2013 Rx450h Chirping!
09-11-12, 06:02 PM
#16
No, I don't play soccer!
Anita, if you can only activate it on an incline then it's not the HAC that's beeping. There are very few hills in the Houston area - close to the coast and very flat. That's why torrential downpours cause flash flooding. The best "hills" around here are the entry/exit ramps off the major freeways...probably not a good place to test this feature!
DunWkg, I looked at the manual (pp 341-342) and wondered if the incline was required. It does not list that condition under "Hill-Start assist control can be operated when" on p341.
DunWkg, I looked at the manual (pp 341-342) and wondered if the incline was required. It does not list that condition under "Hill-Start assist control can be operated when" on p341.
Speaking from experience, Jim
. 
09-12-12, 09:24 AM
#17
Pole Position
Thread Starter
09-12-12, 12:45 PM
#19
I have hill assist on my 2013 450h, and also had it on my previous 2010 450h. If you are just testing, it will only activate once the parking brake is released and the gear shift is not in park. Once you do that, step firmly on the brake pedal and listen for the beep, as well as look for the light in the instrument panel.
09-12-12, 12:57 PM
#20
Moderator
Yes, with all the back-and-forth here, I was just out trying this myself on my 2013 RX450h in the driveway, when go3Ds was responding. It works on mine too. I think it's important for folks to take a quick look at the manual, pp341-2 as David's post yesterday suggests. There are quite a number of caveats how this works, when it won't, and how it auto cancels.
09-12-12, 01:28 PM
#21
Pole Position
Thread Starter
I have hill assist on my 2013 450h, and also had it on my previous 2010 450h. If you are just testing, it will only activate once the parking brake is released and the gear shift is not in park. Once you do that, step firmly on the brake pedal and listen for the beep, as well as look for the light in the instrument panel.
When I contacted my dealer rep today he said they tried it on an incline in the parking garage where they keep all the newbies and it worked. I didn't think to ask about AWD. He thought an incline was required but the manual certainly does not state that.
09-12-12, 02:08 PM
#22
Moderator
My 2013 RX450h is AWD with all the US bells and whistle options except for blind spot monitor and f-sport appearance package. It sure seems to operate, or at least engage, in my flat driveway. ...don't know what else to say to those that can't seem to get it to work, except check out that manual -- lots of caveats in there, including stomping TOO hard and a suggestion to try again pushing a little easier (seems to need the right touch to get it to engage). 
09-12-12, 02:46 PM
#23
Pole Position
Thread Starter
I have this awful feeling that I'm missing something really simple here...and I'll feel like an idiot when I figure out what I'm not doing quite right.
I used to deal with this sort of thing all the time when I was in a support job many years ago. People would tell me they didn't change anything but the program just no longer worked. They'd insist that nothing was changed. Then I'd ask them to walk me thru each specific step. Low and behold...something HAD changed - usually they were using a different set of data. They just didn't think that should make any difference.
09-12-12, 03:51 PM
#24
John, I've searched the online manual and looked at the 2013 RX brochure for the correct term for the feature. No luck. However, since you live in Texas (unless the hill country) and I live in South Louisiana, it seems way too complicated to worry about. Even if I actually found a hill anywhere within 350 miles of my home, I would forget how to use it by the time I arrived to try it.
09-13-12, 05:38 AM
#25
Just wondering .... Did this thread subject change, or did we decide the OP's chirping issue was the Hill Start Assist? It seems odd it might be that, since he doesn't seem to be able to set it intentionally
Last edited by Woodrow; 09-13-12 at 12:17 PM.
09-13-12, 06:02 AM
#26
Good point Woody. Need some other choices, if he can't activate the function.
Could be a regional option as others have suggested. Especially since GoHuskers may not have it either. Nebraska is pretty flat and hill-start assist may not be needed in those areas Lexus determined as flat....
Could be a regional option as others have suggested. Especially since GoHuskers may not have it either. Nebraska is pretty flat and hill-start assist may not be needed in those areas Lexus determined as flat....
09-13-12, 01:23 PM
#28
Moderator
OK, because of this thread, I purposely spent some focused time this morning trying to recreate chirping sounds and play with the hill assist feature on my 2013 AWD RX450h while running errands.
Net of playing with as many buttons, gizmos, and settings in my ride, both sitting still and when driving, there are not a lot of things that produce a "chirp" sort of sound to my ears. Hill assist is one of the few in the truck that sounds like a chirp to me. A cell phone going off with an alert of some sort can also sound like a chirp depending on the setting with my iPhone, and it was even more suspect when I had the phone in my pocket or inside the closed console or glove compartment when the alarm went off. (Yes, I really did try to think outside the box.)
