PaulE

Looking in the English translation handbook it only mentions the 96kw/131hp so I don't know where the other ones come from.

I notice when browsing car parts there is often a dropdown asking to choose which horsepower the vehicle (159 or 131) has but I have no idea which to choose- I haven't seen the HP listed anywhere on my vehicle. I have the Series 1 AH10 2005 Hybrid E4. I'm not looking for anything in particular at this time. Can anyone advise?

I purchased a 2005 hybrid E4 in October 21 with 62k miles on it from a reputable dealer- have done 5k miles with holidays in the Lake District and Northumberland- vehicle is a pleasure to drive and is ideal for steady motoring although it will go if you make it, have taken 6 adults, one teen and 3 small dogs on holiday in comfort. The tyres supplied with the vehicle were very good but after 6 months I noticed hair cracks around the treads and found the tyres were 8 years old so replaced them- 16" tyres were very reasonable. Had to have a new 12v battery when winter came as if not regularly used or charged up they go bad quickly and a new correct OEM or equivalent battery is now £300-£400 - other Forum members have apparently used cheaper batteries OK. Recently I have had a bad sector on the HV battery which means I can't use the vehicle and am awaiting this to be rebuilt so hoping everything will be OK. The HV batteries are reported to be capable of 200k miles but it might be worth factoring the cost of a rebuild and possibly replacing the 12v battery also when you budget. You can't know how long the vehicle has been stood awaiting auction in Japan then standing waiting sale in the UK. The petrol engines are reputed to use oil ( there is a post on the Forum about this) but mine has not used any oil I can see and it is still as clear as when it was supplied. I have been getting about 30mpg overall with a mix of motorway, urban and country driving. As reported there is an "S" (Sport) setting on Drive which boosts the engine for short periods but uses the juice quickly and there is a "B" setting which according to the handbook is for "engine braking" but posts in the Forum suggest engine braking can cause damage to the engine so I don't use it and I make sure to use the footbrake on steep hills as necessary to stop the vehicle running away. Before the HV battery issue I would drive it at least twice a week to keep it in good fettle even to go shopping. Problems for me seem to arise when the weather goes cold from Nov-Dec. but I am learning. I hope this experience is useful to you.

Having watched Wheeler Dealers and Car SOS for some years I am always amazed how they always find some specialist workshop- usually one man and a shed- that will repair almost anything obscure- If this is a pump then can this not be repaired by a specialist if one can be found?- that's the hard bit.

Hi, I'm not sure you can or need to go through changing your log book- it doesn't register on your log book as a hybrid as the DVLA apparently only fills in the gaps if there is a European equivalent vehicle. Have you simply tried putting your reg. no. in the .gov website Drive in a clean air zone - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) covers all current charging zones nationwide or the TFL website Check your vehicle (tfl.gov.uk) Chances are you are you may be exempt except the charging area in central London. Try this first before going down a complicated route.

I suspect the HV pack is faulty as when the system is working it charges from one to four bars then drops again - a couple of times the van has shut down completely and I think it is when I put the heater on- not sure if this is connected.

I am currently having trouble with the van with the hybrid system not working. It stems from November when due to circumstances I wasn't able to use it and the 12v battery went dead- used a booster pack to start as I have done before but errors appeared on the dash after a few minutes- ABS, VLC, red car. Petrol engine runs but no hybrid- some times everything cuts out. If I disconnect 12v battery for 20 mins everything works but errors appear again after 10 mins. New 12v battery -the correct one- no better so looking for answers. I purchased the "Washinglee" lead from amazon at £79.99- expensive but says will work with 32 and 64 bit windows (7 & 10- mine is Win 10- 64bit) and they give a years tech support. I know other members have done it cheaper. The instructions were pretty good but the link to Techstream didn't work and the download for the driver put scam ads on my laptop which took a while to clear. I emailed them and they sent me the zip file with everything on. They warn that anti virus software might delete the 64 bit driver which it did but I was able to tell the anti virus (mcafee) to accept the file. Followed the instructions and all was well- connected to the van but made the mistake of selecting USA so Alphard not on list- changed to Japan and all well. Had to run the engine to get all the data on the "Healthcheck" setting. Am looking for a repairer in the Derbyshire / S. Yorks area or further afield if anyone has any suggestions.

Hi, can you post the link to the Techstream software site you downloaded from as I am looking to use it.

Hi, I am about to be on my third 12v battery so am now familiar with that side but do not know where the HV disconnect plug is. There appears to be very little on the series 1 hybrid as I have been searching for info for some time now. I have seen a series 2 diagram which appears to show the HV plug under the centre console storage box but it isn't there on the series 1. I found a photo on a website of a Malaysian repairer which might be the plug but it doesn't give the location and it doesn't look like the ones on the Prius. If any members know where the plug is and what it looks like I would be grateful.

Hi, the vehicle was fine until December when I couldn't us it for a few weeks and now having issues with it - the 12v battery may have gone bad as charging it will start the petrol engine but not the hybrid system- am waiting for a new Yuasa battery to come from back order and hoping this will fix the new issue.

Hi, When ordering from Tayna did they require your VIN No. ?

Hi James, at the moment I am not using the vehicle so I didn't get the battery yet- will be getting one after new year. I haven't decided which one- I didn't buy the Panasonic as it was £400. I might buy a cheap one and the Numax 005R (£70) seems to be a fit and I think this was the battery I had on when I purchased the vehicle. Can you let me know how you get on with the Yuasa as this might be the one in the end. I did fit the last battery myself and have had it on and off to charge it. It is awkward but you get used to the process. I have a battery tester now and a good charger so will be keeping up with the charging. I have bought a mini ODBC lead and hoping to download a copy of Toyota Techstream (if I can get it to work) to see if I can keep a closer eye on any issues. I wonder if anyone else is using this app. thanks Paul.

