PEPE

Hi Andrew, My MK 4 also gave me a very tough time recently, and I started a thread which you can read here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/85945-help-please-my-mk-4-thinks-im-a-car-thief/ In my case I concluded that when fiddling with the gizmos I did something that prompted the car to ARM ITSELF, as some cars are programmed to do this. I read about this here: LS400_MK_3_SECURITY.pdf I have just PMed you with my mobile phone. If you ring me I can elucidate more quickly. I can understand how you feel. Happy New Year Pepe

Hi Andrew, My MK 4 also gave me a very tough time recently, and I started a thread which you can read here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/85945-help-please-my-mk-4-thinks-im-a-car-thief/ In my case I concluded that when fiddling with the gizmos I did something that prompted the car to ARM ITSELF, as some cars are programmed to do this. I read about this here: LS400_MK_3_SECURITY.pdf I have just PMed you with my mobile phone. If you ring me I can elucidate more quickly. I can understand how you feel. Happy New Year Pepe

Hi Andrew, My MK 4 also gave me a very tough time recently, and I started a thread which you can read here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/85945-help-please-my-mk-4-thinks-im-a-car-thief/ In my case I concluded that when fiddling with the gizmos I did something that prompted the car to ARM ITSELF, as some cars are programmed to do this. I read about this here: LS400_MK_3_SECURITY.pdf I have just PMed you with my mobile phone. If you ring me I can elucidate more quickly. I can understand how you feel. Happy New Year Pepe

I agree. My indie tells me not to touch the transmission.

How wonderful! This would be totally impossible in Spanish, my native languare. The closest thing would be betún polaco--no contest.

No! Add me to the list!

Good luck Rudy, you seem to know your way round the electronics of our cars.

My Mk 3 is still on the original bearings at 229,000 miles.

Great minds think alike, Phil . . .

Fellow LOC members will be relieved to learn that behavioural economists in Cambridge are making rapid advances on the subject of the correct intervals for timing belt changes. The following variables appear to be relevant: M=money in the bank m=miles since last change t=years since last change s=propensity to save Latest observations seem to indicate that frequency of change is in direct proportion to M and in inverse proportion to m, t, and s. It is rumoured that the results will be published in a forthcoming book entitled "The General Theory of Cams, Interest and Money." It is also speculated in academic circles that the author or authors of this seminal work will become instantly eligible for the Nobel Prize in Economics. I must point out, however, that there is a dissident current that says that all the foregoing does not apply and that "it is all in the genes." The importance of DNA in all this is based on the fact that many amateur mechanics when attempting to change the timing belt by themselves have ended up with a double helix in their hands. Cheers Pepe

Hi Alex This is what your future LS 430 could look like if you follow Shiner's advice: My 1996 Mk 3: My 1998 Mk 4: Merry Christmas and Happy Motoring Pepe

Happy Christmas everyone and all good wishes for the New Year!

I found Steve2006's post. Here it is: Hello and welcome to the LOC. Hopefully joining the club will save you around £260.00 :D Don't go paying out for the complete unit, the fault with the broken arm is well known and well documented ( see the link below). If you don't fancy fabricating one contact SGS Engineering at Derby who supply a replacement arm for around £40.00. http://evansweb.info...t-sensor-repair http://www.sgs-engin...ight-sensor-arm Happy Christmas Pepe

Many thanks Mark and Steve. I have a confession to make. My foot well lights in my Mk 4 where there all along! It's just that the interior of my car is entirely BLACK (unlike y Mk 3 whch is blue/grey) and at first glance I thought the only light in the foot wells came from the interior roof light. It was only when I switched off the roof light as well as the garage lights that I could see the foot well lights functioning correctly. Ah, well, I'll be 73 tomorrow. That might explain it! Pepe

The foot-well lights on my Mk 3 are working properly when one of the front doors is opened, whereas those on my Mk 4 are not. Can they be switched on separately? If so, where is the switch? Many thanks for any feedback. Pepe

I'll be 73 on Christmas eve. So far so good with no advisories!

I think I have found the answer to my own question, namely, how can the car arm itself without warning, as it happened to me? By reading the Security section of my MK 3 manual I learned the some cars come with AUTOMATIC (PASSIVE) ARMING. It would appear that my MK 4 has this feature. This happens when "with the ignition switch in the ACC or OFF position, the passive arming function is activated by a door/boot opening." It would appear that whilst sitting inside the car playing with the car's gizmos, and with the key in the ACC position I opened the driver's door. The rest is history . . . For our benefit I have scanned and attached the relevant pages. I certainly learned something new. LS400_MK_3_SECURITY.pdf Pepe

Thank you Brian, for posting this clever procedure. I am still at a loss to understand what I did whilst I was still in the car that resulted in the car arming itself.

Very interesting, Pete. My battery is three years old. Thanks for the tip.

