Britprius

Alex you say on your computer the only code is PA080. Was this done with Techstream or some other system? Normally with a PA080 code you will get other sub codes directing you to the battery block number (a battery block is two specific battery modules consisting of six cells in each module so twelve cells in all). Any failed modules can be replaced without replacing the complete battery. Lexus will not do this they will only replace the complete battery, and then only give it 12 months guarantee. John.

The hybrid health check can be done at any time once the battery is out of it' normal guarantee. It does not require any service history or any continuance of the health check. If the hybrid system passes the health check in say year nine for the first time the battery is guaranteed for 12 months from that test date or 10,000 miles which ever is sooner. You can have as many health checks in a year as is needed to maintain the guarantee if your millage is high. Obviously if the battery has been tampered with "modules changed" the guarantee is void. All module in each battery are coded and each code must match. Toyota have the ability to check module serial numbers in the battery against there records for the serial number of the battery. John.

Contact member hear Richard at Hybrid battery solutions. He can refurbish or rebuild your battery at a fraction of the cost of Lexus, and with a longer guarantee. You can send him a PM (Private message) via the envelope at the top right of the screen. Type in "hybatt" without the comers. Were there any other codes stored? John.

Hi Chris. Welcome to LOC. Lexus in general are not prone to rust any more than any other car. The exhausts seem to last about 10 years, and on the GS the problem areas seem to be before the joint to the "Y" piece, and the "Y" piece itself. If any part of the system needs changing most here go for purpose made stainless systems that are cheaper than the OEM. If the tie down brackets having surface rust bothers you take them off give them a wire brush, rust treatment, and paint. Bear in mind they are not considered structural for the MOT so there is no need to worry. Do check the brake pipes at the ends by the rear wheels where the plastic coating is removed to fit the end nut. Cleaning and greasing this small area of pipe will stop them rusting over the long term. John.

What a mess. I can see why you wanted to take the cover off, but in the past I have found that rarely are the guides worn particularly on a low millage like yours. However it is not unreasonable to change them with the chain. Let us know how things work out. John.

The hybrid health check is not done in the first five years because the vehicle is still under guarantee eight years on some Toyota vehicles, but can be done at any time for the first time up till 15 years, and is just as valid. John.

Just being realistic here if you were offered a 5 year old car secondhand with a genuine 23500 miles on the clock with two dealer service stamps in the book, and an up to date MOT would you consider it to be a well serviced car. I know I would. Would you give any more for the same car with six service stamps in the book? John.

I cannot see these codes being relevant to the problems you have. It is possible you have the well documented bearing failure of the transmission pump electric motor. This is a relatively easy fix with parts costing £5. Why would the car engine stop running in park? It maybe the car has gone into limp mode as this does happen with the oil pump problem. Have you tried clearing the codes to see if things improve? I believe the code only appears if you try to go above the gear change speed 65/70 mph or when the transmission gets to hot, and goes into limp mode, and does not self clear. Are there any codes stored in the engine ECU? John.

This is fine, but in the case of Jeff's car it will have cost him £2620 for services in only 23,000 miles. Quite ludicrous as this is the cost of the same car with 60,000 miles of use almost three times as much per mile. Lexus say services should be carried out sooner under rigorous conditions, but they make no allowance for vehicles with light use. Six oil, and filter changes in 23k miles is just wasteful as is changing the plugs that do not ware or degrade with none use. John.

Most cars up until recently use R134A refrigerant, but there is a big difference in the oil used depending on if the car is a hybrid or not. Using PAG oil or even equipment that used this oil on a hybrid car AC system will destroy the electric drive motor. PAG oil is used in conventional car AC systems. The correct oil for hybrid cars is ND11. The compressors used in conventional cars "engine driven" use multi piston units operated by a type of cam. Hybrid compressors are of the scroll type driven directly by an electric motor cooled by the oil, and gas in the system. John

Hi Robert. Is the HV battery still showing being charged on the display? and at what level on the bar graph was it when the problem appeared? I do not think this is related to the exhaust, but possibly by water in the electrics. If water caused the engine to stop with a relatively low HV battery, and then the engine started from it 5 times it could have bought the battery down to a level that would issue a fault code with the message you have. A low or faulty HV battery will not cause the engine to stall, and this is the area you need to look at first. This is where a Mini VCI with Techstreem is required. I think you will have the dreaded P0A80 code, but this may disappear, and go to history after a few starts with reasonable runs. There should be some codes to show why the engine stopped. You can run your laptop of a 12 to 230 volt inverter or a laptop power supply designed to run fro a 12 volt battery John.

