wacko

All tyre pressures are correct and there are no cuts etc. I had already swapped the tyres front to back and side to side but it made no difference. both brakes are free running. The car was checked at a local fast fit centre but they did have an all singing and dancing alignment bay. However that doesn't mean that they know how to do proper alignment checks and adjustments.

Hi Recently the 600 started pulling to the left, not a violent pull but enough to overcome the lane keeping assist. All four tyres were only a month old so I suspected the alignment had been knocked out from multiple pot hole hit on our wonderful roads. A full alignment showed that both front wheels castor and toe were out of spec and were adjusted. ~All angles are now in spec but not at the ideal settings and the car still pulls slightly to the left. When I spoke to the garage they said that that was the best could do and any further adjustment would require changing parts of the front suspension. Don't know that much about wheel alignment and less about the suspension setup on the LS600 as I cant find a manual online to check their statement. Does anyone have experience of 600's pulling to the left or it's alignment setup. would the alignment figures below cause the car to still pull to the left or should they be OK as they are all in the green, although the before and after castor angle for the front left has the same before and after value but one is red and one is green! Failing that can anyone recommend a good alignment centre in the Edinburgh area? I have attached the alignment printout below. All help and advice greatly appreciated.

Hi does anyone know if it's possible to add or activate the night view system on a 2011 ls600hl. The car has pcs, Lka and adaptive cruise so all of the required cameras are fitted. Looking on an online epc site the only part listed on the night vision page is a cable from the boot ecu to another one under the dash. If this cable was fitted would night view work or does it need additional equipment. According to the epc site there is only one version of instrument cluster so it should work. Many thanks in advance.. wacko

The iphone does not allow uploading of contacts to the LS for some reason. my solution was to sync the iphone to outlook and then copy the contacts list to an old nokia that i had and pair it to my 430. Once thats done delete the old phone and repair the iphone. The sytem keeps the contact list so you can initiate calls from the screen and it will shown the caller id as well. little bit annoying but it works on the 430 so it should work on the 460/600.

Hi The pirelli p zero 245/50/17 was the standard width and profile for DHP wheels but they are only availible from limited manufactures and they are expensive. the 235/45 tyre will actually make you speedo read faster, when showing 60mph your actual speed will be 57mph http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html. The best option i found was to fit 225/55/17 tyres, they keep the speedo acurate, they have a large enough sidewall to keep the car comfortable, they handle better than the stock 225/60/16 LS400 tyres and they are availible from a large number of manufactures. before i moved on the my LS430 i ran mine with dunlop SP01 tyres which were standard on the 1st gen LS430 and founf them to be good overall but most important on the LS they were quiet. Hope this helps

Had a similar prob on my mark IV, the problem was the window chrome trim/seal that goes around the top of the door frame. This was letting water through the securing bolt holes on to the plastic door surround which then ran down the trim to exit from the tweeter. The interior trim needs removing to access the seal securing bolts. Once these have been removed the seal can be removed. it apears that a non setting mastic was used at the factory. Once this was cleaned off and replaced everything was fine. Watch the securing clips for the interior trim they break easy. Hope this helps mark

Hi I've had my 54 plate 90,000 miler for three years now and the only thing i have replaced has been the front pads. Take the plunge, the only thing you will regret is not getting one sooner.

Had a similar prob on my mark IV, the problem was the upper window seal that goes around the top of the door frame. This was letting water through the securing bolt holes on to the plastic door surround which then run down the trim to exit from the tweeter. The interior trim needs removing to access the seal securing bolts. Once these have been removed the seal can be removed. it apears that a non setting mastic was used at the factory. Once this was cleaned off and replaced everything was fine. Watch the securing clips for the interior trim they break easy. Hope this helps mark

Thanks for the advice, but I still want them!! I really want only original Lexus wheels which kind of limits me to DHP or LS430 alloys. I have read on here that unless you get really close to the rolling circumference of the standard tyres then it may cause problems with the sat nav so that is a factor unless I find out that information is wrong. Plus the DHP weels look so right on the car in my opinion... I ran DHP alloys on my MK IV and 245/50/17 pirelli tyres were expensive and soft. I changed them to 225/55/17 tyres the overall dia only changed by 2mm (see http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-size-calculator.htm) there was a far larger choice of better and cheaper tyres and they looked better than the standard 16"s.

