Moe47

Yeah, ideally, but hardly get the time here to do anything myself. And with the scorching heat right now, it is impossible to step out for a couple of minutes, let alone wash the car. Anyway, you're only allowed to wash your car by yourself if you have a garage indoors, the luxury most people here don't have! Yeah it has to be the water that messed something up, having it towed away this noon get it checked up by a mech. Could still use inputs guys, the mechs here I don't really trust.

Hey guys! Been a solid 45.5 days since the LS gave me a problem. 😅 Had the car dropped off at a service station for a wash yesterday, drove it around all day after it was back, even went out to get groceries late at night. Tried starting her up this afternoon, but she won't. I hear the click but no cranking after. Opened the hood to have a look and it looked like it was washed inside. Called the service guy up and he said they pressure washed under the hood. How should I proceed from here? Funny how the LS always surprises me with these problems. This noon, I had to get somewhere in a REAL hurry and boom! Unfortunately I didn't have my second car with me too, had to take a cab, and the cabs here are DIRTY 😰. I think It's got a mind of its own and loves putting me in desperate situations. Edit: Battery is only a few months old. Headlights, radio and everything electrical seems to work fine.

Just got it fixed today. Found out too late the AC wasn't working because of a cracked pipe that runs between the condenser and compressor. Had to get the pipe replaced, fill in the gas again. The tank was cracked just like in your case. Decided to replace the radiator altogether. The mech suggested I install the Japanese variant with double tank(?), I agreed to it. Installed the new radiator and everything seems in order now.

Mohammed, I think I am in the same boat you were in last month! Started the car up this morning, turned the AC on and went back home to let the car cool down inside. And in a few seconds I hear a loud bang, turned around to see some smoke, didn't know where from. Walked back to the car, there was leakage from under the bonnet on the driver's side and a foul smell. There was hot air coming from the AC at max cold setting. Told myself I didnt have time for this right now and drove my other car out. Too damn hot outside! 😂 I Did take a couple of pictures before I left home in the morning though. Haven't gone back home yet, I guess I'll try to get it fixed tomorrow if I get the time. Curious, Mohammed, did you not hear a loud noise when this problem occurred in your car? I heard a loud release like from a pressure pump or something similar.

I had sent Mobil US an enquiry and this is the reply I got: "Moe,Your inquiry has reached the Mobil help desk for US market oils in US market vehicles. I know that here, we would be recommending a 5W-30 rather than a 10W-30 for your Lexus. Typically, when dealing with hot environments, that second number on a multi-viscosity oil is the primary concern. Whether 5W-30 or 10W-30, once the engine is up to operating temperature, they're both being measured as a 30. The main difference between the two will be the flow characteristics during a cold start first thing in the morning. A 5W is going to flow faster than a 10W, so your bearings and valve train which have been draining oil over night will receive a new coat of oil faster with a 5W.I will be happy to refer your original question to our UAE desk for recommendations on locally available products. Thank you for choosing Mobil, Jim Mobil Help Desk Team If I can help further with this inquiry or with any other questions, please respond to this email or phone us 1-800-ASK-Mobil If you would like to provide feedback on your experience with us today please email feedback@orderquestions.com" EDIT: received another email from Exxon Egypt as Exxon US forwarded my issue to the middle east. Here's what it says. "Dear Moe Kindly be informed That if your motor is Gasoline Engine and you were using MOBIL 1 10W-30 ,then you can use Mobil 1 New Life 0W-40 ,it has a claim API SJ same as MOBIL 1 10W-30 . PDS :- http://pds.mobil.com/Egypt-English/Lubes/PDS/GLXXENPVLMOMobil_1_New_Life_0W-40.aspx Thanks & best regards Hazem Fayed Africa & Middle East Technical Help Desk Engineer "

Yeah, but I think now that the cars have run in the hundreds of thousands and the fact that we live in a natural oven here, 5W30 would be too thin. You might be right on using the 15W50, But then I might be speaking out my behind. It would be nice if the gurus here could clear this up for us though!

Wow, I would have thought that's a little too thick? What does your owner's manual say?

Yep, plays FLAC straight off. Off topic, Mohammed, what oil do you use for the LS? have you had any luck finding Mobil1 in this country? Been looking everywhere to try the 10W-30 and can't find it for the life of me.

Hmm, make sure you go to a reputed auto parts store to fetch those bulbs. I see many stores here try and push the reaaaally cheap stuff unless you ask for specific things. Don't know much about PF capacitors but the electrician told me that couldn't have been the issue. Plus, I had the capacitor shifted from the spare board to mine and it still didn't light up. Now I can't be sure if it was due to a bad soldering job or something wrong with my board. Then we soldered the caps back to their respective boards, fit the spare one into my car and it worked.

