Steven Lockey

I believe the 07 only has Bluetooth 2. Bluetooth 3 is required for a full audio/music connection. You can in theory play music over a Bluetooth 2 connection but well, it'd sound worse than radio as really it only supports enough bandwidth for calls, much lower sound quality than you would want for music. You used to be able to get apps on Android phones that would allow you to trick the bluetooth into playing music over the call, but the quality was poor and you can't skip tracks e.t.c. Only way I've found to pipe music into my 07 GS450H is to use a 'fake tape' which has a 2.5mm audio jack, so you tell the car to play the tape and plug the audio jack into your phone. Unfortunately the sound quality generally isn't the best. Easiest to just burn yourself a MP3 CD of music. Can fit over 100 tracks on one CD so its not too bad. I haven't been able to get a MP3 DVD working yet myself.

@OldTrout Yep, already took that advice, just waiting for the new battery to arrive so he can fit it. I was going to get the old battery reconditioned and I discussed this and this problem with him and he advised he thought the old battery was likely pretty far gone and needed replacing. Saw quite a few people recommending him here which was why I decided to go with him. I'm just a bit worried about getting the car to him with having to go round the M25 and it shutting down. Fingers crossed cleaning the vents might help!

Thats really useful, I wasn't sure if you needed to go via the back seat or the shelf in the GS450h, I've not been able to find a decent guide for cleaning it anywhere. I guess to clean the actual parcel shelf bit itself you've basically got to remove the whole array from the top of the battery? I can hear my fans going like crazy whenever this happens, even when the engine is running.

Cos I had never heard of the warranty going over 100k miles before and was only informed about it what two hours ago while I was at work....... Am also fairly sure the previous owner didn't have the health checks done but might be wrong so I will check. This is something I am thinking of doing, but having looked into it they don't actually do much you can't do yourself with an OBD to USB cable and the free software from Lexus. The load test is the main thing and I already know it will fail that as the battery is clearly on the way out anyway. I'm not a mechanic but I was an electronic engineer so I've got a pretty good idea about how electronics work! I wish I was a mechanic! And define 'tested'. Most of the 'tests' done other than on the battery are just reading the sensor codes. The reason I am asking is to see if there are any other likely problems that might be causing the car to shut down like this that aren't battery related but so far all the things people have suggested, well it would be very surprising if they were the cause of the issue. The thing is, this car has so many sensors, the common errors should all generate error codes. Am I very much hoping its the battery, yes 100%. Am I saying that is the only possibility.... no of course not otherwise why would I be posting here asking about it! Please don't misrepresent me. 1> I didn't claim to be experienced at any point 2> Where did that come from? I don't have X-ray vision to work out what bolts are connected to what through the seats do I? I am more than capable of unscrewing them, I just asked if there was an easy way to get to them as I've not been able to find a decent guide to removing them and don't want to accidentally unscrew the wrong thing...... Its called been careful as the last thing I want to do is cause more problems. 3> How am I not listening? People have made suggestions and I replied with my it doesn't match what I'm seeing. I haven't at any point said this isn't the problem, I've just said it doesn't match what normally happens in this scenario based on what other people on this forum have said when describing their problems..... There have been many good suggestions that I'm very appreciative that people made, but that doesn't meant they are right.....

The hybrid system overheat code is for the hybrid engine not the battery. My engine is not always on, its still using the hybrid system for acceleration and regenerative breaking. I've not got the code numbers to hand but the codes were for: 1> Replace Hybrid battery 2> Hybrid battery deterioration 3> Hybrid battery module low voltage. (up to 5 of these) I've checked all the codes with Lexus and they are all battery only issues. None of them relate to any other part of the hybrid system.

@Hangie I thought that at first as well, but reading around it seems that the Lexus will keep trying to use the hybrid battery unless it thinks it is totally dead. If it just thinks a few cells in the pack are dead, it will throw up loads of warnings but the car will still function normally, including continuing to try and use the battery pack. When I said 'instantly starting' I was meaning when I put it into P, pressed the brake and hit the power button again. Not that it instantly started the engine as soon as I moved the shifter. Apologises, I should have been more clear. If it was a transmission pump issue it should be showing an error and should automatically shift to petrol only mode which doesn't seem to be happening so I don't think this is the cause. Also from what I've read as soon as this error is detected, it puts the car into some limited mode. If it was an inverter issue, well, I actually used to work as an electronic engineer and this would be one very strange inverter issue! Also this should also output a specific error code which isn't been produced. This is why I was thinking its a battery error as the old cells can sometimes produce a unreliable current which can spike and drop and I was thinking that might be the issue. These issues often appear intermittently (just like mine) and tend to temporarily resolve themselves (just like mine). They can also overheat badly when you attempt to charge them, my other thought was as I was letting off the gas, the power was been switch to charge the hybrid battery, causing a temperature spike, and the computer sees this and shuts the car down to prevent a possible fire? Hmm, just read elsewhere that a battery overheat will cause the car to shut off entirely like mine is doing and is also producing no error codes other than the normal battery failures. It looks like we may have a winner! It makes a certain amount of sense because if its a single cell that is overheating, then by the time I've pulled over to restart the car, it's cooled down sufficiently for it to not moan again. Seems most of the other hybrid systems on the car will flag a specific code if they are overheating but the battery doesn't. If anyone know any different, please let me know! 🤞 this is the issue and the new battery will sort it! On that note however, does anyone know an easy way to clean the hybrid battery fans? I took a look at the fans on the behind the back seats and they are quite dusty but I couldn't see any easy way to get the covers off for access.

