grantwils

A quick update on my situation... Left the car running with heating on full which seems to have dried out any leftover moisture. Headlight relay now doesn't buzz but I don't have any headlights. I can get full beam if I flick it to the 'flash' position but it doesn't work with the lever pushed back. Sidelights and fog lights work so I wired in a set of projectors where the fog lights were for better visibility until I get to the bottom of this. Still no central locking or remote locking. Next step is to look at fuses. Found electrical wiring diagrams on the bahamutcars.fr link but I think I'll need a bloody degree to work it all out.

I thought I'd hijack this thread as I've had similar issues - I've posted in the main (12 page) 'Headlights staying on post' where there's more information. I haven't had my windscreen replaced but experienced problems with the inside of the car misting up - probably due to blocked sunroof drain holes I think. I unplugged both connectors from the theft deterrant ecu but still my relay buzzed away - I would have expected that to stop if it was the issue. It seems the problem is between the light relay and the fuse box at the side of the driver/passenger footwell. Does anyone have a diagram which shows what the connecters in each footwell are for - I know I'm looking for a headlight related wire so it would be good to have a guide about which ones are which.

My 2p worth - I don't understand why people do it when there is no good reason. It doesn't look cool. I occasionally use my fog lights when it's not foggy on country roads as it gives me a better view of the road directly in front of the car and makes it easier to see potholes. My wife works for the Ministry of Transport - she doesn't work for VOSA... not sure what you're talking about tbh. The ministry of transport deals with aviation, railways, ferries, etc. VOSA doesn't. Are the police and ministry of justice the same thing?

Hi folks It appears I have the same problem on my 2001 IS200SE. It started off with the INTERIOR GLASS FREEZING over in the cold weather we had in Nov/Dec. It was regularly -10 and even -15 around these parts and I was having to scrape the inside of the windscreen. Obviously as the ice defrosted when the car warmed up some drips must have made their way down into the electrics. I AM STILL ON THE ORIGINAL WINDSCREEN. The first thing I noticed was the REMOTE LOCKING became a little dubious before giving up completely. The worst thing was when I went out to start it at 0700 and couldn't even get the alarm to switch off. I then noticed that the HEADLIGHTS seemed to be coming on just after I turned the car off - they were very dull though. This happened a couple of times. I USE AUTO LIGHTS. Eventually it got so bad that the HEADLIGHT RELAY WENT BERSERK. The headlights stayed on constantly no matter what setting the lights were at on the stock. On/Off/Auto/Sidelights the relay buzzed away and headlights stayed on. Ignition on or off, keys in or out it buzzed away. The only way to get it to stop is to remove the headlight relay in the electrics box next to the battery. Currently the CENTRAL LOCKING DOESN'T WORK whether I use the remote locking or the key in the door. I have had no issues with the alarm going off randomly (thankfully & touch wood). I have removed all of the plastic panels under the dash including both footwell side panels. I HAVE UNPLUGGED EVERYTHING under the steering column INCLUDING THE THEFT ECU yet the relay still buzzes away. Does anyone have any ideas on what I should check next? I think I have done everything suggested here but I cannot get the relay to stop buzzing at all. I could spend a fortune replacing parts but I'm sure it will come down cleaning up a couple of electrical contacts. If I can get the relay to stop buzzing then I can narrow down the location of the fault. I CAN'T FEEL ANY DAMPNESS under the dash. I can cope without central locking but the headlights are an issue obviously. I've wired in some projectors on the fog light switch for now.

Thank you again to lexynik - should that be disconik now? I've had a look over the 2nd link and definately think I need to look into the fusebox with a torch and sort it. Some symptoms I've noticed... Interior condensation so bad that I have to use an ice scraper on interior windows. Lights flickering just after I turn them to off (normally leave them at auto so it's not a problem) Remote locking/unlocking not working occasionally (really annoys the neighbours when I set the alarm off as I leave for work) To be honest I've had the sunroof blind shut the last few days and not had any issues. Think there will be a bit of trial and error with this over the next few days to find the cause and fix the problem. Will report back with how I get on. Any more advice would be great. This thread has given me a few useful things to check - gotta love internet forums!

