Robert Young

The front sensor is a coarse adjustment and the rear sensor is a fine adjustment. They may be suggesting doing both because they are probably both showing signs of wear. If doing it myself, I'd just replace the bad one and then watch the performance. On our Volvo the A2D interface for the sensor inside the computer that reads the second sensor is dead (new computer is > $1500!!!) and it will run for about a week in a backup (but still closed loop) mode. When it gets tired of having no second sensor it trips the system out of closed loop (like having no ox sensors at all) and sets the "check engine" light. Considering the cost of repair, I simply reset the system to clear the "check engine" light and put it back in closed loop mode once a week. Note: Ox sensors come as generic (just wire pigtail that you have to splice) and OEM with a custom harness, cost is 2X to 3X higher for the custom harness. OxygenSensors.com shows front (pre-cat) OEM Denso for $92, OEM harness Walker brand for $80 and generic for $50. I don't care for the connection kit they supply for the generic sensors and I solder and pot the connections, but be sure to break the harness connection at the OEM harness connection if you do something like that or you might fry your computer. That isn't what happened to the Volvo, but I'd bet that a new computer for the Lexus is in the same price range.

I have HydroEdge tires (215/55R-16) on the wife's Volvo S90 (RWD). They are a high mileage tire and I project, based on wear at 36K miles of use, that we will get close to 80K miles of use if we keep the Volvo that long. As a high mileage tire, they are very hard and you might find a difference in ride quality. There was a noticeable change in ride quality between the Michelin MXM tires I had on the Volvo previously and the HydroEdge tires, but my wife generally runs it only to the gym and around town. Michelin quotes a special formulation to keep the tires black and that does seem to work, they look OK without tire dressing, etc. They are a uni-directional tire (only fore / aft rotation) and have a high performance looking tread pattern. They do seem to work very well in the rain, no knowledge of performance for winter conditions.

It is on the right hand side, under one of the covers near the front.

The GPS antenna is under the dash, not on the roof. A lot of the tint films are somewhat metalic, so you just turned the inside of the car into something EEs like me call a Faraday Cage. The Faraday Cage blocks RF, so no RF from the satellites, no Nav. With a bit of work, you might be able to mount the GPS antenna somewhere else, but like the XM / Sirius antennas it may be an active unit with an amplifier built in.

I found the same type of removable bulbs in the radio and various instrumentation switches of our Volvo. Be glad that Lexus even sells the bulbs, the Volvo response was to by a new radio, switch assembly, etc. I did the suggestion above about simply using standard grain of wheat, with partial success. Be aware that there are several different voltage levels for grain of wheat bulbs near 12 V (use 14-15 V rated bulbs if you can find them) and that you may find the new grain of wheat bulbs both way too bright and way out of sync with the other lights when adjusting with the panel light dimmer. I did find something that worked for the Volvo radio by putting a resister (just a few ohms) in line with the panel light line to the radio.

Sorry for the delay, I was traveling and then came back with a cold (just love O'Hare in the winter!). I'll assume the front sensors are working, since that means that all the parts common to both front and rear are OK. See the attached, it looks like you might have a problem with the common ground as about the only thing that would take out all the rear sensors simultaneously. I'd try grounding the individual sensors directly to the chassis and see if that brings them back into operation.Lexus_Wiring_Diagram_372.pdf

I just noted that the newest Blackberry phones (8300, 8820, etc.) do claim that they support address book transfer. However, you apparently no longer have the feature where a phone initiated call automatically goes to hands free in the Lexus.

I have the Blackberry 8800 and it doesn't support the address transfer either. Fortunately, my wife's Windows Mobile 5 phone does support the transfer and I simply had to port my address book to her phone temporarily. There are a bunch of relatiively cheap phones that support transfer or find a friend with one that does.

Is it just one rear sensor or all of the rear sensors?? The answer to that question would really help gining you quality advise.

