The £1k 4.3 V8 Lexus LS430

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The initial message was deleted from this topic on 08 March 2021 at 14:48

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Dav72D said:

I paid £2000 for one a few years ago. Unbelievable value for money and worth buying just for the soft close doors.

I'm certainly not used to this. Most of the stuff I normally own needs a proper slam, so I'm in that habit Though the way the door automatically unlocks and the interior and puddle lights come on as you walk up to it at night is rather nice!

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carinaman said:

Thanks for the thread. I prefer the looks of the earlier one, but for £1,000 that's quite some bargain.

What's missing from the toolkit?

Likewise, this colour on a 1998 LS400 with gold plated badges, yes please!


I've not worked out what's supposed to be there yet, it might be in the 300 page owner manual

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CDB1983 said:

Ah and to lower on air there is a bracket under the left rear of the car. Can reach from the back. A sort of bit of flat metal with a slot down the middle and the rear height sensor bolts in at the desired height.

Fronts are a threaded bar with a reverse thread on one end. Cut in the middle, take a section out and weld it back.

Your suspension won't last long at that height though

Thanks for the info!

I actually read your thread on the car from start to finish the night before I went and bought this one. I regularly drive 1000 miles between the UK and Germany so when you said you were driving to Poland and back I was assured it was the right car for me!


Yes I thought that little bit of metal connected to a kind of potentiometer was what was controlling the hight. Did you do that mod to yours first? I know you mentioned that potholes in Poland ruined your suspension pretty quickly. What was the rough cost to convert it to coil struts?


Oh and the lambda sensor causing an issue with the VSC light etc. You could be right as I had an EML on which I scanned and cleared with my cheapo eBay scanner. I've not driven the car since doing this so I'm not sure if it'll come back. But there's certainly an issue with the ABS ring/sensor where the wheel bearing was replaced recently.

Edited by STIfree on Thursday 14th May 10:28

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CDB1983 said:

Thats definitely the code for the VSC issue, It looks like it will be bank 2 sensor 2 (After cat I think) PITA to get to, you have to go from underneath.

Suspension I used OEM Kayaba struts from Amazon US (They pop up from time to time on eBay UK too) + a set of RSR down springs from Up garage. Total cost was around 700 GBP from memory. Worth every penny in my opinion. Pulling the relay for the pump means you don't get any error codes too.

I did do that mod first and the already slightly baggy suspension lasted about 3000 miles. The AFC controllers from Japan have the same effect too.

Fantastic cars to do huge mileages in! If you do end up near the polish border its worth getting your LPG system serviced too. Its often neglected in the UK and a full service in PL costs around 40 quid.

Thanks for the info! If it requires access from underneath then I'll look to replacing the sensors when I can get to a friends unit and use his ramps, makes life a little easier.



Fairy successful day again today. I had a look to see if I could work out what the noise from the front passenger side was that I could hear during the test drive. I'd noticed a bit of oil underneath it around that area so was thinking stearing rack or worse.

Turns out it was the dust shield behind the calliper had been gone rusty and bent in a way that it was just slightly touching the disk. Snapped it off as it was 90% rust and problem solved!

The oil leak though seems to be coming from further up in the engine, I think at the back of it and it shows on the undertray all along the width of the car. It's not major and the oil level seems to be fine. I'll keep an eye on it and when I get a chance to have the car up in the air I'll have a better look.


With more success on the mechanical side, I turned to the less important issues.

The rear subwoofer on the parcel shelf had blown. I'd disconnected it but soon realised that the audio was very flat without it. Some research showed replacement subs and how-to guides on retrofit a different unit. Decided, for now, that money would be better spent elsewhere so ran a thick superglue around the edge of the speaker foam left it to set, hour later it was working as good as new. Job jobbed.

The headlights were looking a little faded so tried the toothpaste trick for the first time. Worked pretty well but I must say, cutting polish worked a lot better. Little hard to capture the difference in the photos but it is much better.








