aeroelastic

On 6/24/2019 at 10:16 AM, Herbie said:

You can check the level of refrigerant by looking at the sight glass and compare to this:

Hi is the picture above for the sight glass for an Rx400h? I can’t seem to find mine??

Hi anyone get to the bottom of this leak issue? I have the same wet area at the rear centre footwell, digging around the rear lights areas. I found traces of water coming in between the car body and the rear bumper, you have to take off all those plastic storage compartments in order to see this. They are two small pools of water either side of the back of the car below the black plastic compartments. I tried to wipe them and put some sealant where I think the water is coming in. Let’s a see what happen.

but I suspect the middle wet footwell is water from the rear of the car rather than the sunroof. 
if anyone has similar experience please can you share?

Old plug removed old sealant remained

Sealant cleaned 

new plug from Toyota and black FIPG

Sorted. 
 

1 hour ago, ColinBarber said:

yeah 1207B is the general one used on the engine. It is meant to ok with normal coolant but the long life variety can break it down over time. I think if you use it you will be ok for a number of years. I believe you are meant to let it cure for at least two hours before letting oil or coolant contact it.

Yes will let it cure for longer before topping up with coolant. Needs to get the car for MOT too. So will try and get this sorted. 

Rang a dealer, the 1282b is being superseded but original price is: £105.

😅

the new one to replace it is kind of still being tested and won’t be available for a while. 
 

I went to Threebond website, seems like 1282b is no longer available. But the 1207 series (see below) at least mentioned coolant resistance,

https://threebond-europe.com/product/series/?series=1200-automotive#:~:text=1200 series Product Number ,coolant r ... 11 more rows

especially 1207B, LLC resistance! But I thought 1207B is the usual standard black FIPG. 
 

This is confusing... anyway don’t think I can get any 1282b, will aim for 1207B as my best shot. 
 

anyone has other idea?

Wow just checked online, that proper sealant is pricey! Not sure if I will go for it really... 

Thanks, will give them a call again tomorrow. Great you know your stuff, I have been searching online but couldn’t pin point which is which. Just went out and check and yes it is dripping...

Hi all I have a leaking freeze plug near to the oil filter, have to top up coolant every week in the last few. 
 

I have found the part from a Toyota dealer nearby but they said they don’t sell the sealant for the plug. 
 

Any recommendation on what is a good sealant to use on this? 
 

I have read using Permatex but drying time is 24hours, a bit too long... 

And all the Toyota FIPG black I found online are from international sellers and pricey...

thanks

7 hours ago, Britprius said:

Thanks both for the replies, great insight into how a hybrid functions. Learned a great deal. Wouldn’t want to run the car dry on petrol at all...just something different from the usual engines I am used to. It’s for my wife but it’s a very good car. We used to have the rx300, and now this hybrid.

40 minutes ago, Britprius said:

Yes I do know about the importance of using the correct oil. In fact it was me that bought it to the attention of the forum having discovered the problem in 2004 while belonging to the Prius Chat forum "hence my tittle Britprius".
The Prius uses the same AC system as all the other Toyota/Lexus hybrids employing an electric motor driven compressor.  PAG oil used in normal AC systems is electrically conductive, and since the hybrid motor compressor actually runs, and is cooled by the oil it is imperative the oil acts as an insulator. The compressor motor runs at around 500 volts, and any current leakage to ground is detected, and shuts down the car completely for safety reasons.
The reason for using an electric motor is that with a hybrid the engine may turn off at any time. If the compressor was engine driven this obviously would stop working. A number of other systems on the car also have to operate along the same lines for the same reason such as the power steering, brake assistance, and even the cabin heater hot water supply from the engine. No engine no hot water pumped to the heater.

John.

If the electric Battery went wrong then the whole car will stop functioning? No power steering, brake...

5 minutes ago, Britprius said:

No I meant the cabin filter. Sorry I did not make that clear. Changing the drier sock filter requires emptying the system of gas.
If your car only gets cold at speed check that the radiator fans come on when the AC is turned on as the system requires that the rads have air flow through them at low road speeds.

John.

Yeah checked the ac fan, it comes on as soon as the ac is pressed.

to reiterate what Herbie says:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/macsworldwide.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/use-caution-when-recharging-ac-systems-on-hybrid-vehicles/amp/

10 hours ago, Britprius said:

If an AC system has a major leak I totally agree with you.

If however you have a system like mine that has a minor leak "needs topping up about every 3 years not totally re filling" you can spend a lot of money chasing a leak that is impossible to find. I have put dye in my system, and that does not show the leak. 
So what I am saying is it depends on the rate of leakage, and not on loosing some gas over a long period.

My wife has a Toyota Aygo from 2006 still only 70,000 miles. The AC has never been topped up, and works fine. But still if I take it in for service the dealer will push for an "AC service". The AC filter is part of the normal service so what else are they going to do. Are they going to draw out the gas that has nothing wrong with it creating a vacuum in the system reversing the pressure on seals that are 16 years old, and refill with fresh gas reversing the pressure again? For no reason. I see this as more likely to cause a leak. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

John.

