Glenn007

I have a 2005 LS430 that I bought from Germany. It has the radar cruise control aswell and my windows also dont open when I hold down the button. I ordered a new set of manuals when I bought the car as the ones that came with it were in German and it doesnt list this as a feature. It seems that the European ECU is programmed slightly different for some reason.

Hi all

o.k I went to dealer today at Hatfield.They took the car into the workshop & plugged their diagnostic machine in & after about an hour came out & said it can't be done it is set from factory to open the windows & sunroof on the unlock button Not for the lock side on the fob.The only way It will close all the windows & sunroof is with the key in the door lock & held to the lock position.It can't be programmed any other way.To put the lid on it they still charged me £29.00 + vat for their time even though I was told on Saturday they could do it.Total waist of money that was.Mine is on a 54 plate if that makes any odds.

Hi

Just found this on the Lexus manual, it appears your car has a foreign ECU in it as the feature you are missing is fitted for the UK market but not for some other markets, if your car has a full Lexus history I think I would go back to Lexus and ask for their comments because as can be seen it should have this feature... or is your car an import, if it is it should say something like "Used and/or registered in a foreign country prior to the UK" on the V5 registration document.

Good Luck, let us know what happens.

Pete

Hi Cheers for that.I have been doing some research on this & this is what I have found.In August 2004 they brought out new features which included Pre Crash Safety System only avaliable for Europe models ONLY & Dynamic Radar Cruise Control System which my car has.As for customising parameters on the full closure side of things.I believe this is not possible,all you can do is door/key-linked p/w up default is On contents of this setting is Function that raises all windows & roof with ignition switched OFF,key is used to hold driver door key cylinder to lock position for more than 1.5 seconds.This setting can be turned on or off in diagnostic menu & as for opening the windows & roof door/key-linked p/w down default is On contents of this setting is Function that lowers all windows & roof with ignition switched OFF,key is used to hold driver door key cylinder to unlock position for more than 1.5 seconds.Keyfob unlock button held will also open roof & sunroof.Nothing available for keyfob lock button when held.Not yet anyway.It will though watch this space

Hi

As usual Pete got it right... I have the 2005 model LS430 purchased from Germany as I was moving to Spain and the DISP 2 button is for the radar cruise control, basically it toggles between 3 options of the distance you wish to keep between yourself and the car in front. When the cruise is not selected it does tha same as you mention, switch on the outside temp display.

Pete, aka Jedi Master, beat me to it again!

Glenn

Hi Guys

On my LS430, I have the DISP 2 button onmy steering wheel. Does it have any use apart from switching on / off my outside temperature display in the instrument console?

Also, on the boot of my Lexus servived LS430 2001 model, I have a rust spot near the number plate area the size of a 50p piece. Amazing I know!! I went to a body shop and he was very surprised to see rust on a Lexus!! How long is the Lexus rust protection? I would like to know this before I ring them. Ive had a look in the manual and can not see it anywhere. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

best wishes

Obe-Wan has spoken!

Hi Mark

Might be worth checking out some of "Haylands" replies on here. He is usually quite knowlegable about all things LS. The force is strong in that one!

Thank you Luke, when will you join me.....

What I did find out about quiet tyres is that it seems to depend on the size of the tread blocks, just about everyone now has different sized blocks around the wheel to break up the airflow and reduce drumming, but the tyres with smaller blocks seem to be the quiet ones, directional tyres seem to be the noisiest

The sp sport 270 looks like this and is very quiet

The Sp 9000 looks like this and is noisy

The tyres I have recently put on, very cheap Far East tyres look like this and were pretty quiet to start with but have now got noisier over time,

They are far more supple than the Dunlop’s though and they soak up pot holes and cats eyes much better, they also have amasing grip in the dry or wet so I suppose there will never be a "perfect tyre"

I've put the cheap ones on until I get the caster sorted on mine... see other thread, when these wear out I'll be after some better quality quiet tyres as Dunlop has stopped making the 270....

