Britprius

Not necessarily sometimes it can just be a ball joint cup that has popped off the ball so worth checking. John.

I have been with Saga for nearly 3 years, and am now in the process of making a no fault claim "see my post Rear door damage". I can honestly say that they have dealt with my claim in a speedy, professional, courteous, and helpful manor. Compared with other companies I have had dealings with in the past Saga are on another planet. They have arranged a loan car "Mercedes C class" that I can use for the duration of the claim, and if my car is written off I can keep the loan car for 5 days after I receive the settlement check. They have also arranged free insurance for the loan car with no excess should I damage that vehicle. The premium they charged for my insurance was way cheaper than any other company, and also had a lower excess. The Premium at renewal also only went up by very small amounts not the usual that will be £150 more this year sir. John.

About the only thing that cannot be changed simply by the home mechanic on an alternator is the coil winding's. The Bearings are usually standard off the shelf parts available from bearing suppliers for pennies. However bearings do not usually cause charging problems unless they have got to the point where the rotor will no longer turn. Often the slip ring brushes are the problem with one brush wearing down while the other has lots of life left. This is because many designs use a brush that sits on or near the centre of rotation that wares very little while the other brush runs on a ring about 1" in diameter meaning for every rotation of the rotor it rubs on the ring for over 3". Swapping the brushes over with a little stretch of the spring on the worn brush will restore operation for as much time again. John.

Robert I am sorry to hear about the theft from your car. However do not blame the make or model of car this is a problem for all makes. Obviously here on LOC you will only rely hear about thefts from Lexus cars, but this is a problem for all vehicles fitted with catalytic converters. There is no fundamental difference between the cats from any manufacturer changing to another make will not make you immune from this problem, and you will loose more money changing cars than having cat stolen five times. About the only ways you can stop this 100% is to buy an old car not fitted with a cat, or buy an electric vehicle. John.

Very neat job, and for what it's worth aluminium is terrible to cut with an angle grinder as it tends to stick to and clog the grinding wheel. John.

Toyota/Lexus engines with VVT "variable valve timing" often suffer a rattling knocking at start up if the car has been stood for a couple of hours or more. More often than not this is due to the VVT mechanism draining of oil. At start up there is no oil in the hydraulic mechanism to hold the cam timing in a static setting. Once the oil fills the system the noise disappears. John.

The trouble with the reversing camera is that whenever you need it most the lens is covered with mud, and water. I am considering a modification for my GS that should be easier on the NX of fitting a screen washer jet very close to the camera. This could be "T'd" off the OEM rear screen washer, and give the ability of blasting away any deposits covering the camera lens. John.

At the bottom of the wiper arm "farthest away from the blade mounting end" there is a nut. This nut may be covered by a lift off plastic cover. Try tightening the nut. If this does not cure the problem it will be required that both wiper arms are removed, and the plastic scuttle removed to expose the wiper mechanism. John.

In my GS450H the seats can be moved with the transmission lever in any position. It would be very difficult if you were getting uncomfortable with your driving position while driving down a motorway to have to put the lever in "P" before moving the seat. John.

Why would you pay £10 to park to drink there coffee, and eat there food for which you pay? I am not tight, but nor do I like being taken for a mug. John.

I had the car fixed the car, and sent a copy of the invoice to both the contractor, and the council. Being disabled I could not be without the car for weeks until the claim was settled. I am not saying all councils or areas will be the same, but if you believe you are being given the run around do not be afraid to start pushing. John.

This modification goes back as far as 2004 with the Prius Gen2 then onto the Gen3, and the CT200H based on the Prius, but be aware that on some models "not all" the stop switch on the brake pedal also has to be changed so that when the brakes are applied the cruise is cancelled. Obviously if cruise is not cancelled the engine will work as hard as it can to maintain speed when the brakes are applied. John.

I have been through this after a pothole literally burst a front shock absorber. On line I found that a contractor was responsible for all road repairs, and claims in Herefordshire with multiple on line claims forms. My claim for over £600 was going nowhere fast. Every obstacle that could be put in my way to put me off the claim was done. I rang the local council, and told them I was taking the council to the small claims court. The council came back, and said the contractor was the party to claim against. I then wrote to the council stating the council was responsible for the roads, and they could not in law pass on there liability to a third party, and that if my claim was not settled in 14 days I would go down the court route. Seven days later I had a check for payment in full from the contractor. Moral if you know you are right keep pushing. It's not the value of the claim, but the principle that's at stake. John

My nearest neighbor had his cat stolen from his Mitsubishi pickup on his driveway, and I live in the very rural Herefordshire so this problem is not just confined to towns. Being a landscape gardener he has built a large speed hump cross shaped in his drive and now parks straddling it. The vehicles ground clearance is now about 2", and is fitted with a very loud tilt alarm separate to the OEM alarm. John.

