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Myself and @Cezar had a trip to South Wales at the weekend, we visited Elon Valley and the Devils Staircase, would highly recomend!

Thank you for making that clear. It is all sorted now, it turns out the battery is not holding the charge at all, and it is completely damaged. Once the new battery is put in, everything is back to normal. Thank god there is a garage near me (50 metres away from my house). Thank you for every one's help!

I just had my power steering pump replaced and a new alternator fitted by my local independent Porsche specialist. I was, sadly, disappointed in the Lexus Indy I have previously used several times (and recommended on here). I was totally stuck with a faulty alternator and having called my indy several times, being told he was busy and having had promises of a call back on three occasions over several days, heard nothing. I need to withdraw that recommendation. The Porsche specialist had changed the starter contacts on my starter motor around eight years ago when I first bought my LS 400. I had been told it's a horrible job but they weren't fazed at all, so I thought I'd give them a try. They rebuilt the pas pump, fitted the new alternator and bled my brakes , and for a pretty reasonable cost. It'll be a service and timing belt change next. They work primarily on Porsches and Euro cars, they always have at least one 911 in for work, so I was surprised that they are willing to work on mine, because they are incredibly busy and booked up many weeks in advance. It feels good to take the car to such knowledgeable and helpful people and it shows that sometimes, when choosing services etc. it pays to think outside the box a little.

If you get a "silly" quote, it is probably because they do not want to do it - or are not sure how to do it. Worth getting a second opinion if that is the case.

Okay I’ll try load testing it and see what happens. Thanks for your help lads, greatly appreciated! 👍🏻

So….you now have a new battery, a new trickle charger to keep it in good condition, a lesson in the complexities of car electrics, a new thread that produced some interesting information about hybrid electronics - and the discovery that sometimes the obvious answer is the answer! Not a bad day’s work. 🙂

Hi All, It is actually a "design feature" - in that those bolt heads are purely decorative. Those panels are clipped on, i.e. you do not remove those bolts when removing the panels. From memory, I think they are based on some bolts on the LFA?? Paul

We had similar on our Rx, so I can sympathise for your problems. As far as I understand, the engine charges the traction battery and the traction battery charges the 12v ... but that all needs the computer to manage, which will not start without a good 12v. if your traction battery is dead, you're in trouble... you cannot jump start that, the jumpstart cables only power up the computer that manages it all. For us, I took the 12v out, recharged on the bench... that was enough to kick the computer into life, and as the traction battery had enough charge left, it started the engine and all good from there until I could replace the 12v.... I had to do that for 10mins twice a day until the new one arrived. Note, a dead 12v battery cannot be recovered, it will never hold charge for long, as it is damaged inside... so this is only temporary, you need to replace it, which is sadly more expensive that you would think.

Exactly...that’ll be broken wires and open circuits everywhere ! 😀

Welcome to the club Ravi :) There are a loads of guides on youtube - linked a few below this shows a good method to remove the vent without damaging the dashboard And this is more of a "how not to" video to check to know what to avoid doing :) Can't take credit for finding the BT adapter as Bruce was the one who mentioned it initially!

Anybody else remember the Michelin TV advertising in the USA - 1980s I think - where they started to pronounce the name ‘properly’ i.e. sounding French. Turned out most Americans thought Michelin (Meesh-lan) was an American company and sales plummeted…so they reversed that particular decision 😆

you'll be using another garage then for the future wellbeing of your cars and sanity and wallet ! Malc

are you a RAC or AA member ? Green Flag or whatever ...... they mighty assist Malc

So did you keep it taxed & insured the whole time? I am thinking we should, then I can use it as a second car when the Wife takes the Lexus.

Apologise for not saying clearly, my intention was to get it recharged and then go to garage to get the battery replaced. I do not want to pay hundred quid to get it towed to the garage, although that is my final option.

29k miles from 2014, barely drive it.

