MUDGUTS

On 5/26/2024 at 10:51 AM, Roy GS said:

I'm running a 2002 GS300 with LPG at the moment, I used to have the RX300 which on normal driving wasn't very good on fuel. I used to do a lot of miles.  I've been looking at the RX400H because of the 30+ MPG. I'm not sure where I saw it, it might have been on here, but there was a guy who put a range extender battery from a Tesla in his wheel well, which is pretty much the same as an LPG tank, and he tripled his mpg. I was wondering if anybody on here had seen his post and could they repost it. Thanks.

I would love to get some details on that. Interested in the insurance implications also. 

I got a 120k service at Lexus Coventry. As it was fixed pricing it included the spark plug change. £660 all in.

My car had a replacement Battery fitted before I bought it. A 60 Ah. Priced about £65. Interested in opinions on whether it would be worth upgrading this. 
 

That’s interesting as my Audio switches off/on occasionally and I’ve no idea why. It also switches radio stations but the most frequent is the on/off. I contacted a repair specialist and they advised that the unit needs communication with the car and won’t power on the bench. The 12v Battery on my car is quite new and apart from this I have no issues. 
 

I’m interested in anyone’s experience of this as to replace the head unit looks like an hour of taking trim off then even if I got a new unit there would be no guarantee it’s any better. 
 

I have quite a good fault code reader and to date it’s not coming up with any issues.

I seem to get the best mpg from V Power. 

Recently achieved 44.3 on a run from Chesterfield to Gatwick area. Wasn’t particularly trying to get high mpg.
 

I’ll do a ‘brim to brim’ check in a few weeks. I’ve had the A/C topped up and now that’s switched on and set to auto in terms of fan speed, mode and recirculate etc. will report back. 
 

Unless my car’s computer is way off I think it’s just a case to driving these cars a very specific way to achieve max mpg. Nothing much to add to my previous post other than if you were to imagine you have no brakes or the brakes of a 1960s heavily laden family car on a wet road, that might help. I believe they are very sensitive to technique and bear in mind they are heavy. Changes of velocity either way always use a lot of energy and the trick is to minimise those changes. The drag at motorway speeds will be greater than something more aerodynamic but I don’t think that’s a particularly big factor unless you are really travelling fast. Drag is a velocity squared, so 5mph faster at 65mph will be consuming more extra fuel than 5mph faster at 60mph, if you take my meaning. 
 

Not wishing to sound pathetic but as an ex motorcyclist, someone who has lost their licence for speeding (over 110 on motorway), regularly saw 140 in my old GS300 and 150 in my LX400… Bear in mind that most motorways are flooded with morons, retards who can’t drive, speed cameras and just don’t move that fast so we may as well go with the flow and keep our fuel money for whatever takes our fancy.

I get 40-42 on a run from Chesterfield to Hampshire/Surrey regularly. 95% motorway. Speed between 55 and 75. 2009 RX450h 155k regularly serviced. I think Tesco 99 or Shell V-Power helps. 38.5 would be my worst on this journey. 42.5 best. That’s average of 42.5 on the 400 mile return journey. 
 

You have to totally minimise acceleration and use of brakes. Obviously this is not always possible. If you plan the braking that is required effectively that will help maximise regenerative braking; keeping the needle inside the blue zone but not letting it drop to the bottom or any braking past that will not be regenerative. The more you can coast when meeting slower traffic the better. I don’t use the ‘eco’ setting at all or A/C. I think it’s less generally if wet/dark etc. 

Thanks Colin, The service manager couldn't offer much of an explanation other than "it doesn't get changed". Such a shame that these days we're so isolated from the guys that work on our cars.

I did get a good deal of a major service which included spark plug replacement, engine and inverter coolant replacement for £825. I wanted to get as much as I could done at the time and I intend to run this car right up to 250k if possible (currently at 154k), hence the query over diff oil.

Oddly enough my GS 300 was finished off when the diff failed. I heard a massive bang from the rear and assumed I had driven over a brick or something but the diff continued to make some noise and it was obvious that something inside had broken.

When I had my RX 450h in for a major service at Lexus, they did not change the diff oil. 

On 11/6/2019 at 12:13 PM, jumbojake said:

how did you manage to get discount on the the service.????..

I tried this with two dealers (Canterbury and Tunbridge), they both refused to allow the club discount, as they said their pricing was fixed by Lexus UK.  They also refused to allow the discount on parts, as they are apparently already at trade prices.... so far I have never seen any discount from Lexus due to the club discount, only seems to work in halfrauds... a lot of money for a few quid on a bottle of screen wash!

I asked Lexus Coventry yesterday re discount and they said they don't offer this any more.

Update;

The car has been into Lexus Coventry for a service and the Tech has secured the heat shield in one place with a larger nut/bolt. By the looks of it this has been screwed into the hole where the original stud or bolt was.

Hi all,

I have recently bought a 2009 RX 450h. The heat shield over the rear exhaust box was loose. As I have read on various forums the aluminium heat shield corrodes where it meets the steel bolts. I read somewhere a chap fitted a large washer onto the existing bolt to hold it in place but this is not an option for me as both nuts are totally rusted on. I have secured the heat shield with strong wire as a temporary/permanent fix.

Has anyone else had a similar issue and if so how did they fix this? 

Has anyone removed the heat shield totally? If so did they encounter any issues?

Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.  

