Nottingham Lad

Thanks Steve, never thought of that. Also was wrong to say it changes into second gear. Should have said it changed gear. Presumably from Neutral to First. Roy

I live at one end of a village at the top of a very slight gradient. As I move off the car moves very slowly down the hill without me using any acceleration and I keep a check on it with the brakes. When I am on the flat through the rest of the village the car seems to run itself with minimum use of the accelerator and occasional check on the brake. I’ve often noticed this but never given it much thought. Today I did a trial. On what seemed a perfectly flat road I sat with the car in neutral. I then put it in gear and without any accelerator the car gently moved away (as you would expect) and I watched the speedo and it gradually accelerated and changed into second gear and carried on at around 22 mph. All without me touching the pedals! Then I had to move on because of traffic behind me. Does this mean my tickover is too fast and can this be adjusted? Presumably I must be regularly wasting petrol by using the brakes more than necessary? Roy

Following recent discussions on charging batteries which go flat if the Lexus is not used for a while. Bought a new charger today from Lidl. Looks quite technical and capable and is very compact. Instructions say that you should disconnect the leads from the battery terminals on the car before attaching the charger leads and charging. Doing so would presumably lose the Radio Code (if one is set). Is this a normal thing to have to do or is the manufacturer just covering themselves in case a freak surge damages the car?? Certainly not something I did on the old charger. Roy

Cripes, Can't believe all the possible aggro about changing a battery. Obviously I am scared of losing my radio code but I don't have a remote key so the alarm shouldn't be a problem. Actually, I don't think I have one. I certainly don't have any means of setting it on or off. All I have is a bog standard key and Lexus supplied me with a copy of that. I really must have a look for the klaxon when the weather improves. I only use the car for leisure journeys and joyrides so I think I will take the earlier advice and just charge it up if it won't start. It only takes about ten minutes and I'm never in a panic to get away. Thanks for all the interesting replies. Roy

About to order a new battery for my LS400 Series 3. Just occurred to me, is there any problem with losing the Radio Code or anything else I should be aware of when I make the swap. I'm getting a new one because if the car stands idle for more than a week the battery sometimes won't start the car. About 20 minutes with a charger gets me going but it's a bit of a nuisance. Regards to all. Roy

Mine is an 95 LS400 Series 3 and I can confirm that access to the tank and sender is via the boot and you only need to pull the upholstered panel out the back. Where the pump is I don't know, could it be in the tank with access through the sender aperture? Roy

I think you are right Manc. I don't think any more water has come in since the previous occasion. My garage owning friend advised me to park it on my sloping drive the other way round. He tested the front sunroof outlets and they were clear but he couldn't get to the back ones. I used to back it in but now I drive straight in. The reason I backed it in was pure vanity. I just loved wafting out through my gates and straight down the road instead of faffing about reversing!! The petrol smell is not much of a problem now either. This morning the car had some condensation inside and I had to drive about 20 miles so I thought I would have the rear windows open half way. There was a very strong smell of petrol while I had them open but when I eventually closed them the smell wasn't evident. I don't understand how the smell of petrol can enter the car when you are driving along at 50/60mph? but I don't know anything about aerodynamics. Regards Roy

Just to update on my petrol fume problem. I never actually solved it. Most of the time it’s not evident inside the car. Sometimes when you open the door if the car hasn’t been used for a few days there is a definite whiff but it soon disappears when you get going. In the boot it’s a different matter. There is always a smell of petrol there and at the moment I still haven’t put back the boot linings since the leak was apparently found and cured. When you open the boot and see the bare metal of the tank there is, I suppose a psychological element and perhaps a bare tank and pipework will always smell a little. I don’t worry about it anymore. I don’t smoke and wouldn’t allow anyone to pollute my Lexus so I don’t have any fears. (I don’t think about all the sparky electrics clicking on and off). Another reason I left the boot linings out was that I discovered water had come in and was under the rear offside seat and floor well. I tried to get the rear seats out but couldn’t manage it and it now seems to have dried out. All I need now is a day when the wind isn’t too rough and it’s not raining and I’ll get it all put back together. Other than the above I absolutely love my Lexus. My wife is amazed how I can be so attached to a car as I have no particular interest in motors. I just love the way it drives. It’s quiet, it’s very comfy, it has plenty of room, climate control and a super stereo system. The steering is feather touch with a fantastic turning circle and the response from the engine is just silky smooth power. What more could you want? PS Don’t seem to see many LS400s around this area (Rutland). I always think I saw more before I bought one which is unusual. Regards to all who contribute to this always interesting forum.

As always, many thanks for the helpful advice. Manic Mark I will look for the back two sunroof outlets in the boot and see if I can blow up them so to speak.! I do have a compressor. Royt I am beginning to think it may be a boot seal problem. Standing at the back of the car there are some rather attractive flaired top front corners just under the rear window. The offside corner is quite a bit higher than the surrounding bodywork ie not level with the body work as the rest of the boot lid is. Thanks to steveskeggy I now know how to adjust the boot lid so I am going to also try that. Steveskeggy Thanks a million for the info. BO 34 told me how to adjust the boot lid. Re bolts. I see what you mean but I have only found five. Will have another search as soon as. Chris Skelton Re Boot Seals - I’ve seen this before in the forum but didn’t need it so took little notice. If I do have to use silicone exactly where do I apply it? Not just a bead along the top of the rubber surely? Reflecting on when the leak happened. I washed the car with a hose for the first time recently and I was a bit over enthusiastic as I remember. I’ll bet I flooded it around the boot lid. My wife has recently undergone a cancer op and as a result starting today we have to attend for Radio Therapy Treatment every day for the next three weeks. As it’s a 100 mile round trip plus a bus journey and the waiting/treatment time virtually the day is taken up. There is a bright side though. I get to drive the Lexus 100 miles everyday for the next three weeks. We also have an old but reliable Honda Civic and my wife has pointed out it would be cheaper to go in that so my days may be numbered! Thanks again for all your help.

