TimUK

23 hours ago, Razor61 said:

No problem, Brakes International are really good. Handy for me being so close to where I live as well.

I certainly can't fault their service - caliper arrived in less than 24 hours!  Unfortunately their supplier doesn't have the L/H caliper.  So I'll just keep my fingers crossed that my L/H caliper doesn't start sticking, at least not until I've had some decent wear out of the new set of discs & pads.  At which point I will probably have to go back to the refurb option unless in the meantime I get lucky and find a caliper elsewhere (eg eBay).       

48 minutes ago, Razor61 said:

I've used Brakes International for brake stuff and calipers for other cars in the past and their Budweg refurbished calipers have always been excellent.
The ones I bought were refurbished OEM calipers i.e. BMW E46 M3 calipers had the M/// logo in the casting. I'd bet the LS400 calipers are the same. They have the RH LS400 caliper in stock but not the LH. You can email them to ask about availability and when they are likely to be in stock.
Buying the seal kit and 8 x new caliper pistons from Amayama is around £140 with a refurbed caliper from Brakes International being £140.
So £280 for the refurbed calipers, used ones on eBay are around £300 for a pair.....................
Me personally, I would replace them with refurbished calipers from Brakes International (if they can provide the LH one at some point), which is the quickest option with no need to be without the car while the calipers are refurbished, then sell the old calipers to someone who can/will rebuild them.

 https://brakeparts.co.uk/shop/Lexus/Ls400/95-00/Ls400 Ucf20 4.0 Petrol/Front - Brake Calipers and Wheel Cylinders

Thanks a million Paul!  I've just bought the RH Caliper (luckily that's the one that's currently sticking), and have asked about the availability of the LH one.  There was also a £36 surcharge on the old caliper, however, I would've thought they might be worth a bit more to someone whose willing to refurb them with one of the cheap kits on eBay.  Anyway, the main thing is it prevents the car being off the road for too long as although I don't use the car daily, it is my regular transport.

12 hours ago, Supafly said:

Autodoc however, does list them and they are cheap from what I can tell circa £80 per caliper.  You'll need to check the fine print to see if there is a surcharge for sending back your calipers etc.  The pictures show a single piston caliper but the detail text specifies that it is four piston.

Thanks for the reply.  No front calipers on Autodoc are showing as in stock.  However, I did contact BCS who have quoted a similar price to Big Redd.  So it'll come down to which one I think will offer the better service.   

2 hours ago, Malc1 said:

over 245k miles and 28 years my car has never, not yet anyway, had replacement calipers nor parts ...........  ok, they have at each and every service in my ownership ( 12 years and 120k miles )  with my indy servicing the car, always given the calipers the attention a diligent service guy would give them

Well, my car has a mere 160K and pretty much a complete service history, so this could well be the original caliper.  However, I doubt very much the calipers have been regularly checked over, other than when pads have been changed.  So maybe the extra diligence has paid off in your case.  Or maybe it's the higher mileage that's meant that your calipers have never remained still for too long 😀

28 minutes ago, Supafly said:

How do you know that it is the calipers that are starting to stick?  Are you feeling heat from the wheel or a bind/pull while you are driving?  Only asking to further my knowledge of the situation.

Thanks for the replies.  Not noticed any heat/pulling, but I think that will just be a matter of time.  The past month I've been getting a slight vibration under light braking at high speed, so suspected a disc issue.  Local garage has just confirmed this, but said the root cause is a sticking offside caliper because one of the pads is more worn than the others (rather annoyingly the discs & pads were only replaced 10K ago).  Also, I can now see a build up of brake dust on the offside wheel.  

Rebuilding the calipers is definitely beyond my ability, so I'll leave it to the experts!  I did see those rebuild kits on eBay, but the garage have said they would prefer to use a rebuild service. 

Front caliper on my '97 LS400 is just starting to stick slightly.  Seems like new calipers are unavailable, so will have to get them rebuilt.  Big Redd charge £220 for a pair, but I recall someone on here had some problems with them in the last few years, although they do seem to have generally good reviews.  Anyone else used them in recent years, or can recommend anyone else?  

1 hour ago, Malc said:

looks a stunning Aspen Green Mk3 sadly without original wheels whereas the real Top Guy has kept his originality a lot better  ( that's Bill Gates of course ) . with original wheels  ..  just like mine 

Malc

It's actually Crystal Quartz (4N1 paint code) over Dark Taupe.  Identical to mine except I have tan rather than black leather.  But I agree it would look better with original wheels....or even better with some decent 18s 😁

5 minutes ago, DavidCM said:

Sorry.he doesn't have to pay Tim anything..should read "every time"

Gutted 😀

23 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

 

Might not be his car.  He might just be doing a bit of chauffeuring on the side 😀

Just stumbled across this LS400 at an auction in Sweden which was originally owned by Björn Ulvéus. 

https://bilwebauctions.se/en/augustiauktion-2022/lexus-ls400-51279

Unfortunately for any Abba LS fans out there it has just been sold.  The final price works out to be just under £5k, which seems high but not crazy money.  I guess there's not so much of a premium to be paid for a car that was owned by someone famous after their height of fame. 

Anyway, this got me wondering, has anyone else owned an LS with a famous former owner?

