johnatg

Surely you need FK20HBR11 - these don't look like that to me. Sent from my PSP7551DUO using Tapatalk

Phone mic - not brilliant but I guess it depends a bit on the phone. This dongle isn't really a hands free kit - it's for music. Sent from my PSP7551DUO using Tapatalk

I've used Brake Parts (based in Rochdale) frequently - always good stuff - never had any problems - efficient mail order service. (I've sometimes called in to their shop.) Apec are a reputable company (based in Wrexham) - supply all sorts of brake items inc pads and fitting kits (they don't sell direct). Note that these are refurb calipers and there's a service charge pending return of your old calipers. But they are refurbed to 'as new' condition - don't be put off by that. PS - always do brake work on both sides at the same time. Parts are often supplied as a front or rear kit so you the parts for both sides in one pack. Calipers supplied singly though.

They no doubt told you that you need a new caliper. You almost certainly don't - just get the pins greased. But check the discs too, especially the inner faces - I reckon they diagnose stuck calipers from rust on the discs - it's only a visual health check after all.

Hey - it's music in the car - and your music from your phone. It's hardly a listening studio. It's OK for me - might not be if you're really picky about sound accuracy.

Yes.

Breakout to a new topic - Bluetooth dongle for music.

See this, for example - there are lots of others: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5mm-Jack-Aux-Wireless-Bluetooth-4-0-Audio-Stereo-Music-Receiver-Adapter-Black/222573798261?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 The 3.5mm jack goes in the socket at the back of the cubby between the front seats. The USB cable is for power - plug it in to a 12v plug with two USB outlets - you see them by garage counters quite often or eBay - that unit goes in to the power socket, again at the back of the cubby. Now pair your phone with the dongle (see description in the eBay listing) and play music on your phone. Set the stereo to aux input and voila!

You can buy a dongle thing on eBay for about a fiver which will give you Bluetooth in a non-bluetooth equipped IS250. Works like a charm. And I wonder if they would describe Avon tyres on a Roller as 'budget' It's whaht they put for mine, too - I have Avons all round. I guess it's because you didn't pay Lexus inflated tyre prices - even more expensive than Nitrogen!

Most scrappage schemes do promise to scrap the traded-in car. Not sure if that promise is always kept, and it can lead to the loss of some perfectly good cars. But it's what they usually say. PS - if you have to buy a £60K or more car to get £4K off -it's not a great deal, is it? Or maybe you don't tell them about your trade in until after you've negotiated a price!

There are two lines of thought with this query. Firstly, the original diagnosis - cam gear wear. IMHO, this is very unlikely unless the car has done a stratospheric mileage and not been maintained properly, especially after the Lexus SH. I don't know about it being common - not in the UK it's not. It may be in the USA - for some reason different problems beset cars there - not sure why - different climate, driving conditions, servicing, oil - who knows? But often different problems get prominence compared with UK. Now I don't want to be rude and I appreciate that you're concerned about the noise and have the opportunity to reject the car. BTW - fixing it, if it is cam gear wear, will cost way more than the car is worth (at least to get it done by a Lexus dealer and I'm not sure that I would entrust a V6 engine strip to any old garage). But I'm afraid, other things being equal, the cam gear diagnosis is automotive hypochondria. The noise is much, much more likely to be hydraulic valve lifter chatter - it is very common on all cars with hydraulic tappets simply because oil changes are too infrequent when carried out according to manufacturer's intervals - those intervals are geared to fleet maintenance costs over a limited mileage (less than 100K miles). Your choice whether to reject the car - otherwise proceed on the basis of doing some oil flushes and oil regime procedures as Linas says. Lexus do approve the use of 0W-20 oil on all IS250 engines but it's pretty damned expensive and probably not necessary, but it might clear the noise more quickly.

I don't think that's right. With these scrappage schemes it depends what car you're buying, not what you're trading in. If the car qualifies and you're buying a very expensive new Lexus, you'll get £4k off (even if your trade in is an ancient banger). Buy a cheaper new car and you'll only get a proportion.

You shouldn't use copper washers with alloy sumps - they can set up corrosion due to electrode potentials. Lexus sump plug washers should be fibre with an aluminium core. I buy sump plug washers for all my cars from www.smartearlybird.co.uk - they list the correct washers for more or less every car on the road. in fact for IS250s they list two grades - a standard one and a superior one.

This is not a particularly serious problem and it won't raise a fault code. It is annoying and a bit worrying though. It is due to the hydraulic valve lifters (tappets) being bunged up due to insufficiently frequent oil changes - Lexus service interval is 10K miles and oil needs to be changed more frequently - preferably 5K mile intervals. No point using a dealer for a 9 year old car. Go to a trustworthy indy and get them to change the oil to a good quality fully synthetic 5W-30 (I use Dexos2) and use an oil flush additive at every oil change. The noise will eventually get less and go away altogether, but don't expect instant results.

Haha! Anyone heard of irony?! But to answer the original question - it's better to go straight away - that warms the engine up more quickly, which is better. An IS250 engine will take a long time to warm up at idle with 10 litres of coolant. But drive gently until the engine has at least started to warm up according to the temperature gauge - use light throttle and keep the revs down. You may have noticed that the auto box doesn't use 6th gear until it too has warmed up.

