Scribe

I bought one like this (for a smaller car): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dripex-Waterproof-Weather-Protection-Automobiles/dp/B07JRG7X6H/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3L7CZYSFCUUCL&keywords=car+cover+waterproof&qid=1677070310&sprefix=car+cover%2Caps%2C290&sr=8-6 It's generally okay and seems pretty much waterproof. But you can forget about the clips attached to the bottom - even if you can be bothered to crawl underneath to clip one part to the other, they won't secure the cover in a strong wind. In my experience, the only thing that works is a collection of elasticated straps with hooks on the end, but they'll pierce the fabric if you're not careful. The other thing that hadn't occurred to me beforehand is: what do you do with a large, wet car cover when you take it off? The water immediately transfers to the paintwork of the car, and then you have to try to dry the cover somewhere - not easy when it's so big and heavy. Less of a problem in the summer, as long as you have an outdoor drying area. But mostly you end up putting a wet, dirty cover back on the car.

Brief update: I've had no more problems with the car, and despite not being used during December it started up fine after a few weeks of cold weather. I checked the battery first, and it appeared to have retained full charge since the previous journey. So it feels like it's fixed, and that the problem was the earthing. But I've got used to checking the charge before using the car. A good sign is that when I go in the garage I can see the red security light flashing on the dashboard - which means there's still some juice. I have a motorway trip coming up, which will give the battery a good charge-up.

Well, the garage had the car all last Friday. What they found: 1) Although the battery's 20 months old and has been completely flattened a few times, it's in good shape and charges to 92%. No internal faults. 2) Alternator working as it should 3) Starter motor working as it should 4) They had an amp meter on the car all day and did find a drain, which was at 0.10 for the first three hours. This then dropped to 0.02, which they say is the normal rate, given that the various 'open' circuits on the car (security system, clock etc.) always use a small amount of juice. The problem with the big drain, which completely flattened the battery in three days, would be locating it, because it isn't constant and didn't happen at the garage. While it's happening you could presumably check by taking out fuses or measuring the current across them (?), but if there's no drain there's no way of knowing where it has happened, and might happen again. Since Friday I've been connecting the battery charger every day to check the charge, and it hasn't gone below full, so no top-up needed yet. I last used the car two days ago. This suggests that the drain has stayed at 0.02, i.e. normal. I eventually found an auto electrician reasonably close to home but they said they won't touch such an old car because they can't get a wiring diagram for it (my garage wondered why they would need this anyway when checking for a drain). The nearest Lexus main dealer is now a fair way away, and I'm wondering what even they can do if the drain is intermittent. Meanwhile my garage has replaced the battery terminals with genuine Toyota ones, to make disconnecting the battery easier - I'm probably going to do this over the winter anyway when I'm not using the car much. Otherwise, all I can do is keep checking the battery. If the drain was still there it would have half-flattened the battery by now, so I'm wondering if the garage touching the electrics has stopped the problem, at least for a while. Malc, didn't you say you had a mysterious electrical problem that did the same?

George, what you've said makes sense, and I'm going to get a new battery in case the old one is damaged. If the current one is faulty I can get it replaced under warranty. Herbie, you're right about my skillset (lack of), and I do sometimes worry that my usual garage is too busy to look at things properly. That was one reason for trying the new place, another was that one of the mechanics was Toyota/Lexus trained with the owner of my regular garage (who's looked after the car for the last 12 years). But the reason you're critical of them may be because I haven't explained the situation fully. To be fair to them, all I asked them to do last time was look at the terminal connections, which I thought was the problem. They did this while I waited, and it was basically a test to see if the connection would fail again, which it hasn't. I thought the problem was sorted, and had no idea the battery was going to drain again. The car has gone back there today, and this time they asked to have it all day so they can check the battery and wiring, probably change the terminals permanently, look for drains etc. Surely it's fair to give them a chance to do this, which they didn't have last time? I certainly wouldn't go back to a garage that cocked things up, but that's not what happened. I have no reason to think they can't trace a drain and fix it, given time, or at least no reason to think a different garage that I've never been to before will do any better. Apart from anything else, I work full-time and don't have the time to drive around trying new garages, especially out of area. But hopefully I'll know more later today. BTW I checked the battery yesterday evening and the charge had gone down to around 85% within 24 hours. I hadn't started the engine. I put it back on charge for a couple of hours, then the charger showed 100%. This morning it turned over normally and fired straight up, the VSC light went off after a few seconds, and all seemed normal - though we know it isn't!

