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One thing I missed when driving my gen 1 Alphard is the indicator lane change 3 flash that is in many newer vehicles these days, and I got so used to using it that when driving my Alphard I often forget and just flick the indicator to change lane and, of course, I get one flash. I'd seen someone was selling an alternative direct replacement flasher relay for upwards of £50 that was modified to give the 3 flash, but that price was too much for me to just avoid holding the indicator down a bit longer. A bit of research turned up a potential alternative for less than £10 on eBay. It didn't specifically mention the lane change function as it seemed to be more aimed at people retro-fitting LED indicator bulbs and messing up the flashing rate, but I had a suspicion so I took a punt and bought it. The original Toyota item and the replacement are shown below. Notice the knob for adjusting the flash rate, and poorly translated "about dodges three times" on the replacement relay. Fitting it was easy enough. Simply pull out the coin drawer thingy just above the bonnet and fuel flap release levers on the driver side of the dash and look in. The relay is fairly obvious. The relay put up a fight and was reluctant to release, but a bit of jiggling and a little bit of leverage from a screwdriver got it out. This photo shows the new one fitted. I turned the hazards on and the flash rate was very fast, but with a quick twiddle of the knob on the relay I had the flash rate back to where it should be. Then the moment of truth - ignition on and flicked the indicator stalk. Three flashes and stop 👍. £10 and 10 minutes work. Bargain! This is the one I bought on eBay, but there appears to be loads of sellers as the original Toyota relay was used on many different models, as you could imagine. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386806258020?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=xfg_a3ycs9s&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ql8_keC9RJe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Renewed with Adrian Flux a couple of weeks ago. £40 less than my first year (last year) That was a surprise! Graham

Hi. I have put a couple of posts on here a while ago. I had a towbar fitted which cost about £400 (an Alphard needs something a bit bespoke which my fitter ordered from somewhere in Sheffield). I then bought a secondhand Thule 2 bikerack off ebay. It cost £80. It isn't the tilt type, but works very well, and I just accept I can't open the tailgate without taking the bikes off - I don't need to remove the carrier itself, since it has a foldable frame. The bike rack also doubles as a luggage carrier. Without the bikes on, I can attach a large Fiamma luggage bag which fits a huge amount of stuff. £40 off ebay.

Just a thought, but have you tried cleaning up the inside of the battery terminal clamps, and wherever the battery negative lead connects to the body? They could be oxidized and causing a volt drop when trying to provide cranking current. Putting the starter pack on could bypass where the problem connection is, and hence why you get an instant start.

I have just had my first service at my local garage. We have been with them for several decades and I was interested to hear their opinion on our campervan conversion. I was pleasantly surprised to get the positive reactions I did. The headlamp discolouring is being dealt with with advice from yourselves on this forum and also local advice. I am now aware why the service (oil change in particular} 6k-7k intervals is important. Quote "the sump is small for the engine size Graham, only 4 litres of oil. Change it and the filter every 6k or so" unquote. Thanks for your help here everyone. Kind regards Graham

Depends on what you buy. They usually come with one fuse each and you use the original fuse in the main socket. Obviously you can put whatever fuses you like in but you don't want a higher fuse rating than the original, so pairs of the same or the spur being on a lower rated fuse would be best. When choosing which fuse socket to use you need to find out what it currently powers and / or do a test to find out whether its a permanent feed, comes one with the ignition or is only on when something happens, say headlights being on.

Absolutely superb job you're doing there, especially with the outdoor aspect!!

Day 17 2 Hours Felt like big progress today. I've been dreading using silicon gasket but think it went pretty well. Started the day with a failed attempt to remove the exhaust bracket bolt with my new induction heating tool. Looks like I'll need to weld the bracket back together. I needed to jack the engine up quite high to get the timing chain cover above the power steering pipe. I did a few test runs to make sure I could get the cover onto the engine without ruining the gasket. I installed the water pump first but then removed it as I needed the extra space. It says to install the cover 3 min after applying the sealant. It took a bit of study and preparation to get my head around all the different sealant widths. Cover on and all bolts torqued to spec. Timing chain tensioner and water pump next I think.

