Ghost in the Car

[Linas.P]

Just now, Boomer54 said:

• "Lexus won’t start after disconnecting the battery." ...how very strange😉

It would be strange if it did start... Then perhaps I would be really worried about ghosts! 

[Boomer54]

1 minute ago, Linas.P said:

Just small note here - idling car to charge it is not the most ideal, especially when you have to run 4.3L V8 to do it. Battery would charge faster when driving (~2000-3000RPM is where alternator makes it's maximum amps) + it consume negligible fuel compared to running the car.

As for radio coming on I really don't know, but I have one idea - there is function for road alerts, so for example if you listening for CD or using Aux, it may turn it to radio when driving and I remember begin really irritated about this when going trough Link-House tunnel. They had maybe faulty transmitter there for emergencies, and every time entering the tunnel it would switch to FM and I could see little warning appearing "emergency reported" (or something along those lines). 

So perhaps it could turn on the radio even when it is off, if it could switch from CD to FM, then why not turn the radio on? Thinking about it now - I am not sure you can even switch it off...

I probably would have just taken it for a drive, but the car was 3rd in line behind visitors so was essentially blocked in. Book in the car was the best I could do to get out of the way for an hour.

The radio coming on issue is a real issue and you are right the TA if on can cause the the audio system to switch from CD etc over to radio. I have had that ,but someone indicated the problem for me and then it was an easy solve. The other day was different as the audio system was actually switched off, but then spontaneously switched on in CD mode. I do think when taken with a hood refusing to open and the boot taking a couple of tries to open that the source is going to turn out to be the Battery.

 

[Malc1]

C’mon Stephen, you know the hauntings will forever be by your side all the while you own a Lexus 😱

Change to a Ford or a new Chinese MG and all your ghostly concerns will disappear ……. they’ll just be HUGE problems 🤩

Malc 

[Boomer54]

1 hour ago, GMB said:

Please let us know how you get on with the battery change. I hope it goes well. It would be good for others to have some confidence.  As a confirmed registered chicken I would pay the insurance in having Lexus take the risk but then you're a better man than I am Bungdit In.    Sorry I can't get that "Carry on" film scene out of my mind.

I will. I have the car in at a recommended Indy garage on Thursday so will wait until Friday to do the swap. Fearless as ever (cough) will do it myself and troubleshoot whatever happens afterwards.

[Boomer54]

10 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

It would be strange if it did start... Then perhaps I would be really worried about ghosts! 

I could feel a Nobel prize in the offing if I could manage that 'Instant free energy'.

[Linas.P]

17 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

I probably would have just taken it for a drive, but the car was 3rd in line behind visitors so was essentially blocked in. Book in the car was the best I could do to get out of the way for an hour.

The radio coming on issue is a real issue and you are right the TA if on can cause the the audio system to switch from CD etc over to radio. I have had that ,but someone indicated the problem for me and then it was an easy solve. The other day was different as the audio system was actually switched off, but then spontaneously switched on in CD mode. I do think when taken with a hood refusing to open and the boot taking a couple of tries to open that the source is going to turn out to be the battery.

That is certainly a possibility! But ask for Battery health check first, would be sad to waste it if not the culprit!

[Neil E]

Yuasa Silver 5000 HSB096 12V, 80AH, 740A, 5 year guarantee. £110 and that should be fine.

Apparently Halfords recommend they fit it for £20 'as most cars require this Battery to be registered with the on board computer system.' 

Obviously only change the Battery if you know what to do but it's a simple 10 minute job with a 10mm socket, a small ratchet and or 10mm spanner. (I've never 'registered' the Battery with the car)

I would be quite nervous handing the SC to Halfords to work on. I think there's less risk to the car if I do it myself.

 

[Boomer54]

2 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

That is certainly a possibility! But ask for battery health check first, would be sad to waste it if not the culprit!

Good catch. The garage she is in on Thursday could no doubt do that quite easily.

[Linas.P]

21 minutes ago, Neil E said:

Yuasa Silver 5000 HSB096 12V, 80AH, 740A, 5 year guarantee. £110 and that should be fine.

Apparently Halfords recommend they fit it for £20 'as most cars require this battery to be registered with the on board computer system.' 

Obviously only change the battery if you know what to do but it's a simple 10 minute job with a 10mm socket, a small ratchet and or 10mm spanner. (I've never 'registered' the battery with the car)

I would be quite nervous handing the SC to Halfords to work on. I think there's less risk to the car if I do it myself.

 

I personally would stay away from both Yuasa and especially halfrauds. You may find not only ghost and vampires, but as well fully grown daemons in the car if you allowed them to touch it. Honestly there is less risk to car if you let toddler do it, at least toddlers don't have bad intentions (usually).  

