is200 Newbie

Don't laugh ... this is a bit of old school advice and it may or may not work - if it does then you have found the problem ... If you can get to the starter motor (don't know where they are on these cars) tap it with a hammer a few times then try and start it..... Let us know.

Can anyone point me to any post that describes how to clean the wing mirror motors and take the mirror glass off without damaging it thanks EDIT - Found a link

I changed my oil at the weekend and only filled it until it was partially on the bottom level of the dip stick. It made the rattle as in the video above, I topped it up and it was gone. It has done this before. On a hot day just like yours after the car had stood for a while. Its definitely the VVTI valves making the noise - the Mazda 6 does exactly the same on a friends car and Mazda have told him its the reservoir that the valves partially sit in that don't have enough oil in when initially started so for a second it makes the noise until the oils flooded/coated the valves. This makes me believe it is the oil or a blockage due to the type of oil being used being too thin or producing gunk within the engine. have you just done an oil change? What oil have you used? I use an engine flush on mine which as far as I can tell helps as the noise only seems to happen on mine when its due or around when its due an oil change.

I have just returned from a 264 mile round trip. I kept to 70 where I could all motorway (M56 / M6 / M42) and used the cruise for most of the journey. I got back home tonight and the mileage done was 264 with a "range" still left of 198. That makes a total of 462 - tank average 41.1 miles. When I filled the car up there was a range of 360 miles before I started (so I have had just over 100 "free" miles) I reckon that I can get well over 500 on a full tank if I had longer motorway journeys I serviced the car at the weekend, so am thinking this may have helped it - this is the most I have ever had from it.

Eric £200 for the quoted work and supply of plugs seems very low - you sure the garage knows how much work is involved in just changing the plugs and the coolant? The plugs alone will cost £80 and the coolant will cost over £100 when you take into account that you will need more that just what fills the system as its also needed to flush it as well...

I haven't had the need to update mine although its the 2007 edition - it has got me to where I have wanted to go with no problems. Updated discs come up on ebay regularly there are a few on there at the moment between £30 and £50 for 2007 up to 2010 versions. I have never taken the disc out of mine ... to be honest I would not know how so would be interested to hear from someone who has done this - there is a small hole on the clock panel that I think may have something to do with removing the disc. Mine is working fine so I am leaving well alone but would be handy to know how to open this for future reference. If I was you I would do a check on the caliper slide pins before looking to update the sat nav as you could prevent the calipers from seizing and at approx £350 per corner for a new caliper you could prevent this cost and have peace of mind they are clean and greased up - they are notorious for seizing and its a handy thing to do just for an understanding on how they work. Takes 15 mins per side. Its a good idea to do this anyway so you can check the locking wheel nuts also haven't seized and you get caught out when you have a flat...

When you turn the air con on do you feel the car responding - you should feel the revs drop as the air con comes on ... its more noticeable when parked with radio off

That is the Mark Levinson sound system you have in the car ... does the service book not refer to the model of IS you have as there is a Multimedia edition but I don't know what the difference in the kit is from other models but your documents should show the model description. What year is the car ... 2008? The older versions can only be updated by replacing the sat nav disc - I am pretty sure at some point after 2008 there was a hard disc introduced making it easier to update.

Take the car along to Lexus or contact them first - I am pretty sure they still do a free health check on their cars. Ask them what's covered when its there. Best way to get the correct answer to the sat nav issue. By the way what is the issue with it - the sat nav sould start up when the car is started - its touch screen along with the other functions for the heating / sound etc... does that work?

There's nothing on the recall web site but I have put my car reg in and its an 07 --- the link is below for you to see if the 06 model is affected www.lexus.co.uk/owners/reference-library/#/HybridDrivingTips

For the amount of parts that needs to come off to get to the right bank then its really a Lexus job although it can be done with a bit of care Not had the balls to do this yet. !!!

Today ...... Oil change / Oil filter change / cabin filter change / caliper slide pins cleaned, re-greased. Used Castrol Edge this time (5/30) - initially put 5 litres in turned the car over and then let it settle to get the level - on initial turn over I had the VVTI rattle once again - so I am glad I do now know where this sound is coming from .... the reservoir it sits in was probably empty or not to the correct level. By the way ... this is expensive oil at £102 for 8 litres (I have a bit spare now to top up if required) Also ran an engine flush through before the change for 20 minutes (Wynns) at fast idle. Topped it up to the correct level after 2 hours - there is definitely a noticeable difference in the sound of the engine - its is a lot lot quieter. You can hear the injectors and that's it (with the bonnet closed) I have topped it up to the max level so whether this is why its so quiet? My last oil change was at 71,333 miles and this was with Magnatec and was changed in July last year. I have attached a picture of the oil on the stick before I topped it up finally to the max level. Can hardly see it - I think I will monitor it just to see how long this stays clean. Mileage is currently at 76,989 so I will monitor this on a weekly basis and re-post the results with a picture to compare. Slide pins were all fine but there was a bit of resistence on the top front ones (ones with the rubber seal on them) Noticed a small tear on the passenger side piston boot and there is a slight vibration when braking so it may need changing?

