Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - L322 keeps breaking, RR life

[Split_Pin]

Yes its the JLR v3.0 and has no problem connecting to the engine (i.e. the BMW bits) its most other things it won't recognise, PDC being one.

[Gaffer]

Could it not be finding it because the module is completely dead?  If its the same as our 2010 the pdc module is in the n/s rear corner and fills up with water, ask me how I know 🤣

[Split_Pin]

5 hours ago, Gaffer said:

Could it not be finding it because the module is completely dead?  If its the same as our 2010 the pdc module is in the n/s rear corner and fills up with water, ask me how I know 🤣

I will check tomorrow, cheers!

[83C]

On 19/10/2025 at 16:55, Split_Pin said:

Mine is a 2004 and I selected 2002-2005, do you think I'd have more luck  with the 2006-2012 years?

Mine’s a 2006 and some diagnostics work in the 2002-2005 menu, some in 2006 and others in 2007-2012 - seems to depend on which modules were fitted. 

My iCarsoft is the CR Pro though, does all makes and models. 

[J-T]

On 19/10/2025 at 16:46, Split_Pin said:

Yes its the JLR v3.0 and has no problem connecting to the engine (i.e. the BMW bits) its most other things it won't recognise, PDC being one.

I had a bit of carry on with mine getting it to connect/read certain modules. I can’t quite remember the sequence now as it’s not in front of me but on either my Range Rover or my S Type, I had to use a different menu rather than going thru Jaguar - S Type - V8R. There was another which was more generic, in which it would connect to pretty much everything.

[Schaefft]

As most will have seen by now a new car has joined the fleet of eclectic vehicles here at casa Schaefft, and I think it really is a special one. It's @Spottedlaurel's 1992 Lexus LS400!

The battery is there for a reason. Like pretty much every LS400 out there this one will need an alternator soon! That didn't stop me in the end from driving it back the 270 odd miles from Norfolk to Hexham where I arrived in comfort and style (photo taken in Newcastle since it got dark quickly).

The problem is that the alternator cannot output enough juice to power the headlights when idling. Its alright once on the road as the higher rpms will make sure the alternator spins quick enough to charge the battery but standing in traffic it'll quickly kill the battery, especially with other consumers like the blower motor or radio on. I have to look up the part numbers again but having rebuilt the alternator in my Celsior before (as seen here) it shouldn't be too much trouble.

I'll see if I dare taking it on another long trip before the winter properly sets in, there's a list of things that will need doing aside from the alternator/powersteering pump that hopefully gets tackled over the winter months. Despite already owning it's Japanese market cousin (my Celsior) I'm excited to own a very early LS400 in the quintessential Lexus spec, Diamond White Pearl on Silver Metallic with the Sandstone Beige interior!

The car came with some paperwork including this "Lexus Club Service Plan" which reveals what dealer sold the car when new (and probably registered it on the last day of the quarter to get those registration numbers up). T. W. Hawkins Toyota/Lexus in Ewell, long gone as there was a petrol station there all the way back in 2008 where the dealership forecourt would have been.

Not sure if this dealer sticker would have come from them, I'll need to take a better photo of it:

A few interesting details about the owner here. Unsurprisingly it was originally bought as company car, here he had a cellphone installed in 1994!

You can't own an executive car in the 90s and not have a cellphone! The handset is long gone though.

Not entirely car related but that should paint a pretty good picture. And yes, with this being a London car I can say that the Kensington address of the owner is quite fancy (and the street it's at filled with some pretty glorious cars over the years as far as I can tell on streetview).

I've also got Lexus service records in his name all the way until 2001, unfortunately no paperwork beyond that until Spottedlaurel took over in 2020 aside from a few MOTs from the previous owner (from 2012) and service stamps from 2003-2011 in Suffolk.

It looks like it was well taken care of throughout it's life though, its got its battle marks and age related issues here and there but its certainly worth spending a little bit of money on. Stay tuned!

 

[juular]

@MrsJuular swapped the rectifier and regulator in her LS400 alternator as it succumbed to the usual problem of being covered in steering fluid.

Tagging here, as at the time she found a relatively cheap way to get the right parts for it.  

[Schaefft]

15 minutes ago, juular said:

@MrsJuular swapped the rectifier and regulator in her LS400 alternator as it succumbed to the usual problem of being covered in steering fluid.

Tagging here, as at the time she found a relatively cheap way to get the right parts for it.  

Yeah, that's what I did and will do again, these are easily rebuildable once out of the car. Carbon brushes as well.

[Schaefft]

Had a closer look at the dealer sticker, unfortunately unreadable:

The bookpack realvealed a few more interesting details, excuse the obscured name and address:

Having been delivered only a couple of days after first registration the dealership might have not registered it in their name first after all? Also "Riviera White" and Cotswold" leather seem to be UK market specific names for the Lexus color options, possibly to broaden the appeal for the British customer.

Interesting leaflet about how to save fuel in your 4.0l V8 fullsize saloon.

And the last service records, the final 3 probably with the next owner at that point. The owner numbers still don't stack up though as I'd be number 5, not 7. Possibly Lexus at the beginning and a dealer in-between. That or a change of address that was counted as new owner (happened to me before).

[loserone]

20 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

dealer sticker, unfortunately unreadable:

Lexus park lane.   Bet DMB could recreate 

 

Address was

56-59 Park Lane

 

LONDON

 

W1K 1QB

 

Call 020 7355 4737

[Schaefft]

4 minutes ago, loserone said:

Lexus park lane.   Bet DMB could recreate 

 

Address was

56-59 Park Lane

 

LONDON

 

W1K 1QB

 

Call 020 7355 4737

Ah yeah, that would make sense considering it's been serviced there for years. A recreation would be great.

