Barry14UK

Strange thing happened this afternoon as I was about to leave for an appointment. Having held down the footbrake I pressed the ignition button then put the car into reverse and the radio came on. However, the screen was entirely black. I determined to continue to my appointment regardless but as I had a few minutes in hand, stopped just outside my property to see whether I could get the screen back. I pressed the home and menu buttons without any change and the mouse didn't work. I then switched off the illuminated green ignition button and turned it back on again soon afterwards and the screen came back on, not where it was but I was able to reset it as want it. Hope this was just a blip!

Takes time to get 'X' up on gantry, meanwhile stranded drivers at risk of being hit between gantries. Deaths have shown these roads are dangerous and will continue to be so. Suggest that they use cash from projected Smart Motorways towards reinstating hard shoulders. 'They' are happy to justify speed limits to 'save lives', so why not here - cash?

Well that's good news isn't it? However, instead of abandoning the existing 'Smart' Motorways as those relatives of drivers who lost their lives on them and many others want, the intention is to keep them but create more emergency pull offs! So what happens if your car breaks down when you are in the middle or fast 3rd overtaking lane and there is a line of lorries/cars occupying the slow or middle lane and you don't have sufficient time or momenten to reach one of these pull ins or come to that, you break down in the slow lane but can't reach the pull in? It must be Politicians who ultimately take these decisions and must be held to account, regardless of who tells them they will be dangerous still, which included the AA.

I did get a low warning sign on the dash panel of my 3rd Gen RX450h but not long before it stopped working. I expect like me most owners have only one remote fob with them. In my case a local garage I rang managed to get hold of a CR1632 replacement which my daughter collected and delivered to me. Lucky for me I had a small spectacle screwdriver to undo the 4 miniscule screws which hold a plate that secures access to the battery compartment. With the battery swopped over it just remains to replace screws slide back part of the outer shell you removed initially. To avoid such a recurrence in future, I will keep a spare battery and miniature screwdriver in the car and as soon as a low battery warning shows, put this in my pocket for replacing the battery as soon as practicable. The later RX450h fob has no screws to access battery and you can use the metal key to help prise the case apart and press together after swopping the battery which also sensibly is a larger more common size. However, the battery could still fail at an inconvenient time, so again worth having a spare with you.

Although Lexus only give a 12 month warranty on their batteries, many owners have reported their Panasonic batteries going years beyond the 3-5 other manufacturers warrant. Did you ever let the battery go flat and particularly stay that way for some time as this will shorten its ability to hold a charge? Some manufacturers actually show on an attached label on the battery that the warranty is void if the voltage has fallen below a certain level* Member Herbs actually fitted a volt check to his previous RX, so he could readily check this aspect. This is something Lexus could and I feel should have done during manufacture, bearing in mind the hassle of a work around and risk of premature failure of the battery. *see warning in red here on level falling below 10.6v on this battery I chose at random, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hankook-Start-Battery-190mm-Warranty/dp/B07YY37NKR

Cheapest you will likely get new genuine are from Lexus Direct (Lexus Swindon). Getting used original from breakers very long shot as they are so much in demand they probably have waiting lists of people wanting to buy. These were an optional item on new cars and not specified by some original owners. Some subsequent owners want to fit them, hence demand.

Hi Brad, You are under a misapprehension in a couple of respects. Lexus did not fit Gel type batteries to your model. With the 12v battery in the boot, Lexus fitted a VRLA (Valve Regulated Lead Acid) Panasonic battery. In this the acid is absorbed in the glass mat so it is an AGM battery even if it does not say so on the casing. The purpose of the 12v battery is to power the computers, and alarm etc, and connect to the traction battery. It does not start the engine so can be small. The car does not have an alternator or starter motor. This function is performed by a generator which is powered up by the traction battery. So although the engine is fired up as called for and in that sense is stop/start it does not impose a heavy load on the 12v battery as with cars using a stop/start system with conventional alternator/starter motor set up. So with the RXh, the 12v battery is charged via the traction battery but you can't make this connection without the 12v battery first powering up and making connection with the traction battery. It is most important therefore that the 12v battery is kept charged up by regular use of the car, kept sufficiently charged using a smart charger or allowed charge while car is stationary as per handbook. As batteries age they tend not to hold a charge so well so may need increasingly more frequent additional charging, particularly if the car is only used for short journeys. The situation will be worse if the voltage of the 12v battery is allowed to fall below a critical level so that the life of the 12v battery will be reduced or terminated. So high cranking power is not required but because the 12v battery continues to serve its purpose when the car is not used, Lexus specified a deep cycle battery, until at least after the 3rd Generation cars. Your options are therefore:- A like for like replacement VRLA AGM battery generally only available from Lexus. (Since seen Yuasa do similar model but also at high cost). A free flow acid widely available battery with same dimensions as original. Modify plastic base plate that battery sits on in order to fit a slightly longer readily available AGM battery which was less expensive than Panasonic. It also called for some other mods which I detailed on another thread. This also gave 60Ah compared to the original 51Ah of the Panasonic. Appreciate few would go this route. In conclusion, if you accept the slightly increased risk of acid spill in an accident and the battery not being so deep cycling, your cheapest solution is to go for a standard free flow acid 12v battery of same dimensions as original.

