smurf

It is possible that it will go that way in London, but then in Manchester they have gone in the opposite direction and found that restrictions aren't necessary as improvements in air quality are happening anyway as older vehicles are replaced at the end of their life, especially buses and lorries.

ULEZ is more about emissions that directly affect human health, such as Nox and particulates. CO2 from a car exhaust into the open air isn't an issue for human health.

@FrenchDJ Hi David. How have you gone about translating the wiring diagrams? Could it be something that could be done piecemeal by various people to speed it the task?

Just sounds like any old Vellfire to me 😉

What does say the model is on the V5? If it is vague, then use that to your advantage. If it says 2.4Z and you insure it as a different model it could come back to bite you.

So they have changed their advice from "not permitted to tow" to "recommend that you do not tow". They clearly haven't a clue what the answer is, which is hardly a surprise because the law isn't clear and they aren't in a position to create a clear definition without some case law. They are not right about the VIN plate as well, as SR Tech issue new plates all the time to show the changed weights that they have done the calculations for. Frankly, I'd trust SV tech over the DVSA. It is just a shame SV Tech aren't able to help.

That statement makes no sense. It says you can't tow without a stated train weight, but then says you can tow but the combined weight of the trailer and load can't exceed the stated gross weight of the vehicle. They need to make up their mind 🙄

One extra thing, it is worth googling to see if there is a throttle position learning function for any Toyota that comes with your engine. It can sometimes fix these sort of problems and is often simple to do.

I'm guessing based upon my general knowledge, but that error sounds like it knows what throttle position it is trying to achieve, but it either a: isn't happening or b: the position feedback for the throttle position (if it has such a thing) is defective. I'd be looking at the throttle stepper motor and throttle position sensors. I'd also guess that diagnostic software like techstream would be able to do a test function of both and it should be obvious whether the stepper motor is driving correctly.

Googling that fault code shows that on the Prius it is associated with the service plug on the battery or an interlock switch on the HV inverter cover.

Without SWG connected in some way it just isn't going to work. It needs it to measure the resistance and determine which button has been pressed.

So long as the 5w30 oil for the Merc meets one of the specifications show in the manual above then it would be fine. Oils, and engine design and emission control, have moved on quite a bit in the last 35 years. The weight of the oil is only one measure of the properties of that oil so I'm afraid that one 5w30 oil could be very different to another because of the additive mix, and whether it is mineral, semi-synthetic or fully synthetic. There is a specified standard that the oil needs to meet and this is what should compared in addition to the weight of the oil. The days of garages having a drum of oil that can be used to service every car that crosses the threshold ended a long time ago for very good reasons, and those reasons apply at home as well.

From what I have read, I would be very surprised if the stereo has any part to play in charging the HV battery. The hybrid system has its own ECU, which does connect to the headunit as it shows hybrid system info. I'd imagine anything they want to do could, and probably should, be done with techstream. Techstream will show a lot more information than the head unit ever will. Toyota did make dealer equipment for charging a flat HV battery which is easily repricated these days with cheap constant current LED drivers.

The light comes on at a specific tank level, so how far you can drive depends on fuel consumption. When the light comes on go and full the tank. The difference between how much fuel it took to fill and the maximum capacity of the tank will then allow you to work backwards to calculate how far you could drive after the light has come on.

Ethanol is used as an octane booster and high ethanol content fuels (such as E85) are deliberately used in high compression engines such as race cars. I can't say I have heard of any detrimental affects to engines from the combustion of the relatively low amount of ethanol found in pump fuel.

As all Alphards are automatics, they shouldn't be towed with the driven wheels on the floor, so at the very least they should be on a dolly if 2WD. A short tow out of some mud won't be a problem, but being pulled on the road is.

I'm sure I read somewhere about needing some extra jiggery pokery to get an aftermarket headunit to work with the OEM microphone. From what I read it was worth the effort as the OEM microphone system is high quality. I might be talking rubbish though as I've read a lot recently. As regards the radio signal, is there an aerial amplifier hidden somewhere that needs a signal from the headunit to turn on? I have seen this situation on other cars with aerial amplifiers, and there is normally a blue wire in the harness for turning on amps.

103Nm was just written within the text for the wheel nuts. The wheel nuts aren't shown on those diagrams. I think what you are looking at are the fixings that hold the hubs on. The wheel nuts would have been shown to the outside of the discs if they were on the exploded diagram. Different torque settings between front and rear for the same fixings would be very peculiar if it were so.

PM your email address and I'll see what I can do 😉

103 Nm is about 75 ft/lbs, so isn't a million miles away.

I have a copy of this that I bought from the same website. The price seems to vary daily, and I think I paid about £11. It is about 150mb in size. It is rammed full of information and the wiring diagrams appear to be the original Toyota diagrams but annotated in English rather than Japanese.

Multiply litres by 0.22 to get imperial gallons, and divide the miles by that. 60 litres is 13.2 gallons, so you got about 21 mpg.

Wheel nuts on gen 1 are 103Nm The images below are taken from the translated Russian manual for the gen 1. Where it says "Hm" it should be read as Nm. Front Rear

You are probably right as regards shall, but it definitely doesn't say must. I remember some years ago there being lots of discussions on car forums as to whether a car being towed on a car dolly trailer was classed as part of the trailer, and therefore not needing to meet the legal requirements required for a car on the road, or if indeed it was still classed as a car moving on the highway. The official advice from the whatever the relevant government agency was at that time was something along the lines of we don't know because the law as it stood would need clarifying in court. This was probably because the law hadn't been written to be specific in that scenario, like lots of our laws, and only ends up becoming specific and definitive due to case law. This towing issue may be a similar one because the law is grey and untested, and government advise can only be just that. I can't say that I actually plan to make any great use of the fitted tow bar and will likely use it as you suggest, which is just as a mounting point to carry extra gear, and I agree that it therefore wouldn't be classed as towing anything.

The policy is completely silent on the matter of towing, which is in my favour as the law on whether it is legal to tow with an Alphard ( or any or motor car without a gross train weight specified) is also grey. Guidance on the .gov website does not say you "shall not" tow with a vehicle without a gross train weight on the VIN plate, it says you "should not". Shall is an absolute requirement and should is a choice. I can find nothing in the actual construction and use regulations that explicitly say a PLG vehicle must have a stated gross train weight on a plate, but I would be happy to be shown otherwise. If a driver decided to be an idiot and tow some ridiculous weight they could fall foul of other laws regarding driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition, but that would be for a court to decide ultimately.