Herbie

It really grinds my gears when people don't bother to tell us the outcome

You can probably download the manuals from https://www.lexus.co.uk/owners/about-my-lexus/manuals The infotainment/satnav systems have always been the Achilles Heel of any Lexus car.

Cheers Piers, and the same to everyone else too

True, and I appreciate that, along with the fact that the OP of this topic wasn't looking for repair advice but rather just asking if anyone else had had the same problem as his wife had just encountered. I'm just being realistic in that to give proper, meaningful answers we need as much information as possible and reading the OBD (which stands for OnBoard Diagnostics) error codes is the best starting point in 95% of cases.

Well, first of all, OBD readers can be bought for about £20 and upwards these days, so not very expensive at all and well worth having one 'just in case'. Secondly, why bother asking for advice if you haven't got the tools and/or the knowledge to act on any advice given. I'm not talking about this post in particular but lots of posts, especially those asking for help with electrical problems, seem to come from people who lack even a simple multimeter (can get one for under a tenner) or the tools required. Given the complexity of modern cars I'd say that an OBD reader and a multimeter are as basic and as important to have as a set of spanners. EDIT: - Forgot to say that even if you don't have your own OBD reader then almost any garage anywhere will gladly read the codes for you.

Perhaps naming the garage will prevent others from having problems in the future? This is a good place for pump refurb https://www.carparts-direct.co.uk/power-steering-pumps

Lots available on eBay for about £20, like this for instance. Or this is even better.

Really need more info to give a better answer. Did it just drop speed but still keep going or did it stop altogether? Were there any warning lights or, more importantly, any messages such as 'Check Hybrid System' or anything else? You need to read the OBD codes if any are flagged. These give us a starting point for further diagnostics and without them, all anyone can do is guess really.

Just that I've never heard of any car where this happens and also that there's no mention of it in the owners manual. I don't know why or even if the sequence of warning lights would change, but I think you're reading too much into it if you think it may be an advance warning system for age-related defects.

Purely a guess, but I'd say that there's not a cat in hell's chance of that happening.

I'm not sure but can say that it wouldn't be the MXS 10, which, if I'm reading it correctly, only seems to be a charger rather than a jump start pack. I have one of these and it's been superb. I've never needed it for my own car but it has started cars for many other people and works first time, every time. It also holds its charge very well as I've only topped it up once (possibly twice after a few starts) per year.

Water pumps are usually changed when the timing belt is being done because they live very close to each other and it means only one lot of labour needs to be paid for. Have you had the belt done?

It's fine to lock it if you want to. There's always some drain on the battery keeping the radio presets, the alarm, the clock and so on, alive. It won't cause any problems with charging the battery in situ. I think Zotto is being cautious regarding the possibility of voltage spikes, but the battery itself acts as a big smoothing capacitor anyway. It would be a very different kettle of fish if you were using a 40 year old transformer-based charger, but modern intelligent chargers handle this aspect very well.

Yes, that's right as I understand it. There have been a few posts on these forums from people saying that they've been told to come back for testing in 500 miles. Afraid so. As I said earlier a test can show the correct voltage when it's just stood there doing nothing but the moment you put some load on it and want it to do some work, the voltage can drop right down. Not sure as I've never had to do it myself. All I can say is that the link I provided goes to a copy of the same workshop manual that Lexus techs use in the dealer workshops and as such, all the official test and diagnostic procedures are listed in there. For instance, if the DTC P0AFC-123 is also output, the chart tells you to go to 'Option B' and there's a 'Click Here' link to follow, which then shows you the next steps to diagnose the voltage sensor. Good luck with it all mate.

Not having a pop but that amount of text in one block isn't easy to read and would have been better broken down into about 3 or 4 paragraphs That's because you cleared the codes and have had things disconnected. You need to drive about 500 miles (doesn't have to be in one go but that's alright if you wanted to do that) for the system to stabilise itself and have any chance of giving you true readings. Trying to diagnose it now would produce odd results and lots of red herrings. How were you reading those voltages? A cell can show correct or normal voltage when you put the multimeter probes across it, but once you put a load on it that voltage can drop like a stone, so they have to be load-tested to show their true condition. It may not even be anything to do with the battery itself, but rather the battery voltage sensor or its associated circuitry. You have to be methodical and logical in your diagnostics and carry out tests both in the right order and using the right test gear. Have a look at the following link for a bit more information: http://zatonevkredit(blocked word)/repair_manuals/raw_content/RM100000000X4NN.xml EDIT: I couldn't find anything for a 2007 GS450h, that link is really for cars from about 2012, so when it says The HV battery is composed of 32 modules, and each module consists of six 1.2 V cells in series. The battery voltage sensor monitors battery block voltage at 16 locations. Each battery block is composed of 2 modules in a set then this may not be correct for your car but the principles stand.