Those ribbed tyres do help, but they are primarily designed to stop the rim being dented when climbing a curb at right angles. Wider tyres can help considerably. my Prius came with 195/55/16 tyres "and strangely plastic wheel trims on alloy wheels all OEM" going to 205/55/16 cured the problem of curbing the trims. The larger size tyre was also 30% cheaper to buy, and improved the cars handling. John

In my opinion they look rather boy racer. Those that I have seen fitted suffer just as much if not more since the stand out from the wheel further, and are made from a soft plastic that gets chewed up. At £65 a set I do not think they are good value. I get my wheels tyre off refurbed for £120 a set of 4. John.

My GS450H, my wifes Aygo, my Prius all have the same connectors as shown in you bottom (second) picture. I have various OBD2 devices for code fault reading, and all plug in without problems. I also have a dashcam fitted, but I picked up the feed for this from the vanity light under the sun visor> this is a permanent feed, and is close to where the camera is fitted if that is of any help. A cigar phone charger plug is also a good way of connecting a dash cam. John.

The powder coating on wheels is actually plastic. It is sprayed on in powder form, and static electricity is used to hold it in place. The item coated is then put in an oven to melt the plastic into a solid coating. John.

Hi Stuart. I can only echo Lee's comment above on your misfortune. I had my wheels refurbished in the summer, and have been almost paranoid about keeping away from curbs since. I know it is only a matter of time before I do the same thing. As per color have you asked where you had the wheels done if they know of the matching touch up paint color. John.

The connector you show is an OBD2. It is just upside down to the first picture. However I am not 100% sure of this but on the Toyota/Lexus range of cars pin 16 battery positive is not always alive. It is only on when in accessory, ignition on, or ready mode. This means your dashcam will not work unless the system is turned on. A check with a voltmeter will quickly confirm if this is the case. Pin 16 is the first pin on the left top row in your second picture. John.

The insurance assessor called today to examine my car. I am now waiting to see if it will be written off. I think for me this would be the best scenario, and buying the car back. Buying another GS450H to replace mine would be a backwards step as I would then be in a position where all the work I have done on the car could have to be done again on it's replacement. Repairing the car would be straight forward, and although with an "N" category write off title with pictures of the damage, and repair on what would be an old car would make little difference to it's value in the unlikely event I wish to sell it. The assessor did comment that the door replacement in his words "for one of these an arm and a leg" so keeping my fingers crossed. If they do decide to repair the car I have lost nothing. I will keep you all updated. John.

As Mark has already stated the 12 volt battery does not start "as in turning the engine over" the car. The cranking amps of the battery is also almost immaterial as the hardest job it has to do "even before you press the start button" is to pressurise the brake system. This occures as you try to open the drivers door. If you listen carefully if the car has been standing a few hours as you try to open the door an electric motor will start run for a few seconds then stop. This is the brake accumulator being pressurised to give you power brakes. This action loads the battery from a low amperage up to around 40 amps as the system gains pressure. The starter motor "part of the transmission" runs on the hybrid battery at 201.6 volts. There is no 12 volt starter motor, and no 12 volt alternator. I would be going back to the tyre centre, and telling them to read up on how hybrids work particularly as this type of work is going to be an increasing part of there customer base. Feeding people the wrong information is misleading them. John.

The other thing to remember in all this is that the Lexus engine is not a Lexus engine it's a Toyota engine. This means the lable on the bottle of oil makes not the slightest difference as long as the oil specification is as specified or better than the oil listed in the handbook. The only engine oils that I know of that cannot be mixed are the vegetable based oils that cannot be mixed with mineral oils. Synthetic, semy synthetic, and mineral oils can all be mixed without problems. The vegetable based oils are usually designated racing oils "such as Castrol R possibly the the best known", and give off a very sweet smell from the exhaust. I do not know if this oil is still used in motorbike speedway bikes now, but members old enough to remember the 60's,70's, and 80's race meetings will remember that unmistakable odor. John.

Check the plastic engine under tray leading edge by trying to pull it down towards the road. This coming adrift is a common problem on many vehicles. John.

Makes the damage to my GS450H look like it will polish out. John.