Moore200

Thanks for the reply, and the link to that fantastic Bahamut resource. I decided to get it replaced by the garage doing my MOT... I'm just not confident enough to do it myself - though it does look pretty straight forward. Thanks again,

Hi Folks, My power steering pump has been on its way out for several months now (heavy, squealing steering). The pully can be observed stalling when force is applied to the steering wheel. I've ruled out a slack belt. So, I have just bought a second hand pump from the local salvage yard (it's been tested and works fine). It cost £30... Bargain. I've scoured the forum but can't find any details on how easy it is to change the pump. Does anyone have a link to some details? Or, even better, if someone has done this before do you have instructions or pictures? It's a bit of a long shot, but any advice would be much appreciated. My back up is to ask the garage to do it when they MOT the car at the end of the month. Thank you,

Hi Guys, I had a bit of luck this evening with my Error3-ridden CD changer.... It now works again!!! This may or may not be useful. After a minor collision a few months ago the dreaded, and apparently ubiquitous, Error3 blighted my CD changer (2001 Y-reg IS200 SE). I've tried several times over the last couple of months to revive it, but without luck. I have read extensively on this forum that Error3 means game over, so I was on the verge of buying a GROM adaptor. But then.... I went out to the car this evening to clear out some rubbish and, for some reason, tried the CD changer (CD's still in from 3 months ago). At first the Error3 was displayed and, as usual, I couldn't eject any disks. Then I cycled through the disks from 1-6, then pressed 'disk up' again which took it from disk-6 to disk-1.... A lot of whirring. Then immediately back from disk-1 to disk-6 by pressing 'disk down'. I don't know why I bothered, but when it finally loaded disk-6 the music began to play. I tried all other disk and they work fine! Given what I've read I found this odd... I'll have a play with it on the run to work in the morning and see if it still works. Does anyone know if this is likely to be just a temporary thing which will go wrong in the near future? Has anyone else managed to revive an Error3 CD changer (I haven't read of anything like this)? Am I getting prematurely excited...? I have no idea what Error3 represents, but perhaps stressing the CD changer mechanism jolted it back into action...? Maybe this is of help to some of you. Regards, Rob

Hi All, After some idiot crashed into me on a roundabout I have developed the dreaded Err3 on my CD player - presumably following CD changer trauma. I have decided to buy the GROM USB box.... I have a question. Will the GROM USB box, connected upto a 2001 IS200, tolerate more than 6 playlists on a USB stick. The GROM website says that some stereos (if they have a CD up/down selector, as the IS200 does) can accommodate upto 99 playlists. Thanks in advance for any replies! Rob

Just returned home after having my full geometry done at one of WIM/Blackboots' approved centres (STS Tyre Pros in Canterbury). After the technician took my measurments he called Tony at WIM/Blackboots who instructed which settings to apply to the car. I spoke to both Tony and the guys at STS today to arrange it and everyone was extremely helpful. Total cost £111. The proof will be in the tyre life though, but STS have encouraged me to come back in 3 months for a free check up to ensure everything is still OK. The blackboots website is really good, and you can arrange to buy tyres and geometry at the same time and have it all done at an approved centre. The tyre price on there is very reasonable! Having spoken to a few people about this, I believe the issue with inside tyre wear is as follows: The IS200 is set up to be very sporty - unfortunately this results in heavy inside tyre wear, as the set-up favours road holding in the corners! As most people don't require this level of performance the wheels need to be adjusted to favour normal road conditions, resulting in more even tyre wear. Apparently the ideal option would be to adjust the castors, but as this isn't possible on the IS200 you have to over-compensate by adjusting the camber to outside factory spec... The specification developed by WIM does just that. I'll update on how my tyres fare on over the next few months.

Thanks for the advice - it looks like WIM is the way to go. On a related note, I'm taking the IS200 in for a cam belt change on Wednesday (as well as the wheel alignment) - total cost for cam belt change is £248 all in! Given what I've read on the forum this sounds like a pretty good deal. For those who are interested it's Total Motor Care in Sandwich, KENT.

Hi Folks, When I bought my Lexus IS200 8 weeks ago I checked the tyres, but obviously not very well... In a car park yesterday I had parked with full lock and noticed that both front tyres had worn down to the cloth on the inside 2 inches of the tyre. The rest of the tyre has ~4mm tread left. I'm assuming that the camber is out, and I've read a few threads on this topic which blame the geometry/camber. My garage has quoted £30 for a full wheel alignment (once I've replaced the tyres). My question is: is this wheel alignment going to solve the problem, or is it something more complex than just the camber. I've seen a thread suggesting that this work should cost £80-100 from WIM.... Any thoughts would be appreciated. Cheers

Folks, I managed 31.2mpg at the last fill up. This combined some stop-start commuting, a steady run to Gatwick (~200 miles round trip) and, as I've only had the car a couple of weeks, some serious pasty: the definition of 'combined'... The one thing I have noticed, though, is that the analogue mpg gauge is the most powerful deterrent to speeding I can think of. I'm not bothered that they're scrapping speed cameras now - with petrol at >115p/L, that little white dial has become an obsession. The only problem is that I'll probably end up crashing into someone because I spend so much time with my head in the dash... I'm doing a 700 mile round trip this weekend, entirely motorway. I think I'll hoof it up on Friday (enthusiastic driving) and take it steady back on Sunday (Partridge driving) and compare the two! When I tried this with my 1.8 Mondeo I got 32mpg when I ragged it, and only 33mpg taking it steady - I know, it doesn't make sense!

Hi Folks, I've recently purchaced an IS200 SE (2001) from a friend for a superb price - and I absolutely love it (Well, it has to be better than my 13 year old Mondeo estate!) In fact, a lot of the research I did prior to purchace was from this forum - which was invaluable. My only gripe is that I'm used to playing music through an after market stereo, directly from an SD card or USB stick. The CD changer works a treat in the Lexus, but I miss the convenience (and capacity) of the solid state media. I've tried using a cassette adaptor, but the sound quality is pretty poor. Does anyone have any experience of modding the stereo to recieve an AUX in lead? Or anything more advanced? I've seen the threads on the Grom adapter, but that seems a bit overkill; and I don't fancy an FM transmitter either - too fiddly. Many thanks for your time, Rob PS: I've been really impressed with the quality of the threads on here. There is some excellent advice, so cheers [in advance]....