resulting in road damage (rise in council tax), alloy wheel damage, and trashed back ends when the numpties try to drive with them on a road with no deep snow and then the chain breaks - you can imagine the damage that would cause! but hey go for it, it would give me something to laugh about. Alternativly you could use Autosocks. i've been using these on my 430 for the last week in and around edinburgh and they have been fantastic. Easier to put on and take off than snowchains and they can be used for a limited time on tarmac. Glad you too found them useful. My thread on Autosocks last winter was met with a lot of negative comments regarding them. Members on here seemed very sceptical. I've had a few odd looks when putting them on but the looks on peoples faces as a powerful rear wheel drive car does a hill start and pulls away without a problem is priceless. My boss was late into work yesterday as his new and shiny X5 got stuck in the snow. he was amazed that i made it in, he was even more amazed when i gave him a lift home on snow and ice covered roads. The only downside is having to buy two pairs of socks. fitting them on the rears only will get you moving but you can't steer very well. However the best thin i've seen in the last few days was a guy in a modified Punto that had a front spoiler that was so low it acted like a snow plough. he'd driven all of fifty feet and had to stop to clear a wedge of snow in front of his car that was up to his bonnet. happy days

resulting in road damage (rise in council tax), alloy wheel damage, and trashed back ends when the numpties try to drive with them on a road with no deep snow and then the chain breaks - you can imagine the damage that would cause! but hey go for it, it would give me something to laugh about. Alternativly you could use Autosocks. i've been using these on my 430 for the last week in and around edinburgh and they have been fantastic. Easier to put on and take off than snowchains and they can be used for a limited time on tarmac.

Hi You could try Dewsbury Auto Salvage. They have a number of LS 400 in at the moment including a 1998 and a 1999 model. Dewsbury Auto Salvage I hope this is of some help. Mark

Hello there - yes, this (click) leads to the German site where I am just describing how to solve the problem. Or rather: How to find where the water gets in in the first place. I just know where it finanlly surfaces, at the bottom of the tweeter. If that "wacko" fellow is still around, would you please describe in detail / or in other words where exactly the water got into your car? I tried with a garden hose for an hour in various places - and everything remained as dry as German Riesling. Thanks a ton for helping. kroebje Hi If you follow the link below it should take you to the toyodiy website and a diagram of the front door on an LS 400. toyodiy What you need to do is remove the tweeter grill (part 67688B) and the plastic trim (part 67663) on the inside of the door. Be careful of the plastic clips that hold on the trim they break easy. Once the internal plastic trim has been removed you will see a number of small nuts which hold the metal trim strip (part 67491B) on the outside of the door in place. remove the nuts and carefuly remove the metal trim strip. The strip is sealed to the door using a black mastic strip, over the years this has gone hard and lets the water through. The water runs down the strip and through the lower bolt hole into the car and then drips from the tweeter. i used a bitumastic sealant to seal the trim to the door. When the nuts are tightened excess sealant is squezed out of the join and can be wiped away. I did this repair a month after buying the car, four years later it's still dry inside. I hope this is of some help. Wacko

Hi again Sorry about the squashed up text it looked fine before i posted it. Cold tire inflation pressure Europe [under 230 km/h (143 mph)]: Tire size 225/55R1 7 97W Front kPa (kgf/cm2, psi) 240(2.4, 35) *1 *2 Rear kPa (kgf/cm2, psi) 240 (2.4, 35) *1 280 (2. 9, 41) *2 Europe [230 km/h (143 mph) or over]: Tire size 225/55R1 7 97W Front kPa (kgf/cm2. psi) 260(2.7, 38) *1'*2 Rear kPa (kgf/cm2. psi) 290 (3.0, 42) *1 330 (3.4, 48) *2 *1: Up to 4 passengers *2: more than 4 passengers Europe only: When towing, increase the pressure 20kPa (0.2 kgf/cm2, 3 psi). Hope this is better Mark