Now as for Yuasa itself - mediocre, had two of them fail on me (both had short cells), but to be fair one was unknown age (I suspect 6 years) and another very near to 5 years, so I mean 5-6 years from the Battery is not horrible, they should be able to do 8 maybe. However, halfrauds is halfrauds, they will never warranty the Battery for you and will find whatever excuse possible to refuse it, so the 5 years warranty point kinds of becomes moot. Halfrauds autocentre told me they can't do it because it was halfrauds retail that fitted the Battery , halfrauds retail demanded the receipt (for 5 years old item, but I happened to find it in the folder with documents), then they said warranty is not transferable, then I came few weeks later to speak with another person saying it was me who fitted it (despite me getting it with the car), so his excuse was that he can only refund to the card that was on the receipt?!?!?!?!? When I explained to him that bank cards usually are not valid for that long he offered me to call their complaint department... In short you not getting it replaced if it fails!

[Herbie]

3 hours ago, Nigel Coleman said:

I did also did the old "switch the ignition on and off 3 times without starting the car" procedure afterwards.

What is this sorcery of which you speak?

[Localhero]

That Battery was fitted by the garage I bought it off nearly 4 years ago, they also replaced one tyre with a cheap kwik fit budget one, so don't think the Battery will be a top notch one, just a  thought and this is my own idea, what if you put jump leads from a spare Battery or wife's car on to the lexus Battery clamps, then disconnect and change Battery,re- connect leads then remove jump leads so the car is always connected, I will welcome critsism, the reason I knew they had disabled Battery was the seat memory wasn't working 😉 stew

 

[Herbie]

2 minutes ago, Localhero said:

just a  thought and this is my own idea, what if you put jump leads from a spare battery or wife's car on to the lexus battery clamps, then disconnect and change battery,re- connect leads then remove jump leads so the car is always connected, I will welcome critsism,

No need to criticise, that's a perfectly good way of keeping all settings etc., and is a method that been in use since I started my apprenticeship back in 1974. No need to use jump leads either as you're not cranking the engine, only a few mA to stuff that needs it.

Basically, a bit of bellwire and almost any 12V source would do the job.

[Boomer54]

28 minutes ago, Herbie said:

No need to criticise, that's a perfectly good way of keeping all settings etc., and is a method that been in use since I started my apprenticeship back in 1974. No need to use jump leads either as you're not cranking the engine, only a few mA to stuff that needs it.

Basically, a bit of bellwire and almost any 12V source would do the job.

Eureka. Problem solving be thy name ! Get Herbie to do it for a pack of his choice of Belgium beer !

[Herbie]

38 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

Eureka. Problem solving be thy name ! Get Herbie to do it for a pack of his choice of Belgium beer !

I would happily do it for you Stephen but I'm out of the game (and reality) at the moment due to Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). They've been successfully treating it with Pramipexole but that drug causes augmentation, which means that it becomes not only ineffective, but also augments the original problem and makes it much worse. Because of this they're changing me to Ropinirole, but I have to taper off the Pramipexole first.

I'm not tolerating the withdrawal well and now I've got DAWS (Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome). The only way to alleviate the sensations of RLS is to move the legs, so 50 of the last 57 hours have seen me just wandering up and down the house, shuffling from room to room. Lie on the bed; sit in a chair, doesn't matter; less than one minute later I'm off again.

It's just taken me about 30 minutes to write this post so I'd probably end up blowing the car up if I tried changing the Battery for you

[Boomer54]

10 minutes ago, Herbie said:

I would happily do it for you Stephen but I'm out of the game (and reality) at the moment due to Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). They've been successfully treating it with Pramipexole but that drug causes augmentation, which means that it becomes not only ineffective, but also augments the original problem and makes it much worse. Because of this they're changing me to Ropinirole, but I have to taper off the Pramipexole first.

I'm not tolerating the withdrawal well and now I've got DAWS (Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome). The only way to alleviate the sensations of RLS is to move the legs, so 50 of the last 57 hours have seen me just wandering up and down the house, shuffling from room to room. Lie on the bed; sit in a chair, doesn't matter; less than one minute later I'm off again.

It's just taken me 45 minutes to write this post so I'd probably end up blowing the car up if I tried changing the battery for you

Well Damn Herbie. I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. You know how close I live to you so if i can help in anyway just give me a shout. I'm retired with lots of time so would be glad to help out if needed.

[Herbie]

31 minutes ago, Boomer54 said:

Well Damn Herbie. I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. You know how close I live to you so if i can help in anyway just give me a shout. I'm retired with lots of time so would be glad to help out if needed.

Thanks Stephen, much appreciated my friend.

[Malc1]

7 hours ago, Herbie said:

Thanks Stephen, much appreciated my friend.

It’s good us Oldies can stick together …… two old brains often better than the one ……… aaarrrrggghhhh ……… more tea vicar 🤩

Malc 

[Boomer54]

I took a voltage reading late yesterday evening after some charging through the day. It read 12.43v and this morning it read 12.26v. Overnight was cool ,but definitely not frosty. Does this kind of drop 'feel' right to you?

I will do this reading pattern for a couple of days. Today it's not in use so I am going to put it on charge and hopefully it will get a full charge before I disconnect.

[Boomer54]

I noted today with the car having a decent level of charge the following ; roof, boot,petrol cap, all worked faultlessly.

It overwhelmingly looks like the ghost in this car was the Battery charge level. The jury is still out on whether this Battery is holding a charge in the way we should expect it to. We will find out very shortly.

