Hi all,

I'm a new owner to the 2006 Lexus RX400h, the car came to me with 177K miles on it. I have had most problems fixed by the dealer; however, there're a few left, pls enlighten me as this is the first time I own a hybrid car. Questions as below:
- Sometime the power door (tailgate) goes up to the top and (beep, beep) comes down immediately. This happens once awhile only, not always. Why and how to fix?
- I was advised to push the lever to P at traffic light or traffic jam in order to allow the ICE to charge the traction battery. However, when I push the lever to P, the doors automatically unlock and when to D, they all lock again. This is quite annoying especially in traffic jam. I try the owners manual to cancel the auto lock with no luck. Please help!

 

well with these second gen rxs; as far as the door lock unlock goes; the only way to change that is to use a app called techstream or go to the dealer and have them change it as there is no actual way to do it cause there is no programming function in the vehicle itself; only the newer rx's have that ability.

 

1. probably tailgate supports are dying or there is something between the tailgate and car frame/body that doesn't allow to open the tailgate (automatic is thinking that there is a barrier and close the tailgate).
2. you don't need to push to P. ICE with charge hybrid battery in any position except N.

 

X2^^^^^^ There's no need to put a vehicle in P, unless your parked.....

 

I had a problem similar to my rx350 lift gate... I bought a pair of lift supports at https://www.liftsupportsdepot.com/. Customer support is nice and the price is reasonable.

And it is very easy to change the supports

 

Hi everybody,

Thank you for all your responses, I've read them through but too busy to reply. I was on 5-days holidays but only to find myself too busy with my little princess.

For the charging shift position, I will develop new driving habit by holding D at traffic jam, if waiting is too long, then push to P to rest my foot. Sometimes I can still push it to N if battery level is high.

For automatic lock/unlock, well, just get used to with it or trying to avoid shifting between D and P too often.

For the tailgate, I will give it a bit more time to prove itself. If problem remain, I will replace a pair of supporting strut.

The main purpose I bought this car is for fuel economy because I drive in city most of the time. I only go on highway once or twice per year. Hope I have the right choice.

 

PS: Don't use N when the Hybrid system is ON...

 

May I know why? If I step on brake at traffic jam, I see everything stop working, does it eventually charge the battery when it goes low?

PS. Happy voting day to all US members!

 

ICE doesn't charge the hybrid battery in N, but hybrid battery is in use all the time you see "READY" on dashboard (A/C, engine and battery, cooling, etc.)

 

Even when I keep in D but have to press on brake to stop (especially in traffic jam), the ICE doesn't charge the hybrid battery. The problem here is I have to stop much more then drive, imagine a 10 km (6 miles) trip which takes me 2 hours! I got low battery warning twice that day and the screen instructed me to push into P to charge the battery. I start to worry due to this type of driving. The bad traffic was one of the reasons that I bought a hybrid car because we waste too much gasoline in traffic jams with conventional vehicles. I also start to think that a plug-in hybrid with large capacity battery should be what I really need.

 

It should... something wrong with D

 

Kindly take a look at the above photo. The shift is in D position and I was stopping in the middle of the traffic (stop light). If I step firmly on the brake, everything stops but I can cheat the car by stepping on the braking lightly. However, the car doesn't move but ICE provide power to the wheels as well as motor to charge the battery.

PS. may I know how to post photos correctly in this forum?

 

Look, what I've done to my RX-400h


Change the light bulb inside the cabin to make it white. US$3 each, I changed all both


I finally change the support struts of the tailgate. A pair of support struts cost me US$35


Change the light bulb of the headlights, it is much brighter than the original one also change the fog lamp to white LED. The 2 pairs of light bulb cost me around US$50

There're some more things I've done to my car but haven't taken photos yet. I will post later.

 

I see you put in new struts for the rear. One of my brackets broke off with the ball still inside the socket. Cannot pull i(ball) out of strut socket. I called Lift supports Depot today and they said i wouldn't need to order brackets as they already come with them. Is this true? Did you just order the struts with brackets or did you have to add brackets to your order? Thanks.
P.S. I have the EXACT same car!!

 

In my country things work differently. In fact, I just go to component shop and have everything done for me. The struts come with full set, you don't need to buy anything else. It's easy to change but the shop did everything for me. Labor is free of charge.

Here is the old struts that I removed from my RX400h. When I bought the new ones, they came with all components as you see in the photo