Well done Phil. It's amazing how much time is gained once you do a job again knowing the little tweaks, and things you did wrong the first time. Good luck. John.

If you do a search on "Youtube" I think you will find a video of the complete strip and rebuild of the Toyota V6 engine for replacing the timing chain. This should help you find what is holding the plate. The chain can be replaced however by splitting the chain on the drivers side cam sprocket after the tensioner is removed. Then attach the new chain "also split" with a split link. A simple tool can be made and bolted over the sprocket to keep the chain in contact with the sprocket so as not to loose the timing. The engine is wound over by hand until the split link appears. The link is then removed, and used to join the new chain that is now in the engine. The tensioner is refitted after winding it back to it's start position then releasing it against the chain to tension it. As said previously I have done this on a Mercedes V8 engine, and looking at the Toyota V6 there is little if any difference. I hope something there helps you. John.

I had forgotten the hybrid health check. This is free with all services, intermediate, full, and major. The health check can also be bought as a separate item for around £60. This makes having only the inter mediate service good value. £745 for a major service at first may sound reasonable, but I believe even that to be about £250 to much. It may sound penny pinching but I would ask for the old pollen, and air filters to be left in the car, as I doubt at that millage they require replacement. They probably at most need a quick blast with an air line, and at Lexus prices represent about £60 In parts. Also the plugs should not be changed on age, but rather on millage saving another £60 in parts, and what would possibly be an hour or mores labor. John.

Liam. It's more to do with it being a hybrid. The engine stops and "parks" it's self in one of two positions. If the engine has not reached or overrun that position the motor in the transmission that starts the engine will move it to the correct position ready for starting. If at all in doubt have a word with the dealer. John.

Mat be careful is there a plug or connector on the wiring actually on the air bag? The air bag usually have a connector that when disconnected shorts out the input of the air bag. This maybe in the connector you are going to change or on the air bag This is so that static electricity cannot set the air bag off in storage or while being handled. This connector should be disconnected to protect the air bag while you work on splicing the wiring. When done the air bag can be re connected. If the shorting switch is in the connector you are changing to be safe the wires going into the air bag should be connected together (shorted) while you solder on the replacement connector. It would be safer to get the other part of the new seat connector off the car at the breakers, and fit that to your car allowing the new seat to be fitted without working on the air bag wiring. I hope that makes sense. John.

I use 0w20 in my 2007 GS450H. This is within the specification for the car. There is a new grade of oil released 0w16 this is available in two forms. An "A" version suitable for existing cars, and a "B" version for cars specifically designed for it's use. I will give this oil a trial when it my next oil change is due. It is recommended for Toyota/Lexus hybrids at around £75 for 5 ltrs. Claims are for improved ware protection qualities, and more mpg. John.

One of the things that can be done is to check how much voltage loss there is in the cars wiring system before it gets to the bulb. This can easily be 10% on a new system, and over 20% on an older system with corroded connections. This is for halogen or incandescent bulbs. Do not try this with HID lights. First check the voltage at the battery with the engine running. Then under the same conditions check the voltage at the headlamp bulb with the lights turned on. Subtract the second reading from the first this is the loss in the cars wiring. Fitting higher wattage bulbs will increase the system voltage loss eg going from a 55 watt bulb to a 100 watt bulb will virtually double the system loss. If the voltage drop is more than 0.5 volts it is worthwhile Taking a fused 12 volt feed direct from the battery to relays fitted close to the headlamps. The relay coils are fed by the original bulb supply, and the bulbs are fed from the new 12 volt battery feed via the relay contacts. This may sound complicated, but is rely very easy, and will eliminate the the losses in the cars system. One volt lost in wiring is one volt lost to the output of the bulb or about 8.5%. Two volts lost is a 17% loss of light output. Again. Do not try this with HID lights!!! John.

