My 2008 400h is not starting. Here's what happened:
I got a car wash and vacuumed out the car, including under hood. Directly after taking the car out of neutral (after the wash), I noticed the system showed the icon with icon with the car/ wavy lines (eg: bad traction/ slippery road). After returning home and starting it the next day, it showed a message: "Make sure car is in park prior to starting". The same bad traction icon remained present. The engine sounded fine and no other noises. The next day the car simply stopped working, luckily before I got on the highway, so I was asble to pull over and park in a safe spot. I tried starting it several times and each time there was less power. The "Check hybrid" warning appeared (Great!!) I have tested the regular battery (which is fairly new) and it's fine. (Pleae take a look at the images and let me know if the battery light icons say differently.
I don't know what to do. I've spent decent money keeping this car in shape and have loved driving it save for the constant fear that something like this would eventually happen (It's only got about 180K). Does anyone have any suggestions or expertise with this? Should I presume at this point that the hybrid battery is dead or is there anyway to check this for sure? Here are some images from the dash. One thing to note is that when it first died, the Energy Manager showed completely empty hybrid battery and today it showed a hybrid battery with one line. Does this matter?

*Sorry if there's another thread about this but if so I couldn't easily find it. Maybe it's worth making this a pinned topic? Thanks in advance!

 

 

Did you leave your car ON with gear in Neutral while vacuuming? If Yes, then you could drain the hybrid battery, and only dealer can recharge it now.
I would start with reading of errors with diagnostic tool. You could damage some connections when vacuumed under the hood.

 

My car was only in neutral while going through the carwash since it must be. I'm looking for potential solutions re: things to check without going to the dealer since closest dealer is over an hour away. Might something have been triggered by washing under the car or vaccuuming that I should check specifically? I will have to order a code checker.

 

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hyb...l#post10926444

 

The bad traction symbol at a car wash where asphalt is slippery is completely normal. The problem appear to be that the engine cranks but does not start. Every time the hybrid battery uses the MG2 to start the ICE loses about 2% SOC. In other words after several tries to start the engine the hybrid battery discharged. You can easily charge it at the dealer with the TCH charger for less than $100 but your issue remains. I suspect an electrical short from water at the car wash. You need to read the codes before you continue troubleshooting.

 

It's ON because CEL, ABS and BRAKE lights are ON...

 

At the car wash and for 24 hours no other lights were on.

 

This happened to me twice and my car has 217k miles, still on original hybrid battery.

(1) first time it happened, 6 months ago. It was pouring rain and suddenly the 'check hybrid sys' light and 3 other lights came on, I pulled over and it would not restart, had it towed to a shop, next day it started right up and I paid $160 for diagnostic and clearing fault codes. They thought water might have leaked into the battery through broken window trims in the c-pillar, so I siliconed the area and no more issues.

(2) second time, 3 days ago. The dreaded 'check hybrid sys' light came back, plus same 3 lights. Stalled at a red light, but restarted and kept driving (the 3 lights did not return). The car did not stall again and only the 'check hybrid' light stayed on. I parked the car and turned off engine for 20-30 minutes, started up again and lo and behold the 'check hybrid' light disappeared. Drove 35 miles home and 3 days later everything's normal. Pulled the codes and they were throttle body and exhaust related, probably costing $1k to fix.

Bottom line, it's more likely due to other extraneous factors than a bad hybrid battery.

 

There is a recognized issue with water coming in at the tailgate body seams when the sealant used at the time of manufacture cracks. (There is a technical service bulletin on this) If/when water should enter here, it can accumulate under the rear under floor storage bin and then when enough has accumulated, upon applying brakes when slowing down,.....a wave of water can then migrate forward into the area where the hybrid battery is located. there is a critical relay located at the very bottom of the battery compartment, and it can become saturated creating all the symptoms you are having. I had this issue on my 400H. I removed the rear seats and carpeting, then after following all the safety measures to turn off the Hybrid battery, removed the cover to the Hybrid battery. The relay is located at the bottom of the battery box, and mine was wet. I removed it, was able to partially open the case of the solenoid, blew it out with a can of compressed air, then sprayed WD 40 into the case and placed the relay in the sun for several days. I also lifted the hybrid battery box and removed the rubber drain valve, and found it was clogged with debris from deteriorating sound proofing material on the floor of the RX. I cleaned the valve out and then vacuumed all the additional loose material on the floor of the RX. I reassembled the drain valve and decided to drill some additional drain holes in the bottom of the hybrid battery box. I installed the solenoid and then reconnected the 12 volt battery and tried a restart,......and all was good. I re-assembled everything, and then took the steps to seal the cracked body seam sealant in the tailgate area and additionally drilled some drain holes under the storage bin where I had observed standing water (and painted all drilled holes) and have had no further issues since.

 

Do you have it to post here?

 

somewhere,… but don’t recall if I took or posted any pics. Was about 6 or more months ago

 

look for my post from May 7 of this year titled wet carpet and POAA6 code. That post and my comments above if you study them should help you get through it. Sorry no pictures.

 

Can anyone recommend a cheap scanner with easy set up (preferably not bluetooth, just simple plug in and read) that will show accurate codes and I can buy on Amazon? I agree that the codes need to be read. I also saw somewhere something about disconnecting the negative battery port to clear the codes and then doing some
"brake dance", that I thought I would try except my wrench/ socket tools were too big to fit around the tiny battery port, so I will have to get new tools and try this tomorrow unless someone tells me it's pointless. Thanks.

 

I also think it had something to do with the carwash. I kick myself for saying "yes, include under the car". Should have just stuck with the normal wash.