What you're suggesting is that the connection and draining problems are linked, not separate, which wouldn't surprise me. I suspect there aren't many coincidences when it comes to car electrics.

I meant I connect the charger to the battery terminals before plugging it in. The ignition is off throughout the charging process.

I put the charger on at 8.00 yesterday morning, and seven hours later it showed 100%. This seems about right for a large battery on normal (not trickle or jump-start) charge. As soon as I switched the charger on I heard the CD autochanger whirring - this is the first sign under the bonnet that power has been reconnected. And when I opened a door the courtesy light came on. Before that, there was nothing. As the charge increased, more and more things started to work - the light round the ignition switch, the flashing security light etc. The reason I don't think the battery's faulty is that (1) it's only about 2 years old, (2) my usual mechanic said it takes charge from the alternator as it should when the engine's running, and (3) it does charge up. From my experience, the engine should turn over before the battery's fully charged - say 70% - but when the charger shows 100% it cranks very briskly, so I'm assuming the battery does charge fully. Last time the car died, it was within three days of being used normally (not very short journeys). And it wasn't a case of the battery being flat and getting clicks from the starter - there wasn't even an ignition light. My garage said the battery must be completely drained, which in three days could only happen because of a parasitic drain. I feel like I'm writing a book here, but maybe it'll help someone if they have the same experience. I should know more tomorrow.

It's as if there are two problems - poor connection and battery drain. The first seemed to be fixed, the second obviously isn't. I'm wondering if they're linked or whether it's a coincidence.

There may be no substitute for knowledge and expertise in a given field, but you have to be able to access it. And I imagine most garages will claim to be competent in car electronics - that's why it's so difficult to find one who's actually a specialist. Meanwhile I thought I was doing the right thing by going to a Lexus specialist, but maybe I shouldn't bother. As you say, it's just a car.

The problem has been: when all power was likely to cut out without warning, leaving the car without lights, indicators, electric windows etc., I refused to drive it further than necessary. It's nerve-wracking, driving as slowly as possible in case there's the dreaded 'beep' and everything dies on you. What happens if there's nowhere to pull over safely? My normal Lexus mechanic is 7 miles away, the one I've been using recently half that distance, and I'm always relieved when I make it there. There are garages nearer than that but they're not Lexus specialists. Herbie, you kindly listed some auto-electricians for me, but some of them turn out to be 'normal' mechanics who don't actually specialise in electrics. None of them answers the phone. One of them is about 35 miles away, and I don't feel comfortable driving the car up the motorway that distance. So no, the places I'm going to aren't specialist auto electricians - because I'm having the problem Malc had.

'If you think you have a parasitic drain, a mechanic can easily diagnose this by performing a parasitic current draw test.' Let's hope so. And I'll mention the rat!

That makes sense but my options are limited. There's no auto electrician in the area, certainly not a mobile one. My usual mechanic (Toyota/Lexus trained), who's always looked after the car, is very busy, which is why I recently went somewhere else (also Toyota/Lexus trained) for the battery cables issue. The car's booked into there again on Friday as my usual mechanic is away at the mo. As there has been nothing left switched on (I've checked the boot light goes off) they think there must be a drain that completely flattens the battery in 2-3 days, as this has happened before. Whether it's related to the recent connection issue is another question. When my usual mechanic last had the car in, he confirmed the battery (less than two years old) was taking charge as it should, so he doesn't think it's the problem. And I wouldn't expect a battery to go completely dead in 2-3 days even if a boot light was on. The Friday garage suggest trying to charge the battery but not on trickle (which never does anything, maybe because the current's trickling out as fast as it goes in?) or jump-start, i.e. on the medium charge. Is it true I don't need to disconnect the battery if it's not on jump start? I don't want to fry anything. If this works and I can get the car to the garage on Friday they'll check the circuits for a drain. I don't know what else I can do.

Thanks Roy. After using the car last Saturday (it behaved faultlessly) I put it back in the garage, but on Tuesday morning the connection had gone again, so I'm back to square one. Obviously, the connection doesn't always fail because of movement - it's done this once before, while the car was parked on the driveway for a few days. It's booked in to the mechanic next week, and I'll give him your suggestions. I'm trying not to feel too bad about this, because the car's still so good to drive when it's working, but I'm getting a bit fed up. It must be something simple, because when the connection's there everything works perfectly and the car drives like a dream. Gets some stares in the Tesco car park, too.

