New to me RX400H

[adrian-gregory]

Thank you 

[adrian-gregory]

I drove down to drop off the RX with Richard of Byrid Battery Solutions.  The old girl cut out at an awkward moment in three lanes of traffic approaching a busy roundabout. I'm glad she coasts well to the side of the road, removed the negative off the 12v Battery for 3 mins, then we were off again. The remaining 93 miles were uneventful, I sat at 60 on the inside just in case. I saw and indicated 43mpg for the balance of the trip on the m54, m6 and then the roads to his place. 

Richard is such a nice man.

[adrian-gregory]

Hmm. It appears once again I can't type tonight Richard at  Hybrid Battery Solutions. 

[Greisingel]

It is not an uncommon complaint. Reckon the HBS chap will get to the bottom of it. May be a straight forward ICE issue, fuel delivery system etc.

Or it is linked to the HB in that the engine switches between ICE and EV managed by the Hybrid Synergy Drive system (starter motors etc). Sounds like the electric 'fire up' of the engine may have failed if you were in EV mode on the motorway.

I'd suspect it is electrical. Did the dash not light up warnings...VSC ABS HYBRID warning

https://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/topic/93761-2006-rx400h-help-engine-totally-dies-while-driving/

https://www.lexus-tech.eu/HYBRID/HVDM/EN/RX400H.pdf

Good luck

[BarneyTT]

Best of luck at HBS Adrian, hope all goes well for you👍

[adrian-gregory]

Greisingel - mamy thanks.

Yes, I got the full showing of check lights and warnings. I reckon it is electrical as well.  

There has been water inside the Battery given all the rust I found under the main relay.

Thanks for the links to the articles. interesting reading.

I will speak to Richard tomorrow and see what he has found. all being well I will be collecting the car Friday, unless he wants it for longer.

[adrian-gregory]

BarneyTT - thank you.

[adrian-gregory]

 

Traction Battery update

I can see why Richard of Hybrid Battery Solutions comes highly recommended.

I spoke with him this afternoon.

He has re-balanced the traction Battery.

All cells have a capacity of 5400 maH which he said was good, given new from the factory is 6400 maH. (I hope that last number is correct, I could not write it down at the time). So if I have the number correct the Battery capacity is 84% if my maths are correct. I am pleased with that. 

He found and resolved several leaks to ground from the Battery to the chassis.

After considerable searching, he found the cooling fans on the Battery were causing the intermittent shut-off fault. So Greisingel nailed it with the links he shared with me yesterday. Thanks once again. I also saw another video a few days before about the fans causing problems.

For those who have not read or watched the videos and are interested, my summary is as follows:

In certain high Battery heat events when the fans are called upon to deliver speed setting 6, which is the maximum, the electrical signal on the older fans can cause enough “noise” on the network between the Battery computer and the engine computer, that the car loses its connection with the Battery computer. So the ECU assumes a major fault and shuts down the car. To me, it felt like I had turned off the key. Engine off, now power assist on the steering or the brakes. Inconvenient and without warning. And you cannot bump start it back to life like the old manual cars 😊

Richard checked with Toyota and they offered fans at £333 each, and yep, we need 3!   I have just placed an order on Amayama for part number: G9230-48010.  They are £138.70 each plus shipping and extortion cost VAT etc. A nice saving. 

https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/g923048010

I am really pleased Richard has been able to balance the Battery, and very happy he has found the fault.  I don’t like not knowing what the problem is so it can be corrected.

Thank you again, Richard, I appreciate you and the work you do.

[PeterI]

@adrian-gregory Good to hear there is a definite fault, be good to hear back in a month or two once you know it's been fixed.

[adrian-gregory]

10 hours ago, PeterI said:

@adrian-gregory Good to hear there is a definite fault, be good to hear back in a month or two once you know it's been fixed.

My thoughts exactly.  I will keep the thread updated.  On the drive home, there was a fair bit of traffic, took almost 4 hours to do the 140 miles back to mine.  I sit at 60 on the motorway (boring, and have done that for many, many years) and saw an average of 43.8 mpg on the gauge when I got home, rising to 45 mpg in the traffic jams on the motorway. 

[adrian-gregory]

Leak update - we had some heavy rain last night. I checked the boot floor under the plastics today and it is dry. 😊

Ordered this today to use if/when I have to leave the car parked up for an extended period of time.