And finally to round off a day of ghetto fixes, the black plastics under the bonnet were looking past their best. So rubbed a bit of coconut oil into them, and jobs-a-gooden. I've used coconut oil on a number of plastics and rubbers recently and it seems to be better than anything you get at Halfrauds or Home Bargins.

Again, picture doesn't show it brilliantly but it's looking very nice under there now.

Can I be arsed to take those rusty bolts out and give them a quick lick of black paint? We'll see how bored I get...

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doesthiswork said:

'side window blinds that have to be manually pulled up'

Oh, the humanity.

It's certainly easier to highlight the things that are manual in this car than the things that are electric

CDB1983 said:

Thats coming together really nicely. Amazing what a bit of Elbow Grease can do. Reading on the lexus forums Sikaflex apparently works to repair the subwoofer if its not too far gone. What are your thoughts on the Levinson system? I've always thought it could do with a touch more bass but its crystal clear.

Get yourself a copy of tech stream from eBay, There are a few customisable settings in there too. Auto lock, DRLs, heating, cooling etc. Its a pig to install but really handy to have.

Forgot to mention, I've got a set of standard springs in the garage (Standard height. never used) Yours for postage if you ever need them as they are currently on display on the wall

The Levinson system seems okay from the minimal use I've given it so far. I disconnected the sub straight away as it was impossible to listen to anything with it crackling but the rest of the speakers were extremely flat without the bass help of the sub. I only gave it a quick blast again once I'd glued the sub and it seemed aright, maybe in 2001 the hype was real but nearly 20 years later, its an average sound system

Speaking of audio, have you looked into the Grom plug in things for the head unit? Seem to be pretty clever devices that just connect in between the headunit and the wiring loom that can give you aux input all the way to andriod style displays on the touch screen. I might be tempted in the future as the tape to aux or the bluetooth to FM radio devices aren't the greatest for sound quality.

I'm looking at tech stream's on ebay, one of the £20 OBD to USB ones, will that do the trick?

Thanks for the offer of the springs! I might go the route of adjusting the current suspension to a lower level to start with (because I'm tight and skint) and then if it goes then convert to springs.

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philipbrown123 said:

Great Buy and interesting read. I have owned a 2007 LS460 for 3 years. Now on 205,000 miles ( only worth £2,000 as a p/ex ) and have just bought off a mate a 2002 SC430. Both great cars.

Thanks. They are very much the left-field choice when most people head to the Germans for these type of cars.

Was that generation CVT gearboxes? Or am I getting that confused with the GS? I've wondered how good/bad it would be running a CVT on a daily basis, never experienced one before.

How do you find the drive of the SC? I hear very polarising views on them. I almost owned a SC300/Soarer a few years ago, chap wanted to swap the GS300 I had at the time with it but the deal didn't materialise.

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J.C... said:

Haha what an brilliant purchase. Am I imagining it or do these have ultrasonic glass for de-icing?

Ultrasonic glass? That sounds brilliant. I have no idea what that means but it certainly sounds like a pub fact I'd like to repeat whenever talking about the car I'm off the Google to find out now!

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J.C... said:

I think it may be bks cos I’ve just tried Googling it myself and can’t find anything about it, but basically I got told years ago that certain types of Lexus’/Lexii defrost by having glass that vibrated ultrasonically. Now I’ve actually written it down it sounds even more mental!

• edit* OK I’m sort of right but it’s the mirrors not the glass. Apparently it’s the Soarers that have sonic mirrors and it’s to displace rain not de-ice. Google Lexus Soarer Sonic Mirror and there’s a bit of info about it

Edited by J.C... on Friday 15th May 19:13

I enjoy engineering ideas like that, as wacky as they get. "How do we stop rain droplets on the mirror glass?" "Make it vibrate?" "Perfect".

Graculus said:

Incredible that it's possible to buy something like that for a grand!

