RX 450h 2014 Jump start - bonnet or boot?

[PCM]

A quick question if I may...

My wife's car has a flat 12V Battery and won't start/ready.

The manual suggests taking off the engine-cover and jumping it there.

( I have a portable power pack to use. )

Someone else (AA?) showed her the Battery in the boot and, I think(?), used that. If so, that feels easier?

Is there any wisdom I can be guided by as to which option, please?

 

[Herbie]

Easy quick answer - it doesn't matter Piers. Just whichever is easiest for you to get at.

Doesn't your wife have an RX300? If so, the Battery is under the bonnet, not in the boot.

[PCM]

2 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Easy quick answer - it doesn't matter Piers. Just whichever is easiest for you to get at.

Doesn't your wife have an RX300? If so, the battery is under the bonnet, not in the boot.

Thank you, Herbie.

I have an aged RX300 and she now has, a shiny new, little used, 450h.

[Herbie]

2 minutes ago, PCM said:

Thank you, Herbie.

I have an aged RX300 and she now has, a shiny new, little used, 450h.

Ooh, very nice

The answer is still the same, it doesn't matter. All you're doing is piggybacking one good 12V source onto a dodgy 12V source.

PS I don't remember seeing any photos of said 450h - did I just miss them?

[PCM]

1 minute ago, Herbie said:

Ooh, very nice

The answer is still the same, it doesn't matter. All you're doing is piggybacking one good 12V source onto a dodgy 12V source.

PS I don't remember seeing any photos of said 450h - did I just miss them?

 

2 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Ooh, very nice

2014 

[PCM]

8 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Ooh, very nice

The answer is still the same, it doesn't matter. All you're doing is piggybacking one good 12V source onto a dodgy 12V source.

PS I don't remember seeing any photos of said 450h - did I just miss them?

Will have to post some...

[PCM]

His and hers...

 

[Herbie]

Very nice my friend, cheers.

[ColinBarber]

4 hours ago, PCM said:

The manual suggests taking off the engine-cover and jumping it there.

( I have a portable power pack to use. )

Someone else (AA?) showed her the battery in the boot and, I think(?), used that. If so, that feels easier?

The manual refers to the engine bay because if the Battery is totally flat then the tailgate won't unlock so you then have to use the manual release, which needs a screwdriver to prise off the panel, and you have to remove the Battery cover clips etc.

In theory it is less work and requires no tools to open the bonnet, open the fuse box and pull off the engine cover (although you can probably find some other metalwork without having to remove the cover).

 

In terms of providing power to the vehicle to jump it, it doesn't matter which method you use.

[PCM]

Bit of an update ...

Battery dead. I was going to go the boot route, but the boot would not open, so Plan B., the engine area.

The manual says to take off two panels which is quite easy, and the larger fuse panel, to reach a small upright + terminal.

It also says to use a negative area on the other side of the engine bay. 

Interestingly, my portable charger cables were not long enough. So we extended it using a spare jump lead.

Tried twice to start it but no joy. Almost, but not quite...

Plan C - called the AA.

He tried twice and then it fired.

( He said it was his 4th Lexus dead Battery call that day, and that we should run it for 20 mins., every other day.

He started it using the same + upright terminal, on the RHS, and the negative I assume, almost next to it. Not sure how safe that is?

Not sure if the small Battery is ok, too small, all fine, a design fault, very cold, not used enough ...? 

[Herbie]

55 minutes ago, PCM said:

He started it using the same + upright terminal, on the RHS, and the negative I assume, almost next to it. Not sure how safe that is?

Very safe and nothing wrong in doing that Piers.

The negative Battery terminal is connected directly to the car body so that the whole car effectively becomes the negative Battery terminal. Any unpainted metal/bracket/bolt/nut/screw anywhere will do the job.

1 hour ago, PCM said:

Not sure if the small battery is ok, too small, all fine, a design fault, very cold, not used enough ...? 

All of the above. There's been many a debate on here regarding this, the upshot of which is that Toyota/Lexus really made a mistake by only fitting small capacity batteries, but they did and we just have to live with it.

[PCM]

3 minutes ago, Herbie said:

Very safe and nothing wrong in doing that Piers.

The negative battery terminal is connected directly to the car body so that the whole car effectively becomes the negative battery terminal. Any unpainted metal/bracket/bolt/nut/screw anywhere will do the job.

All of the above. There's been many a debate on here regarding this, the upshot of which is that Toyota/Lexus really made a mistake by only fitting small capacity batteries, but they did and we just have to live with it.

Thank you - wise words as always...

[ColinBarber]

3 hours ago, PCM said:

Interestingly, my portable charger cables were not long enough. So we extended it using a spare jump lead.

Did you try and start the vehicle with a charger and not a spare Battery or jump pack? Most battery chargers won't provide enough current and they aren't designed for that. You would just need to leave the charger connected for several hours to charge up the Battery.

[PCM]

47 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Did you try and start the vehicle with a charger and not a spare battery or jump pack? Most battery chargers won't provide enough current and they aren't designed for that. You would just need to leave the charger connected for several hours to charge up the battery.

It was a jump pack - 100% charged...