sir john

there was a piece on a tv program, Wheeler Dealer i think it was called, were the presenter bought a 92 LS400 and put IS200 wheels on it. If you have a dig about on You Tube you can find it. Its in about 4 parts but i definately remember him putting bigger IS200 wheels on it to "fill out the wheel arches". There are some good 90-93 LS400 tv ads from the states on there too.

The LS was laid up for a couple of months, August-dec, and has only done about 500 since. She ran faultlessly before but today there was a definate misfire under load, going up steep hills. It seems to happen at about 2000-2500 rpm. On a very steep hill i could feel it misfiring so i floored it. The old girl wouldnt pick up and go. She just wouldnt rev past 3500rpm. On the flat and motorway there is no sign of a misfire. When i got a chance on the flat i floored her again. She kicked down and was off as if nothing was wrong. In the past 12 months she has had 8 new spark plugs, new rota arms and disi caps. but somethong is amiss. Im planning to have look tomorrow, but for now, any thoughts.

You say that after switching the ignition off the car turns but will not fire up. I havent had the dredded starter motor issue yet but when i starter motor spins but fails to engage you can usually tell by the "Wizzing" noise it makes. If its turning the engine but not firing, id say it could only be 1 of 2 things. 1; poor fuel delivery. 2; no spark. Id look at fuel first as a week spark would normally show up as a car trying to start/fire.

I get Octane magazine. They are running a subscription promotion at the moment. Subscribe for 12 months and get an RSC1 Mainatainance Smart Charger free of charge. Brilliant magazine to. Full of quality and performance cars old and new.

Bit of a teaser this one. My 1st thought was the "boiled sweet" in the door bin. Been there, got the t shirt. As for coolant fluid; it will taste sweet. very sweet. but its not oily and i would be suprised if its getting into the car without other symptoms such as coolant levels dropping and over heating problems. Next question: has anything been sprayed into the door lock? De-icer or lube. Im wondering if you have just got the car back from a service. They may have over lubed the locks. let us know how you get on. this one is interesting. I hope you fix it.

Dont want to get into a bust up over this (and i think we both have half of the whole picture) but according to the DVLA the rules changed a couple of years ago and were backdated to march 2001. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_10012524

Very helpful, thanks My cooling pipe is really corroded so I plan to replace it with copper when the weather warms up. Do you know if it's 8mm or 10? Ta Phil 10mm without question. If i had had more time i would have soldered olives to the copper pipe ends and the cut end of the pipe i have just cut down to replicate the original. But the copper cooloing pipe behind the bumper i replaced about 18 months ago without olives and i dont think it has leaked yet. PS; when bending copper micro bore, "think and then bend". If you have to play about bending and rebending it, it will become hard and brittle very quickely and crack.

I havent owned either of these models. Mines an LS400 and very happy i am with it but if the Y reg LS430 you have looked at was registered before 1 March 2001 its road tax will be based on the old system and not on co2 immissions. If im not mistaken, this could set you back £435 for a LS430 registered after 1 March 2001.

Steve. I would guess that, as you have had the console out, that must be your starting point. Is it possible that, on replacing the console, one of the wire connectors was dislodged? The fact that it works sometimes would suggest a loose connection. Flip out the console and have a look would be my advice.