Mine is probably similar, a very slow leak. I bought the Rx400h last year after summer so ac isn’t really critical, but with some of the warm days now it did show some different.  I have 2 other cars, one is a 24 year old Toyota Prado which I normally just top up the r134 myself. For the Rx400h, I noticed That there is some dark stain around the low pressure ac connection to the ac condenser While replacing my Radiator, which suggested -a seal slow leak.  The ac still blow cold air at high speed, not around town, just takes a while to get it to blow cold, which to be honest is not a problem. I was just curious and realising that the car Rx400h compressor is different hence put a question is this forum. But thanks for all the input, won’t be doing anything immediately I think.

when you said ac filter you mean the drier bottle? That seems to be integrated as part of the ac condenser in the Rx400h.

Thanks for the heads up, will check around and see which specialist is aware of electric compressor ac stuff. Won’t be going to Halfords.  Not to be messed with seems like...

Hi all, was doing my engine radiator change, then noticed that the Rx400h AC compressor does not have a drive belt connected to the engine crank shaft as all my other non hybrid car. 
Run by the electric motor I presumed? 
If I were to top up the freon gas, is it still the same procedure as the normal engine driven compressor? Is there any specific step/precautions? 
thanks

12 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

I think the DISP button on the steering wheel toggles through the different display options. There is the one you have now, battery monitor, bar graph for instant mpg etc.

Thanks, it works. Much appreciated.

Hi all, my 12v Battery went flat due to not driving the car for more than a week. I bought a new one, replaced it and yes the car start and good, reset windows etc, 

but I noticed that my dash display (at ODOmeter) of the hybrid Battery is gone! It only shows Trip A or Trip B now.  Please can someone advice? Thanks. Is it something to do with resetting? 
 

Hi bought an rx400h fitted with non factory reverse parking aid. This is the Cobra one, I found the control module in the boot. My sensor beep randomly while engaging reverse, even when not near to any obstacle. I am thinking of reseting the module. 

Found some information on line about re joining a cut blue wire loop for cobra reverse module then reverse the car to 50cm from wall, switch ignition on and engage reverse to reset. But I can't find any loose blue wire st all from the module. Anyone has any clue how to reset this? 

Thanks in advance.

Thanks, will give it a go, do I have to physically bleed the brake or the software will run the process and if it sense all four corners calipers are tight and it will be ok? Will this one be ok? 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16pin-Mini-VCI-Toyota-Lexus-TIS-TechStream-OBD2-Diagnostic-Interface-Scanner-V14-/153432853168

I read online Next time to disconnect the Battery before doing brake work on an rx400h, is there any special setting or procedure to follow after I connect the Battery back for this hybrid? Apart from the usual windows and sunroof reset. Thanks

Thanks, I was hoping that the error code was not registered as failed bleeding process, just a warning, and there is a next level of severity for the bleeding error. 

So the mini VCI allow me to do the bleeding process myself? I read on few places that the bleeding can only be sorted at a dealer. Tha 

Hi all, just got an rx400h 2007. Got the abs vsc and brake warning lights after I replaced my rear brakes. I think the reason being I pressed the brake pedal to get the gear in Neutral after the caliper is off, and it got pushed out slightly. I read online that with Rx hybrid this will trigger the above warning lights. As the computer sense that one of the caliper might be losing fluid as it's not clamping the disc.  I have read on prius and other forums that the abs warning light can be reset with jumping pin 4 and 13 of the OBD2 connector. Anyone heard about this method before? Thanks

Hi was under the car over the weekend for control arm bush replacement and noticed my transmission cooler is leaking from where the bottom pipe is. This is the little black radiator type cooler underneath the battery/nearshore head lamp. My car is an RX300 2004.

Have been looking around on the Bay but struggled to find the exact replacement.  

Has anyone replace theirs? Any aftermarket recommendation? 

Thanks. 

Economy: approx 30-32mpg (70 mile round trip combination of A roads/Motorway/B roads) - I get about 400 - 430 miles per tank...

Insurance: approx £300

Road Tax: Band K - £285 (ouch)

Clutch: Depends on how it's been driven, but if it's been looked after, I'd say no...

Not sure about the rest...[/quot

400 miles per tank is really good. Is this what everyone is getting normally?

Hi,

If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

Thanks Dan, will look for the cars first then might be in touch.

Economy: approx 30-32mpg (70 mile round trip combination of A roads/Motorway/B roads) - I get about 400 - 430 miles per tank...

Insurance: approx £300

Road Tax: Band K - £285 (ouch)

Clutch: Depends on how it's been driven, but if it's been looked after, I'd say no...

Not sure about the rest...

Thanks for the infor...

What is the tank size of an IS? in Gallon?

Cheers.