12V 5V DC Waterproof Battery Solar Panel With 10A Controller With OBD Plug For Phone RV Car Charger Port Car Battery Charging
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007118052689.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.5.2e7d1802FSkNNl

[Greisingel]

When the leaking was out of control. 🙂 I also run the air con cold and hot all the time to keep dry cabin

[Greisingel]

Blimey that's decent MPG

https://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/rx400h

[adrian-gregory]

7 hours ago, Greisingel said:

When the leaking was out of control. 🙂 I also run the air con cold and hot all the time to keep dry cabin

great plan!

[adrian-gregory]

7 hours ago, Greisingel said:

Blimey that's decent MPG

https://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/rx400h

I thought so too.  I do drive gently. 

I heard the Battery cooling fans ramping up (not sure why since I was cruising at 60 mph) on the M6 in Cumbria a few hours back and sure enough the old girl cut out. After coasting to a stop and removing the 12v negative post for a minute or so we were off once more for another uneventful run home.  I am looking forward to getting the new fans in after my vacation next week. 

[adrian-gregory]

On 9/2/2024 at 3:14 PM, Greisingel said:

Blimey that's decent MPG

https://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/rx400h

I thought so too.  I do drive gentREMIOVEDly. 

I heard the Battery cooling fans ramping up (not sure why since I was cruising at 60 mph) on the M6 in Cumbria a few hours back and sure enough the old girl cut out. After coasting to a stop and removing the 12v negative post for a minute or so we were off once more for another uneventful run home.  I am looking forward to getting the new fans in after my vacation next week. 

[adrian-gregory]

Removed the back bumper and gave that to a pal of mine to paint while we are away next week.

 

Removed the non-functioning powered tailgate lift motor and replaced it with another.

The replaced tailgate lift motor still does nothing.  If I apply 12v to the centre pins on the connector on the removed original motor,  the motor does activate and run although the arm does not move.  I'll get to work with a multi-meter when I get back and see what can be found and fixed. 

 

[adrian-gregory]

Fitted the LHD top headlight bracket.

Also, I put the 12v Battery on trickle charge for the day. The car has not been driven since Monday evening, and won't get driven until a week Monday. I don't want to come back to a flat 12v Battery. I am curious to see how it holds up. 

[Trefor]

Sorry to see so many things to fix on this car. I hope it was cheap! 134k on my 2007 model now, bought at 99k. It lived in central London meaning no rust. It had a new radiator before I bought it, and I had the cambelt/waterpump changed. I've only changed consumables (tyres/brakes) since (ignoring the plug replacement for now, it runs just fine and averages 32.1 over last 5,000 of mixed driving with lots of motorway and short journeys thrown in). Some cars seem to have leak issues, some none, seems almost luck of the draw.

As for the 12V Battery going flat in 1 week, it most certainly should not unless there is a parasitic drain. Mine sits in airport carparks for 2 weeks regularly. The 12V Battery was not new when I bought it and still seems OK. Naturally I will replace it at the first sign of it being strained starting out of precaution. Best thing instead of faffing with a trickle charger is to keep one of those lithium jump packs in the boot (similar to a mobile phone power bank). I keep one and have started lots of other people's cars with it (remember, it is not good practise to jump someone else's car with your hybrid).

I'm looking forward to hearing your car is running well and no more issues!

[GMB]

For reasons which appear obvious to me....I think an ICE car that spends most of its time in greater London will have had a hard life especially a large engined cruiser which is practically unsuitable.

[adrian-gregory]

9 minutes ago, GMB said:

For reasons which appear obvious to me....I think an ICE car that spends most of its time in greater London will have had a hard life especially a large engined cruiser which is practically unsuitable.

Makes sense to me. The car will now get it's legs stretched more with me. 

[adrian-gregory]

This morning I got the bumper back from my friend who repaired and sprayed it. I refitted that to the car.

The replacement cooling fans for the hybrid Battery arrived from Amayama / Japan at noon.  Ii stripped the old ones out and fitted the new ones.  Hopefully, I won't need to go into the Battery again for a while.

Immediately afterwards I had to drive to Manchester.  A mixture of roads, then dual carriageway and motorway, then an hour in traffic in Manchester city centre, then home.  I am very pleased with the overall economy