kseal can block other parts of the heating system, always best to find where the leak is. If there is plenty of coolant in the rad, and you can see it moving when cold with the cap off, then it could be blocked in the heater matrix. You need to warm it up then check the small hoses, feed/return, that are connected to the matrix near the bulkhead, if they are both warm then the valve is working, and you have flow through the matrix, if not then the valve is not working or blocked. If you have flow through then the other cause could be the air flap control disc is faulty, a known fault, it is situated behind the dash low down, above and to the left of the parking brake, a disc from an Avensis control will fit, but both units need stripping down and the discs swopping

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you mate! Yes I'm with you both, no logic to my reason just old fashioned gut feeling. Turn it over with the crank pully nut a couple of times, maybe spark plugs out if its too tough. Then start it up and get it up to full temperature, with the heater on full heat, whilst checking on coolant levels and for any little weeps. Then drop out that oil into a clean pan so you can check it!

I was getting P0171 "system too lean (bank 1)" also and cleaning the MAF didn't help - the error would come back. What fixed it for me was changing the front Lambda sensor which, on mine, was a struggle as the previous mechanic had forced the sensor into place and had damaged the thread. An M18 x 1.5 tap and die cleaned up both the thread on the exhaust and the new sensor which I purchased - I would warn to be on the lookout for ones with the correct plug on the end as the cheap ones come with bare wires that need to be housed in the original socket (as the supplied ones don't stand a chance of fitting) and are bound to cause issues. I ended up getting this one: https://www.autojapspares.co.uk/toyota-alphard-anh10-anh15-24-front-fuel-ratio-sensor-34437-p.asp Which is rather expensive but arrived quickly and was a straight plug in. I also changed the fuel filter (see below) and the air filter - which may have helped but less so that the sensor I would say. Suffice to say that the emissions that it failed its MoT test on it now passes. Out of interest what are you using to grab your figures as per your screenshot?

Funny enough I was talking to a Mazda MX5 owner earlier today and told him about amayama.com and he was rather shocked that a part he had been looking for was around a third of the price on amayama. A good source it must be said.

Yey - the emissions test passed! It's booked in for the full test on Tuesday. I have changed both the offside tyres which were showing signs of wear on the inside. The new tyres are on the front and the front nearside is now on the O/S rear. The tyre people did an alignment check and found everything was within spec, though both the offsides were right at the limit of the manufacturers spec. I am rather pleased that the emissions look to be so clear cut - I don't know what the 'before' figures were but a CO and HC of 0 must be good. I'm not sure what Lambda is measuring but that is within spec also. Oh we also found that one side light (far offside) doesn't work, and one brake light (nearside tailgate) doesn't work - both are dual filament bulbs, or at least they are different brightnesses for side and braking. I have put in some LED brake light 'bulbs' which do the same job, but are quite a bit brighter. It will be interesting to see whether the MoT tester says anything - or is it just LED headlight bulbs that are an issue? Roll on Tuesday.

Paul fingers crossed for pass on emissions

I had a motorway drive this week for first time since fitting it, and it was only after I got home that I realised I have become so used to having a three lane flash over the years that I was using it and not even mentally acknowledging that it was doing it 😆.

I agree with Myron. Should be nothing to worry about unless the engine is caused to rev too high. According to the JPNZ Owners Manual, this is a feature , known as ECT, of the 3 litre V6 1MZ-FE engine and gearbox. It is also a feature of the 2AZ-FE.

I think this is a feature of many automatic boxes for many years. I think it is actually sensing that you are braking on a hill and changes down to give you some engine braking. When you accelerate it changes up again. I've had this feature on autos before and our 2008 Aplhard does it.

So during the week I got around to fitting the cigarette socket. I bought a cigarette socket extension and cut the plug off, wired into the unused heated seats fuse with a 15a fuse tap then ran the cable under the carpet after removing the plastic kick guards from both left hand side doors. I then used strong double sided tape to secure it next to the cubby hole at the left rear hidden under the rear seat. Works a treat, I may look into a more permanent fitting later on if I want to try routing the cable over the inside of the wheelarch. I also connected the USB thingy taking a fused feed from the factory cigarette socket and running the cable under the carpet, sticking the module to the front of the centre console at floor level. This meant no drilling of holes anywhere to feel cables through. Pics to follow if anyone is interested.

