chris vince

Does your dash light up within 1-2 seconds from an overnight chill? If not there is a very good chance that your guage problem is related to the dash lighting curse. I have repaired dozens of cars with this problem, lots have had related fuel guage misreading, centre consul lighting failure and even radio lighting failure problems. Chris Vince

I had one in my Mk3, but it couldn't keep up with the alarm, and other permanent equipment drain. I don't think the cigarette lighter is permantly 'live', it definitely wasn't on my car, so I had to adapt the charger with a couple of crocodile clips directly onto the battery. A bit of a drag removing all of this every time, so I found a hidden route for the wire and left it in place, just unplugging it from the charger when I used the car. IMHO I think they are a good idea, but go for the best/biggest output you can afford, otherwise all you will do is to delay an inevitable flat battery. From memory I think my solar charger put out 8 watts, which was no where near enough to keep the battery up. Regards, Chris Vince Sorry I had a MK4, DOH!!!

I had one in my Mk3, but it couldn't keep up with the alarm, and other permanent equipment drain. I don't think the cigarette lighter is permantly 'live', it definitely wasn't on my car, so I had to adapt the charger with a couple of crocodile clips directly onto the battery. A bit of a drag removing all of this every time, so I found a hidden route for the wire and left it in place, just unplugging it from the charger when I used the car. IMHO I think they are a good idea, but go for the best/biggest output you can afford, otherwise all you will do is to delay an inevitable flat battery. From memory I think my solar charger put out 8 watts, which was no where near enough to keep the battery up. Regards, Chris Vince

Over fill it. The fluid inlet is well up the reservoir to stop debris, sludge and water getting into the pump, this muck settles out at the bottom. Therefore you have to initially fill it almost to the top, if not, like yours it will still draw air and be very noisy. Chris Vince

I have had this problem on P/S pumps I have rebuilt. Try initially overfilling the reservoir. The pick up inlet for the fluid is quite high up inside the can, you may think there is enough inside the can but possibly insufficient to bleed the system, it still drawing in air. Once bleed the excess can be removed by sucking it out in a clear plastic pipe or other method. Regards, Chris Vince

Steve, Before you start rebuilding your PS pump there is an ERROR on the Lexls article. I have rebuilt a few of these PS pumps now and can tell you that there is an additional 'O' ring not mentioned or shown on the Lexls program. It will be included in the kit so may well have you puzzled, however it goes inside of one of the housings, and seals a shaft. The original will be well flattened and blackened so will not be very easy to spot, but persevere because it must be changed, as the fluid has a hardening effect on these seals, making them very brittle, missing it and not changing it may undo all of your hard work. Good luck, Chris Vince PS I am still about, but driving a Nissan Navara now. Boy, have these engines got BIG BIG problems they are very prone to throwing con rods through the block, I know of at least 50 that have self destructed in this way, in fact I bought mine very cheaply off Ebay because of this very flaw. I have worked out the cause and a remedy, basically the YD25DDTi engine uses aluminium/tin big end shells that have not been bonded to the steel backing, after approx 60K they are worn out and the lining starts to strip, the ends start knocking (though this is more of a light metalic tinkling noise easily confused with valve train wear, in fact some Nissan main dealers have even changed canshafts in a fruitless attempt to cure the noise), work hardening the con rod bolts till they give up and snap. Nissans answer is to tighten up the auxilary belts as tight as piano strings, pretty pointless as all this does is to dampen the sounds! I have sourced old fashioned Lead/Copper (now banned in the EU) big end shells from ACL in Australia, together with bolts that can take 2,000hp from the USA (the internet really is a wonderful tool), this will solve the problem, I have put all of this info on a sister site to this, the Nissan Navara OC, so hopefully saving many other owners the £6,500 cost of a replacement engine. When I come back occasionally and read the problem LS owners have, although they may seem drama's to you, they are nothing compared to some of the c**p others manufacturers are producing and lumbering their owners with, but I can't take two spaniels for walkies in a LS!

