Malc

And again ............ this mini heatwave is maybe expanding the solder joints rather than shrinking them ...... the backlights have been as good as gold ! The cold weather, when the backlights vanished, maybe shrunk the joints ? Heat and drying out or heat and metal ( solder ) expanding versus cold and NOT drying out and cold and metal shrinking ! Well, I don't know BUT it's keeping good and well so far touch wood. Malc

The sad story of UK right now .............. and us LS400 owners have an inordinate requirement for fuel too ............ 4.0ltrs is a bugger BUT there aren't too many 2.0ltr cars of a similar age that do a lot better fuel consumption wise I'm sure ! And of course the LS400 reliabilty factor makes the maintenace costs generally so low too compared to other marques. Malc

Hi and welcome ............. go get your first LS, it's a wonderful piece of engineering and tremendous value for money with low cost entry and usually super reliabilty and low cost maintenance. Good luck Malc

Suspicious or strange, whatever it really is there is a simple answer to the problem and as I mentioned before: simply, pop the car into a local auction, with NO reserve, the car will sell and you will get the true market value ! Simple, effective and instant cash. No warranties needed and the car only needs to drive to the auction and around the block and out of the door once sold " as seen ". Been there, done it, worn the tea shirt ........ it works. Malc

Not much from a Dealer ........... probably 50% of what you paid if you're lucky in this present economic climate and you're desperate to sell. The option of going to auction is always there for a certain quick cash turnaround if it goes in with NO Reserve. Don't count on getting very much at all for a 7 year old monster no matter the condition and service history.......... this is now 2011. Malc

Update guys ........... strange, the past few days have been like summer here in Herne Bay Kent and wot do ya know ! Radio back lights have been as good as gold with all this heat .............. drying out seems to have helped them along ......... strange maybe ! Any thoughts please. Thanks. Malc

Hey, I use Wilkinsons own semi synthetic and it seems very much OK. My service guy thinks so anyway. The only liquids I've ever kept in my LS(s) is drinking water for those damnably long journeys . Never seen a need for anything else with liquids to do with the car ................ never needed any and never will ( hopes ). Malc

I would normally go with AcLex view too BUT the size Ah and Cold Cranking does seem a bit too lite for my mind too ! No harm anyway in going for something rather more robust provided it fits the space and the lugs are the right way around. The price of a meatier battery wouldn't be much costlier in any event, and £66 or so seems a good deal too. But of course it's your choice ! I remember when LS400 batteries cost a fortune; then competition set in .... . thank heavens. Malc

Hi, thought my one's are good for 60,000 miles and at £55 for 8 seems excessively inexpensive ! I'd have expected to pay about double that. I would think that torque settings would apply........ but I don't know. Good luck Malc

Hey, I would say 10 years / 100,000 miles whichever is soonest. That's what I'm doing with my 94 LS Malc

Wow, that is so fine ...... absolutely noway that I could ever possibly " fix " the problem personally ......... it would be oh so good to know of a kind soul who could achieve this for me when my time has come !! Malc

I rarely get down to that level and when I do panic ensues BUT I do know that it's about 60 miles left coz once I filled it up just as the light came on and I know the tank holds 85 lites. So, don't panic but do make sure you don't get let down. Reading that this year alone, breakdown call outs on all cars for running out of fuel is up by 40% ......... sign of the times and no money to feed the car let alone the family ! Malc

Delightful is the word. The originals are chip type and so small its almost impossible to solder them because even the solder moves them on the pcb. They are slso mounted in the worst place possibe to get access and they are very close to the main voltage regulator which generates heat which in turn gradually weakens the solder on the chips. The pcb is highly complex and ridiculously fine in detail although the lower face is easier to work with. The fix is melf resitors to the underside. I have pictures and have promised Maurice (Benfur) that I will write it up. I just want to make sure that the one in the car is fixed and not susceptible to any problem. The grief and aggro means you don't want to be doing it more than once. Trust me. I can remove the unit, strip it down, rebuild it and refit in my sleep Ive done it that often. Steve hi, Does that mean that you are very adept at fixing the radio backlight problem in my old lady when the time is right ? If that is so then I would dearly love to pop over to you ( from Herne Bay in Kent ) via my nephew in Newmarket ( is that not too far ? ) one day. No rush tho' I guess, it's just the first time it's failed me ! Best wishes Malc

