Rx400h: Neat Little "tricks" You May Want To Know About

[cduluk]

Hey guys/gals!

I've had my Rx400h for a few weeks now, and have learned several neat 'tricks' to make the experience of owning the car more enjoyable. I've also had to remove the car's battery for several hours (to change out the steering wheel) and learned that after battery removal, the car switches back to its factory default settings which are quite aggravating! So i've made this tutorial to help others who may want to play with the car's settings, or to customize it to fit their needs.

If you know of any other tricks or helpful techniques to make the Rx400h easier to operate, please post them here! Hopefully this thread will become a sticky in the beginning of the forum to help others who purchase a Rx400h, or to anyone who has trouble playing with its various settings.

So most of these have to do with switching out of the factory default settings, but some others are quite interesting, take a look!

Mirrors Folding Down While in Reverse

There is a hidden “hack” setting to allow the side rear view mirrors to fold down while in Reverse to allow better view of your surroundings. Look for the mirror adjustment buttons on the left of the steering column. If you leave the “LEFT” or “RIGHT” rocker switch in either the “L” or “R” position vs the “center” position, the mirrors will fold downward while in reverse. If you leave the switch centered, the mirrors will not fold down in reverse. This may save the motor life if you use reverse often or if the function does not help you much.

Navigation Map “Region” may be incorrect

If you have had your battery unplugged or replaced, your car’s navigation will automatically adjust to the factory map “region” which may not include your state. When you search for a destination, it will only search for addresses in the selected “region” so you want to make sure it’s set to your region.

1. Click on DESTINATION

2. Touch the “CHANGE” icon below the map on the top right of the screen

3. Select whichever “region number” your state is included in, then select “OK”

[cduluk]

Opt out of the annoying seatbelt “beep-beep-BEEP-BEEP!!!”

If you are the type to take very short trips where wearing your seatbelt isn’t necessary, or just choose not to wear it, you may have noticed the car makes a series of annoying beeps for the first minute or so after you’ve put the car in drive. If you unplug or replace your battery, the car will change to the factory setting of allowing the beeps. Well, there’s a way to get rid of the beeps!

1. Sit in the driver’s seat with the key in the “ON” position. Using the “display” button on the steering wheel, rotate through the displays until the LCD on the gauge cluster is only reading the mileage, not trip A or B, just the mileage.

2. Turn the car off and pull out the keys. Open the driver’s door and close it again. Put the keys back into the ignition and put it to the “on” position again. As soon as the LCD display on the gauge cluster goes from “hybrid drive” back to the mileage, begin to hold down the “trip reset” button to the left of the steering column for approx 30 seconds.

While still holding down this button, (it may be tricky) pull down the seatbelt and buckle it. At this point look at the LCD display on the gauge cluster. You may let go of the “trip reset” button at this point. The display will now read “seatbelt buzzer ON”.

Press the “trip reset” button once and the display should change to “seatbelt buzzer OFF”. You’ve done it! You can turn the car off, as the setting is now changed and will remain this way until you change your battery again, or repeat the steps to change the setting yourself.

Make sure to save your “seat”, “steering wheel” and “mirror” adjustment settings before you unplug your battery!!

Whenever you unplug or change your battery, you will loose your seat, steering wheel and mirror position settings. So make sure to leave your seat, wheel and mirrors in the desired position before battery removal. After your new battery is installed, enter the car, turn the keys to “ON” and hold down the “SET” and “1” or “2” button at the same time for a few seconds until you hear a “BEEP” which means the settings are saved.

[cduluk]

The automatic rear hatch hidden on/off “button”

If your Rx has the automatic rear hatch, there may be a point where you realize it no longer works and think it’s broken, but it may be as simple as you’ve accidentally hit the hidden “on/off’ button. If you open the glove box, to the left- adjacent to the center console, there is a button that may be pressed to turn the auto hatch function “on” or “off” if desired. I’ve accidentally hit this switch during cleaning and thought it was broken.

Adjusting the air conditioner circulation to “inside air” or ‘outside air”

Whenever you unplug or replace your battery, the car sets the AC to its default setting of circulating “outside air” vs “inside air”. It’s personally preference, but I like to keep the inside air circulating to avoid car exhaust fumes etc.

[cduluk]

Adjusting navigation map display by “straight ahead” or by “North”

Whenever you unplug or replace your battery, the car sets the navigation screen to its default setting, which shows the map view with “North” straight ahead vs whatever direction the car is facing. Sometimes in this setting, the red arrow (which represents the vehicle) does not face directly ahead unless you happen to be driving North. I personally find this setting confusing as I like to see what is ahead of me, not necessarily what is “North” of my position.

