is200 Newbie

Hi John Agree with you totally ... it does make sense to keep the engine innards as clean as possible - you don't want stuff flowing round that should not be there. I have also flushed the engine at every change. Was thinking of missing the next flush out just to see what change it made to the oil. But thinking about it now I will more than likely just change the brand to compare the difference. On the last car I had I even went to the point of adding two tins of the Wynns flush on an occasion as I thought I would give it a good clean - had no damaging effect. It smells a bit like paraffin which I guess helps to remove the deposits in the engine.

.... so ... thinking about it .... from what I have read, then the cleaner the engine and the better condition the engine is in then the oil will take longer to turn black. But that would also, I suppose, depend on how hard its driven

Hi Eric Not worried about the oil ... just thought it would be a good record to see what's going on with different oils Will try Magnatec next and compare them both. Done a bit of reading and have found on a few web sites that the modern oil is designed to hold the sludge and dirt created within the running of the engine, hence the eventual dark colour - it will slowly breakdown and will slowly pick up the sludge, that's what I have found out why it changes colour. It also has additives in the oil to stop sludge / grime forming. I always use an engine flush before changing the oil, but now wondering what it actually does do as the oil to en extent does the same job to a point if the engine is clean to start with. So I may skip the flush next time just to see how quick the oil takes to change colour. Just doing it for a bit of info

An easy job ? Would you know what brand or have a link to the ones you used. Are they any brighter than the stock ones? thanks

Only done 84 miles this week ?! 7 weeks on since the oil was changed the car is now on 78,036 miles and it has done 1047miles since the oil change back on the 7th June. The level is still the same as last week although the picture shows it a bit lower (it was sitting on a bit of an incline when I was taking the picture so was running off the dip) The oil seems to be a shade lighter than last week - it had sat for 2 weeks while we were on holiday before I took the last picture - after this weeks daily use it looks lighter somehow? Will do a bit of digging on the web to see what I should be expecting Picture is below

I am going to be taking the mirrors off this week to clean the motors to see what difference it makes to the auto movement when reversing. While I am doing this I will clean the complete housing out (may as well as it will all be in pieces) - does anyone know if there is a brighter bulb I can use to replace the existing puddle light one? I have looked through previous threads and there does not seem to be a mention of one other than putting LED strips in as a replacement.

Hi Alex It will not throw up any faults. Have you fitted this caliper yet? I had the same issue as you but I just bought a rear calliper then found out it was the wrong one but the one I bought would not fit the car as it was too small (fitting holes were different as well) ...

SE-L

Hi Robert Mine had started to do this - I do plan to strip the mirrors down and clean but have not had the time yet to do so. What I have noticed is that, like yours they do "stick" but if you take the positioning of the mirrors to the max they will go (both up/down and left/right) then they will work normally for a while but will return to being "sticky" after a while - this was my basis that they needed a clean inside.

Hi James I use the Shell ESL fluid as Mark says above, it wasn't through any research I done, it was something someone recommended to me when I had my old IS200 and I have stuck to using it. I have bought this in a local motor factors, don't know if Halfords sell this?

Just back from a 2 week holiday so I thought I would check the level - had not used the car for two weeks so I thought it would have settled to give a better reading as it had sat level and unused. The picture below shows a good reading and it also shows the colour of the oil being a lot darker than when originally changed ... Miles covered in the week prior to parking up was 197 bringing the total mileage covered since the oil change to 963. You can clearly see the level drop from full to a third the way down the stick. Will carry on checking it until I need to top up. I changed the oil on the 6th of June so its just over 6 weeks of use.

You should be able to get a quote from a company like Auto Glass for them to remove / refit and re-seal it Might be worth a try ...

Mine was replaced as it cracked, they fitted a Pilkington one in that had a warp in the glass then with the next one the fitter broke the mirror attachment which he later replaced and it was fine after that.

Luke - I have just found a problem with the cigarette lighter on mine - its not working - I have looked through the web and found that its a common problem in the states where by the fuse blows on the lighter and this is also on the air con circuit so it may be the fuse. I know it may not be the same for the UK cars but an easy check - see if your cigarette lighter is working - if not check the fuse for it as it may be as simple as a blown fuse..

Just done a quick search on the web for this - seems there a lot of people that have reported the fault in the states. It does look like its on a single fuse (15amp) in the cabin, number 36 I think but will check this tomorrow - a lot of people have replaced the fuse to find it has blown again soon after replacing..

