Britprius

Did you or the AA try to jump start the car before charging the battery? The 12 volt battery does not actually start the engine in the normal way of other cars it just boots the computers and operates a few pumps. It is possible that the a jump start or charging the 12 volt battery with the connections reversed has at minimum blown some expensive fuses or damaged some ECU's. It is the high voltage battery that is used to power one of the two electric motors in the transmission to turn the engine. John

We use the term shock absorbers because they absorb kinetic energy "sudden movements of the suspension from road irregularities, shocks", and turn it into heat. The greater the shock the greater the amount of absorption that takes place. Veteran vehicles were fitted with dampers consisting of a circular braking mechanism that damped the movement of the suspension and spring almost like a slipping clutch, but had a greater effect on small suspension movements, and less effect on large faster movements. I guess in the US the term damper stuck. John.

Wrong wheels for a 450H. John

I could not agree more on the last part of your post. The number of vehicles I come across that slow down almost to a standstill, then start to turn into a side road or driveway, and only then after the maneuver is started does an indication show. Non of us are perfect. We all make some mistakes, but this shows complete disregard for other road users. John.

If you want a larger capacity battery than the standard 45 AH I found that there is an AGM (absorbed glass mat) extreem deep cycle battery the same physical size as the OEM battery, but rated at 55 AH at a 10 HR rate. This puts it's capacity when rated at the same discharge rate of a 20 HR rate of other manufacturers at over 60 AH This battery is available from The battery bay at Cannock, and other battery outlets that sell mobility batteries for mobility scooters. These batteries are designed to withstand full discharge on a daily basis. It weighs 39.6 Lbs against the OEM 24.2 Lbs because battery capacity for lead acid type batteries is directly proportional to the lead content. The battery is available in a number of manufacturers, but the one I used in my Prius was a Rittar RA12-55, but is available from Lucas, Uasa, Panasonic, and many others. It's dimensions are H 210 mm W 138 mm L 229 mm. The terminals are vertical M6 screw fixings that are easy to convert to the JAP posts if you wish or you can simply bolt the battery leads straight onto the battery. It is important to make sure you connect the battery with the correct polarity. It should be pointed out especially, "but not confined to" those that have hybrid cars when "jump" starting from another battery or jump pack that you only have one chance to get the polarity of the battery correct. One reverse connection even for a split second can have very expensive consequences to the electrical systems of the vehicle. Over on Priuschat "the Prius forum" there is a steady stream of people in trouble with cars that have been reverse connected "even by professionals" John

I do believe there are Lexus models that have not had problems, and this may or may not relate to the older models when Lexus was establishing it's self as a brand. Unfortunately the GS450H does have problems with the shock absorbers at around £300 each for the parts only. This could be put down to the weight of the batteries but since the front and rear shocks suffer the same problems I doubt it.The new parts being no better than the old ones with Lexus quibbling about changing them under extended guarantee. Simply saying they are a ware, and tare item, and that description fits just about every part on any vehicle. This is rather like the old insurance get out of things going wrong is an act of God. To fit a better seal system, or protect the old seal better may well overcome the problem, but no modification seems to be forthcoming. The same goes for brake calipers seizing on the slide pins with the standard procedure from Lexus of changing the calipers at £280 each. Now this affects many Lexus models, and as far as I am aware there has been no modification to the part or instructions to lubricate the pins at service intervals. Not what I expect from any manufacturer be it Fords or Lexus. I cannot justify to myself buying a new "expensive car" that the manufacturer will not stand by when things go wrong. Being in engineering all my life I do understand some things unforeseen can and do go wrong, but when this happens the only viable alternative is to put things right. Not to bury things in the sand and hope they will go away. People have long memories, and it is very easy to loose them as customers. I for instance having had eight BMW's but will never buy another due to similar treatment by them. This was not the dealers fault they really did there best in the situation, but in the end they also lost out on sales of at a minimum of four new cars plus servicing of same. This over work costing £800. John