LEAK FIXED !! Having replaced the metal cooling pipe with copper and replaced the "O" ring my PAS fuid was still leaking. Investigations showed that this time it was from the metal pipes leading to the cooling pipe. Just as they pass through the front pannel of the car behind the OSF headlamp. If you have an early LS and and it still leaks PAS fluid after a new "O" ring and cooling pipe this might help. Take out the air filter box. Disconected the Electrolics plug from the air intake trunking and removed the trunk. Removed the OSF inner headlamp. 3 screws. Disconected all PAS pipe clamps, under the airfilter, going to the front of the car. Removed belly pan to access the( now copper,) PAS cooling pipe and removed it. Keeping the looped cooling pipe vertical will keep it full of fluid. Have a rag and container handy. Back behind the OSF headlamp, carefully pull the 2 PAS pipes rearwards. The one from the Pump Resevoir is easy. The other, from the steering rack, not see. Mine got a little bent. These 2 pipes are connected to the front cooling pipe by 2 rubber sections about 8" long. Only the metal pipe from the reservoir to the cooling pipe was corroded so i left the other in situ. The corrosion was obvious; all rusty and cruddy where the rubber pipe clamps to it. There were 2 clear holes in it when i iwre brushed the rust off. I removed the corroded pipe from the Pump Reservoir end so that i could trim it back with a hack saw. About 2" in my case. Pass a piece of soft wire through the pipe from the uncut end to the cut end. Attatch a bit of rag to the wire and pull through like a "pipe cleaner" to remove metal dust. I did this a few times to be sure. Put the rubber pipe onto the newly cut pipe and carefully feed it through the front pannel of the car. This is the trickiest part and why i had the Inner OSF lamp out. It gives you better access to giude the rubber pipe with a long thin screwdriver through the front of the car. From underneath the car, reconnect the cooling pipe to the 2 rubber sections. Because 1 of the rubber pipes is now a couple of inches shorter now i had to move the clamp on the cooling pipe along a bit but it all went back together okay. Reassemble everything up top. Fill reservior with fluid and allow to settle. Fill again if needed and spin the engine over for a second or 2. Check for leaks, belly pan back on, and thats it. No more leaking PAS fluid. Time taken: about 4 hours but i did have to saw one of the clamps off just behind the headlamp. And i had fun doing it. I always enjoy working on the LS. Hope this helps someone.

Keep it and get snow tyres. My mate put Avon Ice winter tyres on his BMW (sorry) 535 and he tells me its like driving a different car. Now lets dispell a few mythes. 4x4s on ordinary tyres will grip on snow. But the moment you touch the brake you have no advantage over a 2 wheel drive car. I know, i have owned 7 4x4s. Big 4x4s are next to useless compared to a small 4x4. I know, i have driven Discoveries and Range Rovers in snow. They are leathal when you touch the brake. Our Mitsi Pinin and Freelander are miles better. Far more traction on any surface. A Fiat Panda 4x4 is almost unstoppable. An X type feels like a Mondeo because it is a Mondeo. And having had 5 Landrover products i would not go near another one. Even if it was free. Really! My next car? Lexus RX. To replace the unreliable Freelander. And keeping the LS of course.

Tough dilemma. Your firm rear suspension might be lack of use or broken springs. They brake at the top so its not easy to see without removing the wheels. She will be sitting low if they are broken. £50 per spring and a day to fit. The wet headlining is most likely the sunroof but might also be a leak from the top of the windscreen. I thought mine was the sunroof but its not. The chrome and rubber strip had lifted from the glass thus letting the water through. Exhaust blowing is most likely the famous flanges between cats and "Y" piece/pipe. 2 tubes of plastic metal, a wire brush and an hour should fix it...for a while. For £200 you could (and should) be driving round in the best car in the world.

Hi again. It appears that the pipes can be replaced relatively easily http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=69654&st=0&p=735861&hl=steering&fromsearch=1entry735861 Hi you can use a piece of copper tube bent to the right shape much cheaper than the cost of a new pipe from lexus & it wont rust :D Slight misunderstanding here. I know about the cooling pipe behind the front bumper vents rusting through. I replaced mine with a piece of microbore copper pipe ages ago. This leak is from where the pipes from the pump go through the Front Body Pannel behind the OS headlamp, on their way to the steal cooling pipe behind the bumper. If you take the airfilter box out you can see where the pipes disapear behind the headlamp. Thats where mone is leaking. Thats where i thought yours might be leaking as well Steve. Im tackling it at chrimbo and ill post some pics and how to fix it. Might come in handy for others.

The heat shields are easy to spot. All they are are sheets of alluminium between various sections of the exhaust and the underside of the car. They look like footballers shin gaurds but bigger. Think Russel Crowe in the Gladiator. Theres a thought: Russel Crowe protected by Lexus parts. Thats why he was invincable! My name is Maximus Lexicus Heatshieldicum, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next. Oh yes, and i drive an LS400.