Thanks for the above feedback guys - it's certainly given me some likely candidates. It's the original screen - I'll double check for cracks. It's never been accident repaired other than a smart repair for a scuff on the bumper. I'll check the rear wheel wells in the boot for any moisture to see if it's the sunroof. I also noticed that the headlights were acting a bit strange recently when I parked up - the link to KEVS post mentions water leaking into the headlight relay so this is a definate suspect. This also seems to confirm that I didn't imagine the lights flickering on and off so I'm not going insane which is good!

Yes. They are the best £65 I have ever spent. With these on the only thing which would cause you to get stuck in the snow is if it is so high that the car can't clear it out of the way with the bumper. You can only use them on snow/ice so they can't be used on tarmac or slushy roads. The best thing since sliced bread! I went out for a drive with my 2 neighbours and my wife trying to find a hill we couldn't get up or a somewhere to get stuck - the traction control light didn't come on once. I have used them on 2" of compacted snow/ice with no issues - even stopping half way up a hill then pulling away no problem in front of 2 confused 4x4 drivers who couldn't get up the hill. I have also used them in 6" of fresh snow with no issues.

Thanks for the reply however I do use the aircon. I don't think I've got across how bad the condensation is - it's not something like recirculating the air or not using the air con.

Hi Folks I've got a 2001 IS200 which is really begining to annoy me. The interior glass is covered in condensation really badly when it's left overnight. With the cold weather it has been turning to ice so I've had to scrape the inside of my screen. Today I left the car parked up at work and when I got in tonight the outside of the glass was fine but the inside was frozen! At first I thought I must have a leak but there are no damp carpets anywhere - I can't find any damp patches in the cabin or the boot. Does anyone have any idea what it could be? It's driving me nuts!

Take the rear brake disc off and check inside for a slight groove all round the inside close to the hub. It sounds like it's rubbing. Now take a close look at the hub where you will see a shiny bit (polished due to the rubbing) on the inside of the hub dust guard - hit this with a hammer. That should sort it. I've had this problem on my IS200 along with the warping & knocking sound - it's all sorted now after replacing the slide pins, boots & bushes at the front but it took ages to work out what the rubbing noise on the rear was. It did take a couple of attempts to get the rubbing noise away but that depends on how hard you hit it with the hammer! If you hit it too hard it'll stick out at the opposite side, not hard enough and it still rubs. To make sure just go to a quite car pack and turn hard full-lock on each side a few times.

Fixed!!! See this post and vote if you try it. Slide Pin Fix Took 45 mins and cost less than £25 for parts from a main dealer.

Please only vote if you have replaced/refurbed your slide pins or if you stopped the knocking noise another way Following on from my post here... 'knocking noise thread' Tigerfish has managed to work out what has been causing the knocking noise at the NSF of my IS200 so I thought I'd post this poll. I spent ages trying to work out what was causing the problem and it seems to be something that plagues IS200 owners. The symptoms: Knocking noise over potholes and bumps in the road. Knocking noise stops if breaks are applied over bumps. Knocking noise stopped for a while after I replaced the pads & discs - this is because I regreased the slide-pins. This didn't last because the pins and dust boots were knackered. Other symptoms (might not be linked): Throbbing when braking as if disks are warped (I think this is because the knackered slide pins caused my discs to overheat and warp). It's very easy and quick to check the condition of your slide pins. All you need to do is remove the wheel and grab a 13mm spanner/socket. You should have some grease nearby as it won't harm to lube them even if they're fine. I used Comma CV Lithium Grease from halfords for £6. There are two types of slide pin, you'll have one of each per side. The 'sub' pin is just a solid pin. The 'main' slide pin has a groove for a rubber bush near the end. With the wheel removed you just need to undo the two 13mm bolts holding the calliper on. Hang the calliper safely. I used a bungee chord hooked to the spring, you can use string, rope or just put it on an axle stand. Pull each slide pin out and inspect. If it's a pain to remove you need to either replace the pin (£6-£8 from a main dealer) or clean it up and put it back in if it's in decent enough condition. If it's the 'main' pin and the bush is knackered you'll need to replace the bush too (£3-£4 from a main dealer). Also inspect the dust boot, if it's in a bad way replace it (£3-£4 from a main dealer). Tigerfish has an excellent tutorial on how to replace them in his signature TigerFish's Slide Pin Tutorial which goes in to a bit more detail and has pics. Worst case scenario is you'll need 4 boots, 4 pins and 2 bushes but it's likely you'll only need 4 boots, 2 pins and 2 bushes. I removed the torque plate so I could clean all the old grease out of the slide pin recess. I used penetrating spray and cotton buds. Again it's just 2 bolts but they are a PITA to remove. If this worked for you please vote. If you tried it and it didn't work please vote. If you fixed it in some other way without touching the slide pins please vote. Many thanks to TigerFish for this easy, quick, cheap fix