Attached is from repair manual for the '06 version. I hope it is wrong (or that I never need to replace one of those bulbs) the steps in the manual do not look like fun. I note that the owners manual does not list the front bulbs in the "user maintenance" section.Lexus_Repair_Manual_Section_65_Lighting_System.pdf

See attached. Hope it helps, it is probably for the US version of the 2004 LS 430.22___Part_22.pdf

They have Bluetooth backup camera systems frequently on sale at Pep Boys for $80, after rebate. Simply put the camera part on the license plate frame and wire it into the backup light power wire. The Display is a little LCD screen, you can mount it in the car, that also needs power. A simple alternative that works for me with my truck, simply tuck it in the console and plug the display into a lighter power point when needed. I had an infrared system on my truck that simply beeped, but replaced it with the camera after I got used to the camera with the nav in the LS 430.

Dedicate a couple of long nights or a Saturday on the site mentioned above, I got by on the 24 hour deal for only $10. I have a fairly high speed link and downloaded everything for the LS 430 in about 6 total hours. The Wiring Diagram alone is 538 pages, with diagnostics in Part 1 (of 5) in Section 5 of the repair manual at 731 pages. There are something like 40 other sections, but I skipped a few - like the air suspension - that didn't apply to my car. Unfortunately the info comes in hundreds of little files, make sure you buy a full version of Acrobat (or know someone that has it) and spend the time to piece the Sections together for a much more useful document. I find the electronic form much more useful than paper, since I can always print what ever I need and then write all over it. With Acrobat, I can even scan anything I scribbled and post it right into the Lexus manual whenever I want to keep something. Much better than the foot of paper on my shelf that is the manual for my 2001 GMC Sierra. I also love the fact that I can put everything on a USB drive and simply stick it in the glovebox. Then all I have to do is find some form of computer (if I don't have one of the laptops along) and I have literally everything on the car. By the way - try the same trick for the owners and nav manuals, although those are available on the Lexus owners site for free. I also combined those Sections with Acrobat and made a searchable document, simple type in a key word and get a list of all the pages where it appears.

The roof antenna is for Lexus Link (not even included for 2006, but not worth paying for in any case), see page 67-4 of the repair manual. It does nothing and I simply removed the rubber duck antenna and replaced it with a stainless screw so nothing catches on it. The combined FM and AM antenna is the rear window wiring, see page 67-39 of the repair manual, it is possible that the antenna has an open and the manual has instruction on how to fix it. The GPS antenna for the nav system is under the dash, see page 67-2 of the repair manual.

Real trade off is the extra and updated info (good) vs the lost ability to do the override trick (bad) and cost. Your choice.

Best place to check is in the repair manual sections at www.techinfo.toyota.com which is well worth the $10 or so to spend 24 hours downloading. See the attached, there are recommended points in the centor of the car for hydraulic jacks, assuming the jack is low enough to get in there.Lexus_Repair_Manual_Section_01_Introduction_page_28.pdf Have fun with the car, from what I've seen so far it is actually fairly easy to work on.

I haven't had to deal with that question for a while, given where I live. However, when I was in Omaha (courtesy of the Air Force) nearly everyone had a spare set of wheels with snow tires. Back then it was generally just the rears, which had a really open tread. I have friends in Michigan that echo everything you read in AutoWeek, etc. about modern snow tires, which is put them on all 4 wheels. Good luck with the car!!

They may be correct. The attached key registration procedure specifies a NEW unregistered key. I briefly glanced through and didn't see anything that might allow unregistering a key from another vehicle. You might check with Sewell's web site, they frequently supply tech material for this kind of thing.el003l04_Smart_Key_Registration.pdf

Attached is from the Toyota techinfo web site. A 24 hour pass to the site is $10, well worth it.Lexus_Repair_Manual_Section_18_Ignition_System.pdf

Congrats on the car Ultraguy! Unless you got something special on the sat radio, you probably got ripped. The factory kit (new in two pieces, radio plus new trim cover) is about $350 from Sewell for XM Radio. There was a kit for Sirius as well, but I don't know anything about its pricing. It took me about 3 hours to install the XM kit, but I did a few things differently along the way for personal preference as I didn't want the antenna permanently on the trunk.

