PaulE

Hi, I purchased mine from Dave at Vineplace Motors near Durham. Very good sales service as he doesn't hurry you and gives you all the info.

My Alphard came with full Japanese Service history- I think you should look for one when buying as they seem to be very thorough. The only problem was that the mechanics wrote their notes in biro and Google Translate wouldn't work with them but much of the service sheet contained a thumbnail of each item checked. I bought mine at 102,000km and it looks as if it had a major service at 94,000km so all the underpinnings were top notch. You wouldn't buy a car here without FSH would you.

Not sure if this is sucking eggs but have you turned the light switch on the column stalk all the way as this is "Auto" and the symbol doesn't show- turn back one click and this puts the lights on all the time and the symbol shows.

I reported a clicking noise from the dash area (seems to be from there) a while ago and no one knew what it was - sounds like a demented relay but is sporadic- could this be the heater valve actuator and if so where is it located and how is it fixed? The heater is working fine. I also can hear a low noise, barely audible, sounds like a liquid going through a restricted pipe again apparently from the dash area. I also reported the AC not working, AC gas is ok.

Looking at some Youtubes I wondered about trying the fuses and relays but I can't ID them except a 10amp fuse in the passenger footwell. None of the relay descriptions in the engine compartment fuse boxes shout out AC and I can't find a circuit diagram. Does anyone have any info on fuse and relay descriptions. I suspect being a hybrid Toyota use some other method of naming them.

My 2.4 (hybrid) has never used any oil and it is always clean almost as new when checked. I always check the levels weekly. It has never used any coolant either.

I suspect it might be that due to the noise it made before going wrong but how do I get it fixed is the big question. Des anyone know where it is, how to test it and how to fit it? I suspect the replacement will be an astronomical cost. Might leave it until next year as I have spent about a grand on repairs and service this year already and still have the sliding door lock to look at. The basic car and it's underpinnings are like new but expensive odd bits are wearing out.

Just had the van back from Toyota and the verdict is that the air con is faulty but they can't diagnose what it is as they have no technical info any more. They could spend an amount of my money trying but would be a shot in the dark. The good news is that the system is holding gas so is something else. If any members have any ideas or know of any garages with some expertise with Alphard air con I would be grateful. I do remember that immediately before it went faulty the noise from the engine sounded like a diesel???

I managed to find the actuator arm eventually after moving some trim but could only feel it not see due to a bracket. The arm does move when I set the temp to 25 or above and I did get heat- didn't realise the temp went so high so heater is working thankfully. At LO the arm does seem to tremble- is this a sign of wear? Thank you for the video - very well done. Thank you for everyone's help. The main thing is - does this affect the air con or do I need to look further? I am assuming Toyota did do the re-gas job correctly!!

Hi, couldn't find the flap but ran the engine to hot and ran the blower to the footwell (tapped a few things too). I am now reasonably sure the heater appears to be working -there was some heat in the vent. I was expecting it to be much hotter than it appears when raising the temp to 27 degrees (heater doesn't normally work until raising it to 25 degrees). Will have another look tomorrow. Thanks for the info. The aircon is still a problem so will contact Toyota again.

Had a re-gas at local Toyota today £109.90, I took a punt on not paying for a full system investigation which was £149,99 not inc. the re-gas. They said re-gas was successful so no leak, no issues but coming home it was not cooling as expected (not a hot day today), as an afterthought I tried the heater on full and that appears not to be working so must be a deeper issue. Any ideas??

have booked it in to Toyota , will need a mortgage to pay their fees. I had assumed the oil might need to be non conductive as the engine and hybrid system coolant has to be.

many thanks for the info, I will try local Toyota and see if they can help.

My air con has stopped blowing cold (in the hottest part of the year of course), have had to go back to the Eighties . Local garage says the hybrid requires specialist gassing as they use a different oil to the standard vehicle. Has anyone had experience of this and if so how did they get it fixed? Also can anyone tell me where the gassing points are on the series 1 or a diagram in case a garage has an issue finding them and also what type of oil and refrigerant is used?

I bought the Washinglee odb2 J2534 cable from Amazon a couple of years ago and it came with Techstream 14 - worked very well with my series 1 hybrid. It works with Win 32 and 64 bit so no need for a virtual window. It has a 1 year warranty and tech support (they were helpful as the version they originally offered didn't work but they sent me a download which did- have used it several times ). You may need to make your virus checker recognise it. still available at £59.99 Washinglee OBD2 Diagnostic Cable for Toyota Lexus Scion, USB Diagnostic Scanner Cable Compatible for TIS Techstream and 32/64 bit Windows : Amazon.co.uk: Automotive