Britprius

Perhaps I should have also said if your not bothered about the TPMS system showing a flat tyre you can replace the sensor valve with a standard rubber type without problems. John.

The cores used in the TPMS system valves are the same as standard rubber valves so yes you can change them to see if it cures the problem. If it does not the only answer is to replace the complete valve assembly with re-programming the system to the new sensor. Followed by a draining of your wallet. John.

As Alexander above says the only real gear change is for the two speed auto, but this only changes above 60mph which is above the legal towing limit so should not come into play anyway. A simple way to improve cooling if you so desire is to fit an electric fan directly in front of the existing cooler with a switch to turn it permanently on when towing. Alternatively using one of the many apps, and an OBD device monitor the transmission temperature as I did initially. John.

I tow a caravan with my GS450H, and have done for some time on a regular basis. It has a towing capacity of 2000 kg or 44092 lbs as is. At first I monitored the transmission temperature via an ELM327 devise, but found little if any difference in the temperatures while towing to driving solo. My car is now close to 150,000 miles without problems. The normal torque converter type transmission gets hotter when towing due to the extra slippage in the torque converter being given off as heat. In the GS hybrid there is no torque converter. As to the question why would you want to tow with a GS450H? my answer is why not?. With most other large cars you would not think twice about towing. What makes the Lexus any different? People have different needs from there vehicles, and having to buy another car just to perform a task is not the answer. John.

The problem is they fetch £40 each as scrap value, because of the high rare metal content. Not that they are going to be fitted to another vehicle. John.

My neighbor also had the cats from his Toyota pickup stolen from his driveway in Herefordshire not that far from Gloucestershire. I think this is becoming a problem in rural areas for people with vehicles that have reasonable ground clearance. John.

On newer cars a TPMS warning light would be an MOT failure, but on vehicles made before I beleave 2012 "could be 2014" it is not a failure as TPMS on the earlier cars is not compulsory. John.

Changing the batteries in the sensors is easy with a little care. Fitting the battery with the wrong polarity is possibly the only thing you can do wrong. Even this is not catastrophic as fitting your 12 volt battery wrongly would be. Being able to handle a soldering iron is also useful. Having tried the swap to rubber valves after removing the sensors I had no problems with wheel balance vibration "the weight difference is minimal". As you say though this is only for a short period perhaps over a week end the thing is to make sure you have the new batteries ready to fit in the sensors. John.

Standard rubber valves can be fitted "if required" while you service the sensors allowing continued use of the car. The tyres do not need to be removed from the wheels to change the valves. Pressing the tyre outer wall from the rim on a tyre removal machine gives enough room to remove the sensors after undoing the outer holding nut. A rubber valve can the be fitted, and the tyre re-inflated. This means the tyre is not rotated on the rim, and does not need balancing. My local tyre fitter was happy to do this for £5 per tyre including re-fitting the sensors after battery replacement For those with cars over about 6 years old it would seem prudent to replace the batteries in the sensors when having new tyres fitted "initially fitting rubber valves to allow time for servicing the sensors". I am sure if asked most tyre fitters would be happy to then refit the sensors when serviced free of charge having sold you new tyres. John.

Steve the battery is under the white sealant, and this can easily be carefully dug out and the battery removed, and replaced as in my earlier post. This will make the unit usable again saving a considerable sum. The life span of the batteries is variable possibly dependent on how long the battery was made before being fitted to the sensor, and how long the sensor stood before being fitted to a wheel, and car. The batteries have a self discharge rate meaning they discharge even when not in use. Even this varies dependent on temperature, and humidity. The real world life seems to be around 7 or 8 years. John.

Leigh in the pictures shown both shocks are NSF. The rear shocks have the spring saddle near the bottom of the shock body, and are not handed "the same shock fits both sides". I am only pointing this out to save problems when trying to fit one of these shocks to the rear of a car. John.

Is the car speed limited "to 112 mph" as most seem to be from Japan? I doubt the satnav will work by just replacing the map DVD as the on screen display will still be in Japanese. John.

I do not know the exact location of the air bag ECU in your car, but it is usually in the dash. In my GS450H it is in the centre armrest console. There is also a company that can check the ECU out, and reset it "if required" at realistic prices. Do a search on Ebay for air bag ECU reset or repair that should bring them up. John.

It is easier to change a water pump on an engine with a timing chain not harder as there is no complications with keeping the crank to camshaft timing. More often on the Toyota/Lexus brakes it is the slide pins that seize not the actual caliper pistons, and if this is the case they can usually be freed, and new slide pins be fitted "if required". Worn brake discs "even if worn below manufacturers recommended minimum thickness" is not an MOT failure. John.

Member "Herbie" is correct in that to bleed the brake system fully Techstream is required. The brake system is more complex because of the requirement for a transition from regen braking to combined regen and mechanical brakes, and finally to mechanical only "normally below 7 mph", and the operation of ABS, and VSC systems. John.

This can also be caused by the leak back to tank being excessive from an injector or leak back from pressure relief valve on common rail systems. John.

If the clock spring is responsible for an air bag fault. The code issued is usually a squib circuit code, and this code would point to the steering wheel air bag squib circuit. Squib circuit codes run from B0100 up to B0138 these codes are for open, and short circuit for each air bag and for seat belt pre-tensioners. The code B1100 does indicate a fault in the sensor assembly. John

The only battery to be concerned about for that period is the 12 volt battery. The ideal situation would be to keep the battery on a trickle charger even if this means removing the battery, and taking it indoors "no garage". Leave the parking brake off to stop the shoes sticking to the drums, and all should be well. There is no need to drive the car. If you wish starting the car, and leave running for 15 to 20 minutes would take care of both batteries, but the HV battery will be happy for at leased 12 months untouched. John.

I have just had the Lexus MOT'd after this years 8,000 miles of use. I am happy to report a pass with no advisories. The car is now at 133,000 miles so I am pleased with the result. John.

And the "L" is a bit to the right of the "K" John.

The engine and transmission coolant ( Toyota SLLC ) change should be done at 120,000 miles or ten years, and the every 50,000 miles there after. There is no recommended transmission oil change. It has been found on the US Prius Chat forum through oil annalist that the oil at 30,000 miles contains much gear ware in metal contamination, and it is suggested to change the oil at that millage, and then every 50,000 miles because the oil looses 25% of it's viscosity. This seems sensible to safeguard the transmission without breaking the bank. The electric motors are cooled by the oil and run at high voltages "around 600 VDC". It is therefore not desirable to have oil that becomes conductive. Oil becomes acidic when continually heated and cooled. The reason why the oil in high voltage transformers on the electrical supply grid is checked regularly for acid contamination. John.

I do not know about the LS, but my GS has fuses in both foot wells, under the bonnet, and above the battery in the boot. John.

Pulling the fuses until the drain disappears will show where the problem lies. John.

I had a heated front screen in my Rover 3500 coupe in the late 60's. It had very fine "thinner than a hair" vertical wires running down the glass sandwiched in the lamination, and made by Pilkington. John

A battery drain of 0.25 amps (250 ma) is way to much. Over 24 hours that would be 6 amp hours (AH) over a week it would be 42 AH over 2 weeks it would be 84 AH, and this is more than the capacity of a new fully charged battery. The discharge should be about 1/10th of your figure or 0.025 amps (25 ma). John.