Mine was done on Monday at Lexus Stockport - they had the car for about 5 hours - returned with a wash and valet and a splash of petrol to top up the tank and a tub of sweets.

You can get 'complete' kits on eBay - 13 or 15 pieces - quite a few on offer. Do make sure you know how to get at the dome bulbs before you start prising with screwdrivers, etc - do not use metal tools. (Except for the screws, obviously, which you get to after you've removed the outer cover). Check the workshop manual. You can get plastic trim removal kits - consist of several different types of levers. Check eBay or Amazon.

From your comments I assume the gearbox is auto? Changing fluid in an auto compared with a manual box is a completely different kettle of fish. Actually I have intended for a while to change mine - I have a can of WS fluid waiting - but on the whole I think I probably won't bother and I think I'd advise you not to either, at least for a considerable mileage yet and then only if the shift quality deteriorates (which it is very unlikely to have done at 71K). If the changes become slow or don't happen when you expect, or if you get some other gearbox fault (unlikely, but has been reported) then it might be worth doing. It won't happen until well past 100K. Meanwhile, leave well alone!

BMW X5 3.0D 0-60 - 6.8 seconds (there are faster and slower versions) (Diesels have massive torque which gives you low down acceleration) Lexus IS (2.5) - 0-60 7.8 seconds (petrol versions - there are slight variations over model years and trims - due to weight and a particular year's emissions standards? Top speeds are much the same - X5 143mph, IS 144mph So a 3.0 X5 is slightly faster than an IS but not by much and I suspect that in a straight drag race it would be down to the drivers. Not much difference in the real world. Oh - and I don't know about diesels not stalling - I had a rental BMW 116D in Sicily last week - damn thing was completely gutless and it would stall if you let the revs drop below about 1500. At least the stop/start system would restart it when you dropped the clutch!

You've probably squeezed the remote in your pocket in the house - maybe bent down. That activates the windows down function of a long press on unlock. It can be disabled with Techstream Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

The thing with hydraulic valve lifters is that they have very fine and precise passageways for the oil. They have to have just the right amount of 'squishiness' to adjust to the correct length by ejecting oil but not too much that they change length to any extent during a single valve operation and they also have to be able to refill with oil very rapidly (by suction - like letting go of a squeezed washing up liquid bottle with the tip under water) when you start the engine (and during running) - they partially drain out when the engine is stopped and on each valve opening.. Now oil deposits sticky gum especially as it gets a bit aged but it starts doing so right from day one and this restricts the passageways. If it gets excessive it takes a few seconds - even up to half a minute - of engine running for the lifters to refill so in the meantime they are effectively too short and the rattle is from too big valve clearances. The gum is dissolved and removed by engine flush additives - that's why they are a good idea. (In my view) The gum is distinct from the very hard carbon deposits which build up in the 'rocker chambers' (there's a lot more stuff there than rockers!) - that forms when the oil is really old and it is very difficult to remove - it's almost as hard as the metal and it doesn't get dissolved by flush additive (or anything else - it can only be removed mechanically really) I suspect that Alan's car had just a bit of gum in the lifters and giving it an Italian tune-up has blasted some good hot (and thin) oil around and this has cleared them enough to suppress the rattle. An early oil change would be good idea though - with flush additive!.

I know this 'bit of sludge' thing is often quoted and I suppose if it's really bad it's possible, but a 250 that has had 3 or 4 at least (hopefully!) oil changes to 67K shouldn't be too bad. I did once buy a Mazda 626 which had been well neglected (and had copious amounts of crud in the rocker chambers) - it had belonged to someone who ran by the principle, buy , run for 20K miles without touching it, get rid. But I bought it for peanuts at 75K and ran it for 3 years adding 80K with frequent oil changes and flushing and it ran perfectly. I only sold it because I saw and fancied a GTi version - this was over 25 years ago. I've certainly never done a further oil change - I always change oil at 5K mile intervals (3K in my MX-5) and use flush additive every time.

It's likely you have bunged up hydraulic valve lifters (tappets) due to infrequent oil changes. Use a flush additive before an oil change (every time) and change the oil every 5000 miles. It may take a while (several oil changes) to reduce the rattle, but eventually it will largely disappear. If that is indeed the problem. Meanwhile it won't do any real harm. The more frequent oil changes will protect the timing chains as well as other benefits for your engine! These flush additives are a bit controversial but I've used them on multiple cars at every oil change for the last 30 years or so and never had a problem even over very many oil changes.

I certainly appreciate your points and indeed, not everyone has the abilities/resources/equipment to maintain cars themselves - or the space to do it. And I don't mean to cast aspersions on anyone who drives a 220D, but I suspect the warranty issue is rather more relevant for those who do drive 220Ds than for 250s.

Calipers rarely actually fail - the sliders seize up if they're not greased. Lexus then tell you that you need new ones, but even then they're usually fairly easy to free up and re-grease - any decent garage would do it for you for a few quid - not Lexus though - they don't dismantle anything. Even if the worst comes to the worst and you do need new calipers, they don't cost as much as a one year Lexus warranty (for the parts). Just look after the car properly and you'll (almost) never need any warranty. I've had my car for over five years and never paid for a warranty (or a Lexus/garage service).