I took my wife's Toyota Aygo in for it's MOT a couple of days ago to find my local testing station had updated to the latest equipment. I do not know if this is compulsory for all testing stations, and who pays for the equipment. The cost of equipment must be substantial The test is now a one man test meaning a second person is not required to operate lights while the examiner checks them, rock the steering, or operate the brakes. Mirrors are fitted all round the ramp to check the lights, and a new ramp with what I can only call a wobble machine built in to each side to wobble the suspension, and steering without the examiner having to prize suspension parts with a bar. Talking to the examiner I found that the majority of vehicles failing the test were diesels. Many for having particulate filters removed, EGR valves blocked off or removed, and catalytic converters having internals removed. The Cat's he informed me if the innards are removed have no back pressure "a normal feature". He also said that if there were any doubts about the validity or integrity of a system he had been told by the MOT to fail it. It seems the ministry are getting tough on diesels. I am glad to say the Aygo past it's test for the fourth year in succession without any advisories. John.

I have found if you look at the difference between an intermediate service, and a full service for my GS, and my Prius it boils down to a few extra checks "not work done". Invariably anything found in the checks is at extra cost. Lots of the items on the bloated service sheet have anything to do with your car, but it looks impressive. When was the last time you saw a grease nipple on a prop shaft or ball joint. Antifreeze lasts for 10 years or 120,000 miles. transmission fluid is not changed These checks are all what I call look see's. An MOT covers all these "Look see's" only in greater depth. I only have intermediate service "as already stated basically an oil, and filter change" along side an MOT covering everything in a full service. The book still gets stamped. Unless the care is under guarantee or extended one there is nothing to be gained from a load of dealers stamps in the book when it comes to part exing the car. You will not get £1000 more because of service stamps the cost of perhaps two of them. Selling privately it might make the car more sale able, but a log book of all work carried out with parts receipts, dates, and MOT certs will impress just as much. Three years ago I was informed that I needed a new engine coolant pump as the coolant was below the high mark. This was not topped up in the service but left "low". I topped up the coolant when I got home, and I have not had to top it up since or changed the pump that is not noisy or have any play in the bearings in 40,000 miles. Lexus Wolverhampton. John.

David you have effectively been charged for work that has not been done a definite no no under the trade descriptions act. I would return the car to the dealer, and insist on the fluid being changed pointing out this is mandatory for a full service as in the schedule by Lexus. On a hybrid it is a reasonably lengthy prepossess requiring the car to be attached to a computer with Techstreem software to operate various solenoids in the braking system to purge all the lines of old fluid, and taking near 4.5 ltrs of fluid. This is no where near as simple as normal cars without regen braking. John

The difference current draw between 55w, and 100w is calculated by dividing the wattage by the supply voltage so:- 55 divided by 12 = 4.6 amps 100 divided by 12 = 8.3 amps Not only is the current virtually doubled, but so is the heat output. With halogen bulbs on the OEM circuit the voltage drop in the woefully inadequate wiring would double in effect under running the bulbs reducing the light output. With HID lighting this effect is removed by the ballast "actually an output regulated voltage inverter" that compensates for input voltage drop by keeping the voltage to the bulb constant drawing more current from the supply. There is grater heat output from halogen bulbs than HID bulbs of the same wattage. The HID bulbs being more efficient. John.

Hello Jack. Very useful information, but most of it is for very long storage periods. For shorter periods say up to 6 months I think the important things to protect in no particular order are the 12volt battery, the tyres, suspension (particularly air suspension), parking brake (leaving off), and turning the engine. Obviously things like covering the car with a ventilated cover even if in a garage does help, but is not essential. I say ventilated because can condensation cause problems if using plastic sheet type covers. Being able to keep the 12 volt battery charged not only protects the battery, but enables memory items not to be lost, and allows the alarm to continue to work. John.

That would be an excellent choice. On bright winters days it will charge at about 2 amps for the duration of sunshine. On cloudy days it will be less than half that figure, but still enough to keep the battery healthy over a 24 hour period with the alarm system working. Try to connect it directly to the battery as the cigarette lighter/power sockets on most Toyota/Lexus cars are not connected with the ignition off. John.

On my GS450H with hands like a pound of pork sausages there is plenty of opportunity. A torch, and a small hand mirror is a great help after removing the wash bottle filler tube. John.