rmasrur

I was close to buying an ISF myself - in fact that's exactly what I was searching for on eBay when I came across this 350. The ISF does have the edge over this in the raw power stakes, but at the price I paid for this I can't say that I mind terribly! That said, and having driven the stock 350 previously, had Lexus sold the 350 on these shores I'm pretty sure I would have bought one and not thought to spend all that extra on an ISF. 300 odd bhp from the stock motor is plenty for me!

Thanks! It's such a shame Lexus never sold the IS350 here. Not quite sure of the logic behind selling the ISF here but not the 350, but ours is not to reason why I suppose! I've got it in the workshop now to replace various bits and pieces. Then I'm going to tone it down a bit - it's a little too boy-racer for my liking at the moment. I prefer the clean, stock look for maximum wolf in sheep's clothing impact!

I'm the new owner, and quite chuffed with it too! The thing goes like the clappers... haven't had a chance to get it dyno'd yet, as there are a few things that need putting right with it. Insurance on this was actually pretty reasonable, at £780, in London!

I have an empty head unit (no screen or circuit board) if you're interested.

If it's a CD jammed inside the changer, it is possible to open up the unit and remove the offending article. I did so on mine just last week, and the changer has been working fine since.

I'm pretty sure I've got the right wires - going by their colour codes and also the fact that connecting the permanent live and ground wires results in sparks and then a blown fuse... I've taken everything apart in the nav casing looking for any sign of a short, but no joy. To isolate the component causing the issue, I first removed the wiring harness I was using, and connected the wires to the bare pins at the back of the control circuit board with spade connectors. But still the same problem - I connected the ground wire first, and then as soon as I connected the permanent live, the connection sparked for a moment and then the fuse blew. So it's safe to say that the harness isn't causing the issue. I then disconnected the open/close and tilt buttons, and the motor from the control circuit board so the only component in the circuit was the control circuit board and tried again, but with the same result. Could something be wrong with the board? I removed it from the casing and inspected it, but all the pins seem fine and there's no visible sign of any damage to the board. I'm really at my wit's end with this, and the number of new 20A fuses I've installed over the last few days is now flirting with the ridiculous... :tsktsk: To top it off, my stereo isn't working now. When I plug the cable into the back I can hear the changer whirring so there's definitely power going to it - yet it doesn't switch on. I'm guessing maybe the Radio 2 fuse has blown? As I remember, that's in the driver's side footwell, which is a right pig to access...

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to take the casing apart to see if there's a short in there somewhere. I doubt there's any problem with the stereo power cabling because if there was, then surely I'd have the same problem with the stereo. Perhaps I should have mentioned, the fuse blows instantly on completing the connection to the head unit. This is without even switching the ignition to the ACC position. Out of curiosity, I replaced the standard 20A radio fuse with a 30A fuse (reckless, I know!) and then tried the connection again. This time the fuse didn't blow, but connecting the wires produced a lot of sparks (again with the ignition completely off). Would that also be because of a short? Thanks.

Hello all, I'm trying to wire in an OEM sat nav housing unit into my car (which does not have the original sat nav wiring loom). I've followed P. Lindblom's guide on this (link), but when connecting the unit to the stereo power cables as he suggests, I instantly get a blown radio fuse. I've also tried connecting the switched live and ground wires behind the cigarette lighter (i.e. switched live to the positive terminal on the cigarette lighter and ground to the negative terminal) with the permanent live again going to the stereo permanent live wire, but with the same result. I'm using the original wiring harness that connects to the back of the sat nav module, and I have three wires coming out of the back of this harness (i.e. top right pin - permanent live, bottom right pin - switched live, bottom left pin - ground). I have removed the OEM screen as I plan to install my own sat nav unit into the housing. Therefore, as far as I can see, the only thing inside the housing that would draw any current is the motor/solenoid assembly, but I doubt that this would draw more than 20A so as to blow the fuse. Does anyone have an idea what the problem could be? Any help is much appreciated. Thanks. Raghib

That does seem a bit poor... I consistently get 26-27 mpg, regardless of how heavy a right foot I drive with. I was getting a consistent 24-25 mpg before the 60k service two months ago. My car's a manual, and my driving is ~70% in town. On motorway runs, my average is ~28 mpg, although I'm sure I could better this somewhat with a lower cruising speed.

I had LED taillights for a while before I put on LED number plate lights, without getting the error. And then about a week after putting on the LED number plate lights, I started getting the error indicator lighting up on my dash. It's odd, because it only lights up about half the time, maybe less. You'd think that if there was an issue with the circuit, the indicator would light up all the time, and that when it does light up, that it doesn't go off again after a while. Don't really know what to make of it.

When using LEDs, do you find that you get the rear light bulb error indicator lighting up on the dash? Obviously the LEDs have less resistance than standard bulbs, thus triggering the error indicator, but what is strange on my car is that this only lights up about half the time (though the LEDs themselves work fine). Anyone else have this?

I got cut up today on a dual carriageway by some lunatic in an MPV - we were both moving at ~50 mph, and there was just about half a metre in it! But just as I was about to give him a piece of my mind (with that admittedly weedy horn the IS200 has), my eyes were drawn to his registration plate... 'S* ORRRY', it read. For a moment, I actually thought he had some sort of LCD screen instead of a registration plate, on which he had hastily typed out an apology! Anyhow, for some odd reason that I really can't explain, I didn't feel like tooting the horn at him after that... Wish I had though. I mean, the :tsktsk: cheek!