Britprius

It is possible this is a charging system fault. Check the voltage at the battery with the car in ready mode. It should be about 14.2 volts. Much higher than this will cause the battery to overcharge, and bulbs to burnout prematurely. This is not an alternator problem as the car does not have one. It has a DC to DC converter to charge the 12 volt battery from the high voltage "201.6 volts" traction battery. If you are using high light output bulbs they do have a much shorter working life, but should last longer than 4 weeks. John.

Apart from the assesability problem changing the alternator is reasonably simple. Take a note or photo of how the drive belt is fitted, and it is a good idea to change this at the same time if there are any doubts as to how old or worn it is. John.

This problem is easily overcome by having a timer in the supply to run for say no more than 5 seconds, or stalled motor current cutouts. This would stop any possibility of motor burn out, and is required anyway because the mirrors do not have end of travel cutout limit switches, John

Surely any company selling an aftermarket cold start system would have integrated the gear to be in neutral for a manual or park for an automatic transmission, along with the parking brake set. In the litigious US everything is scrutinised to the last detail, and then some. This must have been a poor DIY attempt. Some years ago I had some electrical equipment from the US, and a tube of silicon sealant was supplied for use on the equipment. With the sealant was a book in English no other languages the size of a paperback novel covering the safe use of. It including goggles, breathing mask, and gloves. The book had many useful tips like, do not eat, do not squirt up your nostrils, do not put in your ears, and other such jems of wisdom. John.

It is MG1 that starts the engine, but since this is connected to the sun wheel directly it is possible for it to assist in driving the wheels. When the ICE is running MG1 can be powered, and even made to change direction altering the effective gear ratio. In the Prius gen2 "othere Toyota variants differ slightly" MG1 can run from plus 10,000 rpm to minus 10,000 rpm with the car moving only forwards, depending on road speed and ICE rpm. I know there are two motor generators in the standard system, but I was trying to explain the basic system to "no disrespect intended here" a novice. The RX, and some GS 4 wheel drive have a third motor generator. For the RX in the rear diff there being no mechanical drive from the transmission to the rear wheels, and with the GS the front wheels are driven by a similar system. John.

It sounds like they have damaged the pressure monitor in one of the wheels so take the car back. New monitors are £40 each upwards, and need setting in the TPMS ECU. John.

The anti squeal, and rattle shims should already be fitted. You only need to replace them if they are missing or rusted through. A smear of copper slip is recommended on re assembly. If you are doing the rears check the slide pins are free "they very common to seize", and are worth checking even if you are working the front pads. Use the correct soap based grease on the slide pins not copper slip. John.

Sharan welcome to LOC. The jerking you are referring to is normal while in park, and ready mode. Because of the way a hybrid transmission works it is always in gear. There is no true neutral, reverse gear, or actual gear changes. It is all down to a computer arranging the supplies to electric motors. Reverse is the electric motor being turned backwards. These motors can also act as generators. If you put the car in ready mode, and park the engine will start, and stop under control of the computer depending on if you have the heater on, the state of charge of the high voltage battery "not the 12 volt battery" and the engine temperature. The engine is started by the same electric motor that drives the car along "there is no normal starter motor, and no normal alternator" it is this starting the engine you can feel. As it turns the engine it also tries to move the car. There is a similar effect when the engine stops. Never sit in the car in ready mode with the car in neutral as the system cannot look after itself in this condition. John.

If you try a GS450H make sure you put it in sport mode, and hybrid power mode together. Then adjust the headrest to support your neck. That's all I am going to say, John.

I should have added the reason for it braeking is that the cups seize onto the balls, and will not rotate as the suspension moves. Check the other side of the car, and the front. It maybe that there will only be one other on the front passengers side, and lubricate the joints to stop this repeating else ware. John.

Hello Michael welcome to LOC. The part that is broken is the operating rod for both headlamp auto levelling, and if you have it suspension ride height adjustment. The broken rod cannot be bought separately to the rest of the mechanism costing around £185. It is not difficult to make one from sum threaded rod, and ball joints available on Ebay for very little money. John

Pressing the black button by the side of the gear selector, and selecting neutral will allow you to move the car without any problem from just pushing. Obviously do not tow the car anywhere, but pushing will be fine. Do not forget to put the car back in park after moving. John.

Elaine welcome LOC. Have you carefully checked the heating wires printed on the inside of the screen for any brakes? These can get cut by scratches when being cleaned. Do the heated door mirrors work? as these are usually on the same circuit. Can you see where the screen heating wires exit the edge of the glass? If you can connect a volt meter or 12 volt bulb "a side lamp or stop lamp bulb is fine" to each exit point with pointed metal probes. If you get a volt reading or the bulb lights "with the screen, and ignition turned on" it narrows it down to the screen heating print. You can buy conductive paint to repair any breaks in the print. I hope this helps. PS. you have spelled your name differently in your avatar. John.

