Britprius

Save yourself a fortune. For R134a top up purposes Go to B&Q and buy a can of Rothenburger pipe freezer in a red aerosol. This is the stuff plumbers use to freeze a pipe to cut it without draining the water. It is pure R134a. The ROHS compliance certificate for this product can be seen on line. At around £17 for a very large can. I know I'm going to be shot down in flames with things like this is illegal, but think about this. Plumbers use this all the time to just squirt on a pipe in the open atmosphere. You are putting it into a sealed system. John.

The bonnet release on the 2006 GS is almost impossible to get at from the top of the window frame as it is a pull type, and under the dash above the accelerator pedal. However the key should work, but as previously stated with non use the lock mechanism tends to seize "some DW40 may help. Perhaps a reminder for us all to try the key in the door, and the boot. The hybrid GS has the battery in the boot. John.

The actual usable battery capacity is is 40% "zero bars to all green bars". The maximum discharge level is 40% of capacity, and the maximum charge level is 80% of capacity. The normal cycle life of quality NiMh batteries is about 1000 cycles "fully charged to fully discharged. By only using the narrow charge cycle range of 40% increases the cycle life to many hundreds of thousands cycles. One of the anomalies of the system is that if you are going downhill with a fully charged battery the engine will spin at speed to dump power. On putting your foot on the accelerator the engine will slow down or stop as the car uses electricity to increase the called for extra speed. John.

I got over the problem of the rusty locking nut by cutting off the skirt of 4 plastic chromed covers, and using some epoxy resin glued a button magnet into the top section. These then sit nicely onto the end of the locking nuts. This hides them completely. John.

Is that off a horse, and cart? must be an antique. John.

That's an idea but I rely think the chance of selling a steering wheel is minimal. I will check on the price new of a switch. Going by the price of the cruise control stalk switch it possibly will not cost much. I am sure I can make something work buy cutting around the knockout plastic on the steering wheel but leaving the top edge to act as a sprung hinge. Then fitting a micro switch behind it making it look OEM. John.

Thanks for the heads up Ganesh. I have just been out to my car and checked the switch, and it is the 58011 switch that is fitted as is the wiring. This grounds a terminal when operated on the newly fitted ECU. It is possible "not in my ownership" that someone has replaced the switch due to it being broken off something I have nearly done myself if I have left the steering on a righthand lock. I had wondered in the past why the stalk had an away movement with no operation. Still one less job to do. The switch is only circa £10 new, and fits many Toyota vehicles. I will add this to the final fitting instructions as an additional requirement. John

Hi Lee. Yes that is the distance control switch, but for the later model than my 2007. The switch on my version is a flap that sticks out just below the speek, and display buttons to the right of your red arrow. There is a cutout or knock out line where the switch should be. I can find a number of complete steering wheels on Ebay for £75/100. It may be worth finding the price of a new switch. I could drill a small hole in the back of the steering wheel and fitt a micro switch out of sight for the moment or even put a switch in the little pull off cover for the airbag fastener. John.

Not wishing to continue hijacking member Collins (Crow1342) post "Wheels, and workshop manuals GS450H" I am staring a thread on retro fitting radar distance control to the GS 350, and GS450H 2006/2011. It will almost certainly apply to other variants in the Lexus range. I have not as yet completed this but I am at a stage where I can pass on my findings so far. I must thank member Chris (Mihanicos) for his invaluable help with supplying circuit diagram information, that I could not find. A problem I have now resolved. So just to wet your appetite my progress so far. After studying the circuit diagrams for both versions of the cars "those fitted, and those not fitted" with radar cruise control known as "ACC automatic cruise control" I came to the following conclusions:- As long as the required wiring was fitted the concept was feasible. The hardware that is missing amounts to four items:- The distance control module ECU 88240-30410. The millimeter radar cruise unit transmitter 88210-62010 The steering wheel switch that sets the distance. Part number not known at the moment. A replacement Lexus logo badge for the front grill suitable for radar to pass through. After checking in the dashboard above the accelerator pedal where the distance control module should be I found the wiring, and plug for this unit just taped to the loom to be in place along with mounting threaded pins. This plug was live in that there were 12 volt feeds, and grounds at the relevent pins. All that is required to fasten the ECU is two 10mm spanner size nuts, and plug the unit in. Following the circuit diagram I found the wiring goes through two plug, and sockets joining sections of the loom. The first plug, and socket designated (AL2) then the wires continue on to plug, and socket (BA2). These are gray components mounted in the main fuse/relay box under the bonnet positioned in the centre front of this box. On inspection of this plug with multiple wires going into it I found that there were no wires fitted on the outlet side "top" for connecting pins 1 to 5. These pins are marked 1 to 5 and are the connections required to extend the wiring loom to radar transmitter that sits in front of the radiators, and behind the Lexus front badge. This part of the wiring loom is not fitted. I have bought of Ebay both the ECU 88240-30410 for £20 delivered from Lithuania advertised at £45, and the radar unit 88210-62010 for £45 advertised at £120. Do not be afraid to low bids on items marked "Make an offer". Both my bids were accepted immediately I made them meaning I did not have to wait for the seller to accept the offer. I have made up the section of wiring loom missing from the socket (BA2) to the radar unit using some old computer motherboard plugs removing the pin connectors for fitting to the (BA2) loom plug. As this only consists of five wires, and about three feet long it is not difficult to make up. The other wiring that is missing along with a micro switch is in the steering wheel. The wiring into the steering wheel through the clock spring is there, but to select the set distance the wire must be grounded each time the operating switch is pressed.I may make up my own switch mechanism, and single wire if I cannot find a secondhand switch on line. The control ECU has been fitted to the existing mounting points under the dash, and the existing wiring plugged in. When the weather improves "it's been wet here the last three days" I will fit the DIY loom, and the radar transmitter. Then I will dismantle the steering wheel to fabricate the distance control switch mechanism. I have already noted that there is a knockout in the wheel where the switch should be mounted. I will also take some pictures so that the positions of the various components can be seen, and how they are connected. Total cost so far is £65. This may rise a little if I can find a steering wheel control switch, but I am sure I can fabricate something if required or until I can obtain one. The expensive item looks like it will be the cheapest looking item. The front Lexus L badge that seems to be around £110. I may have to see what I can come up with printing wise to overcome this. I am hoping that the existing ECU's have the software already installed, and that no further ECU replacement is required. I do not think this is the case as all the ECU's on the two versions have the same part numbers. John.

