewhere that wouldn't affect the main cigarette lighter socket? I'm reluctant to fiddle about too much in case I do something serious to the electrics. If no one knows for sure I guess I'll have to find an auto electrician. Thanks for any insights.

I can't be 100% sure about the cabling used but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt unless I knew otherwise. I didn't stand and watch everything he did but I was there at the start when he opened the box with the new dashcam in it and he certainly took out the hardwiring cables and peered at them purposefully 😀. Thanks for the videos, I'll take a look.

Thanks, both. I can confirm that the dashcam was wired to the fusebox on the passenger side but until I go and have a look later I won't know if it has a cover or not. Mr Vlad - yes, the sat nav is not built in. It's a basic Garmin powered by the cigarette lighter / accessory power source. Len - Yes, if this persists I'll talk to Halfords though I'm about 1,000km from the nearest branch for the next couple of months so hope to resolve this before then! TBF, the guy seemed to know what he was doing and was pretty helpful but I hear what you say.

Thanks Len. I've read both points of view regarding the always-live set-up. AFAIK, mine doesn't use that mode. The way the Nextbase works (I believe) is that when I want to use the parking mode to capture activity when I'm away from the car, it uses the charge in the device which will run for 3 continuous hours or so, and obviously longer if it's not constantly being switched on. In other words, good for parking in a quiet spot but less so if parked on a busy road. But anyway, at the moment I'm happy to keep it this way as I've heard people complain that parking mode can drain the car battery, regardless of what's supposed to happen. The question is whether I can sort this out myself (being a total non-expert) and more to the point, how I sort it out. Is it possible that the dashcam and cigarette lighter are on the same circuit? How would I know? And if this is the case, can the dashcam be connected to some other circuit? Is there such a thing as a 'spare' circuit and spare fuse ready to take an additional electrical gadget? I appreciate you may not know the answers, I'm just sort of thinking out loud. Of course, I could just take it into a garage but it would be good to sound as if I knew what they needed to do. (I'm in Switzerland, so an additional problem is that I have to explain this in imperfect German!)

Hi All I have a Lexus IS 250 2008. I recently had a Nextbase 622GW dashcam fitted and hardwired (by Halfords, using the Nextbase wiring kit). Dashcam works fine but after my first long trip I realised that the cigarette lighter (which I use to power the sat nav) wasn't working. Took it to my local garage and they said the fuse had blown, and replaced it. Everything was fine with the sat nav for a couple of weeks, a period when I wasn't using the dash cam. But a couple of days ago I once again was using the dash cam with the sat nav, and once again the cigarette lighter appears not to be working -- presumably fused again. Has anyone else had trouble combining cigarette lighter/sat nav with hardwired dash cam? I'm not knowledgeable on electrics but I'm presuming that the system is getting overloaded somehow -- is this because the fuse used by the dash cam is the same as used by the cigarette lighter? Is this even possible? Can it be solved by a different type of fuse (I did say I'm an idiot in these matters). Or is there some other explanation / solution? Thank you for any pointers.

Makes sense, thank you.