smurf

Both those faults should be easy to do some checks on. Battery voltage is easy enough to check. If it is low, it is possibly a fault with the dc-dc converter. You might not be aware, but the hybrid doesn't have an alternator in the conventional sense, the power for the 12V system ultimately comes from hybrid battery and is lowered to 13.9V to charge/power the 12V systems. I would expect there to be other tell take signs of low voltage such as locks not working, stereo not working, lights not working, etc. The open circuit in the stop light switch could be a red herring due to low voltage, but the switch is easily checked. If you have Toyota techstream it will give access to far more information. It might be something as simple as a duff 12V battery, of course, or a loose battery terminal. Hopefully it is something simple.

It is difficult to make out, but you might actually have a hybrid system fault. You need to get the codes read to find out what the issue is.

Could be worth getting a new radiator cap. The coolant is released into the expansion tank as the engine warms up, and is drawn back in when it cools. However, if the cap is not sealing properly when the engine is not fully up to temperature it will spit hot water out until the cap seals.

Not exactly on your doorstep, but if you can get the car to Wigan this guy knows what he is doing with Alphard Hybrids, and he has the spares to fix them https://www.aikotech.co.uk

They haven't changed your dials. They have installed a canbus chip and stuck a bit of black insulating tape over the K. Your odometer is now recording miles.

I'm confused. Where is the K that has been blacked out? If it has new dials there is no need to black a K out, but with a blacked out K it sounds like they have left the original dials and fitted a chip to change both the speed and odometer to miles.

Do you know if they fitted a chip rather than just change the dials? If they have installed a chip on the canbus it will measure everything in miles now, including the odometer, which does mean the odometer is a mixture of KM and miles.

Coming back to this old post after a year, as I have finally managed to get the fob programmed. Tried techstream last year but there is nothing in it that I could find for programming up this type of fob. Tried the door and key hokey cokey and never managed to get it to work. I gave up, and forgot about it. Last night I was delving around in the original Japanese Toyota workshop manual for the gen 1, for no particular reason, and I came across the instructions. This is specific to the pre-facelift gen 1 and it is as simple as following the "Remote Program" instructions attached to the opening post but in step 10 where it tells you press lock and unlock together replace step 10 in its entirety with "press the R button for 1 second and release, and within 3 seconds press the R button again for 1 second and release". If it has worked the door locks will cycle locked and unlocked once. If they cycle twice it hasn't worked.

It is possible to add a gas strut, like you find on boot doors, to assist with lifting the bed back into place. I don't think there is any kind of off the shelf kit, it would have to be bought to suit. There are also electric rock and roll beds that have a motor to drive the bed up and down. I find the best method of getting the bed back up is to pull on the cord (assuming you have a cord attached to the bed?) and then give the front edge of the bed a good shove with my legs. Trying to get the bed to lift upwards by pulling a cord at an angle is never going to be easy to do, but this combination gets the initial movement it needs and then allows it to go back into the upright position easily.

That is a fair point, but for another £5 there are UK sellers getting it to you in 2-3 days. I think over a 100% markup over other sellers retail price is more than just making money, but people have choices so it is up to them is they think the convenience is worth another £55 on top.

There is one hell of a markup on that kit. The sensor can be bought for £15 on eBay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235988688897?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=tclmdbq3tpq&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ql8_keC9RJe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY And I found drop links for less than £20 on eBay as well. You just need to check and buy the correct length. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255693411917?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=fE0Y93HTQce&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ql8_keC9RJe&var=555630171446&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

The three options are when it was built but in the odd order of year month i.e. 0205-0401 is actually May 2002 - January 2004. A facelift 2006 should be the last option. With every ECU showing as yellow it doesn't look like it is communicating correctly with the car.

On a gen 1 the fuel tank is 70 litres. I think I read recently that when the low fuel light comes on there is 11 litres left. If you are finding a significant difference to these figures it is worth getting under the car and looking at the tank. It isn't unheard for cars to be lifted with a fork truck in the docks and this can dent the fuel tank.

Open a Nationwide flex plus account. £18 a month fee and you get personal European AA breakdown cover. You don't need to swap banks, just open the account. It also includes travel insurance and gadget insurance.

Are you sure genuine ones are £180+VAT each? Amayama are selling OEM for about £45 each delivered from Japan.

