benfur

Finally Thrown away my Trusted Bonnet Stick Purchased a pair of these Struts for my Mk4 Easy to Install and most importantly Holds the bonnet up Thoroughly recommended Maurice

Hi Shelldrake have pm'd you the details Thanks Maurice 07957 530340

Hi On top of the fusebox there should be a yellow sticker / or in your owners handbook [ reset after flat/disconnected battery ] You may need to do a reset procedure, ie remove negative battery lead then reconnect then turn key to a set position I think its acc and leave for 6 minutes then turn key and start. Sorry Haven't my owners manual to hand , but I am sure another member will be along soon to help Maurice

Hi John I know there is a satellite ' Antennae ' which is located within the dashboard - but is virtually inaccessible with air vent ducting etc in its way. There is also a ' Sat Nav Amplifier ' located behind the Touch screen display unit - it is a separate unit. Be very careful if you decide to open up the display screen - I know from personal experience that if you disturb the ribbon connections something else will not work once you re assemble. All The Best Maurice

Hi All I have painted a few wheels over the years to an adequate standard The cans of " silver wheel spray " in your local motor factors are too dark and grey you have to find a really bright silver or try a local auto paint specialist who will knock up some cans to your spec - I did this a few years ago and told the guy to make sure the silver was "Bright and speckly " and I duly sprayed a set of DHP wheels and they stood out a mile - nearly needed glasses they were so dazzling Anyhow after a bit of research I tracked down a motor factors near me in Beckenham who do tins of german paint in silver [ will dig a can out for its name ] the paint match to the original lexus silver is pretty good and is nice and bright about £6 a can, although I would recommend you do the whole wheel rather than just blow it in. He also said he sells boxes of these to the refurb guys who come round your house with the heat lamps and they do all manufacturers wheels. Best thing to do is start with your spare wheel and then do one at a time. Anyhow I will find the name and post it on here. Just a quick one on the subject of paint - have used Auto Paint St Helens www.auto-paint.co.uk/carpaint £6.99 + vat for 400ml mixed aerosol give them your paint code or for bumpers lower cladding code and they mix it up to manufactures spec, very nice guys to deal with. Maurice Found a Tin Its called MIPA Felgensilbe - Wheel Silver its available on line just google it , the cans I have are 400ml aerosol but you can buy it in Litre tins if you have your own spray gun Maurice

Hi All I have painted a few wheels over the years to an adequate standard The cans of " silver wheel spray " in your local motor factors are too dark and grey you have to find a really bright silver or try a local auto paint specialist who will knock up some cans to your spec - I did this a few years ago and told the guy to make sure the silver was "Bright and speckly " and I duly sprayed a set of DHP wheels and they stood out a mile - nearly needed glasses they were so dazzling Anyhow after a bit of research I tracked down a motor factors near me in Beckenham who do tins of german paint in silver [ will dig a can out for its name ] the paint match to the original lexus silver is pretty good and is nice and bright about £6 a can, although I would recommend you do the whole wheel rather than just blow it in. He also said he sells boxes of these to the refurb guys who come round your house with the heat lamps and they do all manufacturers wheels. Best thing to do is start with your spare wheel and then do one at a time. Anyhow I will find the name and post it on here. Just a quick one on the subject of paint - have used Auto Paint St Helens www.auto-paint.co.uk/carpaint £6.99 + vat for 400ml mixed aerosol give them your paint code or for bumpers lower cladding code and they mix it up to manufactures spec, very nice guys to deal with. Maurice

That's the Spirit I have been restoring a Mk4 Ls400 most of this year and have changed front and rear sub frames and all suspension bars and control arms and have use Copper Ease on all the bolt shafts to prevent seizing in the future Maurice

Hi Pete I break the LS400 s and its very rare for the front Lower Strut arms and rear rear alignment bars not to be seized. I normally use an impact gun to release the nut - which sometimes shocks the bolt from the bushes shaft , it also helps once the nut is off to remove the alignment washer , then its good old fashioned penetrating oil sprayed into the bush shaft , once left to do its work try working the bolt from side to side to release and tap the bolt out with a copper mallet. If this doesn't work then you will have to change the bush and refit with a new bolt. Good Luck Maurice

Glad it all worked out Not an easy job when in situ Have sold a few of these , so must be a common problem Maurice

Hi Chris The Mk3s and 4s are the same part Maurice

Hi Daren Just remembered , mark the position of the camber adjust bolt with tippex , so it is in the same position after refitting Maurice

Hi Daren I break the LS400s and have a couple of good low miles used ones if your interested To remove the old ones , remove the front strut [ shock + spring ] then undo the sway bar link bracket that is attached to the straight lower arm that goes from bottom ball joint to ally sub frame. then undo the 2 x 19mm nuts that attach the lower strut bar to the straight lower arm , then undo the 22mm Nut at the Bush end of the strut bar , and remove its camber adjust bolt. Refit is a reverse of the above. Torques are : Strut Bar - Camber bolt / Nut 181Nm + the 2 x 19mm nuts 164Nm Sway Bar Bracket small Bolt 59Nm + Nut / Bolt 113Nm Shock Absorber Lower Nut / Bolt 157Nm + Top 3 x 14mm Nuts 58Nm You may want to undo the Top control arm for access and you should support the bottom of the wheel hub as the whole assembly is heavy and will but strain on the straight lower arm bush Good Luck Maurice

