skyfish400h

its supposed to be loose... there is nothing wrong as long as it stays in position

the nitto's are noisy... they are OK on the front and handle well up there but when rotated to the back, my nice quite lexus sounds like a truck. i'm reading good reviews of the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus

Since there is no sound level to indicate scale such as a voice or other "normal" sound, its hard to judge if the sound is normal or not. Operating machinery will always make noise. Try recording the sound again with a normal spoken voice over and maybe hit the throttle to provide contrast with the care reving or even moving. That would help.

the same thing happens with the windows going up and down or the sun roof activating properly after a battery is disonnected. The fix is to hold the button in the "activate" position for several seconds until the window or door is reinitialized. It should work normally after that.

Its an interesting quirk that serves as an early warning. I like to think of it the same as when you go out to your regular car on a cold morning and the engine barely cranks over. That's the signal. If you ignore it too long, then you get the dreaded click-click-click when silinoid wont even stay closed because the battery is too weak. Then its JUMP time.

The reason the headlight sprayers come out when you wash is because the lights are on. For me the lights are on when I first start up in the carport, but once I move out into the light, they go off. I just wait until the lights go off and then wash. Of course this doesn't work if its dark outside. In that case you will have to turn the lights off manually if your are that bent on not washing the headlights. I think the AC works great on AUTO. For the first year I wanted to control everything manually, including the recirculate. But now I just leave it on AUTO, set the temp to a seasonal comfort level (75 summer, 79 winter) and let it do its thing. This saves on cabin filters too, since using fresh air all the time really loads them up quick. And the rain sensing wipers are the best. When I drive a car without them now I end up squinting thru the raindrops wondering why I cant see ;)

Your lighter outlet is only good to 10Amp at 12Volt or 120Watts. At 120Volts AC you only have 1Amp of capability from the car. (Power: watts = volts x amps) Any decent drill or vacuum will require more power than that... maybe a 1Amp dremmele tool or a dust buster car vac but thats about it. DC to AC inverters cannot manufacture power only convert it from one form to another... sorry. BTW, if you do plan to run AC appliances from you car with an inverter, be aware that you will need to leave the car in READY state so the engine can fire when needed (ventilation is key here :chairshot: ). If you run anything off of the car when the ignition is in ACC or ON, then you are only using the tiny 12V battery and that will last about 20 min before its dead. ********************************************** Thank you so much. You made this perfectly clear for me. But tell me... what if instead of using the lighter outlet, I connect the DC Inverter directly to the car battery ? would it be the same problem please ??? The problem would be the same... that will not change the physics of it, just bypasses the 10A fuse.

Update on the Nitto's Had the tire place break the bead and rotate the tires 180 degrees on the rim, then re-balance them The ride is better but still harsher than the Goodyear's. I guess I'll keep them, but I'm hoping they wear out sooner rather than later so I can move on to a full set of either: Continental Extreme Contact DWS Yokohama Avid ENVigor

Your lighter outlet is only good to 10Amp at 12Volt or 120Watts. At 120Volts AC you only have 1Amp of capability from the car. (Power: watts = volts x amps) Any decent drill or vacuum will require more power than that... maybe a 1Amp dremmele tool or a dust buster car vac but thats about it. DC to AC inverters cannot manufacture power only convert it from one form to another... sorry. BTW, if you do plan to run AC appliances from you car with an inverter, be aware that you will need to leave the car in READY state so the engine can fire when needed (ventilation is key here :chairshot: ). If you run anything off of the car when the ignition is in ACC or ON, then you are only using the tiny 12V battery and that will last about 20 min before its dead.

Boys, don't fight... you're BOTH pretty. There is a rear differential IF you have the AWD version... if you have the FWD version, then no. My dealer used 3 qts of ATFWS WORLD STANDARD AUTOM at a $7.78 a bottle and charged me $74 in labor for a total of $104 Considering the time it would take me to track down the right oil, research the quantity, set up the work area, do the task, clean up (including a shower), and dispose of the used oil... I would be hard pressed to get all that done in less than the 1.6 hrs needed for me to just break even economically, let alone save any money at it. This kind of math works out for the air filters because those are very easy and quick.... but for oil and getting under the car... That is the kind of thing you do for the love of it. Like a hobby. I don't love it, never did, so I pay someone else to do it. That works for me, YMMV.

I thought everybody loved the Alenzas...?? But the Alenzas are small truck tires and like the Toyos or even the Nittos I just got, they do not seem to be as concerned with noise or ride comfort. You cannot compare a ride comfort of 8.4 on a small truck tire with the same rating on a passenger car touring tire.... They are different scales. I'm already regretting the Nittos and I may end up giving them back. My nice luxury SUV rides like a truck now (Nittos are on the back axle). The Goodyear Eagle Responsedge tires are much quieter and "more round" if that makes sense... they don't make that hopping sensation as they roll down the highway. Its like they are out-of-round or that the tread is not concentric with the tire bead... or maybe they are just not seated evenly on the rim, which is totally fixable. We shall see.

Got my 400h back today from the dealer after the 60K visit... Oil & Filter (owner supplied Mobil 1 oil) Measure and inspect brake pads (still have 6mm front/8mm rear left!, replace at 2.5mm) 6Ok Inspection (long list of things that were all OK) Replaced brake fluid Replaced trans/fwd diff fluid Replaced rear diff fluid total $488 but I got $50 off labor because I did not have them check the engine or cabin air filters (which I replaced on my own), or rotate the tires (which I get free with the tires).

How can you tell if this activity actually changed anything? Is there a behavior difference or a reading somewhere to indicate the ISC is up to speed (or not)?

So you do the research and you analyze the market and you shop for the best deal to get new meats on all 4 corners of you 400h. Then because you are lazy and don't' rotate the tires as often as you should, two of them wear out faster than the other two.... also helps if you don't over inflate them. D'oh! The tire guys says, "no problem we will just pro-rate the worn out pair on this visit and do the other ones when you bring it back next time"... Then the lazy thing kicks in again and by the time of your next visit...THEY DON'T MAKE THOSE TIRES ANY MORE!!! Now, I've got to find 2 tires that will be a good enough match for the almost new pair until they all wear out together and I can start fresh with whatever tire comes to the top of my research at that time. I run 255/55/18s The almost new pair are Goodyear Eagle Responsedge The replacements are going to be Nitto 420s I chose them because they are cheap, they wear out fast, the have excellent performance (probably better than the g/y), and they also have the asymmetrical tread (non-directional). Anyway, I just needed to vent. I feel better now.

They tend to be noisy and wear out fast according to my tire guy. Nitto's wear fast too, but are quieter. I don't think either tires are all season tire (as the thread would imply). Yoko Avid ENVigor are far better tires (60K warr) and seem to be reasonably priced, unlike the Continentals.