Thanks Steve Any idea where the fuse for this would be located? I don't think it will be this as everything else is working ok and I cant see Lexus putting the cigarette socket on a single fused line but it wont hurt to check it out. Its the first time I have come to use it so its probably been dead since I bought yjr car. thanks

It could have been a replacement screen - you have said it looks to the age of the car but it could have been done a while ago. Is there any sign that the leak has been there for a long period - musty smell in the cabin - soggy / mouldy carpets? There was an issue with leaking screens on the IS200 after replacement - I had two replacements on my old 200 and they both had the heated wiper section - one was a Pilkington and I don't know what the other one was. Cost me £60 which was the excess on the insurance with no change to the policy but that was a few years ago.

Just found out that the cigarette lighter socket does not work in the car ... I am not a smoker but would like to use it to charge phone etc. The socket under the armrest works fine. The cigarette lighter itself does not work either - it does not stay down when pushed and just pops back up. Anyone know what the fault could be - I will struggle to use the one under the arm rest as there is not enough room to put the arm rest down when the plug is in and something's plugged into it.

Hi Ishaq Careful here - if you are changing from solids to vented then I am pretty sure you will need to change the calipers as the vented discs are thicker than the solids.

No leaks and the proof is in the pictures from the oil change from top of fill line to where it is now ... They do state 1 litre per 1000 miles is within acceptable limits and it looks like its heading that way. Will keep it in auto this week to see if there's further usage

As with Johns comments - they look shot ! While you are ordering the discs, order the rubber grease also for the slide pins ... £10 for a toothpaste sized tube from Lexus. If you have trouble in moving the calliper after removing the top pin then apply some heat to the slide pins housing - do not apply excessive heat - as you are heating it up try moving the calliper at the same time. It will definitely loosen, be patient (it should move downwards, pivoting on the other pin). I have used a plumbing blow torch (small flame) in the past and it has freed up a set of these on mine. The old grease will have gone to gunk and will hold the pin in like adhesive. In heating it a bit then it will help to breakdown the grease and free up the pin from its housing It might be worth your while also purchasing a set of drum pads as you have no idea what state they are in without taking the disc off. While you have the disc off you may as well change them as they wont need doing again for quite some time. Peace of mind really. If they have seized make sure to give them a really good clean as you don't want to strip them down again in a few weeks time. While you have the wheel off write down the stamped number on the calliper as I have found there are two types of callipers for these cars (two differing part numbers) - write it in your handbook. It will be handy in the future. Another tip - this is something I have always done and its up to you whether you do it or not ..., is to, while you have the wheel off is to spray all the moving parts with WD40. Things like rubber mountings / nuts etc as I feel it helps for future work on the car if needed?? Also, one last thing, if the calliper has seized and not knowing how long it has been like that for it will be worth your while in checking the bearings as the excess heat a seized calliper creates is unbelievable and may have damaged the lubrication on the bearings. Just check for play when the wheel is back on or a rumble noise sounding like the bearings are dry If you are not sure about the disassembly of it, takes some pictures first so you can reference when re-assembling

ISHAQ ... how did you get on?

Current mileage = 77,755 so that makes it 220 miles since I checked it last Saturday. That's 766 miles since the oil change. Oil is still clean but noticeably now getting darker but not that bad (still clear) This is an interesting find ... I drove the car for most of the week this week in manual mode - I rarely had it in auto. A road was closed on way to work so I drove through country roads for most of the time in the car so it took a bit of thrashing I would say compared to having it in auto. The oil level from the picture is down a third of a litre (based on the fact that its a litre between points on the dip stick) Whether this is a coincidence or not I don't know but to drop that in a week when I changed driving style, coincidence or not? picture is below.

Could this be the remote key battery getting a bit low and not initially linking to the cars ignition process?

I have used the Castrol LM grease for the past 4 years on the caliper pins - I haven't had any issues with it in seizures of the callipers but what I have noticed is that it will attack the rubber boots etc in a way where they will lose their elasticity and hence the rubber boots wont seal onto the recesses on the pins letting dirt / water through. I now have new calipers all round and while I have used the Castrol on them I have recently purchased the proper stuff from Lexus which they describe as a Rubber Grease so I will be replacing the grease on mine soon with this grease. Picture of this with the part number is on the post I made for cleaning the pins