rincewind

That rear end looks, as they like to say 'beyond economic repair'.  Sad for you sir.  It puts the tiny water leak in my boot in to perspective. 

What's the sound like sompared to the original head unit?

Well, my IS200 (2004) gets 380 - 420 miles to a tank, and I drive to work in London's East End down the M11 and the A406 North Circular road, which is not exactly traffic free.

The IS300 being referred to is first generation IS i.e. early 2000's vintage. It was the same shape as the IS200 but with the 3 litre lump and they only came in auto.

I hate to say it Janner but I've been looking for my knock for years. I've had 3 sets of shocks on it - all different makes. I replaced the top mount and lower balljoint. I'm about to change the ARB bushes and the drop links. Top balljoint seems ok - had it free of the link and it's tight as a ducks ****. I've also got the lower suspension control arm bush ready and waiting. That'll be a Spring time job I think.

I have a feeling I won't ever get to the root cause of it.

Paul

Janner, I'm a little confused. Your edit of a previous post saying it was the lower balljoint - was that the case and your knock is cured? I ask becuase I've had this issue for a long time.

Just to add my half penneth...

I bought my IS200 @ 10,000 miles and 1 year old. It's now 11 years old and has 123,000 miles on it. All it's ever needed outside of standard servicing is a new set of discs and pads. I only ever lift the bonnet to refill the washer bottle and check all is well. It is now at the point of needing some suspension bushes which I am about to do but it's been far and away the most reliable car I have ever owned.

Edit: The five spoke alloys are shocking for corrosion. They last about 18 - 24 months before they are looking tired, and I don't do kerbs so it's not that. They just corrode. I will get them refurbished (again) in the spring.

oh well, on the positive side you can look forward to half the fuel bills...:-)

Oh no! After all the housr spent recently doing thye ball joint. Gutted for you sir.

And...

I've just got a Das Pro 6 Dual Action machine polisher for Christmas! Thank you Santa.

Well I bought the car at 1 year old so I think it's the original screen but maybe not. I've had Lexus OEm blades and they fared no better. I'll have a look for the Borch twin blade ones - ta chaps

Hi Ian,

Happy Xmas to you too sir. I too used to do a lot of work on cars, but don't really have the facilities any more. I got my old trolley jack out last year after a long period of non use (my IS200 doesn't really go wrong:-)), and all the seals had gone so it went to the dump. I'm 57 and also stubborn but I think I'll give it to a local indy to do the cam belt and also it needs ARB bushes, so I'll also get the drop links done at the same time as they have to come off to do the bushes. The IS is now on 123k and feels fantastic. No intention of changing it for a while yet. I still love the sound system, iPod connection and 6000 tracks at my fingertips.

It sounds like you live in a nice part of Essex - whereabouts on the coast are you? I'm just outside Epping.

Be well,

Paul

Well, I've never been able to get the drivers side one really quiet. Even new ones aren't 100%. I've tried polishing the screen, RainX, GTechnic and 3 different makes of blades including Bosch.

Anyone use a brand that is nice and quiet?

Cheers!

Paul

I bought mine from Lexus Woodford, but I have recently found this on eBay - it's Lexus Birmingham (sort of) but cheaper.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/lexusbirm/m.html?item=181669635499&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Have a look for the ball joints - he doesn't do everything but worth a look.

I've also had good service from these guys who do a wide range of suspension parts:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/japeurocarparts?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

WIM have just sorted mine. It was a 2 hour round trip but worth it.

Before you start spending money on replacement parts which may not be needed I'd get the codes read. That should point you in the right direction.

And the Nav works off a separate drive in the boot, so rather than swapping out the head unit CD changer it may be cheaper (and better) to get a Grom or similar instead.

Grey is a cracking colour for these. I don't use the CD player any more - I bought a Grom interface so I can connect my Iphone as that has about 6,000 tracks on it. Sounds fantastic through the Mark Levinson system, and has integrated Bluetooth.

That paintwork looks like it will come up nicely. I'd be itching to get a machine polisher on it.

Now - if the temp guage is showing overheating, under the bonnet is going to get very hot. If it's doing this all the time, then it will screw up other components.

It sounds to me that the root cause of the problem is the cooling system. Get it checked.

It's that time again. Dealer/ebay/Amazon/somewhere else to buy the kit. And also the aux belts.

Recommendations anyone please?

Cheers

Paul

Curious - how much were your lower arms and where did you source them. I have the dreaded front o/s 'knock' and it might be the steering arm bushes, as I've changed the shock, top mount and both ball joints.

Worn Lower front steering control arm bushes can also cause wobble under braking.

http://my.is/forums/f221/diy-front-2-lower-control-arm-414502/

Good grief it surely can't be 5mm out? The max permitted runout is about 0.05mm. I had mine down to 0.035 - 0.04 once I had cleaned the hubs up.

Chris,

Can you confirm, is this the correct bush:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-IS200-IS300-1999-2005-FRONT-LOWER-CONTROL-ARM-REAR-BUSH-x1-/170964524940?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item27ce479f8c