N55GUS

Thanks for the replies guys, I owned a 400 before, but that had to go for scrap when the alternator fried the wiring probably from leaking water from the water pump. Not neccessarily the answer you want to hear but I have an Audi A8 lined up, it is 1999 and about 50K on the clock, the car has lots of history and is a genuine and straight car, the previous owner passed away about 18 months ago. I am not ruling out buying a 430 or 460 in the future but we shall see, my other 2 cars were fantastic rides but also not without their problems, neither car owed me too much money and i had a lot of fun on the way. I have only made 74 posts in about 10 years but the forum has been a fantastic help to me, many many thanks.

I have a 2001 LS430 with 166K on the clock which I have owned for over 4 years. For the past year or so the car has been sitting a little lower than it should have done and the compressor had to work more, but the car drove OK with no noises anywhere. A few days ago I was driving at about 25mph when I heard a loud bang as though I had run over something, this was followed by another less loud noise. When I stopped I could see that the rear of the car was sitting exceptionally low as though the 2 rear springs had broken? I managed to drive home bouncily with the hazards on but no noise and the car is now in my drive. I am no Edd China and it sounds like an expensive job to me, given that the CD player doesn't work, the rear parcel shelf speaker does not sound good, the MOT is due in a couple of weeks and the tax runs out at the end of this month, I am thinking of calling it a day and selling the car for spares/repair. Do board members think that this looks a good option given that the car would struggle to make 1500-2000 even if repaired.? TIA

As the OP many thanks for your inputs on this matter, I was just trying to decide if a Solar Powered top up charger or one of those Jump Start units would be better for my needs, I think the cost of the charger would be about 50% of that of the Jump start unit. For those BMs with good memories I hadn't used to have a metal key so entry to the car when the battery was flat was a major problem. After speaking to the main dealers in the past the cost was going to be £120+ for a new keyless entry key including the metal part. When speaking to a different person at the main dealers almost a year later they said if you don't mind having 2 keys you can have a seperate metal key for £32, this has just helped me enormously having returned from a six week holiday.

I am thinking of buying one of those Solar powered (4w+) battery chargers which you position above the passenger air bag. Just a quick question. If the charger is plugged in to the cigarette lighter socket, will it still top up the battery with the ignition off? My own guess is No, because the ignition has to be on at least ACC for the lighter to work, if this is the case I could probably connect the two crocodile clips to the battery with the wires going through a gap in the bodywork via the passenger door. TIA and A Happy New Year to all Board Members.

I took my bulbs out in the boot, also I keep my courtesy lights turned off, I have enough battery problems already.

After the let down the other day, which was brought on myself by leaving the ignition key on 'ACC' for over an hour I decided to put the battery charger on the car this morning,. In less than 30 minutes the charger was showing the battery as being fully charged.

All very strange, after yesterdays little incident I drove home which is about 3 miles. I didn't bother using the battery charger when I got home, I came out a couple of hours later and the 430 started like a good un. Up the village (just1 mile) with headlights on, left it parked for 2 hours, started again like a good un. Again this morning no problems. The battery dies very quickly but also does not need much encouragement to work normally, it seems to function OK until a little bit of 'out of the ordinary' takes place.

The summer has been trouble free but my battery let me down again today, fortunately I was at the cricket ground and the window was down and the car unlocked so i was able to jump start it from my triple mower.(very easily) The reason the battery was flat was because I had left the ignition on ACC for an hour or more, to my mind this should not be long enough to flatten the battery. Also last winter I had probs, yet my mechanic friend had fitted a new battery and had the car checked by an auto electrician for any faults. My battery before this one was still under guarantee but when I returned it, the garage checked it out and said it was still OK. So I have bought 2 batteries in the past 3 years and I am still having problems. Ever since I owned the car I removed the boot bulbs for when the boot was open for a while, also i do not have the interior lights on when entering or leaving the 430, so there must be an underlying problem. I am losing confidence so as I see it there are 2 options, go to the main dealer service reception explain my probs and see if he recommends a 'super' battery to keep the system fully charged. Secondly there is the system suggested by maduggo which may overcome the problem. FWIW another LS430 owner who my mechanic knows has had problems with his battery etc in spite of having a new battery and the system being checked out. Any suggestions most welcome before I jump off the motorway bridge. :D

Thanks for the input Steve2006. 24 hours later and it's smiles all around, I have my MOT. I had a look at the lights without success so I went to a mechanic friend this morning, I showed him the handbook but he said that he was unable to see the parking light, we had a look to see if it was next to the front fog, but there was only one bulb there so we went back to the original plan. he removed i think it was 3 bolts and also a plastic type cover on both sides which have Philps head bolts. With some wiggling which the handbook says you may have to do we found that both bulbs were silvery looking, he replaced them plus all the bits and I was good to go. Just a quickie, I have an Advisory for a film on my headlight glass, not enough to fail this year but the MOT guy said new regs were coming in and it would probably fail next year. My mechanis friend showed me an advert in the local newspaper where a mobile service comes out and does the lenses for £30 so that looks like an upcoming task. By the way, I did about 3,500 miles in the last 12 months :)

I took my LS430 today for its annual MOT and it failed because the front parking lights (sidelights in old money) were not working, the rear were OK. The MOT guy said it may be a fuse but I think it is more likely blown bulbs, 5W?. On the near side I removed the fuse box and undid the one bolt on top of the headlight but I couldn't see the connector clip which holds the unit in place, I also had a look on the off side without seeing it, the handbook is not terribly clear. Now if you have read my past posts you will know that I am no Edd Cina, but any tips most welcome. TIA

I am not sure what the business was actually called, I went to the yard on Bayton rd Ind Est, the item was advertised on *bay rather than a site such as 247 spares.It is the bosses own car that he is going to break so if anyone needs any bits keep your eyes out on *bay then give him a call.

