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Britprius

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  1. I am nor sure this is a good idea. If you have a passenger, and say call in to get petrol. You walk away from the car to pay. The car locks itself setting the alarm. The passenger moves, and triggers the alarm. I have done this twice with my wife in the car, but by pressing the button to lock the car on the door handle from habit. You may be away from the car longer in other scenarios causing the passenger some embarrassment being unable to stop the alarm. John.
  2. Not a bad price. I am not saying you will need rear shoes , but it would be prudent to either have some at hand or at leased be able to pick some up at short notice if they are required. From memory they are circa £25 for the set, and Ferodo do them. Take a picture of how the springs fit if you do need to change them as this will tell you which springs go in which holes, and what way round. The saving is only £200 not a lot if you say it quickly.🤑 John.
  3. It is an easy DIY job. You may need rear parking brake shoes as well so it may be a good idea to have some ready on a sale or return basis. There is only about 4 mm of lining on the shoes when new so they do look worn out when you take the disc's off. De adjust the parking brake through the hole in the disc/drum if the disc will not slide off the studs, and when re fitting adjust the shoes back up till you cannot turn the disc then slacken off till the drum turns freely. John.
  4. The GS450H is very quiet especially so when it is running in electric mode round town, but even at speed it is very quiet. You should take a test drive if the opportunity arises I think you will be impressed. John.
  5. It would be safer to disconnect the battery. Techstream is not a requirement. After pushing back the caliper pistons and fitting the new parts on one side operate the brake pedal to push the pads up to the disc. Then repeat the process on the other side. This should stop any codes appearing. John
  6. Not a bad idea. Funny how different peoples tastes are I like a black car to look at, but they are terrible to keep clean. A black interior is a real no go for me. I love the light interior of your car.. I will just keep looking at the moment as I am still very much enjoying the GS450H being quicker, quieter, and more economical than the SC, but sometimes it is useful only having two seats. John.
  7. Yes it does, but it is not the cheapest or the easy option requiring a laptop set up to use. A simple multi meter would be better. John
  8. Yes it is. Since I was in the area today I went to have a look at it, and as you say it is not a face lift. It also has a black interior a complete put off for me. Otherwise it seemed reasonable . I did ask what they would offer for my GS450H two years newer and around the same millage, but in better all round condition, and they came up with £2K so I just walked away. John.
  9. Does anyone have any information on this SC430 reg number LT 55 HFC? The MOT history is somewhat mixed. I assume from the information given in an earlier post this would come under the low tax bracket. The car has covered 121000 miles, and the dealer is asking £4995. John.
  10. If they have the car on the ramp with cover removed for the filter it would be quicker, and easier to open the sump plug. The sump plug gasket should also be listed on materials used. John
  11. Possibly the best way to tell if the oil has been changed is to look at the sump plug area. This should show clear signs of being wiped after the plug was reinstalled with a new gasket. If the area is dusty, and dry like the rest of the sump the plug has not been removed. John.
  12. There are many applications that use the OBD (on board diagnostics) port if you buy the required plug in units. This includes Techstream the complete diagnostic system used by Toyota/Lexus. The volt meter that just plugs in to one of the power outlets is probably the simplest, and cheapest method without loosing accuracy. John.
  13. Paul. I have not tried this on an is300h, and I am sorry if this does not work for you. It does work for the great majority of Lexus/Toyota hybrids, and maybe there is some other way to entre this menu on your model that someone else will know. These menus are not in the cars hand book so do not waste time trying to find it there. John.
  14. If you push the start button twice with no brake pedal or even if you go to ready mode. Turn the lights on and off 3 times inside 2 seconds a menu will appear. Choose vehicle signal check, and a number of items will appear including the battery voltage. If you are in ready mode this will be the voltage of the battery on charge not the real battery voltage. An alternative method is to push start button twice, and on the touch screen press display then on the lefthand side of the screen just inside the top, and bottom displayed lines starting at the top press an imaginary button at the top then the bottom then top then bottom then top then bottom in quick succession. The hidden menu will appear. John.
