Theorist

Many thanks everybody how wonderfully helpful. I put a query on the US site about a technical issue recently and got no replies. They all seem to want to talk about the colour of hairbrushes or other such nonsense!

MKI GS300. When I start up, I get a gurgling and sloshing sound from the climate control. Does it need refilling and if so does anyone know how much it will cost?

MKI 103000 miles. Stoke on Trent to St Just near Penzance 315 miles 45 litres 31MPG. 2/3 motorway 1/3 a roads. Daily drive 8 miles stop'n start 12mpg in the winter 18 now.

Can any one help? I have a MKI GS300. When the sun has been on the car and the interior temperature has risen, the memory sterring wheel gizmo makes the most awful howling noise. It is a friction noise, I guess that differential expansion on some part of it or other causes it to tighten up. On extreme occasions it grinds to a halt. Is there any remedy that anyone can think of that can be carried out by a non-mechanic - lubrication for example - and how would one go about it?

I tried the filling up trick on my MkI a couple of times recently and in each case there were 15 litres left when the light started to come on.

Hi Mike,

for what its worth I think your prospective buy is slightly over the odds, remember that if it's not been done, at 120,000 a cambelt change is going to be due. At 140,000 new set of platinum spark plugs 6X £12 plus labour. Have a look on autotrader.co.uk there are loads under 3 grand. don't worry about high milage, go for the newest you can afford. At 3 grand everything should work, there should be no rust anywhere, the interior should be pristine. Listen for grinding ball joints when on full lock, juddering brakes - wrongly tightened lugnuts bend the rotors, take it on a dual carageway and brake hard from speed.

It's a truly great car the MKI but don't pay too much!

Good luck.

Is it possible that resetting the ECU might do the trick, and how does one do it? Any clues please, I'm no mechanic and I don't want to have to take it to Lexus and fork out a fortune.

Back on this recurrent fuel consumption issue. Several people seem to be getting lousy consumption out of thier straight sixes. I recently had my MKI serviced by Lexus and all of a sudden I am getting about 12 mpg on a 4 mile each way commute. It has been suggested that the Lambda sensors might be fouled or need replacing. Wouldn't the exhaust be sooty if that was the case? Would it also be the case if the ECU needed re-setting? My exhaust is slightly sooty - ie v dark grey - but no loose soot. Any ideas folks?

Thanks for that

Yeah, lots of cold starts and only 5 mile drive - I guess that will be the problem. The gas has realy started going down since just before Christmas when the cold weather started. Perhaps it will get beter in the spring.

Hi folks,

I have a 93 GS 300 MK1 (100,000 miles), I've just had it serviced at a main dealer, and had a leaky fuel line fixed. I have just calculated my fuel consumption and I am only getting about 12 MPG about town, ECTPWR OFF! Does anyone know what the consumption figures should be like and if they are too high, what the problem might be?

Following my query concerning a petrol smell on my GS300 MKI, it turned out as some of you suggested (many thanks for that) that one of the fuel lines was corroded, about 3 inches from its union with the flexible part of the line by the tank. My local Lexus dealer suggested replacement of all the fuel lines requiring dropping the sub-frames. This they informed me would be two days work. I dread to think what the cost would have been; my guess is around £1,000. When I balked at this idea, they suggested that they could cut back the hard line and replace it with an extended flexible hose for £140. I said that I would get back to them and went to a good independent garage who have just done the job for £32.25. However splendid the quality of service from Lexus, it is wise to take their quotes with a pinch of salt!

Thanks all, passanger side on a UK car is away from the filler which is why I was puzzled, I'll get the flexible hoses checked. Thanks again

Hey everyone, I'm new here, but thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

I own a 93 Lexus GS300. When I first bought the car in June, after only a few days of driving, the top radiator hose blew and I had to get it replaced. Ever since then my engine temp has been fine but occaisionally during acceleration I could hear a faint bubbling noise and the car would also sometimes leave a puddle of water on the ground when parked for a while.

A couple days ago I noticed that the engine temperature was rising a bit higher than usual and also fluctuating some. The coolant level in my resevoir seemed fine so I put it out of my mind. Today as I was driving I noticed that the temperature began to rise steadily, and after a while it was dangerously high, so I pulled over. I could hear boiling inside the engine compartment, so I let it sit for a while to cool down. A co-worker opened the radiator cap and it boiled out all over the place. We let it sit for a while, then I drove it across the street to a filling station and topped it off with cold water. After letting sit for yet another few mintues I started it up and the engine temp had returned back to normal.

I'm wondering what you guys think is wrong, whether it be a radiator issue or a thermostat issue. It should also be noted that I drive for a living, so the car is used heavily, on average around 200 miles per day of freeway and city driving.

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I have a MKI GS300. I am getting a strong butr intermittent petrol smell by the passanger side rear door. I cant smell itin the car, and it doesn't seem to matter wheter the tank is empty or full. Does any one have any ideas what might be causing it?

My MkI GS300 is on Pirellis and it's a bit noisy on new rough tarmac, but i wouldn't swap it for an LS, the GS immage has got so much more B :tsktsk: ls. As to it only being an exec, have you compared it to a 5 or 7 beemer? Smoothness in a diferent league ( in favor of the GS300)

Tron20

Question we need to answer is whether the engine is healthy or whether some action is required. Did your dad's go on to live a long and healthy life?

I'm new to Lexus and to the club. I have a MKI GS300. I am no mechanic, but would like to do od bits like changing coolant and lubricant for example to save a bit of money. Haynes don't cover Lexus. Can anyone suggest a publication I might get to help with such things

Just bought a MKI with 93 on the clock. FLMDSH exept for last pre-sale service 1,000 ago at which some semi synthetic was put in. Mine makes this angry slap noise for a second or so when its been stood overnight, I assume while the oil gets pumped through the bits. I wondered if GTX Magnatec might do the trick. How many more folks get this problem?

I have just bought a MKI GS300 and need mats for it. the Lexus ones are 160 quid+. Does any one know where one can buy cream/Ivory mats for this car?

i use castrol RS oil,full synthetic,seems the biz,or some lads use mobil one,same spec as RS.

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I have just bought a GS300 MKI with 93 on the clock. When I start it up after an overnight, I get half a second of angry slap while the oil circulates. Would it be wise to use magnatec, or is this normal on a healthy Lexus engine? There is clean semi synthetic in there at the moment according to the service record (1,000 miles since change)

Anyone any Ideas?