For less than £40 , you can get a vci adaptor and copy of techstream, and program a blank key yourself

Hi crazymac680 , brilliant job I must say unfortunately I am going to have to tackle the same job on my daughters alpha 2.4l 2006, I have worked on cars alot and feel confident on the job a bit concerned on the amount of siezed bolts you had to deal with on you job. I am just wondering if you have managed to get a workshop manual as I find it difficult to find one mainly for all the torque settings. Kind regards, Bob.

Thanks - new Bosch ordered. Boosted it (which I don’t want to do too often) and it worked fine. No idea on age tbh, there’s a label on it but it’s very faded and VERY Japanese !

Amazing the variations in insurance quotes. I know it’s all down to personal circumstances/situations, but you really have to do your research! Well done Alasdair I can understand why you have no complaints. Nice looking interior BTW.

Do you mean these? I have used similar ones to ease the load on the mess of wires behind the central console as there were items being powered from previous taps and the like so I have used them to clean things up and to have each item running off a fuse. They work fine but I have found that, depending on the fuse box, they take up room and can block off the slot next to them so some locations are better than others. You also need to work on the connections and try and get the feed shrouded - as in the picture so that you don't have a live feed floating around. Oh - just mean to add that I haven't used them for LED lights but for; GPS speedo, dashcam, USB sockets, accessory (cigarette) socket and something I have forgotten 🙂

Toyota 26041 drop down screen operation for Alphard and Vellfire https://youtu.be/7MfcFsOkzBo

Hi. I have a 2008 AH20 2.4. The new head unit put in by my son for me didn't require some of the old cables as they were for Jap Analogue TV and am/fm radio. Other cables were for Jap toll road payment systems, do also not required. Hope this is of help. John Harrison. Wallasey, Wirral.

Hi Rojie, just an update, managed to get a fix done by AA to drive (nurse it) to garage without any scrapes, all done and higher so all good, thanks for your advice really appreciated 👏 😁

Hi guys, I got it sorted. My neighbour is an electrical engineer and an old school car stereo guy. Turns out the previous owner had made some modifications so that the head unit replacement was a direct swap out despite being made for the vehicle. My neighbour hardwired the permanent and power and then the speakers the way people did in the old days apparently and everything is working great. Just took some time and googling to find which wire did what.

Hi Greg, On some of the earlier HDD head units a disc changer (stacker) was unnecessary as the unit would record CDs inserted in the slot (as Chris describes) automatically. There is also a process for 'erasing' recorded CDs should you run short of disc space.

I am not sure about the Gen 1, but very confident that Theatre System was available on the Gen 1 facelift. It was an option though, so not all vehicles have it.

Would help us to know what headunit you have. As standard, the 2013 had a cd slot behind the screen. You push the eject/open screen button to reveal it. Should be obvious, unless you don't have an original headunit installed.

What age is it and does it have the theatre sound system? I have 10 series wiring diagrams

Hi, A few months ago someone was trying to be helpful and tried to force the sliding door shut. I managed to close the door to get home. Had a real problem re-opening the door. When eventually opened, the operating cable had "jumped" the pulleys and damaged the whole mechanism and cable. We made the decision not to spend hours of time and large expense to replace all the components,so I removed all the mechanism and cables and we now have a manual sliding door,which to be honest is no problem to use.

Hello Shane, Welcome to the Forum. Your problem is not uncommon. Try searching the forum for head units, etc.

Steps to remove the head unit is 1.Remove trim surrounding the t.v unit 2.remove the 4 shiny bolts and and lower t.v unit down. 3. Locate and bridge brown connector as stated in the video. You can do this by using spare wires and just bridge them from the plug (female) side and ensure it is secured. 4.test and see if they work 5. Out everything back and you should be sweet.

I suspect your toolkit will expand somewhat with Alphard ownership 🙂 - one of the items I have found really useful is a set of trim removers - small plastic levers that you use to remove trim, very useful for saving wear and tear on paint and the like. As for your supposed ignorance, don't worry about it, we are all in the same boat to one degree or another.

I have found a simple and cheap way of making my speedo compliant.. For just over £12, I purchased a sheet of self adhesive white stick on numbers[you cut from a sheet] and stick on the outside of the speedo head where the white marks are between the KPH numbers[Make sure you use the correct white marks] There are also stickers to add MPH onto the centre of the speedo face. The seller sends an extra set of numbers in case any mistakes are made. EBAY Number286074653037

Great news! My Alphard just passed its MOT. To celebrate, I've created a tutorial video on how to properly install the rear fog lamp using the OEM stalk and relay. This guide is specifically for second-gen Alphards, but based on feedback from first-gen owners, the process should be similar. This project took me months of research and gathering information from various sources. Since I couldn't find a single comprehensive video covering all the steps, I decided to make one myself. I hope this video is helpful to the entire Alphard community. Please like, share, and subscribe to help spread the word!