By touching the icon at the top left of the screen, it will switch between “north” and “straight ahead” images.

Turning “dual climate control” on or off

Whenever you unplug or replace your battery, the car sets its default AC setting to dual climate control OFF. I find it’s convenient for passengers to be able to select their own temperature setting, so I like to set the dual climate control to ON.

1. Click CLIMATE.

Touch the “DUAL” icon on the top right of the screen until the yellow line is illuminated or blank.

[cduluk]

Adjusting the keyboard to “QWERTY” or “ABC” layout

It’s personal preference, but I find it easier to type in destinations etc with the standard QWERTY layout vs the ABC layout. Whenever the battery is unplugged or replaced, the default setting is changed to ABC layout. To change the keyboard layout,

1. Click on “MENU”

2. Then next to “keyboard layout” touch either “ABC” or “QWERTY” based on your preference. Then touch “OK”.

[cduluk]

Activating your windows to be adjusted from the driver controls

If you've unplugged or changed your battery, you will notice that upon re-installation you will not be able to control the passenger windows from the driver's controls, and the passengers will not have their "auto" up/down function. This is because the windows need to be "activated".

To activate, you must do the following to EACH window from its own control.

1. Starting from windows rolled up- Roll a window down to the half-way position and stop. After 1 second, roll the window up, and HOLD the switch for 3 seconds even after the window is fully rolled up. Then let go. The window is now activated. Do this for all 4 windows.

Now you will be able to control all 4 windows from the driver's controls and the passengers will be able to use the auto up/down function.

[08rx400h]

Wow, thanks for taking time posting all these. I had the 12V battery replaced once and asked dealer to reset almost everything you mentioned here. Others like all the addressese / phone numbers you previously kept in the NAV would be gone, too, and dealer can't do anything about that. I am wondering if the new 450h has the solution for this since it now comes with solution. I forgot to ask about this when I went for the test drive on the 450h yesterday. 12V battery will need to be placed sooner or later, don't forget to write down all the addresses / phone numbers beforehand.

[RX400h]

Thanks for starting this valuable thread. I have pinned it, so let's keep those tidbits coming!

Dave

[RXREY]

Thanks for the post. I guess I don't have the option to change to QWERTY on my 06 400h. Rey

[nightmoon]

How the heck to you find out about all this stuff? I mean after the battery is out, it's kinda easy to see the stuff that's been reset to default mode, but you know, stand on your head and tap your heals together while singing the third line of star spangled banner to reset it to desired settings... how you find this out is just amazing!!

[cduluk]

Haha, i'm just too picky. When i got the car i made all my custom settings, then when i unplugged the battery for a little while to remove the steering wheel, all of the settings were switched back!

And while doing my steering wheel wood conversion i knew i'd be taking the battery in and out often, so i made a note of all the settings (at least the important ones to me) that are set back to default by the computer.

I'm currently trying to figure out how to stop the car from locking all the doors when you take the car out of park, but following the directions in the manual has given me NO success... As soon as i figure that one out i'll post it here too.

I should also add that the clock always gets messed up if the battery's removed for lengthy period of time... And it's a bit tricky to get it out of 'automatic' clock reset to 'manual' reset.

If anyone else has something else to add, please add it!! :)

[Gryphon]

I'm currently trying to figure out how to stop the car from locking all the doors when you take the car out of park, but following the directions in the manual has given me NO success... As soon as i figure that one out i'll post it here too.:)

That's a Lexus Personalized Setting which can only be done by Lexus or Toyota dealer.

TomLexus_Personalized_Settings.pdf

[lemon]

Also if you disconnect the battery (or run it down like I did), the sunroof will have to be normalized. You can tell if it needs to be normalized if the sunroof doesn't close properly when you use the tilt switch. If you have to kind of guess where closed should be you need to normalize it.

To normalize, push and hold the 'slide' switch toward the front. The sunroof will tilt (even though you are using the 'slide' switch) up and down then slide open and close. After it closes, release the switch. The sunroof will now work normally (i.e. it will know where it's supposed to close when you use the switches).

[lemon]

I'm currently trying to figure out how to stop the car from locking all the doors when you take the car out of park, but following the directions in the manual has given me NO success... As soon as i figure that one out i'll post it here too.

If anyone else has something else to add, please add it!! :)

The directions in the manual work, but you have to be really really really precise about the 5 second count. Here's what I did (I take no credit for this though, I found the tip about the : somewhere on the web via google). Just follow the directions from the manual but use the method below to time the 5 seconds.

_____________________________________________________

I had been trying to do this on my 2006 RX400h with no success. I was getting quite frustrated till I found a post somewhere where someone advised that they counted the flashes of the : on the clock display.

