sorcerer

I think this is very much a 'horses for courses' argument. @ColinBarber quotes NGK and @Bluesman quotes Go-LPG. NGK are a manufacturer of spark plugs and have spent millions of pounds in their research and development department to produce the best product they can for a given job. That is where their strengths lie and it's what they do best. They know the processes, the chemistry, and everything that goes on to ignite fuel in a cylinder. Go-LPG are installers of LPG fuelling systems into (usually) petrol-driven cars and that's where their strengths lie - how to do a neat, safe and tidy job, and how to match the LPG system to the demands of the car.

Parts age, even when not used. Unless it's been kept in a heated garage all its life there's also rust and weathering issues to be expected on an almost 10 year old car, even if it has only done 44,000 miles.

First of all, stay clear of the SEL version as these have air suspension and it can be quite problematic on the Series 2 RXs. I've never owned a car with air suspension but I have been a passenger in one or two and in my opinion it adds very little (if anything) to the comfort of the ride but it introduces a whole new level of complexity and expense when it goes wrong. We bought our RX300 at about 76,000 miles, had it converted to LPG, and covered about 22-23,000 in the two years we had it with no trouble at all. They're built on the same body as the 400h, so may be prone to water ingress at the back, although ours wasn't. All in all, a superb car that we had originally meant to keep for many years and many, many more miles. The only reason we changed it was that we both hit 60 years old, our circumstances changed and we decided to treat ourselves to something newer to see us into retirement. If you do decide to go for a 300, I would seriously consider an LPG conversion as they really are not brilliant on fuel, but they are a great car.

I installed my cam in my RX300 so I know it's easy but, when I needed it in the RX450h my old back injury was playing up, so I also went to an auto electrician. I'm not sure if it was £45 or £48/hour plus VAT, but the final bill was £57.

Well that's sort of the point I'm making. We, as the users, don't know and we rely on the experts to inform and guide us to the best choice for our cars and circumstances, but if Profess only have knowledge of one system, how can they do that? If you've only ever had Watney's Red Barrel, you can't advise others how good Old Speckled Hen is; if you've only ever driven a Fiat Punto, you can't advise others how good a Lexus is - and if you only fit one brand of LPG system, how can you say that it's the best in any situation for any car?

Glad you've got to the bottom of the problem

Contact me off the forum by email to jhewitt1958@gmail.com and I may be able to help with some information. I have no experience of Profess Gas but one important thing to take into account is that they only install one brand of system and that is STAG. They may be the best, quickest, tidiest installers in the world for all I know, but is STAG the best system for your car? Many, many moons ago when I wanted my first car converted, the world of LPG was a complete minefield. Not only did you need a good, reputable fitter, but you also needed to know that they would be able to match the LPG system to the car. I personally found that I had a brilliant, well-respected installer in my own town, but he was only qualified to install a couple of systems, neither of which he could guarantee would perform flawlessly on my car. One thing that often happens when the LPG system and the car are incompatible or mismatched in some way is that, under heavy load, just when you want it to be drinking cheap gas rather than expensive petrol, the gas system can't deliver enough power and it starts to inject petrol as well as gas to cope with the demand - but it doesn't give you, the driver, any indication that it's doing this. It took me a good SIX MONTHS of research before I was confident in handing over my hard-earned cash to an installer who I was confident would do a really neat, safe job of installing a system that would be more than up to the job, and I ended up travelling about 60 miles to have it done. In those early days an installer would fit a complete system, after buying a complete kit of parts from the manufacturer and it either would, or it wouldn't be suitable for any given car. Nowadays, it's much easier for installers. Of course, they have to be really on the ball and know their stuff inside out but as long as they do, they can mix and match components to get bespoke systems to make sure they get the absolute best for any given car (say, for example, using a KME NEVO ECU with an OMVL reducer and MagicJET injectors) rather than just sticking to one system from one manufacturer.

No, it's no different than a standard car. It's a really easy DIY job (plenty video tutorials on Youtube) but if you want to pay someone to do it, look for any auto-electricians in your area.

