Tomtit

I bought a repair kit for the subwoofer on the LS430. Bought from eBay and it has been fine for over a year.

I have now obtained a new connector and fixed it in place. A word of advice for anyone looking for a replacement CTS connector. The CTS has ridges along the sides which fit into corresponding grooves in the connector. The grooves are staggered - on my car the one on the left is higher than the one on the right. I could not find a part no. and did a search for the CTS connector. eBay listed many examples but for almost every one the grooves in the connector were the wrong way around. I did come across one from Brands Hatch Performance which fits perfectly. It is a replacement for Toyota part no. 90980-10736. Have a careful look at the image of the connector before you order it.

It came from a scrapped pallet. When you are working on your own you learn to improvise.

Anthony.

I have learned a lot from the forum and I am happy to give something back. I wanted to pass on the benefit of my experience to anyone who fancied tackling this job. A year or two ago I did the same job on the LS430 and I followed the workshop manual to the letter. I put everything back together, started the engine and found that I had a coolant leak. Whilst struggling to line up the inlet manifold with the studs I must have caught a metal coolant pipe behind the manifold and fractured it at the joint. I could not access the pipe with the manifold in situ and I had to do virtually the whole job again to access the broken part and replace it. I have some experience of this job and If anyone needs some tips or advice I would be happy to pass them on.

I have just replaced the vacuum switching valve for ACIS. The engine management light was on and it generated fault code P1651. I had to sort this out before booking it in for the M.O.T.

For anyone who fancies tackling this, removing the intake manifold to get to the valve is not a 5 minute job. The workshop manual procedure involves draining the coolant and disconnecting the fuel supply pipe in the engine bay. I managed it without doing these jobs. There is just enough clearance. The first picture shows things held out of the way. The second shows the sensor - the brick red coloured part near the centre of the picture. Lifting the intake manifold in and out is heavy work; ideally you need a helper but I did not have one. I used 2 small straps fed under the manifold and held together at the top. By kneeling on the plank I was able to get myself above the centre of the manifold and use the straps to help lift the manifold up and away. It is tight but it can be done. I did the job over 2 days. The engine management light is now out and the engine runs fine. It is not a job for the faint-hearted.

Perry and Anthony.

The bad news is that I have broken the electrical connector for the CTS. It has become brittle with age and heat and it fell to pieces when I was taking out the metal terminals to attach them to the wires. The engine will not run without the coolant temperature sensor correctly wired up. It generated fault code P0115. For now I have taken the terminals out of the plastic connector, soldered the wires to them and pushed them onto the CTS terminals. At least the engine will now run, and I have booked it in for the M.O.T. 

I will have to get a replacement plastic connector and do a proper repair.

I have now looked at the relevant engine control module. The wires in there are clean and they are actually beige, not brown. I now know which is which. For the benefit of anyone else with the same problem, the beige and black wire goes to terminal 1 of the coolant temperature sensor connector. The beige and green wire goes to terminal 2.

Whilst manoeuvering the intake manifold I accidentally broke the two wires coming out of the coolant temperature sensor. I need to repair it but the problem is knowing which wire goes where. I have a copy of the workshop manual from U.S.A. which shows a brown wire going to terminal 1 and a red and blue one going to terminal 2. On my car I have a brown and green wire and a brown and black wire. I don't want to wire it incorrectly and possibly do more damage. If anyone has a copy of the manual for the British market and could tell me which wire goes to which terminal it would be much appreciated. I cannot start the engine until I have fixed this problem. Thank you for your help.

Col.

I am not familiar with these engines. I have looked at the Haynes workshop manual. It says that the 3.5 litre V6 engine has 4 camshaft position sensors which are located on the back side of the VVT-i controllers (which are mounted on the left ends of the intake camshafts). The description of fault code P0340 is "Camshaft position sensor or circuit fault". It could be a faulty sensor or a wiring problem. It would need a mechanic with diagnostic equipment to narrow down the problem to one sensor or wire.

Sorry this is not much help, but I have no experience of these engines.

Mark.

I agree; it is best to have a permanent repair done. I will have to tackle this job on my wife's newly-acquired RX300. I would be interested to learn what your garage did to cure it.

Malc.

I do my own maintenance and repairs as far as possible. ( I have just replaced two front lower suspension arms ). I like to jack up the entire front end at once, rather than jack up each side individually behind the wheel. My existing jack is too high to reach the front crossmember for jacking up.The same applies to my LS430. The new jack will be better for both cars and will save me time.

Ronnie.

The new jack will live in the garage. I don't intend to carry it around with me, especially as I have runflat tyres. When the runflats have worn and I change to conventional tyres I will carry the Lexus jack in the car. I agree that carrying a trolley jack will affect m.p.g.

My wife bought me a new trolley jack for Christmas. (She paid for it after I had chosen it). After comparing specifications and reviews I went for the Halfords Advanced 2 tonne low profile model. It is low enough to slide under the front of the SC430 and quickly lift it high enough for axle stands. It feels like a quality piece of kit and it glides smoothly and quietly over uneven paving slabs. The handle can be secured in place with a bolt, so the jack can be dragged along without the handle coming out and poking me in the stomach. I can recommend this jack for SC430 owners.

I did this job last year. They are plastic plugs holding the carpet and trim pieces. The job is straightforward, and a trim removal tool would be useful for removing the plugs. No other special tools are needed. Once the carpet is out of the way the sat nav player is easily accessible.

I am sure that I have read that you can send components to bba-reman for repair by post.

Welcome.

bba-reman.com are regularly mentioned in Car Mechanics magazine. Might be worth a phone call.

Anthony.

I was shocked to read about your accident. I hope you are making steady progress. It will be frustrating looking at your car and being unable to drive it. When the time comes it will be raring to go and you will enjoy the drive. Stay positive.

My car's Christmas present is a new vacuum switching valve for ACIS.  I am not looking forward to doing that job outside in these temperatures. It may have to wait for its present until after Christmas when the weather is hopefully warmer than the current minus 4 during the day.

I did that job on mine. Converted it to coil springs and shock absorbers for just over £1000. I now have all new suspension which will probably last the life of the car. My insurers said that the market value of my car was £1100, so there was no way I was going to buy new Lexus air struts. Although the ride is not as good as air suspension it is still better than many cars. I am happy with the conversion.

Dark green with cream leather is classy. I've never seen a dark green one.

For the benefit of others, the Haynes workshop manual shows that the numbering of the cylinders is as shown in Ken's post above.

Bob.

I thought about it at the time but I was in a rush to fit the new covers. I have now removed the Lexus logos by drilling out 4 plastic rivets on each cover. Some of the chrome had already peeled off so i will try to find some suitable chrome spray paint for plastic to refurbish them. I will post the results.

Colin.

I can confirm that the nav units in the SC and LS430 2001-2003 are the same part no. 

I know because I have both cars.

I bought them on e-bay and they came from U.S.A. They are worth the money, especially as my wife has agreed to pay for them!

I have just replaced the plate pie wheel covers with different covers. Before and after images attached. I think it is a big improvement.

Russell.  When I booked the car in at the garage I asked them to remove the dust shields, and I explained why.

Bob. I would rather have road dirt on the reluctor rings than have the rings worn away again. Cleaning the dirt off the rings is no great hardship. Remove the wheel speed sensor and this gives a hole for a screwdriver or toothbrush to get rid of the dirt.