Every time you allow the 12v battery to go flat you shorten it's life, the efficiency of which falls away over time anyway, requiring more frequent charging. It seems to me that you need a new 12v battery and then ensure that is charged regularly by one means or another so it does not go flat. Cars should be fitted with an easily seen state of charge indicator as if you have any doubts you need to connect a meter direct to the battery or elsewhere where there is voltage to check level which can be a nuisance.

You had a French tyre fitted on a Japanese car....won’t that result in electrical problems 😀

The O2 sensor is to do with emissions.

Well, I got a Second Opinion, Powerflow Exhausts in Mitcham , South London. Drove it there at 7.00 am in the morming, waking up the neighbourhood and setting off Car Alarms! Awesome sound! They took The Y section that I bought from LexusParts in Swindon and Did a bit of a " Cut and Shut" with some Exhaust tubes that they had, and stuck it through the MOT. £440.00 , Ta Very Much. Her Indoors is happy again , as it is her daily driver to the Train Station. I may now try and work on getting the paint work up to scratch. It is now entirely possible that I will run out of places to buy Petrol ,before it wears out. Thanks to HIzzoner The Mayor, It will cost me £13.50 to drive past the Sarf Circular!

Yes had a Michelin tyre fitted this morning to a Honda Jazz and worked fine 👍

Devizes, Street or Swindon are nearest to you, if you are interested. Certainly they are nicely screwed together and I think the seats are more comfortable than the Lexus. Whatever you do - Good hunting. Apparently there is a shortage in the trade of good used luxury stock at Auction which is why dealers are keen to buy cars at present for good money

Finally got around to installing this today. It worked like a charm, and the sound is better than it was with the AUX cable. Can recommend the product 10/10 compared with alternative solutions, both in terms of price, and in terms of keeping it fairly original

If that's rare a GS F sighting must be like seeing a unicorn 😄

If you can, a F-sport with all the toys and ML audio is what I got. One look was all I needed to purchase mine, still get lots of looks when I cruise around town. Its Unique.

Do you trust your garage prognosis ? can't quite fathom how anyone could have possibly welded the exhaust to the actual manifold ..... without taking it all out in the first instance ..... and no-one would have done that eh ! wouldn't it be possible to dismantle the exhaust into chopped off sections if needs be and then the correct small fingered person with the right tools actually undo the exhaust at the manifold .......... it can't surely have been welded into place there My indy assures me that my exhaust pipes are good to go truly for the life of the car, tank-like stainless steel he says.... and I'm 26 yrs young coming up and 233k miles Malc

I think this is the one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264004475652?epid=6025037608&hash=item3d77e49b04:g:KGIAAOSwVFJbzvUu

Indeed. I've opted for this Lexus as I had already 6 points on my license for speeding and I needed something less enthusiastic to drive...😬

this is the original thread where this was discussed - on the second page I shared how it looks on the screen once connected and where I plugged mine in

Sounds like the dash cam has voltage detection which shuts down if it gets to a certain threshold so I'd say yes definitely worth charging the battery to see if it stops doing it. If it is the case it's a nice way to get an early warning of a low battery.

The hybrid system uses the same gas, but the lubricant used is ND11. Normal systems use PAG oil. The difference is that ND11 oil has good electrical insulation properties. This is important because the high voltage electric motor that powers the AC runs in the gas/oil mixture. The use of PAG oil or even equipment contaminated with PAG oil will cause the motor to fail "not necessarily immediately". If this happens a complete system flush is needed at minimum, if not a system replacement, and a new compressor fitted. There is no reason to service the AC if it is working correctly "apart from possible cabin filter change, and deodorising" as the motor,and compressor are sealed in one unit. This alleviates the need for a rotary shaft seal associated with engine driven compressors, and the likely loss of gas through it. The dealers are up selling work that need not be done. The cabin filter takes all of two minutes to change, and can be bought for a fraction of the dealer price on line. Your local motorist shop will have a deodorising kits if needed. John.