Hi Alex, The dealer default code is usually the last 3 numbers from your VIN No. This usually works, assuming previous owners haven't personalised the number with their own code! Regards, Chris Vince

Hi Paul, Get me on chrisvince@btopenworld.com I have all the bits in stock. The problem you describe is a failure of a temperature critical component on the PCB of the dash combination gauges, not so evident in the summer because of the higher ambient temperatures, or after a long drive when it has heated up sufficiently to pass a current, this problem mainly affects MK2 LS400's, of which I have repaired many, whilst at the moment you eventually get lights, it will reach a stage when the component will completely fail to pass any current at all. The charge is £65 + £8 P&P back to you, the Lexus price of a new unit is £1,900-00. I can usually get them back in the post first class recorded the same day (dependent on the time of arrival here). FYI I can also repair the instrument needles, getting them lighting up again like new, this is a proper repair! Not the fishing rod fluorescent tip paint job advertised by some others, this is £20 per needle, and is obviously much easier done at the same time, please advise if you need, or indeed wish this defect to be repaired should his car suffer this generic fault also. If you wish to go ahead I can supply you with detailed instruction to remove the unit, or if convenient by arrangement I may be able to repair your car while you wait, in which case I will remove and refit your repaired unit for only £10 extra. Regards, Chris

Steve, If you are still looking for a MK4, very, very reluctantly mine is available. As most of the members of this site will know I have been a long time contributor to the LOC, indeed I specialise in the repairs to LS climate controls, dash board combination gauges, instrument needles, power steering pumps and alternators, so I know my way around them. I recently retired from the fire brigade after 30 years (a mechanic before I joined and during), taking medical advice to buy a dog to ensure I regularly exercise an ailing back, I have bought a Nissan Navara (wouldn't put two springer spaniels in a LS). The car is a 98 in silver (the only colour in my opinion) perfect service history, 102K, original equipment D8Z tyres (for quietness), brand new front discs, brake fluid change and pads all round, tax and mot (long), it even has the latest version sat nav software installed, it has never wanted for anything, or needs anything. I am asking around £6,750. Regards, Chris

Dave, Do NOT touch anything on the PCB the fault is not there, see the post on top of this page: Replacing burnt out needles on the dash (or similar title), or LCD Display Problems - Recommended Repairs (on following pages 2 or 3 possibly later) Regards, Chris

Owen, See the thread on the next page - LCD Problems recommended Repairs

I've just bought a pair of FERODO discs for £62 and Mintex pads £20 for a '98 Mk4 LS400 from an ebay seller that deals in clearance/surplus auto spares, he might still be listing bits and pieces, if not and you are interested I will give you his email address or phone No. These are brand new items at well under half price. Regards, Chris Vince

I repair dashes 45 and speedo/tacho needles 20 a piece, too late for you but might help others. Can't repair climate controls anymore, got stitched up getting hold of LCD's!! Chris V

Ian, I have got to be honest, audio isn't really my strong point, I know that the changers suffer with problems caused by condensation, particularly if the car isn't used that often (to blow the air through it and dry the unit) which, as yours is a low mileage car may be the reason for a premature failure. Ther are 2 main audio places I know of: www.fixmyradio.co.uk www.autosound.co.uk (they are the official Lexus audio repairers) Or you can revisit the breakers. Hope this helps, Chris

Totally wrong Gino, I am in Farnborough Hants. I am not associated in any way with the company you mention, in fact unwittingly, I supplied nearly all of the information they needed, to start repairing Lexus climate controls. Having spent many months researching the subject, to identify the causes and weaknesses that resulted in my own climate control, dashboard and fuel guage failing, then rectifying the defective items, I now repair these generic electronic defects to help other owners out, by costing a fraction of the company you mention. Thanks anyway for your kind thoughts. Chris

For any MK1&2 owner whose car suffers from the generic Lexus electrical defects that are spoiling their motoring pleasure. As many of you may know (some personally) for a number of years now I have been refurbishing climate controls and clock LCD's. I have now perfected repairs for the other common defects i.e. dash boards that no longer light up, fuel guauges that fail to read, and of course instrument needles that have died partway and no longer light up (this is a proper repair that leaves them shining like new, and not just the flourescent paint job that is advertised elsewhere). If any owner has these problems and is interested please get in touch. Regards, Chris Vince