[Wibble]

1 hour ago, Schaefft said:

Had a closer look at the dealer sticker, unfortunately unreadable:

The bookpack realvealed a few more interesting details, excuse the obscured name and address:

Having been delivered only a couple of days after first registration the dealership might have not registered it in their name first after all? Also "Riviera White" and Cotswold" leather seem to be UK market specific names for the Lexus color options, possibly to broaden the appeal for the British customer.

Interesting leaflet about how to save fuel in your 4.0l V8 fullsize saloon.

And the last service records, the final 3 probably with the next owner at that point. The owner numbers still don't stack up though as I'd be number 5, not 7. Possibly Lexus at the beginning and a dealer in-between. That or a change of address that was counted as new owner (happened to me before).

When we moved and I did the change of address section of the V5 for the Senator, it came back as a new keeper. Pisses me off still, so that could well be the case.

[yes oui si]

That's an absolute honey @Schaefft.

17/10, would.

[Schaefft]

The Lexus isn't the only thing keeping me busy at the moment. I'm making good progress on the Range Rover but it still needed the lower tailgate strap sorting, these must be quite common to go. 

That'll be the issue then:

Oddly enough the other side looks perfectly fine despite also being an original strap. Since Land Rover/vendors want silly money for an original part (and there arent all that many other suppliers) I went for the Britpart route. Their reputation seems "mixed" at best as even simple components usually don't fit or are clearly not well manufacturered.

Well, lets just assume the original one is a little stretched. We'll see if the Britpart strap will adjust over time or just snap... The Range Rover thanked me by blowing the rear right brake hose:

Blown probably right where the clip traps all the dirt. Fortunately that section of hardline is part of the hose so I'm crossing my fingers that the fittings will just come off and I can replace the hose without any trouble...

In other news, the Alfa 156 has passed its MOT. 

I had to replace the indicator relay in the end as it kept getting stuck, a common issue that requires the steeringwheel to come off on these facelift cars:

Fortunately a pretty straight forward affair, old relay on the right, new on the left:

As mentioned in the roffle thread, the rear passenger caliper is sticky (an issue it might have developed in the drive to the station considering the drive back from storage was trouble free) so I will replace that on the weekend hopefully.

In other news, the Caprice has developed a gearbox slip!

15 minutes into our trip to Grasmere in the Lake District (perfect car to take there) it didn't want to engage 3rd or 4th anymore... I checked the fluid level and it was low, I'm hoping that I haven't cooked the clutch packs as I don't need another car needing a gearbox... The BMW E65 took over for it instead, here on the famous Hartside Pass:

It certainly never gets boring around here...

[Schaefft]

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT that a Landrover product is a liability. After spending two hours yesterday replacing the driver rear brake hose (without destroying the rusty hard-line in the end fortunately) it's the driver side front airbag today that's suddenly leaking:

I can actually hear it leaking slowly so unless jacking it up on one side somehow compromised an airline (or causes the car to deflate the front very slowly for some reason) overextending the airbag ruptured it. Buying a relatively low mileage example with gearbox issues was supposed to give me a car that's cheap for one particular reason and otherwise decent but the Range Rover breaks quicker than I can fix it.

The next step will be finding out what aftermarket strut is actually worth it's money. I've replaced front air struts on my Mark VIII plenty of times so it should hopefully be fairly straightforward.

It also doesn't help that LR decided to put non-removable chrome covers on each lug nut which a few years on are all different sizes due to rust jacking now. The Dremel had to come out for one of them. Doesn't help that Halfords went nuts when torquing one of them either.

It also had to come out for that brake line fitting as well:

While in there I noticed that one of the CV boot clamps had snapped and started to fling the grease around. I replaced it with a leftover from the Alfa boot job which hopefully will do a good enough job.

Also, for some reason the dash screen is constantly staying black after starting the car now so I'll have to investigate that...

So yeah, one step forward, two steps back. Not particularly confidence inspiring considering I want to pull a trailer all the way to Germany and back next month...

[DirtyDaily]

Dunlop bags tend to be decent and not too expensive. Easy to change too. Sorry its being a pain, jacking them up does tend to weed out old bags.

[Cookiesouwest]

Maxpeedingrod are also good. Fitted to my S211.

I was dubious. They are cheap. But they have a good reputation.

Aerosus also decent

[dome]

Yeah mine had Dunlop airbags fitted and they seemed fine.

I replaced all my wheel nuts as the original ones do swell up under the chrome covers. I forget where I got mine from but I probably spent ages looking around and then bought some reassuringly expensive ones that were the exact same as the cheap ones🫣

[83C]

Did both front struts on mine and replaced the complete units, circa £250 each from MM4x4 using Continental airbags. Figured that at 220k there wasn’t much point fitting new bags to the original struts.

Edit: lower strut pinch bolts can be a twat to remove. Air hammer or heat + sledgehammer are both ways around the issue, buy new bolts and very slightly ream the holes in the upright to prevent them seizing again.

[DirtyDaily]

Edit: lower strut pinch bolts can be a twat to remove. Air hammer or heat + sledgehammer are both ways around the issue, buy new bolts and very slightly ream the holes in the upright to prevent them seizing again.

I also had a little grief with the bottom pinch bolt. I just used a breaker bar to get the bolt spinning and eventually that freed it up. I suspect heat wouldnt harm also

[J-T]

I would echo the above , had the same happen to mine, I fitted a Dunlop full strut assembly, which I think was about £300. It was a pretty easy job, other than the pinch bolts which even my big bastard electric ugga dugga gun wouldn’t shift (they looked horrendous so I tried these first). I ended up soaking them in plus gas for a week, then trying again and they relented.

[dome]

Here's my technique for getting the strut bolts out. Good luck!