I bought a Grom for my RX300. Music streaming was fine but I had terrible issues with 'phone call quality. I could hear callers perfectly but they couldn't hear me (think Rob Brydon doing "man in a box" but worse). Tried with several phones, all the same. The unit went back to Grom who said it worked for them but replaced the board (supposedly). Exactly the same. Long story short, it went into the bin and I replaced it with a similar item from Connects2 which has been perfect from day one. Perhaps I was unlucky.

I have Techstream and it is very useful (as mentioned, it allows access to various features which are otherwise hidden). However, I find I use Torque Pro via an OBD adaptor more. For instance, I had a P0430 like you and Torque let me monitor the rear O2 sensor whilst I was driving. It wasn't behaving as expected but wasn't completely dead. Two resistors and a capacitor inserted into the wiring later and it was happy again! (at least on my car the rear O2 doesn't effect fuelling, it merely tells the car that the cat is functioning correctly). Torque also lets you watch fuel trims, AFR etc while the engine is under load.

Before you pull the sensor, check for exhaust leaks between the sensor and the cat. The gaskets can fail and sometimes throw that code. Stick a rolled up rag over the exhaust and any leak will be obvious.

I'm a little reluctant at the moment to commit to a Grom or something similar, just due to the price being like 15% of what the car cost Maybe in time. Until then, tape to aux off eBay!

Does the Torque Pro access hidden features like the Techstream?

I've got one of those OBDII to bluetooth dongles somewhere so could have a pop on that first if it's going to make the car do some interesting stuff.

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ChocolateFrog said:

I wouldn't discount a bit of proper maintenance, as much as I like the quick wins and cheap fixes.

Lexus LS400 are worth significantly more now than when I bought mine in 2007.

You got yours at such a good bargain that you won't lose any money and would probably be able to sell it for more just after the clean.

Certainly.

Hopefully by this time next week the car shouldn't have any obvious faults. Then once I get a few miles on the car and are sure its not a money pit, I'll reward it with some good maintenance.

So far I've purchased -

Wheel bearing -£58
Rear brake pads - £20
Air filter - £9
Pollen filter - £8
Floor mats - £20


Oil looks good so not in a hurry to change that just yet although I don't have any receipt of the last time it was done, just the word of the owner.

Belts, again, I don't think they've been done in a long while. Will see what other things come up with the car in the meantime before I do the expensive bits.

I need to find out where I can buy a filter for the 'Air Purifier'. Euro and Carparts4less don't have anything listed, maybe I should head to eBay. The filter looks fine, but then it's a carbon one so I suppose you wouldn't see anything. And it also says to change every 10k and I somehow doubt its been done in the last 10k.

Also looking to buy some silver rattle can paint for the wheels. How many cans can I expect to use on 4 17inch wheels? It's been a long time since I've done wheels! Also any suggestions for the best place to buy cheap paint?

Before you go dismissing me for using rattle cans to paint the wheels, this is my last project that was finished last month. The whole thing was repainted with rattle cans from eBay.

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gareth_r said:

FYI...

The OEM part number for the air purifier filter is 88508-30110. The only other cars that use it are some JDM Toyota Crowns.

EDIT:
It looks as if the LS430 has two A/C cabin filters, one for the front and one for the rear. I assume the air purifier replaces the rear A/C?

Part No. 88508-30110 is also the rear cabin filter. The front is 87139-50030, shared with the 2nd gen GS and the SC430.

Edited by gareth_r on Saturday 16th May 03:34

Top bearding.

Yes there's two cabin filters. Well one pollen filter in the glove box, which I believe is the one that's listed on Euro and then there's the air purifier one in the boot which seems to be the carbon one. I've got the glovebox pollen filter on order which was only a few quid. A search online for the PN you've mentioned, I can find the carbon one but its £26 with shipping from Autodoc, a lil pricey so I'll shop around see if I can find it elsewhere.

confused_buyer said:

If the audio sounds rubbish without the sub the amp might have gone. It's a common issue - it should sound OK without the sub. Could be all the bass speakers are missing.

