BigNev

Hi there! We have waved to a few fellow Alphard owners, and been greeted in return! Let's start a tradition! Even to other Japanese 7 seater models, why not? Very many moons ago, us Impreza drivers did it, it raised a smile every time!

But then they would be potentially too long to allow the boot to close....

Oh yes! I've shrunk over the years, age is a wonderful thing! Down to 5ft 7½" 😁 I got them from Aliexpress.com complete with the end brackets! Around £30 the pair I think, last December.

Hi Martyn, so I can be sure in my head, your original post states you are not using the lpg, and are using high octane petrol 90% of the time - therfore 10% of the time normal 95 octane, is that correct? Any idea how long the lpg system has been on yours, how many km? Obviously sensors fail eventually. But on our lpg cars I've yet to have one go. 60,000 miles on one Grand Voyager 3.3 (80 to 140k) over 9 years. 42,000 miles on another Voyager, (66 to 108k) over 4 years. A paltry 16,000 on the Subaru Outback 3.0 (158 to 174k) And 24,000 miles, 38,000 kilometres, (not all of that by us this time, it was done by the previous owner) on this Vellfire, just over 3 years. So, if it was my car, I'd consider 2 options at this point. Firstly however - you have checked there is no "un metered" air getting in to the engine, no little air leaks on the air intake system? One - If the cleaner has improved things from where it was, perhaps try another, and when your pour it in make sure you're ready to give it a good drive up a dual carriageway, or motorway, and use the gear selector to keep the revs up, but you don't need to speed! Two - change the Lambda sensors, new ones won't be a negative thing. I don't know what cost they are, but I do know there's a certain fella on here who is mustard (ie very good!) with part numbers! @Picasso

Drat! And very odd! I've got no immediate idea why it would be lean on town driving, and fine on distance!!!!

Hello there! Nope, that's the connecting arm for the motor opener. The length of the gas struts is what determines the maximum lift. I replaced our struts as it wasn't quite reaching fully open position, they were weak, it would go another couple of inches if pushed manually. I've just been out and measured it, and it's just about 5' 10" to the lowest point in the middle of the tailgate. Personally neither of us have never had a problem - lol.

Hi Andrew! You did say changing down makes it better, so with a bit of experimentation, can you establish if the judder is related to revs, speed or load? Change down a couple of gears and load it up to accelerate. If it's revs, it could be a slight misfire under load, plugs, or injectors, or related to the torque converter in the transmission. But plugs misfire should give a pending fault code if you have a code reader. Pending will not set a fault light. If it's speed, then driveline related, possibly as you suggested engine or transmission mounts. Do you have any knocking noises at full steering lock either direction? For drive shaft CV joint failure. If it is driveshafts, can a local autofactors send them off for a rebuild? Now a daft one - is it the same hill, and not others? There is a stretch of motorway near me that has a very odd effect on all my vehicles, a kind of stuttering/bouncing.

"and FROM the lovely people on this forum too" is what it should have read!

We had a Sedona a few years ago! But that was wheelchair converted for my mother in law, and ran high pressures for the lots of extra weight of the ramp. As a side comment, that had the same wheel spec - pcd and offset - as the Chrysler Grand Voyagers we had, and the Vellfire now. That was very handy, as some previous owner of the Sedona had ended up with soft sidewall tyres, so I swapped the wheels over for a spare set off the GV, with proper stiff sidewall / XL tyres. That did make the drive far less "squidgy" and wallows. My opinion is you're a better person for thinking about it, (please don't worry though) than those who only do when it's too late, spotted flat or bald on an MOT! We agree, this is one of the nicest cars we've owned too! The Voyagers were a fantastic family bus, armchair comfort for many many miles of driving, and we we're a little apprehensive when it was time to change. But this is WAY better, REALLY happy with it so far! You're most welcome for any advice that I can help with, and the lovely people on this forum too. I'm pretty jolly new to the Alphard family as well, and this forum has been a great help!

Ditto, as per the book. (And most cars of the era are the same. But by no means all) But - there is also an additional spec for our engines, the ash rating. C3 is very likely the most commonly listed for ours, Low SAPS - Sulphated Ash, Phosphorous, and Sulphur. So that when some oil inevitably gest burned, it doesn't wreck the catalytic converter., and also other stuff that is beyond me!

45 is a bit too high. It really will be fine at the same as the 55 height ratio, I'd guess it's 2.3 or 2.4 kpa (bar). 34 to 36 psi, on the plate. They are not Formula 1 racing machines, a couple of psi are not going to mess up the ride or handling. Nor would it in any car, in honest reality. The pressure should be increased for extra load, most cars I've had give different pressures on the data plate for number of passengers, and then luggage carried. So a small amount of pressure either way is absolutely not going to mess up the car. What did you drive previously? And what did you run the tyres at on that? To put into context your concerns!!

