Robert Young

See the attached, make sure the engine is running whaile you do the adjustments. I found I needed a slightly longer than normal Phillips screwdriver to reach both adjustors. Headlamp_Adj.pdf

Also check to see if you have foam forming when the engine is running. That is unfortunately a pretty sure sign of head gasket failure.

I note that the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S type that I mentioned previously carries a treadwear rating of 400, so I think it is much less the "gumball" that some of the other Michelin "sport" tires are and it may give better mileage performance. I mainly mentioned it because it typically gets good reviews for noise around the net. The other tire that seems to have good noise reviews is the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx, but these are a heavier duty (100Y XL load rated) tire and that noise performance may be relative to similar load rated tires and not the 96W or 96V load rated tires normally used on the 18" LS 430s. I note that most of the material found on the net will not be for the exact size of interest, in this case 245/45-18, so "caveat emptor." One thing I have thought about is changing to 235/50-18s, which is the same size as the base tire on the LS 460 and it has nearly the same rolling radius. However, there is a more restricted selection in that size. The Michelin MXVs we had on the Volvo lasted around 40k miles and they had a treadwear rating of something like 300. We currently have Michelin HydroEdge on the Volvo, they have a treadwear rating of 800 and an 90k mile "limited warranty." After examining the wear over 40k+ miles I expect that they will get to at least 80k miles (if we keep the car that long). The HydroEdge tires do work well in the rain and handle well, but they are very hard so the ride and noise suffers, but ride and noise suffers more than a bit on Volvo's with 100k milies on them anyway.

Check to see if the dealers have any 2006 LS 430's left, you can probably get one for nearly the 2006 used price you quoted. We paid only slightly more than that for our new one in Feb 2006, which had the Modern Luxury package, 18" wheels, mats & nets, plus all the normal stuff Lexus adds on.

I've heard good words about the Michelin Pilot Sport AS tires, but I've not actually driven in a car that had them on. My LS 430 came with Dunlop 5000 S and I find them very bad for noise, I'd characterize the sound as "boomy" over expansion joints and the like. I can agree with the comments on Michelin MXVs, we had those on our Volvo and they rode well and had minimal noise. However, one the the tires always seemed out of balance despite various attempts to correct the problem. Check out www.tirerack.com as they let you compare tires across brands and provide reviews (but I don't know who polices that process).

I've seen quotes at 7 to 10 years for battery life on the individual wheel units, I don't know if that is covered in the LS 460 Owners Manual. Note, if you ever have the tires repaired / removed, make sure the staff knows that the individual pressure units are there. Some other forums have stories of the wheel mechanic killing (or maybe crushing is a better word) the sensor and then being stuck with a $$$ bill for a new sensor.

Happy correction, I found a thread on the GS forum for the GS 450 and it does work for the 2006 LS 430!!! The difference from my earlier post is that the last step was dropped. PRESS IN SEQUENCE : «MENU» «Volume"« touching the top left corner bottom left corner top left corner bottom left corner «Over Ride» for five second (until it comes up blue) «back» My sincere thanks to whoever worked this out on the GS forum.

I have the same desire, but no luck so far. There are several threads on the site that discuss this, but none of the simple techniques seem to work on my 2006 LS 430. One that apparently came from the RS model would actually get to a screen that made sense, but when I pressed the last button as directed below nothing happened. Nav Override: hit the menu button go into the menu that says guidance volume Tap the screen top left bottom left top left bottom left bottom right hold down the overide button till it beeps and it has a black outline around it dont play wit any thing else in this menu then just hit back you will have to do this every time you start the car I would note that the Nav system / software was apparently upgraded on the LS in 2004/5 to Version 4. There is a discussion of actually cutting and splicing the speed sensor wire, near the LCD display if my memory is correct, which appeared to be a valid method when I reviewed the wiring diagrams. However, this may disable the Nav system feature where the cars tries to navigate if the sat signal is unavailable, there is risk you may damage something, etc. Side note, it is well worth spending $10 on the 24 hour pass to the toyota tech info web site, I was able to download all the repair manuals, wiring diagram, latest tech notes, etc. in a few hours. However, they are 1000's of little files with wierd names, that I later spent some time putting them together into functional groups with Adobe Acrobat.

I've heard about, but not used, a tool that plugs a 9V battery cell (protected by a diode, so power only flows from the 9V battery) into a power point. Obviously the power point must be one that is constantly connected to the car's battery. The claim is that 9V is generally enough to keep the memories alive in the various electronics. Good luck! You could probably also make something with Radio Shack parts that could be attached directly to the car battery cables, just be sure you correctly diode protect the 9V battery or it might explode.

