First of all, how awesome is this owners club. Here I find myself, in the Netherlands, following and celebrating the instructions someone called Lemon found and shared 12.5 years ago. If that doesn’t warm your heart a little, I don’t know what will. Lemon, wherever you are, I hope you are well. Also: I take my hat off to the administrators and moderators running this amazing bastion of knowledge. Thank you for making and keeping valuable information like this accessible to people like me.
About a month ago I bought a 2006 RX400H. In almost pristine condition, owned by the first owner for thirteen years and then for another two years by his son. It had 222k km’s on it, about 140k miles. It is black with a light interior, just how I like it. And for a little over € 9.000 (about $ 10.000) this seemed to be a good deal.
Unfortunately, I too was experiencing the quick awakening of my engine at even the slightest touch of the gas pedal. And I too was very disappointed about the efficiency. In (most of) Europe we use Liters per 100 km and I was getting around 10 liters per 100 km which is about 24mpg. I know I should be able to get at least 28mpg, which would display in my RX as 8.4L/100km. Considering we pay about €1.95 per liter over here ($10 per gallon!), any improvement in efficiency is obviously more than welcome.
So I searched the web in 4 different languages and I finally ended up here. Did I mention the awesomeness of this owners club?
Two days ago, I came home in the evening after a half an hour drive and figured the engine would be warm enough to perform the ISC learning procedure. I had tried it twice before but it hadn't worked. I could not get the battery fully charged within the 40 second time frame. So I thought I would try it one more time and if it didn't work I would disconnect the 12V battery for a couple of minutes and then perform the procedure again. I turned the ignition on, switched off everything, lights, climate control, radio, mirror, anything I could switch off and put my left foot on the brake and switched it to drive. I stepped on the gas pedal. The engine revved up a little, the power meter hardly moved, so I floored it. The engine did not rev up any more and the power meter was still not moving. The battery did charge but after 40 seconds the symbol did not fill up to the top. It was still one green bar shy of full. I got a little worried. "What if the battery pack is bad? Did I buy a hybrid lemon? I did didn't I? I am such an idiot. I should have bought that CR-V." So I turned off the ignition and shook my head.
I waited a couple of seconds, got myself together and tried again. This time, I went all in. "If this RX is bad and you got screwed you might as well know the truth right now. But this is a Lexus. Have some faith. Stop being so !Removed! carefull and show this baby who's boss. She's a Toyota, she can take it." I said to myself. I ignored the power meter and just floored the gas pedal, concentrating on the charging of the hybrid battery. "Come on you Japanese miracle of engineering you! You can do this! Time has nothing on you! You are a Lexus! It's just a battery! Just fill it! Push Baby, Push! Do it!" I yelled at the screen. This probably did the trick because after about 10 seconds the final green bar showed up. So far so good. "You are doing great baby! I love you!" The power meter still had not moved but I kept the pedal down to get to 35 seconds on my iphone stopwatch and then put it in park and shut off the engine. I waited 5 seconds and turned the ignition key back to display 'ready’. I stepped lightly on the gas until the engine started. I was feeling very confident.
The first minute or so the engine ran steady at a normal RPM. Like nothing happened. My confidence got a little less sturdy. But then I could hear some 'robocop' stuff going on and the engine revved up just a little for about 15 to 20 seconds before it returned to the normal, lower RPM. It ran for another minute or so and then it stopped. In total it ran for about three or four minutes.
Today, after a little under 100 kilometers (60 miles) of driving through mainly the Dutch countryside, my display shows 8.8L/100km (27mpg). I know it is just a short distance and it is a bit thin to base any conclusions on, but I have no doubt that the procedure has had an effect. Before my average has not been under 9.9L/100km (24mpg). And the car feels different. Like it just had a service job or something. It seems smoother and more responsive.
In the unlikely event that I am not the last person to ever visit this topic and some other newbee '06 400H owner is wondering why his or her new old hybrid is so thirsty and ends up here, I just have to add three things to all the instructions already given in this topic:
1. Forget about the power meter, just floor the pedal and focus on getting the battery fully charged. Preferably let it charge a little even after the final green bar has appeared.
2. If you don't hear the engine change RPM's in the first two minutes after the restart, your RX is not learning anything. Just start over.
