Herbie

I'm sorry Dan but that just isn't true. The high voltage traction battery will stand for months and suffer no ill effects but, sadly, the same can't be said for the puny little 12V batteries.

You should be getting more than two or three weeks out of it but it sounds like you've let it discharge too far and it's damaged something. Every time it goes flat it causes slight damage that reduces its capacity, by which I mean that if you buy a brand new one and charge it up, the charger will cut out at 100% (fully charged). The more it's allowed to go flat, the sooner the charger will cut out, say at 80%, thinking it's fully charged because it can't shove any more in. You can make a (very) rough calculation to show how long it should hold charge, but it's really too vague to be of any practical use but... My RX has a 60Ah battery in it, which means that it can supply 60A for one hour, or 30A for two hours and so on. There will always be a quiescent current draw from the battery to keep certain things 'alive', such as the alarm, the clock, the radio presets and the seat memory, perhaps even more. This current draw is generally accepted to be 50mA or 0.05A. If we assume a brand new and fully charged battery, that means 60Ah divided by 0.05A = 1,200 hours to go from fully charged to fully discharged, which is 50 days or 7.14 weeks. Remember though, that the battery will be unable to provide enough power to start the car long before it becomes fully discharged, so you'll never actually get that 7.14 weeks in reality. Not forgetting that every time it goes flat it loses some capacity, which means that it can't hold as much charge as it used to anyway. There is also a possibility that there's a fault somewhere that's causing a higher current draw and therefore flattening the battery quicker than it should. This is called a 'parasitic drain' and you really should check to make sure it's not that.

That's most likely the 12V battery that they were talking about, because that can indeed run down faster than other 12V batteries on other cars. They're only small and have a low Ah rating. The high voltage traction battery should have no problems whatsoever, even if left standing for months.

You need a miniVCI cable, plenty here on eBay These almost always come with a pirated copy of Techstream but we can't be seen to condone the use of pirated software (that's a matter for your own conscience) so the legit way is to download Techstream from here https://www.lexus-tech.eu/DiagnosticTools/Setup and pay for a block of time to use it (€5/day, €10/week and so on). Whichever way you decide to go, you'll need that miniVCI cable, no matter what.

That is indeed true, which is why I also use a Stoplock Elite Pro steering wheel lock, to act as a visual deterrent that will hopefully make them move on to an easier target.

There's no doubt that he could get the car serviced at any reputable garage (doesn't even have to be a Lexus specialist) for a lot less money, but the service plan does have its benefits, the biggest one being the 'free' Relax Warranty. However, given the age of the car, I'm not sure if it would qualify for Relax. One thing about a service plan is that you pay it monthly, so you don't have to find a big wodge of cash when it needs doing. Also, it locks you in to today's prices, so you're shielded from any rise that may happen during the term of the plan. If it were me, I'd do it.

I suppose it depends on the individual manufacturer, but I've found that I get about a year out of mine. I check them weekly, starting as soon as I get them.

I haven't got any CTEK equipment but the language you're using is not instilling me with confidence that you've got the right thing. What it sounds like you've got is just the comfort connector that shows the state of charge, whereas what you should have is a trickle charger. This would be permanently plugged into the mains and connected to the car when it's parked up and it does what it says on the tin, ie, it constantly trickles a charge into the battery at a low rate, thereby making sure that the battery doesn't go flat. Can you confirm what the exact model number of the CTEK unit is, so that we know we're talking about the same thing? Having said that, it does sound like you have a problem with the car and the first thing I'll say is to forget about going to a general mechanics garage. It's an electrical problem so find a suitably qualified auto-electrician. It is a trade/skill in its own right and you'd never think of getting a plasterer in to sort out a plumbing problem would you? All cars have a certain amount of current draw from the battery, even at three in the morning while you're fast asleep. This is called a 'quiescent' current draw and general rule of thumb says that around 50 to 70mA (0.05 to 0.07A) is considered to be normal, so if it's higher then it's likely that there's a problem, which is what's called a 'parasitic' current draw. Quiescent current is drawn to keep things alive, such as the alarm, the clock, the radio presets and the seat memory, even when the car is asleep, so that these things don't need to be reset every time you start the car. One thing that your mechanic is correct about is that it can be very time-consuming and therefore expensive, to find the cause of a parasitic drain and to fix the problem. This is because fuses rarely control just one item, so first of all you need to know which fuse is affected, and then see what it feeds. For instance, it could be Fuse 'A' and it may control the Radio, the Dome lights, and the door lights so, once you're sure you've got the correct fuse, you then need to check the wiring out to all three circuits to find which one is actually at fault.

