James Marks

It is about the magnitude of variation in torque, particularly in proportion to the total output, and not just the total torque output. You will also notice that the springs in the clutch plate protect the drivetrain from the clutchplate onwards, and in anycase, they are purely sprung, and not damped. The DMF, as well as furthering the efforts of the clutch plate springs, is also able to protect the crankshaft by reducing the fluctuating torsional loadings that would be incurred if the crank was just connected directly to a heavy flywheel. The DMF also has a damping element, to stop the sprung part of the flywheel from getting into resonance, and also allows the various resonant frequencies of the crank to be tuned away from the operating speeds of the engine. And yes, a torquey engine will probably have a higher magnitude of torque variation, particularly diesels which tend to produce more torque and so must have pistons pushing down onto the crank with more force, but this is not a given. A low power engine (particularly the current crop of three cylinder units about today) can still have a relatively large variation, especially when you take it into proportion against the total output, and so they will benefit from a DMF. At the end of the day, DMFs mainly came about with an aim to improving NVH levels, irrespective of engine power.

Power and torque is nothing to do with needing a dual mass flywheel - in any case you wouldn't want one on a really powerful engine because you would just rip it apart. It is just there to damp out vibrations from the crank shaft to make for smoother progress. The IS does definitely have one just incase anyone is still in doubt...

Might be a slow central locking motor/gunged up mechanism - it's possible that the car only flashes the lights once it has sensed that the lock mechanism has fully unlocked. This is purely conjecture though, but worth a look - see which, if any doors can be opened a few seconds after you hear the click and before the lights flash - if one is noticeably slower it may be the culprit..

There is actually a hole in the bottom engine cover under the tap, which I noticed after I removed it!!! At least removing the cover made it easier to get to the tap handle to open it anyway...

Of course fil can't be wrong, he's been a mechanic for 20 years as he says on pretty much every single post (though I'm sure there's one or two that say 25 years?). The Eagle F1 is a good tyre, certainly not the best but better than most. They're not overly expensive and seem to last well too. Perhaps fil just has an old Eagle F1 running against a newer tyre - good tyres always get worse as they age and wear, and can often end up worse than a brand new budget tyre!

Fair play for apologising, and for what it's worth I do agree with the points you were making - there is a lot of bad advice out there, and you're certainly right in saying if you need to ask how to do jobs like this then you probably shouldn't be doing them yourself :D

Wow, someone's angry... And why would putting a breaker bar on the crank pulley cause piston/valve contact? Yes, it's not an ideal method for undoing the pulley bolt, but it's not exactly the crime of the century and it gets the job done. And also, as you seem to be calling everyone a bunch of idiots, I thought I'd point out that the timing belt interval was not always 60,000 miles with people just muddling up the conversion for km, it really was 100,000 MILES but Lexus reduced it. Sorry to have to post this, but I seem to be seeing more and more people just leaving insulting and condescending messages (which I guess is a criticism you could level at this message if I'm honest) and it's not right.

Please DO check your timing belt while you're servicing the car. Yes, in most cars it's probably a waste of time, because it's difficult to see if a belt is going to have a catastrophic failure, BUT, on the IS200 engine it is very common for the belts to walk forward on the pulleys and wear the fronts of them off, and by the time some people come to change them, they get a shock to find a belt that's now only about 10mm wide (assuming it hasn't already gone). There are plenty of pictures of this on the forum. It is easy enough to check the belt - there is a small cover down low that looks like it clips off, but it's probably easier to remove the top part of the timing cover which is just held on by 4 or 5 10mm bolts. For something this easy to do, it's worth the 15minutes it will take just to check nothing silly is going on in there, if not just for peace of mind.

I've had exactly the same problem, as I'm sure many IS200 owners have, which was cured by cleaning up the hub faces before fitting the discs. In reference to the post above, as a mechanic, you should always, always be cleaning hub faces before fitting discs!, and it certainly can cause problems if you don't with corrosion, and indeed various bits of dirt and gunge which will have been caught there and disturbed during the removal of the old discs, not allowing the discs to sit flat against them. It is also common (but not always done) to put a light smear of copper grease on there as well (very light coating and smeared around to stop the grease itself holding the disc away too much!) to stop the discs from becoming corroded to the hub! Not trying to start an argument or anything here, honestly :)

