johnatg

Fair enough re the shock absorbers and exhaust. I would still try and find a garage which would work on the calipers to see if they can be freed up. Lexus will only fit new ones at vast expense. Usually they can be retrieved with a little effort.

I was booked in for Monday 20th. As I've been hearing that the parts are not available - currently on back order - I called to see where we are. Nope - no parts. They'll call to refix, they say. How shambolic - you would have thought they would know how many part sets were required when they started this.

Sad news indeed. I've been away for a few days and only read this news this morning. I don't know where exactly he lived but I always regarded him as a local lad - us both living in Cheshire. He will be missed.

Ian Corbett See here: Ian Corbett - Head of Lexus Ireland - Lexus | LinkedIn Many of the rest of the senior management are listed on that page too.

Lexus V6 engines (eg IS250, GS250 and GS450h) have inaccessible plugs in the 2 rear cylinders on the left bank. (the air surge tank - which people think is the inlet manifold but isn't - needs to be removed. An hour or so job) All 3 plugs in the right bank are easy to get to. GS300h only has four easily accessible plugs.

No - that's the VIN number. It's an import from Japan. (Well, they all are) But the car was built for the Japanese market. Might complicate identifying the actual paint code. But a car paint shop should be able to match up the colour.

It should be on a plate on the front passenger door jamb (bottom rear). This might help: Car Touch Up Paint - Search by Reg | Chipex UK to find the colour code.

Here are some useful links: https://www.evansweb.info/2009/11/23/ls400-ride-height-sensor-repair/?utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121954943010?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&mkcid=1&itemid=121954943010&targetid=938486033460&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9046500&poi=&campaignid=10195651343&mkgroupid=103308028793&rlsatarget=pla-938486033460&abcId=1145985&merchantid=114888573&gclid=CjwKCAjw_Y_8BRBiEiwA5MCBJoUEdsq0Til1XLYPmUf51IvtOa6h9oJExTaV-bOQHtr2FY5GPZP0HRoCplgQAvD_BwE&utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks&siteid=3&customid=link&campid=5338910164&toolid=20001 You'd need a bit of stainless threaded rod with the last one. Someone posted on this forum some time ago with a link to complete rods available in various lengths. Can't find it just now. Anyone?

I guess that's the actual sensor. You might need it - it depends what's wrong. You might need the pushrod instead. I suggest to wait for the garage diagnosis.

Don't despair! My take on the list. 1) Caliper front. These cars have fixed 4 pot calipers (I think - Mk 4 GS does anyway) It is possible that the pistons have seized - if so the caliper may need rebuilding, or it may just need a bit of working the pistons in and out to free them up. Shouldn't be too expensive. 2) Caliper rear. Here you have a sliding caliper - there's a single piston and the caliper slides to transfer the push to the opposite side from the piston. The piston may have seized (see above) or more likely, the sliding pins have seized. It should be possible to clean the pins and regrease them. New seals may be required. The calipers on the rhs of the car should be checked. (BTW - Lexus would want to replace the calipers with new) 3) AFS sensor. This senses the height of the rear of the car (for adjusting the headlights to not dazzle oncoming cars). See pic attached for what it looks like. It is common for the pushrod (the silver bit) to break. New pushrods are available (Ebay) cheaply, but not from Lexus. They will want to replace the whole thing at vast expense. 4) Exhaust. Well they do deteriorate - anything may be required from a bit of welding to a replacement. Lexus (new parts) are stupidly expensive - a garage should be able to advise and fix at reasonable cost. 5) Shock absorbers. If they were replaced they should be perfectly OK. If not a garage should be able to check if they are defective (leaking?) or not. Good luck!

It works like it's supposed to - it lifts a bit when you operate boot release then you can lift it to fully open almost effortlessly.

Ah - yes indeed. And the car in the pic has washers. So if the arrow is accurate, it's main beam xenons we're looking for.

Well I'm pretty puzzled by this. My GS300h has slightly tinted rear windows - same as front windows and screen. Replacing the rear glass would be very expensive - I doubt there'd be change from £1000. Here's a screed on window tint - https://tinyurl.com/mptjrfdt I can't believe that a local authority, even in Scotland, can impose their own regulations about this - it's enshrined in Construction and Use regs, and the article linked above explicitly states that regs are the same throughout UK (not that that site is necessarily correct) I don't really understand heavily tinted rear windows - quite common round here, specially on BMWs and Range Rovers. Why? Unless you are regularly chauffeuring celebrities or gang leaders. And I would have thought that most Lexus owners were a bit past hanky panky on the back seat! 😉 (If you are up for that there are the rear screen and side window blinds!) (It has just occurred to me - is the vehicle used as a taxi?)

