igdirect

Hi Phil, If you still need one, I'm breaking my GS300 Mk1 so I can provide the 12 disc CD changer - it was working the day I SORN-ed the car but I'll test it before you buy. Send me a PM with your contact details. Cheers, Ian

Update... Well, they had the car for two weeks! Engine need cleaning first so they could spot any spray from a leak - but valet guy away for four days. Finally got done but no external leaks at all. Head then came off and they found evidence of leakage between the cooling matrix and cylinder 5, very slight corrosion, but no cracks in the gasket. Head sent off for skimming but found to be perfectly flat apart from the area of the leak. Mega-light skim + pressure testing = good as new, no hairline cracks, no porosity, no nothing. Head refitted VERY carefully. Then the fun started. Engine wouldn't start - spark, fuel, all OK. Diagnostics revealed nothing wrong. Anyway, a couple more days jiggery pokery later on the engine management system and distibutor and it's ready to roll, apparently. Got there again - engine wouldn't start. Another two days go by. Ready now, they said - and it was this time. Turned out to be overenthusiatic use of a pressure washer flooding the spark plugs. The whole job cost the expected arm, leg, first born child and soul but not as much as expected. The story was that when the head was skimmed the first time ( because of cracked gasket), the garage used a sub-contractor, who then went out of business a year later. Suspect workmanship. Therefore, the garage conceded that the original job may not have been up to the usual standard and agreed to charge me labour rates as they were 2 1/2 years ago - £25 an hour less than now. So although my wallet is in intensive care, it will survive. This Lexus is a mean mistress...

Hi all, Two and a half years ago I had a misfire on startup problem with loss of coolant due to a cracked head gasket. This was duly repaired (about £1300) by a Listers Toyota garage. A week ago, I began to notice lumpy idle when the engine was warm, and on a run to London saw steam coming from under the bonnet - the rad almost empty. I took it back to the same garage who had done the original repair. They've pressure tested the system and found no external leaks but a definite loss of pressure. They're now about to remove the head as there's the obvious possibility that it's the head gasket once again. My question is this - do I have any comeback on this garage if the head gasket is the problem? To my mind once a head gasket is renewed with a reskimmed and properly fitted head, then it should last a lot longer than two and a half years. The service dept. told me their repairs are guaranteed for just one year, but I pointed out that Lexus build quality combined with competent repair would suggest that any major repair should last a proverbial lifetime. I'd welcome comments from anyone who's had this happen to them, or members in the Lexus trade. My car's a GS300 Mk1. Cheers, Ian

Cheers Keith, Just had look on eBay and got in touch with a Mk1 breaker. Hope he's got what I need! Regards, Ian

I need to replace a headlight for my GS300 Mk1 to pass its MOT. Am I right that I have to buy the whole unit, frame and all? And anyone know the best source, and how much Gold Member discount I could get? Cheers! Ian

I should have said that I had great fun trying the airlock fix first. First attempt to lift the front end was with a trolley jack. No good, still no heatflow (and, of course, I hadn't spotted the loose cable yet). So, in the absence of a forklift I set off to find a hill. Easier said than done as I live in the Lincolnshire Fens and trying to find a hill was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I finally ended up on a remote backroad, blocking a narrow humpback bridge and hoping no-one would come along for the next 10 minutes or so! Two bemused / irate tractor drivers and car moves later, still no joy. Got back home, and decided to see if the heater matrix inlet and outlet hoses were OK. And there it was, the little b****r, taunting me... <_< On goes the cable, and out comes that lovely heat. Moral of the story - check your cables before you annoy busy farmers on narrow bridges. Ian

Problem solved! :D Not an airlock or sensor fault, but the control cable to what I assume to be the heater matrix bypass valve had not been reconnected. It's the small box on the firewall in the picture - the guilty cable runs from left to right and simply hooks onto a metal lug on the valve. Bring it on, Winter... Cheers! Ian

Many thanks for all the suggestions! I'll give them a try this weekend and let you know! Now all I've got to do is find a forklift on eBay... Cheers! Ian