The bulbs are just 12volt 3mm grain of wheat bulbs available off ebay for pennies, nothing special about them - eg ebay item number 400078371958 Just take the bulb holders out of the switches (I think they take a 1/4 turn and then they pull out - you may need some small pliers or similar to help lever them out - but they don't require much force so don't pull too hard!). You can then unwrap the legs of the existing bulbs from the holder, and fit a new one, trimming the legs to suit. The Lexus workshop manuals actually suggest replacing whole switches to rectify blown bulbs!, but this is definitely not necessary! The bulbs are available from places like maplins, and at dealers, but it is far, far cheaper just to buy a bag of 50 or so off ebay! And that way, when the other illumination bulbs go (which they inevitably will start doing once one does!) you'll have plenty in stock. You'll probably pay about as much for a bag off ebay as you would for 1 or 2 from maplins - and that's not to knock maplins as I do use them now and again!

Not a problem! You're not the first and certainly won't be the last! Glad you got it working. James

Have you got the air conditioning on?, because that will make one of the cooling fans kick in on many cars if it's not moving much - can't remember if the IS is like that though. Get your mechanic to check for exhaust gas in the coolant (I think there's a chemical you can add that does this) before definitely splashing all that cash out on an unconfirmed head gasket failure as well. And yes, IS's do produce a lot of steam from the exhaust anyway, especially now that mornings are starting to get colder and damper.

I think the 'power lock' button refers to the one on the driver's door that you can use to lock and unlock all the doors with, I know you do have to fiddle around with it at some point in the procedure. Hope this helps and good luck - for most people it takes several attempts to get the timing of everything right so don't give up hope straight away! James

Yes the mileage is stored in the cluster, and yes it will change if you swap the clusters. This is not uncommon, and its only really in recent years that manufacturers have started trying to get around this by storing the mileage in different ECU's - normally in several which the car then compares on start up. However, the IS200 is a relatively old car so there is nothing this clever in it. For those in the know, the mileage is stored in a 93c46 EEPROM microchip soldered onto the back of the cluster - it is relatively easy to unsolder this and connect it to your computer if you have the confidence! With the right piece of software to tell you what data to change on this chip, and an EEPROM programmer, you can program whatever mileage you want into it. This in itself is not illegal, as long as you are not trying to misrepresent the mileage to an unsuspecting buyer! For older second hand cars where the clusters may break, this can be useful to reset the mileage to what it should be when you fit a new/second-hand cluster. There are various companies on the internet (many UK based) that can do this work for you. Believe it or not, I'm not trying to advertise changing your mileage, its just that I've upgraded the instruments in the girlfriend's old Micra and I'm in the process of resetting the mileage to what it should be, and just thought I might as well clear up this issue!

I wouldn't support the car on the drive shafts unless you want bent driveshafts :P You can support the car via the differential housing though which is what I'm sure you meant - but make sure you have something else - probably under the rear suspension arms somewhere near the hub ends to stop the car wobbling from side to side and as a back up. As for blocks of wood - its fine to use them - they act as insulating blocks to help spread the load and protect the paint and flanges - just be sensible with them, and set up the stands such that if the wood does split, the car will still just end up on the stand!

It almost looks like he's just taken the outer lens off of the standard fog light (still leaving the projector lens thats inside and does most of the work) and then painted the surround to match the bumper. Looks pretty cool really

The earlier ones had a little button by the rear fog light switch, the later ones (from around 2001 onwards I think) do it automatically if you have the headlights on when you wash the screen - but I think they only do it every 2 or 3 presses of the windscreen washer. The change was probably to do with rules for HID headlights (with the IS being available with them as a factory option) which requires the car to have headlamp washers, and I think the rules require them to be automatic.

It hasn't got a towbar fitted has it? Because by law you need some sort of indication to show that the trailor indicators are working, either a light on the dashboard, or more normally (as it's easier to fit) a buzzer. The buzzer should only go with a trailer connected - otherwise it's been wired in wrong, or there's a short/dodgy earth in the trailer socket wiring somewhere. This is all assuming that you've got a tow bar, which on an IS200 is pretty unlikely! James

I agree with what's been said by most here - for those who drive with their foglights on, just consider this - when you see other people with their's on, do you generally think "wow, that's really cool", or is it the more likely option of "what a prat"? Yes, foglights aren't always dazzling, but they are more likely to be as their beam pattern is not tightly controlled and cut off like those from headlights, and there has been many a times when I've had to hit the brakes because I've been totally blinded by someone's fogs. Here's another thought for - when blinded by bright lights, most humans sub-conscious reaction seems to be to head towards it! so if you must drive with them on for no reason, please fully expect for someone to plough into you! That being said, I think the £30 fine was a bit harsh, a bit of a b*****king would have been more in order!

