Herbie

It's not so much a 'small battery' issue as a usage issue. Whether it's a big 100Ah or a small 40Ah, the capacity should have no bearing on the longevity of the battery, which should run to well over two years these days. The problem is that people either don't use the car enough or only use it for short runs and, if that is indeed its usage pattern then a trickle charger should be used when it's parked up. I don't know what capacity battery the RX400h uses but let's say 45Ah and let's assume that it's brand new and fully charged. If we take the quiescent current as being 50mA (0.05A) like I said above: 45Ah means it can supply 45A for 1 hour, or 22.5A for 2 hours and so on. 45Ah / 0.05A = 900 hours or 37.5 days or 5 weeks 1 day from fully charged to fully discharged Remember though, this example assumes a brand new and fully charged battery, which obviously won't be the case in the real world a hybrid takes about 20A to reach READY mode so in reality the battery will not be able to start the car well before it becomes fully discharged, so we lose some time there for various reasons the car charging system is nowhere near as good as an external charger so a 'half-hour blast' won't do anything to top up the battery; it would need to be a couple of hours at least Hardly scientific and perhaps not even a good example, but I hope it gives some sort of indication that you can't really leave cars stood around doing nothing for extended periods of time, or only do short runs, without the risk of the battery letting go.

Is wireless really a good idea anyway? I would imagine the power demand would be quite high and constant, meaning that you could get to your destination with very low battery on your phone.

Don't worry, the trip won't take that long

I think maybe Monica is another 'one post wonder' who never comes back to let us know how things panned out.

The manual lock can get quite stiff due to lack of use. After all, who would choose to use it when we have the fobs and the alarm? I've read that some people have had to resort to using a pair of pliers to give extra 'oomph' so I think this is maybe what's happening here. You're not actually turning the key enough to operate the lock. You need to be brave and try harder. Of course, I take no responsibility if it all goes Pete Tong and I can't be held responsible for anything unless my suggestion works and then I'll take the credit

I think I've answered that in an edit that I must have been doing while you were reading the post Geoff Yes, you can do it that way if you prefer mate

I don't think it's an easy thing to do Geoff. According to our Gtech battery it's 22V, so unless you have an 'auto-ranging' meter like the one in the photos below, you would set your meter to the DC voltage range that is higher than 22. One of my meters has a 20V range and the next one up is the 200V range, so that's what I'd need to use on that meter. That's the easy bit. The problem is that you can measure the voltage but I don't think that information is of much use, because you can't test the circuitry that's also in the battery pack, so you won't know if it's the batteries themselves or the electronics that are at fault. It's possible that the electronics are there purely to drive and control the charging LEDs but I don't know; it may also have some current-sensing stuff in there to control rate of charge and to stop it from overcharging. Looking at the battery terminals on the outside of the case, at each side of them is a T9 Torx screw. Undo those and you can open the case. At the opposite end to the charger socket is a row of solder 'blobs', one slightly out on its own at the left and then 5 others next to each other like so: x xxxxx The one to the left on its own is the positive so put your red probe on there. Use the black probe to touch each of the other points in turn, starting at the left. I'm not sure how this will look when published but it should hopefully work: x x x x x x +ve 0V 22V 18.7V 18.7V 0V EDITED TO ADD - you can test the charger by plugging it into the battery and putting your test probes on the back of that connector. The charger output is 27V.

Have you let it discharge and then sit there for a while, i.e., parked up for days on end and then only short runs? They don't like those scenarios and that would certainly contribute towards a battery dying before its time. If you feel that it really is down to a fault causing a parasitic drain, the video below shows the best way to go about tackling this problem. Just remember that the car will always draw some current to keep the alarm alive, the radio stations in memory, to keep the clock at the right time and so on. This is called the quiescent current and around 50 milliamps (50mA or 0.05A) is considered to be normal.

We use Ladbrokes and have had no problems with only being infrequent users. We usually have a bet on the Grand National and one or two others, so the account only gets used four or five times per year and for 'a couple of quid here and a couple of quid there'-type bets.

Nothing to worry about and perfectly normal. The petrol engine is the only source of cabin heat so as temperatures get lower and you turn up the heater, so the engine will run longer and more often. Plus, as Bart says above, all cars will increase fuel consumption during colder weather.

I agree, but Lexus specialists cost money and she may not have to spend any if she gives us more details. She's already 'self-diagnosed' when she says that she has either an electronics problem or needs a new starter motor - but is that diagnosis correct? We could help to answer that question if we had more details and she may not have to spend any money. You're probably correct but I was trying to illustrate a point and I think I did that quite well, if I do say so myself

Yes, that one. €50 is an excellent price

Your profile only shows the car as an IS, but is that an IS200, an IS300, an IS220d, an IS250C, an IS300h or what? The accuracy and usefulness of an answer depends on which car; the IS300h for instance, doesn't even have a starter motor. What, exactly, is happening when you try to start it? Are there any OBD codes?

My car already had one on when I bought it so I don't knowhow easy or difficult they are, but I can say they do a great job so I have no qualms about saying yes, go for that one.

As above. The new E10 petrol supposedly doesn't give as many miles per gallon and also the petrol engine is the only source of cabin heat, so as the weather gets colder and you turn the heater up, so the engine runs more to provide that heat. Engines also use more fuel in colder weather anyway, so all these things combined result in a marked drop in fuel efficiency.

May be a geographical thing but certainly round here, "rip-off" has the dual meaning of cheating/defrauding or just generally being way overpriced.

Just sent you a PM that may help with that.

Can you video it so we can see what's going on?

I'd hazard a guess that that is the exhaust heat shield so yes, worth putting back on if you can. I'm very glad that everything worked out for you in the end, well worth the wait.

It would normally void the warranty on any part that you've changed but changing the exhaust won't void the warranty on unrelated parts such as the aircon compressor or whatever.

I have no idea but I've always thought that the photocell is far too sensitive. I have my sensitivity right down as low as it will go but still the headlights come on at the slightest hint of a shadow crossing it.

In more than 40 years of driving it's never crossed my mind to do this, so for me I'd say yes, just a coincidence.

If you look here https://www.lexus-tech.eu/Menu/Repair you'll be able to get paid access to the workshop manuals. It's not exactly cheap but the upside is that you can print off as much as you want while you have access. I can't remember exactly how much they charge but £4 or £5 per hour seems to ring a bell, but I may be wrong.

I have to say that I'm stunned and amazed that John (@royoftherovers) hasn't given you a virtual slap upside the head and pointed out that if you'd have read the owners manual, none of these would be a surprise to you

You may get more appropriate answers (because I would imagine the systems will be very different) if you post in the SC430 forum instead of the UX one.