Farnham Dave

By George, that's a lot more sensible than the other technique! I'll give it a bash tomorrow, weather permitting. Thanks

Hi again everyone. Hope you had a good Christmas and that the new year is good, too. I have an issue with the (auxillary) 12 volt battery going flat when the car is standing. It's a nearly new battery, bit I am aware that a new battery can be faulty. I have fitted a battery isolator switch for when the car is left standing, which resolves things (in a rather unsatisfactory way!). I detect no parasitic drain on the battery when the car is resting. I haven't tested it yet with the alarm turned on, though... Which might be tricky to do, but I'm probably going to have to give it a bash. What I have measured is the voltage of the battery (12.5v), then left the car for a day with the battery connected and the alarm on, and measured it again... 12.25v. both measurements taken with the battery disconnected. According to a handy table I've found, this represents an estimated reduction in charge state from 90% to 50% in just 24 hours😵. Given that it's a 45Ah battery this is equivalent to a 750mA drain, assuming my calculations are correct. My hunch is a problematic alarm or a knackered battery. I will see if I can establish drain again tomorrow, but with the alarm enabled. Any other car, I would have fitted a more macho battery, but Lexus haven't provided enough space for one (on the basis that we don't need cranking amps on a hybrid). Any advice welcome.

Thanks for that. Definitely looking at other issues that could be contributing. Personally, I'm expecting/hoping that the new ignition barrel should fix things... But if it doesn't, at least the worst case scenario has lost its teeth now... You've done wonders for my blood pressure😀

So, can I just plug a used RX400h ECU in, or does it have to be programmed for my specific vehicle?

I'm aware of these as issues. Car is in for service at the moment. Looks like it's the ignition barrel and/or driver's courtesy light switch that's contributing to problems. Also, might be a problem with the ECU, but that's for another thread

Finally got the car to the dealer for service now that covid-19 is in retreat. Been having some odd problems which they've been looking into for me. Long story short, ECU might need replacement. I'm hoping not to spend the £2000 mentioned, either because it's ok after all, or because I find a cheaper alternative. I notice there are ECU "specialists" out there who can clone the old faulty unit, and then fit as a replacement. Anyone had experience of these companies? Other option (or maybe not) is buying a used ECU from eBay and fitting that. Again. Anyone know if this is even possible?

I bought an emergency jump starter recently (a little bigger than that one), and it works pretty well. Basically a rechargeable usb power pack, but with 12v clamps for car starting, too. Would link to it, but can't find where I bought it from. My car's getting left for days or weeks at a time, and it drains the battery regularly (I suspect that the battery has now had it). So I've bought this battery isolator switch: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019XQRHBG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share FItting went smooth enough. I'm going to try the car tomorrow, and then at increasing intervals after that to see if it's stopped the drain. Updates to follow. Yes, I could get into trouble for driving around for the sake of it (not that any one else seems worried about that!), but I'm buggered if I'm going to miss my vaccine spot because of a non starting car.

I'm guessing it was newer at the time, so the hybrid battery was probably less fussy. My RX is nearly 14 years old, which is probably old for any battery technology, so I'm erring on the side of caution.

I am now a very happy bunny. Turns out I picked a really good storage company. They read up on it before receiving the car, and have been doing the correct routine monthly!

Thanks for that. It's very nearly 2 months since it went into storage, and was sitting for a couple of weeks before that. I suppose I should ask the storage people to run through the 30 minutes of READY process to charge up the hybrid battery. I wonder what will happen if the hybrid battery goes completely flat? I'm guessing it will be a non-starter.

Mine is testing in a storage facility. They are running a top up battery conditioner on the 12v battery. However, now I'm thinking about it, I'm a little concerned about the hybrid battery. Does anyone know what happens to it if unused/uncharged for a period of time (months)?

Not doing anything about this at the moment, since I'm sheltering and the car's in storage. But while I can adjust the position of the phone to be compliant, I didn't know about the continuous footage thing. I'm going to read up on this at some point... There are LCD display rear view "mirrors" out there, which are also on all the time. If I find any additional info, I'll post it.

Yes! I'm not doing any more at the moment, because I'm in self isolation. But here's a link to the camera... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reversing-Wireless-Magnetic-Waterproof-Compatible-305-Camera/dp/B07W4FKPTT Don't forget that the magnet in it is only rated to a speed of 60mph, hence my use of extra magnets.

Magnetically mounted external camera (WiFi with rechargeable battery). Instructions say not to exceed 60mph, so there's a thick chunk of neodymium magnets on the inside of the rear door. I've just had a quick fast journey, and checked position... Hasn't moved. I've resurrected my old second generation Motorola phone. Factory reset, downloaded Safety cam app, then removed user account and WiFi connection just to be in safe side. All seems fully functional and correct. Inside magnets are wrapped in a nitrile glove to protect the bodywork, but I need to do something on the outside to stop any grit getting between camera and panel (noticed one small scratch already). Will probably use blank vinyl decal or something. Next step is the barrier behind the front seats.

I might be trying it out today, once I've resurrected my old phone (to be used as a "mirror") I tried a wing mirror extender.... It flew off... Never too be found again. Just glad the motorway was empty.

Am considering it

Yeah, get it on my RX400h... Found it was worse if the tyres were overinflated, if that's any help.

I would use the side mirrors, except that the they don't really tick all the boxes on the motorway if your rear view is blocked. People are expecting a van to not be able to see behind it, but they're not expecting that of a car.

Sorry for upsetting you all. This isn't as bad as it sounds. I need to transport partner's stuff from uni occasionally, and go camping occasionally. While the luggage involved isn't heavy, particularly, it will fill even the RX to the roof with the rear seats folded down. I don't plan to drive around with a dangerous load obscuring my view, or threatening my safety. So this is my plan of action. I don't intend any of these adaptations to be permanent fixtures, to damage the car, or to impede safety. 1. WiFi camera mounted on rear of car via magnet. 2. Old phone to act as pseudo-mirror on windscreen, fed from the camera 3. Roof height barrier behind front seats. I am currently working on (1). I'll post some info when I'm successful... And successful includes being able to drive on fast roads without losing the camera. Plan is that all can be set up our removed in minutes. Comments and suggestions welcome

Had reversing lights like this for a couple of months, now. Have to report it's done the job beautifully.

Have now replaced bulbs with LEDs in reversing lights, and removed the extra deflectors... Whose purpose seemed purely to limit lighting of the reversing light to the lower half. While I was there, LED-ed the interior light on the the rear door trim, too. Haven't tested properly yet, since it's not dark at the moment. Noticed that the light clusters l on the rear seem to be designed so they can be opened up, so might look at those sometime (could do with removing some water ingress).

Have checked with my insurer, and for the ok from them (Co Op eco)...

Yep. Or removing the hard shoulder...

I know, but it bugs me!

Mmmmm... Not convinced they'd dazzle, I'll check for that anyway... Regardless of liability, I wouldn't like to be causing that sort of problem. I'm also going to double check the insurance situation. I'm not convinced a new bulb counts as a mod, but I'll play it safe. Legally, I checked up on things with a previous car when fitting a reversing camera with lights. It seems that the law doesn't give a hoot about reserving light layout as long as you've got something, and it passed the mot, so I can only assume that that was good advice. Whether the law and the insurance industry agree, of course, is a different matter!