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On other Posts, I noticed members suffering the same problem as me with unexpected flat batteries after leaving car for a few days without a run. After some investigation, I found that the Smart Key system puts a drain on the Car Battery. The way to combat the drain is to turn off the Smart Key system and only use the Radio Signal on the key to open and lock the doors. To switch off the Smart Key system, go to page 53 on the car handbook and follow the instructions. Its a very difficult procedure, as you have to lie on your back and put your face into the underside of the console on the Drivers side. I was unable to do it because of age and health problems, but my son found the button and switched off the Key System. No problems with starting since that was done.

Hi guys, Hope I'm not too late to contribute to this post. I've had 2 flat batteries since just before Lockdown. Car only used a couple of times recently and high capacity battery fitted less than a year ago. Friend suggested that battery drain may be due to Smart Key system, where car is constantly sending out signals to detect Smart Key. Car handbook says that the Smart Key system should be disabled if vehicle not in use for long period. Unable to find the button to disable the Smart Key system. Can anyone suggest any remedies to this problem ?

I have been using Momentum 99 for some time now, but only on every third refill. It sometimes gives off a very strong odour. The Momentum is the same price as BP regular fuel in my area. Redex is only added when on special offer. Car passed MOT last month with no issues concerning emissions. Tester told me he had to carry out emission test again, as results were lower than expected for a 14 year old car.. Renewed my car insurance in June, and received all the usual quotes from price comparison sites as expected. Tried Direct Line and was offered same Policy for £25/year cheaper than any other quotes. Renewed Policy with them and had great customer service. Last week, decided to add one of my sons to Policy and requested a quote and expected my Policy to rocket in price. They quoted an additional payment of £8.98. I had to query this quotation in case it should have been £89.80. £8.98 was the extra payment required. Happy days all round.

Bought a can of Archoil AR2810 MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR CLEANER and used it as per instructions on the label. Easy to use with no great effort required. My 14 year old LS430 with 94000 miles had a coating of dark grey residue on the inlet side wire, while the outlet side was clean as expected. A few coats and it was clear. After a drying period in the garden and then a 15 min warmup, the car was ready to go for a test. OMG, the throttle response was so much different, that I narrowly missed driving into a neighbours fence. It caught me by surprise, how responsive the car was to my normal pedal pressure. The car was running well before the MAF was cleaned, but the difference is amazing. Next test is the MPG. I never rely on dashboard readouts as they are only a snapshot of driving conditions. I always run the tank down till almost empty and then fill to brim and record the miles covered when tank is almost empty again. It was not the cheapest cleaner on the market but well worth the money in my opinion.

Thanks very much for taking the time to reply to this enquiry, but I wish to hear from someone who has actually cleaned the MAF sensor on a LS430 and what product was used without any after effects.

Just been reading up on Preventive Maintenance and noticed some posts about MAF Sensor cleaning. Car is running fine with no probs, but never carried out a MAF clean. There are many conflicting posts about which Product to use, and which ones to avoid ( obviously the contact cleaners for lubrication are a no- no. ) The MAF sensor is easily accessed on the LS430 so a quick removal and clean is an easy job. But my concern is which product is best and will not damage the sensitive wires? Would love to hear from anyone who has cleaned the sensor and not had any problems afterwards, and which product was used. Or could it be a case of "If it aint broke, don't fix it?"

After posting recent review of fuel additives, just noticed that Car Tax will rise again next spring. The Government figures are based on previous data from other sources. Would it not be better if the car tax amount was set on the emissions as recorded at the MOT station? Food for thought.

I agree. It cant be doing any harm as I've used it regularly for many years and car has never failed on emissions. I recently found a blog on another site where a Biker dropped his spark plugs into a small dish of Redex and all the carbon crap fell off straight away, leaving them bright and shining. I am sure that the use of Redex will keep injectors and plugs clean. Have to say that I am not a representative or have any connection to Redex. This is my opinion only.