I had a motorway drive this week for first time since fitting it, and it was only after I got home that I realised I have become so used to having a three lane flash over the years that I was using it and not even mentally acknowledging that it was doing it 😆.

Just a thought, but have you tried cleaning up the inside of the battery terminal clamps, and wherever the battery negative lead connects to the body? They could be oxidized and causing a volt drop when trying to provide cranking current. Putting the starter pack on could bypass where the problem connection is, and hence why you get an instant start.

Going by the graphs at the top, if you are seeing a similar pattern with the new battery it looks like you have a parasitic drain on the battery. It should be able to easily hold its charge for a week, and a jump pack solving the problem seems to rule out the starter motor being the issue. Have you got information from the condition monitor for your new battery?

Day van isn't a definite design, but it generally means a van not used for camping or overnight and are set up to allow a day trip with the ability to cook a bit of food and make drinks. There isn't normally any kind of sleeping facility. Lay outs vary, but if you look for day vans you will get the gist. I believe the original rear seats can go reasonably flat in the Gen 1 Alphard, but it certainly isn't a flat mattress. There will be photos of this if searched for. I doubt it will match your requirements from what you have said. Obviously there are lots of base vehicles out there to choose from, but Transits and Alphards are a world apart. The Transit is definitely a van, drives like a van, has the components of a van, and was probably used as a work van in it's previous life. It is possibly a rust bucket as well after a life in this country. The Alphard is a comfortable MPV designed for moving about in a bit of luxury, but it is a JDM vehicle that has limited support in the UK.

You might struggle with a budget of £10k, even converting one yourself. If you keep an eye out on here or on the many owner groups on Facebook (beware of scams on Facebook marketplace, but they are normally easy to spot as they are too good to be true), there are occasional bargains popping up when people need a quick sale. It also depends on what type of conversion you want and how old the base vehicle is. Rear conversion or side conversion? Pop top or no pop top? Rear conversions without a pop top are generally the cheapest, but tend to be day vans. A pop top alone costs in the region of £3.5-£4k to have installed.

One thing I missed when driving my gen 1 Alphard is the indicator lane change 3 flash that is in many newer vehicles these days, and I got so used to using it that when driving my Alphard I often forget and just flick the indicator to change lane and, of course, I get one flash. I'd seen someone was selling an alternative direct replacement flasher relay for upwards of £50 that was modified to give the 3 flash, but that price was too much for me to just avoid holding the indicator down a bit longer. A bit of research turned up a potential alternative for less than £10 on eBay. It didn't specifically mention the lane change function as it seemed to be more aimed at people retro-fitting LED indicator bulbs and messing up the flashing rate, but I had a suspicion so I took a punt and bought it. The original Toyota item and the replacement are shown below. Notice the knob for adjusting the flash rate, and poorly translated "about dodges three times" on the replacement relay. Fitting it was easy enough. Simply pull out the coin drawer thingy just above the bonnet and fuel flap release levers on the driver side of the dash and look in. The relay is fairly obvious. The relay put up a fight and was reluctant to release, but a bit of jiggling and a little bit of leverage from a screwdriver got it out. This photo shows the new one fitted. I turned the hazards on and the flash rate was very fast, but with a quick twiddle of the knob on the relay I had the flash rate back to where it should be. Then the moment of truth - ignition on and flicked the indicator stalk. Three flashes and stop 👍. £10 and 10 minutes work. Bargain! This is the one I bought on eBay, but there appears to be loads of sellers as the original Toyota relay was used on many different models, as you could imagine. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/386806258020?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=xfg_a3ycs9s&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=ql8_keC9RJe&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

That is interesting info about the viscosity of different fuels used on ships. Thanks for sharing. My experience of both diesel and HFO comes from the power industry where HFO was used for lighting up coal fired boilers and for supplementary load support. Disgusting oil that stank and made a right mess when it leaked and cooled down. However, HFO is still heavy fuel oil and heavy oil is the description used for diesel on V5s in the UK.

Heavy oil is another name for diesel, and that is what you will find on the V5 of every diesel car. Heavy fuel oil is what is used on ships, amongst other uses. The number of seats is easily changed by sending in your V5 to be updated to whatever number you state. A change of fuel type normally requires evidence to support the change so will need to speak to DVLA to try and resolve the mix up.

Have you checked that there are volts rather than just check the fuses aren't blown?

They aren't required as they have a flat beam.