My local tyre depot said they would fit tyres to my car and I could try them out and see if they were noisy, they would change them if they were. So there are places that will help you out, just tell them what you want, they are all feeling the pinch at the moment and if you are going to buy four expensive tyres then you have some bargaining tool...

Good Luck

Pete

Hi Mark

I'm kinda wondering the same myself. I had an LS400 until last Oct. when I bought a 2005 LS430 that came with Bridgestone E33's. I have to admit, I find these a little noisier than the Dunlops or the Pirelli's I had on my LS400 but that could be due to the smaller tyre wall. I will be due a change in about 3 months or so and am starting to wonder about which ones to go for.

Might be worth checking out some of "Haylands" replies on here. He is usually quite knowlegable about all things LS. The force is strong in that one!

Here's my list... not much suffering until I saw the light!

1992 - 1994: Seat Ibiza 1.2 (absolute heap of crap)

1994 - 1996: Nissan Bluebird 1.8 Turbo (great car, lots of toys for the time. Very quick acceleration but handling not so good)

1996 - 1999: Volvo S40 (From new, one of the 1st 40 brought into the UK. Very nice car, reasonably fast with great handling)

1999 - 2007: Lexus LS400 (3 year old jap import, had 12,000 miles when I bought it. A great car! Gave it to my sister last year!)

2007 - now: Lexus LS430 2005 model. Needless to say, an absolute gem. Although I do think the Bridgestone tyres are not as quiet as some of the ones I had on the LS400)

Hi

Congrats on your new car. I have the 2005 model so think it's the same model... anyway to answer your question if you put the mirror adjusting switch to either left mirror or right mirror (i.e. not in the centre) the wing mirrors will dip down. At least I think that's what I did... it's either that switch or the mirror in / out switch. Have a shot and let me know.

Glenn

hi everyone. this is my first proper posting since leaving the new members area. just a quick query, i have just taken delivery of my new (to me anyway) 2004 ls430 mk2, after having had a 2002 mk1 for the last couple of years. on my mk1 when i engaged reverse the rear mirrors dipped so you could tell where the kerb was in relation to the rear wheels, which was dead handy to avoid kerbing the alloys when parking.

with the new model when you engage reverse the rear camera comes on to show what is directly behind, but the mirrors dont dip to show where the back wheels are. is there a mod that can be done in the usual lexus way - ie open and shut the door three times, while pressing air con button, patting head and rubbing stomach all at the same time!!

or is it a lexus dealer fix?

or is it tough t*tties and get used to it?

thanx - i know someone out there will know the answer

Hi Pete

Just out of curiosity do you have a website for the company doing tv's for the 430?

Glenn

Hi

Can't understand why anyone would want to sit in a parked car and watch Tv on a silly little screen. There again I could be getting old....

No one at present, as far as I have seen, has bothered with one for the 460 but there is a company in the states doing similar for the later 430 so it probably won't be long...

Have a look on ebay usa for them

Pete

Hi Chris

I have Bridgestone ER33's on my LS430. I bought the car with 23k kilometres on it and now have 36k on ths clock and the tyres still look like they'll do the same again. I actually suspect that the tyres are the originals that were on the car when bought as the same tyre is on the spare wheel which has not been used! The road noise is a touch louder than the Dunlops I had on my previous LS400 but it's minimal and to be honest I could be imagining it! I also had a set of Pirelli's on my LS400 at one stage and found them to be equally as quiet and lasted longer than the Dunlops.

All in all I'll probably stick with the Bridgestones when I need to change...

Hope this helps.

Glenn

I have joined in the occasional debates on here in the past about the best tyres for LS430. When I got mine last November, I put on 4 new Dunlop Sport SP270's which I think were the original spec for this car.

The two rear ones are now almost illegal at 2 to 3 mm, only 11,000 miles on! Surely I should expect more than that? I'm no boy racer, but I do a lot of motorway miles, at fairly high speeds. The wear apparently is fairly uniform so no indication there of anything unusual.

