Builds The Guzzler - 2009 LX570 (4 Viewers)

[grinchy]

I'm sure you have seen these. I keep one in the bottle jack compartment for a bit of extra contact.

LCP - Jack Adapters

Check out the 3rd generation jack adapters we are currently selling with the zinc finish for long-lasting durability!

sites.google.com

I don't think I bought mine from this link, but I wanted to show you what I was referring to and google offered this.

Thanks. I have one of those, thought it was for the rear axle mainly?

 

[grinchy]

Semi yearly 4lo and diff test
4lo slow,flashes than fast flashes. Switching it to 4h the light goes out. I don’t hear the solenoid clicking
Diff failed on first try (regular flash). Turned it off, light still flashing. Turned off car. Restarted and diff went in.only took two tries.

I’ll keep kicking the 4lo, over the next few days, but I don’t recall fast flashing before. No CeL or other lights.

 

[wiseinvestor]

Semi yearly 4lo and diff test
4lo slow,flashes than fast flashes. Switching it to 4h the light goes out. I don’t hear the solenoid clicking
Diff failed on first try (regular flash). Turned it off, light still flashing. Turned off car. Restarted and diff went in.only took two tries.

I’ll keep kicking the 4lo, over the next few days, but I don’t recall fast flashing before. No CeL or other lights.

In neutral?

 

[grinchy]

In neutral?

Yes, generally for this test I get the car warm, then pull over and put in N and the shift to 4lo.
Got about 3-5 sec of slow flash, then it just went to fast flash. It is interesting to me that the fast flash goes out as soon as I move back to 4H.
Did usual drive forward, back, in neutral and out to relieve any ‘tension’.
I have to admit I didn’t need 4 lo this summer so it’s been a bit since I tried it.
Have learned I need to exercise it more frequently, but I often forget.

 

[linuxgod]

You've probably looked at the FSM but it doesn't give a lot of info as to what the various flashing scenarios mean, except "check the CAN system" and then "check the combi meter".

 

[grinchy]

You've probably looked at the FSM but it doesn't give a lot of info as to what the various flashing scenarios mean, except "check the CAN system" and then "check the combi meter".
View attachment 3730720

Thanks! I hadn’t move to troubleshooting yet as I have had success in past just to keep trying over several days .

 

[grinchy]

4lo test yesterday. Truck cold. Heard the more familiar sounds of the 4wd computer solenoid and the transfer case try (and fail) to cycle.

Will keep kicking it but expect it to star working in the next 2 or 3 tries.

 

[grinchy]

Warm TC.
Shifted into 4lo no problem. Drove around the block,
Xmas tree lights on shift back to 4H, but it completed the shift.

A couple more cycles and I should be good to go for winter.

 

[grinchy]

Warm tc.
Shift into 4lo no problem
Went for the combo and tried the center diff - got the slow flashy on the diff.
Tried to shift back to 4H - no shift! Light steady lit.
Turn off and back on, shifted to 4H with Xmas tree.

Looks like it might need a few more attempts.

And I haven’t really tried it cold yet. We’ll get there though.

 

[grinchy]

Warm tc
Shift to 4 lo flawless
Drive a few blocks, shifted to N and 4h at a stoplight. Xmas tree as usual. Drive got nothing but beeps . Light changed and the truck wont move. Went back to N and 4L, the. 4h. Eventually it found 4 H at the end of the green light.
Stopped and turned off/on. As usual all lights cleared.
Put it in 4lo and worked perfect. Put in the center diff. (Locked up)
Drove a block and tried to unlock the center. Went flashy but unlocked
Went to N and tried to exit 4 lo, did engage 4 H but also went Xmas tree .
Lights all cleared on a restartz

So it’s going in to diff lock and 4 lo on a warm TC every time, but both are not engaging completely (flashy lights)

Progress but not perfect.

 

[linuxgod]

Did you ever dismantle the actuators and clean/re-grease them? I suspect that’ll clear your issues, it really seems like an issue with the electric contacts when the motor rotates not always detecting the correct position

 

[grinchy]

Did you ever dismantle the actuators and clean/re-grease them? I suspect that’ll clear your issues, it really seems like an issue with the electric contacts when the motor rotates not always detecting the correct position

I have not tired to R&R, and yeah, it might be in the best case 80% category at this point.

My experience has been if I let it go for a while that I can rehabilitate with repeated events over the course of a few days. At this point, with both activating as needed, I could go run a trail or go up to the snow with now worries, but Ideally, yeah, they deactivate without having to reboot the car . . .

 

[grinchy]

So, how is the supercap/LFP battery experiment going? Glad you asked!

Minivan - two homemade supercap strings in parallel from jump starters, normal 20aH lfp battery, stainless steel bolt resistor - worked flawlessly. No maintenance charge, no dead batteries*, nothing since I moved to the solid resistor. *DD left the lights on over a weekend, that did scotch the caps and lfp, simple jump and it was ready to go. Same outcome as a fla, but without the damage to the fla as lfp can fully discharge.

