New to me 2008 GS450h

[australianstan]

Hi all, brand new to Lexus ownership, picked up my 2008 (pre-facelift) GS450h from an independent dealer last week. Only 70000 miles on the clock and in very good condition. Metallic navy blue with cream leather. First big drive up to Belfast on Christmas Day and really enjoyed it. I’m coming from a Mazda RX8, obviously a totally different driving experience but I’m really enjoying the comfort and bags of power on tap.

 

A big thing I’ve noticed is the air vents seem to send cooler air to the passenger side and overall don’t seem to get very warm. I’ve read that this might be a airmix servo issue. There’s lots of info out there on how to DIY for the 2GS but not much for the 3GS- has anyone had any experience of fixing their climate controls? I’ve also bought a Grom aux adapter and will install this when I have my tools. I’m not a stranger to taking dashes apart so will have a look at all the servos when I’m in there. The car has FSH (very unusual in Ireland) so I’m not expecting any massive bills immediately but I’ll take it in to Lexus in Dublin in the new year for them to give it a full assessment.

 

Looking forward to Lexus ownership, hope I’ve bought a good one!

 

 

 

 

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[SpeedyGee]

Congrats on the GS 450H purchase, Tristan.

I'm a new owner too, loving the car so far, still getting accustomed to things. 

Here's my intro thread :-

11 hours ago, australianstan said:

A big thing I’ve noticed is the air vents seem to send cooler air to the passenger side and overall don’t seem to get very warm

Have you tried to set the climate control settings to opposing values for each side ? So say passenger side full hot setting and drivers side fully cold and the tried the other way round ?

What happens when you did this ?

Also worth checking the condition of the pollen filters.

This thread maybe useful 

  

[SpeedyGee]

Oh and you mention a Grom Aux adaptor ... there is already a 3.5mm socket for a audio jack inside the centre armrest.

I've actually plugged in a cheap Bluetooth adaptor that into this audio jack, so now I can play media on phone through Bluetooth.

 

*EDIT* Actually there may not be in Aux input on the pre-facelift 

[Zotto]

About air vent, if someone made a pollen filter in a wrong way he could had damaged  te mechanism, the operation has to be done with air circulation off (if I remember correctly). Somewhere in forum there are infos about.

[australianstan]

Thanks SpeedyGee, just had a go through different variations of climate, was just sat on the drive and the engine wasn’t fully warmed up so not expecting really hot, but here are some observations-

1. Both on hi, no air con- driver warm, passenger cool.

2. Air con on, driver lo, passenger hi- driver icy, passenger cold.

3. Air con on, driver hi, passenger lo- driver warm, passenger icy.

4. Little bit of air coming out of top vents when directed to feet only.

5. feet always cold on passenger side

6. Little bit coming out of defrost all the time on fresh air, not on recirc.

 

The only time the heater got hot was after about 30 mins on the motorway, everything turned up to hi, air con off- was noticeably cooler with air con on. All the different modes and temps did something, I just assume the mix and/or mode doors aren’t fully closing or are getting false readings. I’ll check the cabin filter when I have time but fully expecting to have to take a good few layers of the dash apart!

 

No aux input on the pre-facelift unfortunately, hence buying the Grom. It actually has a Vais iPod connection, which is very expensive, but it randomly only seems to want to play on one channel. I’ve tried with my actual iPod, an iPod-lightning connector to my Iphone and a 30 pin-3.5mm jack connector- 7 times out of ten it only plays on the left channel on any of these connections. When it’s playing on both it sounds amazing, don’t know whether it’s the Vais cable or a loose connection to the head unit.

One other thing- the driver’s mirror doesn’t auto-dip all the way down in reverse and thus doesn’t return to its previous position, so I’ve turned this off for now.

Loving everything else though!

 

 

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[australianstan]

Very much enjoyed the trip home from Belfast today, radar cruise was superb on a busy motorway. Tried out the ‘power hybrid’ mode, felt like it had a bit more torque, does it give more electricity or is it just quicker throttle response? Either way it made short work of overtaking and left a set of elevens at the toll bridge!


