James

Hello is there a way to check that the ECU (behind passenger glove box) is working correctly? having dried out the passenger footwell and sprayed WD40 on connectors in that area the car still starts intermittently again failing to recognise the hybrid battery. have checked for leaks from roof drains and sealed windows with Captain Tolleys crack cure and footwells are dry now despite heavy rain but problem persists! Also WD40’d the HV connectors under the silver cover in engine bay! was wondering if a replacement ECU is worth a go but expensive, even second hand. Unfortunately don’t know anyone locally with a working 2.4 2004 hybrid I could swap with to test it out! any suggestions welcomed thanks j

Hello again! having driven 200 miles without a problem and through the rain of storm Amy last Friday week successfully I awoke Saturday to find my Alphard would not start, the same old problem was back. This time I noticed faint wet patches on the A frame of the passenger side and closer inspection found a wet front passenger foot well! after a day of having fan heater in the car and the foot well carpet back the car has intermittently started. After a few days of drying and no further rain (but some rather dewy mornings) I started the car and let it run on the drive . Trying a a cigarette socket run compressor to inflate a slightly flat front tyre I found that the engine had stopped again and would not restart! I had thought the hybrid system had switched it off because of the hybrid battery being full. are there any videos or articles showing how to remove the headliner so I can check out the connection of the roof drains (I have used a brush rod already). Also any advice on removing windscreen trim as thought might look for leaks and try some captain Tolley leak sealer?? thanks again for any suggestions. J

Hello Picasso Thank you. I am in the process of looking at a 2015 vellfire hence the question. Thanks for replying

Hello i have been told that a creaking sound in my 2015 vellfire 2.4 may relate to the front shock absorber bearings / mountings? Is this a common problem. I have been advised that if replacing them both should be done. is this a big job and what is a reasonable cost for the job and parts? thanks

Check tyre pressures?

Thank you Jeza that is very helpful. at the moment, amazingly, despite the rain the car has been running normally! Carpets dry and no obvious water ingress! I found the positive connector was loose when it failed (something I wasn’t expecting as it was newly back from the garage). Will keep my fingers crossed it keeps going. Really appreciate everyone’s help. Thanks

Thanks Smurf

Thanks Shaggy I will give it a go.

Thanks to Picasso too. I had not heard of smoke test so will look into it.

Hello Jeza Thanks for your help. the attached are what the dash shows. Yes you can hear the clicking relays when it is trying to start. I think the ecu is detecting a problem and going into safe mode. I assume something is getting wet and drying as eventually restarts and runs fine. I retested roof drain and traced it down on drivers from side and all seemed fine yesterday and started after test. Even started after overnight rain. I checked panel welds under roof sealing strips and they are all clean and intact. not sure about colour of fluid. I think clear and doesn’t smell of coolant. the 12v battery was replaced a couple of months ago and is fine. When problem occurs it will not start even after battery disconnection and on mains charger/ starter. dont have fault codes to hand but will get them and post them. appreciate your help and suggestions. J

Hello Picasso no I haven’t heard of it. I will look it up thanks.

Hello my 2004 2.4 hybrid Alphard has spent the last 9 months in and out of the garage suffering loss of power. It doesn’t start as seems not to recognise the hybrid battery. The garage have checked out the battery and cleaned up contacts etc and give it back to me ‘working’ only for me to do 5 miles and the same problem recurs! it first failed on a wet day, the second was after returning and I found the drivers footwell carpet sodden beneath a dry footmat, the third time I had tested to see if the moon roof and sunroof drains were blocked (they were clear, water running out at the wheel arch areas), the next was after washing the car and the last time was after spraying a hose over the car to see if the problem would recur which it did after about 5 minutes after the hosing. the next day the car started and ran again. i have currently masking taped the moon roof and sun roof and it has started after a light shower. Is it possible to access the roof drains along their length to see if there is a leak and what it may be shorting? Any suggestions as to where the problem may be? could it be water getting under the bonnet into the engine compartment from the windscreen base drain and running onto the hybrid unit front right? sorry it’s a very long post but really stuck and can’t use the car if it is unreliable. Have lost confidence in the garage having spent a lot of time and money to have a car back with the original problem! thanks for your help guys!

