Herbie

@Sybaris If this is your first hybrid you may find the following info useful. Apologies to others on the forum who must have seen me post this many times First of all, hybrids don't have a traditional starter motor or alternator, or anything that would normally be driven by a belt from the engine because the engine doesn't run all the time - imagine being halfway through a turn and you lose power steering because the engine shuts down! Instead, it's all driven electrically. The 12V battery boots up the computers and gets the car into READY mode, equivalent to switching on the ignition in a conventional car. At this point you can drive off on battery power alone if you so wish, but these aren't electric cars and you'd only get a couple of miles (if that) before the traction (hybrid) battery was effectively flat. When the hybrid system wants the petrol engine (ICE - Internal Combustion Engine) to run, it energises Motor/Generator 1 (MG1) and uses that to spin the ICE up to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it. In a standard car the 12V battery is charged up by the alternator but we don't have one. Instead, a device called a DC/DC converter steps down the 288V from the traction battery to about 14.5V to charge it. Other converter/inverters use the same process for other systems like the power steering which, if I remember correctly, uses 48V. The aircon compressor is driven by a 500V 3-phase AC variable frequency motor and the two hybrid transaxle motors MG1 and MG2 are both 650V permanent magnet motors. Talking of the aircon compressor, if the system ever needs to be regassed, make sure that you take it to an aircon specialist (or, of course, a Lexus dealer) who knows and can deal with hybrids. The reason for this is that, although the refrigerant gas is the same as any other car, the lubricating oil isn't. As I said above, the aircon compressor is driven by an electric motor and the motor windings are immersed in the oil for cooling purposes. Standard compressor lubricant is called PAG oil but it's a low dielectric oil which means that it conducts electricity and it will damage the motor windings. We need to use ND11 oil which is a high dielectric and won't damage the windings. It's been shown that as little as 1% contamination by PAG oil can, and will, cause problems. Maybe not immediately but it will. Ideally, a specialist should have a dedicated ND11 machine so that cross-contamination with PAG can't happen. Although it's perfectly alright to jump start a hybrid with a standard car, NEVER, EVER, do it the other way round - you may get away with it but it's not worth the risk. The 12V battery in any car is only used for starting and then the alternator or equivalent takes over the running of the 12V systems such as lights, radio etc., etc. When jump starting, the 'donor' car should have its engine running before the 'recipient' car attempts to start. This is so that the recipient will draw on the donor alternator, not its battery. This is all fine and dandy for a standard alternator because it can output anywhere upwards of 300A and a conventional starter motor will need every Amp of that, but our DC/DC converter can't supply anywhere near that amount and if it was asked to do so it may well expire with a very loud bang and lead to a very expensive repair. When coming to a stop at traffic lights or whatever, if you think you'll be moving away again very soon just sit with the car in 'D' and your foot on the brake. If it's going to be a few minutes then you can put the car in 'P' and take your foot off the brake. Don't put the car in 'N' because the hybrid system doesn't charge the batteries when 'N' is selected. Hope that helps. I'm sure I've missed lots of things but someone else will fill in the gaps. Above all else, enjoy the car

Oh Wally, Wally, Wally...the thing is, quite a lot of us on here manage to use Techstream without any problems at all. It's not rocket science mate. I presume that you know that you live in Europe so you should choose that as the region. Your profile says that you have an RX450h, so if you go to the back of the car and the badge confirms it, enter that into Techstream as the model and so on. Eventually you'll be able to interrogate the Radar Cruise Control and tell us what you find and if you can alter the speed increments. As I said, we'll just wait here for you

All selectable by yourself, so just plug in your own details and off you go. We'll just wait here while you find the answer.

Just sent you a PM that may help Zabe.

Aha, right, I see the confusion. The 12V battery is often referred to as the auxilliary or starter, because the main battery in a hybrid is the high voltage traction battery (depends on model but this is usually somewhere around 300V) and you don't want to be messing around with that unless you have the necessary PPE, tools and you know exactly what you're doing.