I remember reading about it somewhere on here too. But then I think it was a Nakamichi. Don't know how different it would be for a non Nak. Personally, I don't mind the splicing. And yeah, it really is convenient to have a more modern music system and do away with the cassette-aux/aux-in annoyance. Plus, what I like with this pioneer is how phone integrates seamlessly using the CarPlay feature and that it even supports my FLAC music collection. I don't have to go through the trouble of compressing them into a lossy format.

Mohammed, I did change the headunit to a Pioneer AVH-8750BT. Loving the Apple Carplay on it, although Apple maps doesn't support navigation in the UAE yet. Replaced the factory amp with a spare one I had lying around. Due to this, the sub isn't connected anymore but it was partially blown anyway. Planning to get a mono block and fix a subwoofer soon. Hopefully a free air 8 incher so I can have it fitted in the factory sub's place. I need every inch of that trunk space! I was half inclined to order the beatsonic harness and use the factory amp but decided against it. Will definitely do that for my next LS. Feels so good to be able to play music through USB, though. I'm gold if Apple fixes its maps. Oh what I wouldn't give for massage seats!

Yep, thanks. Changed the bulbs on the third brake light, the annoying taillamp failure error's gone as well. The wattage must have been off on them.

That's just great. Got to love how reliable these can be when properly taken care of. Thanks for sharing, and all your contributions!

That's a beautifully maintained car Billy. Bravo! How long have you had it? Even the leather looks immaculate. The way you prize it, I am sure it will keep sailing 600k more. Have you noticed an increase in cabin noise over the years or is it still as quiet?

Craig, No seat heaters. Previous owner must have been a cool cat. But then again, N. Carolina doesn't know what winter is. And you're right about not needing that feature here. Could do away with seats altogether for bags of ice in their place. Mohammed, I wouldn't know what a full options variant on these would be. Mine didn't come with Nak, or a nav system. Has/had the Premium sound system, auto dimming mirrors, auto-leveling HID lights etc. So I'm guessing it's not close to a full option. 😅

Quick update. Fortunately, a friend of mine had a used cluster lying around. Replaced the circuit board with his and it lit up like Christmas! Feels so good to have a working multi information display. Now just need to fix the taillamp failure problem. Going to replace the lights on the third brake light this weekend, see if that fixes it.

The US versions (at least the ones I've seen) have sliding cup holder trays in the back handrest. Very interesting, why did you buy it the second time though? I'm already scouting for a pearl white to be my second LS. Bummer that they're hard to source over there. My neighbor in Bristol (lived there for 2 years) had one of the best maintained LS400s i've ever seen. It can be your's if the old man's kicked the bucket.

I'm absolutely clueless. Probably said a hail mary and picked a random cap from a boxful. Tried searching if a picture of this board was posted on the forums while I was at the repair shop so I could see what was on there, but couldn't find one.

I had the instrument cluster opened up to get an idea of what might be wrong and found this. Took the board to a nearby TV repair shop, the repair guy soldered another capacitor(?) in its place. This fixed the backlight but there was intermittent fluctuation in the light's brightness. Drove the car back home and parked it. The next time I started the engine, the backlight slowly died again. Here's a picture of the brief joyous moment when it worked. Probably soldered a faulty/wrong cap?

Looks wonderful Steve. How I wish mine was beige leather too! What years LS400s have you owned and which one is your favourite? The backseat hand-rest is curious indeed, probably a feature for the UK only?

Here's a few unimaginative pics of the inside. Although gloomy, the interiors are in decent condition. As mentioned earlier, the mileage clock display won't light up. Apart from that, front AC vent clips missing, steering wheel worn, a little bit of leather wear on the outside of the driver's seat.

Thanks. She's got a couple dents, small scratches here and there, but I'll survive. Haven't had the chance to take pictures of the interior after I changed the stereo unit. Will do that and post later. The leather isn't beige though. 😔

Thanks for the info on the garage, I'll make a note of them. Honest mechanics are hard to find. Especially so in this country as the people have set bad precedents. I did happen to read that thread as I was lurking the forums. Useful info. What's the deal with the 99.9 mileage though? My car has done 236,000 miles! It's an old beast. But runs smooth, hope nothing major to work on pops up. Forgot to post a picture, so here goes. There's a few problems with the car I haven't gotten around to fix, but will leave that for another day.

There's one in Musaffah that a few of my colleagues and friends swear by, but I haven't had the chance to go there. I could get you the contact details if you require. I'd like to hear if you've found any reliable garage too. 😅 I am in Fujairah in the weekends so I sought out a mech there. Very reasonable, honest and knows what he's doing, so I'm content. Edit: Forgot to thank @Exhaustgases and @1990LS400. Thanks for your input guys, you were right. And @M.Yasir. Be careful don't trust the cruise. 😂

Hello @M.Yasir. Thanks. Our Lexuses do not slow down, I'm afraid. I tested this quite a few times since my last post. A quick test is to find a steep road and set cruise at a low speed. They can only decelerate. 😔 We are in the same place indeed. No, this was at the small hills on the way to Fujairah from Abu Dhabi/Dubai, just before reaching the city.