M.Yasir

Welcome to the forum Lloyd

My best guess It appears that somebody have fitted the whole arm from some other vehicle

Thanks

expect to spend big $$, looks like ABS have went kapoot

Dealer will rob you, i believe the gentlemen here should be able to give you a good recommendation @sha4000

i can recommend www.rockauto.com

Hi everyone

It always come in my mind that in USA/Canada/EU labor rates are per hour, I understand that there are government defined laws to enforce labor rates per hour which is good i support this, unlike where i am located right now or back in my home country India

Let us talk labor rates related to a car workshop

From a car owner point of view why not charge him a lumpsum amount for the given problem and thereby opening opportunities to give discount, most of the times spare parts are cheap but the labor rates are huge thereby giving a setback to the car owner

For example to replace the AC evaporator the whole dashboard needs to be pulled out which will give a huge blow to your pocket

Is it mandatory to do like this? can it not be a lumpsum? for example to replace a started motor you will be charged x amount rather than giving a breakdown that spare part would be x and labor charge would be y which in most cases y would be much higher than the spare part itself, can it not reach an equilibrium?

Now let us talk from the garage owner point of view

In which i have no idea however can make an educated guess work, if i am the owner and i hire few mechanics i will give them a monthly salary? i study that the pay is bi weekly or maybe weekly but at the end of year it doesn't matter when it comes to financials isn't it? or the technicians would have to be paid per hour? so if they are smoking a cigarette or drinking coffee they are not earning money? which i believe is not fair once they are in your garage they should get paid regardless of the work, they should return to their families with bread and milk and not empty handed

Moving forward, lets say i end up hiring mechanics at a monthly salary so the labor charges which i am going to charge from the customers would give me freedom to decide how much to charge based on experience and market study etc. and not just simple hours required for the job multiplied by a given rate

And lastly, i believe that it is the returning customer which makes a successful business, what do you think?

Just want to discuss all the views, since maybe in the near future i might be looking to open a garage in Canada

intermittent shakes? like as in when you hit the brakes? or during just cruising at 60/ 80mph? give more details

If Alignment is bad your car will go either right or left if you leave the steering wheel on its own

If the wheel balancing is bad then yes it might shake as the load of the rubber is not on its center line, try to go to another tyre shop as Dave suggested above

By reading the above posts, its just so wrong, the points are identifiable if someone just lie down on the floor and see it, moreover its just seems that there is missing common sense

Change the garage, ask recommendations you will get a good response from this community

Update

The car is super smooth now and is running like before

Some pics

Update 29-May-21

So the 2 damaged coils were replaced and with the Throttle body cleaned up, the car is back in the original condition

Will go for a test ride today

Thanks

Hi Trevor

That's a very positive response i have to say it!

The problem was when we initially purchased the car all the lights except the ABS were coming up so we negotiated the price of the car knowing in a way that it would require maintenance but what we didn't accounted for that expertise on these are cars is not easy to find, it needs a skilled mechanic with experience to understand the root cause of the fault codes and not just replace what the computer is trying to say

Still i have a VGRS code which is not letting the whole display work, any leads what would be the probable cause and how to fix it would be appreciated

But yes in the end its every penny worth it!

Some pics

HI All,

So i happen to have another LS 460L 2007 model but American Specs with ODO sitting at 200k miles which my brother drives

Its an old issue and now fixed but i feel i should share here on this platform also so that other users can take some help if any

Event Date 25-Mar-21

During driving all of a sudden battery symbol appeared along with all the other lights on the dash and lost power steering, brakes became hard as manual with no hydraulics etc, so brother drove it for like less than a mile and parked the car in the house.

