Britprius

Jeff. 315Mhz is used for other purposes in the UK so it is not licenced for TPMS use. This does mean it is illegal to use that frequency unless you are authorised to do so. It has nothing to do with your insurers. Just for interest 315Mhz is listed as UK mobile phone earth to space communication. John,

For what vehicle are you looking for doors? Your avatar lists 3 different cars John.

Lee funny you should mention going over the border. I live within two miles of the Welsh border. I know if you blindfolded me and drove me around the local area I could tell you when we entered Wales as the roads there are so much better than in Herefordshire. John.

Can I come? John.

I had a similar problem with my son's Grand Voyager. To keep costs down I put a relay in between the battery and the devices giving the excess battery drain. The relay was operated by turning on the ignition switch powering up the devices. This cured all his battery discharge problems, and is still working 3 years later. John.

eahart .com has possibly the best depiction of the basic Toyota transmission. I have recommended it for many years. It has however become more difficult to open the page fully as you now need to enable Adobe flash each time you use the page. Using the sliders on the nomograph at the bottom of the page rely shows how the MG's work particularly MG1. It is not very apparent, but the engine drives the stubs on which the planet gears sit powering them in orbit around the central sun gear. It also shows the phenomenon of the engine inhibiting reverse operation if it is running. It will be noted that MG1 can go from -6500 rpm to +6500 with the car moving forwards. This is for the gen1 Prius. The gen2 Prius had different gear ratios in the planetary gear set, and MG1 was able to run from -10,000 rpm to +10,000 rpm. After the gen2 from 2009 most transmissions were fitted with a second planetary gear set between MG2 and the ring gear that drives the wheels via the diff. This was to reduce the speed of MG2, and increase it's torque. It also reduced the possibility of the magnetic rotor exploding due to centrifugal forces at high speed. There are now even later iterations of the system using more gear sets. In each version there has been a significant improvement in efficiency. John.

That car was also produced as a Hillman minx, and Singer vogue there was possibly a Sunbeam version as well "alpine"?. Making a number of different named cars that were all basically the same car in those days was normal. The difference was in the trim level or basic engine mods such as twin carbs. John.

Bad news. I have just had a call from the claims handler saying that due to an unknown problem at the body shop my car will not be ready now till next week around the 11th feb. This will give me a couple of weeks to get the car MOTd "due the 1st of march". I rely am now missing the car daft as that may sound. John.

The S stands for sequential mode. This when used to "change down" increases the output of MG1 "used as a generator" , and charges the battery at a high rate, and so gives some braking, but because of the position of MG1 in the transmission it also forces the engine revs to rise giving the appearance that the engine is braking the car when in essence the revs rising is a by product of loading the rotation of MG1. This is also how the engine is started while the car is on the move. If the car is stationary, and the engine is required to start MG1 is used as a starter motor. It is also interesting to note that while the car is on the move MG1 can be running in either direction depending on road, and engine speed. MG2 is effectively fastened to the wheels. If the wheels are going round so is MG2. MG2 gives reverse gear by being powered backwards from the battery. If the battery is low however the engine starts from MG1 then drives MG1 to produce power for MG2, but because of the way the system is configured the engine tries to move the car forwards against the drive of MG2. The Prius had problems reversing up steep slopes if the engine started because of this. John.

I must admit as far as the GS450H shocks themselves go I did do some reverse engineering, but not on the stepper motors. I was a very small part of a research team on hybrid systems with Toyota. However I am naturally curious on all things mechanical, and electrical, and like to try and keep up with technology. Have you read up on how the Toyota/Lexus hybrid transmission works? If not I suggest you do as it is a real eye opener. It is so brilliantly simple. The basic system has no neutral no gear ratio changes, and no reverse, but accomplishes all three. John.

On top of each shock absorber there is a stepper motor and this selects one of the 17 possible positions available. In normal mode the setting is chosen by the computer depending on your driving style. The shock absorber chrome shaft is actually a tube that contains a shaft that alters the valves in the piston assembly. This is the reason these shocks on the GS450H are close to £300 each. I am now retired, but I was an electrical engineer, but also was qualified in, hydraulics, pneumatics, and mechanical engineering. I specialised in industrial automation, and robotics. This mean I went into all sorts of industries, and processes from food to nuclear to white goods,cars, and the Royal mint. John.

Jon. I think you have virtually answered your own questions. Sport mode alters the throttle map, alters the effective gear ratio by going to and holding lower effective gears. Reduces the turns of the steering lock to lock, and stiffens up the 17 position variable shocks. I use the term "effective gear ratio" because generally the ratios are nothing more than a balancing act of two electric motor generators. The is a real ratio change to the larger of the two motors rated at 180 hp to reduce it's maximum speed. This happens at around 60 mph + depending on load to reduce the speed of the motor, and increase it' torque. Electric motors of the type used have maximum torque at zero rpm. Hybrid power increases the maximum current allowed to, and from the hybrid battery, but constant use is not good for the battery longevity as this gives rise to more heat being produced in the battery. I hope this helps. John.

I have been busy of late, and not got round to doing the write up, but I will try to do this in the next few days with pictures. As a pressure vessel I used a non refillable gas cylinder of the type plumbers use on hand held gas blow lamps, and for a flexible high pressure hose to connect to the engine oil supply I used a grease gun hose. These come with the correct threaded fittings at the ends, and are typically around £3 to purchase. They are rated at 10,000 psi more than enough for the circa 50 psi oil pressure the engine produces. A 12 volt DC solenoid suitable for oil virtually completes the parts required apart from a "from memory to be confirmed" a 1/4 bsp "T" piece, and some 1/4 bsp male couplers. All these parts are available on the Bay. John.

