johnatg

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

You have to remember - any and all car dealers will tell you owt. PS - for our southern cousins - owt means anything. There's a sister word - nowt - means nothing!

A vital sensor such as the crankshaft position sensor, could easily be downgraded for some time after the heat event. But, really, I can't tell from here. You need skilled hands on diagnosis.

I've looked at the manual / procedure a bit more carefully - I think the work is done by removing the rear bench seat. There's a 'partition pad' under the seat and below that a cover in the floor to be removed. Then the vent tube assembly is held into the tank with a retaining ring which is removed with a SST. I rather think it is the retaining ring which they are calling a flange which may crack. If it did the vent tube assembly wouldn't be held into the fuel tank properly (tightly enough) So you can leave your stuff in the boot!

Seems pretty expensive to me. It is 6+ years old - i paid just a bit more for my (premier) car at 5- years old and less than half the mileage of this. Second hand car prices really have rocketed but I think they are on the way down now. Was obviously a motorway cruiser for the first 3 years (to 87K miles) but hasn't done many miles for the last 4 years (but then neither has mine) I don't think GS300h shocks will be any less than GS450h - I suspect they use the same shocks, even though the front of the 450h will be a bit heavier (maybe). Note that it has AVS (Adaptive variable suspension) which is what really puts the shock price up. You need quite a bit off this price - but good luck with that - Lexus dealers aren't very negotiable.

I'd just wait. They'll send a letter soon. Probably prioritising earlier cars.

GSF (and ISF and RCF) is/are included The part being replaced either bayonets or screws into the fuel tank. They don't want the fuel level to be close to the resulting hole.

They made that up. The recall is for the flange which the vent pipe is connected to - it can potentially crack (stress fracture). It's metal, of course. The actual vent pipe is not affected. See my post re GS300h recall for pics of the item. They are only starting the work in February and it seems as if most Lexus models around particular dates are affected so they are going to be swamped. They (Lexus Stockport) moved my appointment from February to March due to pressure of number of bookings for the job.

Which means you can look on the Mot check site. Outstanding recalls are listed there.

Yes. It's a pretty simple change. Might be a good idea to empty the junk from the boot when you take it in! 😉

I received one too - for my GS300h. I've posted a pic of the removal procedure on the GS300 etc forum. It's pretty easily accessible under the boot floor - I think it shouldn't take more than 1/2 hour and you get a free vehicle health check too. I'm booked in at Lexus Stockport for March 20th. It's for a potential crack in the flange where the vent tube attaches to the tank. I suppose if your car is affected, it's urgent. But probably it isn't (affected or urgent). They're starting the job in mid-Feb when I guess they hope parts will be available. They did book me in for Feb but now they've moved it to March.

I've received a recall letter from Lexus this morning. It refers to the 'Fuel tank vent tube assembly', which is attached to the fuel tank by a flange. This flange can potentially develop a stress-related crack which could lead to the possibility of a fuel leak and a potential fire. So they're replacing the flange. For your interest, pic of the relevant part from the removal procedure attached. I guess it's the big circular thing which is removed from the tank with the SST. I don't know what production dates are involved - only that mine is affected. I'm not using the car much at the moment, so I'll need to wait a bit until my fuel level is down - they want it presented with less than 1/4 tank

I don't think you need to replace it (not sure what it is). Just take it off, give it a good wire brushing and paint it with some anti-corrosion paint (can you get Hammerite there?) Spray the bolts with some wax (I'd use Waxoyl here in UK). Make sure there's no paint on the earth points, but spray the general area of the earths after you've reassembled.

Welcome to the forum, Steve. Throwing parts at this is going to be very expensive - you really need proper diagnosis. Are any fault codes registered? They should be stored, even if things seem to have reverted to normal. You should be able to purchase a low cost fault code reader (connecting to the OBD11 port) which will show faults on your smart phone. Be careful with interpretation of fault codes though - often the actual fault may not be what the code first indicates. The symptoms point to a sensor failing - they often fail gradually, starting only when they get hot and then eventually causing problems at lower and lower temperatures. Maybe the camshaft or crankshaft position sensors. The oil control valve is another possibility. Problems with these things may only show up under failure conditions and you may need to have an oscilloscope used to analyse the signals. I appreciate that may be difficult in your location and even more so if you are on a long trip. Get back to us if you can identify any fault codes. Good luck!

A newish video from The Car Care Nut - Food for thought. The Car Care Nut (Ahmed) is in Chicago, but I'm sure that most of his points apply to UK as well.

I'd check the earth connections for the headlights, particularly the right hand one. When a light flashes when it shouldn't but in sympathy with another one, it is almost always due to a poor earth. eg you often see brake lights flashing with indicators - it's because the indicators are earthing through the brake lights. I think your situation might be similar. I'm afraid I can't help with where the connections are and I don't have a wiring diagram showing DRLs - my IS250 was a 2005 model and my workshop manual is a bit old.

I reckon you've been charged for someone else's fuel. £1.89 is about right for v-power diesel. I guess you would have paid about £1.60 for v-power petrol but you got E10. I always triple check - I ask myself is this petrol? Is it the green handle pump? Is it E5? (I always use E5) And note the pump number. It's easy to do the whole thing on autopilot! And get it wrong! Have a sniff in the fuel filler - you will be able to tell if it's diesel.

Welcome to the OC and forum - although it would be better if you posted on the RX450h forum (I know the title of this forum includes 'Lexus 450h', but it really means GS450h) The courtesy delay for the headlamps will most likely be a Techstream setting. There are quite a few of those and the dealer should do it free of charge once. I'd ask for a list of them from the dealer and ask them to change your settings. They may be in your handbook. (One I'd advise is the facility to open the windows from the remote - if set, you may find the windows open when you come out on a wet morning! It can be unset!) After that, you need to pay or get your own Techstream (available on eBay) But the RX450h guys may know better (and more)

That's going to be one of the guides/operating levers from the air distribution system of the climate control.