Herbie

It's not really true but it will slow the process down. When the battery is connected as normal there will always be a small current drain because things such as the alarm, the radio presets, the clock and other stuff needs to be kept alive. If you disconnect the battery then you stop that drain, but all batteries will self-discharge anyway, even sat on the shelf in the shop and connected to nothing. The rate of self-discharge is obviously lower but given enough time the battery will still flatten itself.

One thing that we all have to realise is that there is no privacy anymore. If a baby was born today and its parents didn't register the birth, there is a chance. However, for us already in the system, we are already tracked through mobile phone usage, credit/debit card usage, street CCTV and a whole host of other measures. We, and the data we generate as we go about our lives, are the commodities, and 'fingerprinters' are just one more way of building that picture. This short article explains what they are and how they are used.

My RX300 had new belt, idler/tensioner, water pump 10l new coolant and labour for £460 all in, done by a really good indy garage that was personally recommended. Like I said, no need to pay dealer prices at all

All reputable garages work that way, it's part of the reason why they are reputable and why people recommend them. A recent topic on here saw mention of labour charges being about £130+VAT per hour so I know it'll be high. However, cambelts and associated works are bread and butter jobs that any mechanic worth his salt should be able to do without problem. As long as a garage has a good reputation and is recommended by word-of-mouth previous customers, there is absolutely no need to use a main dealer and pay extortionate rates - especially when little indy garages will be suffering due to the virus crisis.

I don't know because I use Waze on my phone. What I can tell you is that it will be expensive, counter-intuitive, difficult to use, clunky and basically a waste of time. The old saying "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" comes to mind.

I hope you get a reply but this post is three years old so don't be disheartened if you don't, just carry on your research and good luck.

It's just an 'extension' to the luggage cover. You can see from the fitting diagram that it fits to the curve of the tailgate and provides a way of keeping prying eyes out of the bit that would otherwise be open to any scrote looking in for valuables to purloin. It's just a pity that they didn't think of that at the seat end of the boot like they did with the 2RXs.

Some of the RXs can be converted but not sure about that model year. However, I ran LPG cars for more than 15 years (including my old 2005 RX300) before getting my RX450h and as much as I love LPG, there's no way I would even consider doing one of these, or any hybrid for that matter. These cars are incredibly complex as it is, so to add another layer of complexity into the mix is, in my humble opinion, a step too far.

Have a look here: Linky to eBay

Of course, in times like these, it could be that they have much more to worry about so we must be careful of making assumptions but in general, yes, it annoys the hell out of me when people leave us all wondering how the story ended

Now that's quite interesting as aluminium, being a soft metal, is usually more difficult to cut than stainless because it clogs up the teeth of the cutting blade. Ideally, any guard should really be made from something like titanium.

.....if anyone on here has my old RX300, Reg No. GY05 HVK?

That'll just be the 'quick' introduction handbook - download the 'real' one from https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/about-my-lexus/manuals/

They only put it up to 15 years about 6, maybe 9 months ago - I hope they haven't brought it down again have they?

This may help a bit: And here's where to find the Brake Control Power Supply:

They shouldn't be. The whole idea of a Toy/Lex hybrid, is to anticipate the road ahead and brake gently so that you make the most of the regenerative braking system, which does all the braking down to about 3mph and then the conventional hydraulic brakes take over. This is why brake pads and discs last a lot longer than those on a purely hydraulic system.

Cheers chaps. Part 2 will come as soon as my ear problem sorts itself out.

