kweilo

Heater matrix. I'd checked the carpets - completely dry. RAC chap was utterly baffled as well - no pressure in the system and coolant was disappearing mighty quick. He went right underneath the dash, pulled back the insulation and whatnot... and sure enough there was water a-plenty. Can't drive it - losing water this quick and 165 miles to home isn't an option. Options for heater matrix - any old garage or Lexus job... or a home-fix? As for the ammonia smell, he was stumped - reckons there was an additive in the coolant at some point. I'm still baffled on that one.

Hope it is - bloody raining and I'm in a suit so can't check. Hopefully RAC will be able to have a look - I checked the exhaust earlier and it felt like it was pumping out at a normal rate etc. Nigh on impossible to diagnose with basic tools in the dark - so it'll be a transport back to London and then a bit of guess work before giving up and going to a garage. Bah and humbug!

S***!!! Driving on the M1, mist got silly and then ammonia-ish gas starts pouring out of the vents - must've been loaded with water vapour as I could *see* it. Stuck at Woodall and waiting for the RAC now :(

Probably time for a trip to the garage I guess :(

Did exactly that today, during a trip across from Manchester to Sheffield. Almost 100% certain it isn't that - had serious issues keeping the car free of mist - and I'm almost certain there was fluid being misted on to the windscreen at some point. Air con looking like the major suspect at this point :/

Urgh - that'd be a real ballache! It was absolutely fine this morning (well yesterday morning) from London - Lancaster. Then this silliness on the drive back down south. I'll see what it runs like in the morning - might be an RAC job - can't be driving around gassing myself to death!

I've seen the topics about AC being musty / stuffy / generally nasty. Well there was a smell coming through my vents earlier that nearly knocked me out - like smelling salts but heavier, maybe like ammonia? It must've made me go a bit funny because I didn't actually think 'whoa there chap, stop and get this looked at' until I'd driven from Lancaster to Manchester. Now I'm not an idiot on the roads, when I'd had fresh air and realised how strong the smell was, I almost kicked myself. So, ammonia smells, folks... seems to be worse with the heating running hot. I figured maybe coolant or something to start with, but coolant doesn't smell like smelling salts or ammonia... Any thoughts? 52 plate IS200SE for the record!

Have you had any of the other lights start flashing like a Xmas tree yet? If so, it could be water is getting into the junction/fuse box in the driver footwell. This happened to me about this time last year after me had alot of rain. Nothing else has gone crazy, not has anything gone weird since Tuesday night. It did bucket down that night - probably worth an investigate. Cheers!

Random - it hasn't happened again all day, despite a good few hours driving. I'll have the clocks out when I next get some free time.

Ok, maybe not crazy... but I'm still mighty confused. The coolant / engine temp guage is swapping between medium and freezing, and the fuel guage light is flashing as if I have no fuel, whilst the dial has disappeared off the end of the scale. I turn off the ignition, restart, and we're fine for a few minutes. Then, everything goes nuts. Er, any ideas, anyone?

I got the amp bypass in - had to splice 'n' dice the yellow wires, the autoleads leads (saying that in my head sounds terrible) are still being shipped with incorrect fittings. Thinking about it - today when I was in the car the clock backlight wasn't on, so maybe I'm just going bonkers, and forgetting the clock will illuminate when it is dark?

Howdi folks, Further to a thread elsewhere, I ended up pumping for a Kenwood DNX5240BT, thanks in part to a stunning deal and (no joke) some outrageous physical comedy from the sales team at the Car Audio Centre in Ilford. So, I've got the unit installed, but I'm pondering (and waiting) before running the GPS antenna and Bluetooth microphone leads. What have you folks done with yours - are there any suggested routes I can go for. IS200SE, 52 plate, if that helps. Also, despite having the power sequence (ignition, engine) working fine, I've got a permanently lit clock when the key is in / engine is running. This isn't the right behaviour, so I'm confused as to what is going on. Oh, and getting a dimmer feed - is this still (as per - this thread ) ok to take off the old harness? Given that the other end of that harness is now dead, I don't see how this works - or do the cables split somewhere before reaching the amp (which I've obviously removed now). Advice and comments appreciated, thanks!

Well, I'm a techie, and therefore 'I can' is pretty much my only reasoning. A bit of good fortune left me with some excess cash so something 'for me' was the order of the day.

Not cheap is an understatement... £550+ for a base one of their range. That said, they do look mighty fine... Tempting, tempting!

