harrylime

22 hours ago, Bluesman said:

With only 73k on her she drives as you would expect her too straight out of the show room when she was new. Everything works, having done around 100,000 miles on my original LS400 giving her a combined mileage of 194,000 the only way I can describe her as become loose when compared to Lexie2. Hugh the original owner has done a sterling job of looking after her. There cant be many cars that are 23 years in age have only ever failed the MOT once and that was for a duff lamp bulb. Brand new brakes and 5 x Michelin tyres, I knew this car was going to be mine after 1st looking at her, the car and Hugh were as genuine  as the day is long.

Getting her LPGd in the next couple of weeks, thankyou Profess.

Lots of miles with lots of smiles. I will post some pictures as soon as I can.

 

Thanks for that Mike, it was a pleasure to do business with a true enthusiast. Just one correction, the new tyres I fitted are Kumho Ecsta, which I was very happy with. I hope you enjoy the car as much as I did. Regards

I will miss that car a lot, but my circumstances mean I would never have used it much. I probably don't do more than around 3000 miles a year between both my cars. It's a waste. One of the things that made me change my mind about selling before is when I read about what went into the 400's development, compared to other cars. Things like seat suspension system with an anti roll bar! Just last night I read that the cupholders and ashtray were designed to deploy at exactly the same speed, As if they are ever deployed at the same time, so who would notice? Where else would I ever get that level of engineering and attention to detail? I would suggest nowhere

SOLD - I just sold my car to a charming chap from down South. It seemed to be exactly what he was looking for and he was a pleasure to deal with. He is a member of this forum so I know it's gone to a good home. This mattered to me as I had doubts about selling right up to the end. 

11 hours ago, Malc said:

Hugh .................  it hasn't ( silly ) air suspension then ?          is it an Original DHP from brand new at the Main Dealer do you know ?

Malc

No air suspension. Original DHP suspension, when a spring broke with the previous owner, Lexus replaced all 4 for him, and specified DHP springs

Thank you Malc. I've been stewing over it for months, and written an ad several times, only to change my mind. I'm really not using it, so once I made my mind up, decided to price it to sell quickly, hopefully.

I hope this is allowed, a link to my car ad. I see links to other people's cars are here so hopefully it is.. After almost nine years of happy ownership I've decided to move my LS 400 on. It's in excellent condition and has done a mere 73000 miles. It's a wonderful thing but I'm simply not using it enough (same for my daily as well). The link to the ad is here: https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1460938

For the mileage I do, the increased cost of fuel is not exactly welcome, but it's no big deal really. I have done everything I can to use as little as possible, checking tyre pressures etc. 

I also found that if I take advantage of the 400's superb aerodynamics in the way I drive. My Audi A4 Avant will coast in neutral if it detects a downhill slope in Efficiency mode. I have found that a similar effect can be achieved with the Lexus in that simply by lifting off the gas on downhill stretches it seems to maintain its momentum better than most cars out there. Where previously I would have been applying gas I just lift off. It makes a visible difference to mpg. It makes no difference to my progress. I'm not hypermiling or even recording my mpg, but it definitely makes a difference.

Solenoid contacts is a common problem, rather than the starter motor itself and I had the same issue a couple of years ago. I bought some  off eBay and my mechanic )Yorkshire) managed to change them without removing the starter motor. It's a 1999 car

I'm not aware of a tracker being fitted. I would like to try to simulate the bonnet being closed when shutting the systems down How do you jam the bonnet catch, it's on a hell of a strong spring?

19 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Hugh I have the official electrical manual for the 2000 model which is the same as 1999, you can borrow it from me if you wish.

Happy to post it to you at your expense then return it when you have done with it or you can collect and return.

Steve

That's incredibly kind. If you could post it, I can scan what I need and return it . I will, of course, cover all costs. I will pm you my details, many thanks Hugh

19 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Bit of research, the MPX-B fuse supplies the Body ECU, all the door ECUs, Airbag sensor system and  tilt and telescopic steering ECU.

Radio No 1 supplies the electric aerial control relay and all of the audio system components.

Have you tried pulling out the 15A TEL fuse which partly supplies the now obsolete in car phone system?

I have tried the TEL fuse, Steve, it made no difference

19 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Hugh I have the official electrical manual for the 2000 model which is the same as 1999, you can borrow it from me if you wish.

Happy to post it to you at your expense then return it when you have done with it or you can collect and return.