1 hour ago, Malc said:

on my Mk3 the only rust bubbles I have ( or ever seen ) are on the offside exterior rear wheel arch at about ---- Midday to 5pm'ish ......  all else, on the face of it, even after a good hosing of the inner arches all round, reveals nowt of even surface rust

Similar place to mine then.  So either you're lucky and this is just rust from a previously repaired scrape, or it's rusting from the inside of the arch, in which case I'd say it's inevitable that the inner arch will also be affected.  My inner arches didn't actually look rusty, it was only when I started poking around that I discovered the weakened metal. 

1 hour ago, TimUK said:

The rust bubbles on my Mk3 are in a different position to what you describe for the Mk4 as they are at 1 o'clock and 9 o'clock.  So I don't know if this is the typical place or not for a Mk3?  Either way, the bubbling only appeared after the issue was identified in the inner arches, so I agree that there are probably plenty of owners that haven't noticed the issue yet.

Doh!  I just realised that using a clock to describe the position of the bubbling was pretty stupid given that it depends which side of the car you're looking at!  Basically it's at the top of the arch, and in front of the wheel just above the plastic trim.

2 hours ago, Razor61 said:

MK4 seems to rust in a different way, the best way to check is to remove the side trims in the boot and the tool box assembly then look down the side and check the condition of the inner wings/arches. However, if there are already rust bubbles on the outside of the rear wing where the rear wing meets the bumper at the boot end, it’s probably too late and there are already holes in the rear wing/arches. Checking things as said above will confirm it.
I suspect there are a lot of LS400 owners with this issue or the start of this issue and don’t know it.

The rust bubbles on my Mk3 are in a different position to what you describe for the Mk4 as they are at 1 o'clock and 9 o'clock.  So I don't know if this is the typical place or not for a Mk3?  Either way, the bubbling only appeared after the issue was identified in the inner arches, so I agree that there are probably plenty of owners that haven't noticed the issue yet.

On 5/30/2022 at 3:25 PM, Malc said:

Posted March 15, 2020

I think both the LS 400 and LS 430 are lovely cars. I got a beautiful LS 400 with 80000 miles on  it (now only 83000) and had the car dinitroled, the only problem area is the inner wheel arches, which I only discovered last week. I am having them professionally sorted, which involves, rust removal and then plating and  welding, painting/rust proofing and then job done. This car is worth this expensive work being done as its sills, floorpan and other areas bar the inner wheel arches are mega solid. I would have advertised her this week as I have another dream car in my sights but will not sell until I get the car in a position that I would be happy to buy same.

 

Mike, whilst idling away on here I found this post from way back from a   GUEST 

the only mention of inner wheel arches i ever remember seeing

Malc

My understanding is that rust in the rear inner arches is a very common issue (a quick Google brings up plenty of references to it).  I had exactly the same issue as the one described in that post from 2020, except my car had done 150K.  It wasn't an MOT fail, however, it was starting to let water into the boot, which is how I first discovered the rust.  I had exactly the same work done as the original poster, except I had the whole rear end Waxoyled as the subframe is also vulnerable to rust.  I can't remember the exact cost but I think it was around £700.  That was a few years ago and the inner arches are still solid, but there are now a few slight bubbles appearing on the outer arches. 

So at some point I'm going to have to decide what to do next.  I did briefly chat to a guy who used to do full classic car restorations and he said it could easily end up being £1500 per side if you wanted the inner/outer arches repaired to A1 with fabricated repair sections and the rear quarter painted.  He assumed that new repair sections wouldn't be available.  Obviously this is a lot of money, but with the value of the cars going up, it could eventually become viable in those cars (like mine) where the rest of the car is rust free.     

21 hours ago, Howplum said:

It might be a good idea to replace both cables...

You may struggle to find a new left hand cable.  I had to replace both sides earlier in the year and had to resort to a good used one for the left side as I couldn't find a new one in stock.

Here's a link to the Buy & Sell section:

https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/forum/29-buy-sell-parts-accessories/

I've now decided to sell the DHP wheels to fund a refurb of my aftermarket wheels.  So if anyone is interested, please see the ad in the Buy & Sell section.
 

11 hours ago, ajchetcuti said:

Hi,

I've just had a set of 18s fitted to my LS400. What tyre pressures are you running? As not being a standard side it won't be published anywhere.

The wheel company said, start at 34psi which is pretty vague?

Seems like a reasonable starting point.  I've been running at 35 which is purely based on what the previous owner was using.  The rears have worn slightly more in the centre, and the fronts slightly on the inside edge, but nothing major.

Thanks for that info - 54007001 is stamped on the wheel.  I was actually just about about to retrieve the rest of them from the shed to take pics to sell them, but now I know they could've been the originals for my Mk3, I think I'll keep them for the time being.

Thanks for the responses.  These wheels have 225/55/17 Avon Tyres fitted (although the spare has a 215/55/17), so it looks like someone has replaced them with an easier to find size.  For awhile I did ponder whether to put the wheels back on my car as the tyres are hardly worn (and the tyres on my existing wheels needed replacing soon).  But as I'm currently on 245/45/18s I didn't really want to take a hit on the handling, and besides I prefer the look of the aftermarket wheels (although I appreciate they're not to everyone's tastes).  So I decided to stick with them. 

Hi! 

Although I've owned my '97 Mk3 for nearly 3 years this is my first time posting on here!  When I bought the car it came with a set of Lexus 17" alloys (see pic).  Does anyone know if these are the alloys that came with the DHP option on the Mk4?  And were these alloys available as an option on the Mk3?  I currently have aftermarket 18" alloys fitted, but was wondering if the Lexus alloys were actually the correct ones for my car if I ever wanted to revert it back to original spec.

Thanks for any help!