Lexus-IS

I came across an article from 2014 that said apparently new EU regulations will require all cars to come with telematics that will be able to provide the same information that black box provides to insurance. But the article makes it sound like insurers can access this info without your consent. But do you not need to consent to being monitored? Do All new cars have this now?

That's great to hear thanks. So seeing as I'm not changing fluid and don't need to bleed it, I can change it just like a non hybrid Lexus? What about pushing the piston back and leaving the brake fluid cap off? Is that ok on the hybrids? Will it not effect the accomulator or anything?

Maybe but if I remember correctly it was something about even if the car is off the brakes can end up operating if key is nearby. I found some brembo pads on eurocarparts they have good discount running today. Lexus said my front discs were lipped because of worn pads. Does that mean discs need changing or is it just a recommendation?

So is the pad and disc change pretty much the same as other Lexus non hybrid versions? Where does the energy from braking go from? Is there anything different on pad and disc change for hybrid versions? What's the process of pressing back the piston on the hybrids? Normal ones you just open the brake reservoir and with a old brake pad and clamp just push it all the way back. I read somewhere about keeping keys far away . What's that about?

Is there any guides out there on how to change the discs and pads for the gs300h? I've changed pads on my IS250 many times but this car is hybrid and has the regenerative brakes so I don't know what is different. Are the brake pads and discs also different? Eurocarparts do not seem to sell discs for it only pads.

Yes i will be using a relay and use the normally open and closed to make sure power isn't going to both at the same time. If i cant locate a always live wire I'm thinking to just run the wire directly from the battery. There is a bulkhead/grommet behind the battery. Does anyone know if I can push a wire through there? Ideally I want to try and find some wire that is already inside the car. There is a red controller box inside the door panel which i assume controls locks and windows. Does anyone know if there is a always on wire in there somewhere?

Did you fix yours yourself? Is there enough access to get to it?

The new Lexus models when you come up to the car even if you do not unlock it the DRL led turns on. This is the feature I am trying to achieve. If the car is locked and you walk up to it, the mirror puddle lights turn on. The car at this point is still locked. So quite simply put I just want the front LED DRL to turn on.

To be honest I don't think it will be more than 1A and it wont be drawing power for that long only when the puddle lights under the door mirror is on. I was going to run it from the +12v from the puddle light bulb but it seems that the puddle light in the mirror doesnt share a common ground wire. So therefore I cannot just use the +12v from that. So what I have decided to do is power a relay with the + and - from the puddle mirror light and have a constant power source. So when the puddle light goes on then it let the always on power through.

It won't be running always, I will use a relay so that when the mirror puddle light is on it will use that power source. It's to power led DRL's when the puddle lights go on.

Does anyone know if there is a constant 12v power source available anywhere in the drivers door or there abouts in the footwell etc? Need a 12v supply that is always on even when car is locked. Needs to be able to handle a few amps of load.

How many miles you done on the current drive belt? Mine had annoying chirping noise on Cold starts which I haven't heard for a few years since I replaced the drive belt. Very cheap and simple DIY

Oh. By the silencer do you mean the actual big bulky oval shaped back box? How is the heat shield attached does it slot into some sort of bolts pointing downwards and then nuts go and hold it in place. Anyone have any pics of where the mounting points are and how many there are?

Just noticed the left side thin heat-shield that sits above the back-box on each side of the exhaust has come loose. It seems to be freely sitting on top of the back-box. I couldnt see much access between the backbox and the heat-shield to be able to even attempt to fix it. If I jack up the car will the backbox stay low down and create more gap between the heat-shield and the back-box?

OK here's an update. The auto level is working now. I replaced the rod with the seized ball/knuckle joint. I figured out how it works. Basically the connector going to the sensor has 3 pins. Pins 1 and 3 are + and - from the AFS ECU. The ECU provides around 5V of power through these pins. The height sensor reduces this to about 4.5V. The height sensor is essentially a variable resistor. This allows the voltage to change from 4.5v to 0.5V. the 4.5V. The ECU then reads this to determine angle. Anyway my height sensors are now working. And one way i tested it for sure is with the car on level ground i crawled underneath the rear sensor and loosened the bolt that lets you adjust the height. When I moved this up and down I could clearly see the lights moving. But now I have another issue, with my car on level ground and against a wall, I can see my beam is higher than it was before because the level sensors are working. However, the right side seems much lower than the left side. Below is a illustration of how I am seeing the beam reflection. Ideally I wanted to get the right one to move up so that the lines meet. However the right was much lower and I had to adjust the cog almost all the way to the limit to get it looking like below: Question is, is there any other way to raise the right hand side? The cog I am adjusting is the one on top. I know there is another cog but I didnt think the other cog will effect vertical height. Any ideas?