That is indeed the exact reason, but in more than 45 years of messing around with cars, neither I, nor any of my friends or relatives have ever seen or even heard of a single case of explosion from a charging battery, so I never give it a thought.

It makes not one jot of difference in an electrical sense, 12V at the front is just the same as 12V at the back. There may be logistical reasons for choosing one over the other but that's all.

Doh!! I wish I could touch type and then I'd be able to see when someone has beaten me to it

Aha, right. It does indeed sound like the man from the AA is correct and that the 12V battery has stood around too long. Given that you've only had the car a week, I would be inclined to get it back to the dealer for replacement under warranty. If you want any 'ammo' to back you up, just go to any garage or car accessory shop that sells batteries and ask them to do a load test on it. It'll only take a couple of minutes and is usually done free of charge (ha, see what I did there? Free of charge? I'll get me coat ). Put your mind at rest about the hybrid battery. They're almost bulletproof and many cars are doing 250k miles+ still on the original one. Hybrids don't have a starter motor or an alternator and the way it works is that when you press the Start button, the 12V battery boots the computers, pressurises the brakes and gets the car into READY mode (hybrid system running). When the petrol engine is needed the hybrid system energises MG1 which spins the engine up to 1,000rpm, at which point it supplies fuel and spark to fire it. Going 'the other way' so to speak, the high voltage traction battery (288V if I remember correctly) feeds into a DC/DC converter, which then supplies 12V to run the 12V systems such as lights, radio etc., as well as charging the 12V battery. One thing to point out is that when you are doing anything like cleaning the car interior and you have doors open and maybe listening to the radio, always put the car into READY mode so that the engine will fire up as and when needed to keep the batteries charged.

I don't agree with that but I do know that the way jobs go is down to the individual installer, which is true of almost anything; good/bad plumbers, good/bad decorators and so on. The biggest problem with a Ghost is that it doesn't begin to do its work until the scrotes are already in the car. The real goal is to deter them from even thinking that your car is a prospective target in the first place.

Do you mean the symbol on page 109 of the manual ? EDIT - sorry, just trying to do 3 things at once here and it ain't working Just noticed that you said infotainment screen next to the Bluetooth symbol. That's your mobile phone, nothing to do with either of the two car batteries. What's the problem you're having with the 12V battery?

It sort of depends how bad it is and if it holds any charge at all and for how long. Easy answer is no, don't do it, don't even think about it because far too many things could go wrong. The 12V battery boots the computers, pressurises the brakes and gets the hybrid system into READY mode. Hybrids don't have a starter motor. The system energises MG1 and uses this to spin the petrol engine up to 1,000rpm, at which point it applies both fuel and spark to ignite it. There is no alternator either; it's the hybrid system that supplies the low voltage, via a DC/DC converter, to run the 12V services such as lights, radio, charge the 12V battery and so on. The power steering is also driven by a 48V motor that again is controlled by the hybrid system, as are a lot of other things. When so much is dependent on the high voltage batteries, would you really be willing to take a risk and run the car? Like everyone else, I'm wondering what symptoms and diagnostics led you to believe that the hybrid battery needs replacement, especially with it being so young?

I use a Stoplock Pro Elite on my 2018 RX and would highly reccommend it. In various tests and reviews it took more than five minutes to defeat it, and that was using hammers, saws and chisels. That's five minutes of noise and hassle that the scrotes don't want plus, being big and bright yellow means that it's a visible deterrent in the first place.

You could use a different 12V source and just connect it to the battery leads before disconnecting them from the battery posts. That way, you never drop the supply so no settings are lost.

Connecting a battery conditioner or trickle charger would be a great thing to do if you're not going to use it regularly. Toyota/Lexus made a decision to send the cars out of the factory with small capacity 12V batteries and quite a few people have been bitten in the bum by this decision.