Out of interest, Just got a quote from Adrian Flux. £621.93 (with £750 excess). Alphard 2013 240S petrol We are both retired, (I’m in my 70’s). Full NCB.

Look what I found! Quell embarrassment 🫢🫢🫢

When I looked at my vehicle details on https://www.toyota.co.jp/recall-search/dc/result?FRAME_DIV=ANH10&FRAME_NO=0112nnn there are two entries: Which don't quite match up with the CarVX report (just under 20 UKP) which listed three entries - though two are looking to be the same issue: Am I safe to assume that all the items have been dealt with before it was imported in 2018? Cheers,

Im trying to post the link but not allowed by the forum rules. Heres the screenshot.

Great news , I’ll give that a try 😉

Thank you. I can confirm your information helped and my registration have been approved. THANK YOU AGAIN

The manual states 6.1 L with a filter change, but there will always be some oil left in the engine even after you’ve drained it. I only got 5 L in.

Challenge is what's good in Japan and what's good here (given the relative climate differences) it's hard to say. 5w30 is just a bit heavier weight and you'll likely trade the tiniest bit of fuel economy for better high temp protection (I imagine a heavier weight oil probably lubricates better when cold too). What is important is to try to not mix grades, as they don't mix well together. So if it already has 0w20, use 0w20 to top up etc. Also if you put the Alphard (2az 2.4 engine at least) into Opie Oils every option that comes back is 5w30. Certainly it won't do any harm and again might offer a bit better protection for our climate for a slight trade off in MPG.

Yeah quite a few places offer maps for them, even the 1st gen. I can only assume the factory mapping is quite tame, and being a relatively large capacity 4 cylinder there's a bit of room for improvement. I wouldn't be surprised if it involves increasing the factory 6250rpm rev limit and tuning it to make a few more ponies at the top end. This one reckons c. 179hp can be made.....given the engine is probably the same as the 2nd gen bar software it wouldn't surprise me TBH. https://puretuning.net/en/chiptuning-files/toyota/alphard/2-4i-160hp I think the 2.4 gets a bit of flack for being underpowered, but honestly even stock I'm rather impressed with how well it hauls a vehicle the size of an Alphard around. It's also noticeably more perky when run on high octane fuel. Certainly it's not as effortless or relaxed as the V6 (nor sounds as good) but if you rev it out and are prepared to use the manual gears (will let you hit the rev limit then) for a minivan they tear along quite nicely I think 👍 In the US there is a bit of a following for turbocharging these motors in Camry's, where they then easily make late 200 bhps on very modest boost. I did watch a video of some guys in Australia that also eBay turbo'd a cheap Camry they bought and with next to no playing around (I think it may have had a standalone ECU being the only thing....£££££) it made about 260 brake. I'll be honest, if someone in the UK put together a decent, reliable kit for it and I had the funds, I would probably consider it for a laugh!

I would, without actually weighing them, think that the camper conversion alone would weigh less than the original seats, if they have been taken out.

There are 2 email addresses you need to contact. ap-overseas@mail.toyota.co.jp cr@toyota.co.uk Make sure you add both emails by cc-ing one of them. No point contacting Toyota GB directly, these emails will work. This order needs to come from Toyota Japan which will hit Toyota Europe, Toyota Europe then instruct Toyota GB, who then instruct a dealer to contact you with an appointment. You will get a call by Toyota GB before it goes to the dealer though. The dealer needs to receive instructions booklet on how to change the airbag etc.

Contact Toyota, Take a screen shot of your outstanding recalls and get them to ask Japan to authorise the work in the UK.

Update I Contacted Toyota GB with an email explaining my car was due for a recall in Japan, showing them the recall page and also providing screenshots of the page that had been translated. Next day I received a call from Toyota customer services who took more details from me and then passed in on the legal and compliance dept. He did say it can take up to 12 weeks, but could be sooner. It is best to be patient. I will keep an update on how it goes.