Herbie

I thought I'd signed up for that too, but apparently not.

To be honest my wife and I enjoy watching 'Police Interceptors' on the idiot's lantern - little did I know that I could have had a starring role!

I hunted out the service paperwork this morning because I thought it must be getting near and found that it's due a service at the end of October. More shockingly, I discovered that the MOT had run out on 1st February Thankfully I managed to get it done this afternoon and it passed with flying colours and not even a single advisory. This is genuinely the very first time in more than 40 years of driving that I've ever done anything like this and I was absolutely mortified when I found out this morning! Strangely though, even though I confessed to the guy doing the test, the new MOT runs for a full 12 months from today. I thought it would have had to be backdated but apparently not. Anyway, the renewal date has already been entered into my Google Calendar, my diary, my wife's diary and our wall calendar

The first two numbers relate to the diameter of the battery and the last two are the height of the battery in tenths of a millimetre, so the two you're looking at are either 1.6mm tall or 2.0mm tall - and I really don't think 0.4mm will be a critical difference, so either should be fine. Just out of interest though, why would you even question it? If I took a 1620 out I'd replace it with a 1620 and it wouldn't occur to me to even think of anything else. As for the key, I'll bet it'll be best part of £200 for key fob and coding at Lexus. I've never had an RX400h so I have no idea what the keys/fobs look like but if it's like the RX300 then it's worth having a look at this guy here who will sell you a blank key and cut the blade from a photo for you. You then just swap your electronics into the new case, and all for less than £15.

A lot of people (like my next door neighbour for instance) either don't have a phone, or if they have it's not a smart phone, so car integration would be great for them.

Sorry Alan but that's not quite correct. First of all, W3W has an accuracy of 3 metres because they've divided the whole world into 3m x 3m squares. Secondly, you are correct in that W3W itself doesn't give directions but it does integrate with mapping apps to use it as a normal satnav - see photos below. Last year, myself and seven others went on a lads weekend to Budapest and one day we had a clash of things we wanted to see, so four of us went to one place and four of us to the other. Of course, we had no idea where to meet up later so we agreed that the first group to finish their chosen activity would then find somewhere for us to meet and send the other group the three-word reference. Our group received the three words, opened Google Maps and were led directly to the exact corner of a bar beer garden to meet the other guys 🙂 Another example is that we live in Preston, Lancashire and had been given a W3W reference for a house in Richmond Green, Carlisle (first photo - notice the red arrow pointing to the 'Directions' icon) After clicking the directions icon you get the choice of your preferred mapping app - in our case we chose Waze: Final step is for your preferred mapping app to open and give you directions to the given 3m x 3m square:

For just under £20 including postage you could get this little gadget that would tell you the key frequency and also allow you to make sure any infrared remotes (TV, HiFi etc) are working. I've not got this particular gadget myself (yet!) but I have bought lots of electronic bits and pieces from Banggood and never had any problems whatsoever. Usually arrives in under two weeks and everything I've had up to now has worked first time and continues to work well, including this DSO138 Oscilloscope and also this XR2206 signal generator amongst other stuff

Hmm.... just looking at that website and I think some things may have been lost in translation, for instance "sucking motor"?? It should give you some help though and there's bound to be some Youtube videos as well, so good luck.

That's OK if the people you're giving your location to can understand lat/long but many don't. W3W is quick, easy, and understood by all so it would be the perfect solution.

I'd hazard a guess at either a sticky starter solenoid or sticky starter motor as most likely, or perhaps an intermittent connection. You'll need either a multimeter or at the very least a 12V bulb in a holder with wires attached to act as a test lamp. When you turn the key, power is supplied on a relatively thin wire to the starter solenoid, which is essentially a big electromagnet. Once that magnet is energised it pulls a pair of big heavy contacts together that then allow power to flow on the big thick wires from the battery to the starter motor. The thick wire from the battery to the solenoid should have 12V on it permanently, so check for that first. If that's OK then you need someone to turn the key to the 'Start' position while you check for the presence of 12V at one of the solenoid coil terminals. Actually, my bacon butties are nearly ready so rather than risk an errant squidge of brown sauce or egg yolk dropping on the keyboard, it may be best if you have a look here at this website that will expain things better than I could do anyway.

I hid all mine under the headlining as it went in very easy up there.

Are you sure the fuel filler flap fuse is only energised when the ignition is on? I would have thought it's permanently live due to the fact that I pull up to a pump, turn the car off and then open the fuel flap.

If it's in warranty just get it straight back, don't mess about.

I don't know Piers but if yours is dead can you not just take it out and confirm the model numbers?

The MOT changes now make them illegal. If you've passed the new test since then, you've either had a lenient tester or one who doesn't know what he's doing - or maybe one who just doesn't care. The new rules state that the light source must be the correct type for the light fitting. In other words, if it's a fitting designed for halogen bulbs then anything other than halogen in there is a fail; if it's a fitting for HID, then anything other than HID is a fail, and so it is with LEDs too.

As a radio ham I'm acutely aware of interference but what people may not know is that any manufacturer of any electronic equipment is supposed to build it with an immunity to interference. Sadly, many fail miserably in this respect.

Hi Neal and welcome to the club. Head on over to the dedicated CT forum if you have any questions or just to hang out 🙂

The parking sensors would have to be fed from a supply that is only live with the ignition on (READY mode), so that they go off with the car. As for the camera, do you intend to use it as a parking camera or a dashcam? If dashcam, again, only when ignition is on. If parking camera, you'll have to have it switched manually and remember to switch it on to park and then off again straight away. It's illegal to have any sort of active video screen in view of the driver if the car is moving, which is why dashcams that have a screen will blank it off after about two or three minutes max.

Good job Sami and good write up too.

Needs must John. Presumably the existing bulb is now deceased and has to be got out one way or another. Colateral damage just sometimes does happen. Just this very afternoon I've been putting together one of these DIY oscilloscope kits and snapped one of the perspex case pieces as I tightened a screw just a fraction too far

Have you tried gripping the connector with pliers to give more leverage, then twisting anticlockwise? Or a squirt of WD40 and wait about half an hour before trying?

You could modify it with a different set of connectors as long as you could adequately seal the male side to stop water ingress into the compressor. It's literally just a plug and socket to supply power to the compressor and has no bearing on what the compressor does or how it works.

As far as I know, the SE-L (I think later renamed to Premier) are the only ones with air. Apparently there are certain of these variants without air but they're a rare beastie indeed.

Yes, they do. They'll have been in there a long time so will no doubt need a bit of encouragement.

Nail, head. Comparing a Jag saloon with an SUV is apples and oranges. I had an RX300 before my current RX450h and have been more than happy with the comfort, effortless driving and general waftiness with both of them 🙂