Of special note is the icon that comes on the dash when the chirp sounds for hill assist, is located towards the far right of the display... Nearly hidden by my right hand on the steering wheel, so one should look closely for it if you hear the chirp -- depending on your height, seat and steering adjustment, it may not be visible, and remember, hill assist self cancels after a couple of seconds, so it may disappear before you think to look for it.
I was able to engage hill assist while on flat roads and I purposely went to a stop signal where I was going up hill, as well as found another where I was stopped going significantly downhill. In all three cases, I could engage hill assist, and received the chirp and dash icon when I did so. You engage hill assist when you are effectively stopped, and in gear, by pushing on the brake peddle a couple of ways... As yahj indicates, one way is if your foot is on the brake, push down further and it will engage; another is if your foot is off the brake (eg sitting on a flat road), to mash your foot down on the brake beyond where you normally would when trying to come to a complete stop in a shorter distance. It is a bit tricky to make it work that way though... Once I tried really hitting the brake when stopped like I was in some sort of panic stop situation, and hill assist did not engage (as the manual indicates, you can push too hard and it won't engage by design). Anyway, all that to say, at least in my 2013, I confirm each point in the manual is how my truck operates.
So, now we're back to the original OP question of the chirp. If it is from his RX, unless there is some odd failure somewhere none of us can think of, accidentialy enabling hill assist when you are stopped and perhaps not seeing the dash icon hidden behind the steering wheel seems plausible to me. That's at least my final 2-cents on the subject for today.
Net of playing with as many buttons, gizmos, and settings in my ride, both sitting still and when driving, there are not a lot of things that produce a "chirp" sort of sound to my ears. Hill assist is one of the few in the truck that sounds like a chirp to me. A cell phone going off with an alert of some sort can also sound like a chirp depending on the setting with my iPhone, and it was even more suspect when I had the phone in my pocket or inside the closed console or glove compartment when the alarm went off. (Yes, I really did try to think outside the box.)
Of special note is the icon that comes on the dash when the chirp sounds for hill assist, is located towards the far right of the display... Nearly hidden by my right hand on the steering wheel, so one should look closely for it if you hear the chirp -- depending on your height, seat and steering adjustment, it may not be visible, and remember, hill assist self cancels after a couple of seconds, so it may disappear before you think to look for it.
I was able to engage hill assist while on flat roads and I purposely went to a stop signal where I was going up hill, as well as found another where I was stopped going significantly downhill. In all three cases, I could engage hill assist, and received the chirp and dash icon when I did so. You engage hill assist when you are effectively stopped, and in gear, by pushing on the brake peddle a couple of ways... As yahj indicates, one way is if your foot is on the brake, push down further and it will engage; another is if your foot is off the brake (eg sitting on a flat road), to mash your foot down on the brake beyond where you normally would when trying to come to a complete stop in a shorter distance. It is a bit tricky to make it work that way though... Once I tried really hitting the brake when stopped like I was in some sort of panic stop situation, and hill assist did not engage (as the manual indicates, you can push too hard and it won't engage by design). Anyway, all that to say, at least in my 2013, I confirm each point in the manual is how my truck operates.
So, now we're back to the original OP question of the chirp. If it is from his RX, unless there is some odd failure somewhere none of us can think of, accidentialy enabling hill assist when you are stopped and perhaps not seeing the dash icon hidden behind the steering wheel seems plausible to me. That's at least my final 2-cents on the subject for today.
09-13-12, 04:16 PM
#29
oooh, ooooh, slapping hand to forehead... the chirp of the iPhone via bluetooth through the stereo. Mine does it all the time, text messages, emails, notifications from news agencies. That's a chirp as opposed to a beep of hill-start assist.
Last edited by DunWkg; 09-13-12 at 08:48 PM. Reason: Spelling error
09-13-12, 06:10 PM
#30
Bert, thanks for the page number in the Owner's Manual where I found the description of how the Hill-start assist works. I had the concept completely wrong. My 2010 LS460 had a feature that allowed the emergency brake to be automatically applied when stopped, such as at a traffic light. The feature allowed the owner to remove his/her foot from the brake and this feature would prevent creeping. To engage it, you pressed a button on the steering wheel and it remained active until you turned off the car. I forgot to mention the emergency brake disengaged immediately when depressing the accelerator.
The feature on the LS did not disengage without either using the accelerator or turning it off, but it also worked as a hill-start assist. The actual Hill-start assist on our RX only prevents it from moving for 2 seconds according to the Owner's Manual. Seems like applying the emergency brake manually and then disengaging it when ready to move would be more practical. But then, since I don't have hills anywhere near my home, what do I know?
The feature on the LS did not disengage without either using the accelerator or turning it off, but it also worked as a hill-start assist. The actual Hill-start assist on our RX only prevents it from moving for 2 seconds according to the Owner's Manual. Seems like applying the emergency brake manually and then disengaging it when ready to move would be more practical. But then, since I don't have hills anywhere near my home, what do I know?