Steve

That's incredibly kind. If you could post it, I can scan what I need and return it . I will, of course, cover all costs. I will pm you my details, many thanks Hugh

I'm just putting my 99 LS 400 back on the road having been off road since Covid arrived. I've had a few issues to sort out and have decided never to take a car off the road over winter again, they just don't like it. While it was off the road though, having moved my compressor to my new house I treated the underside with Dinitrol, which seems to be one of the better products out there. It has certainly protected my Lancia well since 1975. I've had a new alternator fitted, and the power steering pump rebuilt with new seals (the cause of the alternator issue). At 72000 miles, I'm not sure if the lay up caused the problem. The day before the MOT was due, I found that two of my newish tyres had slow punctures, so that meant running around to get them sorted out. All now well, and the car flew through the MOT, and was treated to a full service with new filters, all genuine Lexus, as usual, and had the brake fluid replaced.

The only slight niggle I have is an intermittent parasitic Battery drain. Having done some tests, the draw is greatly reduced when I remove the fuse MPX-B fuse and Radio No 1 fuse. . If I had more knowledge that information may even be useful to me. I was hoping to do some simple checking myself. I intend to remove every component I can see and clean the contacts with electrical cleaner. I will probably end up taking it to an auto electrician although, unlike most work on a car, the cost of auto electrical work, understandably, tends to be open ended without even an estimate to go on.

I have two questions:

1. Based on the circuits mentioned, are there any "usual suspects" I should look at?

2. Does anyone know where I can get hold of a wiring diagram for a 99 LS400 without too much expenditure? I bought a repair manual on CD but there are no wiring diagrams. It may help me, or at the very least, help my auto electrician. Strangely, the driver's handbook for my 1975 Lancia includes a wiring diagram, which tells you all you need to know about Lancia electrical systems and how good they are.

It would be nice to get this last little issue sorted out, so any help would be appreciated.

When I had this problem with my '98 it was the starter solenoid contacts. I found on this forum it's a fairly common problem. I bought some off eBay, a good mechanic replaced them for me, been fine ever since- like these on eBay (don't know what cars these fit btw) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180964194203?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item2a224e779b:g:e6UAAOSwBTJdeNrz&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACoPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsS7UXID%2BRPOSNsnm8kYPghtAhmihHQXT5wd5LGJgR2nxI39nsI53byhlNPOuCFayI5aYfRlewpOr5JzGNWGYzZ4uNAR9GT%2B7ljAUJiUL5gex1BfPl03936Fozj5jWMRH1nJMsuAy5bTJq6YhI7VhQKU6Bc6Mi8J05QCbrLqnFCEozdNh%2Fh8oCNCl9PPc6n%2Bau3jEr4zerZb2yoqTg0%2FbuQ2KdW6%2FKPID9%2FNJ3unfdaV5cO1o9XuwuNqqBGrkqC%2Bzln7k1zMEi9nTQu26I5ZFt5YEQ7lGWXWEKusP4w2NN95qwjRMtRjcSUQH2rxNHtokF%2BS1GEIPK5WZBuNzPXxtmDJ83PIc9KLOn%2Fg7zI6XfYZh8skDJPySrfpM%2FYorSltwme8790DqIn6XnxiH2bnrhNzH1Qyks5Hp7Mv%2Bfcx3bDgDIWoZobIaJ2bfYAoU7KW4XDzVlMFBQDXZZ30OYJtw5WK%2F8wZMN7DdQF8E%2FQ9fbldEtP2LSReI1hAthqyUIXSnuBCHpSDhMIZGdMaWpXPakMuO5YngCOAnPHgd4FU5URHdsQrogV0qtX6MSSSezDizO61l7lPl6%2FvGOTG29Lly%2FIaBqNGwv2%2Fveqncvqw6ZCr2uhFpKks39ObD2Zo6Cex79oMjWS4%2B%2BkOvtdZrPiyY%2Fi5m%2BAn82MdmQ4dSdq0Zd6O6EdyqG%2Bt14Hfb2sgE3GTn4HjmJjFjqaQ%2BaLp10dDQf5z5ZqPUMnHLETfzkJHFotvcqNz5ULhGVOXKfX9lPUF%2BPKPU7Epfb9f0R7iH2VqodKLslsp0WJ2vUQ2IKUULRzzYYZf2jnt0Ms4Ve5Rnr0HBBftFyVj9QoI0FCJ3ozKn1FtQ%3D%3D|ampid%3APL_CLK|clp%3A2334524

On 8/10/2021 at 11:43 AM, BigBoomer said:

Brake discs should last way longer than that. I'd be looking at the caliper mounts and elsewhere for the root cause of the shaking.
I don't doubt that the discs are being worn unevenly causing the shaking, but what is causing the uneven wear?

