hybridbatterysolutions

3 hours ago, Duggie B said:

Did your garage do a load test on the 12v battery ? It could be that a cell or two are faulty and giving up the ghost intermittently when starting load called upon causing the issue you describe. 

Sounds very much like a failing 12v Battery to me 39buss. The 450h does not actually have an alternator as such, it has a dc to dc converter which is fed from the HV Battery

I think might be too irresistible for thieves & vandals, I've already caught one thief trying my door handle at 2:30am on my cctv, he got nicked about 15 minutes later for burgling a neighbours garage!! 

Thanks yes was out in her yesterday lovely really lovely mind you I've worked hard enough for it so I'm going to enjoy it.

Hi, please try & find out where you got this  there are quite a few owners looking!

2 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

All those laying on the car and not let air circulate are doing more harm than good. Dust can be washed off easy.

A big tent would be better than a standard cover.

Probably not so much of an issue in Las Palmas i guess 

mmm possibly, might attract unwanted attention depending on what it looks like I guess, sounds great other than that, do you think you could find out for me?

Hi People,

So those who know me know that i recently dabbled in a boneshaker, sorry, I mean a BMW Z4 which I just sold with it's cover which I bought from classic additions, at first I was pleased with it but later noticed that moisture was getting trapped between the paintwork & the cover leaving marks which I had to polish out. 

Given that I paid @£200 for it I am now very wary of covers but I have no real choice because my garages are my workshop so I cant use them, I could build a car port but to be honest the little land i have at the side i want to extend my workshops on to help me cope with the demand & expand.

So any wisdom you can impart would be most appreciated.

Yep, I think you got most of the qualifications!!

Yes, I'm kept pretty busy mainly Lexus & Honda generally - I enjoy it to be honest, when i am not busy on the Hybrids I'm usually studying or researching.

Ok I took just a couple as I'm very busy at present here you go:-

Hi John, thankyou, I'll try & grab a couple tomorrow.

Well I finally have taken the plunge, much as i am a lifetime gs450H fan & always will be, there's just that certain something about the SC so I had to do it, I got a real beauty she drives & looks flawless, i'll post a few pics in due course, in the meantime I need to get my learning cap on & start getting used to her bits & bobs but I am well chuffed, previous owners were superb & she has only done 52,000, beautiful. I am hopeful that I may even get some time to actually drive her about a bit soon !!!

On 7/9/2021 at 12:23 PM, OldTrout said:

Members of the LOC will be familiar with the many many really helpful posts (>2200) made by Britprius. He died suddenly and unexpectedly of a massive heart attack in March. His widow Carol has been unable to get into his computer email or LOC accounts and has asked me if I will let his many on-line friends in the LOC know.

He was a great inspiration to me from when I first bought my GS450h and joined the LOC. Having done very little vehicle maintenance for 20 years John encouraged me to have a go. I did. My car is serviced on the Britprius plan, has the Britprius tyres and reclaimed TPMS sensors, and soon will have a Britprius exhaust. If it had Britprius dampers I would be hundreds of £ richer. He was a mine of information and a huge contributor to this forum. His clear explanations of the hybrid drive system in particular answered many of the queries that are posted here. His skills covered not just the mechanical components but electronics and computing and even chemistry. I read his explanation of modern 12v batteries only yesterday. He was multi-talented. He shared his expertise freely on the forum and many of us have benefitted.

I was fortunate to meet John at his house in Wigmore in Herefordshire when we shared a cuppa and some tales. My favourite Britprius tale is about the notorious Gen 3 GS450h dampers. John's car was being MOTed and the tester said he could not pass the car because of "that funny thing on the dampers". The "funny things" were John's mod to stop the dampers leaking. The car passed.

We miss you John.

 

 

If members would like to reply this post telling how John helped them - new understanding, £s saved, etc. - I will gather the replies together at the end of August and send them to his widow.

I am devastated, I wondered why I hadn't heard back from him!

Over the past few years he helped me a lot (we helped eachother), a very thoughtfull person too. I could always anytime bounce ideas & thoughts over with him & we had a few giggles along the way.

