Joyous56

I wish I could post anonymously, because I did a dumb thing. I got out of my car and was distracted, and I had forgotten to turn it off. Now my battery is dead. I'm charging the 12v and the display shows the hybrid battery is not diminished....but I have questions.

1 - Does the display actually show the level of charge on the hybrid battery?
2 - Would leaving the car running like that have damaged the hybrid battery?
3 - Are there any other issues I should be concerned about?

Thank you

Vincenze

1/ Yes – red 2 lines up to 8 green full (80% as standard for battery life longevity). Engine on will have kept HB charge up after cycling. Engine will have switched on and off during your absence anyway. Worry not.
2/ No
3 No – auxiliary battery can be a problem. Get a trickle charger and give it an occasional leg up.

Margate330

Give the man a like!

I was hoping someone knows

We have some Rx400h owners here but not as many as the ICE.

Joyous56

Thank you both!
I charged the aux battery yesterday, and it still didn't start.

AAA guy tested everything; Aux battery is fine, fuses fine, He said his testing equipment also checks the alternator and generator, but I don't even know if Hybrids have those(?) I lost my one key w/fob, and only had a broken one and a valet key. Service guy wondered if the key need to be attached to the fob. I didn't think so, (Valet key has no fob), and Lexus service confirmed that it doesn't.

I will update once I find out what the problem is.

Margate330

Ok heads up, dumb question but I'm only asking for clarification.

You had no problems starting the car before you ran the battery low?

It ran good with no issues or check engine lights?

Vincenze

And there is no generator/alternator on a 400
Ah yes this may be a transponder issue. Key and fob need to be in proximity of ignition to signal to car ECU. Otherwise yes – nothing will happen – ie completely non battery related.

Margate330

Thank you, I didn't think it did and don't have time to dig into the wiring docs to see so I didn't say anything. Haha

Yes this is correct about the key so I'll second that.

>> For OP,

The red security light should be blinking when no key is in ignition.

Put key in the ignition and the red security light should stop blinking.

If it doesn't stop blinking, you have a may key transponder issue as mentioned above.

Joyous56

I am trying to accept that there no dumb questions except the ones you don't ask.

I had no problem starting before the idle issue and losing my keys; the engine started within 30 seconds or so. No check engine lights.

Joyous56

Good to know - no alternator or generator. It didn't make sense that there would be, knowing what little I do about alternators and generators, but........thanks.

I did try to start the car with the broken key/fob, with both positioned as intact as possible. Crickets. Confirmed w/ local Lexus service that it's not necessary. After all, the valet key is just basically the key part w/o the fob, and that works....for the valet. Perhaps because I'm not a valet?. Unless the Lexus guy was wrong.

Vincenze

The valet key has a transponder inside...all cars have to de-immobilise. The VK is designed to limit access to areas of the car when you hand over the keys to the, well, the valet (kind of old school these days). And transponder must be in close vicinity to ignition coil.
Something odd has happened to your keys. An idling car is no different to driving for an hour.

Joyous56

I have since confirmed that the idling was not the problem. The fix was very easy and cheap and had nothing to do with the electrical or starting system - nothing wrong with the vehicle. It was due to a malfunction in a device I had to have, er, installed in my vehicle. But, the guys who fixed it showed me that I needed to use the broken fob and key, and keep the fob in close proximity to the key (or ignition) when in the ignition to start. Plus, I was told I need to put it in gear to "alert" the battery to start the engine. I think that last part was bogus, because I'd never had to do that before. Now it takes me 3-4 attempts to start, I guess because I'm not getting the sequence right. It's clumsy at best.

I ordered a fob shell from Amazon, which will attach the fob to the key, and hopefully that will put an end to this saga. Also, II think what I have is a configured blank for the valet key, without any sort of chip. It's all metal with a crescent moon shape at the top. Would an all-metal key have a chip in it?

I still love my RX 400h, but was pretty ignorant about a lot of "how a car works" stuff, or hybrids in particular. Thanks to this forum and its members, I have learned a lot. I'm sorry to say that the more I learn, the more I realize how much can go wrong. I didn't even know what an inverter was, or that it could cost even more than the hybrid battery! Ignorance was bliss, but what is seen cannot be unseen. Glad to have you folks as a resource and appreciate your patience and willingness to both inform me and answer my questions.

Thanks.

Leeper

Transmitter is not in the metal portion of the key blade rather in the clear plastic @3/4"x1/4" plastic clear box inside the black master key it also is the transponder/transmitter for the door locks... a replacement aftermarket key runs in the $50 range plus you'll have to get the key itself laser cut (@$35 off ebay) or sometimes local locksmith then have it programmed to your car (Techstream can program it--do not go to the dearlship they want usually @250+ for 5 mins work) a local locksmith might charge $75 or so for programming. Good luck. I need to get another master key as a backup so facing the same thing but I have techstream

Margate330

So it was transponder related after all.
Wow, what a goose chase. haha

Murphy's law is indeed true.

Yeah, my valet key is metal only and has no chip.
The plastic valet key case does have a chip and it has to be touched in the right place to work.

I believe the post above is correct, the metal only valet key is just for unlocking doors and stuff??
But that will set off the alarm if used with no FOB, maybe just the glove box, I have no idea.

Joyous56

That's what I thought. To be clear, does the valet key require any sort of transmitter? Thanks for the input.

Joyous56

I didn't want to go into detail, but I will. I have an Interlock device in my car due to a DWI 4 years ago. It hooks up to the electrical system. Last Saturday I left my car running, and missed a breath test, so I got a notice that I'd get locked out in 4 days unless I got that cleared. When the car wouldn't start, and the issue couldn't be diagnosed by AAA, it got towed and the lockout was cleared by the service guy and the car started for him. I think the IID was the main issue. I then tried to start the car with the fob adjacent to the key in the ignition, but it didn't work for me.

What I find baffling is the service guy told me that I needed to put the car in gear to initiate activation of the engine. I don't get that and wonder if it makes sense to anyone. I've never had to do that prior.

Goose chase indeed!