Britprius

I do not think 10w60 oil is readily available in the UK, and the most viscose fully synthetic I have seen is 0w40 or 10w40. Higher viscose oils seem to be non synthetic. I run 0w20 year round in my GS450H. John.

The basis of the Toyota/Lexus hybryd transmission apart from the very latest versions is that they do not have any gears to change. Not even for reverse. Everything is a balancing act of the speed, direction, and if MG1 is being used as an electric motor or a generator. MG2 is coupled to the wheels at all times, and when they are turning so is MG2. This also can be used as a motor or a generator. This also gives reverse by MG2 being driven backwards. If the engine runs while going backwards it impedes the action of MG2 as the engine is running in the wrong direction for reverse. The friction brakes are arranged to work if the ABS system senses a wheel slip, the high voltage battery becomes full charged "actually only 80% full" or the current generated under heavy braking is to high for the safety of the HV battery. They also work below 7 mph as there is to little kinetic energy going to the generators to stop the car. John.

I would just disconnect the 12 volt battery This alone will completely isolate the high voltage battery as there are three large contactors that isolate the HV battery when the ignition is off. Removing the 12 volt supply stops any chance of these being pulled in connecting the HV battery to the car. If you must pull the HV link putting it back correctly is where everyone goes wrong. After closing the lever the whole thing has to be moved sideways to complete the operation. Failing to do this will give a red light and a fault code, and failer to go to ready. Powerflow will probably remove the rear exhaust section to replace the "Y" piece. This only require undoing two bolts, and slipping it from the rubber hangers. On a ramp takes five minutes if that. They will then be able to cut and weld it off the car without the difficulty of things being in the way. You will have to reset the auto close windows, and sun roof if you have one. You radio may also loose it's program setting, tone settings, and phone choice if you have more than one phone in the memory. That' about it. John.

The price does not fill me with confidence £21-48 for one blade!! Then they add £1-99 for postage. That would make a set of blades if the car had a rear wiper a minimum of £66-43 assuming only being charged one postal fee. Where do they get these figures from? John.

Mark it's good you found a key. It is expensive if you loose all the keys, but a new ECU is not required. Lexus or an approved locksmith have to get a new seed code from Lexus to get access to the ECU through the OBD port. This has to be done live over the internet supplying details such as the VIN number. Total cost can be around £850 with 2 new fobs. If your brave you can strip the ECU and remove the existing code re-programming yourself. John.

Robert I should have said in my previous post you can just push the pistons back in the normal way when fitting new pads. At bar minimum though before doing anything disconnect the battery and operate the brake pedal till it goes hard. The manual says to pull the 2 ABS relays, but without power, and no pressure in the accumulator reservoir you will be safe. After fitting the new pads operate the brake pedal again to push the pads up to the discs. Do this before connecting the battery as otherwise it can trigger a brake fault code. This is not critical for you as you have Techstream to clear the code. John

I am looking for radar distance control parts, millimeter wave radar sensor (behind front Lexus badge), distance control ECU (under dash), and possibly wire loom. This is for a 2007 GS450H, but the parts are much the same through the Lexus range so anyone dismantling or parting out a vehicle with such parts please contact me. John.

Some additions to the torque settings. Front lower steering knuckle ball joints 2 holding bolts 89 ft/lbs. Ball joint nuts 64 ft/lbs then turn (tighten) till cotter hole align max 60 degrees. John.

John. You can sometimes get away with the way you bled the brakes. The problem arises when for some reason the system has been emptied of fluid "changing the brake actuator". There are then lines and solenoids that cannot be cleared of air because the solenoids remain closed unless they are opened by Techstream. I learned the hard way when working on a Prius. I did not injure myself, but I got sprayed with brake fluid including my eyes "that stuff stings", and had to rebuild a rear brake caliper. Below is the hydraulic circuit of the Prius braking system. I have every reason to believe the GS450H is very similar. It also shows why it is required to use Techstream or similar to clear all the lines of air, and old fluid when doing a fluid change. Note there are 7 pressure sensors, and 10 solenoids electrically operated. It also shows how fluid under high pressure from the hydraulic accumulator can find it's way to the calipers without the brakes being operated manually. This is required for the VSC, and distance control braking effects. The car also does a line pressure check as part of the system check before the car is started. John.

The brake system is complicated because it cannot use a servo running from the inlet manifold depression as the engine at any one time may not be running. Further the hydraulic brakes are not used all the time when braking. Regen braking being used instead to save the energy "controlled by the foot brake pedal" that would be normally thrown away. So the system has to have a brake simulator built in to the mechanism. For your laptop Maplins do a cigarette lighter plug in adapter with various voltage outputs, and plugs to power laptops from the car or a 12 volt car battery. Alternatively New laptop batteries can be bought on Ebay for around £10 depending on the model. If you need any other torque settings for the car let me know, and I will do my best to find them. John

Disconnecting the battery then operating the brake pedal till it goes hard will remove all the pressure in the accumulator. It will also discharge the emergency capacitor battery backup for the accumulator pump making things safe to work on. Putting hardwood blocks in place of the pads can be an alternative, but not recommended. If it is required to bleed the brakes the two abs relays must be removed, and Tecstream or similar connected to open various valves in the hydraulic system. John

Robert I think the part you require is the lower ball joint assembly. See Ebay item number 122690217150 John

The brakes on the GS450H along with many of Toyota hybrid cars cannot be bled properly without Techstreem or a suitable service tool. It also requires the removal of the two ABS motor relays. Failing to do this can mean the loss of fingers as it is possible for the brake system to pressurise without the key fob being in proximity to the car. Opening the drivers door can initiate pressurisation. If this happens with pads removed the caliper pistons can be pushed out resulting in loss of fluid, and air entry. You have been warned. John.