Surely you know that Lexus/Toyota don't manufacture batteries? All they do is to buy them in from someone who does and then slap their own labels on them.

Show the dealership manager this and take it from there:

This is the first result of a Google search on the phrase (without the quotes) "Alternator output 13.6V" https://www.delcoremy.com/the-latest/2013/august/tech-tip-troubleshooting-the-alternator-charging

Have a look here https://www.toyodiy.com/

I've been missing for a few days due to moving house and I had no idea that John had passed. I never met him but he certainly was a very knowledgeable and affable person in here and he'll be very sorely missed by myself and lots of others. Sincere condolences to all his family and loved ones.

That's exactly what we do and we love it. Over the years we've driven all around Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, to name just a few. We don't book hotels in advance, if we fancy turning left we do, if we fancy turning right, we do - complete freedom and autonomy.

Cheers David

Ooh, now you've done it! Get yourself a nice glass of wine and settle into your favourite armchair First of all, hybrids don't have a traditional starter motor or alternator, or anything that would normally be driven by a belt from the engine because the engine doesn't run all the time - imagine being halfway through a turn and you lose power steering because the engine shuts down! Instead, it's all driven electrically. The 12V battery boots up the computers and gets the car into READY mode, equivalent to switching on the ignition in a conventional car. At this point you can drive off on battery power alone if you so wish, but these aren't electric cars and you'd only get a couple of miles (if that) before the traction (hybrid) battery was effectively flat. When the hybrid system wants the petrol engine (ICE - Internal Combustion Engine) to run, it energises Motor/Generator 1 (MG1) and uses that to spin the ICE up to 1,000rpm before applying fuel and a spark to fire it. In a standard car the 12V battery is charged up by the alternator but we don't have one. Instead, a device called a DC/DC converter steps down the 288V from the traction battery to about 14.5V to charge it. Other converter/inverters use the same process for other systems like the power steering which, if I remember correctly, uses 48V. The aircon compressor is driven by a 500V 3-phase AC variable frequency motor and the two hybrid transaxle motors MG1 and MG2 are both 650V permanent magnet motors. Talking of the aircon compressor, if the system ever needs to be regassed, make sure that you take it to an aircon specialist (or, of course, a Lexus dealer) who knows and can deal with hybrids. The reason for this is that, although the refrigerant gas is the same as any other car, the lubricating oil isn't. As I said above, the aircon compressor is driven by an electric motor and the motor windings are immersed in the oil for cooling purposes. Standard compressor oil is called PAG oil but it's a low dielectric oil which means that it conducts electricity and it will damage the motor windings. We need to use ND11 oil which is a high dielectric and won't damage the windings. It's been shown that as little as 1% contamination by PAG oil can, and will, cause problems. Maybe not immediately but it will. Ideally, a specialist should have a dedicated ND11 machine so that cross-contamination with PAG can't happen. Still with me? You deserve more wine Although it's perfectly alright to jump start a hybrid with a standard car, NEVER, EVER, do it the other way round - you may get away with it but it's not worth the risk. The 12V battery in any car is only used for starting and then the alternator or equivalent takes over the running of the 12V systems such as lights, radio etc., etc. When jump starting, the 'donor' car should have its engine running before the 'recipient' car attempts to start. This is so that the recipient will draw on the donor alternator, not its battery. This is all fine and dandy for a standard alternator because it can output anywhere upwards of 300A and a conventional starter motor will need every Amp of that, but our DC/DC converter can't supply anywhere near that amount and if it was asked to do so it may well expire with a very loud bang and lead to a very expensive repair. Hope that helps a bit.

So does the RX but the CD mount still works. That flap is just 'free standing' for want of a better word and it will open if you just push the mount in as if you were pushing a CD in.

+1 for the 12V battery.

Search for Lexus logo ghost lights.

Now you're asking Just about to go out so I'll reply properly later, but if I remember correctly it's not difficult, just a bit awkward.

And then there's also this:

A very quick search of YouTube found this:

That's overly dramatic for a dealer. All they have to do is to run the camera cable on the opposite side to the DAB feed so that there's a decent separation distance.

Overpriced for what it is and as for fitting, it's an easy DIY job or if you really don't want to DIY, any auto electrician or car hifi installer will do a great job for half the price. Have a look at this:

You may find that if you take that panel off, you'll find the emergency manual lever/cable so that you can operate the tailgate manually if there's a flat battery or whatever.