Herbie

99% chance that it's the battery. There's enough current to pull in the contacts of the starter solenoid but as soon as the connection is made and power flows through to the starter motor, the voltage drops and there isn't enough power to do that. That causes the solenoid contacts to drop out again and the whole cycle continues for as long as you keep the key in the starter position. The constant making and releasing of the contacts is often referred to as 'solenoid chatter'.

Very impressive, well done Ed

I'm not an electronics engineer so I have no idea why, I just know that things can fail open or short. I must have missed that.

It's more likely to do with proximity to each other. If the aerial cable runs down the right side then the camera cable should run down the left side and everything will be alright. If that's not practical quite a few people have had great success with placing a ferrite bead on the camera lead. One thing for certain - refusing to fit the rear camera is neither a fix for the problem nor good working practice/customer service. All it would do for me is to make me lose confidence in that dealership.

Hmm... I've never been a fan of connecting anything to the OBD connector except on an 'as and when necessary' basis. It's possible that one failure mode of the camera may be that it presents a short circuit to the OBD connector. I don't know if the power lines going into the connector have fuses on them or where they would be located in case they need to be replaced, but IMHO, it's better to stick with a piggyback in the fuse box.

Then just switch it on and leave it on, that's what you're meant to do. It's no good if you forget to switch it on and you bang into something when parking.

The 12V battery is under the boot flooring, so just unbolt the battery clamps and remove the cables from it.

Over the years I've tried a few release agents and my favourite, the one I've had most success with, is this: https://htsupplies.co.uk/products/innotec-deblock-ice-aerosol

I may be wrong but I thought all factory-fitted batteries were Panasonic, not Yuasa?

Set your smartphone camera to record video, put it in the boot and shut the lid.

About half a mile from where I live, a Mini Clubman has the plate U2, and also knocking around Preston is a Range Rover with the plate 1E. Each of those plates cost more than my house (which is currently on the market for £210k) and I'm sorry but I find it obscene that someone can spend so much money on something as trivial as a car number plate.

That's correct. The 12V battery boots the computers and does a couple of other things to get the car to READY mode. When the petrol engine is needed the hybrid system energises MG1 and uses that to spin the engine to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it. You can if you want but there's no specific need for an AGM because your battery is in the engine bay. The RX450h has the battery under the floor of the boot, so if there's an accident and the car rolls, there's a slight chance of the acid leaking into the cabin which is why they are AGM and not wet. If the battery is fairly new, check the connections to the battery posts and the earth straps, make sure they're clean and tight at both ends. It might also be worth seeing if any OBD codes have been flagged.

Most likely the 12V battery dying. When you disconnect it it just manages to build up enough charge to start it. I would be tempted to get it on a charger overnight, possibly even a full 24 hours, then disconnect the charger and let the battery stand for about 30 minutes to dissipate the surface charge. You can then use a multimeter to check it against this chart: If it's well down then it needs replacing but if it looks alright you then need to get it load tested. The multimeter could show something like 12.6V but that may drop like a stone once a load is applied.

Well it's already broke so you can only improve it from here Give it another try and just take your time with it. Put some flux and solder on both the wire and the pin, then use tweezers to hold the wire on the pin while you get the soldering iron on it.

I never switch off the AC and/or Climate Control, so like someone else further up, I have no comparison. Surely though, it should all work out in the wash? During hot weather the petrol engine fires up for the AC; during cold weather the engine fires up for cabin heat.

Ah, have I got the wrong end of the stick? I though you were just looking for a new plug to solder on the end of the lead, but does that mean you're looking for a whole new ready-made lead? I'm only thinking that if you're capable of soldering the plug, then soldering the socket won't be much more difficult.

In that case then, just buy a matching 8-pin plug and socket and change both plug and socket over.

As I've said before, it's not a big car. It's virtually the same size as a Ford Mondeo, that's all. My test was over 40 years ago and I can handle it just fine without having had any advanced driving lessons. You really seem to be blowing this out of all proportion and looking for any tiny reason not to get one. You've passed a driving test and got a licence, so just drive it like any other car. It should take you all of five minutes to get used to it. EDIT: On the very first day I started work on Post Office Telephones I was given the keys to one of these rascals: This is a jointers wagon. No if's or but's, this is what a cable jointer needed for the job. Having driven nothing bigger than a Morris Marina before, I was a bit apprehensive about it but, within half an hour of driving it, it quickly became apparent that it was no worse than driving the Marina or anything else. And it had to go wherever the telephone cables went, so single-track roads and narrow lanes had to be done and I remember having to reverse it back about a mile to a passing point so that a milk truck could get past.

Aha, right. I thought of the mouse plug because you said "The Grom connection contains a plastic stud". Is there nothing at CPC that meets your requirements?

@Roger001 Any more progress or any news on this problem Roger?

@Ben7767 Any progress or any news on this problem Ben?

Is it like this PS2 mouse plug? If so, just get a cheap mouse and chop it off. If that's not it, what about opening the case, desolder the socket and solder the cable straight onto the circuit board? Or if you still need to be able to remove the cable, buy a different type of plug/socket and wire to that. EDIT: You may find what you want here at CPC

It's only USA market as far as I know. May be others but definitely not UK.

Rock Auto in the USA or Amayama are the best places for parts.

What's wrong with the old cable?