Replaced the battery, car was firing right away but battery symbol did not go away and message was coming "Check electrical generator"

Update on 4-Apr-21

Called the recovery truck and sent the car to a garage nearby

Picked up the following scan codes with Launch X431 series

Replaced the Alternator and some kind of re-calibration and the battery light went away

Further diagnostics proved that the ABS system have unfortunately failed

So it appears to be and assumption points to that the car was driven initially in that condition earlier caused everything else to fail, not sure weather thats true or not

Update 4-May-21

Replaced the ABS system with a used one from Scrap yard

Replaced Fuse Box with a used one from Scrap yard

and codes went away

Took the car and upon climbing a bridge CEL came on again

Sent the car back to garage again on 5-May-21

Pulled up codes again

Appears to be O2 sensors, so replaced both O2 sensors bank 1- before the CATS

Did a reset from the scan tool and test drove, again the CEL came on with the same codes as above

After brainstorming from the garage, the car was sent to another shop who appears to have an active subscription over TIS and re-flashed the ECM (not sure exactly what was done in details) and cleaned the Catalytic converter

That finally solved the problem

Took the car finally on 24-May-21 and now working ok, spent big money but worth it and air ride changes the game comparing with what i have with coil springs

Any feedback with what i could have done differently would be appreciated

Thanks

Totally agreed

Thanks

I am yet to try this product, will update after using it

On 4/5/2021 at 3:06 AM, MR.SMITH said:

Since the beginning of ownership, 4 months ago, my Lexus has been showing lights on the dash for:

VSC, have checked by dealer

Check engine

Traction control off

I would scan my car with your normal scan tool and it would read "camshaft position A actuator circuit". I ended up replacing both the sensor and solenoid on bank A. Neither of those things fixed the issue. $700 later, I replaced the timing control motor. More power, no lights and no issues. Passed inspection.

Good learning

Do you think if you had scanned with an advanced tool it might have saved you some money?

Well it looks like 2 of my ignition coils are busted, and more surprisingly i came to know that the GCC specs car is a little different and the American specs car ignition coil wont fit!! wasn't expecting that at all

Its being replaced now and lets see what will happen will report back

On 5/23/2021 at 3:42 PM, Bykfixer said:

A common misconseption with the check engine light that began as something called "malfunction indicator lamp" as its purpose is not to say "pull over now before your car dies", but is intended to point out there is something amiss in the anti-pollution performance aspect. There's some safety stuff thrown in these days with anti lock breaks and traction controls too. 

My wife called me one day on the way home from work to say the van was running weird. I checked it later that evening and replaced the plugs and distributor cap. It was misfiring somewhat but no CEL. Misfiring enough to be obvious. A few days later she calls to say it was running bad again and the CEL was flashing. I had not changed the spark plug wires and those things had begun to stop working proper. The misfire had become pronounced enough to lower the fuel economy and that triggered the CEL, not the fact that 5 out of 6 cylinders were struggling to keep going. 

So even though your car is not running in a normal manner, it must be running within spec of your pollution control system. 

Cannot fully agree with you with the word "anti-pollution performance aspect", its not only pollution, as per my understanding the check engine light tells you that there is something wrong and you "should" look into it which is critical for the car and yes of course not to pull over

Pull over or not, in 07 Lexus it does sometimes say that "park your car in a safe place immediately and call your dealer" even if the car is running what i have experienced with this message that if you still keep on driving it will eat up all other associated components

For example in my Lexus there are many other codes popping up for the seat heating/ cooling sensors; rear ac sensors but those are not throwing the CEL light since they are not considered to be critical isn't it?

On the other hand if there is a problem with your combustion it will throw or at least it should through a CEL; or maybe a problem with your TCM it should throw a CEL,

it is showing listing ended, no issues i found this page which will allow me to procure and ship to my place using shop and ship

https://seafoamworks.com/where-to-buy/

Hi

Can somebody post a link from where to buy this BG 44k?

Thanks

16 hours ago, dcfish said:

Sounds like air /fuel mix. Does the car idle OK ?

Yes car idling is ok but you can sense the missing by the vibration on the steering wheel, very minor though

15 hours ago, Bykfixer said:

I'm thinking two things. Possibly bad gasoline. As in water in the gas tank you filled it from. It happens. Rarely but it happens. Perhaps it was a lower octane than stated.  That could cause pre-detonation. 

But my first suspicion is raised by the comment the car was super low on fuel. Over time things settle out at the bottom of the tank and if you sucked up some of that garbage into your fuel system it could be a clogged fuel filter or injector(s).

The knocking could have been valves screaming for mercy while being starved for fuel. But that normally would have been been a rattling or pinging sound not a knocking sound. Although my work truck valves do make a low pitched getting ready to explode rattle sound on cold mornings. 