Steve, if you have fixed it and its still leaking you could have the same problem i have just discovered. RAn teh LS into the workshop. removed the air filter housing to get better access. Its not leaking from the pump as suspected. the pipes are leaking as they pass through the front pannel to the cooling pipes behind the bumper. Pipes are dry under the bonnet and running in fluid behind theh bumper.

If you changed the O ring and it's now even worse, doesn't that suggest that it was the O ring but it's either dislodged or it's the wrong one? Before I did mine I cleaned the pump all round and then checked every day so I could be certain where the leak was. I bought the O ring as a part on it's own and it seems fine 2 years later. Its not from the "o" ring. just had it in the workshop and its leaking from the pipes just after where they has through the front pannel. The pipes are dry under the bonnet but running in fluid behind the bumper. Looks like a bumper off job this chrismas. good thing is the alternator is dry....ish.

Hi If the alternator is performing ok, I would be tempted to leave it for now. If it fails or its appearance really has got the better of you then you should remove it from the car and take it apart with a view to replacing the brushes. I can't remember the stuff I used in the past - some long-winded name for an industrial solvent with a rapid evaporation rate. (Something like dextrochloride????). If I was going to do it today I would most likely use meths and a nail/toothbrush and finish off by blowing it with compressed air. If you try and clean it on the car, muck will get inside it and you will still have to take it apart. By all means gunk the outside of the case but definately leave the inside to meths or even WD40. The reason i want to take it off and clean it out is that 2 years ago this week my alternator failed. When i took it off it was full of PAS fluid. I fitted a new one but that failed within a few months. I had a friendly mechanic fit the second replacement (my shoulders were knackered at the time) and the first thing he said to me when i went to collect theh car was "it was full of PSA fluid". He had a sort of grimmis on his face. The PAS has leaked again over the last couple of weeks so i thought id take it off and clean it out over christmas: when ive stopped the leak.

Has anyone done this. My alternator must be soaked in the stuf and id like to clean it out. But the only thing i can think of is Gunk and surely that will not be good.

Just put the old girl back on the road and having a few problems. The most urgent is the PAS leak. Before putting her back on the road i thought id fix the very slow leak with a new Toyota/Lexus PAS pump "o" ring. I took it from the PSA pump rebuild kit. When i fitted the new "o" ring it looked a bit thin. When i pushed the reservior back to the pump it felt too easy to push back on. Now its leaking more thna ever. Thing is, i dont think its coming from the "o"ring??????????????????????

Sounds like a bargain to me. I bottled out of a full Lexus service and cambelt change when Lexus Carlisle quoted £950. and that was 2 1/2 years ago. Seems the resession has had an impact. PS; my Lexus was originally supplies by Lexus Wolverhampton. I think it had a different name back in 93.

Sorry to hear that you had to sell your Lexus. Hope things turn round for you mate. Im sure they will.

Looking on a coupleof internet sites i cannot find one that has winter tyres that fit the LS. Im searching 225/60 16. taxing the LS tomorrow and if the rover sells at the weekend i was thinking of fitting winter tyres. Mike...where did you get them from. and at £54.????

Ive just dug out the receipt for the Avons i had fitted. £384 for 4 including valves, ba;ance and environment charge. April 09 and 17,000 miles ago. I recon they still have about 2-3,000 still in them. Much better than the Dunlop SP sports that were on my c200 merc. 11,500 miles per set. But i did drive it like i stole it. 1 posting referred to Black something as a site for tyres. Thats Blackcircles.com. good luck mate.

Id have a cruise up to Cambridge if i were you and see the same guy Nitmoi saw. Sounds like a sound bloke to me. Just goes to show...one mans death trap is another mans dream machine. Good luck on friday steve.

Doent sound especially cheap or expensive. ita about what i paid for Avons. But i got a discount. If i were you, id look on the internet and ring round for the best price. They will always do a deal. All of them. Goood luck mate.