c33

Thanks, I'll a look through that when I get chance - probably at the weekend. In answer to your question, if the car is open - either using the smart access on the faulty key and then I turn smart off, or I open the car using the valet key (and put the valet key back in the house well away from the car) the faulty key starts the car. Regards Iain

Hi folks, wondering if I could pick your brains for a bit of help. I generally have the smart access switched off on the car (2000 LS430 - very early one on an X plate) for one reason or another. On Friday morning the car stopped responding to the pressing of buttons on the master key. The red light on the key illuminates with the pressing of buttons and I've tried a fresh battery just in case. After a bit of pratting about, tried the valet key and that works, car locks/unlocks and drives. This afternoon I've had a bit of a play, switched the smart access back on, and the car responds to the "faulty" master key for smart access, but still doesn't respond to the pressing of buttons. Any ideas? Also as the "faulty" key is the only master I have with I struggle to re-programme a second hand master? Regards, Iain

Hi folks, I've got an early LS430 that's getting a random battery drain, we're having to jump it maybe once a week. I've had a multimeter checking current drain and with the car locked and key well away from the car I'm getting a weird cycle of 60mA drain that then spikes to 1.3A for a couple of seconds every minute or so. No aftermarket kit fitted, any suggestions as to what might be the cause before I start pulling fuses one by one? Regards Iain

Cheers Steve, spent some time yesterday afternoon and couldn't find anything remotely that useful, which website is hosting that image? RegardsIain

Hi folks, I'm in a spot of bother. I've been trying to replace Bank 1 Sensor 1 Lambda sensor on my LS430 (2002) and in disconnecting the plug for the sensor have managed to pull the connector off the main engine loom. I've managed to release the loom and got the ends of the wire "topside" so I've a fighting change of putting a new plug on but I need to know which wires go in which terminal. The plug is handily labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and I think the colour choices are White (maybe pink), Black, Black (maybe dark grey) and Blue with white tracer, other than that I'm kinda stuck. Regards Iain

Hi folks, getting round to sorting the P1651 fault on my '02 LS430, do i need any parts and gaskets other than the throttle body gasket and main inlet manifold gaskets - and obviously the valve 25860-50100? Does the upper section of the plenum need removing to remover the lower section or can I pull the whole lot off in one go? Regards Iain

Hi folks, I'm just in the process of replacing the big rear bush on the front wishbones and I've noticed there is the potential for a bit of adjustment when bolting everything back up - the inner bolt hole is slotted and the outer is significantly over size. It's a very similar setup to older 3 series BMWs that have the hole in the "lollipop" bush offset on the M models to increase castor and it makes a really noticeable change in the handling when you replace the standard concentric bush on non-M cars, so I obviously want to get it right on the Lexus. Is there a correct position to adjust the carrier to as pulling the rear of the wishbone in should theoretically change the castor angle Regards Iain

Hi folks, unfortunately my wife has been side swiped in the 430 by a confused French woman on a roundabout, long and short of it is the insurers are writing the car off, we intend to buy the salvage back and replace the doors. The question is - is there anything within the two passenger doors that needs to be coded to the rest of the car or can I just swap two whole doors and everything will happily work? Regards Iain

Drums. Joy. I got the boot struts from SGS, they're only up the road in Derby so bought them and fitted them there and then, timed it with a trip to the Lexus main dealer to get the service history printouts so wasn't really out of the way. Regards Iain

Right a bit of an update...interior is now cleaned up (photo's to follow it was very dark by the time i finished), it's not perfect but is at least now respectable. New tyres to be fitted tomorrow, the LCA bushes have arrived too (£95 for the pair from Japan, genuine redbox), they'll go on next weekend, a bit arse about tit I know but one of the tyres in particular is not a pretty sight and has to be changed..the spare is buggered too. Also the vacuum switch arrived, again red box from the states for about 30quid, need to find time to sort that one. Will do the air suspension pump bushes at the same time as the LCA. The biggie at the moment is the parking brake (the foot pedal not the autobox position) is utterly ineffective. Pedal clicks down to the floor, car still rolls quite happily if in neutral...any clues? Regards Iain

