Herbie

You may be able to find a combined DRL and fog light unit for the 400h that are direct replacements for the original fog lights. However, if not, this is the best alternative - switchback LEDs that double as DRL and turn indicator. Sorcerer uses two relays in this one but there is a way of doing it with just one relay, so let me know if you want it and I'll draw out a simple circuit diagram for you. And like he says, don't worry about how it initially looks because I know he made a nice neat job of it later.

Yeah it will do because as you know, the RX300 only has mechanical brakes. It doesn't take long to get used to the regen brakes though. Just anticipate the road ahead and brake gently whenever you can, so as to get the most from the system.

Yes and no I suppose I know it started off as being the 400h but I would think the points being discussed could be applied across the range of hybrids, but maybe not?

Guilty as charged, by omission, although I have mentioned in a few previous postings that if you have to slam on the anchors in an emergency then the system goes directly to mechanical braking; I just forgot to include it here. Are you saying that the mechanical brakes come on whenever the power meter indicates maximum charge? I don't know how many Amps are being squirted into the traction battery when the power meter indicates maximum charge, but I assumed that some current-limiting circuitry comes into play to limit the rate of charge so that the battery isn't damaged. In other words, the battery still has the capacity to accept more charge, so regen braking still continues with the electrical output of MG1 being limited, until the car slows down enough for the mechanical brakes to take over.

P/Outlet No.1 is a 15A and will only be energised when the ignition is on - it's for the cig lighter/power outlet. Why not buy yourself a cheap little multimeter to check and make sure though? They're great little gadgets and come in handy for lots of things and once you've got it, it's there for future use too. Really inexpensive ones can be bought for under a tenner and then range upwards into hundreds of pounds.

+1 for Viofo. Great little cameras and very unobtrusive. Certainly no need whatsoever to pay the extortionate sums of money that Lexus charge, either for the camera or for fitting. Any auto electrician or car audio place will fit a camera for about £30-£40. Better still, it's very easy to DIY - took me less than 30 minutes from going into the garage for my tools to taking the car for a test drive to make sure it was working correctly.

Well I'll go t'foot of our stairs! I had no idea that there was a 'winter and summer' position - I wonder if it's the same for the RX? I'll investigate later by reading my manual Thanks for that video John. In case that doesn't work for the OP, I've always just turned on the wipers and then turned off the ignition with the wipers in mid-sweep.

I agree with everything you said above Colin except for this last little bit. That may be the case on a long downhill stretch when the traction battery is fully charged and can accept no more, although I'm not even sure about that - if the traction battery is full and the excess supply has to be dumped, wouldn't the charge meter needle rise to the top of its scale, indicating no charge taking place? However, that's a different thing so I'll leave that there. Even just normal driving around town, approaching traffic lights or junctions will see the power meter needle drop right down indicating maximum charging but the mechanical brakes don't come on at that point. As the car slows down the needle will rise because MG1 is reducing speed, and consequently electrical output, all the time but it's only when the road speed gets down to somewhere between 7 and 3mph (can't remember exactly) that the change from regen to mechanical braking takes effect.

I think you're right with your calculations William (@Thackeray) but it's a bit simpler than that. There's no actual path for the 12V battery to have any effect on MG1 and/or the petrol engine at all. The voltage of the traction battery varies by model and from the documents provided by Peter above, we know that the RC300h is nominally 230V, so we'll stick with that for the purposes of this discussion. As you said above William, MG1 is supplied with 650V, which is derived by feeding the 230V from the traction battery into the inverter. In other words, to be able to get 650V out, we have to squirt 230V in. If we could somehow supply the inverter with 12V (which I don't think can be done anyway) then the inverter would either not do anything at all, or it would squirt out a greatly reduced voltage, nowhere near the 650V needed to spin MG1 and the petrol engine. It would be like trying to light up a 230V lamp with a 1.5V AA battery - it just wouldn't happen.

Excellent result, well done.

