mantior

Alright mate I've got the same problem on my MK1 - it's got 2 gas struts which are supposed to help the lid on its way up and slow it on the way back down, but like yours mine are past it. I believe you can get a set cheap-ish off ebay (less than £100). I don't ever use my boot unless I'm picking someone up with bags so I'm not all that bothered by it - yet! Hope this helps. Cheers mantior

Not so sure how they calculate these prices, but as I always say you can't expect to buy this sort of car and and expect parts to cost the same as they would for a mondeo. The only way I can see around it is to strip it out of the vehicle and send it off to somewhere like www.pastparts.co.uk - can highly recommend them for any hydraulic cylinder rebuild.

I've just stumped up £250 for a pair of these bad boys from Lexus....anyone done a fitting guide for these? I thought it'd be simple but I checked it out and it looks like subframe out job! Not for my driveway then

[ Hi, If the tracks are burnt THAT badly, I would proceed with caution, it would seem to me that there is a bigger problem than just overrated bulbs, surely the track would just rupture at the weakest point, only if there was a big current surge (lots of amps) would the track be 'blasted' away? Many years ago before I knew better I had a different make of car (a ford) and it was common for the tracks to break on the flexible PCB behind the dash, so I have experience in repairing these things Good Luck Nige Fixed! The tracks were badly burnt but not non-existent, just not attached (only 2 of them). Smply ran a wire to each of the affected bulb contacts, put it back together and it worked! Didn't expect it as I'm not confdent about my soldering skills, but it seems to have done the trick! Cheers for all your help folks Mantior

Great minds think alike! That's exactly what my first thought was, but the entire track has burnt away and left nothing (not even plastic backing) behind to solder to! Have tried all the scrappies I've ever dealt with over there and none of them can guarantee me that the clocks are 100% working. No-one on here breaking a GS? Stuff it, I'm going out to the drive to rip the dash out and see what I can make. Will let you know how I get on Cheers Mantior

Cheers ears! It's no big deal swapping the circuit board over - It's just that I can't tell when I'm buying a speedo off a scrappy over your way there whether the circuit board hasn't already burnt out! Would also help if some of the people that work at these scrapyard "call centres" had either a) an IQ above 48, and B) grasp of the english language! ***** I got frustrated with them! Any of you guys happen to know of a good cluster going anywhere? Cheers mantior

Hey folks I've had my 96 300 Sport for a couple of months now and I'm pretty happy with it (considering I paid absolute scrap money for it) The story so far: Bought with only half and exhaust system (other half consequently dropped off whilst driving my parents to the airport (slightly embarrassing) but I had the whole system custom made to look and sound factory spec (£350 was a bit better than the lexus price!) This now knocks a little on the belly of the boot but I'll tweek that when I get the weather. The main problems I'm struggling with now are: 1) Only half the speedo panel backlight works - luckily it's the speedo side that does work. So I rooted about on here and found out that the bulbs are odd 14v jobs - SO I ordered a full set of backlight bulbs from Lexus, whipped the instrument cluster out and replaced all the bulbs, and I am pleased to say that this - made no difference whatsoever. On closer inspection 2 of the tracks on the circuit board-flexy type thing have completely burnt out (probably becuase a previous owner unknowingly fitted incorrect 12v bulbs? Anyway I went on the hunt for instrument clusters around all the scrappy websites - they can get me one but can't guarantee it works fully or in some cases can't tell me what mileage its reading. Wouldn't mind if I could just pop round there to take a look but I'm stuck on this here rock in the irish sea and there ain't no GS300's breakin over here. 2) Front Driver's side main speaker does not and never has worked. This is really annoying, but I guess this could just be a trapped cable? Curiously I've heard that the optional in car telephone which my car has would cut out that speaker or something along those lines? Not so sure where to start looking at that one. Also I'd love to get the in car phone working for pure comedy value as all my mates think it's absolute pure comedy having a phone in your car with a big curly cord on it! Sadly I thing the main phone bit is missing. I was also struggling to get them blasted lower track control arm bushes as no-one seems to want to send them outside of the US, but I've bitten the bullet and ordered new arms from Lexus - the only saving grace is that at least I get full trade discount at my local Lexus garage. Apologies for the rant but I've been storing this up! Can anyone give me any advice on the dash lights and the speaker oddity problems? Cheers Mantior

Lol, certainly not most of its life... do tell about your link to this rock, everyone has a tedious link to the Isle of Man - even if you don't know it yet!

Hey there folks Just joined recently after buying a 96 GS300 Sport, nice motor for the sort of money I paid for it. Handles better than I anticipated, but as expected I need to do some work on the suspension (front lower TC arm bushes + possibly ball joints) How well are the Sports meant to ride? Mine seems to crash over uneven surfaces quite badly, partially due to the problems mentioned above, but I think it's either under-damped or the shocks have given up the ghost, which they have every right to at this age and mileage (125k) Cheers ears mantior