...carrying on the wheel theme... Would 18" 8J SC430 wheels fit my LS? I think they're the same offset of the 17" 7.5J wheels so will the extra 1/4" each way foul anything? There's a couple of sets on eBay that would do the job for winter tyres if they fit Regards Iain

I take it you get on ok with 18" rims and winter tyres, would have thought the bigger profile of the 17" (or 16") wheel would have worked better??? Just wondering cos there's a set of 18's on the bay at present...or do I put winters on the 17's and run "normal" tyres on the 18's... Prettier than being wrapped round the scenery!!! Regards Iain

Hi folks, will any 16" Lexus rims fit my 430? I'm looking around for a set of rims to mount winter tyres on and 16" will give me many more options? Regards Iain

Hi folks, got a first world problem to sort, the air-con is properly musty, I'm going to replace the front and rear cabin filters (and the under seat ones if i can find them in the UK at a sensible price). Also thinking of running one of those cleaner bombs through the car so...where is the inlet for the recirculating air so I can best aim the bomb...is there one at the front and a separate one for the rear system? Regards Iain

Hi folks, I'm going to keep all my questions in one place if thats ok, to save on spamming the forum with dozens of individual threads. Just looking to get to the bottom of P1651. I've looked up here: http://toyotapartscatalog.com/lexus/ls430-ucf30r-aeagkw-4-3l-32-valve-dohc-efi-2000-2006-eu-1-vacuum-piping/ Am I right in saying that the offending item is likely to be Item 17650, which has two part numbers 25860-50121 and 25860-50100 are the two parts interchangeable or if not is there any way of telling which I without removing the VSV first? Regards Iain

hence my first comments, it was cheap enough that a) I wasn't expecting perfection and b) there is budget to carry out remedial work and still be quids in. Regards Iain

Perfect thanks. Regards Iain

While I think on, is there a Lexus / Toyota equivalent to RealOEM for BMW? Having had a number of e30 3 series over the years and now a e36 compact realoem.com has been really useful, both for getting part numbers and for general assembly drawings ("oh there is a fourth, hidden, bolt holding the ***** thing on") Regards Iain

Good point, well presented! £1750 at 133k on an 02 plate. Regards Iain

Hi folks, yes it was from that company in Reading. Wasn't going to get into a discussion about the vendor, but as you press me... From the million lines of spiel in the advert all cars sold "sale or repair" mileages should be treated at "non genuine" etc., and just a handful of words about how great the car is, its blatantly obvious that the company regurgitate cars from the likes of British Car Auctions etc, and run a high volume low margin operation - not sure how any of that would actually hold up in court but hey ho, if it makes them feel good... The place was packed when I turned up, but spoke to one of the employees, was given the keys to the car and told to take it for run, take as long as you like. It wasn't exactly a main dealer standards of service but I was given the keys with no deposit, ID, proof of address, so found a car park around the corner and plugged a scanner in to see what the fault lights were about, took my time to check all the toys worked etc. Got the car back, got the service documents to check, put the VIN into the RAC Passport check while sat in the office, was never pressured to buy or anything like that, I took the view that the car was cheap probably a grand less than other comparable age and mileage cars available, I was not expecting a concours car and as it was off eBay I can easily walk away saying the car was not as described, I was going to buy a return train ticket just incase it was a lemon but in the end a mate drove me down for petrol money which was the cheaper option on the return trip. Like I said not a main dealer but I've experienced much worse car lots in my time, and much better, but go in eyes wide open and simply walk away if you smell a rat. So...now that's been put to bed a few questions for me to ask... Tail gate struts, where's the best source of new ones, I think the choice is main dealer, SGS (who are 25mins away) or eBay... In a similar vein, the lower control arm bushes, main dealer, online retailer or eBay Finally what are the preferred flavour of tyre on LS430 (standard 17in rims), the car currently has 4x Pirelli P6000 and a Dunlop. My experience of Dunlops on my SD1 is they give fantastic grip but the sidewalls are so soft the tyre tucks under and cannot handle abuse especially the front axle when you get camber gains in roll (http://www.helenjgphotography.co.uk/Motorsport/November-Winter-Autotest/i-BbgtdhF/A for example) and I don't think I've had Pirelli tyres before on a road car. Finally +1, can I use the parts department at the Toyota dealership in Loughborough to get Lexus parts or do I have to go to Leicester or Derby dealers and does any one have any preferences when it comes to Leicester or Derby...in terms or main dealers that is??? Regards Iain