Not getting any shaking, they work perfectly, I simply thought they may be due for changing

Does anyone know the thickness of original lexus fron brake discs? Mine are 28mm , not sure whether that indicates some wear

7 hours ago, BigBoomer said:

Brake pad/disk wear is more down to how long you brake for, rather than how hard you hit initially the brakes.
I often shout at other road users that there are 3 positions for their right foot.
1- On Throttle pedal
2- On Brake pedal
3- On NEITHER!!
Use engine braking for smooth gentle braking. You will NOT add any appreciable wear to your engine. It is designed for it.
If you brake constantly whilst going downhill, you will eat brake pads like there is no tomorrow, and when you go to hit the brakes hard because that child ran out into the road, you may hit the child because you may have glazed your pads with your constant braking so your brakes will fail to perform as they should.

Hydraulic brake systems automatically compensate for the pad wear, so even totally worn out pads will have the same pedal bite point as new pads.
If you have a long pedal problem, and if the system has been bled fully and has no air in it, then the problem is in the master cylinder and I would recommend getting a new one fitted. 
The most common feeling with a master cylinder failure is that you get the initial bite but then the pedal keeps on moving if you keep up the pressure.
If the servo fails, then it will get much harder to brake as you won't have the vacuum-servo assistance, but that will not change the bite point either.

Thanks George, that makes sense. I was hoping it isn't the master cylinder because just a set of  replacement seals costs more than a pair of front discs, even if I can get hold of them.

I have a couple of questions for you knowledgeable folk. I've had my front wheel off my 99 LS 400, to check the brakes. They work fine, except that I suspect the pedal travel may be excessive. I'm concerned it may fail the MOT on this , which is imminent. I found it difficult to check the thickness of the pads, but they were last changed, I believe in 2006, 22000 miles ago (now on 70,000 miles). The disc seemed in good condition, with very little scoring and not much of a lip. I measured the thickness of the disc at 28mm. 

At Lexus Parts direct a kit with discs and pads seems better value than pads alone, although obviously it will cost a fair bit more in labour. My first question is

How long to your front pads tend to last?. My second question is:

Would new pads, or new discs and pads be likely to reduce the level of brake travel, or is there likely to be a different cause elsewhere?

I had the brakes flushed and brake fluid replaced a few weeks ago to try and resolve this issue. Thanks in advance for any advice/experience  you can offer

24 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

Thats very unusual of them - I always get a reply the same day

LPD have them listed on the website: Lexus LS Phase 2 Front Brake Set | 43512-50152/04465-50220 (lexuspartsdirect.co.uk)

Thanks for that Mark. The brake pads are £65 so that seems like a good deal. I'll be inspecting my discs in the morning, if I can find out what the original thickness of the discs was. Regards

19 hours ago, Tinonline said:

Check Lexus Parts Direct in Swindon https://lexuspartsdirect.co.uk/

I’ve bought OEM fronts and rears at very good value. 

I messaged them two days ago, still waiting for a response. Not having much luck with people getting back to me atm

Hi Barry. I no longer use my local Indy, following attempts over several days to contact him, and three broken promises to call me back. I don't care how busy you are, you don't treat customers like that

I'm changing my front pads and considering having the discs done also. Does anyone know who manufactures the OEM discs and pads? Also, any recommendations please? I've read mixed review of brembo, for example.

1 hour ago, Phil xxkr said:

Hugh, I think I speak for most on here when I say some gentle joshing is part of the enjoyment of belonging to the LOC so you shouldn't take it so personally 😎 once you get into the swing of things there will be ample opportunity for revenge 🤣. Since the June announcement of Relax it has caused quite a few wrinkled furrows on here so your well-intentioned comment merely added to the delightful melange 🥳

Too true Phil, I'm a long term user of the forum. I think it was the capital letters that triggered me a little

I did say it may have been posted before, and only went back so far to check. No need to take the *****. I thought it may help someone, didn't expect Facebook standard responses. Shan't bother again

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