I've not had a chance to see the dealer, but I've noticed a light metalic "ticking" sound from the area of the seatbelt height adjustment (left door pillar). It is just loud enough to be irritating (probably only because the LS is otherwise so quiet) and it seems to have gotten worse over the first several thousand miles, but that may be just that I've become more sensitive as I get used to the car. I thought the active inertial belt mechanism was at the bottom, so I don't think it is the little pendulum that some manufacturers use to lock the seatbelts during a hard stop. Anyone else had this?

I just drove the LS 460 at the second LA ToL, in general I agree with the prior comments. Since I was on the phone with ToL when the new date was announced, I picked 9AM and showed up early. To the credit of Lexus, there were lots of cars and the lines were never extremely long for the 5+ hours I spent there. I actually ran the short little course 4 times with the LS 460 (while my wife was happily getting a massage, skin analysis whatever, etc.), twice hard on power / brakes and twice soft. I will have to say that the power is very impressive, but when "hammered" at around 25-30 it seems to need a bit of time to figure out what it was going to do and only then did it become impressive. I also found the electric steering and whatever they did to the brakes a bit different, somewhat less linear than I'd really like (maybe even a bit more so when driving soft). All that said, I think one could easily get used to the characteristics. After all I happily drive my Citroen influenced Maserati Khamsin with steering and brakes that are WAY different than almost anything else, it's a bit like a 4000 lb go-kart. Regarding styling & competition, I had not been in the current S550 and did not like either the interior or exterior at all (neither did my wife). I also found the S550 very ponderous over the short little course, a bit like an old Cadillac in fact. The 750i did not feel that way at all and I'm sure the S550 would be better in real world driving. When standing in line looking at the 750i and the LS 460s running around, obvious pick up on Bangle styling for the LS 460. However, I'm really not a fan of Bangle styling and I prefer our 2006 LS 430, that purchase decision timing was influenced when I saw the early LS 460 design studies. One thing I'd really like to have from the LS 460 is the XM sat real-time traffic nav. I think Lexus could retrofit the nav update to the older cars as the XM receiver (XM tuner kit 861000W091) appears to fit in the trunk next to the nav electonics and I think its on one of the data buses. Possibly Lexus will if they push it into more platforms that use the LS 430 type system in current model years. I'd pay serious $$ to get that put into the LS 430 and I've talked with my friends at XM (I've helped build their satellites) to see if they can push that from their end to sell more XM installations.

Sorry to report that the LS 460 show did not happen, I had picked up the initial indication for the LS 460 from my TIVO schedule. Speed Channel replaced it with a show on the Dodge Nitro (or perhaps Jeep Wrangler), which I didn't watch it. The only Lexus show currently listed is a rerun of the GS 450 Hybrid, see prior comments on that rather uninspiring show. My only thought is that perhaps the LS 460 show production schedule slipped.

For manuals that cover nearly everything, I suggest follwing the Lexus web site http://techinfo.lexus.com/ to the Toyota technical site. For nominal fee (I think $10) you can log on for 24 hours, I did that and simply downloaded everything I could find. They may have updated the material, I found the audio / visual material in Section 67.

I'd have a full (4 wheel, since the back is independent) alignment done. You might also want to check for potential collision damage or see if the steering, in general, is binding somewhere. For the later you should be able to get the front of the car off the ground and easily move the wheels back and forth from the outside. Good luck!

I totally agree with the comment on the GS450 show (rather boring), but the BMW M Series show was really great, an hour long and featured Hans Stuck, some cars from the museum, etc. Hope for the best! I actually saw an LS460 (distributor plates) last week in our LA neighborhood on the way to work, I'm still a bit divided on the styling.

My 2006 LS430 has a similar problem, although I'm mostly irritated by the "booming" noise from the OEM Dunlop 5000S 245/45-18 size tires. I've noted on the "Tire Rack" site that the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx and the Michelin Pilot Sport AS tires get better reviews for noise. A higher aspect ratio tire might also help and I've noted that 245/50-18 are around 1" larger diameter (fits on the OEM 18 - 7.5 rim, not sure about clearance to body and approx. 4% speedo error) and that 235/50-18 are about the same diameter as the OEM tires and will most likely fit. You also might find another owner willing to trade the 225/55-17 OEM tires and wheels, when I boought my car I couldn't find anyone that had the base wheel / tire combination in stock.

I noticed that the Speed Channel schedule indicates that a "Speed Test Drive" of the LS 460 will be shown on 5 Oct 2006. If you've not seen any of the prior shows, some (particularly the recnet BMW M Series, 1 hour extended show) have been very entertaining.

I did a couple $K bit better than that at a So. Cal. dealer, it was a car they were just getting in back in Feb 2006. So I think you should look around some more, but the longer you wait the less LS 430 choices you'll have. I went for the deal in Feb 2006 to get the color / options we wanted (figuring the LS 460 was going to be WAY more out the door), fact that it was at the closest dealer also helped.