Hi All, Soon after having the head gasket replaced on my GS300 Mk1, I noticed that the heater was barely working. AC was OK for cooling but on cold days the barest amount of heat blows through the vents. More oddly, if I turn the temperature selector to 30degC, there's no change in the fan speed at all, even on a day when the temperature was only 4 degC - it stays on low. So, no problem for temperatures of 20 or less, but no additional heat or fan response for anything higher. No problem with radiator or engine cooling - guage needle dead centre. Airlock? Sensor problem? Any advice welcome. Regards, Ian

I needed a full set of front and rear discs and pads for my GS300 Mk1 so did an internet shop-around for prices. I was delighted to come across BuyPartsBy who quoted £177.86 for the lot! And not low quality either - all Delphi Lockheed aftermarket parts. Nothing fancy - no slots or holes - so maybe not for the performance enthusiast but an absolute bargain for the Lexus owner who's happy with original fitment. Some of the money saved went on having them fitted properly by a local performance vehicle specialist. Here's the full list: Pads (front axle): £17.66 Pads (rear axle): £12.60 Front Disc (pair): £66.76 Rear Disc (pair): £49.36 VAT: £26.49 Delivery: £4.99 Needless to say I'm delighted! :D Ian

Thanks! I took a good look at all the panels involved and saw too many bits to fiddle with. I think I'll leave it until the car goes in for its MOT next month! Ian

Hi, I need instructions on how to get at the base of the OS headlamp washer built into the bumper of my GS300 Mk1. The water supply tube has come off the washer unit and simply needs reattaching. Trouble is, it's well hidden! So, what do I unscrew / remove / put to one side / swear at to get at the little b****r? Any advice gratefully received! Cheers, Ian

Hi Mudzs, Road Angel is pretty good and superb for night driving when the cameras are not that visible from a distance. Best of all is picking up stray laser from roadside "safety vehicles"! I now use it as my speedo, of course... Ian

Hi Mudz, Standard 16". I think Greve has the answer here, though! Ian

I treated myself to a Road Angel recently and immediately noticed that the GPS speedo in the device consistently reads 5mph lower than is shown on my GS300's speedo - and that's at all speeds from 10mph to 90mph I also noticed that when going past speed cameras, all cars in front slowed down to the posted limit, for example 40mph (no doubt shown on their speedo as 40mph, as well as mine) but Road Angel indicated 35mph. Has the over-cautious road safety lobby got at the manufacturers, I wonder?!! Anyway, here's to life at 35mph in town... Cheers! Ian

Wax

Things to slip into the conversation at dull parties... B) The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. On the other hand, the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. Conclusion: Eat & drink what you like. It's speaking English that kills you. There are only 10 types of people in the world - those who understand binary, and those who don't. The most embarrassing thing you can do as schoolchild is to call your teacher mum or dad. Although the Earth is larger, the Moon is farther away. You can make your neighbours think that you have fluorescent lights in all the rooms in your house by quickly turning the lights on and off several times before leaving them on. Men's jackets and shirts have the buttons on the right (from the wearers' point of view) and the holes on the right, whereas women's have it the other way round... why? Because back in the days when men used to carry pistols in their jackets, they would sometimes need to draw rapidly. With the buttons the way they are that means a man can easily reach through the buttons with his right hand to draw the pistol which would be situated on the left. It's the other way round on women's clothes because shooting people wasn't a particularly ladylike thing to do. It also dramatically reduced the number of murderous transvestites that roamed the streets in the 18th century. If you spread out all the sand in North Africa it would completely cover the Sahara Desert. If the earth was destroyed tomorrow, the only evidence for the existence of humans in the solar system would be a plaque on the moon bearing the names Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew. If you eat pasta and antipasta together, the universe would cease to exist. Sure-fire cure for boredom - when you're going out the office, put Hula Hoops (the snack, of course) under each leg of your colleague's chair. They'll get a hell of a shock when they sit down again. Red meat isn't bad for you. Green meat is. Before you criticise a man walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticise him you'll be a mile away and have his shoes. When your in a lift (OK, elevator), press the door close and floor number button at the same time and it will go to that floor without stopping along the way. Men who have pierced body parts are better prepared for marriage. They have experienced pain and bought jewellery. Interesting phenomenon - pronounce "*** Jesus" backwards... If you stand in the middle of a library and scream 'Aaaaaaagghhhh!' everyone just stares at you. But if you do the same thing during a flight on an aeroplane, everyone joins in. A shark will only attack you when you're wet.