Second question is the old one: what to get next? With that kind of life, I'm a little wary of the SP270 again. They have been smooth enough but not especially quiet in my opinion. Very quiet on a good road, not that quiet on the many poor roads we have to drive on in this country. Maybe it's just the roads?

Lexus also recommend Bridgestone, not sure which one but I don't think there has been a very favourable impression on here. On a previous Saab I had Dunlop Sport SP01's and they were great, smooth and very quiet, I noticed an immediate difference when I put those on the Saab. I think they can be fitted to the LS though not sure if they are actually still available, and quite pricey in LS sizes.

Old subject I know, but any other thoughts? Is there any new thinking on this based on anyone's recent experiences?

Thanks for your advice!

Chris

Hi

Does anyone know what the warranty is on the paint job of an LS430? I have a 3 year old one and I have just noticed some slight bubbling on the bottom side of the drivers door... I bought my car 2nd hand in Germany and was just wondering if anyone could look up the warranty information for me on the paint job.

Cheers

Glenn

Hi,

Both these products were featured in Autoexpress a few weeks ago and Collinite came top!

Have a look here

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/prod...car_polish.html

Collinite is on ebay item # 370051661312

The Sonax I cannot find but here is a link to their website which should provide a source.

http://www.sonax.com/

Please feel free to enjoy the warm Spanish sunshine while the rest of us are stuck in the UK! but at least driving a Lexus makes it bearable.

mmm To Sonax or to Sonus! That is the questions. By the way Steve, the weather has been crap over here the last week, ****** rain for days and I believe the UK has been having a bit of a heat wave.... so I think it is me consoling myself in the Lexus!

By the way I see you have a Jap import? I had a 96 Jap import for 8 years and just changed it last year for the LS430. It was a great car to drive and never gave me an ounce of trouble. I actually gave it to my sister as her car had been written off.... 100,000 miles on the clock and it's still running like a clock and everything still works in it! You would get that from a Merc!

Glenn

Hi

I have a 2005 LS430 Astral Black and would like to try this Sonus SFX and also Collinite 476 stuff... can anyone tell me where to get them? I'm living in Spain at the moment so had a look on eBay but couldnt find them.... maybe on my next trip to the UK I can pick 'em up... does Halfords stock them?

Glenn

I used a jubilee clip, like oyu have on a garden hose. Cut the tightening screw off it and wrapped it around the Battery terminal, then tightened the terminal ontop of it... has worked fine ever since.

I had to make up an insert to put inside the terminal connection to make a tighter fit. Had not had any problems since.

What did you use as an insert?

Hi

I had a similar problem with my LS400. I was away for 4 weeks and had trouble starting it. Had to use the jump leads. The Battery was only 2 years old. However one of the Battery terminals was not a perfect fit so I dont think the Battery was getting topped properly when the engine was running. I had to make up an insert to put inside the terminal connection to make a tighter fit. Had not had any problems since.

Hope this helps.

Glenn

i've been away from home for the past 4 weeks and the wife went to start my 97 ls400 and the battery was completly flat.

its a new battery as the old one wasn't holding charge.(i work away often and the car doesn't get used that much, my wife uses her rx!)

anyway is this normal? would a battery only last 4 weeks? its only powering the alarm and clock isn't it?

i'd just like confirmation that this is normal please otherwise i'll take the battery back

Hi

Just a note on the rev's. I also found that 650 rpm was the ideal setting on my LS400. Anything lower gave slight vibration.

Cheers

Glenn

It could also be the Throttle pot. giving erractic output due to dirty tracks/contacts especially as you have cleaned the TB some of the cleaner may have entered it and affected it electrically.

It operates in a similar way to the volume control on your hifi but instead of getting louder as you turn the knob it makes the car rev up more, if you have ever had a "noisy" volume control on your hifi/radio as you turn it up you will hear crackles and the volume level becomes erractic.