Probably one of the UK's finest & kindest minds lost, a very sad loss to us all, however a lot of us have gained a lot from John's help & fabulous ideas he leaves a great legacy for us all to uphold.

Thankyou so very much John. Rest in peace old friend & keep an eye on us all from wherever you are we will miss you !!!!

Loving the wheels on there what are they?

Mmmm not that bad that looks quite good I think.

Brilliant thanks again that's exactly what I wanted to know, I have arranged to have a drive of one next weekend a kindly Gent I met whilst doing a favour for a friend at AGH tyres here in Northampton  - came in with a blowing exhaust.

Really looking forward to it!

Looks wise I really like the rear of the car, the front takes some imagination to love I think but they are just so nice, wondering if the headlights could be updated to improve the look a bit?

Many thanks

Richard 

Oh right, that's interesting Thankyou Neil. Did you actually drive the GS450H? It has a CVT gearbox you see which is obviously the smoothest gearbox possible so I wouldn't expect an SC to be that smooth obviously, but by what you're saying its not bad at all, which sounds fine to me.

Yes the Radar cruise was/is amazing especially when you consider that they were fitting it 15 or more years ago, probably ahead of most other brands. So would you describe the ride in the SC as hard Neil? Trouble is I am trying to weigh up whether to sell my 3.0L 2010 BMW Z4 S-Drive M-Sport which is a real beauty in black with red leather & less than 30,000 miles on the clock? Its just not right for me - its too raw & you feel every bump & to be honest I'm too old to be throwing things into corners & racing around on public roads, I need refinement comfort & smooth strong power, I think an SC probably fits that bill although I've never driven one myself hence the asking.

What are things to look out for? I'd only be looking at as low mileage as i could find 2007 on facelift model, which I am lead to believe, had a more sorted suspension? 

Richard

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone has gone from a GS450H to an SC430 at all as i am considering purchasing a post 2007 SC430 and was wondering what the comfort of the SC is like comparatively & also how the gearbox feels on the SC?. I adored the smooth power delivery of my GS and in a lot of ways I regret selling her. Maybe someone out there has both possibly, I welcome your honest opinions. Thankyou.

Even if you did have issues its not the end of the world, I can sort them out relatively affordibily and I do give discount to LOC members.

Perfectly fine so long as you don't exceed the maximum towing weights

On 7/24/2021 at 2:17 PM, oraman said:

That sounds like a useful guy! 
I was considering a 2012 RX450h and am always concerned about two things. One is where I would go for a replacement battery and second about where to get a replacement OEM exhaust without having to go to Lexus for either

OE Exhaust you could try partsouq or amayama but remember to add shipping Duty & VAT, Lexus Parts Direct on the net may be worth a look too, very often the exhausts can be patched or welded so worth getting the most out of them IMHO

Yes, but only partly!

.Where you see the cracked sealant by the strut mounting points & all of the dried out & broken up sealant on the floor pan in this video you don't tend to see this very much on british cars due to our milder temperature but you do see rotten & split tailgate seals. 

If you do some more research you will find that the rear light cluster seal failure I mentioned originally to you is a common problem that Lexus have/are facing group class law suits about in America as it is a failure they have known about for some time & as a safety issue should be handled by the recall process IMHO

You will usually see where it has been running down either side, every time I have seen it of course I've already got the rear seats out and the carpet up so?

There's a hardboard flap that lifts up behind the rear seats which will expose a metal plate (black) with a series of @100mm holes in it if you poke a torch down looking towards the sides you may see it.

Can I ask how you know me? I don't recall chatting with you before?

Yes, it gets in through failed gaskets between the body shell & the rear light clusters and also the tailgate seal. 

As the individual cells are contained (in this case) within a 6 cell module & aligned in a shared housing it will apply whatever I programme it to apply to each individual module on its own or as part of a group (small or large) of modules of my choosing.

I have designed many different programmes for different models & different circumstances each programme suits different timescales & budgets you see both are crucial & inextricably linked.