The petrol smell I had recently has now much diminished since the repair. I assume it will soon be completely gone but it certainly lingers. Whilst I was cleaning the interior the other day I removed the floor mats. I discovered the floor was wet in the offside rear passenger footwell. I put my hand down the gap between the seat cushion and back rest and the foam padding etc was well wet. It seemed a good idea to remove the rear backrest as I might then also be able to see if there was any gap that had allowed petrol fumes into the cab from the tank. After removing five bolts I thought the backrest would pull away but no luck. It might be a matter of leaving well alone as it could be a beggar to get back? Has anyone any experience of removing the rear seat in the ’95 LS400 Mk3? I took the car down to my garage owning pal and he said a common cause of water leaks is the sunroof and he put an airline on the two holes at the front of the sunroof assembly and they appeared to be free. He said there will be two at the back but we couldn’t see any. Seems odd if they need checking occasionally that they are not more evident. Does anyone know where the outlets for them are so I can pour some water on the sunroof and see what happens. He also said that as I park the car tail down on a fairly steep drive if the back ones are blocked it could cause a leak. Any thoughts anyone?

I collected my LS400 late yesterday with the petrol leak believed fixed. After they removed the tank they found a small area of corrosion round the outlet from the tank and this was dealt with. They removed the connection/s and the aluminium washers on the outlet were found to be in poor condition. They were replaced with copper ones as aluminium washers were not available. I had given them the number of Lexus Nottm but they were anxious to get on with it and didn’t trust the post? Not sure whether I am entirely happy with that. As they explained, the smell will not disappear immediately and I assume there was probably some petrol about when the pipes were disconnected so there is still a smell of petrol in the car. It is definitely less in the cabin now but probably worse in the boot. The weather has been poor today but hopefully tomorrow I can remove the upholstery from the boot and see if I can see anything and then leave to boot open all day. So, I don’t know whether it is cured or not yet but fingers crossed.

Thanks for all your suggestions over the last couple of days. Update: When I took it to my local man (in my first post) the journey had diluted the smell somewhat and it was therefore difficult to pinpoint. I rang him last Friday and asked him to call by on his way home having left the car closed and standing all day. When he arrived he got in the cab and the smell of petrol was very apparent. He said it was a stale petrol smell and it was likely coming in from the boot. We opened the boot and the smell was bad but he said that is a fresh petrol smell. We checked under the bonnet but there was no smell at all. He said" Leave it with me mate, I'll pick it up on Tuesday or Wednesday and we'll pull the boot interior out and get to the bottom of it. " So I hope to be able to post at the end of the week that it's all done and the answer was..............! Thanks again for your interest will be back later in the week.

My 1995 LS400 Mk3 has developed a strong petrol smell over the last three weeks. It is noticeable when you walk round the car after it has been standing a couple of days. It’s prominent in the boot and in the cabin. After driving for 20 miles or so it disappears but is back again a while after it has been parked. My local MOT garage who is a good pal of mine has had it over his pit and up on the ramp. Nothing is amiss under the car although the fuel pipe runs under a false floor so is not visible under the central section. He pulled the boot lining out when I was there and the tank was exposed but all was well and no sign of a leak from the tank to the filler cap. After all the searching my pal could still smell it but his brother couldn’t and he said all it needed was a good run and suggested I got in. I sat in the passenger seat and we took off literally. The car has never gone so fast since I bought it. Both the brothers run big Mercs and drive like there’s no tomorrow. He suggested the cats could be clogged and needed a blast now and then. Next day it was smelling on the drive as usual. I took the top cover off the engine today but I couldn’t smell or see anything. Any suggestions please or is it a trip to the Lexus dealer?

Sorry for the double post. Crikey, what can I say, must be my age. I do apologise. Quote from the latest Lexus LS460 Manual.... "Considerable intelligence is contained within the Smart Key. For example, before you can lock the car, it first checks that it's outside the car, preventing you from locking yourself out" Clearly, that car is made for me. I'll start saving tomorrrow. Shaduf

When I acquired my 95 LS400 about six weeks ago, it came with only one basic key. It had no remote facility but seemed to work wherever I tried it. It troubled me that I only had the one key so I hawked it round all the local key cutters but no-one wanted to know. Last Monday I went to Lexus Nottingham to see what they could do for me. For another of what I had got they gave me a price of £26.85 total so |I ordered one. They rang yesterday to say the key was in so this morning, I cleaned the car windows, put a flask in the boot and went to set off. Came round to open the driver’s door and couldn’t find my keys. For some unknown reason I had thrown them onto the boot floor before I pushed the lid down. I couldn’t believe what I had done. Believe me, nothing is so unyielding as a locked car if you haven’t a key. The key I so badly needed was 40 miles away at the Lexus dealership. I rang them in case they had a miracle cure for my stupidity but to no avail. The only suggestion was to call out the AA who would lever their way in and I would probably need body repairs afterwards. Fortunately, I have an old Honda Civic which we use as a shopping/runabout so I went to Nottingham in that and saved the day but I won’t easily forget the anguish I felt this morning. To their credit Lexus were very fussy and required proof of ownership and identity but didn’t need to copy my key, they took the details from the Vin Number. Important lesson learned!!!!! Shaduf