Since the problem you have is sensitive to the TP position ( the rev level) the same could be occuring here and substituting with a known good one would confirm this.

Looking at the throttle body it is the round plastic unit with the black connector coming out at the bottom.

If you click this link the 1st picture showns the TP with the wiring plug disconnected

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/EFI/throttlebody.html

Hope you get it sorted.

Steve

hi steve,i changes the tps of another lexus, not sure yet if it has helped but will test drive it first to see how it goes.the car was absolte spot on at one point then this silly thing started trying to put my finger on what it is.like you say it sounds like the tps.i did notice the screws that hold the tps was ever so slightly loose.could that contribute to it?when it touches at 600 revs at idle the car so of vibrates a bit but increase a little it stops say about 610rpm but thats only when i press the gas pedal.

any tipes on what i can do from here

thanks

simon

Hi

You could try cleaning the injectors.... pouring some injector cleaner into the fuel tank. Another idea would be to get the timing checked.

Glenn

hi yes the engine revs erracticly as the needle bounces

Hiya

Just a quick question, when the needle bounces around is it doing so in relation to the sound of the cars engine aswell? In other words can you hear the engine rev'ing eratically aswell as the needle? If not then it's probably just a signal problem to the rev counter or even a damaged spring in the dial needle.

Glenn

i have a ls400 1992 and the revs idle spot on at 650 rpm but when i gently press the gas pedal slowly increase it to 1100 it is fine same at 1400 and 1600 but as soon it touches at 1800 & 2000 rpm the rev needle bounces down and up all the time but if i increase the revs to 2200 onwards it is fine it is always on 1800 & 2000 revs.please can some one give me an idea on how to sort this out, i have cleaned the throttle body and checked the vacumn pipes they are not cracked.

much appreciated

Hiya

Just a quick question, when the needle bounces around is it doing so in relation to the sound of the cars engine aswell? In other words can you hear the engine rev'ing eratically aswell as the needle? If not then it's probably just a signal problem to the rev counter or even a damaged spring in the dial needle.

Glenn

i have a ls400 1992 and the revs idle spot on at 650 rpm but when i gently press the gas pedal slowly increase it to 1100 it is fine same at 1400 and 1600 but as soon it touches at 1800 & 2000 rpm the rev needle bounces down and up all the time but if i increase the revs to 2200 onwards it is fine it is always on 1800 & 2000 revs.please can some one give me an idea on how to sort this out, i have cleaned the throttle body and checked the vacumn pipes they are not cracked.

much appreciated

Hi

I'd agree with Bigste... I'd go for air in the system. There might be a bleed nipple somewhere on the system that you can connect a pipe to and bleed out the fluid until no bubbles are seen.

Glenn

Hey guys,

I have a 1994 LS 400.

I have replaced the Power steering pump, Rack and Pinion, Fluid, Cleaned the Solenoid Filter, and hoses.

The steering works flawlessly at speed.. but at a dead stop, at idle (600Rpms) it just doesn't. It is like it has zero power steering aid. Very hard to turn the wheels. If I put it in neutral and rev it slightly the steering comes back. There are zero leaks.

The power steering pump was just done today, as I thought that was the last thing it 'could' be. But no dice.

What is next here?

Thanks,

Hi

Just a question on the HID bulbs, do you need to fit a modification kit for these or can they be used in a standard unit?

Glenn

I fitted 4500k off e-bay which from memory were about £8 a pair, and was very pleased with the result. They gave a really white light without looking too blue. I think the higher the "k" the more blue they get.

Hi

It just means that they are slightly over tightened. I wouldnt worry about it, personally I dont think it makes a difference.

Glenn

Having had a set of new tyres the other week. I've finally got around to looking at the paperwork.

The handbook for the car says the wheel nuts should be tightened to 105Nm. I notice they've written that they've set them to 120Nm.

Should I care? Is this significant?

