is200 Newbie

Dazed - I will keep an eye on mine now I am getting more out of it - its the first full tank since I changed the sensors so I would expect the range reading to improve

Exdee That's interesting ... 65 litres means filling up would usually cost around £85. I usually fill the car up every two weeks and it works out to have around 80ish miles left on the tank range with the needle showing about I/4 tank left. Between £50 to £60 will fill the car up at that point for me. When I have filled up I have only ever had around 360 mile range although I usually get a lot more out of it when doing long distances. I wonder if there is an air lock?

I think I will get the 500 - like you say, driving style will help a lot. I have noticed your "Range approx." reading is 351 with 157.6 miles done .... the max range I have ever had from a fill up was around the 360 mark - what does yours start at when filled up?

I think this will be on track to break the 500 miles ... cant argue with the figures the cars putting out... Trip counters now on 334.2 with the range on 162 - that amounts to 496 available. I will post the final results next week before I fill up. One thing to note as I mentioned in the first post was that I have not long changed the fuel/air sensors. The car was running rich before this was done. Judging by the soot on the exhaust tips before I changed the sensors then it must have been gradually getting worse over a period of time. When I replaced the sensors I cleaned the soot away and although early days, they have not sooted up so far which is a good sign. I do think changing the sensors has had a massive difference in the fuel economy. Its definitely running better, possible placebo effect but feels smoother.

Filled up on Monday at Shell - didn't use VPower - I went for their standard unleaded, Had a trip to Coventry to take a 2 day training course for work. I noticed straight away that I was getting more miles out of it so thought I would just see how much I would get by the time I had done the return trip and got home. I have recently changed both fuel / air sensors (Bank 1, Sensor 1 and Bank 2, sensor 1) and the car has been a lot more responsive. I put the cruise control on on the way down and for the most part I stuck to 70 with the odd time up to 80. By the way, I passed BMW / Audi (or they passed me as they weren't hanging around) I would say every second car was either a BM or Audi - Out of the 150 miles trip to Coventry I only saw 2 Lexi (new white IS300 and an old IS200) - glad they still stand out ! (why are the residual values so low?) Anyway - return trip (one CT passed me) but I was travelling between 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 for most of the way, Birmingham what a nightmare, with the odd sod it moment (just wanted to get home) I recorded - picture below - a combined range of 483 miles and I expect to get more out of it. I think I can easily get over 500 out of this tank. Pretty damn good I think. I reckon the sensors have had a lot to do with this as I have taken it to Scotland in the past on a 350 mile (one way) run and not got anything like this out of it.

Hi Shepherd I used the 5w / 30 on this change I would recommend doing an oil flush before changing oil as I think it stays cleaner longer but that's just my opinion.

Had the same on mine - when I first came to change the oil last year I could not get the filter cap off - I could not get sufficiently under the car enough to get any pressure on it. I ended up taking it to a garage who put it on the ramp and that way gave a lot more room to apply a bit more pressure on it to get it off. I found it easier, a lot easier, actually standing under the car taking it off. Its a paper filter on these cars - not the aluminium can type - so you need to remove the filter cap first with the special tool you have Can you get your to a ramp where you can get under the car to remove it?

Hi Neil On the IS model the small rubber grommet at the end of the top slider pin is there to stop it rattling, so I believe. I have left this off on mine a few times as the grease does attack it after a while and swell it a bit so its fine when you take the slider pin out but try to get it back in is near to impossible. My experience in leaving it off has no affect whatsoever. The grommet is only applied to the top pin on each side. I used to use Castrol grease but have changed over to the proper Toyota Rubber Grease (red in colour) This seems to stay "greasier" and "thicker" longer than anything I have tried. As for doing the job - just make sure everything is clean and greased up. While the caliper is off make sure that the pistons move freely. If the wobble still persists after replacing the pins then I would suspect its your front disc that have gone.

82 miles on since last weeks reading, car now on 78,932, 1936 miles done since the oil change and 13 weeks later .... oil still at the same level as last week. No change in the colour.