When you disconnected various things from the inverter did you tape the ends up or could something have shorted? Trapped wire anywhere? The DTCs should have a sub-code with them, like P0A09-265, which indicates an open or GND short circuit in NODD circuit of DC/DC converter. A list of codes can be found here You'll see below that the most likely cause of one of the codes you have is the wire harness or connector, so again, just look for proper connections, trapped wires and so on. Check that none of the individual conductors have come loose or broken from the connectors. P2520-782 A/C Request "A" Circuit Low Open or GND short in A/C blower motor operation inhibition request (IDH) signal circuit 1. Wire harness or connector 2. w/ converter inverter assembly (MG ECU)

Looking at it logically, if it was working correctly before you started work then it can only be something that you've done, something you've disturbed, something you've forgotten or something that's been reinstalled incorrectly. Go back and pull all connectors off and then reseat them again to make sure they're tight and good. Did you have to drain the inverter coolant? If so, has the right quantity gone back in? Hoses tight? Connector to inverter coolant pump ok? Coolant circulating in correct direction (I don't know if it's directional or not but if two hoses have been taken off then they may have been switched when put back on?). Service plug reinstated correctly?

I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong but..... MG1 (Motor/Generator 1) is used to start the petrol engine and is a permanent magnet AC motor but as we know, the 12V battery is DC so there has to be some conversion taking place and it's the hybrid system itself that does this. If I remember correctly, a boost converter is used to provide 500V DC to the inverters for MG1 and that boost converter is fed by the traction battery, so no traction battery means no engine start. That's correct and that's the reason why the car should be in READY mode rather than standby when you're sat in it listening to the radio or whatever. If it's in standby then the computers will monitor the voltage and shut systems down to conserve energy and avoid that flat bettery. If the car is in READY mode, the petrol engine will fire up every time the voltage drops to a certain level so as to keep the battery charged.

I'm afraid I have to slightly disagree with John above. The 12V battery is used to power up the computers and pressurise the brakes, after which the traction battery provides power for all the car's requirements, including charging the 12V battery, just like an alternator would do in a conventional car. If the traction battery is flat, there is no way the 12V battery can do anything about it. You have to call out the dealer or someone else who has the specialist knowledge and equipment to deal with it. It's been quite a while since I looked so the following may be incorrect, but I seem to remember looking at the discharge curves for a pack of 8 AA batteries and if I remember correctly then I think they could supply 12V 28A for just under one minute. If my recollection is correct, then in theory at least, that would be enough to get the car into the READY state because my RX450h takes less than 20A to do that. The 12V battery can never be used for starting power as far as I know. This is because the hybrid system uses MG1 to spin the petrol engine up to 1000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it.

Definitely do that. A Hybrid Health Check can be part of a Lexus service or you can buy one as a stand-alone item for £59. As long as the car passes, Lexus then warranty the battery for 12 months. Rinse and repeat every year until the car is 15 years old.

First of all, an advisory is just that, an advisory and not necessarily anything wrong. Some MOT testers are over-zealous and put advisories on trivial things, so depending on what it is, an advisory wouldn't necessarily put me off buying a car. Some cars have the same advisory year after year (like my old RX300 had when I bought it) but (a) it was trivial and (b) it had not got any worse year on year. Secondly, if the car is as good as you think, I strongly suggest not waiting until Sunday, go and see it tomorrow morning or you genuinely risk losing out if someone else sees it and wants it.

You can't just "find the part" without proper diagnostics first. The error code (in your case P1349) is just a starting point for more investigation.

Google is your friend. Entering "Lexus P1349" (without the quotes) into Google brings back lots of results, none of which seem to indicate a cheap fix. It looks like P1349 is something to do with the Variable Valve Timing.

Well, it's more than 3 years since we traded the RX300 in so I may be wrong, but I'm almost certain that they were just normal push-on spade connectors.

It's really a very simple job. Five minutes and you'll have the trims off, switch back in place and trims back, job done. I took mine out to change the cig lighter for a USB socket for my phone and anything else that may need a USB connection:

This should help if I'm right in thinking that the switch in question is on the trim containing the seat heater switches and the cig lighter.

This link may help

It does indeed seem strange doesn't it

Is it really so bad that the whole car unlocks Geoff? My 2013 RX has a remote with three buttons - lock, unlock and one that if I 'long press' will open/close the tailgate. As I'm walking to the car I press the unlock (whole car unlocks) and then long press for the tailgate to start opening and by the time I'm there it's open. Put stuff in the 'boot', press the close button as I start to walk away and then press the lock button, whole car locks again. Does your's not do that? And yes, that's just the sound that eCVT systems make. Try not to 'floor it' all in one go and see if that helps.

Fair enough then Richard.