Looks great.... do you have any before pics.... would like to see what it looked like prior to your extensive makeover...

Well done!

Glenn

Hi Alex

I had an LS400 and it started to whistle about the same speed. I found it was the wipers. After I had replaced them, I didnt set the drivers one properlyso it was not exactly level when at home position. This caused a slight whistle. There's a screw on the link arm for the wiper that you can use to adjust it to make sure the wiper is level and therefore fully hiden by the bonnet when in its home position.

Also another think I noticed was that if I had my ventilation system on for the vents and on of the vents either in the front or back was closed I got a slight whistle, which turned out to be a leaf stuck in the input of the drivers vent so when the other vents were closed the wind was passing through the drivers vent faster causing the whistle.

Just some of my experiences.

Let me know if you find the source.

Glenn

Hi All,

My LS430 occasionally whistles when above 80mph, it comes from the front passenger side, I think it is outside, id did find some loose trim at the lower front wing which in now screwed back on, but it is still there1

anyone had or has a similar problem.

I understand they used the same wind tunnel as the bullet(train) to get the aerodynamics's spot on, and it has a very low drag coefficient. so I would assume it should not "whistle"..lol

Alex.

Hi

I just upgraded from an LS400 to a 2005 LS430. If you can, go for a 2005 model as this came with 18" wheels, 6 speed auto gearbox and a few other trims as standard. I paid €40,000 for mine in Germany with 23,000km as I wanted a left hand drive as I was moving to Spain. I did get the timing belt done on my LS400 and it was under €1,000, I think it was about €700. In answer to one of the other replies, the predident package comes with controls on the rear armrest along with a fridge in the back aswell.

I read up on some of the reviews online, top gear etc. and they can list the extras you get on the 2005 model and you can see if it's worth going the extra mile.

GLenn

I've hit the 92,000 mile mark in my LS430 and am due that big service when the timing belt must be done! My car has FLSH, Sat-Nav, Smart-Key, parking sensors + air purifier. Silver with black leather, it's a good spec car in good condition. (Dublin, Ireland).

A thought raced through my mind that instead of spening €2,000 on a service, I could spend some more and upgrade.

Any thoughts on the big differences between the 2004 model V the 2001?

Would consider this one as a good example of what I am looking for.

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Lexus/LS430/car/947556/

I know it has more wooden trim and different wheels, but what else is there?

Hi

Congrats on your new purchase. I recently pruchased a 2005 LS430 and opted to update the sat nav aswell... I did find some places in the Uk that were not on my previous version but on going through France and Spain it was still missing some information. I think it depends on the country as to whether they update their ground maps regularly. My opinion is it's not worth the money to update, although my previous version was 2005 so you might see a difference going from 2003 - 2007.

As for the lights, I didnt bother putting the stickers on and I found my lights did not dip up that much on the left, certainly not enough to interfere with oncoming traffic and I never got flashed once by an on coming car.

Hope this helps.

Glenn

I am a new and delighted LS430 (2004 model) owner. I am taking it to France, Normandy, next month.

Can anyone share their experience of using Light deflectors on the High Intensity Discharge bulbs on this model. Can the light deflectors do any damage to the light covers?

Also am considering updating the 2003 version of the Satnat disc, is it worth it for around £150? I am advise the latest version came out Oct 2007.

Incidently,I was amazed to find that there was/is no warning triangle that comes with the car.You name it and it's standard equipment except for this...well never mind there goes a tenner.

Thanks

Hi Steve

2 possibilites:

1 - The cd is upside down. It has writen on the tray to place the label side of the CD down, so the data side of the cd is facing up.

2 - You're trying to read a copied cd. The cd player wont read CDRW's or mp3 files. It will read CDR's.

Hope this helps getting you rocking to your tunes in your LS.

Glenn

hi can any one tell me why when i load my c/d 6 disc cartridge i can hear the c/d player loading each disc then on the display it reads error 16? can any one shead some light on this problem thanks steve