Lexus Dealer Service - No Hybrid Test

[Paul-B]

Just had my car services by an official Lexus main dealer and they said they couldn't test my hybrid system as my Battery voltage was low. He said I need to drive the car for 600km and bring it back to have the Hybrid system checked.

Sounds very odd, surely they could charge my Battery to the correct voltage seeing how they are an official Lexus main dealer? 

Anyone experience this before?

[NemesisUK]

Seems very odd.

If they mean the 12v Battery was too low, they could simply connect a Battery support pack as they would any car they need to leave on for a prolonged period.

If they meant the hybrid Battery then that could be brought up to near full charge within 5 miles driving.

Guess they didn't want to do it there and then. Possibly equipment shortage or failure?

I imagine they would do the check at alter stage, after you've driven it for a while, FOC?

[Paul-B]

2 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Seems very odd.

If they mean the 12v battery was too low, they could simply connect a battery support pack as they would any car they need to leave on for a prolonged period.

If they meant the hybrid battery then that could be brought up to near full charge within 5 miles driving.

Guess they didn't want to do it there and then. Possibly equipment shortage or failure?

I imagine they would do the check at alter stage, after you've driven it for a while, FOC?

Yeah he said it would be FOC, however I WFH at the moment so not clocking a lot of miles so I cannot say how long it will take me to clock up 600km.

The whole reason I brought my car to Lexus main dealer was for the Hybrid system check will maintains the Hybrid warranty.

I have a friend who recently had similar issue with this same dealer, they said they couldn't test his hybrid system because the hybrid testing equipment was down. He complained to the manager and had his car collected from his house and hybrid system checked,  so I think you could be right that they just didn't want to do it there and then but that is outrageous if its true. 

[ColinBarber]

If the ECU has been cleared, purposely to remove error codes or by a flat Battery, then they won't be able to complete a hybrid health check. They rely on the system doing an element of self-diagnosis which periodically takes place and will store pending or real error codes which the health check will read.

The 600km distance is to ensure (as much as possible) that all conditions and tests would have been completed.

This is the same for all Lexus and Toyota vehicles at any dealer - the software they use won't complete if the distance after reset isn't above the minimum limit.

[Paul-B]

9 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

If the ECU has been cleared, purposely to remove error codes or by a flat battery, then they won't be able to complete a hybrid health check. They rely on the system doing an element of self-diagnosis which periodically takes place and will store pending or real error codes which the health check will read.

The 600km distance is to ensure (as much as possible) that all conditions and tests would have been completed.

This is the same for all Lexus and Toyota vehicles at any dealer - the software they use won't complete if the distance after reset isn't above the minimum limit.

My 12v Battery has died a few times over the last year as my car has been in the garden a lot as Ive been WFH during Covid so this could make sense if it's the reason for it.

The Battery hasn't died in a few months however and I've driven the car a fair bit the last few weeks since restrictions have lifted so I would have thought it would be OK for a system check at this stage

[steve2006]

Personally I would ensure you have written confirmation of the requirements, if it takes months to clock up 600 km and your hybrid Battery fails in between the last thing you want to hear is “sorry your check wasn’t carried out at the correct time interval so your warranty is invalid”

[Bob99]

I had the same problem with my hybrid Battery a couple of years ago where the ecu had been cleared. Ran the car for 500 miles or so and hybrid check was back to normal as Colin said above. Not had a problem since.

[Paul-B]

1 hour ago, Bob99 said:

I had the same problem with my hybrid battery a couple of years ago where the ecu had been cleared. Ran the car for 500 miles or so and hybrid check was back to normal as Colin said above. Not had a problem since.

Was your ECU cleared by the service technician at the dealership/garage when you brought it into them or did this happen before you brought it to them to service?

Reason I asks is I accept that my ECU may have been cleared when the Battery last died a few months ago, but I'd estimate I've done 2-3k KM since then so if I understand the issue correctly, this mileage should be enough to be able to perform the hybrid check.

Also, the dealer mentioned low voltage was the reason they couldn't do the hybrid check, didn't mention anything about ECU being cleared 

[Bob99]

Think I had a glitch before I took it in, the questions they ask are, have you run out of petrol and do you leave it in neutral. Both questions come from the troubleshooting quide. My answers were both no. I did however move my car slightly and just as I switched it off the engine fired up. I think this caused the ecu to presume I had run out of petrol. That is the only reason I can think off for the problem and it hasn’t been a problem since.

[mikejt]

The hybrid check couldn't be completed on my car when I bought it due to flat

Battery, low miles etc. It was completed ok after a few hundred miles at local main dealer. I guess you'll be ok.