To sum up, I would conclude that I did drain the battery, as Steve and Jimmy indicate, and that started a chain reaction that I didn't handle properly. As I said, everything is back to normal now. Many thanks again to all of you! Pepe

Thank you both Mark and Rudy very much indeed. I just went to the garage and, as you said, Rudy, everything was back to normal. The tilting mechanism working properly was the first sign. At this very moment the car is idling in the garage. The question remains, however, what did I disturb? Good night Pepe

Thank you, Mark. I reconnected, alarm went off, pressed unlock, alarm stopped. Then went to driver's door. It was locked. Pressed unlock, door obeyed. This is exactly where I am. I haven't done anything else. I'm terrified of putting the key in the ignition because the previous owner said to DO NOTHING for about an hour after reconnecting the battery. What do you think?

This afternoon I decided to teach myself how to operate my 'new' Mk 4's satnav. I got into the car, inserted my 'mechanical' key (as opposed to one with remote buttons) and sure enough, the steering wheel mechanism promptly went into action and lowered the steering wheel to its last settings. So far so good. I then played with the sat nav and went on to operate the audio system, CD and radio using the touch screen. After about an hour I decided to switch off and when I pulled out the key I noticed that the steering wheel did not move away from me to the 'exit' position as it always did. This change in behaviour sent immediate shivers down my spine. What had I disturbed? I then thought starting the car would do the trick, so I started it with no problems but once I switched it off after about 30 seconds, the steering wheel remained unmoved. I also noticed that the windows would not wind down. On one occasion they did, but then nothing. I tried locking the car with the remote system but could do this only once. Fortunately I could still unlock it manually. I tried all kinds of permutations but this was what would happen: The little red security flashing light would flash. I inserted the key and turned it to ACC. No problem, but then the minute I turned it to IGNITION the anti-theft alarm would go off for about 30 seconds. The car kept doing this until I diagnosed that probably what I had done was draining the battery whilst playing with the gizmos. The car, I surmised, reacted to this by setting off the alarm. I opened the bonnet--alarm went off--but stopped after 30 secs. I connected my charger and after three hours the charger indicated a full charge. I then inserted the key hoping to see the tilting mechanism reacting to this. NOTHING. Bad sign I thought. Switched to ACC--no problem, but as soon as I went one step further to IGNITION the alarm went off again! In desperation, after speaking to both my indie in Angering as well as to The-Acre (Phil) who I know personally, I decided, as prompted by the previous owner, to disconnect the battery and then to reconnect it after about ten minutes and then to DO NOTHING for about an hour. This, according to him, should restore the settings to their 'normal' condition. I tried this, but as soon as I reconnected the battery the alarm went of AGAIN! So, the car is now in the garage, with the battery disconnected as I wait for some kind soul in here to tell me what to do. If someone PMs me I'd be more than happy to return the call, or conversely give out my mobile number. Thank you all so much. Pepe

I must confess that modern car electronics terrify me, especially those related to anti-theft immobilisers. I have nightmares of pressing a wrong button somewhere and convincing the car that I'm a thief trying to steal the vehicle. I therefore try to keep things simple in the day-to-day running of my two LS 400s. I simply put away the fancy keys with all the little buttons and instead lock and unlock the car with my 'manual' keys. I have learned a lot by reading this thread and now need help with the following questions, but first here is a picture of my keys: The thick key in the 4 o'clock position is that of my Mk 4 whereas the one in the 10 o'clock position belongs the my Mk 3. I have been looking at several tutorials on youTube and have ascertained that my 'fat' Mk 4 key has a transponder inside. My question is, would my 'thin' Mk 3 key also have a transponder? If the answer is yes, then would I be courting disaster by carrying the two keys in the same key ring? I should point out that on a few occasions I have absent-mindedly put the wrong key into the wrong car. The steering tilt mechanism is then activated but of course I cannot unlock the ignition and I quickly correct my mistake. So far I have not detected any adverse effects. Any comments and advice would be appreciated. Many thanks Pepe

I shouldn't count on it mate. As they have in the past did they insist on photocopying any of your documents "for their records" :megaangry: cos if so they shouldn't as they have no secure storage for your data AND all they need do is record the unique document numbers that your V5 & DL contain . They certainly don't need copies In order to address these points, and insofar as I currently have three cars running on Halfords plates, I went to Halfords myself earlier today, and for the avoidance of doubt here is what I found out: 1. They do not photocopy or scan any documents. All they do is scan a barcode on the V5 document. That information goes straight into the DVLA computers and Halfords DO NOT keep this information in theirs. The purpose of this is to inform DVLA that Halfords has sold new number plates to the person authorised to own them. 2. Albeit discretely the name of Halfords, together with the pertinent postal code is clearly readable by the naked eye, as prescribed by law. The same applies to the BS specification which applies to the numberplate. All this can be clearly seen in the photos I just took for this purpose: Many thanks for raising these points. Pepe