As many here will know I came from a Prius to the Lexus "opposite ends of the hybrid chain". I was hoping that the Lexus would be as or more bullet proof than the Prius. I initially bought a well looked after full service history GS450H on the theory it should be a reliable car to test the water before buying new. I must admit I like the car very much. I now have serious doubts about spending the amount of money on what will probably be my last car with the long standing problems the GS has that have not been resolved by Lexus. I could probably buy a second hand low millage Tesla for less money, and spend much less in maintenance. Allowing for fuel costs the Tesla would win hands down even with possible battery replacements. If I spend the sort of money required for a new GS or other model Lexus I would need to know Lexus are going to stand behind there product without me buying my way into what seems to be a lottery of extended warranties, or replacing expensive parts that have short lives. The Prius had a 100,000 mile 8 year guarantee along with several other manufacturers. The only items replaced on the Prius under guarantee at 40,000 miles were the rear (KYB again) shocks "only one faulty, but both were replaced free of charge being told by the dealers they should always be replaced in pairs" Even going to the extent of showing this requirement in the repair manual. Then having no more problems when I sold the car at 128,000 miles. Lexus the so called premium brand of Toyota offer nothing like this length of guarantee. So in my mind either they are after big profits at the expense of customers, or they realize there products are not reliable enough to be able to offer a longer guarantee. John.

That still does not make it right. How about we get rid of all consumer rights, and make Toyota, and the dealers even more profitable. I am not saying there should be no cut off point to any guarantee, but where a component is obviously not up to it's intended purpose it should not be the customer that pays. This particularly when parts that are failing in numbers, and are priced at a level of high profibility. John

It's about time Lexus stood up to the plate, and recalled GS450's, and fitted replacement shockabsorbers that are up to the job. If this is not a safety concern I do not know what is.While customers continue to pay up for something that will likely have as short a life as the origional item someone is making a lot of money. Having examined the shocks fitted there is no justification for the extortionate prices charged for them by Lexus. If they were half the price they are they would still not be reasonably priced. I know of no other so called pressigious car that has both front and rear consistant early failure of it's suspension. John.

If the 12 volt battery had to be disconnected for any reason during work being carried out the programmed radio stations would have been lost. It is easy for the mechanics to reset things like the windows, and sun roof, but once lost they have no idea what you have stored in the radio. John

Runs OK on my laptop. The driver did seem to get close to the kerb at the one island, but there did not seem to be any movement from the car at that point. John

By far the most common reason for failure of the Toyota/Lexus light leveling system is the height sensors on the suspension. Sometimes it is the actual connecting rods that snap due to seized end ball joints. Other times it is due to water entering the variable resistors. Both can be repaired without to much difficulty. New ones are expensive "circa £200 each". John

Let me know where, and I'll come and collect it, so we can share a Christmas tipple. The black "thing" is the fob detector for the boot lock. On that subject a merry Christmas to my new friends here on the Lexus owners club. John.

If the side and stop lamps are out the problem is almost certainly a bad ground connection to that rear light unit. John

I believe it is the same arrangement as the Prius the stop lamp being a group of LED's that cannot be changed without destroying the rear light fitting. This means a complete rear light replacement. The Prius light was £186 fitting extra. Check the feed to the light first as it is not usual for all the LED's to go together rather in groups of three. John

Using the starter motor to undo the bottom pulley bolt works well as Steve suggested. I have used this method on many different cars, and it has not failed me yet. Just stabbing the starter a few times does the trick. John.

No argument intended rather clarification. I am using 1.5 watt 12 volt LED G4 bulbs "rated light output 10 watts 100 lumen" in my front side lights. These give out a good amount of light that is white in color. If the terminal jaws in the bulb holders are squeezed together a little the G4 bulbs fit, and hold well in them. This lights up the headlamp reflector well. These bulbs also have the advantage that they were designed for AC with an inbuilt bridge rectifier so are not polarity sensitive when fitting. I am considering supplying the lights through a diode from the OEM circuit and also directly from a ready mode feed to give daylight running lights. The diode could be connected in series with a suitable fuse, and arranged so that it replaces the OEM fuse in the fuse box. It could pick up the extra feed at the same point. Meaning no external wiring, and returning the car to OEM is just replacing the fuse. John

The misfire code can be caused by condensation on the plug insulators if the car has been left standing with cold damp conditions. It quickly disappears as the heat from the engine drives off the moisture. However with the oil being cold and "thick" it could be caused by blocked cam timing filters. John.