Hi Chris, I was under the impression that the 12v battery (the one at the back of the centre console inside) started the petrol engine as when the battery has been down I have started the vehicle using a Noco booster pack connected to the remote positive terminal and the chassis under the bonnet. I have charged the existing battery and the vehicle starts and runs on the petrol engine but appears to be in limp home mode as the hybrid system appears not to be working.

I decided to bite the bullet and pay the price for a new battery rather than risk the old one being no good even after charging- series 1 doesn't have the temperature monitor- I am hoping this will sort out the vehicle and that the problems aren't more serious. I thought about using the charging port but wondered if that would cause any issues with the electrics. I raised the Yuasa AGM alternative as E-Hybrid.com (they are on Ebay) says the Panasonic is in short supply and may not be available until new year some time. Will be using the charger from now on.

E- Hybrid have come back to me and said the battery I ordered had the vent on the wrong side and the high cost is due to there being very little stock from the manufacturer. The AGM battery from Tayna is only £299 but is it compatible? I couldn't use the vehicle for some weeks due to getting covid and some other issues and the 12v batteries seem to go downhill fast on the hybrid if not used regularly. I should have bought a charger sooner.

Hi, been having trouble with the vehicle 2005 Hybrid and I think the 12v battery is faulty having tried a battery tester Topdon BT20- trying to replace it with the same one Panasonic S55D23R which is the battery I have had on for a year now and was the recommended replacement bought from a company called E-Hybrid.com (on Ebay) - found their Ebay post and paid £259.99 today - had an email back saying this isn't the correct battery and directing me to another post for exactly the same battery now £399.99 - both posts have the same OEM No. and my vehicle is on their compatibility lists. I have emailed back to complain and await their reply. My post is that I have found a Yuasa battery Yuasa HJ-S55D23R-B (MDS battery.co.uk and Tayna.co.uk) which appears to be a replacement but is an AGM type which I gather requires a higher charge rate and I wondered if the Alphard has sufficient charge rate or do I need to bite the bullet and pay through the nose. The Yuasa requires 4 amps charging and AGM types may require a higher voltage to charge 14.6v to 14.8v as against lead acid 13.8v to 14.4v. I couldn't find the spec for the Panasonic. You would think getting a battery would be easy. I have the old battery on charge with a Noco Genius 5 which is supposed to repair batteries- has anyone used this charger on a bad battery? Any advice welcome. thanks

Hi, I didn't have to do anything when I replaced my battery. I found the engine started straight after the battery was replaced but the "warning sign" issue was still there but after switching off and removing the key then restarting everything was ok. Had the same issue when the battery was flat and I jump started the vehicle, all ok after switching off and restarting. Incidentally I have a remote start on my Clifford alarm key fob and I get warning signs after starting which go away after pressing the brake pedal. Do you press the brake pedal when starting? Hybrids seem to have a few oddities. Have you checked the battery connections? I had trouble getting the nuts to tighten due to the tight spaces - also I did put vaseline on the terminals which prevented tightening and had to clean it off- didn't realise that with the battery inside the vehicle there wasn't much chance of corrosion. Still learning!

Hi, is it the correct battery for the vehicle? It needs to be a start stop type battery. Hybrids appear to be awkward if you don't have the right 12v battery or don't keep it up to the mark. When I had a battery issue my dealer obtained the manufacturer's recommended one from Tayna.co.uk.

I believe you should have a bluetooth connection so you can connect your phone or pad- I have never used it but my dealer gave me a device that plugged into the 12v socket and played music from his phone- I think there is a video on the forum showing how to connect to bluetooth. Cheers

Hi, the 12v battery on my 2005 hybrid is in the centre console between the two front seats- the access cover is at the back of the console. See picture attached. Can't answer the other queries although I think you have to keep the existing hifi due to having info on the hybrid system and the camera connections if you have front, side and rear cameras.

Unless the donor battery is tip top then you are still likely to have trouble. Have you tried a booster pack (the positive connection is under the bonnet under what looks like a fuse box then connect the negative /earth to the nearest part of the chassis which is a nut to the left of the positive connection). I would try this before spending money on a repair garage if you can. You could take the old battery to a garage to get it checked out before taking in the vehicle. I had to replace my 12v battery with a Panasonic S55D23R (advertised as for a Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid) from a company called e-hybrid.com- if you make an enquiry give them your vin no. to get the correct battery-it needs to be a start/stop battery.

Hi, I am not a Techie but I have a 2005 hybrid and the only couple of times I had starting issues was first when the 12v battery had failed and needed replacing with the correct start/stop type of battery (there is a post about this on the forum in my name) - the vehicle would jump start but then cut out when put into drive- replacing the battery cured the issue. The second was when I hadn't used the car for a couple of weeks or so and the 12v battery was down (it did start with a power pack ok). Have you used the vehicle regularly or has it been left unused for a period of time , do you have the correct 12v battery and how old is it? Is it a different issue to the one I have described?

Hi, There are some posts on the Forum about Hybrid 12v battery- it is important to have the correct battery that incorporates start stop technology as a standard battery will ultimately fail as it did to me. Check out the other posts. cheers

I used a Noco GB50 to jump start my 2005 Hybrid E4- worked well- bought from Halfords.