jeremy156

Photos on eBay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203969064542 A set of four 17” Lexus wheels from a 2004 LS430. Reasonably presentable condition, but some marks and mild bubbling, please zoom in on photos. I’ve used them as winter wheels and think they look fine, but you may prefer to refurb. Fitted with Michelin cross climate 2 tyres, all 2021 dated with 6 mm tread remaining. Wheel spec is 17x7.5J ET45 with 5 bolt pattern 114.3 with 60.1mm centre hole. Can deliver for £40 to UK addresses.

Happy to report that a replacement used camera fixed it easily.

Thank you - you're right the cost of a used part isn't too bad - and can be re-sold if it doesn't prove to be the problem.

Hi folks, My reversing camera became intermittent over a few months and has finally stopped working. I removed the bootlid lining to access the back of the camera to fiddle with the connector and it's not a loose connection there. I wonder whether anyone has a spare camera I could install alongside to verify whether the camera itself is faulty? What's the best way to remove the boot lining to access to the control unit? I'm told it's mounted on the right hand side of the boot, but I can't figure out how to remove the side lining. I'm thinking of conducting continuity tests along the cable runs to determine whether something has broken. Any suggestions welcome. The diagnostic menu says camera is fine - and no fault codes. Thank you, Jeremy

How would you describe your ride since converting to coils - comparable? Squishy?

It seems we see the same - never below 5 - so it's good to know that's normal. Just a pity at low speed (e.g. car park) not to have cushioned ride. Oh well, designers knew more than we do 🙂

I went to the fitters and they re-balanced and swapped front to rear, after having re-checked the roundness of the wheels and concluded the tyres are bad. I then found a place with a Hunter Roadforce balancing machine, where the system surprisingly didn't recommend any tyres be turned, however the balance was somehow better. I'm wondering whether that's because they used a finger-plate instead of cone to mount the wheel to the balancer, thereby mimicing lug nuts rather than relying on the positioning of the center hole? Anyway, the long and short of it is that the ride is now acceptable. Not perfect, but I have to accept it'll be the best I can do on this car. Such a shame, as I like almost everything about it.

When I connect Techstream and look at live data for the Air Suspension module, I am particularly curious about the Max Damper Step values. They appear to be fixed at 17, with the struts being at their firmest (17) when the car is stationary or slow moving - and only beginning to "loosen" off once there's a bit of speed. That means the ride is *deliberately* firm at slow speed... whereas I'd love to feel a cossetting boaty feel at slow speed. I can manually set a single damper to any value, even 1 (floaty), for testing, but I'm not sure there's a way to encourage softer damping overall. A favour to ask anyone with Techstream and an air-equipped LS430... with your suspension switch in "normal/sport", is there any difference to the Max Damper Step setting on your car? Is it always 17? If so, why is it even mentioned in live data? If there's a way of configuring it to a lower maximum, then I feel the car would avoid the "stiff knees" feeling at low speed and make life a little softer around car parks, etc.

Fresh as a daisy - 4021, mounted in week 46! I've had a discussion with Camskill who insist that four bad Michelin tyres is unheard of and that it must be the wheels. I'll revisit the wheel straightening, but I genuinely see no movement when they turn.

Indeed, always been good for me - and in dialogue with them now via email.

George, Piers, thank you for your replies. I have contacted Camskill who supplied the tyres, hoping they'll respond with a suggestion. Unless they argue it's a mounting issue, I'm hoping they might see it as a tyre fault. IMG_6051.MOV

I recently bought a set of used 17" genuine wheels for my 2004 LS430. I decided to order Michelin Cross Climate 2 tyres, which I ordered online and had fitted locally. Despite having had two of the wheels straightened (visibly perfectly round now), all four appear to have a tyre wobble when rotated. Not a lot, perhaps 1-2mm, but this seems to be enough to feel while driving. The second tyre shop I visited for a re-balance put the worst tyres on the back and expressed surprise that Michelin tyres would be like this. I'm wondering whether buying mail-order tyres was a mistake. They arrived loose, but could have been stacked in any way in a warehouse or on delivery lorries/van I guess. Might this be damage before fitting that might work itself out when I put some miles and heat onto them? I've read about temporary flat-spotting sorting itself out after a few miles... but these have been a couple of hundred now. Am I being patient enough? Alternatively is there something a specialist could "fix" about the tyres themselves? Next stop for me will be a Hunter Road Force balance, to measure and accommodate the swollen bits.

The unit I bought was https://www.vleds.com/shop-application/turn-signals-front/7440/v6-triton-wa-7440.html plus a wiring adapter. It's underneath the headlight rather than on top, so by removing the wheel lining it was relatively straightforward. The only challenge was tapping into sidelight for the "dim" signal and finding an ignition switched source from the fusebox to fire up the DRLs.

I promised photos - a video shows it more clearly.

I've chosen to let them be and instead swap the indicator bulbs for "switchback" LEDs that will illuminate white with engine running and headlamps switched off - and then flash amber with the indicators. Hoping it'll look like it was supposed to be there. I'll post back with photos when I get it done.

I did also look at other markets and found nothing... but didn't think to check pre-facelift... well done for spotting it there, I wonder why they didn't do that in the post-facelift model. How curious!

Sorry, I thought you meant something specific to this car - yes I'm comfortable with the wiring using relay and should be able to make an appropriate cut in the housing - I had raised hopes that perhaps someone markets a plug-in LS430 shaped lamp assembly with bulb mounted 😉

Superduner, could you point me in the right direction please? I’m probably not using the correct search terms. Many thanks, Jeremy

Looking at the lights on my 2005 LS430, I noticed that the fog lamp in the lower bumper is split into two sections, one as a foglamp, the smaller outer part apparently empty. Any idea what this was supposed to be for? Perhaps side markers in another market? I'm considering whether that would make a nice place to install some constant lights as DRL.

Thank you for taking the trouble to record this, appreciated. I’m grateful for all your replies and glad this is normal behaviour. I have just been through replacing bad vacuum lines and an exhaust leak, so with a smoother running engine it’s good to know this high idle is by design. jeremy

Thank you. Yes the 6-700rpm feels right when warm. What I'm most curious about is the length of time it takes to settle down to that level. Presumably it's by design, but the "lurch" into gear and urgency of the creep when releasing the brake pedal feels less than relaxed.

Curious whether my LS430 is behaving normally... when starting the engine I typically see 1200-1500rpm for a minute or two, falling to a more realistic 600-700 once warmed up. Is that what others see, or do you have idle fall fairly rapidly after start on a cool (not cold) day? Thanks, Jeremy

One further question ... having decoupled the telescoping motor drive from the shaft it seems that moving the wheel in and out requires a massive force - should this slide smoothly? Assuming so, I’ll need to free that up before considering a motor replacement. Anyone moved a wheel in-out by hand without having to use significant body weight?

Would certainly be good to know what model that was! I'm going to take the "no rush" approach, keep an eye out for breakers and meanwhile ditch the fuse and disable it all until I find a used motor affordably, it's certainly not important enough to divert funds from more rewarding repairs 🙂

That's really helpful (if disappointing) to know, thank you Mark. I might just pull the fuse and disable it all, as it's usually just me driving her. On the other hand, as I can't resist tinkering, I might see whether it's possible to find a used motor/column and dismantle... ... but I think having to press the memory button several times will become a nuisance, *especially* as this car doesn't allow me to switch between memory positions on the move (as I used to regularly do in several Mercedes models in the past to vary my position and avoid DVT. Thanks again, Jeremy