So by looking at this test procedure it seems to me that the AFS ECU sends 4.5V via pin 1 and 3. And the height sensor is the essentially a variable resistor that reports back either 4.5V, 2.5V or 0.5V. Using these reported voltages the AFS ECU then makes the decision how to adjust the lights. I'm wondering as a test if I should maybe turn the car on with the sensors removed and test how much voltage comes out of pins 1 and 3. If it is 4.5V as predicted, then loop pin 1 back to pin 2 essentially fooling it into reporting back as +45 degrees. And then technically it should adjust the lights right?

I will try that tomorrow. Just got the following information: Very useful information, except in the instructions it says connect the + lead from the battery to terminal 1 but in the illustration the + lead is going to terminal 3. I think their battery illustration might be wrong LOL. Or I might be referring to normal AA batteries and this guide is referring to the smaller batteries which might be the way in that pic. Nevertheless, this seems like a very good test to test the sensor. Seeing as I have my old one off now I decided to test it and it is always reading 0.5V regardless of what degrees the sensor is at. So this leads me to believe the front sensor was faulty. Tomorrow I will just test the new second-hand sensor i put with this same test and see how that responds. I will also test the back. WIll keep you all posted.

I was thinking could it be the headlight itself but then that cant be because both of them stopped at the same time and they both not working. So seems like whatever is supposed to send the power to control it isn;t because of certain things

Today, I replaced the complete front sensor which i got from a scrap yard. I inspected the new and it looked in good condition and tested for resistance across all the pins. I got it as a complete piece with the brackets and rods. Also noticed on of the pins in my old one had slight bluish stuff almost like when a battery leaks and you get that residue. I cleaned the pin up. I was hoping that would do the trick. But to my disappointment I turned the car on and put headlights on and the lights are just not going up and down like they used to. They used to self-calibrate and I used to be able to noticed it before. So I moved on to the rear sensor. The rear sensor looked like it was in really good condition. I removed the entire unit to inspect. I tested it across the pins for resistance. It all measured with some resistance. So I have no idea what is wrong, shall I change the rear one too? One thing I did notice on the rear one however is that you see the short rod with a ball joint on each side, is it supposed to move around freely on both ends? I would have thought so because isnt that the purpose of a ball joint? For some reason one ball joint was moving around and the other was completely seized. The rubber around both ball joints seems to have deteriorated. But with the single ball joint I assume it can still move up and down. So do you think the ball joint might be preventing the sensor from moving in the correct way?

I read that if the nut is spinning then might mean the rotational sensor in the unit is screwed. Wonder how it is attached on the sensor itself and if it is repairable. Anyone know?

Farqui, thanks. The arm didnt move at all. I will try and remove the entire bracket tomorrow and bring it indoors and have a closer inspection. I watched some youtube videos of some sort of corrosion that happens inside the sensors. These sensors are ridiculously priced.

So i jacked up front passenger side to inspect the height sensor. With the wheel off and car lifted, am I supposed to be able flex and move the arm up and down? I thought i'd inspect it and silly me I decided to loosen that nut arrowed in the picture. My plan was to remove that one and the one one the other end. But now that nut is just spinning and not tightening nor coming out. The bolt that the nut attaches to where does that go? has it broken the sensor? Other than that the links of the mechanism all seem connected. So unless the actual sensor is gone. I will have to inspect the back one too. But now concerned with a loose wobbly front mechanism as i cannot tighten that nut. any ideas?

The aiming guide says to turn the vertical adjustment screw clockwise to make the beam higher. When I do this the actual projector thing inside the headlight goes and faces more towards the ground. Is this how it works? The more it faces the ground the higher the beam? I would have though the other way round

That's great, many thanks.

Great info, thanks. Are the height sensors on the passenger side?