finest1

brilliant information! a non-stop shop, no more trawling through internet pages!

nice tutorial ! i'm to do mine soon, so that helps

a message to tiger fish:

is this tutorial the same for the MK1 discs? any variations ?

i think this should be moved to the maintenance section

:)

i second that! tigerfish has always been helpful !!

i see u got your car back on the road rick!

thanks for the replies people.

the scraping i was trying to describe is the wear indicator, which happened last year. when i checked the pads this time round, they look ok.

i do have brake disc cleaner in storage, are you saying to clean the actual silver brake disc with it?

:)

Are you sure the pads aren't getting low ? They're designed to start making noise when they are close to wearing out.

yeah, i checked them. when the pads are low it makes a squealing, scraping noise when i drive. the brakes squeal when i apply the brakes

hi all,

my brakes are squealing so bad its unreal!! last bank holiday, i took the pads off, and re-greased them with copper grease. within a few days, it went back to squealing again, almost like i never done anything in the first place. the pads still have life in them, so i'm wondering what can be causing it.

any help will be appreciated

finest1 :D

Hi, quick question for you lot. Does anybody know anywhere i could get a centre section, 2nd cat to rear boxes, from? other than Lexus? Its the part that splits into two, with the small silencers before the rear boxes. Any info is much appreciated. As much as i'd like to go custom i just cant afford it right now and looking for a stock replacement centre section. Even a good used one is welcome? Cheers

hi,

check out on eBay, and the internet. i get all my MK1 parts of there.

good luck !

thanks keith,

can you tell me where you got yours from?

thanks :winky:

Hi

I have had a conversion kit fitted to my car for the past 4 years or so.

Technically they are not legal but you can get by if you have a MK1 with projector lamps, your headlamp leveller works and your headlamp washers work.

I have 4500K as they are close to what the OEM standard was for the era so they do not attract attention.

As for the brightness compared to the standard Xenon bulbs there is no comparison as the standard factory set up for the quality of the car is pants.

I would get a kit as the prices have come down and they are so easy to fit being 'plug and play' and if you ever want to change back you can, but you wont!

hi all,

i was chatting to my brother the other day, and the subject of HID lights came up. he suggested i think about them. to be honest i haven't a clue what he's talking about!!

so:

1) what are they

2) why convert

3) can it be easily installed in a mk1 gs300 sport

thanks

:D

check in the maintenance section. tigerfish done a tutorial on something similar. it may help

same colour as mine !!

ask away, thats what we're here for!

check out honestjohn.co.uk

it will give you a basic guide what to look out for on second hand cars. ask seller for service history, that helps. you can always phone a lexus showroom, they will have a service dept, that may be kind enough to help you.

check out the approx selling price on parkers car guide, then you can judge what you deem is too good to be true.

hope that helps

finest1

hi all,

good news! i finally removed and installed the new gas struts! so i thought i'd do a write up and close this thread.

i spoke to maneesh and he gave me some ideas as the only option left for me was to cut the struts off. after speaking to maneesh i got thinking and thought i would do it a slightly different way than he did.

i borrowed a friends rotory machine which is similar to the dremel tools, as i was inexperienced with an angle grinder

BEFORE CUTTING, SAFETY FIRST!

prop up the boot with something sturdy

you will need safety glasses and dust mask

there maybe shrapnal, sparks and dust flying your way so you need them.

also make sure you have a junior hacksaw and cutting discs for the rotary machine.

sometimes the cutting disc may not be large enough to reach deeper as you cut through, hence the hacksaw, as you are getting nearer to

get someone to hold on to the boot lid although it's already propped up.

the picture below shows where i was going to cut through

after i sliced through it looked like this:

next thing to do is release the strut from the other end. some cars may have a plastic clip or something similar where you need to release it with a screwdriver. on my car a had a stud mounted on the chassis. the plastic clips does nothing. it could be there to stop it rubbing against the metal its housed in.

photo below is taken from a right angle, drivers side just to show you the stud is round, and needs no attention.

push the strut to the extreme right whilst wiggling and it should release. you do not need any tools or any force to do this. on the passenger side you push to the left

i then got a racket wrench with 12mm bit and attacked the bolt. now, this is very important:

the nut on the other side is welded on to the chassis! don't ask why. reason i know this is that i tried to cut it out with the rotary machine! and it wouldn't budge. so don't waste time with that.

when you are going to release the exposed bolt, you have to turn in the following manner:

on the drivers side you pull up. on the passenger side you pull down. you will need some force. be aware that as you

try to release it, it may bend the brackets it is bolted on. so use your judgement, don't worry if it bends a little. i squirted some WD-40 on the other side where the welded bolt is, eventually it did give!

here's a pic of those pesky buggers!!

as you can see, there is some rust on the thread,

i cleaned the mounting bracket hole with some WD-40 on a cotton bud. i also coated the new bolt with WD-40 too, and screwed in. ideally i would have liked the nut at the back taken off, but i can't as its welded. but im glad the nut still accepted the new bolt. there is no need to overtighten, i didn't as i may need to remove them one dayl

when you work on the passenger side, the strut will be a bit tricky to release because you have the fuel apparatus there, where on the driver side you didn't. this will restrict your movement. in the end i took a screwdriver, reached in to where the plastic clip is, and prised it out, while wiggling to the left. it will pop right out!

