soundchaser100

Hi Steve, here's a picture of how your old silver bonnet looks on my black '96 after I resprayed it and detailed the rest of the car. Paul

The end of my Temp gauge needle has been dark all the time I have owned the car (7 years) and has never varied in all that time. I decided to let that particular "sleeping dog" lie rather than risk causing a problem by dismantling the dash, Paul

Agree completely with you. To me, defacing a LS400 in this way is sacrilege. Its a V8, its supposed to be expensive to run. Paul

Well she passed her MOT without even an advisory at Lexus Chester last Thursday. Strangely, at the last MOT ( at Hi Q) I was told that there was play in the rear O/S wheel bearing. No sign of it now, even though I've done 8000 more miles ! Anyway, we had to go to Essex for a funeral on Tuesday, decided to drive there and back in one day. Filled up with Shell 97, did 453 miles on the tankful (no LPG on this car) and refilled with 68 litres. That works out to 30.2 mpg, quite a lot of it between 70 -80 mph. I'm pretty pleased that a 4 litre, 17 year old car with 114000 on the clock can return such good figures. Paul

Bit confused here, Steve. Do you mean the Upper Control Arms ? and what do you mean by "wrapped a spanner around them" ? My MOT is on Thursday at Lexus Chester and I am expecting them to tell me that my UCAs are worn as I have been getting a slight knocking when I hit potholes etc. I thought the only cure is to replace the UCA. Paul I was humouring Ambermarine from post 7 take it as a double entendre if you would :) The knocking can be caused by either the lower or upper ball joints, what happened with mine is I replaced both lowers about 2 years ago due to excessive play and this year I replaced the passenger side upper/wishbone/UCA due to excessive play in that. The lower joints are seperate units held in place by 2 bolts and then you have the actual ball joint which is a taper fit into the lower hub and then held by a 17mm nut, the trackrod end also has to be removed and then refitted onto the new bottom ball joint. UCAs are the top wishbones which have the upper balljoint attached, with Lexus the ball joint cannot be removed from the wishbone so the whole lot has to be replaced as one item. The only way to be sure is to remove the wheels and rock things around. The brakes can also cause a knocking noise if the caliper pins are dry. I'm hoping to do a deal with the parts dept at Lexus Chester. I will offer them a lower price for the UCAs just to get them off their shelf, nothing to lose as I want to replace them anyway but don't want to pay the daft price Lexus ask. Paul

The MOT is set for 11.30 Thursday Morning. Be good to meet another Lexus nut, we could have a look round the car lot and pick a nice LS430 for me! See you there, (and anyone else who wants to turn up). Paul

Bit confused here, Steve. Do you mean the Upper Control Arms ? and what do you mean by "wrapped a spanner around them" ? My MOT is on Thursday at Lexus Chester and I am expecting them to tell me that my UCAs are worn as I have been getting a slight knocking when I hit potholes etc. I thought the only cure is to replace the UCA. Paul

There are 2 sensors, one on each side of the dashboard just next to the windscreen. The LH one is the solar sensor proper which detects how much sunlight is falling on the car to assist the aircon ( as described above), and the RH one is a simple light sensor which tells the lighting system when to dim the display (as long as the panel light rheostat is not set to max). It also turns the lights on automatically if you have that system fitted. Paul

The answer is simple, pretend you are driving an Audi or Merc and then you don't have to use the indicators at all. None of them do !!

Its one of the reasons I drive a 4 litre V8. I even have Peugeots and Corsas trying it on here in Cheshire. It amuses my wife no end as they disappear from view behind us, so much so that even she has started burning off boy racers if they even think about pulling past at the lights. I think I need to think twice about lending her my car.

You have to have a cut piece, as the boot hinges get in the way and you have to thread the seal round. I bought 4 metres just the other day, as advised on here, and it isn't long enough you need 5 metres.

I read somewhere that it ACTUALLY SAYS in the Audi Owners Manual, " congratulations on your purchase of an Audi, you are now permitted to drive like a tw*t"

I would never consider converting to LPG as I would probably never get the money back on my mileage. However, I really don't worry about the cost of running a Lexus, mainly because my wife's car (Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 Litre Diesel Turbo) uses so much fuel that mine looks like a moped by comparison! Paul

Er, what does DHP stand for

It would be better to ask some people who actually knew something about cars

No problem, I think I'll take it off anyway in case mine ever gets vandalised. paul

The mirror doesn't tilt in reverse on a MK3, but I'll happily remove it tomorrow and send it to you. (As long as it's still there, of course!) Paul

Bluesbreaker, I am visiting the scrap Mk 3 LS400 tomorrow. Will a Mk3 mirror fit your Mk4? If so, do you want me to get the nearside one for you. It is black, also is it much of a job to remove?

I have always liked the look of the LS400 much more than the 430, but as has been said, the driver can't see the outside of the car so it doesn't matter too much. As regards calling a Lexus a "Mercedes clone, well the Lexus would have to break down much more often to come close. Have a look at the MB Club website. The range of faults those cars come up with beggars belief! Paul

Notice it hasn't had a cambelt change, also that is a four speed like mine. Paul

Get hold of a multimeter, set it to show current (amps), then disconnect the live of your battery. Put the multimeter in series with the battery terminal and the live (red) lead to the car circuitry. Lock the doors and the meter will show you how much current is being drawn by the cars electrics. Paul

Oh.... is that what that is.... by the way there should be a window sticker to warn would be thieves that the radio is coded. Paul

Blimey, how much money have you got?

The mirrors on my Mk3 1996 LS400 are definitely photochromic, I replaced the passenger one when I bought the car 6 years ago with a Lexus one. £200 approx.! Paul

I amazed that the only difference between a Vauxhall and a Lexus is the amount of luggage it can carry !!!