Probably original equipment Built to last ! Malc

Can't believe a rear light bulb has gone so soon into the life of the car Think my first, and only, bulb went on my earlier LS at 150k miles and maybe 13 years Malc

Thanks for your help with this guys................... so far ................. I had Chris Vince sort out my dash lights a couple of years back ..... he seems to be a whizz with the soldering iron I think. Maybe I'll contact him to see what it's all about.... there's noway that I'm adept at doing this fix myself saidly. ALSO the other day I noticed that one end of one dash needle ( the speedo ) is starting to blacken-up ........ guess it's the same age related problems ? Penny for your thoughts please. Thanks. Malc

Not sure how I managed to get this post in this Section ...... sorry !! malc

Hi guys, For the first time yesterday the radio backlights didn't appear until about 15 miles into my journey ! Radio / CD worked fine, just no lights. The car hadn't been used since Sunday tho' and I just wonder if it's going to be a recurring feature or if it's just damp or whatever coz it's not been used for 5 days. It shoudn't be the bulbs coz they all sprung to life eventually. Any thoughts ? Thanks Malc

Probably nowt at all wrong with the car .................. driving style maybe and changes in that ......... I recently went on a Speed Awareness Course ........ £85 in lieu of a £60 fine and 3 points ...... and an amazing revelation it was too .................. quite enjoyed it actually ........... and simply, changes in driving style WILL make a significant difference to mpg. My LS400s have averaged 30+ ( just a bit more ) on a good long steady run at 70 - 80 and fully laden, down to mid 20's averaging and much lower with popping down to the shops, cold starts and never warming-up and the like. Condensation from the exhausts, well I guess you're maybe just noticing that ( but how you do so when your driving beats me ! ) Just normal mpg I guess. Malc

Just factor in the next cambelt change cost and the dealer will be falling over himself to part you from your cash ! AND you will have a wonderful car to last you for years to come ( if that's what you want ). Malc

Calming it sure can be .... and if for nothing else you should keep the Lexus ........ I had a journey from hell last year down to Devon from Kent, a 3 hr journey max took 7.5 hrs ! Just traffic queues on the motorways and without a stop ( apart from in the queue ) I felt just so untired and comfortable and totally calm when I arrived there. Maybe that's my age tho' If there's any possibilty of hanging on in there with the LS then I'm sure you know that you should.............. and that you will............... value is probably right on the floor now with fuel prices forecast to cause mayhem ............. and the LPG conversion will cost you as much again as you have already spent and as much as the car might be ( sadly ) worth. A dreadful decision for you and one that I'm so grateful not having to make at this time. Best wishes with it all. Malc

You will find that any other car will cost far more in maintenance than your LS would ever cost ................... one good reason to hang on to it if you possibly can. Tough decisions I know are here for you and I wish you well and hope that you make the right one Light footed on the accelerator might make a huge difference to the fuel costs too. Best wishes anyway. I can't imagine being without my LS Malc

A new steering rack at 142k miles .................. u sure ? beggars belief ! Anyway, Benfur on here will surely have one for you for peanuts by comparison .... he breaks LSs' Malc

That's weird .......... both Saga and the AA are owned by the same parent company !! Malc

I had mine repaired by Chris Vince on here 2 years or so ago .......... he spent an hour with his soldering iron on his work bench and charged me £75 .......... and it's a super job done ! He is expert at it and has done many of these repairs. Maybe, if you wanted, ask me for his contact details. He is based just off the M3 ( if I remember correctly ) and not too far from you in the geat scheme of things ! Bset wishes Malc