That's the best solution to a potential problem! Thank you for your update

Very sad news of a Lexus devotee. Condolences to family and friends.

Is this the way Government will recover some of the lost revenue from electric cars and further add to what non electric cars already contribute? Using the particulates reasoning you could add tax to trainers and other rubber soled footwear as these also wear and emit particulates! https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/drivers-could-be-hit-with-new-tyre-tax-in-new-crackdown-on-emissions/ar-AA17XsiF?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=d289f12cfaa04501b4a39797c702ea4b

Some superior things made in Japan are not even intended to be sold abroad. Take watches for example. Some of their best models are what is called JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) range. Of course there are sellers who are happy to export and enthusiasts all over the world that often pay well over the local prices to obtain one. I have personal experience of this. Just before Christmas I decided to treat myself to a good and nice looking Quartz watch as my 16 year old Seiko Sportura had suffered some wear particularly on the black external Tachymeter ring. It even went into an MRI scanner but I remembered it was under my shirt while the scanner was just ticking over and before a 'sequence' started. I pressed the emergency button and a somewhat annoyed lady took it and said "Well that's ruined". It did stop it but I reset it later and it still keeps excellent time years later, a testimony to Japanese quality. But I digress. Now, everybody in the UK knows Casio are well known for calculators and mainly low end watches but in Japan they do some much better ones, the Oceanus range for example and I saw a model within this range I liked the look and specification of but they can't make them fast enough and I couldn't get the one I wanted even at a premium. This blue finished one is the model - just look at the spec although there are other ones with more 'Complications' that are far more expensive. https://www.discovery-japan.me/category/select/pid/460/language/en/currency/GBP?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6JK66v-V-wIVJu_tCh0TPwOoEAQYCiABEgLVI_D_BwE

Scotty Kilmer, apart from extolling Lexus/Toyota cars over the years has said Japanese built ones best.

Hi I found the sound level slightly too low on my RX, particularly with radio on,. so I didn't always notice if indicators did not self cancel sometimes, I had an auto electrician wire in a couple of very small sounders into flasher circuits. The sounders were of the type used for reversing with a trailer. The sounders were placed near the end of the drivers side of the dash and accessible by removing the end panel that closes off the end of the dash so can easily be removed or a little insulation added to reduce the sound if too loud I don't know your car but would think a similar addition would be possible.

Something else that could be worth noting!

Lexus Cheltenham advised new front discs on my car due to corrosion creaping inwards and pads wearing differently when doing service. They offered to replace the front discs and pads during penultimate service for a total of £300 while they had the car in their workshop. In retrospect this seems to have been a good price. But I have hitherto always liked to do this job myself because although garages would be a lot quicker than me, I don't think they would spent so much time in thoroughly cleaning the calipers, exposed part of pistons etc., and torque all bolts to correct figures, bearing in mind their hourly rates. I reckon it cost me about £260 including fittings and special lubricants. Whether Lexus Cheltenham would have just reused old shims and fittings I don't know. The wheels on my RX are the heaviest I have experienced and as an old guy with a weak back and a hernia, I don't think I will do this again. To get the wheels back on called for a number of up and down adjustments with my trolley jack, rolling the wheel backwards and forwards until it was in perfect alignment, then laying on my back and thrusting it on with my feet. (It's so much easier to do this with the arrangement on my BMW). Before doing this job I looked at a number of videos including some from the USA. This is one of several. https://www.google.com/search?q=replacing+discs+and+pads+on+RX+lexus&ei=MVTeY8m-EpuXhbIPuemxkAE&ved=0ahUKEwiJm7XB8_v8AhWbS0EAHbl0DBIQ4dUDCA4&oq=replacing+discs+and+pads+on+RX+lexus&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQDDIFCCEQoAEyCAghEBYQHhAdOgoIABBHENYEELADOgYIABAWEB46BQgAEIYDOgoIIRAWEB4QDxAdOgcIIRCgARAKSgQIQRgASgQIRhgAUMcGWJqCAWDIrQFoAXABeACAAWuIAccHkgEEMTEuMZgBAKABAcgBCMABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:5e5f4a79,vid:cUpaF_EyTmQ NB. Shims, if you need to replace, come in a different package to the little fitments the fit on the end of the pads with audible wear noise warning point and other spring guides the pads push into.

