Intermittent problem with "Hybrid system stopped" message

[Ken83]

Hi Chaps,

I was hoping to get some help with an intermittent problem I am having with my Is300h.

Every so often, I get the message pop up that the hybrid system has stopped working and I need to shift to park (even though it's already in park). I happened maybe 6 months ago and I eventually got it to start by just trying a few times (then it was fine after that) and then it happened again a couple of months ago after I had been on holiday for 3 weeks and again after a while it started and was fine after that. On Friday my wife parked the car, I now have another car so I didn't use it over the weekend as I would do, but this morning (Monday) my wife couldn't get it to start for the same reason.

I tried a few times but couldn't get it to start either so I sent her off in one of our other cars and after dropping the kids to school I tried again and eventually got it to start when I kept my finger on the start button rather than just press it once as usual. Then after reading some stuff on the net which suggested it could be the 12v Battery I took it straight to Halfords for them to check the Battery. They said it's showing at 295 amps so the Battery is ok, but I may need to run it a while to charge it up which I did. Seems to be ok so far, but wondering what it could be and if anyone has had a similar issue?

Lexus have quoted me £210 for a new Battery (inc VAT). The car is 10 years old and I'm not sure if its the original Battery so may need a change, but if Halfords are saying its ok then maybe not?

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

Ken

[Notamech]

58 minutes ago, Ken83 said:

Hi Chaps,

I was hoping to get some help with an intermittent problem I am having with my Is300h.

Every so often, I get the message pop up that the hybrid system has stopped working and I need to shift to park (even though it's already in park). I happened maybe 6 months ago and I eventually got it to start by just trying a few times (then it was fine after that) and then it happened again a couple of months ago after I had been on holiday for 3 weeks and again after a while it started and was fine after that. On Friday my wife parked the car, I now have another car so I didn't use it over the weekend as I would do, but this morning (Monday) my wife couldn't get it to start for the same reason.

I tried a few times but couldn't get it to start either so I sent her off in one of our other cars and after dropping the kids to school I tried again and eventually got it to start when I kept my finger on the start button rather than just press it once as usual. Then after reading some stuff on the net which suggested it could be the 12v battery I took it straight to Halfords for them to check the battery. They said it's showing at 295 amps so the battery is ok, but I may need to run it a while to charge it up which I did. Seems to be ok so far, but wondering what it could be and if anyone has had a similar issue?

Lexus have quoted me £210 for a new battery (inc VAT). The car is 10 years old and I'm not sure if its the original battery so may need a change, but if Halfords are saying its ok then maybe not?

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

Ken

Its most likely the Battery. Not sure what test Halfords ran but maybe your Battery isnt doing well under load. If its been 10 years on the original Battery then might be a good idea to get a new one.

[mujib1]

I would advise getting anew Battery in the first instance. I had similar issues with my car -woud not hold charge for more than 3 days in the end. Had to jump start each time with NOCO boost chager. BTW Halfords did not even sell the Battery I needed.

[matt8]

Had this issue. Resolved with a 12V Battery replacement. 

[Lexusjim]

I fitted one of these.....

https://www.ancel.com/products/ancel-bm200

[Ken83]

Thank you all for your time!

It seems the consensus is that a new Battery is required. I'll do just that.

Cheers,

Ken

[Ken83]

12 hours ago, Lexusjim said:

I fitted one of these.....

https://www.ancel.com/products/ancel-bm200

Thanks Jim. If I have any issues after the new Battery, I'll get one of these.

Ken 

[Thackeray]

If you're planning to change the Battery yourself, are you aware of the discussions about early models having the radio system fail while the Battery is changed? If I remember rightly it can happen on 2014 and earlier cars. There are two types of fascia to the radio, one is sort of matt and the other one is glossy. I can't immediately remember which one is prone to failure when you change the Battery but I can search for it if you're not aware of this potential pitfall.

Edit: here's a link to some comments from @rayaans who had this problem on his car. There may be a longer thread elsewhere but I think this one gives the general gist.

[ColinBarber]

2 hours ago, Thackeray said:

I can't immediately remember which one is prone to failure when you change the battery but I can search for it if you're not aware of this potential pitfall.

It's the premium audio system (Pioneer headunit, with 8 speakers that includes the central dash speaker) that is vulnerable to this failure.

[Ken83]

19 hours ago, Thackeray said:

If you're planning to change the battery yourself, are you aware of the discussions about early models having the radio system fail while the battery is changed? If I remember rightly it can happen on 2014 and earlier cars. There are two types of fascia to the radio, one is sort of matt and the other one is glossy. I can't immediately remember which one is prone to failure when you change the battery but I can search for it if you're not aware of this potential pitfall.

Edit: here's a link to some comments from @rayaans who had this problem on his car. There may be a longer thread elsewhere but I think this one gives the general gist.

Thanks for the heads up!

[Ken83]

17 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

It's the premium audio system (Pioneer headunit, with 8 speakers that includes the central dash speaker) that is vulnerable to this failure.

Would that be the Mark Levinson version? I don't have that one. My control unit is matt, though I do have satnav etc, but wouldn't think that would be premium?

[ColinBarber]

16 minutes ago, Ken83 said:

Would that be the Mark Levinson version? I don't have that one. My control unit is matt, though I do have satnav etc, but wouldn't think that would be premium?

There are three audio systems; standard, premium and ML. The main unit is the same for both Premium and ML (other than cosmetics) so both are impacted.

If you have the mouse controller and centre dashboard speaker then you have premium or ML.

[Blaggs]

I had exactly the same problem 2 weeks ago and, as the car was booked in for a service with Lexus I thought I would have it investigated by the dealer. The problem arose after a 5 week period with the car on a C-Tek Battery conditioner and following a 4 hour drive to visit friends.

The dealer was quite certain that this was not a Battery problem, and was most likely caused by me moving the gear selector before the car was ready. This then throws the car into a confused state from which not takes a while to recover.

This could indeed have been the cause and since the service I have been more aware of the need to pause and have not experienced any repetition of the problem.

I will continue to monitor the situation and feedback any further problems.