chr15gb

I must admit I cringed at the first two pics but once fitted, looks neat. Not something I feel I need but for those who do, this will be a good solution

They come with the gap set. All I can find suggests don't mess with them. They have a protective plastic shield over the end so I just checked the top end was tight, then fitted them. I put a little copper grease on the thread before fitting I agree with you, the gap did look quite large on the new ones, more than I recall from my old petrol days. I've been a derv driver for many years, last was a 530d.

The car feels snappier than before but I will reserve judgement until I have driven it on regular journeys before deciding how much benefit there is. Apologies for my poor camera work but I tried to get a decent close up of the plugs. Without the new ones to compare to, I don't know if these are worn or not

No other issues, it was remarkably straight forward. The bits which looked easiest turned out to be more frustrating like the clip the guy removes at the 4 minute mark. Those were swines on both sides. I thought I had broken one on the passenger side but I had simply dragged out the tie wrap retainer so it pushed back in okay. Not sure how relevant this is but I plugged an ODB reader before and the spark advance was 18-20. Afterwards it is 6. The engine was cold on the first one and up to running temp for the afterwards measurement.

I was waiting for some nice weather which finally arrived. The job took about 2 hours but I did take the opportunity to give the Throttle body a good clean too (and as it was my first time, I didn't rush anything). I followed the youtube guide at the bottom of this post. Almost the same but ours don't have the fuel pipe. I couldn't quite work out how to fully remove the inlet manifold, it was held on by an electrical plug up by the bulkhead which looked a right faff to unclip. I didn't need to anyway as I could just manoeuvre the manifold out of the way to get access to the plugs. I found the worse bolt to be the one at the back of the throttle body. The gap is too small to get a socket in there so I had to use a ring spanner but even then, I could only move it about 2 flats at a time. Not difficult but time consuming. A problem I did encounter was on removal of a coil (nearest driver seat). The large seal came away with the coil and fell down the side of the engine. I had to fashion a fishing rod out of an old coat hanger and fish it out from the bottom engine cover where it had laid to rest. My car is on 92K with FLSH. The 60k service was done but the price on the service history is the same as a normal service (£445). The 60k service should have been over £600 with the plugs changed so I had doubts as to whether my plugs had been changed when due. New plugs supplied by Lexus Birmingham via Ebay for £80. I inspected the orange seals on the underside of the manifold which all looked fine so I left them in. I've included the knuckled socket I used to remove the rear manifold bolt everyone says is a Beetch to remove. Using that it came out fine with no problems. You will note the top of the old plugs are the nice sandy colour but there is a fair amount of sooty deposits. I don't know if this is 32k miles worth or 92k miles worth of wear. At first start afterwards, the car revved at 1550rpm. I read somewhere if the throttle has been disconnected, the car should be left to idle for 5 mins so it can re-learn the throttle position so I did just that. After a 20 min drive up the motorway, it is now idling at 675rpm and drives great. Quite a big job out oft he way, next is to learn all about the brake slide pins and do those.

Always good to see someone getting their hands dirty rather than throw cash at a garage. Hope it all goes well.

I vote the gs300. The 250 rear is only good for occasional short trips with rear seat adult passengers. I looked at a 450h and really liked it but having just driven to the airport with three suitcases and hand luggage, glad I didn't buy it. I don't know enough about hybrids to have an opinion but from the figures, they don't seem massively economical.

To be fair there wasn't any crap on it that I could see. The wires/elements looked in perfect condition but it has made a definite difference since cleaning. I gave it a couple of days before posting just in case it was that placebo effect.

I've been looking for small job to do whilst the weather is not the best. I've got some Throttle Body cleaner for when I have a little time, along with some spark plugs for the summer. I bought some MAF cleaner, looks a bit cheap and nasty but I took a punt anyway http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281839565740 My MAF looked perfectly clean, all shiny and new but I spayed the thing liberally with the cleaner anyway. I'm bamboozled by the difference, I wasn't expecting anything after looking at the elements beforehand. The engine revs much more freely, the whole car feels much more responsive. My Top Tip for the day, get some MAF cleaner and give it a spray every 6 Months or so. Takes 2 minutes to remove, 10 minutes drying time and 2 mins to refit.