Oh and I did try driving it in 'S' mode and it did the same thing so not that. I did think it might be the battery overheating as the battery fans do run like crazy all the time. Maybe the air-vents are a bit blocked and combined with the battery been on the way out this is causing it to overheat? Would battery overheating cause a error code and the car to shut down? This would make sense as a fire prevention measure, but I would have expected a different error code to show up if there was an overheat problem.... but I can't see one listed for it so it might just display the battery error code on an overheat.

Thanks Lwerewolf, but I don't think this is the case here. I believe you should see an error code if this is the case (p2797) which I don't get. Also from what I've read, if this happens, the car drives normally on the petrol engine but just refuses to use the hybrid system. In my case, when the car is working, everything seems to function perfectly including the hybrid system which run normally both accelerating using the hybrid and the regenerative braking. I'd be very surprised if there was an error with the pump but it wasn't putting out a error code for it as from what I understand it would output that code as soon as it saw the transmission oil pressure been too low. @Farqui Yep, I can't see any other faults at all other than the battery and I've done every test I can think of sort of taking it an actual engineer. So guess I'm going to have to cross my fingers and hope I'm not about to waste a load of cash! I'm generally quite good at working out where the problem lies with the car, I'm just absolutely terrible at fixing it! 🤣 Really hoping it is just the battery as everything else I try to test seems to come up good! Knowing my luck, I'll spend thousands trying to fix it and it will turn out to be a loose wire somewhere!

Many thanks Farqui, I'll have a look to see if the previous owner did the hybrid health checks on this car. I'm guessing he didn't but I can but hope!

Does anyone know where I can find any information on this 15 year warranty? I've got a load of paperwork that came with the car at home so I think it has had a yearly service. I've not seen this before, I thought as the car was 12 years old it would be well out of warranty! More so with 178k on the clock!. If it is in warranty that would make me a very happy bunny! Thanks

Its possible but I think that would be very unlikely. Even if there was an unknown error I would expect the car to produce an error code if it was the generic 'something went wrong' code. I'd be very surprised if it was an inverter issue since when the car is working it accelerates perfectly(hybrid and petrol) and I can see the regenerative breaking is also functioning fine. The hybrid kicks in when accelerating normally. From what I understand if there were issues with the other parts of the hybrid system I should be seeing other error codes been produced. Also if it was an inverter issue I would expect the issue to happen more when the inverter is under strain than anything else but I can quite happily put my foot down and the hybrid system functions perfectly. I can also see it regenerating power at it's maximum listed rate under heavy breaking. Given a few people have said this issue can be caused by the battery, I'm kinda betting on that. I've only looked up the error code on my OBD reader so far and cross-referenced that with Lexus. I've downloaded techstream and have ordered a OBD to USB cable but until that arrives can't do much more.

Hi, Thanks for the replies The dealer sold it as good but turned out the hybrid battery is having issues. This is the main hybrid battery yes, not the 12v battery. The dealer agreed to refund me equal to the cost of getting the battery repaired from quotes I had, but I figured I'd be best putting that money to a new battery instead. It wasn't a lexus dealership no. I don't think there is warranty on the car but I'll check that when I get home. I had thought it was only a 10 year warranty on the hybrid battery and that is 12 years old now. The car can cut out at any speed, it seems to only happen when I come off of the accelerator. If I have my foot on the accelerator so the petrol engine is providing power then it doesn't seem to cut out at all suggesting that the petrol engine is fine. It's never cut out when going up-hill for example, its always when I take my foot off the accelerator it seems. Sometimes it will be fine for an hour, other times it will cut out every 5 minutes. I've seen people on this forum saying they had the same issue and replacing the battery solved it completely. If there was a problem with the inverter, wouldn't it show that on the error codes on the OBD reader? I've experimented with it quite a bit including clearing the codes and its always the battery codes that appear on the same modules of the hybrid battery been faulty which would suggest to me its the battery itself as if it was an inverter problem it would be random which cells it was complaining about? Also wouldn't it be showing inverter error codes? The codes I'm seeing are battery module failures (5 of), Replace Hybrid battery Pack and Hybrid Battery pack deterioration. I'll check when the other bits were done on the service history. If its was a transmission failure however, wouldn't this produce an error code? I would be expecting if it was anything other than the battery which is already showing error codes then I would be expecting to see some sort of error on the OBD reader? The car seems to run perfectly smoothly until this occurs, absolutely no issues starting the car or moving off, no knocking or other symptoms which would indicate any transmission problem. Thanks Steven Lockey

Hi all Scenario: I just purchased a GS 450H with a lot of miles on it (177k) and surprise, surprise the hybrid battery was dying. Well, I got some cash back from the dealer and have a new hybrid battery on order to be fitted. The issue is, when I'm driving the car will sometimes cut out, all the electronics e.t.c. are still operating fine, no interruption on music or lights or anything, but the ready light will go out and pressing the accelerator at this point does absolutely nothing. I believe it does beep at me as well. Everything else seems absolutely fine. If I pull over and put it in Park, the engine restarts instantly and without any issues and I can drive off without any problems. It does sometimes seem to 'drag' when I pull off, I can see its trying to recharge the battery at this point on the info screens. Using my OBD reader, the only issues on it are with the hybrid battery. I need to drive my car to get the new battery fitted (or pay for an expensive tow) but its pretty scary when the engine cuts out when you are on the motorway! And I really don't want this to happen when I'm going round the M25! Questions: 1> From what I've read, this problem is basically that the system tries to draw power from the battery, as its on it's way out it doesn't get as much power is it expects and throws a wobbly. Does this seem right? 2> Is there any way to reduce how much power the hybrid motors try to draw to reduce/ eliminate this or even tell the system to just run on the petrol engine? 3> Is there any way to restart the engine without having to stop the car? If I didn't have to come to a full stop when this happened like in a normal (read old 😉 ) type of car then I could at least get there in relative safety. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Steven Lockey