If things can be easy or awkward, Murphy's Law will always come into play and make things as awkward as possible; or so I've often found anyway. Thinking that if a jump start is ever going to be needed, it will happen on a cold, wet, windy night and getting to either the battery in the boot or the dedicated 'more convenient' jump start terminal in the engine bay fuse box is not going to be easy no matter which one I go for. So, some of you may remember that some time ago I installed a more convenient 'jump start socket' in the boot: Silly Billy that I am, I hadn't realised at the time that if the battery is flat then the tailgate can't be opened other than by clambering over the back seats to get at the manual release lever. So, spurred on by @Richie_W's recent posting I decided to leave that socket in situ for something else but also to fit another socket that I can use to jump start the car, in a better location. The centre console of the RX has an upper and a lower 'level' to it. The lower level is open and already has a 12V power socket factory installed but it's not energised until the car is either in ACC or READY mode, so that was no good for this purpose. However, it does lend itself to connecting a USB voltmeter in parallel so I did this a while ago and it's great for charging my phone and as an indication of the battery voltage. Having already made up a jump lead for use in the back I decided to use the same sort of socket again at the front, a Neutrik NL2MD loudspeaker connector that's rated at 30A. I soldered a couple of cables on the terminals and terminated the other ends with male bullet connectors. Using a step drill made an easy job of cutting the hole for the socket. The job isn't finished yet because I have to get cables from here into the engine bay fuse box. Behind the glove box there's a big rubber grommet taking the existing wiring loom through the bulkhead and that's where my route out will be. I can't do it at the moment due to a bit of an ear infection. Luckily there's no pain but when I lie down or get my head in awkward positions like I would have to for this job, the whole world begins to rapidly spin round and I get to feeling rather puky, so I'll have to wait for this to clear up before I can do the other side of the job. However, this is what the finished job will look like and what it'll allow me to do (I've kept the original leads that came with this battery pack so that I can use it to help others if necessary but you'll see the lead I made up for my 'more convenient' jump starting, if or when needed):

I know what you're saying Mark and I agree - better to be safe than sorry and all that. However, I must take issue with your statement that "it's not uncommon". In more than 45 years of personally driving, messing with jump leads, doing all my own maintenance etc., talking to friends and family about it, and also talking to the mechanics in the BT garage and also a mate of mine who is a mechanic in the NW Ambulance Service garage, not a single one of us has ever had it happen to us personally, nor does anyone know someone who has had it happen to them. Of course, we should stick to the rules and I'm not telling anyone to do otherwise, but "not uncommon"? I'd say it's about as uncommon as an uncommon thing on World Uncommon Day to be honest 😄

As mentioned above by m4rkw and myself, these things are brilliant for situations like this - jump leads are just so last century The battery negative is strapped to the car body so literally any unpainted bolt, nut or screw that's not insulated from the body will do.

Yep, me too. Well worth every penny just for peace of mind (although I got a DB Power one rather than Halfords 🙂)

If you can get at that, why can't you use jump leads on it? EDIT - because they aren't long enough now that I've just re-read your original post. Can't you just use some bits of wire or mains flex or something to extend your jump leads? You don't need to pass hundreds of Amps like a conventional car, less than 20A will get the car into READY mode, but even less will provide enough power to at least unlock the doors and hopefully the tailgate. EDIT 2 - if you've used the mechanical key to unlock the doors, can you not just climb over the back seats to get to the tailgate release mechanism if there is one. Or maybe even use the shift lock to get the car in N, parking brake off and just push the car away from the wall, closer to the jump leads?

Not on my 2013 RX450h there isn't. Well, there's a mechanical key for the front doors but no key barrel to insert a key on the tailgate.

No, there's only two batteries, a 12V battery to boot the computers to get the hybrid system up and running, and a 288V hybrid or traction battery - so that's two batteries that can go flat if the car isn't used. It sounds complicated (and it is) but it boils down to the fact that you need three things - the 12V battery, the traction battery and the petrol engine. If you ran out of petrol you would not be able to drive the car for more than a couple of miles on the traction battery alone, if at all, and vice versa - if the traction battery went faulty you wouldn't be able to use it purely as a petrol-driven car. So, if the car is in storage and not being used, the 12V battery will be the first to lose charge and go flat. If the car is left even longer then eventually the traction battery will also go flat after about two to three months. The first one is easy to deal with. The second one, if it were to go flat, would need specialist equipment and knowledge to deal with. In a conventional car the 12V battery is used to energise the starter motor and crank the engine. Hybrids don't have a starter motor as such and the process is different. The hybrid computer uses the traction battery to energise MG1 (or is it MG2 - I can never remember) which spins the petrol engine up to about 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark, so a flat traction battery means no petrol engine either.