To give you an idea of the dirt on the front seat a couple of photos taken while cleaning the drivers seat with saddle soap tonight. Regards Iain

That's the one!!! Couldn't quite remember the name. Regards Iain

Thanks - it won't be my first LPG car, might be the first I get someone else to do though. There's a company in South Wales who seem to get a good rep on these forums, about 10miles from a mate of mine down there. Regards Iain

Hi folks, following on from this thread http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/103588-does-anyone-know-this-ls430/, as promised my new Lexus, registered May 02, Canterbury Blue with Suffolk trim. Bought from an eBay dealer who recycles traditional car auction vehicles by the looks of things. I bought it on the cheap side knowing that it probably needs some work - you don't put cars through the auctions without reason, but also knowing that if there was anything really wrong that wasn't mentioned in the advert I could walk away. Anyway, first alarm bell was the VSC/MIL lights, turns out the VSC light was on because the VCS off switch was activated (I like easy wins) and plugging a scanner into the car gave codes P0135 (o2 heater circuit) and P1651 (vacuum switch under the manifold/TB). Nothing major, although reading the forums the P1651 is a bugger to get to and sort even if the part is cheap enough and the effect the part has on performance and economy is by all account negligible. I've reset the codes and the MIL has gone out, but pops back on only when I rev the engine very hard. I'm toying with the idea of an LPG conversion, so I'll get it sorted at the same time. Other than that, the paintwork needs a good detailing session to bring it back to life, as does the interior that is somewhat dirty, it's been a London car most it's life I think with service stamps from Edgware Road and Twickenham and has had bumpers resprayed at some point. There's a front parking sensor fault but there's half and inch of paint over the front sensors so I'm not surprised on that one, and it's had a poor re-spray on the passenger rear quarter, you can see the swirls from the orbital sander where the filler / primer has been flatted. Having spent holidays and weekends as a teen working in a body shop, things like that don't scare me too much, I've checked behind all the trims in the boot and there's no panel damage so I can only presume there have been particularly deep scratches sprayed over - maybe by the auction house to get it thru the auction for the minimal cost. (I think we had a £250 budget for rectifications when I delivered cars to the auction houses as a trade plater many moons ago) Anyways, the air suspension works, although the pump does sound a little noisy, almost like there's a big V-twin motorbike somewhere in the vicinity, is there any servicing to be done on them, compressor oil or such like to be added? The air con blows cold, the ride is smooth, the only noticeable difference between an indicated 60mph and, shall we say, a little more, is that other cars on the M40 tend to go backwards a somewhat quicker. There are of course a list of little bits and pieces that if I'd spent more money on the car I'd not wanted to see, such as boot struts, LCA bushes were an advisory on the last MoT (it's a 13 year old car so what do you expect!), tyres haven't got more than a few of thousand miles left in them, the storage box by the rear view mirror is a bugger to shut, but nothing a bit of elbow grease can't sort. ...and finally a couple of photos... Regards Iain

Hi folks, thanks for your help, I've taken the plunge and bought a LS430 today. I'll post up details in a bit Regards Iain