It looks like you hit the nail on the head, or should that say slide-pin? On both sides the 'main' slide-pin, i.e. the one with the bush, was knackered. The 'sub' slide-pin was fine and just got a quick tidy up with a wire brush. All four dust boots were replaced for good measure. It's fixed the annoying knocking noise I've had since I got it. Just to make sure I drove up and down the most potholed farm track I could find several times and heard nothing untoward. I'm extremely grateful for your help on this Mr Fish. I don't understand why it's never been diagnosed before by any of the mechanics that have checked it. The best bit was it took about 45 mins and cost less than £25 from a main dealer!

Thanks for your help with this. I think it'll be the first thing I test next time I get a chance to get underneath it. I've been quoted the following prices by Lexus new main dealer in Glasgow... Sliding pin £8.09 ea Bush £3.42 ea Boot £2.21 ea I'm also going to replace the springs & shims which were looking a bit sorry for themselves when I changed the discs/pads. I've been quoted the following prices from the same main dealer so I'm hunting online for less expensive replacements. Shims £30.72 Springs & Sliders £60.70 I think I'm also going to replace the brake dust covers on the front as mine are very rusted and feel like they're about to fall off. Been quoted £19.42 ea. Will update on progress. All prices above are plus VAT in case anyone is wondering. Does anyone know if you can re-grease the ball joints and track rod ends to prolong their life?

Are you talking about the slide pins which hold the caliper to the torque plate? I know these are screwed and need replaced - didn't think this would be causing the clunking. Would this also explain the throbbing brakes?

I've had a number of problems with the Mrs Lexus but think I *might* have found part of the problem - my question is... how much can I blame on the ball joint? The car is an IS200 2001 with just over 80k miles. I replaced both drop links, all discs and all pads within 3000 miles. There has been a clunking noise over potholes in the road and I haven't been able to find the cause. I also thought I had warped discs but a couple of people suggested it might be a problem with the suspension/ball joints causing the steering to pulsate/throb which is emphasised under breaking. I noticed that the steering wheel seems to pulsate a bit although it's not very noticeable. I jacked the car up again and had a good look/feel around all the linkages and ball joints then came across this... ^^^^ Look what happens when I give it a squeeze That looks like a knackered ball joint to me for the simple reason that it looks a bit wrong. So could this be causing the pulsating/throbbing which is emphasised under breaking as well as the knocking noise over potholes?? Or, is it likely that I'm going to replace the ball joints and still have some symptoms? Do I need to look deeper? Nothing else seemed to be wrong until I squeezed the bit in the pic and it oozed grease. No excessive play or anything anywhere. Edit: Just realised that I might be wrong (shows how little I know). After reading this >> http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=44611 << post it seems the grease is escaping from the track rod end where it meets the lower control arm, rather than the ball joint. Maybe this isn't as simple as I thought.

Very timely as one of my fogs has decided to stop working. I see you posted on Detailing World too. Yeah, I'm on DW a lot. Once you get the detailing bug you're screwed! I've given the reflectors 4 coats of metallic - obviously I screwed one of them up on the last coat so it'll need a bit sanded down and repainted but it's quick and easy. I plan on 3 layers of clearcoat before I put it all back together.

Someone asked for pics... here's a copy of a thread I did on detailingworld... The Mrs got this to replace her old Corsa at the end of October. I had a spare 2 hours today so I thought I'd see what I could do in the time I had. It really needs a full machine polish and intensive deep clean which I don't have time for at the moment so it was a quick tart-up to see if I could start getting the algae and crap off. Process... Megs HW through lance. Shuts tidied up and algae removed easily with a Megs slide-lock brush. 2BM with werkstat shampoo. Rinsed off with Megs Last Touch. Wheels scrubbed with autobrite wheel cleaner through lance. Engine scrubbed with diluted R222 and agitated with megs slide-lock brush. It was only diluted coz I was running out - still worked a treat. Engine dressed with A303 - love this stuff. Just spray on and leave while you do the rest of the car for a few hours. Quick once over with a microfibre to remove any excess and all rubber hoses and plastics look as good as new! Tyres dressed with Blackfire long lasting tyre gel - really sets the car off and only needs a quick top-up at wash time. Started with this... Nice... Engine... Looks clean..? Slimey! NICE A8SE! Side Finished with this... Good old R222 and A303! Managed to a few years of dirt of the cream interior plastics which was satisfying! No pics though - sorry. Can't wait to get the DAS-6 on to this badboy and a bit of werkstat to pop that flake!!! Alloys have had a crap refurb so I'll have to see what I can do with them. I'll give the engine a better scrub and scrub the arches while I'm at it. The front fog lights have been filling with water and only one works - has anyone ever tried taking them to bits and tidying them up a bit? Here's some of the damage starting to show now the fillers have been stripped out a bit... This won't polish out. Looks like a towbar has ****ted it! I think I can improve this a bit... and this... I'm quite happy considering it was only 2 hours. I'll update this post when I get round to machine polishing if anyone is interested.