Special equipment is required for chroming plastic as it does not conduct electricity. I think you need to rely clean your spokes before going further. My spokes were very bad but after doing the above procedure they came out looking new. See my post on refurbing my wheels. To see the results scroll down to the last post. Wheel refurb John.

You can try white spirit it will do no harm. Cellulose thinners is ok if you just use it to wipe the surfaces, but do not use it for soaking as it may desolve the plastic. Petrol may work, but keep checking it is not softening the plastic. Surgical spirit will work in the same way as meths. The chrome is real chrome so once the paint or lacquer has been removed you can polish them with Tcut or Brasso before re coating with lacquer. John.

Grant. Do not use anything abrasive like wire wool. The spokes are made of black plastic with a thin metallic chrome on the outside surface. If scratched this chrome can peel off leaving a dull black surface. Wiping them with cellulose thinners will remove the paint without damaging the chrome, but do not soak them in thinners as this may melt the plastic. A soak in meths may remove the paint so it is worth trying I know from experience it removes the lacquer, and does not damage the chrome or the plastic. John.

As member Ganesh say's this does sound like the transmission oil pump bearing failing. Lexus will only change the complete pump at around £2500. However the pump can be removed from the transmission from under the car. The bearings in the electric motor can then be changed for around £5 as they are just standard ball bearing races. If you put the car in ready mode and wait for the engine to shut down, if you can hear a rotating knocking rumble noise from under the car that is a sure sign of bearing trouble. John.

I soaked my spokes in metholatedspirits in an icecream tub after removing them from the wheels. This removed "with the aid of some rag" the original hazy lacquer. I then coated them again with top coat clear lacquer. John.

The front discs are easy to clean by removing the wheels, and with the engine running in gear use flap wheel type sanding discs in a drill or preferably an angle grinder. This will remove any rust, and light scoring easily. You can use quite course abrasive discs to do this. The rears are done in the same way but without any drive to them. If you make sure the pads are not binding on the discs so that the discs spin freely the abrasive discs will spin the brake discs for you giving a nice even finish. John.

Andrew I should have added the reason for the above treatment is that using the brakes in neutral turns off the regen braking, and forces the use of the mechanical brakes, and so helps ware off any surface rust before the discs become pitted. Once the discs do become pitted the rust rely begins to take over reducing the friction area, and causes the pads to ware more rapidly. John.

Andrew how many miles gas the car done? I ask because the brakes on the CT have a very easy life, and it's not unusual to expect a minimum of 100,000+ miles out of the first set of brake pads, and the disc ware is minimal. Possibly the biggest problem with the disc "and possibly your problem" is rusts through lack of use. The remedy for this is "when it is safe to do so" on a down hill run at around 50 mph go into neutral and brake steadily. Do this a couple of time a month to keep the discs shiny, and rust free. I have used EBC discs and black stuff pads on my Prius "the same as the CT", and had no problems. John.

Just an observation the writer of the post uses a name that we all recognise for the wrong reasons. "LexusLgend". John.

Chris you are a star. All I should need to do is run 5 wires from the front radar unit to that connector (BA2) to terminal numbers :- 1,2,4,5,6. This should complete the wiring under the bonnet. Thanks again, and I will let you know how things progress once the radar unit arrives. I will then do a post on how to retro fit ACC. My apologies to member Collin (crow1342) for unintentionally hijacking his post. John.

Chris that is a great help, and just what I was looking for. If it is not to much trouble, and if the information is available is there a diagram of where in the engine bay BA2 connector is located. I rely think I am getting somewhere with this. Now awaiting delivery of millimeter radar distance control unit. John.

Thanks Chris, but I still cannot open the HTML files or the PNG for some reason. However the other information will help considerably when I can get out to look as it's raining heavily here at the moment. John.

Very much appreciated. John.

No apologies required. You are trying to help me for which I am very great-full. If I can find connector BA2 it should have all the connections I need to extend them on to the radar unit. John.

LA2 is a connector with 3 wires in it, and BA2 is a connector with 5 wires in it. If you look at the circuit the wires come from the radar sensor to BA2 two of the wires split off at this connector, and 3 carry on to LA2, and then on to the distance control ECU. I have the wires plugged into the distance ECU "ready wired" but they then go to LA2 then BA2 then the radar unit, but I have no wires at the radar unit so I need to trace back to find BA2. I hope that makes sense. The first files you sent "the diagram" were PDF, and I had no problem with those. Thanks John.

Hi Chris. Thanks for coming to the rescue, but I cannot open the files. The other files you sent me were no problem, but if you look at the files at the bottom of the screen they say unavailable. John.