I know its a controversial subject, but would welcome any constructive opinions on the use of fuel additives. My LS430 with 94,000 miles, starts and runs perfectly in all conditions. The engine feels good and has no issues. Every few months or so, I tip a load of Redex into the tank, only because it costs £2 a bottle at my local shop and has always been around on forecourts for as long as I can remember (and that's a long time). Am I just wasting my money or is it actually keeping the internals clean? I use supermarket fuels most of the time, and at £1.27 a litre, who can resist it.? For longer journeys its always the BP super fuel. I feel guilty about putting cheap fuel with all its nasty extras into a V8 engine. I am happy to continue with the Redex, but if anyone has bad experiences, I would love to hear about it.

Check if one of the back boxes is very close to the fuel tank edge. On inspection it may look ok, but while driving there's a possibility that it will come into contact with the fuel tank and create the drone noise through the car.

I have mine on constantly connected to an S7. No problems at all. Incoming calls are clear and loud, especially when its the wife wanting picked up at Tesco !!! Incoming texts can also be translated to voice message, but system gets a bit confused with shortened text words and symbols and it often sounds like the message is coming from someone in Lapland..

Fascinating replies and a real eye opener!!!

Great Reply !! Found the valve, minus the cover. Much smaller than I expected, but it is the Low Pressure side of the system. Now looking for somebody with small hands and arms to top up the system. Many thanks!!

Found an old post from 17/05/2014 regarding a simple question about the location of the low pressure valve, to top up the aircon. On the first page of replies there were about 20 posts, but nobody could answer the question. Everyone wanted to talk about Halfords, ATS and various others, but there was no straight answer to the original query. There was a layout diagram posted, but that was as much help as an ice cube on a hotplate. Can anyone definitively locate the low pressure valve. High pressure valve is in front of the radiator. Any useful info would be appreciated. Thanks.

We had to attend a funeral last week, and while leaving the car park we were approached by a very well dressed elderly Gentleman who was not known to us. He wanted to talk about our LS430 which had the moonroof open and all windows down due to the blistering heat. He was very interested in our car and informed us that he was a former Lexus Sales Executive at a major dealership before he retired. Our car is on private plates, but he was able to tell us that it was a 2005 model, and in his view was the best ever model produced by Lexus around that time. Its very rare to hear a salesman praise a car unless he's trying to sell it to you. Some of his comments were "Solid build" "Exceptional engineering" "Built to last ". We arrived for a funeral feeling sad and pensive, and left feeling happy and uplifted. Long may it continue.

Decided to replace my front discs after feeling some vibration. Car only does about 4000 miles a year, so opted for budget replacements. On eBay found 2 Mintex discs for £61 and placed the order. Fitting and size was confirmed. Got the usual order confirmed email and later on received the normal order dispatched email from a UK based seller. A few hours later I received an email from the seller stating that order was cancelled because, ( and I quote part of it) "when we come to get the item off the shelf we have been unable to locate" and it was signed Thanks from Scott. Ok, lets move on and find another pair of brake discs. I found a similar pair of Mintex from a totally different seller in another part of UK priced at £64 and went through the whole ordering process again, and yes, the order was cancelled again after receiving all the usual order emails. The same email was received again from Scott saying exactly the same as the first order. I paid for both orders by Paypal and the amounts were refunded in 24 hours. I was starting to feel like my brake discs...just going round and round. Two different sellers in UK with the same email response and both Paypal payments made to the same account !!!!! Should I be smelling a rat here, or is it normal on ebay for a supplier to use several Agents to promote and sell their products???? Just catching my breath and sanity now before embarking on another adventure into the world of purchasing brake discs.

My code reader gave the following info....Code P0430 Catalyst System Efficiency below Threshold ( bank 2) which told me that the rear O2 sensor on the offside exhaust was detecting a problem in the exhaust gases after passing through the cat. The visual inspection at my local garage found a leak in the rear exhaust section. Got the leaking section replaced and fault code has never returned. The cat was not at fault but the leak was causing the problem and triggering all the warning lights on dash.