Has anybody checked to make sure there is a proper amount of oil in the engine? 

Bottom line if you have never let the car get low on fuel until now it could be as simple as trash in the fuel system starving the engine. One would think the engine misfiring would cause a misfire code though. 

Yes the fuel was very low when i filled in and i also think the same that some waste/ garbage is sucked up in the fuel lines

Engine oil is absolutely fine

This is the problem, i have been into these situation many times when the fuel was super low and i managed to reach the gas station and filled it up and there no problems, but unfortunately this time it have cause a disaster

Strange thing is why no check engine light? this is my worry and brainstorming that why the ECU is showing that engine fire is perfect

Hi All,

So yesterday i was driving normally, stopped at a gas station to fill up the tank, after filling up made reverse and experienced noticeable knocking, so i thought its ok it will go away

Then put in drive mode and moved further from the gas station connected into the highway and tried to go over 60mph and huge knocking/ car vibrating all over the place!, full gas pedal on the floor but the car is lethargic

So kept on driving at 60mph and stopped at another gas station on the way 12 miles from the 1st gas station, there was a small garage, the guys checked with OBD scannner no codes all clean as there was no check engine light

Next step the garage guys did was to open the spark plug it was as new as it can be, so no clue what happened all of a sudden

I should mention that before filling the tank my fuel was super low

Any ideas, please advice what would be the initial diagnostics or rather manual diagnostics, from where to start

Lexus LS 460L

Model 2007

ODO: 134,375 miles

Hi jfkova

From what i personally believe, all brands in Rockauto are equivalent or are higher in specs than the OEM, so you can go with any suiting your budget, i would also recommend to replace not only RH but also LH so that you have all 10 bushings brand new which will also give you good alignment and ride quality, also check your inner and outer tie rods while you are in there.

I always had bad experience from ebay because lot of sellers are selling cheap counterfeits (back in the time i purchased the knock senors for my 98 LS 400, Denso all 100% original as advertised, huge labor was spent to remove the manifold to install these sensors and within few weeks they got fried and my car started drinking petrol, so had this bad experience)

PS: 98k miles is not a lot of wear and tear, wondering why & how your bushings got brushed up so quickly!

Keep us posted

Thanks

Good info here

Same thing happened with my elder brothers 07 LS460L; solution was that the mechanic took out the latching machine out and aligned it and put it back again; then the trunk started to lock normally as it would do

It is highly unlikely that the latch system will die; most likely it can be fixed

On 12/27/2020 at 7:57 PM, sha4000 said:

Welcome back, How much better do you think your 14 is over your 11?

Good question

On 12/7/2020 at 8:29 AM, Gator Lexus said:

I’m back. After trading in a 2011 LS 460L, I just purchased pre own 2014 LS 460L. anything about this particular model I should be aware of. Never should have left. 

Welcome back; i am sure the 2014 must be more smoother with a refreshed dashboard

On 1/16/2021 at 12:46 AM, oshronbo said:

My 2010 LS460L is doing the same thing. The back of mat is sticky and the secondary rug is also sticky .

Come'on guys, the car is already 10 years old, dont you think it can deteriorate, moreover it greatly depends on the environment in which the car is kept

On 1/23/2021 at 11:07 AM, sha4000 said:

I hear you but that light in the dash would annoy the heck out of me. Can you pass an inspection with the light on?

Absolutely agree man, the big solid yellow exclamation and then while in motion blinking explanation is even more frustrating but as i said not worth it so i will just close my one eye

Here in this country you can pass an inspection even with the check engine light on, the inspection is not taking account the electronic part/ lights glowing in the dash, only mechanical inspection from underneath the car; oil leak check; Tyre tread check; break check; indicators check; headlight check; wipers check and you are good to go

Strange no one is talking about the rear bushings?

9 hours ago, sha4000 said:

Have you figured out the issue with the TPMS yet?

Hi Craig

Thanks for asking, to be honest i let it go; it appears i just have to replace all the sensors inside the rubber which in my opinion not worth the money considering when i am already moving to Canada sometime this year;