FYI, found this revised TSB on vehicles pulling to one side. Seems they just added 2007 applicability, probably a lot ot do with all the cars in So. Cal. coming in with the larger option wheel sizes.ST004_01___Repair_Manual_Supplement_Vehicle_Pulling_To_One_Side_.pdf

I have a 2006 LS 430, but not the sport package. Can't help much on the steering question, as mine is fairly light unless I'm pushing it pretty hard. When the car working hard it now shows significant understeer, there is a lot of centering force on the wheel and that is a different source of stiffness than that related to the power steering assistance. However, I would expect that your sport suspension would be better than my base suspension in this respect. I just purchase the rear roll bar for the sport package and plan to install it, that may help reduce a bit of the understeer on my car (front roll bar is the same on all LS 430s). As far as pulling to the right, I've found that the Dunlop 5000S 245/45R18 tires on the factory wheels that came on my car really want to following the road crown with the factory alignment and that is generally a slight pull to the right. See if you get a companion pull to the left while driving on the far left lane of a one way street or anyplace else you can find with the road falling away to the left, that is what I observe in my car and there is little pull if the road is really flat. If this describes your car, you may need to see somebody who really knows alignment to help with changes to the factory specifications.

I thought about adding a Shark fin antenna (it's for XM Radio) from another Lexus model to my 2006 LS 430, using the same hole and antenna lead routing as the worthless Lexus Link antenna. I put in the factory XM receiver for the LS 430 and unfortunately (maybe) it is an early design that needs a two lead antenna, so the various Shark fin Lexus antennas will not work for me as they are single lead. I used "maybe" above because the new XM Radio recievers that use the single lead antennas have a reduced gain for the ground repeaters and my two lead antenna system works really well. Having said all that, I've simply removed the little antenna mast (they sell for about $90, so someone must be stealing them) and put in a stainless steel screw. Agreeing with some of the thoughts above, I'd prefer to simply remove the antenna Lexus Link antenna completely but the pain of getting everything out, fixing the hole in the roof, etc. just isn't worth it.

Well worth $10 (price the last time I checked) for 24 hours of access to the Toyota / Lexus technical info at: www.techinfo.toyota.com You should be able to find the factory repair instructions. I downloaded all the repair instructions / schmatics, etc. for our 2006 LS 430 in less than 24 hours. However, you will have 1000's of small files to deal with.

I certainly think you can replace the factory "jewel box" antenna. Obviously, you'll have to be careful getting it off. The XM receiver is in the trunk, under the side panel on the upper right. To do the factory installation, they cut out part of the original interior panel on the right side and "pop rivet" a cover in place. See attached installation instructions LS430_XM_Radio_Installation.pdf, it is pain to take the trunk interior out if you haven't done it before. Once you see the XM receiver, there are two antenna fitting (different colors) that you squeeze and pull to disconnect. Take a look at the fitting on the replacement antenna to see how they work. Note: the antenna fitting for the very small single wire antenna is not keyed the same as the dual antenna connections - they will go on with a bit of persuasion, but see my warning in the earlier reply. I have since found out that the problem trying to use two small single wire antennas is that the electrical power for both LNAs in the factory and other dual lead antennas comes only through the satellite coax. A some point I may investigate fixing this, but no time right now to do so. Therefore, a small single wire antenna connected to the terrestrial repeater input has no power for its LNA and you are on satellite only (not great in cities). The dual connection replacement antenna I mentioned in the earlier reply is about the same size as the factory antenna (somewhat different shape), but it does have a strong magnet that works well when I have it on the trunk lid. I don't think there is anything you can do for the text, but someone else may have found something (or simply spent more time with the manual than I did). On my Onkyo receiver at home I can get more digits by hitting the "display" button on the remote a few times to cycle through its options. Therefore, there are additional text characters coming from XM, but it is up to the radio to display them in some form. One further option would be to remove the useless Lexus Link antenna on the roof and put a dual lead XM antenna up there, but that looks to be a lot of work. However, everything you would need to do is decribed in the repair manual section on Lexus Link, a picture is shown on page 67-4.