Tucky

Hoping someone can help identify the source of a creaking and knocking sound coming from the nearside front wheel area. Noticed it about a week ago, only makes the sound when travelling slowly and turning and does not seem to be affected by bumps/potholes etc - when travelling at normal road speeds 20+ you cannot hear it. My mate is an MOT tester and has his own garage so it went up on the ramp yesterday for a good look. If you bounce the car by holding the front wing you can hear a definite creaking noise, he thinks it is to do with the ABS pump that you can see if you look directly upwards behind the wheel (if you search on ebay for is200 abs pump, you will see the part I mean). The only difference to the ones on ebay is mine has a link rod with a ball joint on either end coming off the unit. If he pushed this upwards it made the noise - with this disconnected the noise went. He then re-attached the link rod and sprayed the lot with WD40 - the noise is still there but is definitely quieter. Does anybody have any thoughts? Are the parts on Ebay the right thing? A lot of other posts seem to point to the shocks being the issue, just after some advice before I spend some money! Thanks Tucky

The car has just been back up the garage, my friend had it up on the ramp for a thorough check. Looking at the car from underneath and facing the front, the offside link bar nut is maybe 1mm to the right in comaprison to the nearside. They have checked everything and it is tight as a drum and does not rub on the subframe. One of the mechanic thinks the bar handles the tracking of the rear wheels and as such both sides might not be exactly the same in order to provide the correct geometry. I panicked a bit after the first diagnosis - but having seen it on the ramp there is nothing to worry about. Paul

Not too far then. I'll keep a look out next time I'm down the auctions or out in Caerleon!

Stick me down for the Kodiak Sky as well - wouldn't have bought it if I didn't like it. Eddieblock where in Wales are you? I have not seen another LE around my neck of the woods.

The car has just had a cambelt change as well as new oil, oil filter, air filter and plugs (Odometer has just gone over 59,000). The work was carried out at a local garage which is owned by a friend. I asked him to check the offside rear wheel as I sometimes get a knocking noise (I know this is a vague description) when travelling over bumpy surfaces, pot holes etc. He checked the wheel and has said that the "top link" nearest the front of the car looks like it has moved from its original location and is rubbing against the subframe. The offside looks fine, all three links, front, central and rear are in place. Could someone advise if this is the correct term for the part and where I would be best placed to buy one? The car is an 04 plate IS200 LE. Many thanks Paul

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome. I have taken some photos of the car - I am not much of a David Bailey but they will do for a start. I couldn't get much of an angle from my garage, plus the sun was still quite bright at 8 O' Clock (not that i'm complaining - glad to have some good weather) Paul

Hi, I have just bought an 04 IS 200 Limited edition and am over the moon with the car. I was undecided between the lexus and a 3 series, but after a few test drives the difference was obvious! The lexus feels better put together, far better specificationa and sounds lovely. Anyway, just wanted to say hello and look forward to reading the articles and advice that you all offer. Paul