3. Yelling positive and motivational things will help. But you have to really believe it. Not just say it.
First of all, how awesome is this owners club. Here I find myself, in the Netherlands, following and celebrating the instructions someone called Lemon found and shared 12.5 years ago. If that doesn’t warm your heart a little, I don’t know what will. Lemon, wherever you are, I hope you are well. Also: I take my hat off to the administrators and moderators running this amazing bastion of knowledge. Thank you for making and keeping valuable information like this accessible to people like me. About a month ago I bought a 2006 RX400H. In almost pristine condition, owned by the first owner for thirteen years and then for another two years by his son. It had 222k km’s on it, about 140k miles. It is black with a light interior, just how I like it. And for a little over € 9.000 (about $ 10.000) this seemed to be a good deal. Unfortunately, I too was experiencing the quick awakening of my engine at even the slightest touch of the gas pedal. And I too was very disappointed about the efficiency. In (most of) Europe we use Liters per 100 km and I was getting around 10 liters per 100 km which is about 24mpg. I know I should be able to get at least 28mpg, which would display in my RX as 8.4L/100km. Considering we pay about €1.95 per liter over here ($10 per gallon!), any improvement in efficiency is obviously more than welcome. So I searched the web in 4 different languages and I finally ended up here. Did I mention the awesomeness of this owners club? Two days ago, I came home in the evening after a half an hour drive and figured the engine would be warm enough to perform the ISC learning procedure. I had tried it twice before but it hadn't worked. I could not get the battery fully charged within the 40 second time frame. So I thought I would try it one more time and if it didn't work I would disconnect the 12V battery for a couple of minutes and then perform the procedure again. I turned the ignition on, switched off everything, lights, climate control, radio, mirror, anything I could switch off and put my left foot on the brake and switched it to drive. I stepped on the gas pedal. The engine revved up a little, the power meter hardly moved, so I floored it. The engine did not rev up any more and the power meter was still not moving. The battery did charge but after 40 seconds the symbol did not fill up to the top. It was still one green bar shy of full. I got a little worried. "What if the battery pack is bad? Did I buy a hybrid lemon? I did didn't I? I am such an idiot. I should have bought that CR-V." So I turned off the ignition and shook my head. I waited a couple of seconds, got myself together and tried again. This time, I went all in. "If this RX is bad and you got screwed you might as well know the truth right now. But this is a Lexus. Have some faith. Stop being so !Removed! carefull and show this baby who's boss. She's a Toyota, she can take it." I said to myself. I ignored the power meter and just floored the gas pedal, concentrating on the charging of the hybrid battery. "Come on you Japanese miracle of engineering you! You can do this! Time has nothing on you! You are a Lexus! It's just a battery! Just fill it! Push Baby, Push! Do it!" I yelled at the screen. This probably did the trick because after about 10 seconds the final green bar showed up. So far so good. "You are doing great baby! I love you!" The power meter still had not moved but I kept the pedal down to get to 35 seconds on my iphone stopwatch and then put it in park and shut off the engine. I waited 5 seconds and turned the ignition key back to display 'ready’. I stepped lightly on the gas until the engine started. I was feeling very confident. The first minute or so the engine ran steady at a normal RPM. Like nothing happened. My confidence got a little less sturdy. But then I could hear some 'robocop' stuff going on and the engine revved up just a little for about 15 to 20 seconds before it returned to the normal, lower RPM. It ran for another minute or so and then it stopped. In total it ran for about three or four minutes. Today, after a little under 100 kilometers (60 miles) of driving through mainly the Dutch countryside, my display shows 8.8L/100km (27mpg). I know it is just a short distance and it is a bit thin to base any conclusions on, but I have no doubt that the procedure has had an effect. Before my average has not been under 9.9L/100km (24mpg). And the car feels different. Like it just had a service job or something. It seems smoother and more responsive. In the unlikely event that I am not the last person to ever visit this topic and some other newbee '06 400H owner is wondering why his or her new old hybrid is so thirsty and ends up here, I just have to add three things to all the instructions already given in this topic: 1. Forget about the power meter, just floor the pedal and focus on getting the battery fully charged. Preferably let it charge a little even after the final green bar has appeared. 2. If you don't hear the engine change RPM's in the first two minutes after the restart, your RX is not learning anything. Just start over. 3. Yelling positive and motivational things will help. But you have to really believe it. Not just say it.