installation is the opposite, install at the far end, (fuel tank end first), then attach to the ball. i also lightly coated the ball with WD-40 too

to end with, a few thoughts.

if someone was to attempt this, using the info above, i would:

spray the welded nut with WD-40 as this is where the thread of the bolt is

attach the spanner, maybe attach a longer handle to replicate a breaker bar, and whack it in the direction advised above.

i was also thinking that because its attached at the fuel tank end, maybe that was causing force on the bolt which is why it didn't turn. anyway if that fails, do the above.

in my particular case, my boot does not glide open automatically once its released. i think its because the spoiler is too heavy. im not sure how the gs300 sport boot opened originally. (maybe someone can answer that) it would have been nice, but after you manually assist it up, it does glide up. the important thing is.....it no longer slams shut!!!!

many thanks to all that have helped, guided and advised !!! :)

what is the temp on your temp guage? is it high, even if the car has been running for a short time? if so, check your radiator. this happened to me last year. the heating was cold, and my temp was high. it was my radiator. it had a leak. check the hosing, make sure there's no leaks there too. you can also remove it in case its clogged up with something.

good luck

let us know how you do

hi all,

sorry to bump this thread, not sure if there's any rules bumping older threads, hopefully not.

UPDATE!

the gas struts arrived from the states, for some reason i didn't incur any customs charges, :winky: took about 10 days.

right i tried to have a go again, no joy. i really don't know how this thing is supposed to come off. anyway i have no choice but to grind it off, so here are the pics, and if someone could advise me where to attack! i was getting some help off anuj and maneesh, so hopefully they could help too!

left side

right side

feel free to mark the pictures above

finest1

can you remember how you released the plastic clip, petrol tank end

my thread may help

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=57160

mine came through from the states so im looking to install them tomorrow

finest1

hi anuj and maneesh

i can't remember where i saw it, but i remember reading on a lexus forum site, could be the US one, that if the nuts aren't torqued correctly that could cause wheel to bobble.

:)

hi all

when you scrap a car, don't you need the log book (V5) to prove its yours? if so the breakers are to be suspected to. if the breakers are not following the rules it would be good to know. personally i work with police agencies, so i can easily tell them about it. andy, do you know where the breakers are in london?

Hi- Anuj's brother, Maneesh here

Unscrew the bolt from the OUTER side...the inner side is a dummy nut and is bonded to the actual chassis. so the nut closest to the outside of the car is the 1 u have to remove.

I couldnt do it in the end so got it grinded off.......Ill try find the link now for the 1s I bought from USA. They are amazing!! I have a GS300 sport as well by the way

EDIT-heres the link http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...c=52680&hl=

2nd link does not work, ill take a look on ebay now...I wouldnt get them regassed, just get new 1s!

thanks for your reply. just to clarify, are you saying i should be dealing with this nut? you can't see it in the pic, but there is one... see pic

obviously you too had problems removing it.

please find an updated link of the boot strut, and let us know if you remember paying extra import charges. it would be good for future reference

many thanks

:)

Good price

Don't spill any pouring it in as " Every little helps"

I am running mine on Texaco Havoline fully Synthetic 5W30 this is going for around £15.00 for 5 litres at Morrisons Petrol stations " Spend a little drive a lot!" oh no that's Aldi!

Just noticed your username do I take it you work for Tesco or is this their " Finest" Oil!!! wouldn't want to try their "Value" oil brand but it's ok for frying chips!

LOL ! steve !

i just realised my name is linked to that tesco brand

nope don't work for them. that's a good deal you got at morrisons, thats better than tesco, 10 ltrs for £30

oh i forgot to add.

what if i removed the far end of the strut from the retainer clip ( the end at the back of the rear passenger seat) and then used that as leverage to pull off the ball end.

what do you think?

No idea mate. I can take a look at mine over the weekend when I am back where the "dead" car currently resides.

great thanks rick

i'll enjoy the rest of my annual leave and i'll leave it for another time

hope you get the car up and running soon

:winky:

oh i forgot to add.

what if i removed the far end of the strut from the retainer clip ( the end at the back of the rear passenger seat) and then used that as leverage to pull off the ball end.

what do you think?

hi all

i thought i'd give you and update.

it seems that popping off the strut would be the next option. i checked it out this afternoon and there is movement in the ball end. i put a spanner and tried to pull it out. in the end the force was bending the actual hinge! (earlier pics).

so, question is, what is the best way of popping them off , or how can i keep the hinge from bending out of shape?

thanks

:)

hi all

just an update.

i went to pick up the oil today. it came very well packaged, even with security tape over the lid of the actual bottle. 2 ltr size is very handy and easy to carry, especially when pouring, and for those that have ailments with their upper limbs.

3 x 2ltr = £32

well done tesco!

:)

hi mate when i helped my brother with his i remember a bolt being a pain. after trying everything in the end we had 2 grind it off

anuj,

did you get a replacement nut easily, ie, just a normal nut from a hardware store? or did new replacement nuts come with the new struts you bought from the US? if you did get replacement nuts with the package, are they just normal ones? i know it sounds stupid, but i have to ask! this thing is driving me NUTS !! (excuse the pun!!) :D