I now have my replacement rear light cluster £70 from the Coventry contact. :)

Yes mike, if that is the one in Coventry I am giving them a call tomorrow. I have had 3 replies from 247, a couple were over £100 but one was £33, I rang up but he said he had made a mistake, his was an is. The problem with 247 is you probably have to go through a 070 premium phone line. I may ask about the CD player as well :)

Mike, That does look like the one for my 2001 LS430, but at £120 sounds a bit expensive, although there are 2. I have posted a request on 247 spares plus I have a few others to call if 247 do not come up trumps. Also I may phone/pop in the Lexus main dealer to see what they can suggest.

Thanks for the replies Bluesman and cruisermark The Ebay item is the part that fits on the boot lid but the one i bust is the outer one, the bigger one. I don't think tape will do the job as I think some of the lens is missing and parts of the remaining are uneven. Maybe the Japanese breakers who advertise on the internet may have one, I will have to do some web searching. :)

I have managed to break the red plastic tail light cover of my Drivers side outside rear light, with my MOT next month I need to replace it. Is it possible just to buy the plastic part of the rear light or do I need to buy the whole unit? Any further info or advice most welcome.

Blaster, many thanks. Does the unit have to come out to gain access to this pinhole?

You will know that I have had problems with the battery on my 51 LS430 being dead as a dodo when the car has been standing at home for some time , and I do not have a metal key. In fairness matters have been OK for the past 4 months when using the car daily. If I wasn't going to use the car for some time could I de-activate the smart key system but later still open the doors with my smart key assuming that the car battery and key battery were OK or could I only access the car with a metal key? I am not too bothered about the theft risk angle at this time. TIA

Apart from the tittle tattle this thread and the one linked by Pepe have been very helpful to me. :) I have had a dead as a dodo LS430 at times and my position was not helped because I do not have a metal key. It seems to me as that my battery has to be 100% or else I am going to have problems. The winter time plus an idle LS will obviously test the battery to it's limit, FWIW I removed the bulbs in my boot a long time ago. My mechanic mate has put two wires from the battery to just under the tax disc so I can have an emergency charge but I suppose the correct way to about about matters is to go to the main dealers and have my keys re-coded with also a new metal key for this type of problem. I have just spent £300 on a new rad so it will have to wait a little longer.

OK, time for an update as I just got the car back today. The workshop who did the work are old school and know what they are doing and do not charge extortionate hourly rates. They ordered the rad on Monday afternoon and when it came on Tuesday it wasn't quite the same one, it had no pipe coming out of the top of the rad on the passenger side, apparently this goes to an expansion tank. This was in spite of my old rad being a Toyota one with the part number on the top. After ringing around and finding the rad in stock but not with the top pipe my mechanics eventually found the right one so now I am up and running. The final cost was £300 but that's what you get when something goes wrong with an LS, apparently main dealer cost is £311 just for the Rad, presumably plus VAT. All I will say is if you are in the same position make sure you get the correct Rad, cos even after giving the part number on top of my old rad, it still wasn't exactly 100%. My missus has a card displayed, it says,"If it has Tyres or Bollocks then you will have trouble with it" :-)

I have been driving around for over a year now with the 'CD Error' displayed, maybe one day I will be in a position to have it repaired. But not today after my new rad expense. :)

Thanks for the quick replies guys, yep, she is now off road until it goes into the adjacent workshop, I suppose the price is not too bad really. Obviously labour/coolant/oil etc on top but could have been a lot worse. In the 3 years I have owned the car this will be the first major expenditure so I can't grumble.

Yesterday my LS430 started losing coolant so today I went to see a mechanic who had a lift. He showed me that where one of the hose connectors goes in the bottom of the rad it was leaking. He told me I could risk driving a short distance, but then he spotted gear box oil in the water and told me not to go anywhere. Apparently where the hose connector goes into the rad inside is a nylon fitting of some sort and this was turning on itself if you know what I mean. So a new rad being fitted on Tuesday, any ball park idea of what the rad itself costs? 51 reg LS430 TIA

I will probably go to the Lexus main dealers this week and have the battery checked, if the battery is not 100% then at least with a Lexus supplied re-placement I should be OK, unless it is a security/immobiliser fault that is causing the problem. About 15 months ago the battery was replaced by one which is now my current one, the old one was deemed faulty by Green Flag or whoever, but the re-placement was obtained and fitted by my mechanic. On taking the original one back to the suppliers, they did all sorts of tests and it showed as not being faulty. I think a BM previously posted that unless the battery is 100% then problems will occur.

I went to go out Saturday night and the remote keys wouldn't unlock the doors, if you remember I do not have a metal key. FWIW the 430 had only been standing 24 hours and had given no signs of a poor battery, I went out in the Mrs Fiesta. So Sunday morning and my friends handiwork came to the fore, I reached under the passenger side wiper blade and pulled out two wires which were protected by rubber casing. I put my battery charger on these for 5 minutes and there was enough power to open the doors, then I took off the negative battery lead and charged in the normal manner. I am perplexed by this dead battery problem as the battery has been tested and is only just over a year old, maybe after reading the posts I need to have it re-tested, would a more powerful replacement help? Also I think the car was left with an electrician for a week when I was on my hols but they could find nothing wrong, would an ECU check be worthwhile? TIA