Lx570 - group 31 supercap, this lfp motorcycle cranking battery, no resistor.
Since I went to the cranking battery no maintenance charge, no dead batteries, no drama.

Thoughts-
A supercap without a brain is better than one with a brain. The brain in the group 31 supercap disabled it whenever the battery dropped below 12v, like when the bms would trip, and that’s exactly when you WANT a supercap. To address this, get a cranking LFP which has a much less aggressive or non existent BMS to pair with it, or gather 3 or 4 strings of smaller supercaps and roll your own, which will have no brain and use a regular LFP fine.

Would I do it again? Yes.

Am I keeping them installed? Yes

Why?
In the minivan it’s just superior to a regular battery. I’m in like $80 and some broken supercap jump starters that were repurposed for free. it’ll last for a large number of years - like 5-10.

In the truck I wanted to run the supercap to control voltage spikes and dips, for my sound setup sure, but also just to condition the overall voltage supply and hopefully eek every day I can out of the various 15 year old ECUs on the truck.
Secondary - my starter spins so fast, it’s wonderful and I think this is good for starter longevity (note, my starter did fail recently, but I think that was due, it was 15 years old)
Tertiary - for self rescue the supercap can drive many cranks- as long as it has 12v. I carry an additional small lfp as my jump starter to have this source. My solar generator also can be a 12v source, so I have two back up sources, neither of which can start the car, but both of which can power many many cranks with the supercap. The final solution in the truck was around $300 (clearance supercap, ‘expensive’ cranking lfp, wiring)
Quartenary? It should last a long time

Drawbacks-
I can only winch with the truck on. This could in some corner cases be an issue. I carry a satellite device if I’m in the boonies, rescue is inconvenient, but for these corner cases I’ll be ok with it. Winching on the starting battery no engine can also end up in a stranding if you kill it before rescue is complete.

What about accessory power?
I never really used the main battery as a camp source. I know many do. If I need a camp source I’ll build a LFP bank into the rear of the truck. So far I make do with a small size LfP solar generator. Most of my camping is on the less is more side of things, usually with lots of driving in the day to recharge stuff if necessary, not the post up kind. If I posted up solar, house battery, etc would be on the menu, again nothing to do with the starting solution, whatever that was.

 

[grinchy]

4 Lo and Diff Lock Cycling update
60 deg outside
TC not warm (about 2 miles)
4 L0 - Yes
Center Diff lock - Yes
Center Diff unlock - Yes
4 Lo Unlcok - Yes

So that took from 19Sep to 03Oct, a the truck was parked for a few days of that while I was traveling.

Will keep remembering to give it the weekly kick from here on out.

 

[grinchy]

Fuel door update: it’s been opening only a 1/3, then 1/2, and lately 3/4. For quite a while, maybe a year this has been going on. Last fill a random piece of broken plastic fell on the ground, and I have full function again. Fingers crossed it wasn’t an important piece of plastic.

 

[lx200inAR]

Fuel door update: it’s been opening only a 1/3, then 1/2, and lately 3/4. For quite a while, maybe a year this has been going on. Last fill a random piece of broken plastic fell on the ground, and I have full function again. Fingers crossed it wasn’t an important piece of plastic.

I've had this recently too.. I didn't notice losing any pieces of plastic falling out. But definitely went from barely opening enough to add fuel to it swinging wide open.

 

[grinchy]

I've had this recently too.. I didn't notice losing any pieces of plastic falling out. But definitely went from barely opening enough to add fuel to it swinging wide open.

As far as I could tell, the fuel door and rivets are all metal. No idea where the plastic originated from , but it was definitely blocking the door behind the hinge in a way I couldn’t see it, and took quite a bit of time to deteriorate

 

[grinchy]

Weekly 4lo and center diff diary entry
48 deg, cold transfer case (in driveway)
Center diff - click, immediate flashing. Pulling forward and back 30 feet did not get it to engage. Power cycle cleared the flashing
4lo - full engage no issue. Full disengage no issue

Warmed up the tc by driving a couple miles.
Center diff - engaged fine. Disengage flashing.

Seems I have some more cycles to go with Center diff

 

[grinchy]

Stardate today
Warm transfer case.
Center diff - nope, normal flashy. They flashy came on immediately, I think it is failing a startup check. It’s like it never even tried.
Restart light is cleared and center diff worked. Also no error in unlock.

4lo - went in correctly. All the flashy on disengage, but it did disengage. Restart cleared all those lights

I think I’m moving up to 2x week exercise. Weekly doesn’t seem often enough.

 

[grinchy]

Warm transfer case
4 lo locked in perfect
Center diff blinked a couple times and locked in. I think my failing a self test theory is correct, this time there were some solenoid sounds as it tried to engage, while light was flashing, as opposed to no sounds and immediate flashing.
Center diff unlocked no issue
Center diff relocked and unlocked no issue
4 lo unlocked no issues

This may be the first time both worked flawlessly with no errors.

Will continue locking them 2x per week.