mikethebike

sorry, have not be on in a while. I am in Woking.

Hi Steve, thnaks for the offer, but I made one up and had the bracket welded on, so I am all good for the moment. Will take the left one off at the weekend and make sure its not stiff. Mick

Hi, see my other post in this forum. Check the height sensor on that side, mine had seized and broken the rod that connects it to the axle (it had also broke the bracket). If its that, its a simple repair...its held on by a few bolts. I had quotes from Lexus for (I think) £350 for the sensor, or one from a scrappy for £150. I am not sure its the sensor though, as mine just sat low on both sides, and if I manually pushed the actuator on the broken one I could get the rear suspension to jack right up....but still remained the same on both sides. Maybe the sensors take an "average" of the two on the rear to decide where the suspension sits? Maybe its the actual air suspension? Gulp!

Well...even breakers are looking for £150 for a single sensor. Took the old one off, got the local garage to weld the bracket back on as it had broken off. The plastic rod from the sensor to the bracket (with balljoint at each end) had also snapped...I am guessing the rod is made of plastic so its a weka point in case of seizure? Anyhow, plenty of WD40, as the sensor had seized, has got it moving fine, plenty of grease around the moving parts to keep the majority of muck out and an improvised rod and balljoints the same length as the left side one (8cm between joints)....seems to be working just fine. Took about 15 minutes to make the rod and balljoints, and 10 minutes to fit :)

ManicMark, are they still on ebay? I cannot find them, do you know the item number. erm...forget that...just noticed the date you posted :) doh! Cheers Mick

Just had a 160K service done, rears brakes were vibrating when braking at speed so asked them to check. This was at the Lexus dealer in Guildford. They found the disks and pads were 90% worn, so they replaced pads and disks on rear (front were fine). They are doing a special on the disks right now, £96 for the pair (cannot recall price of pads), I think 30 minutes labour, so pretty good value for originals!

The rear sensor has snapped off on mine, probably because its seized (the suspension seems to be in correct position thankfully). Lexus dealer has quoted "somewhere in the region of £300 for the sensor"...gulp! Maybe I should start looking for one being broken up and get the sensor...seems easy enough to fit?

Supply and demand!! Probably had so much interest he had to put the price up to stave off the rush.

Audio and SatNav works sometimes? Urgh Probably best if it never works, at least you'll be able to find the problem!! I have to admit, I have never owned a car for "several months" and then sold on, especially if its fine...maybe thats just me.

Interesting! My steerinhg wheel does not move out of the way like I thought it should when I turn the ignition off, and when I do try to adjust it, it seems to work in steps...so move the toggle switch and it seems to move one increment, release and move it again and it moves another. My guess is something is knackered, but I may just have a look and spray some silicone grease in there to see if its anything gumming it up. Mick

Hi Steve, apparently the guy at Guildford Lexus is their electrical guru, and the speed with which he diagnosed the problem I dont doubt it. He said its the first time he has seen an issue with that particular component, so it seems it just perfect diags. I did ask if could have been caused by damp or water ingress through the sunroof, and he said it wasnt, the circuit board had just developed a short. Mick

Turns out it was a short on a circuit board above the interior light in the roof above the rear view mirror. Hands up those that would have found it? I never would have, and suspect an auto-electrician would spend weeks finding it. All working a treat now though. Mick

Had local Lexus agent have a look, turns out to be a short in one of the ECUs has disabled a bunch of stuff. Parts and labour £400. Will have a chat with them tomorrow to see which ECU was at fault...may be of interest for others with simliar issues. Mick

Thanks Steve. The lock between the button is released. I have also checked all fuses in engine bay, footwells and boot...there are quite a few! Will try to get the panel off and do that, and report back. I think the car has been left for some time (judging by the musty smell), but there is no water ingress, so thats one good thing :) Gotta say, I had an old GS300 a while back, and the LS430 is a completely different beast to drive....cannot believe how much car you get for the money, and it seems almost over engineered, in a good way. Just out of interest, if it turns out to be the unit that is unplugged in the boot, is it a simple case of swapping it out with one from a same year car thats being broken up, or is that where the brains for the smart-key etc are stored and specific to the car?

Hi, I have just aquired a 2001 LS430, and have what I now think are some serious electrical issues. the car starts and drives beautifully, had it mechanically checked by an independant and it all looks good, full main dealer history (apart from last two at toyota independant, car has done 160K).....however.... A lot of the electrics do not work: All windows work from their local switches Air con and electric seats all work Radio and sat nav all work Air con works None of the remote operations work on the drivers door (mem seat, other windows etc The electric mirrors do not work Steering wheel adjustment does not work Rear seat functions do not work (control of radio works fine from rear seat) Central locking does not work Trunk release (from switch or remote) and petrol cap release do not work Also, on inspection inside the boot, someone has disconnected what appears to be the alarm cable under the left hand side cover in the boot. When I reconnect this and start the car, the alarm goes off. It has the "smart-key" system, so not sure if the car has got confused as the whether its locked or unlocked? I tried disabling the smart-key function (under the driver dash, but still the same). I disconnected the batter for about and hour and reconnected...still the same issues. Any ideas where to start? I am thinking a visit to a main agent is my only option? Thanks in advance... Cheers Mick