I tried it and it worked!!! What I did was push the lock button to lock when the : was not displayed on the dash clock, held it, and counted 5 flashes of the : on the dash clock. After the fifth flash, I released the button, and the door locks cycled indicating the programming was successful.

Of course, depending on what you're trying to program, you may need to be in neutral and you may need to hold the button to unlock. The manual explains it all. In my case, I was trying to activate the autolock when moved out of Park.

By the way, to cancel whatever you've programmed, you just go through the procedure again.

[cduluk]

Haha, lemon it WORKED!! :D Thanks for that!

I guess it REALLY is particular about timing. Just start holding down the button when the colon on the clock is off, and keep holding it until the 5th colon "on" is finished and boom, you hear the locks cycle and it works.

I just had to hold down the 'lock' position on the lock/unlock rocker switch while keeping the car in park. Now the locks don't automatically lock when i take the car out of Park. I thought that was such an annoying feature...

Just keep them coming! :D

[NeoN]

thanks for posting. helpful stuff.

[grognon]

Hi i have the Lexus RX400h 2007 with nav system.

I'm from Quebec, Canada and want to to the nav system all in french, the Nav voice for the direction is in french but when i push the button on the stering wheel the voice is in english, how to put all of it in french? Same thing for the commands,i have to say them in english instead of french.

2- anybody found how to enter an adress or dial a phone number while the car is moving?

3- When i press the voice button on the steering wheel a voice says ''after the bip, please said a command'' how to remove the voice and only have the bip?

Thanks!

[Vaima120]

Hi i have the Lexus RX400h 2007 with nav system.

I'm from Quebec, Canada and want to to the nav system all in french, the Nav voice for the direction is in french but when i push the button on the stering wheel the voice is in english, how to put all of it in french? Same thing for the commands,i have to say them in english instead of french.

2- anybody found how to enter an adress or dial a phone number while the car is moving?

3- When i press the voice button on the steering wheel a voice says ''after the bip, please said a command'' how to remove the voice and only have the bip?

Thanks!

[Vaima120]

Hi, Grognon.

I own a RX400h in France, in original French config.

But I have the same remark for voice. Too bad... I guess it is not possible to configure everything in French

Concerning the second point, you have a lot of posts about it in this forum. Have a look.

Regards

[grognon]

The automatic rear hatch hidden on/off “button”

If your Rx has the automatic rear hatch, there may be a point where you realize it no longer works and think it’s broken, but it may be as simple as you’ve accidentally hit the hidden “on/off’ button. If you open the glove box, to the left- adjacent to the center console, there is a button that may be pressed to turn the auto hatch function “on” or “off” if desired. I’ve accidentally hit this switch during cleaning and thought it was broken.

Adjusting the air conditioner circulation to “inside air” or ‘outside air”

Whenever you unplug or replace your battery, the car sets the AC to its default setting of circulating “outside air” vs “inside air”. It’s personally preference, but I like to keep the inside air circulating to avoid car exhaust fumes etc.

How can you program to always have fresh air when you start the air conditioner?

Thanks!

[grognon]

Anybody have the answer for that?

[grognon]

Anybody have the answer for that?

[bavera]

I'm still frustrated with the fact the the navigation goes off when you're moving. It's amazing that you can program a tom-tom when you're driving but can't the Lexus navigational system. I'm toying with buying the module to defeat it. Anybody have experience with it, good or bad?? Thanks!!

[grognon]

I'm still frustrated with the fact the the navigation goes off when you're moving. It's amazing that you can program a tom-tom when you're driving but can't the Lexus navigational system. I'm toying with buying the module to defeat it. Anybody have experience with it, good or bad?? Thanks!!

Hi, let me know if you ever decide on a system, i'm interested to buy one too.

Look here:

http://www.coastaletech.com/lockpick3.htm

AND HERE:

http://www.prestigioussociety.com/?page_id=138

I want to be able to enter destination, dial a phone number and watch a movie, all while the car is moving.

[Jim Nazium]

I'm still frustrated with the fact the the navigation goes off when you're moving. It's amazing that you can program a tom-tom when you're driving but can't the Lexus navigational system. I'm toying with buying the module to defeat it. Anybody have experience with it, good or bad?? Thanks!!

Hi, let me know if you ever decide on a system, i'm interested to buy one too.

Look here:

http://www.coastaletech.com/lockpick3.htm

AND HERE:

http://www.prestigioussociety.com/?page_id=138

I want to be able to enter destination, dial a phone number and watch a movie, all while the car is moving.

The Question is, will these products still work after upgrading the navigation disk to say, 9.1? I can never get a clear answer for this...

Cheers,

MadloR