Howdi all, I'm getting the dreaded ERR3, so it is time for an upgrade (03 IS200 SE). I've got the fascia and amp bypass on order, but I need a wee bit of advice, if ya'll would be so kind? I have an iPhone 3GS and often use the GPS feature to track my routes as I go (I'm a geek, and love looking at pretty googlemaps of my trips!). Ideally, I want a stereo with a rear USB port, so I can run the connector cable up to the dashtray, and leave the iPhone there connected to the stereo and tracking GPS, all whilst charging and playing music. Obviously, front USB ports are fine but then I'd have leads running up to the dash tray, thus slightly ruining the idea of a stereo with iPhone connectivity. That said, I quite like the idea of a double-din screen with DVD functionality as well. But finding the right stereo, with bluetooth as well for phone calls, is mighty tough. I do like the look of the Pioneer AVH-3200BT (Link) but it doesn't have a rear USB. Does anyone have a double-din DVD / touchscreen, with rear USB and Bluetooth? Or, does anyone have any recommendations? My budget is roughly £500, tops, although less (say £300) would be much more handy. Thanks to all for your (future ;) ) help!

Right, so there I am, sitting in chilled comfort last week. And then... I warm up. Can't feel the engine picking up / dropping off when I hit the air-con switch. Pull over, disaster: air-con belt has torn itself to shreds. Identified the tensioner pulley as the cause: damn thing is completely stuck fast. Lexus Hatfield confirmed this, and arranged for Lexus Southend to get the parts and everything was hunky dory for a replacement job this morning. Except when I turned up this morning, they'd ordered the parts for an RS300. Bloody shambles! They had a look anyways and said it'd take at least an hour and a half when the parts arrive, due to the tensioner pulley being stuck fast. Sod that: I've just taken it off using 'some force' and a crowbar. Since I've now done the hard work, I'm figuring I might as well just buy the tensioner and belt and replace myself next week. Anyone got any thoughts on that? Cheers! (and yes, this is THE worst week to have this happen. truly, I'm melting!)

The car park behind Southampton Road, just south of the flyover where The Oracle is; in theory it is private parking. No CCTV though :(

Cheers for your input guys. I had the assessor over today from Billericay Coachworks - and because the chances of getting a pay out from the guilty party's insurance are slim, they've offered to do it privately for £200 all in. The guy seemed fairly knowledgeable (mentioning how they'll remove and spray because of the parking sensors, disconnecting everything etc) so I think I'll stump up the £200 cash and be done with it. I'm hoping the light cluster will be sortable with a decent polish / scratch remover... Thank heavens pay day is only a week away!

Yup - have done, and provided pictures etc.

6 weeks in - and my first prang in the car. Left the car Friday night in Reading in private car park - came back Saturday morning to find a 6" x 6" mess of scratches (one part down to the black) on the corner of the rear bumper. Mild scratch on the light cluster too (almost wing mirror height). Went hunting around the car park and found a car with damage on the front left, metallic silver paint parks. It was a maroon Kia (an awful POS) which conveniently matched the maroon streaks on mine. So I've got photos and what-not and reported it. Now, my excess is £500 (to make my insurance a tad more affordable)... If it can't be proven what do you guys think? What would a minor repair / respray cost (roughly) - it might make might more sense to do it privately. Oh, and anyone in Essex recommend a good bodyshop?

Looking very tidy for a Y plate... Very tidy indeed - can barely see any stone chips etc!

I've seen a lot of comments about the handling being hard to get to grips with. This doesn't make any sense. As I've always maintained; 1. A good driver will push a car to it's limits. 2. A bad driver will get pushed to his/her limits by a car. If you are shredding tyres *that* quickly then something is seriously a-miss with your driving style.

Well I've only been driving mine for a month, take this with a pinch of salt. Then again, I've racked up 2000 miles in various conditions, so I guess I've got a feel for the car now. I've only really felt the car go a bit wonky once, and that once was enough to get the traction control light flaring up. Wet day, running at about 25mph, kicked down a gear and gave the accelerator a nudge just as I was passing over two manhole covers. Back end went a bit sketchy and the the traction control did it's thing. Other than that? I've felt planted and safe the whole way through. I'll certainly say that the IS200 feels a lot more planted than me old 318!

A silly question... that was absolutely spot on! Swapped directions and bang... I have sidelights. Now as to why the original bulbs where not working... I'll never know. Legendary mate... thankee! :D

Yes matey - I've even tried swapping them for a set of LED ones that came free with the HIDs (because they mucked up my order and it was delayed for a few days). Ok check the fuses then like Chris says both footwells for the boxes but i'm pretty sure there in the drivers. Just 1 thing tho wont the fuses be the same for the headlights as a whole rather than seperate for Side/Dipped/Main? I've checked the fuseboxes under the footwells and there is nothing of interest there. The engine bay box has a fair few fuses for headlights... but nothing that seems to refer to just sidelights. its deffo in the drivers side footwell,iirc its the bottom one in the middle row Well, I've checked the fuses as best I can at this hour, and it all checks out. Next stop... relays?