I can agree with the sentiments from a few others. I would like a few things from the new LS 460 technology, but the first pictures of the LS 460 (not to mention the substantial price increase) actually did convince me to buy an 2006 LS 430 at a substantial discount from list! I certainly agree that the LS 460 looks "plain" next to an 06 430 without the beltline chrome trim. My wife really hates change and at least the LS 430 continues some of the styling elements that she liked on her volvo S90, which included beltline chrome trim. The only thing I really would like to have from the new technology is the XM radio traffic updates tied into the Nav system. I suggested to Lexus that they might be able to sell me XM radio for the LS 430 if they found a way to add that feature for any kind of reasonable price, which they might be able to do since so much the nav system is on a data bus architecture and the LS 430 comes set up to handle satellite radio (missing only the receiver, which I think goes in the trunk with the other electronics). While the LS 460 certainly takes some some styling clues from the new GS and ES models, and I appreciate some continuity within a marques product line, that new Lexus styling is not growing on me at the moment. I used to think BMW had simply beautiful cars, but I also can't adjust to Bangle styling (although some of the more recent cars aren't quite as bad as the 7 series).

Point of fact, Sirius / XM are simply radios running a very different frequency, with modulation that is decoded into a digital signal like a CD. I also know that XM (probably Sirius as well) uses ground based repeaters to work better through multipath from large buildings that may have a lot of metalic elements(much the same problem for UHF TV signals). Unfortunately the satellite signal strength is pretty low, even though they use some of the most powerful satellites ever orbited (I've worked on them). Reception in most houses is pretty good, since the walls / ceilings do not contain significant amounts of metal. You may find the the stores use an external antenna, I know they do that for TV reception. The best system will couple a good antenna (designed for the right frequency), with high quality connection cables and a low noise receiver. The Lexus LS 430 XM system is apparently mounted in the trunk and connects directly into the stereo receiver that is also located there (right close to the rear window antenna). Good luck with the satellite receivers, I would certainly stick with the Lexus specific options to add satellite radio. I've very rarely seen anyone at the normal stores that had much technical knowledge, so Circuit City et al should be "caveat emptor."

On possibility is that the clutch is worn enough that the electromagnetic force is not stong enough to pull the clutch plate across the gap. I've seen this frequently with Nippon Denso AC units on Ford products and the unit (also Japanese) on our Volvo S90. The interesting signature for this problem is that the AC works fine while the car is cold (shortly after starting) and then cuts out when the engine bay warms up (worse when outside weather is also hot). As the clutch is frequently cycling on most modern AC designs, not too surprising that clutch wear is a problem on cars with automatic temperature control, etc. One temperary (one to two years or so) fix is to re-shim the clutch plate gap, I've found I can generally do this on the car (may be difficult, require tool development, etc.). Unfortunately, I don't find specifications for this gap in the Lexus manuals, they simply instruct you to replace the compressor / clutch assembly if there is a problem with either!! At the $120 price noted for a new clutch, I'd certainly go that way if there is no indication of a leak (I need one for our Volvo that will be at least $250). Make sure you check for instructions on clutch plate gap, to ensure longest life I'd set it too the low end of the range.

I think the 18 in polished wheel is basically all Lexus is sending out right now on the LS 430, they must be converting assembly to the LS 460. I've noted the "build your own" on the Lexus web site indicates that many of the previous options are not longer available. Best of luck with the 2006 LS 430 in Moonlight Pearl, my wife and I just bought the same car, our first Lexus and we are impressed.

I went from Michelin Energy MXV4 to Michelin HydroEdge on our Volvo S90 (rear wheel drive). We don't drive agressively and I don't have any complaints about the HydroEdge performance in Summer or with rain. I did notice that they are much firmer and that does impact ride, I guess you have to give up sopmething for an 80,000 mile tire. By the way, we have almost 30,000 miles on the HydroEdge and at the current wear rate (which I measure each time I rotate the tires) I expect they will beat the 80,000 mile estimate. Bob in LA

I had the same pitch for Lo Jack, interior / exterior care, etc. However, dealer finance guy just presented the options without any real pressure. I also liked the fact that he allowed for 3 days to decide, no pressure at instant of purchase. I did not select Lo Jack after consulting with my insurance company. While Lo Jack does qualify for a slight additional discount, I won't live long enough for the payback. My insurance company indicated the loss rate for LS430s is pretty low with just the factory anti-theft. On the tire/wheel and interior/exterior options, they were priced with respect to time only. As I don't expect to put a lot of miles on the car each year, I passed on all. Bob in LA