  15. That's exactly the sort of item I was talking about. They do have the advantage of giving an instant reading over the built in hidden menu that is somewhat cumbersome to use. The voltage being checked "pushing the start button twice with no brake pedal" is under load so giving a good indication of battery condition. The unit can be left plugged in as the power outlet is turned off with the stop button. So there is no extra battery drain. John.
  16. According to your own figures that would be correct. you used 35.5 ltrs (7.8 gallons). 7.8 X 52= 405 miles so you should have just under 10 ltrs still in the tank. The last bar flashes when you are down to reserve level, and that is approx 2 gallons (9ltrs) giving a tank range of 500 miles. John.
  17. I believe so. There are possible alternatives for being able to reasonably see the condition of the hybrid 12 volt battery by using the built in volt meter on the hidden menu screen or by using a cigar socket volt meter available cheaply. The readings should be taken after pushing the start button twice without your foot on the brake pedal. If the reading after sitting over night is down to 12 volts or mid 11's the battery is getting tired. At 11 volts and below expect trouble sooner than later. Lower than 10.6 volts and the battery is toast. On entering ready mode the voltage should rise to 14/14.2 volts as the battery is being charged. John
  18. Yes the hybrids can be jumped ether at the battery the "generally in the rear of the car" or at a jump point provided under the bonnet. The car you are jumping from should not be running to avoid voltage spikes damaging the electronics. Only low current is required to get the car to boot the computers to ready mode. More often than not a second or third try will get the car to ready without a jump providing the battery has not been discharged to much. A small 12 volt battery such as used in fire and burglar alarms can also be used or a jump pack. The 12 volt battery is not used to turn the engine as in a normal car. John
  19. I have owned two MGA's a 1600 and a 1600 twin cam. After those I had an MGB-GT "a pre-production model chassis no 11. All had two 6 volt batteries of the flooded variety that lasted well. I believe that later 6 volt batteries possibly because of the small demand are not as well made as there early counterparts. The problem with using AGM batteries in a normal car be it with a dynamo or alternator is that the charging currents are to high. The old Lucas dynamo was designed to output 22 amps maximum, and alternators 4 or 5 times that figure. Looking at the Toyota/Lexus 45 AH battery it has a label on the top that states maximum charge rate 4.5 amps. Most so called leisure batteries "but not all" are of the flooded type, but the plate chemistry is slightly different to car batteries. John.
  20. There will be a circlip hidden under the rubber boot. Once the boot is removed you can get to the circlip, and removing this allows you to knock out or press out the ball joint. John.
  21. Great looking car. What wheels are fitted? They look like GSF wheels if I am not mistaken. John.
  22. The LS has I believe a normal flooded lead acid battery using a normal starter motor as it is not a hybrid so not so prone to the problems, but not immune. It is also possible that your battery was replaced at the dealers before being sold. I am not saying all the batteries will fail just that they are likely to suffer some damage at the very start of there life. The problem with a hybrid is that we get no warning of a weak battery as we do not hear the starter struggling to turn over the engine. This is enough for most people to check the battery. With a hybrid the first sign of problems is usually a failure to boot into ready mode possibly with false codes. John
  23. Perhaps the most ;likely place to have a coolant leak is from the "water pump" usually visible as a pink crusty stain below it. John
  24. Try a breakers yard. I would imagine virtually any Toyota Nissan or Mitsubishi would probably use the same part. It only plugs into a rubber grommet, and has a rubber hose attached. John
  25. The batteries do not have a good start in life. After being fitted to the new car the car is driven off the production line to storage and awaits transport to the docks. The car is driven onto transport, and driven off at the docks awaiting a ship. No long runs so far. The car is driven onto a ship taking weeks to arrive at the UK dock where it is again driven to a parking area. It is then driven onto a delivery vehicle to go to the dealers where again it is driven off. At this point the dealer is supposed to charge the battery, but how many do? The car may then sit in a showroom for people to open doors and look at or a storage area. It may be driven into the workshop for a PDI. All this is far from ideal for the battery. Some luck customer then gets to take the car home with a battery that is well discharged, and has been for weeks possibly months. John.
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