OldTrout

Nigel, It's rather strange that it works at all if it is waterlogged. Or do you mean the the screen is grey fuzzy with no image at all? Is the lens clean? John

Members of the LOC will be familiar with the many many really helpful posts (>2200) made by Britprius. He died suddenly and unexpectedly of a massive heart attack in March. His widow Carol has been unable to get into his computer email or LOC accounts and has asked me if I will let his many on-line friends in the LOC know. He was a great inspiration to me from when I first bought my GS450h and joined the LOC. Having done very little vehicle maintenance for 20 years John encouraged me to have a go. I did. My car is serviced on the Britprius plan, has the Britprius tyres and reclaimed TPMS sensors, and soon will have a Britprius exhaust. If it had Britprius dampers I would be hundreds of £ richer. He was a mine of information and a huge contributor to this forum. His clear explanations of the hybrid drive system in particular answered many of the queries that are posted here. His skills covered not just the mechanical components but electronics and computing and even chemistry. I read his explanation of modern 12v batteries only yesterday. He was multi-talented. He shared his expertise freely on the forum and many of us have benefitted. I was fortunate to meet John at his house in Wigmore in Herefordshire when we shared a cuppa and some tales. My favourite Britprius tale is about the notorious Gen 3 GS450h dampers. John's car was being MOTed and the tester said he could not pass the car because of "that funny thing on the dampers". The "funny things" were John's mod to stop the dampers leaking. The car passed. We miss you John. If members would like to reply this post telling how John helped them - new understanding, £s saved, etc. - I will gather the replies together at the end of August and send them to his widow.

Mk3 does not have LED headlights Malc so no £1000 there! New xenons could be £8 of £80. I have one of each in my car and can't tell the difference. John

Pedro, Sounds like the xenons are failing as this behaviour is typically how they fail. Are they original 2007 bulbs? Replace both. My 450h does not have any bulb-out warnings. My mk2 did! John

Welcomer Glen, How did you miss the 89 quake? A friend had all but completed buying a house when the quake struck and the prospective house slid some way down the hill. John

Florin, BritPrius added the radar adaptive cruise to his car. He is the one to advise on this. I expect he will be along shortly. John

Fenn, I just followed the manual. What I remembered incorrectly above is that the key sets just the driver's seat not the passenger's as well. The passenger seat is set for wife on 2 and me on 1 the same as the driver's seat. The 2007 SE-L had all possible features many of which became options on later years. The ACC for example became an option and was still a (very expensive) option on the 4 GS. What always puzzled me about the auto setting of seat, headrest, wing mirrors and steering wheel was why the rearview mirror was left out. I'm told that a Vauxhall sets its rearview mirror electrically. My wife has not mentioned any dash rattles. I am pretty deaf so I probably would not hear them if I had any. I do remembers LOC member writing that they fixed some rattles by stuffing a strip of sponge between the dash top and the screen. Are you the Oxford side of London? John

Fenn Mine is a 3 GS - 2007. John

Mine is 2007 but I have my key programmed for driver's seat for me and passenger's seat for my wife. Her key is the reverse. John

Peter, What is the state of your 12V battery? A poor battery gives rise to all sorts of errors non of which are check battery. John

I had a GS300h one day when my car was in for service. After very few miles I had to remove the headrest. It poked my head forward and I could not adjust it too be useable. When I took it back none of the sales people suggested a solution. Since then whenever I have been in a showroom it try out the seats. Not done it now for a while so my old results are probably out of date. The CT was one of the cars that failed my tests. John

Sergio, It turns off the interior motion detector so the something moving in the cabin e.g. dog, does not trigger the alarm. John

Camiel Do the experiment? Quicker than finding the entry in the handbook. John

I wish I had known about these when I first got my car. I hardly ever touch the kerb now. Can tyres be replaced with Alligators in place? John

James, if you put it in sport mode does the ride stiffen up? Amongst other things the dampers are stiffened in sport mode. I wonder if they are stuck in sport mode even though the other settings are back to normal. Even in sport mode the ride is not hard on mine. I don’t use sport mode much because the throttle is much more sensitive and over the potholes I find it difficult to keep right foot steady. John

Welcome James, Is it perhaps still on its original tyres? These are probably hard by now. Ride can be harsh on bad roads and we have a lot of these. But it is good on reasonable roads. The tyres should be 36 psi all round. Are there any MoT advisories for dampers? The dampers are a weak point with normal mileage. John

Paul, Britprius might pop up to say he met a Greek Prius owner who was given a new Prius by Toyota who wanted his old one which had reached 1000000km. It was on its original hybrid battery. John

Sorry I should have been more specific. Is fuel getting through? If it suddenly stops, engine would die. Then if a little bit gets through it would run for a second. Does the engine start when you remove the filler cap? John

Fuel pump and them compression problems because it has been standing? John

I have a Bosch built-in single oven. After about 5 years the numbers around the temperature knob were wearing off (just printed on the brushed steel). I contacted Bosch. An engineer could call but that would be £50. If it needed a new panel that would be another £50. I said the letters should never have worn off and panel should be replaced free. They did not agree. I also have a little folding knife that uses replaceable blades. It came from B&Q for about £5 and has B&Q printed on the side. After many years in my toolbox banging about with other tools or in my pocket with keys the B&Q logo is almost unmarked. If B&Q can do labelling which last many years, why not Bosch? I looked for a sheet of Lettraset but that seems to have gone long ago. In the end I found some a set of labels on eBay which were ridiculously expensive at £10 and I only needed the one dial. They are still fine. John

The 450h is both comfortable and able to get you somewhere! John

This one looks like the top of the range SE-L. It has things that were later made optional like the adaptive cruise control. John

The dampers are entirely mechanical. The damping is varied by a small external motor that turns a rod running through the main damper shaft. That said they are expensive because there is no alternative and they do seem to fail more often than those on the GS300. Damper problems seem much more common than hybrid battery problems. Linas also said "But, both are generally extremely reliable cars." Yes. John

Sami, Would a repair of the hole with FibreFix Heat Wrap be possible? Google "FibreFix Heat Wrap" to see Youtube repairs and people who sell it. It might give you a few more years. John

Martin A later GS450h? John