lexus22

Yeah, reckon so! I know a bit about cars (or so I thought) and the car was in superb condition. I took it for a test drive but clearly missed the gearbox whine and clutch judder. I also own a 1986 Lotus Esprit Turbo that I bought about 20 years ago but spends most of its life under a dust sheet in the corner of my garage, bought the Lexus to use every day for business as I thought they never gave trouble! Hindsight eh..

Bought the gearbox and flywheel from a local guy. Came out of his wifes car as he had water leak from rear of engine so swapped the whole lot out of a salvaged car. He reckons that the gearbox was fine but I wont know how "fine" it is until its fitted. Courtesy of Lexus my backside!! this car has been a pain since I got it, one would think that a car with only 37k should still drive like new, should have gone with original plan of a Jaguar xtype 3.0, not to much more on fuel and much faster. If not happy tomorrow then goodbye Lexus hellow Jaguar..

If you dont have a car lift or a pit to do it then rather you than me mate! For a couple of hundred quid, take it to a garage and get it done

So here is my update after having a new clutch kit fitted: 1) Judder when pulling away is minimized, almost completely cured. I get a little wobble if I try to roll the car away without throttle and that's pretty much it! 2) My gear stick used to shake on the motorway and you could feel a wobble through the car to, that has completely cured for an even smoother 'new car' cruising feel ;-) 3) Acceleration in all gears is greatly improved (especially 5th and 6th on motorway)! 4) Clutch pedal is like new with a very precise bite. (I did ask the garage to replace and bleed the hydraulic fluid) Message to all....I wouldn't let this flywheel scare put you off. If you are experiencing judder and have done over 50k, get a new clutch for now, and see how you get on! Good stuff mate glad it worked out for you, as you say, see how it goes! Collected the resurfaced flywheel for my car which was skimmed by 2m, looks like new but for £90+vat it should do! Car being done tomorrow, they have a tester to check the flywheel, if to much play then they will weld it. Having another gearbox put in at the same time as got a slight whine on original, so tomorrow will be interesting... if things work out then great, if not I will grab a branch off the nearest tree and give it a damn good thrashing!!!

Labour sounds cheap enough if that does'nt need vat. let us know the outcome mate.

Do you know what make of clutch kit they are fitting to your car and how much£ ?

I wish I knew mate!... Ormi, would'nt welding it together put it slightly out of balance though??

No harm in getting them to test it, at least you will know the situation..if they dont test it you might think that the new clutch is faulty if there is a judder. I'm with you mate, if my car was worth say 15 or 20k then I would buy a new flywheel but not on a car thats only worth 4k, rather park it at Beachy Head and leave the hand brake off!! Dont think that the flywheel will totaly die, more that the play inside will worsen and make the car almost undrivable when pulling away. As mentioned, I bought a used flywheel which is away being refaced at the moment, I dont know if there is any wear in it yet, as it can only be tested whilst attached to the engine. If there is wear then I will look into having the damn thing welded up! Fingers crossed mate, you might be lucky... ;)

I had a judder on mine even though it had only done 36k miles, but the clutch was'nt slipping at all. Had a new clutch put in but did'nt cure it, but you have to start somewhere. The garage did'nt have the means of "testing" the flywheel at the time which looking back was a bad thing. Make sure that the garage who are doing your clutch have a flywheel tester mate!!!

There are springs which act as dampers inside the flywheel which cannot be replaced. If these are worn/damaged flywheel judders quite badly, worse felt when in slow moving traffic. The garage should have a device to measure the amount of movement in the flywheel. As mentioned, they can be welded up so it becomes a solid one but this will affect/change how the car drives...but as I have not done this, I cant say in detail. Just make sure you are sitting down if he tells you it is fecked as a new one will cost almost 1k..

Hmmm, not a bad idea..if it turns out to be fecked then that seems the best thing to do.

Thats true, what a daft design..why weld the thing instead of nuts & bolts that could give access to the dampers which could be replaced. Absolutley pathetic!! How the hell they can justify almost £1000 for a new one is beyond me, a couple of hundred is about right. Maybe the idea behind it is to over price the fly wheel so that it is not viable to reapir a car that is only worth £2000, trade the car back to Lexus and buy a new one..hmmm

Our fly wheels can be resurfaced! One place reckoned it could,nt be done, but a "proper" firm had a look and said no problem..cost will be £90 + vat. Will be ready sometime next week, good news!!

The flywheel is made in 2 parts with springs inbetween them, idea being is to smooth out vibration from the engine through the drive train. when the springs get stretched/worn/etc etc, the fly wheel cannot control the ammount of torque and as the clutch is pushed against it at low speed,ie from standing start or in slow traffic, the car judders quite badly. Some garages have a tester that will measure the ammount of play in the flywheel but it will mean that you will have to take it off! Have same trouble with mine mate, had a new clutch fitted but still judder and a whine from the box(I think). Bought a used flywheel and gearbox yesterday for £170 from a guy who owned the car so got half a chance that they are okay. Please dont take this as %100 as im not a certified mechanic, if anyone thinks I'm wrong...??

Sounds like the flywheel mate, do you check it when clutch was out?

Ormi, play is right to left, guess a couple of mm, no in/out play. Do like your kit mate, where did you get it? And "yes" lex2oos, our cars do have a dual mass flywheel...great until they fek up.

Many thanks for that Ormi, bought a used flywheel and box today and as you say, there is around 3/4 inch play and i thought it was fecked! Noticed there is slight play at the end of the gearbox shaft, is that normal? By the way, where did you get the body kit from for your car?

Hey guys, how much movement/play should there be in a duel mass flywheel? I guess there must be a little but is there anyway to do a manual test?? Also, whats the best stuff to clean up the gearbox?? Cheers.

idio what?!!

Mines the same, have looked into getting it sorted but it's not a cheap thing to do. 1/ cost to remove and refit gearbox, say £200 2/ specialist cost to "run up" and replace parts in gearbox, say £500 3/ might as well fit new clutch kit at the same time, say £200 4/ check play in flywheel, if worn then dig deep for £1000 live with it or sell it!

Cant live with the judder from the flywheel, so fancy putting in a single mass instead, question: which one/where from, does the cluch need to be uprated to suit?? just had a thought, why not weld the stupid thing together...is this possible? To many questions, I'm off for a beer.. As no one seems to have fitted a single mass, I have been checking price of new duel mass. Been quoted £756.00 inc vat and delivery for Blue Print., is this a good price???

Yep, welcome to the Lexus is200...prone to gearbox whine and stupid duel mass flywheels!

I used one from a fiat stilo,looks almost oem and at £10 was a few hundred cheaper than a lexus one. So lexus supply one as a direct fit?

Annoys me that my is200 sport manual does'nt have a higher center arm rest, think the automatic versions have this, is there any kits/mods available to do this?? <_<

Spare is200 in the garden!!! dont suppose it's a manual 6 speed by any chance? looking for another gearbox if you have?