Thanks for the heads up Robert. This is a job I keep putting off. I have the bearing to hand. My car makes a rotating rattling noise in ready mode while stationary. The noise comes and goes depending on the position of the gear selector. I tried running the pump in Techstream at it's different speeds, and get the same noise, but no other symptoms as yet. It may pay me to get the local garage to remove the pump, and I will service it. It will be worth the cost to save scrabbling around on the floor outside. John.

If the car uses 0w20 grade oil this is only made in fully synthetic, but my answer could have been worded better "yes" meaning it is fully synthetic" answering your question, and the rest of my answer was for grade guidelines. Your car should also be suitable for the latest grade of oil for energy conservation "mpg" 0w16. This is reputed to give better ware protection along with higher mpg figures. John.

Your local car parts shop should have them or through Ebay. Be sure you get the correct thread for your car. John.

You can buy a set of bleed nipples with a one way valve built in. This makes bleeding very easy, and a one man job. The the bleed nipple is slacked off, but a spring loaded one way valve built in stops fluid escaping, but more importantly stops air entering the system. Pushing the brake peddle opens the valve by light pressure in the system allowing fluid, and any air in the system out. The valve then closes as the pressure drops, and you take your foot off the brake peddle air cannot be drawn back into the system. So pumping the peddle a few times "making sure there is enough fluid in the reservoir" then tightening the bleed nipple is all that's required to bleed the system. No pipes, bottles, helping hands, or pumps required. Unless you have a hybrid then it's a different ball game. John.

Hi Dave welcome to LOC. I am not sure what make the OEM shocks are on your car, but they are likely to be KYB as this is the manufacturer Toyota/Lexus uses. I think the great majority of people here would say to fit these. If you are a gold member you would be entitled to a discount at Lexus outlets, but you may get the same brand cheaper from the US or some other outlet. No doubt someone here has done this, and will guide you further. John.

Yes the correct grade will be in the handbook, and being a 2018 it is likely to be 0w20 oil. John.

As said in my previous post I do hope I am wrong on this, but replacing the mount should at leased cure the knocking. The LS400 is a beautiful piece of engineering. I do not know if you have driven a GS450H, but strongly suggest you do even if your not ready to change yet. The 450H is on another level performance wise while keeping rely surprising levels of fuel economy along with great comfort. John.

I am going through this process at the moment also. As yet I do not know if my car will be written off, but I feel it is very likely, and my car will get a Cat N rating. Insurance damage categories have changed. Cat C and D have gone, and we now have Cat S and N. Cat S is for structurally damage, but repairable, and Cat N is for no structural damage, and repairable John

Pete. Not wishing to put a damper on this "no pun intended", and I hope I am wrong, but I fail yo see how the top mount can cause the vibration. I do agree the mount needs changing, but i would be concentrating my search area to the wheels, and tyres. I would imagine you have already had the wheels balanced off the car. Are there any bulges or misshapes on the tyres? is there any buckle on the wheel? are the bearings in good order? Have you tried swapping wheels from front to back? I have had a vibration on a car some years ago on a BMC 1800 that only appeared when towing my caravan on a long uphill incline. It never occurred at any other time. I found the fault by accident when replacing the front discs. I noticed the drive shaft boots were perished "not holed or split" so I decided to change them while I had the front end in bits. On taking the drivers side boot off the CV joint was dry of an sort of grease just a deposit of graphite looking material. I cleaned, and re-greased the CV joint, and the vibration disappeared. Under heavy load the CV joint was getting warm, and expanding making the balls tight in there tracks John.

Sorry I have not been back sooner. I still think it is the bulb. The time that the headlamp uses the most current is the moment it is turned on. This is the time a fault is likely to show up for bad connections. The fact that the bulb goes out after it has warmed up then relights after it has cooled is indicative of a failed bulb. John.

Robert i am sorry to hear your your wife's problems require a chair. My sister needed a wheel chair for over half of here life suffering with MS. The problem she found was Electric chairs were too heavy and bulky to fit in most cars. Here electric joy stick operated chair was used in the house, and a folding wheel chair was used for the car, but this did not allow the independence of the electric version because she did not have the strength to propel it. John.

If it is of any help to anyone I visit Stourbridge "very close to this dealer in Dudley" every week, and can check out cars for sale from this unscrupulous dealer if needed. I note his usual trick of no warranty given, but states any Lexus car welcome in part exchange at "trade" prices. John.