£23.99 each from here: Lexus IS300 Tailgate Struts | Boot Struts | Bonnet Gas Struts (sgs-engineering.com) You need 2. They work perfectly. (Don't worry that it says IS300 - they fit your car!) Fitting is pretty simple - you just need to take out the boot light and the luggage hangers, then ease open the gap between the top lining and the edge of the metal.

It's a 2008 - gotta be halogen. (Unless the whole headlight has been replaced and other mods made - any other bulb (LED or gas discharge will fail MoT)) There are several bulbs in the headlight: Main beam: HB3 Dip beam: H11 Parking light: W5W Turn indicator: WY21W (You need to remove the headlight to change this - the others are relatively easy) Easy DiY except the indicator - I'd recommend you change both sides to ensure the light output is matched. And anyway, the other side will probably fail soon if you don't change it. You do need to remove a bit of stuff - eg the air filter housing on the right and move the washer inlet tube on the left.

The parking brake switch is incorporated into the parking brake pedal. The actual switch is not shown in the workshop manual. There's just this reference to testing it: Here's a diagram of the parking brake adjustment mechanism - may help:

Indeed. But it does make the car feel a lot more agile when going fast through a series of bends and the ride isn't too bad on 18" wheels. Reduces roll, too. It also stiffens up the steering, but not in any useful way. It just feels as if there is more friction in the steering column

No. Pointless. These are not bolts - they are plugs and the seal is below the head of the plug. The threads are effectively lubricated (and therefore protected from corrosion) by the oil in the diff (and likewise gearbox, engine, etc). The problem, when you can't undo them, is that they have been overtightened. Then there is too much friction between the head of the plug and the housing. It's common for things to be overtightened by amateur and professional mechanics alike - typically drain plugs, spark plugs, oil filter housings, wheel nuts, etc, etc. Before you mess with your car, you should get: a) a workshop manual, so that you can look up correct procedures and torque settings. and b) the correct tools, including, crucially, a torque wrench (and learn how to use it). The torque setting for both the drain plug and filler plug on the IS250 (and IS220d) diff is 36 ft-lb.

Lexus spec. Yes it is excessive, and I rather think Lexus service depts don't bother. Hard to know really.

Well, the actual diff capacity is 1.1 - 1.2 litres, but you can probably get away with 1 litre if you put the drain plug back in before the old oil has had time to fully drain. The spec is for Toyota 75W85 GL5 gear oil, which costs £20-£30 a litre depending on source. Any 75W85 or 75W90 GL5 gear oils are fine (75W85 and 75W90 are indistinguishable from each other except perhaps under laboratory investigation - for practical purposes they are interchangeable). Other brands are available (and most are perfectly OK) for much less than Toyota branded oil. Auto gearbox oil capacity required depends on the service operation performed - here is a summary: Transmission oil pan and drain plug removal - requires 1.0 litre (1.06 US qts, 0.88 lmp. qts) Transmission valve body removal - 2.2 litres (2.33 US qts, 1.94 lmp. qts) Torque converter removal - 3.7 litres (3.91 US qts, 3.26 lmp. qts) Entire transmission assembly - 7.2 litres (7.61 US qts, 6.34 lmp. qts) Spec is Toyota ATF WS - costs about £25 - £30 / litre - again other brands are available at substantially lower price. Lexus dealers will only put Toyota oil in and charge you the full price accordingly - plus labour charge. Independents will be more flexible - maybe even use oil you have supplied yourself.

The diff oil should be changed every 24K miles or thereabouts (it's a regular service item). Theoretically the gearbox oil is OK for life but it's probably a good idea to change it at 150K miles. Note that in one operation you can only change a small proportion of it (about a fifth), so to change a good proportion of it you need several goes. Sorry, no idea how much a dealer would charge. The actual oil for box and diff would cost about £75.

Nonsense. You would just need to reset the TPMS system by pressing the switch in the lower edge of the dash under the steering wheel, after the wheels have been relocated..

Absolutely agree. Applies to both front and rear wheel drive cars. Actually, technically it should be the tyres with the best grip on the rear, but that is almost invariably the new ones. The different load ratings should make no appreciable difference to handling, but again it would be better that the 98Y tyres are on the rear as they will be slightly stiffer.

It should be just a rod, threaded at the top to go through the clamp with a nut and a tight bend at the bottom to hook through a hole in the side of the battery tray. It's a pretty standard part - you should be able to get one from a scrapyard. Doesn't need to be from a IS220d or even from a Lexus. Just check the length you need. You could get some threaded rod and a nut, but it might be difficult to get a bend at the bottom.

It's OK if you use a trickle charger with battery management facilities, such as this CTEK one: MXS 5.0 UK | ctek.com (other brands are available) Do not use an old fashioned unregulated charger. If you disconnect the battery various things will need to be reset - windows, radio, etc