Matchbox Toyota

On the 2005 hybrid Alphard conversions Iv'e seen, the aux 12V is normally under the drivers seat, and the passenger seat area is taken up with hybrid bits (cooling fan, relays, battery ECU and the end of the traction battery). So if you have a heater unit under the passenger seat, that does not rule anything out. It is very likely the 12V is still under the drivers seat or has been relocated nearby by the converter. A flat or weak 12V battery will absolutely stop a hybrid from booting up properly even though the traction battery cranks the engine. The car still needs a stable 12V supply to wake up all the ECUs, close the HV contactors, run relays, etc. It is common to see the voltage look OK at rest then drop hard when you go IG ON, and if it dips too far you get no READY and lots of odd symptoms that look scarier than they are. A few practical checks before worrying about the DC DC converter. First one would be to measure the 12V at the battery posts with a multimeter: engine off should be roughly 12.6V fully charged, 12.2V is already pretty low. or Watch it while you go to IG ON and then try for READY. If it drops into the 10s, the battery is suspect even if it is “newish”. or once you do get READY, the DC DC converter should charge at about 13.8 to 14.4V at the 12V battery. If it is still sitting at 12.x when READY, then you start looking at DC DC, fuses, wiring, earths. If it does need a battery, capacity matters more than silly high cranking amps on these. AGM tends to cope better with the constant parasitic drain from alarms, ECUs, locking, etc, especially if the van sits. Also worth checking for any additional leisure battery split charge setup the converter fitted, as a wiring fault there can flatten the aux battery quickly. If you can post what symptoms you are getting (no READY, dash lights, clicking relays, etc) and the voltages you measure, people can usually point you the right way pretty quickly. Let us know how you get on. Good luck mate!

Yep they do have a rear washer, and on the 10 series Alphard it lives up in the rear spoiler. What you are seeing sounds right, it is basically a little nozzle sitting behind that small hole and it can be hard to see or feel from the outside. If you try it and get nothing, a few quick checks that usually narrow it down: 1. Listen for the rear washer pump when you operate it. Some cars have a separate pump for front and rear, others use a valve, so the sound can help. 2. Check the rear wiper arm area for any signs of water dribbling out from behind the trim. If the pipe has come off or split inside the tailgate you will often get wet trim but no spray. 3. Poke the hole gently with something soft like a cable tie, the nozzle can block with wax or limescale. Avoid pins or drills as you can damage the nozzle and make the spray pattern worse. 4. If it only dribbles, suspect a partial blockage or a kinked pipe where the loom and washer hose pass through the rubber gaiter at the top corner of the tailgate. That is a common pinch point, especially if panels have been removed for conversions. Trade off wise, getting to the hose run inside the tailgate can mean taking interior trims off, so it is worth doing the easy external checks and the gaiter check first before you start pulling conversion panels. Let us know what happens when you operate it and whether you can hear the pump, that will steer the next step. cheers

On these imports the “55D23L or 90D23L” marking is the Japanese sizing and post orientation, so the first step is matching physical size, terminal layout, and the hold down clamp, then worry about Ah and CCA. For ANH20 and GGH20 owners in the UK, a very common upgrade is a UK Type 068 battery (Bosch S4 026 or similar) because it gives you more capacity and cranking, and it generally sits in the tray fine. The height figure can look scary on paper, but it includes the terminal height and most people report no bonnet clearance issues. Still worth a quick measure if you have extra covers or sound deadening. Tradeoffs to be aware of If your Alphard has stop start (some Vellfires do), you want EFB or AGM. If it does not have stop start, a decent conventional flooded lead acid like the 068 is usually fine and better value. Bigger Ah helps if the car sits for weeks (alarms, keyless entry, trackers, aftermarket head units all nibble away). But it will not fix a parasitic drain, it just masks it for longer. Practical next steps Check what you have now: D23L means positive on the left as you look at the posts. Some UK batteries are the opposite, so make sure the polarity matches your cables. Measure your tray length and check the clamp reaches. Most 068s are about 261 mm long vs roughly 230 mm for the D23. If you are regularly leaving it parked, consider a smart maintenance charger on the jump point or battery, and maybe get the standby current checked if it drops quickly again. If you post whether yours is ANH20 or GGH20 and whether it has stop start or any extras like camper kit, dashcams or trackers, people can steer you to the best exact battery type and spec. Let us know what you end up fitting and if it solved the sitting issue

Yep, on the 2.4 hybrid the coil packs sit on top of the rocker cover and access is mainly from the airbox side, so removing the air filter housing is usually the first step to get decent access to the plugs. Once the airbox is out you should see the coils lined up on the head, unplug and unbolt each coil to get to the plug underneath. Worth noting the trade off is it is a bit fiddly rather than difficult, and it is easy to crack old breather hoses or tug the MAF wiring if you rush the airbox removal, so take your time and label any hoses you pull off. If you end up doing the job, let us know your exact model code and year and whether it was the 2AZ based hybrid, as there are a couple of small layout differences between variants and it may help another member thanks

@Lally On the 2010 Alphard the factory main dipped beam is typically a HID setup, and that uses D4S bulbs (as Chris said). Best way to be 100 percent sure is to look at the sticker on top of the headlamp or pull the bulb and check the marking, as some imports have had lamp units swapped over the years. A couple of practical points before you order: If it has HID D4S, do not fit D2S as they are not interchangeable (different ballast and no mercury in D4S). Also worth replacing in pairs because an old bulb and a new one will often look different in colour and brightness. If yours turns out not to be HID (some conversions exist), then it will be a different bulb type altogether, so that label check matters. If you can, post whether your lights are HID with a ballast under the lamp and whether the bulb cap says D4S, and we can confirm. Let us know if that sorts it.

Hi Dave That behaviour is pretty common on the Japanese HDD units in the 20 series. What you are seeing on the CD playback screen is usually CD Text (data stored on the disc) or a temporary lookup, but when you hit Record the unit switches to its internal Gracenote style database entry for the ripped album. That database is Japanese market, so if it finds a match it will populate the HDD entry in Japanese and overwrite what you were seeing on the live CD screen. A couple of practical things to try before resigning yourself to typing it all in If there is an option in the audio settings for CDDB or Gracenote language or character set, set it to English or Roman where available (not all models have it). Or try ripping with the unit disconnected from any phone tether or external nav disc and see if it behaves differently, sometimes the lookup mode changes depending on source. Or if the disc definitely has CD Text and it still flips to Japanese on record, there usually is not a proper fix other than editing the HDD metadata after the rip. Trade off wise, manually editing is a pain, but it is the only reliable way to keep consistent English titles on the HDD. If you can share the exact head unit model number from the screen bezel or settings page, someone might be able to confirm whether your version supports an English database or firmware option. 😐