Not wishing to put you down just to put things straight. I am a retired electronics engineer. The figures I used are based on your numbers. The bulbs are effectively in parallel not series. The OEM lamps do not have a fixed resistance, but change from a low resistance to a high resistance depending on filament temperature. A resistance of 6 ohms in the wiring at a load of 1 amp would only cause a heating effect of 6 watts along the entire wiring run back to the battery. So the wires would not noticeably get warm. The heating is dependent not only on the resistance, but also the current carried. The value of 6 ohms was extrapolated from your figures of the OEM bulbs only running at 6 volts "the reason you chose to use 6 volt LED's". The other 6 volts must be lost in the circuit to the bulbs in those circumstances. The lighting circuit is not supplied by a separate regulated 12 volt feed, but by the battery rail voltage that varies between the battery voltage "for a good battery 12.8 volts, and the charge regulated voltage when in ready mode of around 14.2 volts dependent on the battery state of charge. With no bulbs in place no matter what the resistance of the circuit the full battery voltage would be available at the bulb holders until the bulbs are fitted. Only then does the voltage drop, and that drop depends upon the current being carried for any given resistance "the less current the less the voltage drop". John

Parts for the Lexus are generally expensive, but it is amazing what you can save if you search hard enough. I have just picked up a pair of GS450H rear discs made by Quinton Hazel for the sum of £20 the pair from Ebay. Strangely I bought a pair of rear discs for my Prius 6 years ago for the same price from the same seller. Anyone else had any really good buys for there car? John

You may have problems using 6 volt LED's with them burning out. The voltage drop along the thin wires Lexus use to the side lights is dependent on the current the wires carry. So 6 watt incandescent bulbs will draw 0.5 amps each at 12 volts. The LED replacement bulbs typically have a loading of only 1 watt or 0.083 amps although the light output is the same or more. If the voltage drop along the wires with 2 OEM bulbs is 6 volts at 1 amp leaving 6 volts to run the bulbs the wiring must have a resistance of six ohms. With the LED bulbs the load is 2 X 0.083 amps = 0.166 amps. The voltage drop along the same wires at a loading of 0.166 amps will be 0.996 V rounded up to 1 volt leaving the LED's running on 11 volts. All this assumes the battery voltage on charge "ready mode" is 12 volts when in fact it is much closer to 14 volts John.

Although the battery is rated at 540 cranking amps you do not need a cable with that high a rating. Generally the thicker the better as this reduces the resistance, and therefore the voltage drop along the cable when starting the engine. Use a cable at leased as thick as the OEM. This translates into a faster cranking speed, and engine start. Joints in the cable are usually troublesome, and should be avoided if possible. End connections should be soldered on rather than crimped if possible. It is a good idea to check all the battery cable connections including from the chassis to the engine for cleanliness, and tightness. Single loop steel spring washers are not a good idea to use.

From there own description of the problem any claim could or would come under the same heading. A wheel bearing would fail because of in service ware and deterioration of the bearing surfaces. I guarantee if you inspect the piston rod with the car jacked up (weight off the wheels) you will find it is the piston rod chrome coating that has failed causing the seal not to work "leak" in that area. Careful inspection will show a dark ring round the shaft where the seal sits when the car is stationary. This is visible in the pictures below even after attempts to remove it with fine emery paper. The chrome is only about 1 thousand's of an inch thick and the area where the dark ring is will rust while the chromed area remains bright. The reduction in size in the ring area can be felt with finger tips. If this is the case the piston rod failed then damaged the seal so the shock absorber shaft failed first "not the seal" I have seen this scenario on many leaking KYB shocks. Sorry for the poor picture quality. It is difficult to capture on bright chrome. John

Try a breaker for the speaker replacement. Ebay is a good source you will get a full set of speakers for less than that. There is a good breaker in Lithuania that breaks UK cars, and ships parts back here. John

This is typical bulb failure mode for HID bulbs. Make sure you get the correct type for your vehicle. There are 2 different ones D2S and D4S they run at different voltages so they are not interchangeable. Be prepaired for a shock price from the dealers "£98" for genuine Phillips bulbs. You can get cheap bulbs off Ebay £12 for two, and quite honestly have not had problems with them. Even if they only last a couple of years they must be worth it. John