SOMEONE ELSE'S GOT MY NAME

(sigh) great ... now that I'm at 60K miles + .... and time to change the PCV - the links/pic's are dead guess I'll have to try the hyhi sight. Oh well .

Yes, The Dealer blew smoke up your nether region. Your 12v Aux battery does NOT have - not does it need to crank the 400h. It merely boots up the ECU's. When the ICE starts, it's the MG's that starts it up. That's not to say your 12v battery wasn't low. They're awfully undersized - because they don't need a lot of power to simply boot up the ride. But because it's a light weight battery to start with, it takes way to little electrical draw to kill it. Think dome light on all night ... or running the music player while working on it ... stuff like that. We changed over to a 12v battery that actual DOES have cranking amps, so we can avoid the all too common scenario of aux hybrid battery premature death. I would highly advise on NOT getting a Lexus OEM battery, as you'll end up getting overcharged, for an under rated battery

Lexus' trearment about this tsb really gets me P.O.'d. Our 400h was built in '05 and if the power plant suffers colateral damage due to so-so inverter cooling over a half decade (and who'd know), it seems like Lexus couldn't give a rip. We got notice from Lexus MONTHS ago, but thery're really slow to take care of it. They've known about this since the days of the stink about possible 'unintended acceleration' issues ... & so modernly, Lexus is suposedly no longer sluffing off owner conserns. Yea, right. .

Like it or not - If your ride is a 2009 or newer - the word from Toyota (Lexus) is official. Yep. They've put it in writing: I mentioned earlier ... if the DEALER (who fight kicking and screaming to never pay for a warranty if they can blame it on anything else) says you're good to go 10K miles - as well as the synthetic oil manufacturers saying you're good to go ... well then you're spending double the extra money for your own personal comfort.

I don't bother telling folks what to do w/ oil any more. I just direct them to the place that ought to know better than anyone. From the mobile 1 website: http://www.mobiloil.com/usa-english/motoroil/car_care/askmobil/10000_mile_oil_changes_on_mobil_1.aspx so anyway, yea, your conditions may be different ... harsher ... easier ... so oil test, oil wear, etc may vary ... even from season to season. But in simplest terms, if the people who make a living trying to sell you MORE products than you really even need tell you "don't worry about your filter/oil for 10k miles" - well, heck, if that doesn't mean anything, than nothing will. :)

You didn't get the Inverter TSB for the RX? Bottom line, it ain't just the Prius inverter coolant pump. It's the 400h too. If anyone wants to download the TSB (dealer didn't send it to you) it's on the other Lexus forum:http://www.clublexus.com/forums/attachments/hybrid-technology/218313d1312380599-safety-recall-bld-intelligent-power-module-ipm-replacement-400h_ipm_recall2.pdf I knew it'd be just a matter of time, because they released one on the hyhi some time ago. Our notice from Lexus says they don't yet have parts, but when they (finally ... it's been almost 2 months now) do have the parts, they'll give us notice. ie; don't call us, we'll call you. Supposedly parts were to be arriving in a couple months ... now they're talking SIX months. Part of me wished the inverter would blow up. A few of THOSE might hurry things along. Maybe the TSB can be posted with all the others that got pinned? EDIT here's the one we got, in case your dealer says their's no such animal:

+1That's seemingly saying what generically I was getting at. Yet Rey's 400h DOES look like his tires are taller - and that was his objective when he got them ... but the replacement set he installed ought to NOT be taller, based on the "55" number. So I'm just saying I can't reconcile the numbers with the looks.

Sorry for the Zombie thread resurrection. RXREY, I'm confused about your Toyos. I remember long ago when you 1st posted about your 'taller' tires. But going from 235's to 255's ?? 235(the 1st number) is the number representing the WIDTH. If you wanted taller tires (albeit only 1/2") you'd go from (second number on the size label) 235/55's to 335/60's. Getting 255/55's keeps your height the same and widens the tire. Perhaps your Toyos gauge by narrower and taller scale? I don't know. Any input would be helpfull.

Fresh & Easy Grocery Store in So Cal has hybrid parking too. Now that we have an EV ... I'm hoping they'll go whole hog, and install L2 charge stations too. :)

The OP's post is likely a 450h. Completely differently animal - Atkinson ICE and all. Then again, if you want to add the necessary ECU's drill holes for a button, plug the hole in the steering column ... let me know how that works for ya. I'd love to have push button, but already explored the can of worm it'd be.

Wow ... I've been away for a bit. I'm going to give this a try. I though it was my imagination, but after Lexus changed out a steering ecu and aligned our 4 wheels (which for whatever reason, made them disconnect the battery) the mpg's have been a bit low. We'll see if this makes a difference. Call me wacky ... but isn't is pathetic, that Lexus knows less about our rides (in some instances) than the owners do? Same deal with the steering ecu we had replaced due to a tsb. They never called ... never even suggested it when we complained about our ride pulling to the right. When I think of the tread we wasted, and the gas we wasted, and that they won't even own up to how wrong that is ... well ... maybe I shouldn't let incompetence get to me.

To be honest - it turns a lot on driving style. "She who must be obeyed" only gets 25mpg whereas I easily get 30mpg and we have the AWD version. In part, my high mpg's turn on running higher tire pressure. Also, I installed an EBH so if I leave on a short trip - even in the summer - the 400h is already warmed up. A cold ICE (for the 1st 5 or 10 minutes) really kills mpg's. With the AWD version - this is about as good as folks can ever expect in it:

I've loved prior Michelins we've purchased aftermarket ... but the ones that came with our 400h wore out in record time. True ... in part it was due to the defective steering ecu that Lexus somewhat begrudgingly replaced. But by the time they finally got done jerking us around and replaced the parts recalled under the TSB - we'd probably lost a good half year's worth of tread. (sigh) Our 2nd set of treads (Michelins) on the 400h are now shot too - at 50,000 miles. I'm trying the Ecopias this time.

Even better ... those of us fortunate enough to be in the 7 or 8 states following CA hybrid emissions regulations, we get the hybrid part of their warranty carried out to 150K. EEEK ... we may end up needing it some day! Even so, life is good. I'm really surprised that Lexus/Toyota wasn't more gracious to dead inverter owners ... especially back when all the hubub was going on with alleged unintended acceleration.

I don't suppose there's a snowball's chance that this new version (like the last two versions) will be compatible with the back door / maintenance screens that lock pick and other devices access ... letting you input map and or phone numbers on the fly, right?