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[Farqui]

Good to hear that you're enjoying the car, long may it continue.

The reversing mirrors dipping is configurable and I recently had to reset mine after disconnecting the 12v boot Battery. With the ignition on, foot on brake enable a mirror, select reverse, set the mirrors reverse position, on the driver's door press set and the digit required. Repeat for the other mirror.

If you can't get the mirrors reversing memory to set on your preferred seat/wheel position saved number, then try on the 3rd setting - provided that's not already used by another driver. Then when you want to reverse, press digit 3 to drop the mirror(s) and then reverse. Once parked, you'll then need to press your default driver number to raise the mirrors.

Good luck.

[Farqui]

According to the manual the PWR setting is for hilly/mountainous areas.

Have you tried the Sport button yet?

[australianstan]

Good to hear that you're enjoying the car, long may it continue.

The reversing mirrors dipping is configurable and I recently had to reset mine after disconnecting the 12v boot battery. With the ignition on, foot on brake enable a mirror, select reverse, set the mirrors reverse position, on the driver's door press set and the digit required. Repeat for the other mirror.

If you can't get the mirrors reversing memory to set on your preferred seat/wheel position saved number, then try on the 3rd setting - provided that's not already used by another driver. Then when you want to reverse, press digit 3 to drop the mirror(s) and then reverse. Once parked, you'll then need to press your default driver number to raise the mirrors.

Good luck.

Hi Farqui, many thanks for the advice. I tried programming the mirrors when in reverse but they won’t set on the individual memories without it being in park. Your tip of setting it to number three is great though- this works well enough until I can figure out why they’re not dipping all the way in reverse. It definitely feels like a setting problem- the mirrors all work and do dip in reverse, just not enough on the driver’s side to make it practical.

Took the radio out today and installed the Grom aux in, works perfectly with my Bluetooth music streamer, now have all my tunes running from my phone and sounds great on the ML system! Took out the Vais adapter so if anyone wants it PM me.


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[australianstan]

According to the manual the PWR setting is for hilly/mountainous areas.

Have you tried the Sport button yet?

Just seems to make the ride harsher as far as I can tell, although haven’t tried it in the twisties yet!


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[Farqui]

Tristan @australianstan my Sport button makes the engine much keener to engage and pulls harder. 

The odd thing is if you change the mode whilst driving, that it can take a few seconds to feel the change through the throttle.

[Zotto]

In 2008 GS 450h SPORT mode activates stiffer suspensions and steering wheel changes ratio and gets a bit more hard to move, while POWER mode sets a better throttle response and HV tension may rise till 650V.

[australianstan]

Power mode definitely makes a difference to the throttle response and I tried it with ‘sport’ dampers today on my favourite back road. Seriously impressed by the way it goes and handles- it’s a big car but it’s great fun in the bends. My RX8 PZ is considered one of the best handling cars this side of a Porsche, and the GS, whilst not as nimble, definitely ticks the fun box. Genuinely surprised!

Changed out the 12V Battery for a new one today, the one in it must have been original, only giving 330cca. Climate control has definitely improved, although not totally solved, and the auto-dipping mirrors are much better and are now practical. Interior lights are now useful rather than being ‘mood’ lights, and pretty sure the auto-wipers are working better?!


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[australianstan]

Just back from it’s first full service at lexus in a couple of years, horrified by the price of some of the items- front brake pads and discs, €685.14?!! New Battery €542???!! Is this a stealership taking the ***** or do these items genuinely cost this much for the 450h? I fitted a €80 Battery last week but they’ve said they can’t do the hybrid Battery cheque due to ‘fault codes in the system’ and won’t give me the warranty for the next year without a new 12v Battery so maybe I just need to suck this one up. Need a new water pump at €647.50 which I know is an Achilles heel of the 3GS so not so surprised by that, even though it’s a €120 part. Finally two shocks are leaking but they reckon it’ll be grand until the next service, at least I don’t need to replace those too!

Fuming at the brake discs and pads though, going to try my friendly local mechanic and see what he says.


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