Britprius

As a temporary fix to allow me to use the car I have sealed over the hole where the exhaust snapped. The car now only has one rear silencer, but is now possibly even more quiet than the OEM two silencer system. This will give me time to sort out the best option for replacement. John.

I have to go to Stourbridge on Thursday, and a trip to MIJ is on the cards as it is only about 20 minutes away. John.

With respect this does not cover the speed limit signage. I had an Is 300H as a loan car. This had the road sign recognition and worked very well. It picked up speed signs, and displayed them until a different speed sign was passed. On a stretch of road from the village I live in to Hereford "a distance of 18 miles" the speed limit changes from between 30/40/50/60 in a variety of ways so that after a while even the best drivers get confused as to what the actual speed limit is. This system proved invaluable on this stretch of road. John

I am also with Hastings, and initially got a high £380 quote for my renewal with nothing in the way of extras. After much pushing on the phone I got them down to £280 with NCP, personal accident, guaranteed courtesy car, breakdown cover, with an excess of £250, and zero voluntary excess. You really have to haggle. John

I do not believe in paying out good money for something I can do myself. Maybe some would call me tight, but there is also the satisfaction of overcoming a problem without spending a fortune. John

Looking at that link the work looks great. The cost of a GS system though I think be a lot more as there are two silencers, and the plumbing is more complicated. John

I can get a pair of rear GS specific silencers from Poland with the first bend out of the silencers ready fitted for £169 new. A suitable "Y" piece, and two 90 degree bends could finish the job for circa £200+. John

My nearest Powerflow stainless fitter is only nine miles away at Ludlow. However they have quoted I think a rather high figure of £675 this is more than an OEM system for the rear. So still looking at the options that include hiring a tube bender, and making my own system. John

Decided to have a trip up to Barmouth Wales today as the weather was great. About halfway into the journey without any warning there was a load roaring from under the car, and a metallic rubbing noise. This at around 60 MPH on a narrow winding road. Eventually found a safe place to stop, and investigate to find the offside silencer had snapped off at the "Y" junction. There was no warning, and the car past it's MOT a few weeks ago. It seems "although I agree the car is ten years old" the reason is flexing of the exhaust at the "Y" junction because the silencer is not supported at it's front end. It is only supported at the very rear by two mountings. I suppose I must consider myself lucky the exhaust pipe coming from the silencer pointing forwards did not dig into the road surface as this could have ripped off the rear bumper. John

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but surly the law in this country states that a product must be of merchantable quality. The manufacturer may guarantee an item for 12 months, but this does not affect your statuary wrights. A shock absorber should last more than 20,000 miles, and could reasonably be expected to last 5 years given the price, and perceived quality of the Lexus brand. The manufactures guarantee does not over rule the law, and is almost meaningless. Keep pushing even threatening the small claims court. The Lexus dealer will not wish this to become news worthy, and will cost them more in time to defend than the cost of repairs. John

The GS450H does have one clutch within the transmission. This is operated by the external electrically driven oil pump, and operated at around 60 mph to reduce the RPM of the electric motor generator MG2. John.

Techstream can code the car to a new fob. It can also remove lost fobs from the cars memory so that if some unscrupulous person tries to take your car away it will not work. The fob is not programmed to the car it is the car that is programmed to the fob. The problem with second hand fobs is that fobs have a rolling code, and after a given number of operations of the fob on another vehicle it cannot be reset to the beginning, and will not be recognized by a different cars ECU. John.

Mike, and Tony. Thanks for the info on returns. I have never had to return anything on Ebay before. John.

Thanks you beat me to it John

The batteries finally arrived from a seller in France today. Opened them up, and found they are not tagged. I contacted the seller pointing out to him they were not what I ordered. He replied the pictures in his add do not show tagged batteries. I pointed out that at the top of the add, and lower down where the description says "Item specifics:- Tagged new batteries", and wished to return them as I could have bought non tagged batteries in this country cheaper, and with quicker delivery. I now have to wait for Ebay to intervene, and find a source of tagged batteries. Might have to build a welder and tag some myself. Does anyone know if I am correct in asking the seller to send me prepaid return packaging for these. I do not see why I should pay for the return carriage costs. It is not the amount of cost involved, but the principle. John

I have the GS450H, and have regular tank refills giving 41 mpg. This is all rural country single track road driven spiritedly. I think that qualifies as economical in a car that weighs 2 tons with a 3.5ltr petrol engine with a 0 to 60 time in the low 5's. John.

What fault codes are you getting if any. John

The hybrid system was designed to improve economy initially in the Prius 1.5ltr that returns a remarkable 60 mpg. Although it is true the electric motors do compensate for a lack of torque on the smaller engine Toyota/Lexus range ie those with engines at and below 1.8ltr. There is no lack of torque with the 3ltr plus engines. John

Almost everything to do with cars is cheaper in the US. The problem is especially with smaller items is the very high postage costs. If you know someone that visits the states on a regular basis "as I did when I was working" it was easy to bring things back. John

The system is reasonably intuitive to use, and if you have a Toyota/Lexus vehicle more than pays for its self the first time you use it. Being able to save or print everything is also a nice feature. John

After playing with Techstream on the TPMS I have found it is possible to look at the condition of the wheel sensor batteries. On the data screen the only information concerning the batteries is the words upper or lower. Going into the bar indicator graphs a green bar shows how much life is left in each battery. The rear units on my car are full, and 90% "the full one being the temporary battery I fitted. The two fronts are showing only about 5% life left. Good job I ordered five batteries. The new Lion batteries I have tested read around 3.8 volts. The battery I removed when the sensor stopped transmitting read 2.8 volts. You can also see the actual tyre pressure in psi or bar, and the tyre temperature in C or F. John

Reverse polarity jump start is the main suspect. Or reverse polarity charge. John

The fans may be working fine, but have you checked to find which way they are blowing. John

I have a box full of various sizes of "O" rings. These are slightly softer than the OEM sealing rings, but seal better, and allow a small amount of movement of the valve. This helps prevent the valve being snapped off if it gets knocked. These rings are a left over product from my working days as a electronics service engineer on industrial robots. The rings were used for sealing joints on both pneumatic, and hydraulic systems at pressures up to 10,000 psi on the robots. The seal kits are available on Ebay for about £6 each. John

I have mentioned this before in previous posts, but has the car ever had front end damage. If the two radiator fans get changed over they blow from the engine compartment, and out of the front grill. This means at higher speeds the air stops flowing through the radiator, and on a hot day causes overheating. To check start the car and leave running till the fans come on. Stand in front of the car. Does the hot air from the engine compartment blow out through the front grill. If it does the fans have been interchanged. Remove the fans from the motors leaving the motors where they are, and swap the fans over. John