I'm sure I remember there is some bizarre reset sequence with the VSC which involves a paper clip into the OBD port - might be thinking of an entirely different car but I think I remember having to do it on a LS430 years ago.

IIRC the gearbox on these is 5-speed, the facelift 2004 on model was 6-speed.

That's an interesting point. I'm not sure what it is on the parcel shelf that I unplugged, but it stops the sub. I assumed it was the sub, but it could well be the amp. I'm a little reluctant to investigate much more at the moment as it requires the whole rear seats to be removed and a bunch of trim to see under the parcel shelf.

I'll have a search around for the VSC reset. Although it does point to the o2 sensors as I cleared the EML the other day then took it for a run and it pinged back on, so will look at that first.

Yes its a 5 speed (although I've not counted them when driving ).

Graculus said:

No, Torque is only for engine diagnostics / monitoring. It's only about £5 for the full version. If you already have a OBD dongle there is a free version, which has less features, if you wanted to check it out.

Techstream definitely does more but just isn't as convenient as you need the laptop rather than just your phone.

By the way, I service my own LPG system. There isn't much to it, just a couple of filters and the parts are cheap and readily available online . lt's worth doing as some gas can foul them up.

I've ordered a techstream from eBay, for the price it's worth having if needed.


Any links to guides on LPG systems? I literally know nothing about them. It took me 5 minutes yesterday to work out how to get gas into it at the fuel station I've no idea what size the system is either, I'd seen something about only filling them 80%, is that right? Anything I should look out for?

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Oh, some snaps from recently.

Removed all 4 dust shields from the brakes as 2 of them were causing a noise from the rust hanging off them. Took about 30 seconds on each as they were mostly dust Oh how I've missed working on old Japanese cars.



Noticed whilst I was there that the heat shields over the back boxes weren't attached any more either, but just resting on them. So they've gone the journey. This cars getting lighter by the day!

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CX53 said:

What a magnificent slab! A vision in Jewish racing gold

Love these and hope to own one one day... Ridiculous value for money!

You know what, slab is an excellent way to describe the drive of this car

CDB1983 said:

Lpg pump will stop automatically at 80% don't worry (you get more in when it's cold) LPG tank will purge if there is too much expansion.

Looking at your tank I would estimate it's a 60 litre tank...

Before plugging into techstream make sure your lpg system is off completely by holding the button until all the lights go off. (Not sure why but I've always been told to do this)

The UK bayonet fitting is an absolute pita, hold the weight of the nozzle until you've locked it in place. (It's easier on the continent with the Italian dish filler)

It's coming along very nicely.

Rear seats are easy to remove once you've done it once.

Pull up the bottom cushions to remove. They are just clipped in. Heating wire going to each but the loom has plenty of excess.

Next raise both rear headrests and you will find 2 blanking plugs.

There are 6 13mm bolts in total. Loosen the top ones behind the blanking plugs and you could loose them.

Undo the bottom bolts but photograph the middle bracket so you put it back correctly (I didn't once and the seat didn't sit flush.

Remove the cowl from around the fridge door. It pulls out from the top first.

Your backrests should lift out once you have disconnected the wires.

(When I ran coilovers I had to do this repeatedly to adjust the settings) It's a 10 min job after the first time.

Reassembly is the reverse but pay attention to the bracket I mentioned. Also the top bolts have a habit of dropping behind the back rests during the assembly.

If you get stuck drop me a PM

I knew there was a reason I started a thread on here. Really appreciate the help, big time!

Also good to know it's easy to top up the gas on the continent, planning a drive there at the moment in July.

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So a few updates, some a little boring but if you're reading this, you must be a little bit boring to get to page 2 about a 20-year-old Lexus.


Sorted the noise from the rear that was wrongly diagnosed as a diff (hence the cheaper sale price). It was, as I thought, the wheel bearing.