Robert. Torque settings for wheels, brakes, and shock fitting. Wheel nuts 76 ft/lbs Front Brakes:- Caliper bolts 58 ft/lbs Rear Brakes :- Caliper bracket bolts 40 ft/lbs Slide pins 18 ft/lbs. Shock absorber mountings:- Front shock top nut 21 ft/lbs Top ball joint nut 64 ft/lbs Bottom shock through bolt 81 ft/lbs tighten bolt holding nut still with suspension loaded. Height sensor nut 48 inch/lbs Rear shocks :- Top shock nut 13 ft/lbs Bottom shock through bolt 81 ft/lbs tighten bolt holding nut still with suspension loaded. Bottom arm to hub through bolt 81 ft/lbs tighten bolt holding nut still. John.

Andrew. It is an easy repair, and can be done on your back raising one side of the car with hand tools. I repaired the front pipe by cutting the pipe off at the point where it was split. This just involves removing the heat shield by cutting through the holding clamps. Then undo the front flange just forward of the lambda sensor.this allows the short front section of pipe to be moved away. A piece of exhaust tube about 6 inches long that just slides over the existing pipe was then used to join the two pipes back together with a coating of exhaust sealant, and a couple of "U" type clamps or welds. Fitting the heat shield back in place using new stainless steel hose type clamps. Ordinary steel hose clamps will rust away in a few months. Repair lengths of pipe with the ends split for clamps can be bought cheaply on Ebay, and make good a permanent repair The exhaust comes in two sections. (1) The front consisting of two front pipes with flanges, two cats, a"Y" piece into a silencer (resonator), and into a flange all in one piece. (2) The rear section consists of a flange in to a "Y" piece that feeds a silencer on each side of the car. Again all in one piece. There is a picture of the front section in member Carnut 1980 post entitled "GS450H exhaust centre section" , and some a pictures of the rear section that I built from stainless parts in my post "Exhaust problems". These are both in the GS section of the forum. I hope this helps. John

The heat shield covers a strait pipe. It seems to be that there is a reaction between the heat shield material, it's clamp and the pipe that causes the pipe to split around beneath the clamp. I had the same problem on the drivers side shortly after buying the car. I am now contemplating replacing the front sections with stainless steel having done the rear section. Check the "Y" piece at the rear of the car as this is prone to cracking and one side suddenly braking off without warning. John.

That's about it. Also with a mike inside the car you are also measuring engine, transmission noise, and even wind noise. Road surfaces also have an enormous impact on noise levels that cannot be directed or attributed to the tyres. John.

The noise inside the cockpit is entirely dependent on the noise insulation of the cockpit, and suspension bushing. The only way to measure the noise made by a tyre is from the outside as internal measurements would virtually meaningless. Every car would be different. John.

The valve cap looks much the same as on my car. John

I thought that may be the case, but having no experience of other hybrid systems I was not sure. John

I would be looking at the throttle pedal position sensor or linkage to it. John.

All the Toyota/Lexus hybrids are exempt from emissions checks because the engine has to be revved off load, and the revs held at a given level. This cannot be done as to rev the engine it must be in drive, and hence is under load. The engine may also turn off in the middle of the test or even not start at all. Some MOT stations have to be reminded of this. Mine always needs reminding, and I always get the same look followed by are you sure. The tester then goes off to check, and comes back saying your right. This maybe because there are not many hybrids in the area although I do now see the occasional Prius. John.

Following the success of building my own stainless rear exhaust I have decided to complete the job by replacing the front centre section. I am considering removing the two small cats in this section, and wondered if this would increase the noise level at the rear. The second problem is how does this affect the MOT as being a GS450H it is exempt from emissions testing. Has anyone else done this, and are there any downsides. John.

Roy the problem with checking the voltage at the battery is that if there is a bad connection between the battery, and the alternator "most commonly in the negative wiring" the alternator will output the correct voltage, but it does not reach the battery. It is good that you have eliminated the possibility of a faulty reading meter. A couple of volts "voltage drop" can easily be lost in the resistance of the bad connections. Putting a jumper cable from the negative cable to a clean bolt or piece of metal on the engine and then taking the voltage readings again with the engine running will remove the problem if there is one. This may well not be the problem, but it costs nothing to check as does checking the belt tension, and condition. John.

Is it perhaps something to do with the water run off coating on the front door windows. If the rubbers were in permanent contact they may possibly remove the coating in time. The coating on my car after 10 years still works very well. John.