Hi Here are the tyre pressures as listed in the handbook. Cold tire inflation pressure Europe [under 230 km/h (143 mph)]: Tire size Front kPa (kgf/cm2, psi) Rear kPa (kgf/cm2, psi) 225/55R1 7 97W 240(2.4, 35) "1'"2 240 (2.4, 35) *1 280 (2. 9, 41) Europe [230 km/h (143 mph) or over]: Tire size Front kPa (kgf/cm2. psi) Rear kPa (kgf/cm2. psi) 225/55R1 7 97W 260(2.7, 38) *1'*2 290 (3.0, 42) *1 330 (3.4, 48) '2 1: Up to 4 passengers *2: more than 4 passengers Europe only: When towing, increase the pressure 20kPa (0.2 kgf/cm2, 3 psi). Hope this helps Mark

I found it to be a little bit quieter than the ER33 but a bit improvement in the wet. No more understeer on a wet roundabout. A friend of mine runs an IS250 on Falken FK452 tyres and says they are one of the best tyres he's ever had wet or dry and they are quiet. Can't comment on the quiet bit, after an LS all cars sound noisy. Not that keen on putting a budget tyre on a car as heavy and powerfull as an LS though. Mark

Recently I upgraded from the ER33 recently to the Michelin Primacy HP. Fantastic in the wet, unbelievably quiet. Unfortunately they are also unbelievably expensive. It’s true you do get what you pay for.

Hi I have had a similar problem on one of my front sensors. It started out with an intermittent single tone with a red sector displayed on the nav screen. This became worse and I ended up with a continuous tone, only way to stop it was to switch off the system. I tried cleaning the sensor but that made no difference. Talking to a friendly mechanic he stated that it’s quite a common problem with painted sensors, moisture gets in behind the paint layer and corrodes the face of the sensor. The way to check is to feel the centre circle on the sensor it should be smooth. The front offside corner one on my car looked and felt like hammerite paint. A careful rubdown with some fine wet and dry, a clean and a quick paint touch up and the sensor is now working. Apparently this only works if you catch it quickly enough. If the corrosion continues it will ruin the sensor completely. As it wasn’t working anyway I had nothing to lose. Mark

Hi Yes I have had both wheels off and had a good look for worn bushes or loose components. Even removed the engine under tray and checked around there. It's not a loud noise but in such a quite car it is very noticable. I'm begining to think that it's an internal fault with the strut but the only way to check that is replacement. Not a cheap option. Mark

Hi Has anyone experinced any odd noises from the air suspension on a LS 430? I have had a 2005 model with standard air suspension june last year and the car has always been noisy at the front on motorways. I put this down to the tyres, Dunlop SP9000, which a number of people have quoted as being a noisy tyre. Changed the front tyres today, the tyre noise has all but gone but i can still hear this rumbling sound from the front of the car. This may sound daft but it sounds like a cheap vinyl football being hit with a stick or bat, a low pitch hollow ringing. both front wheel bearings have been checked as have all the bushes and ball joints, I dont get the same sound from the back suspension only the front. can anyone shead any light on this before i talk to lexus who will no doubt be only to happy to replace the front suspension units. Thanks in advance Mark

Hi If anyone is looking for a list of toyota or lexus part numbers and associated diagrams there is online parts list for Lexus and Toyota. lexus parts It also lists prices for some parts in Euros, but i'm not sure how up to date they are.

Bit the bullet today and fitted a new heavy duty battery. I'm off to france on monday for 2 weeks with my fingers crossed. Although I have taken the precaution of borowing a friends booster pack just in case. i have also seen a post on USA site regarding the Smart key system draining the battery. Just to be on the safe side I will turn this off as well as the making sure that the lights and wiper stalks are in the off not auto position. I will update you when i get back. Thanks for the replies. Mark

No Nothing, the car is completly stock

Normaly I would aggree and put a new battery in, but the battery is only 3 years old and i had left the car parked for over a week in august with no problems. If it is the battery i have no problem in replacing it. I'm going away with work for a week at the end of the month and my concern is that it is something else and even with a new battery i could still come back to a flat battery, Although i now have a set of jump leads in the boot. Having been quoted £75 to £125 for a new battery its an expensive thing to replace to find out later that you still have a problem.

Hi Returning from holiday I did not expect to find that the battery was flat after only a week of being parked at the airport. A quick boost from a RAC man and it started first turn. According to the RAC the alternator is working fine and the battery has been fine since then. No lights were left on and the only thing active would have been the alarm and the smart key system. The car was driven over 100 miles the day prior to being left at the airport so the battery would have had a good charge in it. Anybody any ideas or similar experiences. Mark