Britprius

Perhaps it is my wording that is wrong in this situation. I am trying to say that the OP cannot look at the display for the battery or fuel consumption on a vehicle in an auction or indeed on a forecourt, and make the assumption that the battery is bad or that the MPG figures are low. If prospective buyers have been jumping into the car and starting it without the car going out on the road for a good distance the battery level will be low, and the MPG figures will also be low with multiple cold starts without the car turning a wheel. From memory when I first looked at my car the MPG readout was 7MPG, but I get between 35 to 41 MPG. John

The hybrid system uses the same gas, but the lubricant used is ND11. Normal systems use PAG oil. The difference is that ND11 oil has good electrical insulation properties. This is important because the high voltage electric motor that powers the AC runs in the gas/oil mixture. The use of PAG oil or even equipment contaminated with PAG oil will cause the motor to fail "not necessarily immediately". If this happens a complete system flush is needed at minimum, if not a system replacement, and a new compressor fitted. There is no reason to service the AC if it is working correctly "apart from possible cabin filter change, and deodorising" as the motor,and compressor are sealed in one unit. This alleviates the need for a rotary shaft seal associated with engine driven compressors, and the likely loss of gas through it. The dealers are up selling work that need not be done. The cabin filter takes all of two minutes to change, and can be bought for a fraction of the dealer price on line. Your local motorist shop will have a deodorising kits if needed. John.

Update to the battery central display on my GS450H. The display on my car does not change with HV battery level. I used the AC to bring the state of charge down to 2 pink bars on the MFD. The display in the speedo did not alter always staying at level 6 in the chart above. I suspect this is a fault with the display in my car, but it could be that it is an early model, and the software is different. It does not bother me because the information is repeated on the MFD, and that is working correctly, and I tend to use the in speedo display to show MPG. I apologise if any wrong information given caused confusion, but the main gist of the information on battery levels in the OP's situation still stands in that any level of both battery charge, and fuel consumption will not representative of the readings in normal use. John.

The problem you may have with the GS450H is the lack of boot space, but performance, and economy other wise a great car. John.

The only way I know to check the 12 volt battery voltage, and this is under some load is through the hidden menu on the MFD display. John.

My GS450H registered Jan 2007 so effectively the same year as the OP's does not show the level charge of the battery in that display the level remains static on my car. This could be an unnoticed fault with my display so I would appreciate if someone can confirm there display showing the level rising, and falling.I stand corrected, and will loose 10 browney points for saying it is for the 12 volt. As you say it shows charge going to or from the hybrid battery. John.

The display you are showing is not for the high voltage hybrid battery. It is for the 12 volt battery, and further does not show either the level of charge or it's condition. The bar graph on the multi function display shows the hybrid batteries level of charge to some degree. It show s the charge level from no bars shown = 40% charged to all green bars showing = 80% charged. The computer system will not allow any charge levels outside of those levels. These levels can change dramatically while you are driving, but the computer tries to keep the level of 5 blue bars running to 7 green bars. If the car has been started many times by people check it out the battery level will be reading low. This does not harm the NiMh hybrid battery as it would a normal lead acid battery. This will also show as low economy figures because the car will have been cold started many time without moving. John

If you disconnect the battery for 10 minutes this will reset the ECU so that it learns your driving, and fueling of the car. It is not critical to do this as the car over time will re-learn anyway, but it will speed things up. Disconnecting the battery will require re-setting the windows, and sun roof, seat position, steering wheel position, and mirror positions . To do this for the windows open each window half way then close holding the button for 5 seconds while the window is closed. I believe the sun roof is done in a similar fashion. The seat positions are done via the seat controls, and entering them into the memory on the door buttons. John

Congratulations on your purchase. The performance as you are finding out is quite something. Points to watch out for are leaking shock absorbers for which there is no aftermarket replacement cost circa £250 each (not from the dealers). Leaking exhaust particularly at the "Y" piece near the rear. If the exhaust is leaking hear one of the two rear silencers have a habit of breaking off at the "Y" piece. A purpose made stainless steel exhaust is the way to go in this event. The rest of the car is more or less bullet proof. John.

To be on the safe side I would check the actual battery voltage at it's terminals with a multimeter against the Arduino readings. The wiring on all Toyota/Lexus vehicles is very thin, and as such has a fair amount of resistance leading to voltage drop. This is particularly noticeable on the headlamp circuits where voltages at the bulbs often only reach 10 or 11 volts resulting in poor light output from any of the filament type of lighting. HID lighting is fed by inverters that have a regulated voltage output almost irrespective of the supply voltage. John.

The Lexus security system takes at leased 10 minutes to settle, and reduce it's load to a low level. Opening a door, operating the keyless entry system if fitted or the fob is near enough to the car for the car to recognise it, or operating the fob buttons will produce more load for 10 minutes. Where is the Arduino connected to the car (where is the voltage being measured) ? John.

