Vadim

It is just a 12V Pb battery of D23 shape. Nothing more, no magic in the original Panasonic battery either. The battery is fixed as usual, not upside down. A 12v battery for hybrid is not much different from any other, except that it does not experience peak currencies, because it does not need to turn the engine starter (that is done by the large hybrid battery, which is also the primary reason of 12V battery longevity in Lexus hybrids). Some people consider Lexus as a kind of starship with a lot of super-high-tech secrets. In fact, when you go to a dealer, they poor the same Castrol oil in it, and fit usual (but quality) components. If you understand the difference, it may make no sense to pay triple amounts for that.

Thanks, will try reaching them.

Want to share experience of a workaround to fix noise in the power steering mechanism. The noise appears when driving on slightly uneven surfaces with straight position of the steering wheel. It often happens in older RX cars due to wear of the gear in the power steering worm-gear mechanism, and because the metal ring which pushes the "worm" axle to the gear is weak and has very limited travel. When the steering motor does small movements back and forth to reach the worn gear it causes the noise / vibration. The problem can be resolved by adding a small coil spring to push the bearing of the "worm" axle to the gear a bit more. The spring I used was 8mm external diameter from 0.8mm wire, ordered on e-bay. It only needs 2-2.5 turns of the spring. Mind that there must be a tiny bit of travel to let the "worm" go over less worn parts of the gear. The access is very tight, and the steel cover is difficult to remove. I had to unscrew the driver's seat to move it 10cm further back (without disconnecting) to get proper access. Other than that you just need to remove the plastic cover, which holds over the gas/break pedals (two screws and a couple of clips). To open the bearing cover I had to gently hammer a small victorinox knife blade between the cover and body. Once it moved 0.5mm, it will fall out of its place easily. You will need tiny pliers to compress the new spring and insert into the dedicated gap between the bearing and the housing. The levers of the original ring-spring may be cut to give more space (it is made of soft metal, so even if you try to mend it, chances are you'll have to revisit it). Photos: 1) the worm-gear of the power-steering mechanism (this photo is from Prius, not the RX, but it gives a good idea what to look for; it is much more crowded there in RX) 2) removed plastic cover 3) the actual bearing of the worm and the coil spring inserted into the gap. The levers of the original ring-spring, which occupied this place were cut off. The ring-spring and the rubber ring on top of it may be removed to give better access when inserting the new spring. On this photo you can see a half of the inserted coil spring, while the other half is already covered by the rubber ring. The bearing is pressed onto the axle, so don't be afraid that it will fall off when operating near it. 4 and 5) the remainder of the coil spring In my car it helped to kill the noise completely and 7k miles later there are no issues. If/when the noise reappears due to more wear to the gear, the steering column will have to be replaced. If you have experience with this type of jobs, it may take about 40 min altogether with all precautions. Mechanical skills required: above average.

The original battery is of the D23 form-factor. This shape is used in many Japanese cars, including Lexus, Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi. I have recently fitted Yuasa YBX3005. The only issue is that the original ventilation pipe does not fit into the battery (the battery has smaller ventilation hole, than the original Panasonic battery). Otherwise all good.

Welcome to the club. Normally, when I buy a new used car, I do the first service at dealer. With this car I skipped, because even the oil change prices are a rip-off with Lexus. BTW, check with Toyota dealer - as far as I know, they are licensed and have expertise to do Lexus as well. My PBD ECU does not respond to changes of temperature / reconnecting / charging battery, so I joined Jean-Christophe in ordering a replacement part from Emirates (megazip.net store). Part number for 2009-2012 RX450x is 68910-48023 or 68910-0E024 (US analog). After 2012 it has different part number and may be incompatible. Will report on the taxes and overall results, when it arrives.

Thank you. I plan to check the signal lines and particularly the PBD off button wiring. If it does not help, I think I’ll post it to you.

I opened the cover to check insides. It is held by 3 clips and is not hermetic. The electronic board and components are covered by some water resistant lacquer though. No visual damage or burned elements there.

It would be great to find a microelectronics master who could diagnose and fix the PBD ECU electronics. Chances are there is a single cheap semiconductor burned out. And it might be a 5 min soldering job to replace, once identified.

I think Lexus is off my list for the next car.

Hi Jean-Christophe, I've recently removed my PBD unit for examination, and managed to test power supply in its socket: the power is there, so no fuses and cables to blame. Haven't tested the signal wires yet, but I bet they are intact. Hence the PBD electronics seem to be dead. Good luck with the work. To access the PBD unit you don't need to dismantle the entire car, as in the official books, to finally remove the ceiling. It is enough to remove the rear-left part of the trim, covering the triangle window, remove rear left ceiling handle and then you'll be able to pull the ceiling fabric down 10cm to access the screws fixing the PBD unit. You'll also need to remove the tailgate white trim to unscrew the PBD lever, but that's easy - held by clips only. All screws sit very tight with a blue fixing grease, so take a range of small ratchets and 10mm keys. Photos:

Found some docs on testing the PBD unit connection on Toyota Venza for the above error: http://www.tovenza.com/lost_communication_with_rear_gate_module_u0230_-1268.html These may well apply to RX.

Yes, tried that, the Techstream in my case shows error “U0230 Lost Communication with Rear Gate Module“.

The source of the trouble: door lock, PBD mechanism and ECU - all nice and clean

Herbie, Could you forward the materials to me please? I have a dead tail gate, exactly as Nick’s case in the beginning of this topic. Dismantled and checked the door lock and PBD motor / ECU - all look good with no visual issues, fuses clear etc, but all with no luck so far.

Patrick, no, the lock looks all right. We all have the lever like that (like something is missing) in RX450h. Probably it is so because the lock mechanism might be shared between different models, and the lever was attached to something in a different model.