Why bother? Even if you could get an up-to-date map disc, the operation of the integrated satnav is very clunky at best, plus, because it's DVD-based, you can't install your own POIs. As an example, our old RX300 was converted to LPG and a set of POIs (Points Of Interest) listing every LPG filling station in the country is available for the TomTom. If I was running low, I just asked TT to take me to the nearest filling station and that was it, sorted. You can't do that with the integrated system. I used it as a sort of 'rolling screensaver' but used my TomTom for proper navigation.

Oh I completely agree with you there Colin, no need to change 'mid-term' as it were, but when they're ready to change I'd always then go for the LPG plugs.

But surely, that's the whole point - an 'LPG plug' has been designed with both fuels in mind but an 'ordinary' plug hasn't. As long as there's no great difference in price (which there wasn't when I last bought the Laser Lines) and the 'LPG plugs' aren't a rip-off, I'd go with them every time.

There's no doubting and no denying that the combustion of Propane, and the products of that combustion, are different from that of petrol so why is it so difficult for people to understand that spark plugs are different too? Yes, of course, any old spark will ignite the fuel but to get the best from it and to get the longest life from the plugs, a product that has been designed around those parameters is best.

Maybe they thought that if some idiot parked in an area that was within the arc of the gate opening, maybe they deserved to get their car pranged? Not that I would, just playing Devil's Advocate and unfortunately acknowledging that some numpties do actually think like that these days.

When we had our LPG RX300 I used NGK Laser Line LPG plugs and found them to be excellent - bit of info here: LPG_info.pdf

Connor, I'm not trying to rain on your parade and I do like the car a LOT more now without those black wheels, but be careful about what you do with the headlights. Car lights are very complex things and all those lines and grooves on the lenses aren't just there to make them look nice or interesting; it's all to do with how the beam pattern forms, the refractions and reflections, spread patterns, and the avoidance of dazzling other road users. There's lots of very complex maths and science behind how and why a headlight looks and behaves the way it does and it's the reason why it's illegal to just swap halogen headlight bulbs for LED ones (well, not strictly 'illegal' because you could use them on private roads and/or tracks, but they aren't 'road legal').

Unless the 12V battery is on its way out and can't accept charge like it used to.

Sadly not. When I was looking for an RX450h I had a test drive in a red 13-plate Luxury at Lexus Bradford. In the listing it had 20" wheels, Active Park Assist, Blind Spot Monitor and something else I can't remember at the moment. Needless to say, it had none of them.

What Steve said above ^^^^^ As far as I'm concerned, the RX is the dog's danglies . Could do with being a bit better on fuel though, although it's been cold since we bought it so I'm hoping for some improvement over the summer months.

So you took it for a drive, during which the doors auto-locked. When you got home, did you just use the driver's door handle to unlock and open your door, or did you use the unlock button? If all doors are locked on my 450h and I just use my door handle to get out, only the driver's door unlocks, everything else remains locked. Only when I use the unlock button do all other doors and tailgate unlock - this isn't a fault, it's the way it works.

Oh well, no idea what's going on then, sorry Steve.

Have you tried the suspect lighter in the IS220d?

Have you replaced the fuses with ones of the correct current rating? Sent from my D6633 using Tapatalk

I'd say definitely an issue but just what it is and how to fix it, I'm afraid I haven't got a clue. Sent from my D6633 using Tapatalk

This is only a guess because, although I had an RX300 for almost two years, within a couple of weeks of buying it we had an LPG conversion done and the LPG tank was fitted in the spare wheel well, so I never needed to know. I think that there's a five-sided bolt head on the right-hand side of the boot floor that winds the carrier down/up. Aha, yes, here it is:

Your money, your choice, but I really don't think you'd get anything 'Harrier-specific' enough to justify it really. It's not a workshop manual, which would be very different, only an owner's manual that explains how to operate switches and other basic stuff. Given an RX manual and a bit of commonsense you should be able to figure it all out - if you can't, just poke, press, pull or push whatever's puzzling you.