Thanks very much Linas. I had forgotten about that method. It’s a shame because I really don’t like using jacks and stands. Even ramps I find fairly unpleasant and my drive is all gravel so it all points to being a PITA. 
 

I have to do this with my 5 series and I hate it. It’s probably going to mean services at a garage or at least oil changes. Either that or I’ll replace my BMW with an RX so I can service it myself. 

Hi Folks, I would appreciate any advice on the feasibility of an oil change on a GS 250 WITHOUT raising it on jacks/ramps etc. 

Is it possible to get to the drain plug and the oil filter etc?

Thanks as always. 

Hi,

I have a very similar problem on my Wife’s 06 RX 300.

I had the AC re gassed last summer and the guy who did this noted that we could only get cool air from the left hand (passenger side) vent. I can live with this but after a week or so the AC was not producing cool air. I guess it has a leak. Took the car into an independent yesterday and today he has advised the Compressor is faulty and needs to be replaced. Unfortunately Lexus have discontinued this part.

The guy at Lexus parts reckoned this isn’t a common part to fail and an aftermarket of pattern replacement could be around £400 plus so I really need to know this is the most cost effective way of fixing this.

The issue with the air only coming from one side is something I can live with as long as the AC actually works, however if there is a way to diagnose and a possible fix for this I would be interested.

Thanks for any advice offered.

Thanks for the input folks. 
 

I’ve switched the search to the IS300h now. Really I would want a GS or LS for my commute but can’t justify it so the IS would be a sensible compromise. I’ve done a bit of research and as with the CT and people here have a advised, a change of driving style will be necessary. 
 

Thanks again. 

Thanks folks. I went to have a look at a CT200h ‘Advance Plus’ today at Lexus Teesside. Whilst it looked great, I’m not sure the drive would suit me, doing 25,000 miles per year.  
 

...Having said that, the low running costs would have probably lead me to try and I was on the verge of making an offer when I discovered the service history had a massive 30,000 mile gap! Apparently this is acceptable even for an approved used Lexus. How can this be? There was a service at 10k, 20k then the next was very recently, I guess when it was taken in at 49k

I’m going to keep an eye on the market and will keep you all informed. 

Thanks everyone,

I’m looking around now for a post 2014 model as I understand the ride is better. I’m slightly concerned about the performance and road noise but I guess I’ll get over it. Gone are the days when I could sit in my LS or GS at a ton plus - I just can’t afford to lose my license now. 
 

Will keep you all posted.

Hi,

I’m looking for some advice on changing to a CT 200 H from my e60 530i M Sport. Previously I’ve had LS 400, GS 300 etc. My Wife has an RX 300. 
 

Most of my miles now are motorway. My normal commute is 120-200 miles each way 3-4 times a month at least which are 95% motorway. I’m getting 29-30 mpg from my BMW and I’m doing 25,000 a year. 
 

Realistically, can I do this? I would be buying an approved Lexus and probably only want to spend £12k maximum. I’ve had it with traders so this is the way I have to go. 
 

I understand I’ll miss the poke I have now but there’s not really much motorway left now where I can make significant progress. 
 

All advice gratefully received. 

Hi,

I'm looking for a decent and trustworthy, recommendation for some suspension work on my GS 300. I'll need an MOT retest afterwards.

Thanks very much in advance.

Thanks Gents. I'll have a look underneath to see if I can swap those post cat sensors. I replaced both the pre cat sensors last year as the heaters in each had failed. 

From what I have read, changing the post cat sensors is a bit of a pain unless I can just cut the old wires and wire the new one in.

What is odd is that I'm going up to 1500 miles at times without a fault code then it comes on several times a week. The only pattern I can see is that when I'm using the car for longer (150 mile) runs the code isn't so regular but as soon as I'm using the car for running around town, after a day or so the code appears.

Hi,

This fault code (P0430 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold Bank 2) has been coming up on my 2004 GS300 for nearly 6 Months / 8 thousand miles. I'm getting consistently good mpg (27-30) and the car went through its MOT after the code first came up, obviously passing its emissions part of the test. Sometimes I can go 1500 miles between it coming on, sometimes only 50 miles  

My fault code reader allows me to reset the MIL which I do each time it comes up and also read the Freeze Frame Data which is below.

DCTFRZF                    P0430
FUELSYS1                  CL
FUELSYS2                  CL
LOAD_PCT (%)           71.4
ETC (F)                        189
SHRTFT1 (%)              3.1
LONGFT1 (%)             -3.1
SHRTFT2 (%)              0.8
LONGFT2 (%)            -1.6
RPM (/min)                 1704
VSS (mph)                  46
IAT (F)                         52

I'm interested in a decoding of the info above if anyone can help. 

Thanks, I managed to get one from an IS. After some slight modifications it fits perfectly. What's more, the replacement filter (it came with a hardly used one) seems to be cheaper than a GS filter. Marked Toyota BTW. 

Update:

This fault has been on & off at various times over the last 4 months. I can do up to 2000 miles between it coming on.

Each time I just reset the EML. I noticed recently that it was not possible to reset but after a little drive and I assume once the ATF has warmed, a reset was possible. Also if you put the car into manual mode, the 'M' flashes and the car won't shift.

...so I'm just going to live with it  

Hi,

I'm  trying to source the plastic tray that holds the Pollen Filter for a 2004 GS 300. It's probably the same on most Lexus cars of that era.

I've emailed a couple of breakers in the past & today but with little success. So I'm looking for any reliable leads folk have.

Thanks in advance.