Thanks. The most time-consuming bit had been removing the glue that holds it all together. It's REALLY sticky and a pain in the 4RSE to remove. I'm trying to decide whether I'm better to try and fully seal the unit or whether I should leave it open to the elements so it can breathe.

Thanks. I think the most difficult bit is going to be adjusting it so it lights the road properly and doesn't dazzle other road users.

Anyone refurbed their front fog-lights? Mine weren't working at all and looked like this... and... Having been quoted £400 for the pair I decided to have a go at sorting them myself. I took them out and it wasn't good. Both were totally mangled and they would never ever work again. One didn't even have the lighting unit inside! It looked like the end of the road and I told the Mrs (it's her car) that she'd have to do without them. Unfortunately for the week after I told her she'd have to do without we had thick fog all week! I really didn't want to pay £400 though! So here's what happened... Set oven to 60 degrees centigrade and stick the lights in to warm up... Grab the Mrs hairdryer and an old screwdriver. Once the lights are warm take one out and use the hairdryer to keep it warm. The heat softens the thick glue that holds them together so you can slowly and carefully dig it out. When you've removed enough glue you can separate the lens from the main unit and remove the reflector from the lens. You end up with something like this... You can see the remains of the old broken lighting units in the middle bowl. Grab some extra fine sandpaper and some reflective paint (I've got a base coat and clear lacquer as well). Sand down the old reflective coating to make a smooth finish for the paint/lacquer and spray away. Here's where I am just now... I'm using plasti-kote metallic paint from B&Q/Halfords. While you're waiting on the paint to try grab some of these... They fit perfectly inside the main unit - you'd think they were designed exactly for that purpose. Take a look at the pic... They're Luminator 3's which are readily available online and in car parts shops. That's as far as I've got at the moment. The plan is to fit the luminator 3's inside the unit and then put the re-painted reflectors back in with the lens. I'm pretty sure if I do it right you'd never know they were butchered originals. The paint cost £5 (£15 if you include primer and lacquer) and the lights were £30. Sanding pads cost £3 for 180 and 240 grit. I've got some silicon sealant and a gun for £7 to glue it all back together again. I already have a crimping tool and cable but you can get this for £20. I reckon if you had no tools at all you could do the whole job properly for £75 - a hell of a lot less than new lights. If you already have the tools and silicon etc it's £45! I'll keep you updated...

I've also just found out it's making a loud screeching noise when doing slow speed full lock turns..? Anyone got any ideas? Does anyone know where to get a manual for these cars as Haynes don't seem to do one.

Cheers for the updates people! I was going to get new fog-lights as the existing ones seem to be letting in water/spray from the road and 1` isn't working. Called Lexus for a replacement cost and was told almost £400 for 2 new front fog lights! That won't be happening!

Hi People This looks like a pretty informative forum and I look forward to benefiting from the vast amount of knowledge that seems to be on here. The Mrs has just picked up her 2001 IS200 SE Auto after trading in her 2005 Corsa - she was jealous of my 2009 A3 S-Tronic Sport and eventually decided on the IS200. I'm slightly concerned about a barely noticeable whirring sound in 1st gear and was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction. It speeds up as you accelerate but isn't audible in any other gears... is this something they all do? Also there was an advisory on the MOT about slight play in the NS steering system and I've noticed a slight knocking sound at low speeds over bumps. I take it this is likely to be the ball joint? When I can find the time I'll be detailing this badboy and I'll try to post as many pics as possible if anyone is interested. Cheers People! G