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tehspanna

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    GS300 SE (2002)

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  1. I am very much into my music, and while I don't have it loud I have found it distorts quite easily on some tracks. It could just be that the speaker is knackered. Doing some intensive Googling last night has told me; The speaker is made by Panasonic, the amp is made by Pioneer. The amp is designed to drive a 2 ohm load, but I couldn't find it's RMS output for the sub channel (my guess is about 50 watts which would be enough to drive a JL sub). Most people who have done this use an offensively powerful speaker with an amp as a replacement. The rest of the system is great, and there's no distortion from any of the other speakers in the car, it's just the sub. It'd definately not the amp clipping either, it sounds like the voice coil is grounding in the piston which could either mean it's being overdriven or the suspension is worn through. I'll just buy another speaker after payday and see how it goes - I don't want thumping bass that can be felt meters away from the car, so with any luck I can do without an additional amp. Thanks for your reply :)
  2. Hi all! I've got a 2002 GS300 and I'm considering replacing the subwoofer that's mounted at the rear of the car. The problem I'm having with it is that it's a bit, well, wet... it sounds good at a low volume but is quite quickly driven into distortion. I'm trying to figure out if I can avoid replacing the currently fitted amp and just stick a better made speaker in the current one's place. I don't much like the idea of having to run power to the back of the car and I'm not willing to lose boot space to a box. I've not had a look yet, but does anyone happen to know of any subwoofers that will physically fit in the space of the current speaker without too much mucking about, and does anyone know how much power the OEM amplifier can provide to that channel (RMS, rather than peak and into how many ohms)? I'd guess that any speaker of the same diameter can be made to fit, but obviously I need to go for something that's not going to be too much of a load on the amp or I'll just end up with distortion at the amp rather than the speaker. Adam
  3. No worries - I'd noticed the brake wobble when I took the car for a test drive, and mentioned it to them when I got back. I imagine they then looked up possible causes and found the wheels weren't on correctly. I'm probably going to continue using this Lexus dealer I was at today, they've been very good. I'm sure I will enjoy the car :D
  4. Yes, which is why I'm taking it to Lexus for a service/safety check, etc... As it happens there wasn't anything else that needed doing. I'd rather have it serviced by Lexus than a used car dealer to be completely honest. I even got them to skip valeting, and had the price of the service and valeting (at Lexus prices) knocked off, which made the car quite a bit cheaper. Now got the car back, having been serviced (including transmission fluid, etc) and valeted. Lovely!
  5. Well, I picked it up today - what a lovely motor. Got it at 11AM today and I've only just got home. The garage I bought it from have sorted the brake wobble, it turns out they hadn't put the wheel nuts back on correctly so they've done that on all four wheels. It's going in on Monday for a service, and they're gonna check everything for me too... Just need to get a handsfree kit, some HIDs and the latest navigation DVD and I'll be sorted! I'll get some pics up once I've taken a few ;)
  6. I'm not exactly great with car electrics, but I'd start at the fuse and work down towards the heater. I imagine the switch only throws a relay so it may well illuminate even if the fuse has died. It might also be worth checking the connection between the body of the car and the window itself. Seems fairly unlikely that it would be the problem but it could be worth a look?
  7. I'll give them a ring in a bit and see what they say. They are two seperate dealerships in Hull, but they aren't even a mile apart. The quality of their coffee doesn't really bother me... as long as the work is still good ;) Yes, it did but I didn't think to take a note of it. I'll ring the dealer who are selling me the car and find out what the number is. It's expensive but if it has to be done I'll get it done straight away. I'm planning on keeping this car a while so it makes no sense to cut corners. You know, I have most of those tools and I could probably borrow axle stands and a piston tool from somewhere but I'm terrified of making a mistake somewhere in the process and the brakes failing while I'm on a motorway or driving through the school run. I'll first of all see if the discs do actually need changing. Like fildigger said, it could just be that the wheels haven't been correctly reseated and tightened up. If the discs are knackered I'll have to make a decision then. I've favourited the tutorial though, so thanks for that! I'll let you know what happens.
  8. Thanks for the replies guys! The car has done 88k (registered in 2002) and had the belt changed at an independant garage, but the paperwork shows a genuine part was used so I'm happy with that. In fact, the only thing that I couldn't tell from the paperwork was which transmission oil had been used - it's marked as being changed but doesn't say what it was replaced with. I've gathered from a few posts here that using the correct transmision oil is pretty important or the box doesn't change smoothly, etc... How much does it cost to get the Mintex kit (discs, pads) fitted and is this something Lexus would do for me? I'm a bit weary of moving away from OEM parts due to the impact it could have on my insurance... and the fact it wouldn't be valid if I didn't tell them. I think I'm gonna get at least the first service and once-over done by Lexus, it'll give me peace of mind and time to find a decent independant garage who have all the right kit. What's this about the brake booster? Do the brakes soften up or do they suddenly slam on?
  9. Hey everyone! Just put a deposit down on a MkII GS300, and I'm picking it up on Saturday next week. The car comes with a full service history but was last serviced just under 14 months ago, although it's only covered 5k miles since the last service. After the warranty expired, it's been serviced at an independant garage as you'd expect, but I know nothing about them. Do you all think it's worth me taking the car to my local Lexus dealer (Hull) to have a full service and once-over before I start doing any real mileage in it, or would I be best taking it to an independant garage? I already suspect it needs a pair of front discs as the steering wheel wobbled a bit when braking down from 50-60mph, and the logo'd centre caps on the alloys need replacing (if they are available seperate from the wheel) as the paint is coming loose. I haggled the price down accordingly ;) Other than that, it was sublime. Incredibly smooth and quiet :D I'd appreciate any advice. Adam.
  10. Well, I've got the car booked in with WIM for when I get back from holiday - I hope it's fixable!
  11. I would imagine with the right equipment any car is liftable - the manufacturers can open and start the cars without the keys, and the devices that allow them to do that must eventually make their way onto the black market.
  12. Yeah, I did think of doing this - it might be worth it in case it is going to be expensive. This link should give you an idea of what it's like around here, even in the city centre.
  13. Tracking is part of the geometry set up, but only a small part. There is camber, caster and toe (the "tracking" part) and probably some other bits and bats that Tony will know. Tracking won't tell you if the rears are out of wack with the fronts etc, or if something has bent and put the camber and caster out of wack etc. You can book your car in for a full geo at Lexus but it is unlikely the actual job will be done by them, Lexus Derby outsource it to another tyre place. Who incidentally didn't know how to adjust the car until I provided the documentation on how to do it. Fair do's to Lexus and the other place in that they worked with me to get to a halfway satisfactory conclusion even though it is still not done completely (seized parts rather than a technician problem). So a lottery to say the least with the dealers IMO. Maybe Tony at WIM can recommend a place nearer to home or you could take a trip to Hemel Hempstead to see the man himself. I hadn't realised there was so much that could be configured, or at least measured. I've had a couple of bad experiences with my local dealer now, and I've only had my Lexus since January. I used to use a place in York who always did a good job, but they got bought out by a chain recently and I've only heard bad things about them since. I had a look at WIM's forum posts, and at the site too - a lot of what was on there went way above my head, but there's a lot of recommendations on here and their own forums, so I'll likely give them a ring tomorrow. The drive to Hemel Hemstead doesn't scare me, it's only about three hours. Well worth it if they can get my car behaving even close to how it used to.
  14. Okay, thanks for your help. I've seen a couple of WIM's posts before - I'll have a good look accross the site, and give them a ring.
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