
arthurj
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Everything posted by arthurj
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It looked like exactly the same options as CarScanner in the configuration section, but haven’t had time to dive in properly. I was using the cheapest cable I could find on eBay and the virtual machine image from the link above, which is version 12 or something. I don’t know if that makes a difference or not.
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I've dug into every option on my head unit (NHZN-X62G) with Google Translate and haven't found those options, even in the maintenance mode. It can read and display a lot of data about the car that CarScanner shows, it looks like it could even order parts and book a service at the touch of a button if the G-Book stuff still worked, but you can only change settings for the head unit itself, not any of the configuration options you get in CarScanner. Or at least I haven't found a way. I bought a cheapo J2534 cable for Techstream off eBay, hoping it would give me more options including disabling the reverse beep. Unfortunately it only shows the same configurable options that CarScanner does, in a more inconvenient way.
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Undersealing Gen 2?
arthurj replied to arthurj's topic in Toyota Alphard & Vellfire Club Forum (2008 - 2015)
Thanks all, that’s what I thought. Now I need to find someone in the North East who will do it. Not sure I’m up to doing it myself, that kind of messy job is guaranteed to drive me up the wall. -
When I imported my car I asked to have it undersealed by the guy doing the IVA, fog and speedo conversion. He didn’t do it, claiming that cars younger than 10 years don’t need it. I wasn’t convinced by this at the time, but I’ve just asked someone else if they would do it and they said that Japan imports are usually in good condition when they get here so they don’t need it. I thought undersealing was a standard practice for imports. Has something changed in the last 10 years that makes it not worth it? it’s not the condition of the car now I’m worried about, it’s the condition it’ll be in after a few months of living near the coast and a winter’s worth of salty roads.
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Alarm or not
arthurj replied to Voodoo101's topic in Toyota Alphard & Vellfire Club Forum (2008 - 2015)
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Stoneacre Toyota at the Silverlink near North Shields will service the 20-series. Was quoted just over £400 for a full service.
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Alarm or not
arthurj replied to Voodoo101's topic in Toyota Alphard & Vellfire Club Forum (2008 - 2015)
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I realise this is starting to get a bit weird and stalkerish, but this is the man himself selling a CarPlay unit on eBay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284258580156
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Another data point, this time urban driving in the series 20 hybrid. 1. Year 2012 2. Model Vellfire Hybrid 3. Driving 152km, town driving, shopping trips, ECO mode 4. MPG 25.3mpg This and the last post were using E10. Next time I do a full tank I’ll try E5 instead. I also have a suspicion my hybrid battery isn’t working well as it loses a lot of charge overnight.
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Apple Car Play-Apple Carlink
arthurj replied to Gregster's topic in Toyota Alphard Hybrid (2002 - 2008)
Hello. This thread might help. -
Rear dashcam
arthurj replied to Voodoo101's topic in Toyota Alphard & Vellfire Club Forum (2008 - 2015)
I got a Viofo A129 Plus Duo front and rear. I mounted the front behind the mirror. Pushed the cable under the trim above the windscreen, then ran it along the driver’s side (being careful not to block the airbag) and along to the back. The Viofo cable is pretty thick but it just fits. My cam came with a trim tool which was definitely needed, since some of the trim is fitted flush and needs prying apart so you can push the cable in. I had trouble finding a good position for the rear camera. In the end I mounted it near the bottom of the glass close to the driver’s side. Due to the curve of the glass there’s a small blind spot towards the passenger side, but not bad. My camera came with sticky cable clips and I used them to run the cable vertically down the boot next to the window to the camera. There’s a service panel on the driver’s rear pillar with enough space inside to stow excess cable so that you have just the right amount leading to the boot. Harder is finding a power supply. I used a hardwire kit to permanently connect the front cam to a fuse box. Mine doesn’t have a 12V socket in the boot. -
Nice, thanks for the info. Really just trying to work out what that system does, but I think I might prefer a new head unit. If I lived closer to Birmingham I’d probably get Ben to fit that anyway, given his reputation!
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Instrument cluster in english
arthurj replied to threepot's topic in Toyota Alphard & Vellfire Club Forum (2008 - 2015)
According to a spec sheet I found, that model of chip can read the CAN directly. Seems that to disassemble it you need Softune Workbench, which is a proprietory Fujitsu/Infineon debugging environment. I can't find it for download anywhere. -
Instrument cluster in english
arthurj replied to threepot's topic in Toyota Alphard & Vellfire Club Forum (2008 - 2015)
Do you know exactly what the model number is? There's a Fujitsu MB90 series of microcontrollers. If that particular chip is based on a common standard, you could disassemble the code and find out what might cause the english text to be used instead of the japanese. -
Could you send me a link to the box you used? £180 + some swearing sounds like a good deal. According to the manual, my current head unit's resolution is 800x480 so it's chunky, but OK. I'm fairly savvy with electronics and wiring in general but not much experience with car electrics apart from wiring my dashcam to the fuse box. Interestingly, if I'm watching a video using the VTR function, my head unit doesn't automatically switch it off above 5mph, so maybe there isn't a handbrake wire to disable? Otherwise I think I might prefer a whole new head unit, but picking one seems like a minefield. Mine's an 8" unit, so 7" seems like a downgrade and the 9" ones won't fit without a new bezel. Plus I have a HDMI-in located in the centre console that can send a signal to the front or back screens or both, and it's not clear if any 3rd party head units support that.
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Would you say that it is easier to install this CarPlay unit or to install a new head unit and reversing cam, Chris? Birmingham’s a long way away so am considering doing it myself. From what I can gather, the android box just uses the regular video input (just as if I’d plugged it into the HDMI input in my centre console) except that you also add a bypass switch to the touchscreen, so you can choose whether the touchscreen is talking to the head unit or the android box. Does that sound right? Do you know why the resolution seems low? Is it because of the resolution of the original head unit or the android box? Cheers.
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It seems to work ok. I can see the same settings as shown above and I’ve successfully changed some of them, but only in CarScanner. I tried MotorData OBD on iOS and it won’t connect to the Veepeak at all. MotorData allegedly has better Hybrid info but if CarScanner works for you then the Veepeak may be a good option.
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I have a Veepeak OBDCheck BLE+ dongle which I got for cheap off AliExpress, but never used it because CarScanner refused to connect to it properly. However they must have issued an update because it now seems to work! I can see more-or-less the same options that Steve showed. What I really want to do is turn off the reversing beep. I guess I need Techstream for that.
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1. Year 2012 2. Model Vellfire Hybrid 3. Driving 540km, mostly motorways at 70mph, ECO mode 4. MPG 36-37mpg From my post in another thread: Bear in mind that my head unit is currently offline so I don't have exact MPG stats, I'm basing this off milage and the position of the fuel dial, which may not be accurate.
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I just did a long drive right the way up the country. Mostly 70mph motorway driving, not much traffic, cruise control most of the way. I was in eco mode mostly and did about 540km. Just me, not a heavy load and my car’s not converted. I got about 36-37mpg on that run. I might be able to improve it slightly if I were at 65mph most of the way. I need to test properly, but I think I get similar in town.