I know a breaker in the midlands that has parted out an RX400h. They are called Raven Global Auto recycling. Tel 01215576700. They will post parts to you. John.

Check to make sure "by following the pipe work" that it is the hybrid system cooler. If so you should be able to pick up a cooler in this country from a breaker. The rad is generally referred to as the Inverter cooler, but it does also cool the transmission. John.

Cat thefts are no more prevalent on hybrids than any other car. The reason you hear of thefts here on LOC is because these are the cars we are dealing with. It is true that cars with greater ground clearance are more susceptible to cat theft, but light weight trolley jacks help the thieves over that problem. The fact that you have a hybrid does not make your car any more of a target. I live in a very rural area 10 miles from any town, and I had a Prius. My next door neighbor has a Mitsubishi. He had his converter stolen I did not. If it were hybrids that are targets why was my converter not stolen? Many cars have hybrid, and none hybrid versions fitted with the same exhaust systems. Why would the thieves only chose to steel the cats from the hybrids when the none hybrids outnumber the hybrids possibly 6 to 1? I appreciate cat theft is a problem, but it affects all cars where the cat can be easily got at. John.

The only things I liked about the Merc were the excellent display screen stuck on the dash like an afterthought, and the cruise control system. The rest of the car after a GS450H was terrible. Apart from the list already given the rear of the car jumps sideways on hitting a bump. Rely pronounced on a bend, but also happens in a straight line. The noise from the diesel engine was a real pain at anything other than very light pedal cruising at 40 mph. I would have though on a supposedly prestigious vehicle Mercedes would have put in adequate sound proofing. The person that designed the user manual into the cars information screen needs to go back to school. How can you look up how to use a system on the screen? when you need to use the screen to find the information. Even then the search facility will not let you entre common English or American terms such as bonnet or hood "this becomes engine cover", and even then when looking for the bonnet release "sorry engine cover" the release lever was not where the manual said it was or should be. When you buy a car you need to be able to leave the car on your driveway, and take the handbook indoors to read, and then you expect that information given to be correct. So the answer to your question is a definite no. Bring back my 14 year old Lexus with 145,000 miles on the clock. John.

If the rad you are talking about is the hybrid coolant rad leaking I have never heard of any problems with this on any of the Toyota/Lexus range of hybrids. It does do an important job, but is not worked hard like an engine cooling rad. The most common fault with the hybrid cooling system is failure of the electric coolant pump. This has been the subject of recalls on most of the range. It should also be noted that only the correct coolant should be used to guard against aluminium corrosion. The coolant is Toyota SLLC "Supper long life coolant, and should be changed after 10 years or 120,000 miles, and at 50,000 mile interval after. John.

Are you checking the voltages with or without the coil pack connected? It must be done with the coil connected other wise the readings are meaningless. Ideally the signal wire should be checked with an oscilloscope. John.

John. Sorry for the delayed reply. I have been away for a couple of days. My 30 pin connector goes through a small dongle. I cannot give you any more details till I get my car back except to say it plays music from my Ipad with full steering wheel, and voice control with excellent sound quality. I will give more details once I get my car back. John.

I have a 30 pin I pad connector in my GS450H, and it works through the CD player as a second CD draw. John.

As some here will know I have made a no fault claim with my insurers "Saga" for damage to my drivers side rear door, and rear wheel arch. See my post in the GS section "Rear door damage" I can honestly state Saga pulled out all the stops in dealing with my claim including supplying a Mercedes "C" class as a cutesy car. This came with totally free insurance cover with no excess or premiums of any sort for the duration of the loan estimated to be 31 days at the moment. Every step has gone smoothly with many calls from there claim handlers "Claim Fast" to check if I had any problems or questions. All the people I have spoken to were friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable about the process. They always returned calls promptly, and if they said they would ring me back they did. My insurance renewal is due near the end of this month, and I have had my renewal as usual through the post. The Premium is exactly to the penny the same as last year, but my excess has been reduced "yes reduced" by £100. Needless to say I am renewing with Saga. When I first insured with Saga 2 years ago they were by some margin cheaper than all the other companies on Compare the Mearcat. This is how insurance should be. Not this years premium will be £150 more this year with no explanation why. With my previous company "Churchill" it took me 5 years to get back my excess premium on a no fault claim. Then my premium went up. With Saga I have not had to pay my excess, and then reclaim it. I have no affiliation with Saga, and would rely recommend members to check them out for price when renewal time comes round. John.

Good news. I have been notified today a new door has been flown in from Japan, and the car is estimated to be ready for delivery back to me on the 5th of February exactly 31 days from the car going into the body shop. The wheel arch is already repaired. I will be rely happy to get it back. John.

It is possible the camera may be able to be re-positioned slightly in the tailgate. It only takes a very small movement of the camera to move the picture substantially. John.

Hi Florin. In practical terms the answer to your question is no i'm afraid. I am not saying it cannot be done, but it would be far easier to use an android device with an interface system onto the original screen. Even if you could make the Lexus memory card system work there would be little or no advantage in changing over. John.