Hello i had mine done by two garages! I bought the parts and one garage did the front ones but then decided that as it was a hybrid the main power cable was too close to where they had to work to do the rear ones as they could not power it down to work safely on it. The second garage would not use the parts I had bought and used genuine Toyota rear bushes. total cost was about £1800.

Hi Michael I have sent you a message with the details

Try Titchener on this forum. He’s in Ipswich and has 25 years Toyota experience apparently. he recently reached out to me in response to my threads about my hybrid issues in Colchester. my car is still stuck at garage working on it so have not been in contact with him

I have had that happen on hot days when the pressure in the gas struts has been just too high for the automatic close to overcome them.

Thanks for the lens info, really useful

Thanks

You have probably all found this already but I just came across it and thought I would post it case it helps anyone.

Thanks that very helpful. having dried out the car it repeatedly started so I drove to a hill to test the drain which all drained rapidly from the moon roof to behind the wheel arches. i then attempted to drive to refuel but got 800m and the power went as the car failed to see the hybrid battery! pulling up off the road I disconnected the 12v battery and reconnected after 5 minutes. Fortunately the car restarted and I drove home 800m. Unfortunately the car now will not see the hybrid battery and will not start, the original problem! I cannot feel any dampness in the carpet in the drivers footwell or at the base of the drivers pilar so perhaps it was a red herring although failing so soon after doing the moon roof drain test ??? I do not know what the water could be affecting to cause the problem?

I bought a set of the stick on ones as garage broke one of mine. Worked fine. Had to buy as a set of four but were very reasonable.

Yes it has a moon roof. I checked the drains that go forward to the drivers sun roof and these were clear but cannot access the forward sun roof to see where the drains go from there

Good morning my 2004 hybrid alphard has been having intermittent power loss not recognising its battery and failing to start. Two months at the garage found no specific fault but seemed to get it working. After 4.8 miles it failed again, same problem. After several days the garage recovered it as it wouldn’t start! After a few days they got round to looking at it and it started and behaved normally every road test! I drove it home, all well. Next day tried starting it several times all ok. Next day wouldn’t start same problem. at that point I noticed the fitted carpet in drivers foot well was soaking wet, the mats above it dry! A day of dehumidifier and heater in car and in the afternoon the car started! next morning it failed to start. Another day of heating and dehumidifier progressed the drying but a storm and torrential rain brought to my attention a wet patch formed in the carpet around the base of the drivers pilar! more drying and car started again. Today car starts having overnight drying and keeping roof covered!! I suspect the leak down the drivers pilar ? Cause may be at the root or the problem of power loss?? Could it be causing a short or current leak that the car detects and shuts down?? Any ideas how to find the leak? How do I remove the drivers pilar trim to see behind it?? sorry it’s a very long post but grateful for any thoughts and ideas. thank you everyone. J

Thanks Smurf

Thank you Michael and Smurf your advice is much appreciated. i am in Colchester Essex so if anyone knows an alphard specialist closer that would be good. At the moment the car is stuck at the garage. the differential was replaced by a small garage in water beach near Cambridge with a reconditioned unit. They had a few Alphard there and it worked ok afterwards but I lost my confidence in them when they tried to tell me my tyres were 25 years old and needed replacing along with other stuff!! Fortunately I had videos of the car taken the day it was transferred to them (I had been scammed on tyres in the past)!! Having the work reviewed by my local garage they found my inner wheel arch protectors had gone awol! I will keep you posted as to what is happening and the outcome but any suggestions appreciated. Once / if it gets back into service so I can take it somewhere I will try book it in to an alphard specialist to have a look over it. I think it’s a great car but recently have lost my confidence with it having spent significant money only to be recovered twice!! hope everyone has a safe and happy festive season. j