Almost any car accessory shop that sells batteries will be able to test it for you, or somewhere like KwikFit, National or even Halfords. I've never had a GS so I don't know where the battery is, but I'm thinking it can only be in the engine bay or the boot. In my RX it's under the boot floor. EDIT - I'm trying to do half a dozen things at once today so I didn't notice at first but something seems a bit fishy here. First you say that the battery is only two months old and that you've tested it to be ok, but then you ask "where the auxiliary battery is located as I'll just get a new one from lexus as its never been changed! " What's going on?

Given that it's only two months old you're most likely right, but did you just test it with a multimeter or did you do a proper load test with a proper battery tester? The multimeter can show, say, 12.8V but as soon as a load is applied that voltage could drop like a stone if the battery has a bad cell. Yes - any of the other things listed below 'Auxilliary battery' in the last column headed "Trouble Area". These are all things that could be at fault in order of likelyhood.

I haven't got the workshop manual for a GS but this is for the RX450h and is probably the same. Notice that the 12V battery is the most likely cause in each case, so first thing I'd do would be to have that battery load tested and see what the result is.

The search facility on this board isn't very good but I can say that a few people have brought up this topic at various times and it sticks out in my mind that one single air strut is about £700 to replace, or certainly over £600 anyway. You may be lucky and get one from a breakers but (a) they know what they cost new so they price their used ones accordingly, and (b) there's no guarantee that a used one would be any better. When an air strut goes faulty, quite a few people have taken the opportunity to convert to normal coil suspension - a complete new set of four can be had for under a grand. And we haven't even mentioned the cost of a compressor if that went faulty

This guy on eBay will supply a new key case/blade that he cuts for you before sending it out. All you have to do is take out your own electronics from the damaged case and swap it into the new one.

I've never driven one with air but have been a passenger in one a few times and can honestly say that the difference is negligible - especially given the huge repair costs of air if it goes faulty.

The battery exchange system is a great idea but it would need a complete redesign of the cars wouldn't it? I haven't got an EV, nor do I intend to have one, but taking my hybrid as an example, I believe that the rear seats have to be removed to get to the battery pack. Not an easy or quick job (I assume) so maybe not the panacea we're looking for.

I think it's because speedometers are calibrated with a percentage of error in them and some people find this frustrating, especially in motorway roadworks with average speed cams in operation. For instance, if the car in front is driving at an indicated 50mph, when compared to a GPS reading the car may only be travelling at an actual speed of 47mph. The car behind may have a satnav or other form of GPS running, so he knows that he has 3mph to play with before exceeding the limit. Three taps of the stalk will then give him the 50mph he needs to pass the other car, who only 'thinks' he's doing 50mph, whereas just one tap at 5mph increments will see him break the limit.

You've been told the answer. It is not a fault or a problem. Normal cruise gives 1mph increments, adaptive cruise gives 5mph increments. That's the way it was designed, so you have to either live with it or change cars. It seems to me that what we have here is a perfect example of how some people seem to just 'fit' their names

The answer is - that's the way the system is designed to work. No problem or fault here.

Absolutely no question or decision in my mind. The label in my engine bay states ND11 or equivalent, so in theory it should be alright but it's a very expensive lesson to learn if it goes the other way. Personally, if ND11 is available I would stick to that.

Just one last thing - if the worst happens, I think the OBD fault code is P0AA6 if I remember correctly.

As long as it specifies that it's suitable for hybrid and EV then you should be alright. The label in my engine bay says ND11 or equivalent so as long as it is equivalent you should be fine. And I don't mean to frighten you but, if the wrong stuff ever was used, the entire AC system will need a thorough flushing out and the dryer may need to be replaced too because, as I mentioned above, even just one percent contamination of the oil by PAG has been shown to damage the motor windings. The thing is, it may not happen immediately - it may take months to show up. If you think of normal car wiring or even household wiring, the copper conductors are insulated with (most commonly) PVC, but in motor windings the insulation is an enamel coating and something in PAG oil attacks this coating, which in turn causes short circuits or shorted windings. Failure mode is usually that the damaged enamel coating allows 500V to track through the oil and to earth - in this case the car body - so the hybrid system shuts down to avoid electrocution. Sorry Zeb, I really didn't mean to scare you but you may as well know. Of course, this is a 'worst-case' scenario and given that they reckon their oil says it's suitable for hybrids and EVs it should all be fine. Do they have a dedicated machine for hybrid/EV and one for conventional? If not, let's hope they thoroughly clean the one they have, to avoid cross-contamination.