Some cars do have rechargeable batteries in the fobs - I think Mercs used to (probably still do!) that charge up when they're in the ignition barrel. I think some VW's have them as well, but not sure. As has been mentioned, they do eventually wear out - but you generally get a bit more warning when they're dieing, as they start losing their charge if not used for a few days - but at least once you get in the car they will charge up a bit and not leave you setting the alarm off each time you get in the car! It was mentioned about the engine turning over and not starting as well - I don't think this will be down to the keyfob batteries - most immobiliser chips aren't actually powered by a battery, they simply pick up radio magnetic waves given out by the transmitter/receiver aerial around the lock barrel, and there is enough energy there for them to kind of reflect back the code. In any case, you can still start the car even if you haven't actually turned off the alarm using the remote! The immobiliser chip is inside the remote part of the keyfob that comes out when you take the key apart though. The car not starting for a few turns was probably just down to it flooding itself as IS's seem to do every once in a while. I could of course be wrong here though, but that is the normal set up for most cars. If any one really wants to test it (don't all rush at once now...), try taking the battery out of the remote and then starting the car!

As everyone else says, it's pretty difficult in an IS200 because the electronic throttle has quite a bit of lag in it and the pedals are in the wrong place. My old Peugeot 309 was good for heel and toe - pedals in the right place (deliberate design!) and instant throttle response. For those doubters out there, it does have a place on the public road - it takes some strain off the transmission (but to be honest, in nrmal driving it doesn't make much difference!), but more importantly it keeps the car more stable if you're slowing down coming into a corner (though you could argue that really you should get all your braking done in a ruler straight line, and then be back on the throttle for the corner!) - by getting the engine revs matched, it allows you to lift off the clutch pedal straight away without having to faff around waiting for the engine to catch up, and it stops the car from jerking back if you release it a bit too quick - this makes it smoother and more comfortable for passengers, and helps reduce the risk of lift-off oversteer - quite a common occurence in a 309! Also, it sounds quite cool...

I generally get 25miles for each of the little markings on the fuel gauge - which would equate to about 500miles from a fuel tank. Best I've had was an average of 38mpg which would have given about 600miles to a full tank. I normally fill up when I hit the last quarter mark - that usually gives me somewhere between 360-380 miles for about £60

As for tyre pressures, most people run them at 35 PSI - the 33 quoted in the handbook always felt a little bit low to me For fuel economy, try making the most of the fuel cut-off on the over-run - when you're slowing down to a stop, don't do what most people do and just press the clutch pedal down and coast once you drop below about 2,000 RPM - instead, keep your foot off the clutch until you're down to about 1,000-1,100 RPM. This is because on the over-run (ie you're foot is off the throttle and the car is slowing down with engine braking), the engine actually cuts the fuel until you dip down to about 1,200 RPM where it starts feeding it back in again to stop the engine stalling if you do suddenly press the clutch. If you press the clutch and coast, the engine still has to consume fuel to keep it ticking over, as there isn't any connection to the wheels to keep it turning. In the higher gears, you don't get too much engine braking, so you don't have to worry too much about the car jerking when you lift off, but you still have to be careful, and don't risk rear-ending people in the quest for fuel efficiency (and watch the road, not just the rev-counter!). Since I've started doing this, it seems to add about 1mpg (mine normally gets about 33-34mpg from a tank), although some of this may just be down to me actually thinking ahead, and trying to back off the throttle earlier rather than just braking at the last minute - which is a good driving style to adopt for fuel saving - but again, don't risk rear-ending people - use the brakes if you need to!!!

Hey guys, been lurking on here for a few months now, and thought I should probably say 'hi'. I'm now running around in a 2000 model (just 3 months shy of the emissions tax :) ) IS200 Sport, ever since my beloved Peugeot 309 (don't laugh, was a great car! and sorry to say it, but would show the Lex a thing or two down the twistier roads!) got written off by some daft bint not giving way on a roundabout and driving into the side of it! It's fairly high miles, but still in pretty much mint condition, and is totally standard apart from a Grom Audio iPod link. I'm absolutely loving the looks, noise, and comfort, and for anyone in the Oxfordshire area, look out for an X-reg Royal Sapphire blue IS200 with a fairly young chap behind the wheel! Cheers, James