I would say its more than likely to be the sulphur in the petrol that's smelling when burning off - what fuel are you using?. In experiencing the smell during 3 months of driving I would expect the oil level to have dropped more than the half litre as you have said which leads me to think it could be petrol. Shouldn't the cats remove all pollutants anyway, sulphur being one of them? Rather than thinking its the oil are you able to put the car on an emissions test to rule out the petrol causing the smell - it may be a small cost compared to replacing the cat if that's where the issue is coming from - it could also be a sensor issue in letting too much unburned fuel through, are you getting any backfires?

Not tried one myself - to be honest never heard of it before reading the post. Had mine over the last winter with no issues, mind you it was a mild one last year - I would go for the winter tyres through due to it being rear wheel drive - they are fun to drive in the snow, I had an IS200 before this one and it was a different experience driving it in the snow compared to all the front wheel drive cars I have had. As long as you have the correct oil in the engine and have changed it recently then there will be less burden on the engine starting with a lesser chance of putting strain on the engine on the cold mornings if you hadn't done any changes.

Interesting ... I had this issue but managed to get rid of it with oil changes, the only difference that some people frown on is that I was flushing the engine on each oil change

Just an update to this - I have moved over to the proper red rubber grease for the pins from Toyota instead of the castrol lm

Doesn't a car with a cat at the time of manufacture after 2003 need to keep it installed? Is this a different ruling for petrol engines?

Something amiss there Whats the state of the oil? How many miles have you done since the oil change? Does the car still rattle on startup? Is the car using oil ? Seems odd you should have the smell of the "ingredients" of the additive if it was poured into the engine along with oil unless its getting past the rings and burning?. I would expect changing the oil at the next oil change would take with it any deposits. In saying that, if the additive is working as it should to remove these deposits then your oil should turn black relatively quickly ...

Thanks Normski Sorted - Tried Motorworld (theres a small shop by work - failing that it was Halfords) 2 fuses for £2. Replaced the blown one and all is well. The guy in the shop had these in stock for almost 2 years and I was the first person to buy any in that period.

Finally got round to checking this - don't use the lighter so its not top of my list. Found that the fuse had blown. Also found that the two tabs that hold the lighter down when in use had been bent out of the way and as a result would not hold the lighter down when pressed. Bent back and now fine. Anyone know if the fuse shown in the picture below is a standard fuse - will Halfords / Motorworld etc sell these?

89 miles on since last check last week (car now on 78850 miles) - 1854 miles and 3 months ago since the oil was changed. Oil level still the same - colour and levels the same as last week.

Gary - I have just resolved the issue I had with pulsing brakes I have replaced the rear discs and pads. Pads were low and the discs needed doing. The disc shoes were ok so I didn't replace them. What I noticed (other than the discs needed doing) ... one of the pads was shot - had a chunk out of it which would have caused a brake imbalance creating a shudder - it was effectively lower than the other 3 pads having had a big chunk taken out of it one one half of the pad ... possible bad pad?. Don't know the reason for this. I also found badly rusted brake guide pins which, looking at them, they were hindering the pads in moving freely especially on the damaged pad. I have put up a guide on how to replace the discs and pads in the guide section and a picture, picture 6, shows the pad assembly and scrape marks on the guide pin that would indicate to me that it was struggling to move or sticking a bit. So for me the rear disc and pad replacement has cured the brake pulsing which I was feeling through the car and seat. Not the pedal or steering wheel.

Would disconnecting the battery effectively reset the ECU and as a result reset / clear the codes or would it store some?

Have you tried reading the error codes ?

Got them ... as wife would say ... who reads instructions ! If you cant break it .... you cant fix it.

I am planning on replacing the rear discs and pads (not shoes) at the weekend. Am ok doing the job but is there anything to know before hand. I am not planning on replacing the shoes as they are only used for the hand brake but will make a decision as to that one when I have the disc off and can inspect them. £80 for a set from Lexus. thanks

..... is there a manual ?

maybe a long shot ... check the tyre rotation is correct - indicated by an arrow on the tyre wall Sorry - misread the post ... thought you had rotated the tyres on the car.