Hybrids don't have starter motors (or alternators) so even if that theory was true, it wouldn't apply here. The 12V battery boots the computers, charges the brakes and brings the hybrid system online, as evidenced by the READY light, at which point you can drive the car on battery power. However, you'd only get a mile or so before the hybrid system needs the petrol engine to run and it does that by energising MG1 which spins the engine up to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it. This is one of the reasons why the 12V battery in a hybrid is small. A conventional car with a starter motor will draw at east 300A to crank the engine, whereas a hybrid needs less than 20A to get the car into READY mode.

The extra amount of money spent in fuel is minimal to say the least - hardly any difference at all. However, the cost of not using the AC all the time, as you're beginning to see, can be high, if not very high. Mixed in with the refrigerant gas is also a lubricating oil. This circulates around the system and keeps all the rubber seals moist and supple. Without that constant lubrication the seals can dry out and become brittle, which leads to leaks and faults. Aircon cools the car in summer; in winter it demists the screen in seconds; all year round it delivers clean, conditioned air that is better than 'standard' air for allergies or someone who suffers from asthma. Your car probably also has Climate Control which is far superior to just aircon. All you do is to set the cabin temperature that you want, push the 'Auto' button and the CC will automatically do whatever it has to do in order to maintain that temperature for you. When you regassed the system, are you sure that they used ND11 lubricating oil and not the PAG oil found in conventinal cars? The compressor is driven by a 500V 3-phase AC variable frequency motor and the windings of the motor are immersed in the oil for cooling purposes. ND11 does not conduct electricity but PAG oil does, and as little as 1% contamination by PAG will damage the motor windings.

Fantastic job and very nice. It brings the car right up to date and looks superb

This video may help. It's not specifically for a 2006 IS but he may have done one if this doesn't work for you. If you look at the comments, mine (John Hewitt) is second one down in the list and the video he pointed me to worked brilliantly. There are also plenty of other vids on the Tube as well if this particular guy doesn't have one to help you. EDIT: If your new additional key came from eBay or somewhere like that, are you absolutely sure it's for the UK market? I believe the transponder frequencies are different in, say, the USA.

The fuel difference between ECO and normal is actually quite low. I hated the way Eco felt. All it seemed to do was to apply some artificial resistance to the accelerator and I found myself just pressing on it harder anyway, so I quickly gave up on that idea and started driving in normal mode with hardly any difference in MPG at all. The correct way to drive a hybrid is to anticipate the road and to brake very gently so as to get maximum regeneration to charge the traction battery. I seem to remember reading that if you need to anchor on for an emergency or something then the hydraulic brakes come into play straight away, but under normal circumstances light braking lets the regen system do most of the work of stopping and the hydraulic brakes only come into play when either the car drops to about 7mph or the traction battery is full and can accept no more charge.

Hi Sabresq, I've just sent you a PM that will hopefully help you sort it out.

I'm not quite sure to be honest, on either question. I never, ever, drive anywhere without having music on, so I never, ever, turn the multimedia unit off. Whenever I reach my destination I just press the car's blue power button and shut down the whole car. When I next get in the car I press the power button, the car goes into READY mode and within about 20 seconds the Vline interface (using Agama launcher) comes up on the display and I can start to use the Vline. I have the system set up so that when my phone detects the connection to the Lexus Bluetooth, it then switches on my phone's wifi hotspot so that the Vline can connect to it and get Internet access through it. Similarly, when I switch the car off and the phone detects that the connection to Lexus Bluetooth has terminated, it switches its wifi hotspot off. So to actually answer your question, the Vline is so good that I never go back to the Lexus interface for anything apart from altering the cabin temperature. The last time I did that I used the 'Media' button to get me back into Lexus - it had been that long since I needed Lexus that I'd forgotten about the 'Menu' button I'll try to remember to experiment with it tomorrow.