That battery voltage is very low suggesting at leased one cell is short circuit. A fully charged good battery should read 13.8 volts with no load. It is possible that whatever your using to measure the voltage is not accurate, or the point at which your measuring has some load on it giving a voltage drop. The voltage should be measured at the battery terminals with everything turned off. There will still be a small load on the battery from the security systems, but I would expect for a good battery for the voltage to be at a minimum of 12.6 volts, and preferably over 13 volts. Measuring the voltage anywhere other than at the battery terminals will give fauls readings, also if the engine is running the voltages will be higher. John.

The nearest charging points in my area are at a supermarket at Church Stoke "about 10 miles away", and the last time I was there there were two charging bays with large notices in front of them stating they were for electric vehicles only. Both bays were taken up one with a Fiesta the other with a Golf neither of them modified to run on electricity.. There were perhaps 30 or more empty normal parking places in the immediate area. I parked behind both vehicles blocking them in. I connected the Nissan Leaf I was using to one of the charging points and went to do my shopping, and have breakfast in the store. On returning to the car about an hour later there were two annoyed "to say the least" young drivers balling and shouting at me. At that point the store manager arrived having been monitoring the situation on CCTV. The manager pointed out the large signs directly in front of there windscreens, and the empty parking spaces also explaining that without charging my car I could go no further, and had no alternative but to block there exit. He also said they would have a reason for complaint if a row of electric cars were blocking access to the petrol pumps so they could not fill up. Then he went on to say they were lucky not to have received parking penalty notices. In conversation with the manager after moving my car he said he would have done the same thing in the situation. John.

I am in exactly the same situation as you, and agree on many occasions I come across vehicles parked in disabled bays without displaying a blue badge. I must admit last year I received a ticket for parking in a disabled bay while displaying a blue badge. My offence was that my badge had expired by 4 days. I had a word with the local council about issuing reminders for renewal of blue badges since they last for three years, and are easy to overlook. I pointed out that even a small increase in price for the badge would be reasonable to cover the small cost involved. They have agreed to look into this. The council also cancelled the parking fine even though I said I would not contest it as it was my responsibility to check the date. John

Probably the most important aspect of jump starting your RX400H is that you make sure that reverse polarity connection of the leads is avoided at all costs. The current needed to boot the computers, and run a couple of pumps is minimal compared to none hybrid cars. However reverse connection of the leads even for a fraction of a second can be very costly. It is therefore recommended that leads with polarity protection are used. The current rating is of little or no consequence. Even professional mechanics get this wrong on occasions, and as already has been stated do not use your car to jump another vehicle. John.

I posted a run through on how to change the batteries with pictures in the GS section. Costs around 50 pence per wheel for the batteries plus a small charge from your local tyre fitter for removing and re fitting the valves. There is no need for re-programming, or balancing the wheels since the tyres are not totally removed from the rims John.

Under normal circumstances I would have said check the drivers door switch. However the fact that the other doors do not operate the interior lights something else is wrong. It would still be a simple matter to check out the drivers door switch though. John.

Thanks Ryaan very helpful. John.

The codes on the passengers door label are:- C/T 1F2/LA03 A/TM A02A/L110 The car was registered January 2007, and is a GS450H. I know 1F2 is the paint code Any help with the seat leather color would be appreciated. John.

The cars system manages the battery level very well. It should be pointed out that the bar graph indicates a level of charge for the battery of between 40% charge at the lowest level "no bars at all" to 80% charged "all green bars". The system will not allow a lower or higher level of charge. At 2 bars and lower they turn pink. The representation of the bars is also not linear. The higher level bars represent a greater % of charge per bar than the lower bars. John.

Not wishing to hijack the thread, but does anyone know if there is a color code or trim code for the "cream" leather in my GS450h? Is it the code next to the paint code on the passenger door label? John.

The level of charge shown on the bar display is perfectly normal at between 5 blue bars, and 6 green. This bar graph has little or nothing to do with the level of charge in the 12 volt battery. The 12 volt battery is charged via an inverter from the high voltage (hybrid) battery, but under normal circumstance has little impact on the level of charge of the hybrid battery. The cold weather will have a substantial impact on your fuel consumption figures as the cold air is more dense than warm air. The car has to be pushed by the engine through that dense air using more fuel, and the engine has to run more to provide heat for the cabin. John.

The method of posting pictures is to drag or choose the files to the bottom area of the box. The thing I find really annoying is when trying to add a picture in a private message. I find this cannot be done unless the picture is already included in a public post. To get round this I start a topic, add pictures without submitting the post. The pictures can then be loaded in a private message. I do not understand the reasoning behind this. John.

Lexus hide the button up among the pedal mechanism not on the plastic dash covers. John

In principle I agree with you, but I doubt your insurance or a court if you took it that far would agree with you. You could also argue a holed rusty sub frame or chassis had nothing to do with an accident, but if it was obvious the car was not road worthy would they still pay out. The MOT is a certificate of road worthiness. If you change something after the test that negates that it does not matter what it is in law the car is not road worthy. My, and your opinion on what is road worthy does not count. In theory it would also class as a modification. John