Why not just pull the cap off in Picture 2? you can see the coolant inside the tank.

I struggle to accept there wouldn't be an ABS fault light on if the fuse has been removed from the ABS. This is one of the safety checks the ECU conducts when starting.

I already ordered from Opie oils, could have saved a few quid but I don't think Opie will be selling fakes (is there anything which doesn't have a fake market lol??).

Spark Plugs DENSO FK20HBR11 Cheapest place seems to be Lexus Birmingham on Ebay at £79.99 http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/lexusbirm?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Thanks, I've added it to the recommended parts post. I linked to the seller rather than the item in case the listing disappears.

I'm right with you on that but the price is astonishing compared to anywhere else. I've ordered from Opie Oils but I am tempted to also buy the Ali Express ones as a test, I might fit one to the easy plug slot and see how it fares over time. At least if it plays up, it is an easy to change option. I won't be fitting them for some time yet so I will take a while to ponder...Sounds like I may also need a wobbly socket for one of the manifold bolts near the bulkhead. EDIT: Bah!! I didn't notice madasahatter second link to the genuine ebay ones.

Thanks guys, I'll try to stick with Denso (never heard of BRISK). Opie Oils do them at £110.40 delivered http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-78036-denso-super-ignition-spark-plug-fk20hbr11-3473.aspx Or I could take a punt buying from China (Ali Express) for a grand total of £27.55 for a set of 6 delivered https://www.aliexpress.com/item/6PCS-LOT-NEW-GENUINE-Spark-Plugs-FK20HBR11-9091901249-Denso-use-to-Lexus-IS250-IS350-GS300-GS350/32527991021.html?spm=2114.40010208.4.2.SBNzKB

Nothing in the recommended parts post. I just took one of mine out whilst cleaning the engine bay (for the first time). The plug isn't the nice sandy colour I was expecting but is sooty. Not completely sooted up but black and sooty nonetheless. The car is on 91K will full Lexus service History. I have a printout of the history which shows a 60K service but priced at £445. The price now for a 60K service including plug change is over £600 so I am wondering if the plugs were changed at all. A plug change is on my list of things to do when it gets warmer and I have some time, but there seems to be dozens of plugs which all state they are compatible. Euro Car Parts recommend DENSO FK20HBR11 but at £23.49 each works out at £140.94 for a set of 6. I've read posts suggesting about £80 for a set but doesn't state what type. Does anyone know of anything different?

Just to update my post above, the seller sent a replacement disk and everything now works.

Just by way of an update to my voice problem above. The seller sent a replacement disk, everything now works.

That's about £190, much cheaper than my quote, I thought it was fixed price. He told me about 4hrs. That's a long time to sit in a waiting room. I can't imagine what would take 4hrs, I've watched the clips. The place I enquired have a very good reputation.

Interested to know how much it was. I just called Avon Tuning who quoted £300 +vat for the Terraclean and Direct Injection clean. That's more than I was expecting.

Thanks for updating us. How much was it for both treatments and how long did it take? I think I will start searching in the Bristol area and see if I can get both done (I'm on 91k)

I thought my days of scrabbling about under cars were over. On my old 5 Series I could suck the oil out using a pella suction pump through the dipstick tube, the filter unscrewed from above. Life was so easy, interim oil changes at a whim and you could do it all wearing a suit. With this weird dipstick tube (difficult enough getting the flat bladed stick down), and the backward idea of having a bottom facing oil filter, it's back to the oil pan, plenty of rags and old clothes.

Can you confirm your voice command system still works okay? I bought a 2017 disk and had the same battery disconnect issue. The map worked but I lost the whole voice system. There was no beep to talk after, affected everything including climate and radio etc.

I push it all the way down now, not much pressure, just gently push. it used to just drop violently and slam on its own.