Allan - Cars behaving - really need to do this years service on it but not finding the time at the moment - hoping to get stuck in at the weekend. Oil and filters. Will be changing the oil to a different make, have used Magnatec but not happy with it. Have got a slight vibration while braking developing - will be doing the caliper pins when I change the oil also. The MOT which it recently passed reported a small brake imbalance on the front so I am thinking the pins are on their way out again. Have since installed the auto folding mirror mod and can recommend it.

Fluids / filters you can do yourself (oil / oil filter / sump plug / cabin filter / air filter) this should cost you no more than £60 - £70 Brake disks and pads you can do yourself, both front and rear and as mentioned in previous posts its worthwhile at least getting them checked (slide pins) before anything else as they do seize on a regular basis, grease them up. Both front and back brakes should cost you no more than £200 Spark plugs - they can be changed but its a good 3 - 4 hour bitch of a job to do - plugs will cost anything around £100+ Whats a big slap in the face is a replacement oem exhaust at £2700 !! Just hope you never need to replace

I use Wynns engine flush - quite a decent make - I have had no problems with it in all the years I have used it. On an oil change I will always run through some cheap oil after the flush just to see the result of the flush and to check the oil colour to make sure its clean (just something I have always done) Once the oil change is complete its hard to spot the oil on the stick as its so clear.

I had the red warning triangle come on this morning on the dash board My heart sank as I heard the warning tone then the red triangle flashed up - was relieved to see it was only a warning to tell me the washer bottle was empty... Phew !!

Thanks Jami

I have heard a lot of people using clay's - what does it actually do and is there a noticeable difference after using it .. is there a specific colour it works / shows better on??

What direction would I need to turn the adjuster to SLACKEN the shoes off in order to change the discs?

The level between Min and Max on the stick IS 1 litre. The figures I had for oil consumption from Vauxhall against an Astra I had was 1 litre per 1000 miles - I was told that this was due to the tight tolerances of the engine and in order for them to meet the emissions targets. Don't know if they were fobbing me off but it seems a lot for the car to use under normal circumstances How did the oil look when you topped it up at 3k miles?.

Hi James Keep us updated .....

When I had my exhaust replaced I had a look at the tips and they did look like they came off but I could not find a way to do it - the ones I have now are fixed to the back boxes

For the past 7 years I have always used an engine flush and on two oil changes a year, I have had no issues at all - it does make a difference to the colour of the oil after the oil change, it seems to stay cleaner longer. There must be differences of opinions in doing this as there are different driving styles that would effect what type of oil to use in the car. I will definitely try another make of oil as you cant make a judgement while just using the one type. If Lexus recommend the 5/30 grade then what mileage does that cover the car up to - is it a bit too thin for high mileage cars hence the discolouration of the oil? Is it being burnt and hence the discolouration? - maybe a thicker grade 10/30 would be a better match for cars with high miles as afterall the engine hasn't just rolled off the production line. I will stick to the 5/30 but will change the brand. I have also had the VVTI rattle on startup and its an indication, I think, that the oil needs changing - its happened twice now - both times before an oil change and after an oil flush and oil change it has disappeared. Again, id this Magnatec too thin that its draining from the VVTI chamber. The rattle happens on a friends Mazda 6 and he is running Magnatec so I might get him to change brand to see what the difference is...

Bite the bullet and get them replaced - its an easy job to do yourself You are only going to put yourself through a lot of hassle and judging by other members experiences on the caliper issue then they are unlikely to cave in. I would recommend however if you need to replace one side then do the other side at the same time - you may end up with a brake imbalance from just doing one side with a non original part.

I use the 5/30 Magnatec oil and have experienced level drops but nothing to the extend you have described I expect the cars to use the oil in its normal operation - I had an Astra a few years back and had a hell of a time with it using more oil than petrol (bit of an exaggeration) - it was using approx. one litre per month and this was proved on an oil consumption test that Vauxhall undertook. I was eventually told this was normal as it was within the engines tollerances (I knew it was total Boll*%s what they were telling me but I took the complaint as far as I could ...... It was a low mileage 2.0 sri, needless to say after about 7 months of persevering with it the engine sounded like a bag of nuts - so not to be out done I managed to part ex it back to an unknowing Vauxhall sales rep for my first Lexus ..... KARMA I am due to do an oil change on my 250 soon and I have a Europarts close by so I will give the oil Mark uses a go. I ALWAYS run through the engine with the Wynns engine flush before changing the oil. On a couple of occasions I have ran it through twice. The oil tends to stay cleaner longer.