I had a similar problem on my LS430 (2005). All warning lights came on...red and yellow etc. Cleared the fault codes with my reader, but they appeared again after 50 miles. Main fault on my reader was an o2 sensor, but my local garage diagnosed a leaking exhaust system. Replaced the section of exhaust and never had the fault code again. A single problem seems to trigger numerous warning lights.

Forgot to mention that Garage said the old back boxes were original but nearing end of life. They asked me about both back boxes showing a large cutout and reinstatement being carried out sometime in the past on the underside section. It was nothing I knew about, but reminded me about previous posts where a spring flap on the inner wall of back box was subject to corrosion. This old repair may be linked to that problem where an attempt was made to free the rusted flaps. Last year I had error codes coming up occasionally telling me catalyst problems, and I cleared them, but they reappeared now and again. I was told to floor the throttle when starting up and it cured the problem. My local garage wanted £20 for fitting the exhausts, but I disagreed with them and ended up paying £30.

Hi All, Eventually got my rear exhaust sections fitted yesterday. Would have been sooner but got snowed in for a week. The LS430 is ok in snow using the Snow setting as long as you get some momentum and it will drive fine, but if someone in front slows down, you lose your forward motion then its a no go situation. Past experience has taught me to leave car at home in snowy conditions. Got the car to my local garage with replacement exhausts still in original wrapping spread across seats, so no idea what they looked like. Had to leave car with them so they could fit in with other customers. The garage is only a 2 man and his dog business, but used them before to my satisfaction. Picked up the car late Friday afternoon and the fitter wanted to speak to me. He asked how much I paid for the twin system? Told him it was £150 which included 7 day delivery from Poland. The expression on his face said it all-----"You have bought a great exhaust system at a good price". He commented on the quality and the good coating and said it was easy to fit with no modifications required. BUT !!!! Both tail pipes do not fit centrally in the arches of the rear bumper....they are offset slightly, but still fit into the gap. He was able to fit the old chrome tailpipe surrounds to the new exhausts. As my car is now 13 years old this was not a problem to me as its only a cosmetic change. Thanks to all members for their interest and advice.

My LS430 is booked in tomorrow (Friday) to have both rear sections replaced. Will post a report on the outcome over the weekend.

One of the back boxes on my ( 05 ) LS430 started to blow recently. My local garage suggested I replace both back boxes due to the age of the car (95,000 miles). They said they were happy to fit any exhaust part for me, as it was a straightforward job. They also suggested that I source two new rear height control linkage sub assemblies as the current ones were showing signs of deterioration and may collapse and cause a sunken rear suspension. Had trouble finding new linkages and eventually sourced a couple of genuine parts in USA at a reasonable price. They are only 100mm long and weigh 160g together. It took 14 days for the small package to arrive. Decided to go for the two rear exhaust systems from Poland as mentioned on this post. I had read about this supplier on earlier posts and decided to go for it. A well wrapped package arrived from Poland within seven days of ordering, and it weighed about 25kg, and that's delivery to Scotland !! I will get the parts fitted some time next week

Thanks for reply. F

After hitting a pothole recently only yards from home, my rear suspension dropped. My local garage found that the o/s/r height control unit was to blame. The problem was due to the failure of the lower bracket. The drop link from the sensor is connected to the lower bracket. The lower bracket had snapped due to wear and tear and the drop link was also showing signs of corrosion. Welding the bracket solved the problem and car is back to normal, but was advised to replace drop links on both sides as well as the lower brackets. Plenty of drop links available to buy online, but does anyone know the correct name for the lower bracket please. Unable to find it anywhere. Thank you.

It is intended to show that the driver is in full control of the car temperatures. The driver should not be subject to excessive temperatures brought on by rear passengers playing around with the controls. He is the person driving and must be comfortable with the temperature to avoid falling asleep at the wheel.