[GMB]

Hey Stephen

Like I was saying; I would be a bit concerned about changing the Battery myself if you risk £2500 worth of damage.

Have a look at the new addition to the thread from June.

• 
• Established Member
• •  8.6k
• Name: Rayaan
• Lexus Model: RX450h / UX300e
• Year of Lexus: 2016
• Location: Yorkshire

• Author

Posted June 23

  On 6/23/2023 at 4:12 PM, Paul Brooksbank said:

I've just changed my battery and guess what? Screen dead, no sound but air con works. I've tried the reset described above to no avail. Anybody figured out what blows yet?

Its the radio unit itself. Kills itself and the screen goes dead as the connections all go through the radio. 

Essentially requires a new radio unit to work which isnt cheap unless you get a second hand one

[Boomer54]

2 hours ago, GMB said:

Hey Stephen

Like I was saying; I would be a bit concerned about changing the battery myself if you risk £2500 worth of damage.

Have a look at the new addition to the thread from June.

• 
• Established Member
• •  8.6k
• Name: Rayaan
• Lexus Model: RX450h / UX300e
• Year of Lexus: 2016
• Location: Yorkshire

• Author

Posted June 23

  On 6/23/2023 at 4:12 PM, Paul Brooksbank said:

I've just changed my battery and guess what? Screen dead, no sound but air con works. I've tried the reset described above to no avail. Anybody figured out what blows yet?

Its the radio unit itself. Kills itself and the screen goes dead as the connections all go through the radio. 

Essentially requires a new radio unit to work which isnt cheap unless you get a second hand one

Hmm, It is obviously a concern, but he is actually driving a different Lexus model and not a SC 430 so it may be different cars different issues. I do think I will be doing this myself, but I will be adopting the fix suggested by Stew and Herbie to overcome disconnection issues.

[Neil E]

I do 'get' the reasoning behind keeping the 12V supply in place but it takes me no time at all to restore the settings in the SC430.

@Linas.P If not Yuasa which make of Battery would you choose? I've tried a few different flavours and haven't found one that I would particularly recommend. The oldest Battery (making it the longest lasting) I've ever had was a Hoppecke.

 

[Linas.P]

Not sure about specific size for SC430, but my go to for IS250 was always Bosch S4. 4 year warranty, but I usually order them online (for much less than halfrauds prices) and when ordering online they don't have same nonsensical limitations like physical stores (not transferable warranties, receipts etc.). Basically you get your receipt to the e-mail and if Battery fails before 4-years you just find the e-mail from years back and send it back. Not that any of Bosch batteries have failed on me yet, although I never really kept them for more (or the cars I fitted them to) for more than 4 years. 

[Linas.P]

5 hours ago, GMB said:

Hey Stephen

Like I was saying; I would be a bit concerned about changing the battery myself if you risk £2500 worth of damage.

Have a look at the new addition to the thread from June.

• 
• Established Member
• •  8.6k
• Name: Rayaan
• Lexus Model: RX450h / UX300e
• Year of Lexus: 2016
• Location: Yorkshire

• Author

Posted June 23

  On 6/23/2023 at 4:12 PM, Paul Brooksbank said:

I've just changed my battery and guess what? Screen dead, no sound but air con works. I've tried the reset described above to no avail. Anybody figured out what blows yet?

Its the radio unit itself. Kills itself and the screen goes dead as the connections all go through the radio. 

Essentially requires a new radio unit to work which isnt cheap unless you get a second hand one

This really makes it sound like some sort of extremely complicated job. Disconnect negative terminal, then positive... then connect them back in reverse order, positive, then negative... to be honest it doesn't even matter the order, except there is higher risk of damaging something if negative is connected and you accidentally touch positive to the frame (as frame is ground), so it is safer to connect positive first and then you can dangle negative anywhere you like without any risks.

If you want to preserve the settings, then connect 12 volts from somewhere during the exercise, but that is optional and sometimes cleaning memory from ECUs actually helps, even if it is annoying to set memory seats etc. back. 

In short - messing-up Battery replacement requires special skills and extreme negligence, not saying it never happens, but it isn't some sort of extremely risky job, Lexus does not even code their batteries (not sure about latest models, but certainly not in IS/GS and hopefully not SC). 

[Neil E]

43 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Not sure about specific size for SC430, but my go to for IS250 was always Bosch S4. 4 year warranty, but I usually order them online (for much less than halfrauds prices) and when ordering online they don't have same nonsensical limitations like physical stores (not transferable warranties, receipts etc.). Basically you get your receipt to the e-mail and if battery fails before 4-years you just find the e-mail from years back and send it back. Not that any of Bosch batteries have failed on me yet, although I never really kept them for more (or the cars I fitted them to) for more than 4 years. 

I haven't tried them for a long time but I avoid Bosch batteries. Sometimes a bad experience or two a long time ago will still influence a decision many years later. I'm not endorsing them but Halfords will email the receipt for the Battery 5 year guarantee too. 

I did briefly attempt to fit (shoe-horn) a larger Battery in and considered setting up a split charging system for the SC430 as it has quite a large amplifier but it's coped okay so far.