rossv

turtle33: Yeah there are a lot of fakes out there apparently. I've seen fairly cheap ones on Amazon, but even those I'm not so sure about. What's funny is that the flickering one is quite reliable now, although if I bump the car slightly, it begins to flicker.

I hope it's just the bulb and not some sort of connection problem (since bumping the car triggers it).

E910: Thanks for the advice. Water pump was leaking coolant (slowly). When you say radiator cap, do you mean the coolant reservoir?

I get this water trickling sound in the dashboard area when I first start up the car, I think it's because the A/C? hmm not sure hey...

If you haven't already, take a look under your bonnet to see if there's any pink staining around the water pump or anywhere down the front of the engine. Also take a look in your coolant reservoir, and see if it's running low.

In my car, the reservoir was close to empty (that shouldn't really happen) and there was pink staining all over the water pump and the front of the engine (the colour of the coolant).

Just got my water pump replaced and the sound is gone. Mechanic told me it was a bit slack that the pump fails so early (I've got 84K on the odometer) but it seems to happen more often than not with the factory pump from what I've been reading...

Danny,

I see, learn something every day :). Although my dad's Camry has proven to be reliable.

Hopefully the replacement will last a bit longer!

Seems to fail pretty early on some vehicles! I guess since you've replaced it you've never had any issues with it again?

The noises went away once I filled the reservoir with coolant, I guess it was caused by the reservoir being empty and air being pulled into the cooling system (according to the US websites its air so that makes sense I guess)..

It happens once I start the car, in dry conditions. I thought that maybe water had been caught somewhere beneath the windscreen, after the recent heavy rain, but I see no blockage at the base of the windscreen.

I removed the engine covers yesterday and took a look. The coolant reservoir was nearly empty, and there was pink residue on the lower part of the engine near the water pump. It's looking like those USA forums were right, and this weird sound is caused by a problem in the cooling system (apparently air). I think my water pump is leaking, and I already made an appointment with my mechanic. If the USA forums are to be believed, this is a very common problem for the 2IS vehicles, although I never saw any posts on the AU Lexus forums about this.

With 84000 km, my mechanic is a little surprised, but many USA members have had their pump fail even earlier it seems. Shame that Lexus covers the engine up so that you can't even see the coolant reservoir without mucking around to remove the covers first. I'd hate for the pump to have failed entirely while I was driving and wreck the engine.. :-(. For the time being I will keep refilling the reservoir with new coolant until I get to the mechanic next week..

My car is 7 years old (I bought it recently), and was serviced regularly at Chatswood since new. Seems like it's just a case of bad luck. Since it has only just started to lose its coolant, I imagine the problem has just begun recently so that's why it was never caught by the previous services.

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone has ever heard a noise similar to running water or like a small waterfall from behind the dashboard?

I just noticed this recently, and after searching on the internet I saw a thread on a US site which said that it was either normal (due to air in the coolant system) or a leaking water pump - depending on who you asked.

Just wondering if anyone here has ever noticed this..?

Apparently the OEM were Philips, but in newer vehicles since 2008 or 2009 (maybe not the case in Australia?) they are now using Harrison-Toshiba (Japanese). This is what I have read on all the international Lexus forums anyway..

Chriss89: Where did you get your Toshiba bulbs from?

Yes replace both bulbs. As soon as one goes, the other one will be on the way out in the not too distant future.

Thanks for the advice, I'll replace both then. Do you think it's worthwhile to look for a specific brand or have you used alternative bulbs (if you've replaced them) ?

One of my factory HID bulbs is flickering (on rare occasions it has turned off, but mostly it just flickers).

I've been reading through the threads and it's clear I need to replace it, but is it worthwhile to replace both if the other bulb is working fine?

Update: I see I can use either Philips D4S or Toshiba-Harrison (if I wish to use OEM bulbs). They used Philips in older models (mine) and now use Toshiba-Harrison.

Anyone have any opinion on which brand is more worthwhile? (I read one post that claimed that Philips ones have a shorter life)

Hey there,

Sounds good. I found an interesting post on the UK site where a guy was looking at the fobs quite closely: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=68205&st=0

An alternative 'hack' would be to use the US fobs but to replace the part that differentiates it from ours (perhaps just the crystal). This is something that I can do myself.

Interested to hear if any locksmiths in Australia can help in general..

Thanks again for the advice everyone, I stretched my budget a little, found a decent vehicle and now I've joined the "owners club"!

Very excited to own my first ever Lexus (first real car too). Ended up with a Sports model, that had the sat nav/BT/ML/Reverse camera/Moonroof options in it, so can't complain.

Hi,

I need to get a second key organised for my newly purchased IS250 too..

Lexus Chatswood quoted me:

$413 - Key fob (Sewell price: $163 USD)

$112 - Shank/Master key (Sewell price: $63 USD)

$100 - Key cutting and programming

I see that at least the Key fob and shank can be bought from Sewell for a lower price. Especially the key fob...

Does anyone know if a key fob bought from Sewell would be Ok in Australia? (Has anyone ever done this even)

UPDATE: Looks like the US fobs will never work in Australia due to different radio frequencies. Time to cough up for the Australian price :-)

Thanks for any information!

Thanks for the advice gents. I guess I'll have a think about whether I can stretch the budget into sports luxury territory, I admit that they're much nicer. In any case it will be 20k minimum, I might miss out on EMV although I realise its a really nice feature (but my budget is tight and I've always wanted an IS250).

I reckon I'll make use of those mobile vehicle inspection services before I buy anything, costs about $240 but probably worth it to uncover any issues that I might miss and save myself a lot of hassle down the track. Let the search continue.. :)

Hi ilv1004s,

25k+ will get your a very clean 2006 model IS250

any below unless its a genuine sale you would expect some dodgyness

Thanks for the advice. So I guess it might be possible to find a 2005 model (just a Prestige) in the low 20s if I were lucky, but you reckon generally I should expect something to be dodgy such as for those I have seen?

Hey guys,

I'm also looking for my first ever Lexus (IS250), 2005-06 as my budget is a bit tighter.

I've seen a few 2005 IS250s in my price range (low 20s), is this realistic or am I looking at a bunch of lemons at this price range? According to redbook and other valuation sites this might be realistic, but I really don't know from other posts I've read on this forum..

Examples of IS250s I've considered:

http://www.carsales....000&sort=~Price

http://www.carsales....n,100000&items=[Make%3aLEXUS%2cModel%3aIS250]&sort=~Price

Guess I'll keep searching :)