Thanks Jon, I'm going out to try it now. I agree with you, I would much rather it gave a reassuring beep when generally locking the car. Chris Vince

Dear All, This may help someone out. I still haven't replaced my front discs as yet, I was going to this week having got a blinding quote from my local motor factor, when I went to snap his hand off and buy a pair at the silly price he quoted, a problem arose. Quinten Hazell have withdrawn from sale all discs suitable for LS400's, we were unable to ascertain why. So, if any owner has fitted QH discs recently, and is unhappy with them it may be worth chasing this up with the supplier. Regards, Chris Vince

Dear All, It's been a while since I posted on the site, this due to retirement from the Fire Brigade and not sitting bored in front of a PC for many hours (non-ops due to a service injury). Anyway for anyone interested, the new owner of my old Mk2 (I sold it to him 18 months ago) visited me this week, sadly it had developed the usual LS problems, no not the climate control LCD, I refurbished that and replaced the LCD during my ownership, but the dashboard lighting and fuel guage had failed, also the speedo and tacho needles were only partly illuminated. I have been researching the dash and instrument problems for quite a while, and was waiting for a guinea pig to experiment on. I can say that he drove away a very happy owner, many hundreds of £'s better off! As I was able to fix all of the faults he arrived with, not an easy job, but very rewarding to see the dash and needles lit up properly again. Regards, Chris

Hi Maz, When I had a radio problem I spoke to the car audio blokes I have used before, they told me about a web company they send Merc sat nav screens to, www.fixmyradio.co.uk they repair them for a fraction of the Merc price, I have not used them for sat nav sreens, but they were extremely good with my radio. I would suspect that Lexus send the sat nav screens to their usual repairer in Bradford, Autosound. I would get a repair estimate for a new screen from them before proceeding, I would think that a problem with the car like this, is a very good bargaining down issue, most people will run a mile from it. Hope this helps, Chris Vince Maz, Sorry I forgot to add, in my opinion this is a major problem as eventually you will not be able to control the heating / climate control, radio, tape, or cd, and sat nav, as all are touch screen controlled on a MK4. Regards, Chris

I have had a similar problem before (but not on a Lexus, I add). It turned out to be where the wiring loom went from the 'B' post into the door, the continual flexing caused fatigue in a wire until they parted. You may find as I did, that the wires were are small diameter multistranded to be able to take the flexing. Regards, Chris Vince

Money would have been better spent on a new headlight. Chris V

Hi Longboarder, No problem at all, glad to help out another owner. The reason your's was disconnected is probably due to the fact that these switches are a normally open type, when the floats fail they sink and close the switch, easiest thing for a seller to do (who doesn't want to spend anything) is to disconnect the switch, it will then be open permanently, and not false indicating. Since this thread started there seem to be quite a few owners with the same defect, makes me wonder how many other cars there are with this sensor disconnected? I repaired mine as per the photos quite a while ago, and its still OK. Best regards, Chris Vince PS I am about to replace the dashboard capacitors for the new owner of my last LS, a MK2, they failed about 18 months after I sold it to him, no arguments from him, he loves Lexus and won't go back to anything else now. My posts may become a little erratic now as I retire in 12 days time, so will not be stuck in front of a PC quite as much.

Gents, I believe that LS's have an adaptive ECU, in that it will learn your style and manner of driving, possibly not reacting to anything unusual. There are posts on this site to get over this by either resetting the ECU, or giving the old girls a good thrashing, so that their ECU's get used to another style of driving. Me, I'm a dawdler, preferring to experience the luxury without fretting. Regards, Chris

Hi, This sounds an engine speed related problem to me, without wishing to cause offence (you sound like you know your way around the car) did you change the drive belt with the new pump? is it being contaminated by fluid/oil? is it tight enough? Sometimes it pays to go back to basics, I hope you sort it out without much more expense. Chris Vince