Although part way through the 6 hour episode it took to get it replaced, I was thinking maybe a diff would have been easier.

Let's just say it fought the whole way. You can see how rusty everything is, although structurally it seems to be pretty good.






I was fortunate to be able to call on a mate who was repainting the floor of his unit, who was happy for me to borrow his tools and do it in the car park out front. That was a good choice because I needed a few more large persuasion tools than I had at home!


Celebrated with a beer from the fridge (it doesn't get cold mind, is it ran off the aircon as that's not too cold either?)




Just before leaving though, I was allowed to do a social distanced burnout on the floor before it was prepped for paint. I'm a big kid and can't resist a burnout if its rwd and auto. New rear pads were fitted an hour later (planned), so only a mm or two lost from the tires.




Next on the to-do list is the ABS/VSC light. Although the EML is on for 2 lambda sensors, I cleared them and did a VSC reset with a paper clip between a couple of pins on the OBD port. It didn't turn off the ABS/VSC lights, so there's certainly a problem.

Looking at the drivers rear, where the wheel bearing was (wrongly) replaced a month ago by a pretty crappy mechanic, it's got some kind of bodge job with the speed sensor. I have no idea what is going on with this extra connector that I'm holding, as this doesn't exist on the other side. Also note the random empty crimp and tie wrapped bracket. A bodge has happened. Quick Google suggests a new speed sensor is £130+ so I'll see if I can get a measurement out of this one first before going down the replacement route!






Nice stuff, I got a set of 4 brand new fitted floor mats for £20 delivered off eBay.

And took a few more pictures of it. God the thing drives smooth. It's very wollowey if you try to push it even just the slightest, but if you stroke it along steady it's a very nice daily driver.












The LPG tank I've worked out is 40 litres. It took £23 to fill at the local shell and has delivered about 130 miles of mostly round town driving at 18mpg. Need to do some more 'scientific' tests with full tanks all around and more every day driving to work out the real costs of it.


The latest thing added to the cosmetic to do list today is this part of the centre console. It's the only real part of the interior that's shown any wear. I'd like to vinyl wrap it with something similar for ease but I think it might be an issue with the ashtray pop open door. Maybe i'll go paint.

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Graculus said:

40 litres seems a bit small for that size of vehicle? It may be but I'd have expected a larger capacity. On my car, the LPG level lights are purely decorative and hold no relation to how much gas is actually remaining. Run the car on gas until it's completely empty and switches over to petrol (it should do this automatically). Fill with LPG and zero your trip meter. Run again until empty, again ignoring the lights. Do this s few times and you will soon get an idea of your actual range and tank capacity.

Apologies if you've already done this!

I know, I was a little surprised too. Yes, I ran the tank to empty then filled up, it showed 39.97 litres on the pump when it stopped pumping. The tank takes up the spare wheel well, which is room for a full-size spare, but apparently that's the biggest they could fit in.

Still, it's not such a big deal as I have a Shell station with LPG only 3 miles away. I wonder if there's an app that can help me find LPG when I'm further from home though, could be useful.

300sl-24 said:

Fantastic lump of a car for the money. looking very nice have you painted the wheels yet?

Not yet, now the big mechanical issues are sorted I'm happy to address the cosmetic stuff. I'm trying to work out what the best method of removing the flaking lacquer as it's properly thick. Wire wheel on a drill maybe? I also need to figure out wheres cheapest for rattle paint. Internet seems pricey and I'm a little reluctant to do a non-essential shop at Boyes or somewhere similar. I'm still on the lookout on FB market place for some 18's with tyres that would look nice, maybe OEM+ looking.

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Graculus said:

Check out the "Fill LPG" app (I use it on Android, not sure about Apple).

On PC you can also use https://www.filllpg.co.uk/index.php?page=lpg.php Registered users can update prices and out of service pumps so they're pretty useful.

Downloaded it, that's perfect. Even shows across all of Europe, thanks!