Yep, they will be jolly darn good!

You could simply declare alloy wheels as a "modification". Then it won't stress you out. The size is totally fine and will not upset the car. The last few years doing this hasn't made a penny difference to our premium. Bizarrely, the LPG conversion brought the insurance DOWN on this Vellfire, and our Subaru, strange as owt..........

I will be keeping my fingers crossed for a good result!!

In theory it will be on the Gen 2, too, that's where mine is, same year as yours @Hecktangle Hope you're enjoying it!

Plus one! That company do know their stuff. And at 4 volts, it's deader than the Parrot form the Parrot sketch, if you're old enough...... If not, from the Monty Python team I believe it was.

Ooh yes, rather gorgeous! And rare as rocking horse poop as you say, I think I've seen 2 others total, over the couple of years we were looking for one, but they weren't the spec we were after, very sadly.

Harrumph, we get 20 to 25, 😆 lol!!

Cheers fella!

Hi Laura, we insured ours with Admiral, via Confused comparison site.

Hi Martyn! Aha, well the good news is you don't need an LPG garage! Easy one first - try some fuel system cleaner in the petrol tank. Many products are available, but I have used Cataclean in the past. If you go with that one the full bottle is poured in with around a quarter of a tank, don't put it in with more, it can't do the job properly. Then take it for a good drive. Another is Millers Petrol Power Ecomax, I use that for the octane boost property, in the Vellfire and our Subaru ( it's the 3.0 H6 so likes high octane too like these 3.0s and 3.5s). That's a 500ml bottle but it will treat up to 500 litres. Or much higher levels for a clean up. Millers do a diesel treatment too, 500ml again, and our local diesel injection specialist company said it works when I took my previous van in to them, they saw it in the van. It makes their job easier apparently, and they can tell the difference when they strip injectors. It wasn't sales patter, they didn't sell it!! That was 20 years ago, and I've been using it since. Many will say they are "snake oil", but I reckon it does work, by no scientific research just "feel" of the engine and "seat of the pants" driving. Doesn't feel quite as smooth if I've run without it for a few fill ups, usually 10 gallons. Not tank fulls, the van takes 100 litres!!! PLEASE come back and let us know how you get on! If you get a good result then it's information for the whole forum!

Hi there! 300 miles!!!!!!! Ooh I'm jealous of such range 😂 On our LPG tank anyway, it's usually about 260 the way my wife drives it....... But if we were on a trip I'd never manage that far without a coffee and leg stretch stop anyway, it's my age!!

Hi there! Asking the obvious starter - does it ONLY do this when on LPG? Because if it does it on petrol, then it's not the LPG systems fault! If it's only on gas, then yes the LPG system needs looking at. It's actually not too common, as the LPG ecu follows the petrol ecu for the injection, with the necessary adjustments for the different fuel. So if it was set properly when it was fitted, it shouldn't go off. However, if the system is old, with many miles, the injectors do not last forever, and filters do need changing.

For the size, is the tyre information plate still on your drivers door pillar?

Hi there @Wozzer100uk! Mine is a different year so I can't confirm the size (other than it's the same as on my nameplate). M+S is a "winter" type tyre, Mud + Snow. V is the speed rating, plenty at 149mph. On the load rating, that's the 95, which is 690kg. That's tethnically a bit under for a car that is possibly 2500kg loaded. But - I had some XL, which is Extra Load, with more than enough load rating, Bridgestone Touranza tyres on my Subaru Outback. The XL is supposedly better sidewall strength, which were as soft as cheese spread, rubbish. And damaged easily from potholes, from personal experience unfortunately. Over the last 13 years I have used a "no name" brand a lot, as they came 3 times on wheel / tyre sets, for 2 Grand Voyagers, the Subaru, and now our Vellfire. My wife does not hang about in it, it's her daily car, 24 miles each way, and she's not shy of corners. Including our motorway off slip road which is a nice fast corner..... They're Accelera, have a very strong sidewall, brilliant good grip wet and dry, don't aquaplane. I guess nowadays most don't- but the first time it happened it was a squeaky moment hitting a puddle on the motorway. And they are cheap. Yes they do wear out faster. But I used to have "Brand Confidence" as lots of us do, till I tried them, and only driving them will convince anyone otherwise. I went back to the Bridgestone as we were touring Scotland - very misplaced judgement call, they were a mistake. Had them on an Impreza WRX from 2000 to 2012, the Potenza model, they were awesome back then. Things change, different model, different profit margins to make....