Parrot of Doom

I had my LS400 done in April, I'm getting at most 300 miles from a 71 litre tank (that's probably about 55-60 litres, or £35ish, full of LPG). So I reckon, about 27mpg on LPG. If you match the price with petrol, that's an equivalent of between 45-50mpg. I think your system needs looking at. Mine triggers no engine codes, and is a doddle to use.

Just buy the cheapo Ebay wipers. Silent and efficient. RainX is good but only past 40mph.

I'm about to cut my engine cover up, so I can have it on the engine with the LPG injectors not fouling it. I hope they're not rare, or valuable!

Thanks, but it somewhat detracts from the nature of the car that such a thing should be necessary. Is it really an inherent design feature, or just a fault? Other cars I've owned dim the dash lighting when the headlights come on, no matter what the ambient light level. That's the best way to do it I think.

It's the whole dash. The satnav goes blue (for night), and the binnacle lighting dims down. When you leave the shade, the opposite happens. I just wondered if it's supposed to be smoother and ramp up and down, rather than switching in and out.

Around dusk, when driving with the headlights on, the dash lighting has an annoying habit of going dim, then bright, then dim, then bright - always when going under trees, bridges, etc. Is there any way to turn it off, or is it simply faulty?

Threadjack for a moment, anyone know where I can buy the plastic L that's on the Lexus alloys? One of mine is missing.

Mine was a Chimaera, the one pictured looks like a Griffith.

I'd do the shocks as well, at that age your existing shocks will be sub-par. I replaced the shocks on my last car, at 250,000 miles and 14 years the nearside had very little air compared to the offside (more potholes/grids).

Try http://www.martrim.co.uk/ They replaced the roof on my TVR, and did an excellent job of it.

Does the motor make a whirring noise when you try and telescope the wheel? If so, there's a fix for the LS400 on YouTube that might help.

I have the Ebay ones on mine. I took the view that even if they last only for a couple of years, replacing them regularly would still be a much cheaper option than buying the Lexus arms.

The oil leak could be anything. I had one on my last car, it was a corroded oil cooler junction, cost me about £150 all in to replace. Then again the oil leak on this could be much more severe.

It looks very much like an expansion module for a Speak and Spell :)

Mine has done 138,000 and is almost immaculate inside. I very much doubt the mileage on that is realistic.

The photographs are rubbish and he clearly hasn't prepared the car, but the advert seems sincere enough. Why not see if you can get a cheapo train ticket to have a look?

Right, I think I'll have a look just to make sure the majority of the movement isn't in the bottom UJ.

Hmmm, I'm a Chinese whore from Mars if that's a specially-made component just for Lexus. I wonder if the same part is available at Toyota?

Do you know the price?

I think the filters should be activated charcoal which is why they're a bit more expensive than normal paper filters. You can, however, buy filters from Ebay at a much lower price.

Has anyone ever changed the universal joint just above the pedals, on the steering column? Mine has a bit of play (causing a fair bit of knocking at the wheel, under braking). I wondered if I'd have to replace the entire column, or if just that UJ is available?

The bulk of its scrap value will be in its weight, so you'd be well advised to remove anything you can store easily, for sale on Ebay. If you have the space you'd be better off keeping it on your driveway and parting it out. Once most of the good stuff is gone, get it on a trailer and take it to the scrapper.

With the bonnet open and the engine running, chucking a thick blanket over the injectors silences them. This leads me to believe that a proper engine soundproofing blanket (plenty on the internet) might do the trick. They're made from lead and lined with a fireproof material.

I have a similar situation, a dealer stamp showing the first change (and a sticker on the engine), then a Nissan receipt for new belt and tensioner kit dated a couple of years back. I came to the conclusion that it would have to be a very clever operator to backdate a proper invoice for a cambelt change, and that clever operator would have to be very silly indeed to not bother with said cambelt change! The car was part-ex'd to the dealer I bought it from so any trickery like that would be pointless. If you have an LPG system you should have it serviced by the installer, just to keep things tip top. Mine charges about £50 or so for an annual checkup. Things can drift.

Does the low-level sensor in the windscreen washer bottle work ok? If so, I'll have that (presumably its the same design as the mk4).