BigRusko said:

STIfree said:

I shared this video to the LS430 owners club on FB, they were not best pleased. Think they're mostly a lot of old codgers who've babied them for years

BigMon said:

Do you know, for some reason I really fancy one of these. Gawd knows why as I'm pretty incompetent mechanically so would have to pay someone to do most of what you've done.

Perhaps not a good idea!

Yours is looking great though. Good on you for giving the old girl a new lease of life.

As mentioned above, if you get one that's already sorted they seem to be mega reliable. I'd imagine even at the price I paid, if i took it to a garage to get sorted I'd still be in profit if I were to sell it.

That being said, I'm fairly incompetent when it comes to working on cars. But I'm learning to give everything a go as long as I've got a mate who knows what to do on speed dial. It's just nuts and bolts, some are just a bit bigger and harder to get off.

CDB1983 said:

They don't really go wrong that much, bar a few sensors


This thing is looking great!

Facelift 18"s can be picked up cheaply and are a nice looking wheel, (little bit small for my tastes and I went for 19s)

Oz operas look great on these things, very OEM + looking and popular in Japan.

What's with the centre console? Has that been painted at some point? Wonder if you could swap it out for a matching wood one from a facelift? Your gear selector looks different too

Re LPG the installer will configure how much you can fill it. It's usually 80% it might be worth asking an installer if they can have a look at configuring the tank. It usually takes a few goes.

As mentioned the lights on the LPG guage are purely decorative. I get anywhere between 200-300 miles on a full tank of LPG. Gas quality varies massively too. An extra 50 miles on a tank of gas in Germany as opposed to Poland is normal. Italian gas is the worst giving only 200 miles if I'm lucky.

Did you get any documentation with your install?

I think 19's could be the best size. Problem I'm having is I'm a tight git and cant justify spending 50-60% the price of the car on wheels

For me, something like these would be ideal and they don't require mega stance to look right




The strange grey centre console/window switches, as I'm finding out are unique to early European LS430's. All other years and markets were full wood but mine is this weird factory vinyl (still has the Lexus printed text on it so it is factory). I guess they worked out it wasn't as durable so ditched it in favour of more wood. I've read that the wood came from Yamaha (the musical instrument side) and that all the wood is from the same tree so it would match perfect. I think I'll likely just spray paint it a gunmetal grey and be done with it.


I didn't know that you could adjust how 'full' the tank gets, that's interesting.

As with the fuel gauge I'm taking it with a pinch of salt. Although it done strange things with the standard petrol gauge. It went from 3/4 full to 1/2 full over ~100miles when it was running on gas. But then at some point it pinged back up to 3/4 full.

This is the only paperwork I have (bar a certificate mentioning the reg & vin of the car being registered on a LPG register). Where it says 57 units of gas, would you interpret that as 57 litres? If so then I wonder why I've only been able to get 40 litres in.

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CDB1983 said:

My fuel guage does the same, you'll get used to it, half full means you don't have to look at the fuel light. It's. It using petrol though. Only for start up.

Yes 57 units will be litres, there's probably a bit of calibration in there so you should be able to fill up to 52 or so.

JDM wheels seem to hold their value, use them for a while and punt them on when you get bored.

I got berated on the Lexus forums for modifying mine (bodykit is standard fit in Japan)

I'll have to see about getting it checked out what I've got when it comes to servicing and if it can be altered to allow more gas.


I had a free morning today to tinker, I could have attacked the dodgy wheel speed sensor, but I decided to see if i could get this working -



Turns out the relay and on/off switch are dead, it was all very crusty. New ones on order. I'm not sure if its supposed to have a musical tune, as the way I've checked it so far has just been power direct to the compressor. Will find out later in the week when the £3 relay turns up.

Chucked a bit of paint on the bracket and horns as you could see the red tips through the bottom grills on the bumper (check some of the older pics).




