Herbie

Use an adblocker. I use Firefox browser with the AdBlock Plus plugin and don't see any ads or popups at all.

Good point Colin.

I don't know the answer but I have to ask - does it matter? If the Belfast dealer will do it, why don't you just go and get it done.

I'm intrigued by this now. It's been more than three years since we traded in our 2005 RX300 so my memory may be playing tricks on me, but I don't remember seeing this circuit board that you're talking about. I'm almost sure that the RX300 uses standard filament lamps and as such I can't imagine what a circuit board would be doing in there; I would have thought it would just be a connector that the lamp plugs straight into. I think the RX400h had LEDs as standard so they definitely would have a circuit board. Can you just confirm, for the sake of my addled brain, where this circuit board is please?

You said you'd like the Michelin Cross Climates but can't get them, so have a look at Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2. In tests and reviews the Michelin and these are just one or two points different in each parameter. I've got the Goodyears all round on mine and they are truly superb tyres.

It's a while since I've used Techstream myself so I'm a bit rusty but try clicking on the blue 'Data List' and/or 'Utility' buttons on the left and take screenshots (preferably bigger ones) of what they reveal. You could even try double-clicking the blue line, see if that does anything.

You need to drill down in Techstream to find the sub-codes. I think there may be a 'snowflake' icon on the line of the code number that you can click on, or use the 'List' button on the left maybe? C1241/41 is Low Battery Positive Voltage - INF code 81, 82, 83, 84

Just sent you a PM now Joel.

That makes it sound like it's happened more than once, so how many times has it been flat and how long have you left it flat for? Each time it goes completely flat it'll lose a bit of its capacity so it won't reach full charge when you do charge it. If it's the original battery it could be 6 or 7 years old so it may well be worth just cutting your losses and buying a new battery now and then keep it charged as per the link that Phil provided above. If you have a multimeter then the chart below shows battery 'standing' charge at the battery terminals. If you then bring the car up to READY and test again, you should see somewhere in the region of 14.2-14.5V.

Well done sir, happy motoring

Excellent

Aha, right, I get it now. It was connected electrically so the car was powering the cradle and the phone in it, but not interacting with it in a Bluetooth/call/music sort of way.

With due respect to Mike (Brechin Slate) above, don't follow the advice in that video. The early advice on how to check the battery itself is good, but the method of removing fuses to check which circuit is faulty is no good for modern cars. A parasitic drain occurs when the car and all its ECUs are in 'sleep' mode, but pulling fuses and replacing them can wake up not only the ECU associated with that fuse but also other ECUs as well. When they wake up they draw power so you don't know which circuit is supposed to be drawing power and which one shouldn't, and you can't ever get a true reading. The accepted method of tracing a parasitic drain on a modern car is to look for voltage drops across the fuses, as explained in this video here:

Mine goes up/down by 1mph each time I just quickly flip the stalk up or down.

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The link functions to get you to the website but there's just blank space where the Flash animation used to be:

It's normal - have a read/search for info on how they work and all shall be revealed.

There are no separate gears, it's an eCVT (Electronic Constantly Variable Transmission) and works by way of a constantly meshed planetary gearset so you don't get the 1st, 2nd or whatever. What you're seeing are just artificial numbers. It's a very complex but very clever system and there's no way whatsoever that I could even begin to explain how it works, so just do a search on Google or whatever for how Toyota eCVT works and you should find what you're looking for. Here's one explanation. There's also a good animated illustration but it uses Adobe Flash and may not work anymore - but that's a bit irrelevant at the moment because I can't find it anyway http://prius.ecrostech.com/original/Understanding/ContinuouslyVariableTransmission.htm?utm_source=LexusOwnersClubUK&utm_medium=ForumLinks

Yes, that's the same cable as those available on eBay and mine works a treat:

Apparently James May is selling his Toyota Mirai because lack of hydrogen filling stations make it very difficult to use as a daily driver unless you live near one of the eleven there currently are in the UK. https://www.driving.co.uk/news/james-may-selling-toyota-mirai-hydrogen-fuel-cell-car/

Yes, that's right. Put the gear selector in P and the car in READY mode. Turn off as much as you can (radio, lights etc) so that the 12V battery gets the full benefit of it. The petrol engine will fire up as and when needed. Leave it like this for 60 minutes a week (more if you like but not less) but don't leave it unattended or someone could drive away in it. The 12V battery is charged by the hybrid battery via a DC/DC converter, which is our equivalent of the alternator. As I said earlier the petrol engine will fire up as and when the hybrid system thinks it should.

True. You have to think that people still manage to rob banks, so if they are very determined they'll manage it. However, as with other things, not all "yellow locks" are equal. This took more than five minutes to defeat in tests. That's five minutes of hammering, sawing, chiselling and noise - in other words, five minutes of hassle that the criminals don't want. Here's just one review https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/tips-and-advice/158469/best-steering-wheel-locks-to-buy

Addressing the last point first, it's less than five quid for a day's access so just try it - it's not a lot to lose if you find that it doesn't work. As for the communication device, like I said earlier I've never tried it so I really don't know. What's on 'your' end of the connection - is it a Windows laptop or a phone app? I know Techstream is (or was) only available for Windows so if the ELM327 works in Windows you may be lucky.

The problem is, you've still got the battery connected to the car, so how do you know if it's the battery itself or a problem with the car that's causing it to drop?

Unless the connector can be locked in place I can just imagine lots of fun being had by the local feral gangs disconnecting the charging leads as they wander around looking for something to vandalise or rob.