The invoice says: Remove battery and tray to check earth strap routing. Found it goes back to fuse box. It would require some stripping out work of fuse box to add a new earth strap. Added additional earth strap from battery to body earth point - customer to monitor. So this is a temporary measure really. All was well when I took the car out on Saturday, so I need to book it in to have the work done properly. Apart from anything else, it will tidy up the terminals and make disconnecting the battery easier.

Simon and Herbie, looks like you were right with your first comments. Garage thinks the problem was the earth connection from the negative cable. They've added an additional one for security, attached to a different part of the battery terminal, which should be fail-safe - though I won't know for sure until I've used the car for a while. Alternative long-term solution is to change the cabling to the fusebox and something else (sorry, the mechanic got a bit too technical for me). All seems well for now.

Even if it isn't, it surely needs sorting!

Is this the problem? It could account for the intermittent failure of connection. I'm assuming a new pair of leads will cure the problem, though the positive one seems complete and undamaged. Anyone know how long the cables need to be? They're sold in different lengths. And what do they connect to at the other end? They have a ring at the other end too.

Battery hasn't been reconnected after its charge, but you can see the wingnuts that screw onto the top of the terminals when the leads are in place. The idea is you don't have to touch the nut and bolt gripping the terminal itself.

Mine are screwed onto the battery terminals by a wing-nut rather than the bolt and nut like in your picture, and the idea is that they're simpler to undo - you don't need a spanner. But they are very tight - more than finger-tight, in fact. Could that have the same effect?

Herbie, by 'battery clamp' do you mean the screw connection to the terminals on the top of the battery?

So no, I haven't replaced the battery cables, but obviously will do if they're the problem.

The battery is about 18 months old and, according to my mechanic, is charging as it should when the engine's running. When he fitted it he replaced the negative terminal because it was old and looked insecure. I've since replaced the positive one. When the battery is reconnected after a recharge, everything comes on as it should and the car runs normally. I'm hoping the fault is traceable somewhere between the terminals and whatever the cables connect to at the other end. Don't laugh, but there was a smell of dead rat in the garage a few weeks ago, so I'm even wondering whether one has been nibbling under the bonnet - it's not unheard of. Three times now the car has gone lifeless on me, twice while I was driving it. On those occasions I was able to stop safely, not far from home, but it might have happened while I was cruising on the M40 late at night back in July. I'd have had no lights, no hazards, nothing... Scary thought.

Yes, the engine cuts out too, so you grind to a halt in gear. Last time this happened I checked the battery terminals (still done up tightly) and, for want of anything else to try, wiggled the negative lead. I heard something happening under the bonnet, checked inside and the ignition lights were back on. Power to everything, and the car started up as normal. I took it straight home, where it's been since. Too scary to use till it's fixed. I don't want anyone to say they can't find anything wrong with it - I want them to say what the problem is and how they've fixed it, because I can't use a car I don't trust. Hope that makes sense... Meanwhile I can find just one mobile auto electrician who'll come and have a look.

When the power goes, it goes completely - as if the battery has been disconnected. So if you're driving, there's a single warning ping and suddenly you're coasting, with no lights, indicators, wipers, electric windows etc. And presumably no power to the brakes or steering. This has happened twice, but I've managed to get a reconnection by fiddling with the terminal or the negative lead. When this happens, the ignition lights come on again, so you know you're back in business. I'm assuming it's a failing connection somewhere, because the battery turns out to be not flat. Happy to go to a specialist auto electrician but, as Malc says, it's not easy to find one nearby. And I don't want to drive any further than I have to with the car in this condition - it's nerve-wracking, because the power could go at any time. I certainly wouldn't take the car anywhere after dark or in rush hour. A mobile technician seems logical, but how do you know if they're any good?

When I disconnect the battery and put it on charge, the meter on the charger immediately reads about 90%, which makes me think this is a connection problem somewhere, not the battery draining. And I can't use the car until it's sorted, because when it cuts out, everything goes dead. Herbie: my mechanic replaced one of the battery terminals because it would no longer tighten enough to grip. I later replaced the other one, which seemed to be going the same way. This was before the car was checked over during the last MOT. I'm assuming the problem is at what you call 'the other end', which I wouldn't attempt to investigate myself. Thanks for your suggestions.