Should be a laugh when sorted




Slightly concerning news though, I noticed when putting the car back together that the coolant is below minimum. I only topped it up to full last week and have done about 100 miles since. Oil cap is fine so it's a leak somewhere. Might have to wait until I get a chance to get it up on ramps as the undertray on these is massive. Hope it's nothing too serious!

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Northbrook said:

Have a look at my most recent posts on my LS400 - I've just had exactly the same issue. Whip off the air intake, and check the rad from the top, before you go to the effort of getting the car up in the air. Five mins worth spending - seems like the plastic top tank joint to the metal rad can be a weak point. (the plastic tank under the rad is for the ATF fluid)

Oo, thanks, I'll certainly check that out first.

Just read your posts, looks a simple enough job to diagnose and tackle if it is. Fingers crossed I've got the same issue!

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Straff99 said:

(Nerdy voice) "You know it's illegal to put musical air horns on any car built after the early 1970's don't you????"

My attitude to this (in reality) can be guessed at by the fact I've got some that play 'Dixie' that I'm aching to stick on something!!

I love these LS430s. I remember seeing them new and wondering what Lexus were doing ripping off the Mercedes back lights but they seem to have aged really well. I've got my eye on a facelift that wants a good clean inside and a few minor scuffs and scrapes dealing with. He wants too much for it but I'm leaving him to stew for a bit longer... Top work OP

Is that a real law or is it related to a certain orange 1969 Charger?

Can't say I've ever wanted one, but as this ones fell in my lap I might as well give it a go. Might end up rigging it as just a solid 3 horn sound, also with the standard dual horns for a full 'GET THE HELL OUT THE WAY' toot.

Northbrook said:

Well, fingers crossed you've got a hose clamp that needs nipping up a bit

I'm glad I didn't attempt mine - more jobs than time at the moment - but, if happy to get stuck in, it shouldn't be a massive job. Worth doing the thermostat while you're at it - mine was about £15 for Mahle.

Well, there's hoping for something really easy.

What was your total cost in parts if you don't mind me asking?

I've got plenty of room for expenditure on repairs thanks to the initial purchase cost.

Graculus said:

The petrol gauge dropping is a quirk of some makes of vehicle. The cars own ECU is still monitoring the MAF sensor and petrol injector cycles so it thinks it's using petrol even when it's not. After one hundred miles or so it sorts itself out and reads correctly again. You can buy a little box of tricks to force it to show the correct level. I bought one ages ago but never fitted it...

Your system may actually inject some petrol at higher revs depending on how it's been setup (mine does). This is done to cool the valves to protect them but you'd need to check with the installer. You may also have a Flashlube system fitted, again, this protects the valves. You would have a reservoir for this in the engine bay, if fitted.

That explains it, I was thinking earlier how it must work out the MPG as its shown 18-20MPG over the past 100ish miles, so it's obviously registering the gas, not just the petrol. But you're explanation solves that one.

I've not noticed any reservoir, I recall the previous owner mentioning that he chose not to have that fitted as it sounded like unwanted extra maintenance. whether that adds any dangers I should know about, I dont know!

ChocolateFrog said:

I think Japanese cars with Volvo levels of under body rust protection would be literally indestructible.

You're on the money there. I had a 2000 V70 last year, remarkably unrusty. This Lexus, well its typical Jap stuff from this era, I've not missed it!

Edited by STIfree on Tuesday 26th May 22:13

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Northbrook said:

Bearing in mind that mine is a late 400...

Thermostat: £16.01 delivered, Mahle (incl seal).
Radiator: £92.58 delivered, Nissens (mechanic sourced it; available via eBay for £70ish but easier this time for him to source; I supplied part number)
Jubilee clips, coolant, ATF: £36.

So, with a little time spent on sourcing and doing the labour yourself, it should be £130ish. Which isn't too bad.

I know, I'm hoping that with only a year between our cars they're shared parts.

That's a pretty reasonable price, plus the cost of an afternoon, to sort. If it is the problem, I should know by this time tomorrow hopefully! Thanks again.