Hi On the Last of the Mk4s you have to disconnect the Battery then place your key in Ignition Barrel , then reconnect battery and wait 6 minutes and then turn key The procedure should be in your Owners Manual or on a sticker on your engine fuse box Cant remember , but I Think you have to have key set at acc, but you say you cant turn key ? All The Best Maurice

Hi The heat shield bolts to the manifold , 2 a small 10mm bolts could be someone has tried to remove heat shields previously and the bolts have sheared off or the heat shields has corroded around the bolts and the shield has worked loose If the oil leak is on the oil filter side of the engine , its probably Top up oil that's run down from the filler cap , or the rocker cover gasket Maurice

Hi Steve Got to be worth a punt I recently had to strip a front loom for a customer needing wires from gear selector to fuse box, and noticed there were a lot of wires cut back an inch or 2 from their respective connectors. So would assume the looms are multi spec and finished with the connectors relating to countries market spec equipment. might be worth speaking to some of these import conversion guys who upgrade or alter to uk spec Maurice

Hi Steve Repair looks Great My own personal preference is to paint silver or chrome the grill, looks the Dogs when done. Maurice

Another senior moment. Mike Not quite a senior moment! According to the w/shop manual, removal of the bumper is needed to access all the fixing bolts for the wing! You are correct, I have found there are 2 bolts below the side light where the bumper is attached to the wing, they run horizontal so therefore as you say the bumper needs to come off 1st. I have also managed to remove the lower plastic trim on the wing but it would seem that you also need to remove the plastic sill cover also as this also goes over the bottom edge of the wing. I bet Benfur knows what to do as he has removed wings before and I will hopefully be ordering mine soon. Hi Steve Of all the Ls400s the early series is the most difficult yes you have to remove the plastic sill trim to access various bolts grommets sometimes the grommets have to be chiseled off as they are seized in place you already have the wing lower cladding trim removed so can access the anchorage bolts at this end The front bumper does indeed need to be removed there is a nut which is concealed by the side light - so remove side light and you will see the nut to the side of the headlight, there is also a couple anchoring to the flitch and inner wing remove all bumper indicator and fog lights as these holes give some access to the anchorage bolts Use Plenty of WD40 as the bolts are likely to be seized and snap off easily The Wing top end bolts are clear to see, however you will need to lift the scuttle tray at its corners to the windscreen to access 2 x 10mm nuts Plus there is a bolt that hold the side of the wing - open the door and you will see it half way up Once you are confident all nuts / bolts are removed Gently lift and prise the wing away - careful not to scrape the door I probably have forgotten something, take your time and if the wing does not come out with ease then there is a nut / bolt holding it somewhere All The Best Maurice

Hi Steve Always happy to help a competitor !!!!! give me a ring and I will give you a step by step guide All The Best Maurice 07957 530340

Hi Stu I break the Ls400s Mk1 to Mk4 My experience is they are the same MK3 + 4 About a year ago a customer requested a front screen for a Mk4 which I did not have but I had 1 for a Mk3, which I supplied to him a few months later I had to deliver some more parts to him and he said it fitted without a problem Maurice stage-1@tiscali.co.uk 07957 530340

Cheers Rodney Happy to help Maurice

Hi Mike its not too bad - few 10mm bolts and then you pull the attached arm and float up out of the sump [ as far as I remember ] Maurice

Hi Mike Its under the alternator - a square grey type connector I have these available if this is your problem Thanks Maurice

Hi Mike sounds like a wheel bearing Maurice

I look forward to hearing that your fix works permanantly. Thanks for trying to devise a repair Hi I will leave the final repair Formula to Steve As to be quite honest my electronics repair is limited and your eye sight and a steady hand has to be Top notch for the soldering. Steve has finally hit upon the problem area and I am hoping he can spell the repair out in pretty basic Layman terms - Even for me ! As I break LS400s Some come in with partial back lighting or none at all or without the button illumination, so from my perspective it would be nice to repair these. Anyhow I am sure with Steves help all will be revealed shortly Maurice stage-1@tiscali.co.uk

Hi Simon Thank you for that pdf. Happy New Year To Everyone On LOC Hi Jamie Yes I have all locks, keys, door Looms available and of course many different coloured handles I think whats happened to yours, at some point the drivers door lock needed replacing The previous owner bought a second hand lock - probably from an earlier model which fits the handle - but the loom connectors are different so he just cut the connectors off. If you email me at stage-1@tiscali.co.uk I can send some pictures of the lock with attached loom Thanks Maurice It would appear that jockmonkey is missing the wiring to the door handle/barrel thus rendering the central locking unworkable. I thought that with a door card removed we could see just what it is that is missing. It sounds as if his door handle has been replaced without the necessary connections. Notwithstanding that he hasn't had chance to respond to my post earlier today, I'm not certain as to what he will need; it could be he has all the wiring and needs a handle, or the handle is fine and he needs the wiring, or he needs both. Until your post, I wasn't aware that the door had its own ECU. So in answer to your question, what parts are needed to operate the central locking with the key? The remote operation is irrevellant until the c/l works.