Hi Victor, No great problem but a couple of hitches. As my garage is full of stuff I would not wish to move, I had to do the job on my drive and before the cold weather set in. I have done this job on a number of cars but not a hybrid previously so I watched some videos to check if there was anything special and made a list of all the tools etc., that I might use and had already purchased two types of purpose designed lubricant for the slider pins and shims respectively. (Previously done some research on this, I decided against using the red rubber grease Toyota specify as this can harden over time and cause the pads to bind on the sliders. This was found to be the case with one of my slider pins). Maybe OTT but one video showed both removing 2 relays and disconnecting the battery negative, which I did. I also ensured that the ignition key remained in it's very good Faraday box. Hitherto, I have always been able to remove relays by pulling them out by hand but these were extremely tight and close together. There is a specially designed relay puller but I didn't have one so I took a chance and used some very small and slim channel pliers from my BMW tool kit and managed to remove them without cracking the cases which was a relief! I know you need to pull these relays to do rear brakes but think video may be wrong on needing to do this for fronts, particularly if you are not bleeding like me. I did not use Techstream or anything similar just what you would need for non hybrid. No warning lights. The pads only come with the wire splay springs that help hold them off the discs, so to do the job properly, you need a new fitting kit which I bought from Lexus Parts Direct. I also bought new pad shims from them as when I removed the pads the outer ones which look to be of stainless steel were reusable but the shim between these and the back of the pad are made of coated steel and were disintegrating. Why they use steel for this rather than stainless steel as for the outer shims is surprising. So getting the new shims, again from Lexus Parts Direct, delayed things although it did give me time to thoroughly clean all parts. The sliders were in excellent condition and I was able to reuse the rubber bushes but you want to keep brake cleaner away from these rubbers and not over lubricate sliders, particularly by the rubber bushes on them. I used an appropriately sized G clamp to force the pistons back into the calipers bearing on old pad. Before doing this I drew off some brake fluid from the reservoir with a syringe. I didn't need to top this up afterwards. Not draining the system made everything easier. It then remained to replace the two relays, connect the 12v battery and reinitialize the things affected by disconnecting the battery and break the pads in. Pleased to say brakes are now working well. PS. The discs each have two threaded holes for draw off bolts I tightened these as much as I felt comfortable to do not wishing to strip the threads, then tapped the old discs tightened the bolts again but it needed further tapping to come away. 0

Motorways aside and some major roads, in general roads are more poorly maintained than I can remember and this is compounded by the need to help stabilize SUV's which means stronger springs/shocks than on a saloon. The lower profile tyres on later RX make for a harder ride. On motorways and well maintained major roads I find the ride fine but especially poor over non smooth roads and that is with air suspension.

Rear number plate has an emblem that I can't see on Front but maybe just the angle?

That's interesting and restrictive, so means for example that wheel spacers should not be used, although I thought I had read somewhere that somebody had done so. My E39 BMW is fitted with wheels from an E60 or E61 but the centre hole on each wheel had to be bored out to original spec as the earlier E39 bore is larger. This must be quite a common mod as I have a second set of wheels where this has been done. The rims are secured by typical conical headed bolts rather than square shouldered nuts that Lexus use.

Useful info Vadim. Some aftermarket wheels are provided without lug holes and can be bored out to any bolt pattern. I had this done many years ago for one of my cars (can't remember which one). Of course rim size and offset also needs to be correct.

Have replied to PM. Deal done.

I had a cylinder head gasket fail on a V6 Camry I had many years ago at about your mileage. In my case the the coolant was being forced back to the external tank and out as could be easily seen. Incidentally, the resultant overheating caused baked on oil residue to flake off and gather in the sump. This caused the oil strainer to block up and oil warning light to come on, so sump removed, strainer unblocked and system flushed as a secondary exercise. Sincerely hope your problem is not so involved. You could monitor amount of coolant loss which should not be great and ask Lexus what they would expect in your car. Alternatively, if you have breakdown cover, you could get an opinion that way. Certainly, worth investigating before making precipitous work.

Head gasket my thought too. What's the mileage?

I would be happy to buy your summer and winter mats for your revised purchase price of £50 plus postage if this is reasonable. Please PM if you are prepared to consider this. If you prefer to wait for someone who could collect I can understand. I have a newish boot protector in black so not need the beige one.

I eventually got through to somebody after two and a half hours holding. The man I spoke with was very curt and said that they didn't want to speak with me as the claim had gone through Auxillis. The man said Axillis should ring them on the number I used. So I said Auxillis had told me that they didn't use the phone, unsurprisingly with a delay of two and a half hours plus to get through to an Insurance Company. He replied that it was a Friday and unusually busy. I can understand why Auxillis just use emails and it was only because AXA did not reply to them that I tried to speak directly with AXA. I relayed all this back to Auxillis with the request that they email AXA yet again to finally settle my expenses. So this is the way I am dealt with for trying to minimise the cost to AXA by paying for a Taxi on a few occasions instead of hiring a car for a couple of weeks for hundreds of pounds; not the way to treat a customer I think, particularly as I am insured with them as well as the driver at fault. I am mindful to make a written complaint but have more pressing things to do at present.