Scooter

Dropping by at the Forums section of: http://priuschat.com/ introduces one to chat from real, long and short-term Prius owners' experiences, albeit from a US driving base. Some of the folk there are really deep into the hybrid technology area. Can be a useful visit.

Hi, John, u might enjoy this page from an American family who really are enjoying getting deep into the hybrid technology: http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/ It hasn't taken them long atall to start pulling the hybrid apart and playing with it...cool!

Poor 'ol Commodore is losing its Aussie identity these days on the production line. About 55% of the car comes from Oz. The rest imported including things like boot lid pressings and windscreens and rubber mouldings and some lighting parts from China. Oh well, we can always buy a Great Wall suv when things get desperate .

Exedy are pretty good. That Japanese manufacturer would supply about 50% of the clutches used by the Japanese car manufacturers as original equipment.

Auto Lanka automatically truncated the link, at the Service Express site, use navigation link to Hybrid and Other Emergency euides - Cheers, Scooter

Honda Technical Bulletin that might be of interest to some: https://techinfo.honda.com/Rjanisis/logon.asp?Region=US

Can be a bit of a rust bucket...care with bottom of B pillar and sills, roof gutter area, rear window frames, run your hand around the underside of all radiator reinforcing struts and check for corrosion.. This model sometimes encounters wheel-shake issues, particularly where wider wheels/tyres fitted. In low range first and driven slowly, will go where even Superman himself wld be frightened.

From the sublime to the................ Seeing as it's going to be tricky running a GS500 on the SL roads, I'm currently being tempted by a bit of retro in the form of the Jawa 350.. http://www.jawamotorcycles.co.uk/models.html At around 3000 quid, it cld be either fun or a disaster!

Hi Skyline, nice bike, nice ride, nice post. I'm up in Sydney and run a Suzuki blue GS500 (naked) for a bit of fun. Had a 600k trip a week ago out to Bathurst and around and back. It's been an odd weather season for riding, ain't it? Just fitted a set of Oggy Knobbs to the bike this week for a bit of added case-protection. Give me a wave on the road if ya see me!!!!

And if anyone's interested, selected the fuel-use function on the family 1.5 Jazz recently, after about 18 months of its showing the odometer reading, and it reported 6.6 litres/per 100k.

Currently riding an '09 Suzuki GS500...simple technology...reminds me of my '60s British bikes 'cept it dosen't leak oil everywhere and the electrics have nothing to do with Lucas....did a 600k ride a week back and I'm still grinning about the fun I had.....

And is it right that Honda are now returning to a CVT for the Jazz (same CVT unit as in their little Hybrid) following a few years of non-CVT autos in that vehicle???

Guys, guys, guys, pop the original poster in behind a 2-speed Hydramatic and there's all the problems and arguments solved, wheeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Tx, Mars

Follow-up. Guess u saw that schedule as kindly pointed out by Mars. I'd seen an English language one somewhere but simply can't remember its location! Was that a definite stop on the blue permits?

Hi Ozspec, don't know if this is useful but just had a quote from Ever Global in Sydney to ship Honda Jazz from Port Kembla (NSW) to Colombo RORO at $1950+insurance as wanted. There is a schedule floating round on the net somewhere detailing the sliding duty scale on import of cars owned os by SLs. Wld be interested to hear of any more info u scource on such import activity - cheers, Scooter

As I was saying, Dilkur is on the ball here. Regular, around 20k, fluid replacement on CVTs ensures long unit life. That is a much shorter interval than generally recommended by the manufacturer service books but trade experience shows its a wise habit for the owner. Anyway, each to his own, eh?

Dilku is not far off the mark. The secret to a decent life on these CVTs is regular (20K ish) fluid replacement with the correct fluids. Without regular fluid servicing, troubles can be expected around the figure D quoted. So, if u get a cvt equipped vehicle from newish...it's regular fluid changes. If u'r buying a cvt equipped vehicle with 70/80ks on the clock and no evidence of fluid chnages, well, maybe there are other vehicles around for you. And it's not just cvt boxes that need loving, if you have a modern "sealed" ZF auto and don't pamper it, be prepared to dig deep into that wallet! Maybe a lot to be still said for an old clutch and a stick through the floor!

Tx for all the building info, guys, much appreciated.

Sorry, completely off the car topic. Has anyone done any house building in Colombo suburbs recently? Can u help me with some idea of what average per square metre building costs are these days? Tx in anticipation.

It's hard to beat the economy of buying quality tools in the first place. I'm still using a British half-inch drive socket set that I bought in 1963 (!) as I first got interested in motorbikes and cars. All sockets remain perfect as does the rachet handle.

Hi Kala....been running a Jazz 1500cc with CVT gearbox for a number of years now and have enjoyed the extra little bit of "oomph" the larger engine gives the vehicle, this is particularly the case when carrying a full passenger load. Overall, one of the most practical cars I have ever owned...the interior space will amaze you (the Jazz is a liitle bit like Dr Who's Tardis) and they are extremely well screwd together. Points to watch for are handbrake recalls in models around 2004 and on-going wheel bearing problems (particularly where vehicles have been pressure washed) and the paint-thickness can be a bit iffy. There have been some reports of problems with the window motor switches. If the car u are interested in has a CVT gearbox, regular transmission fluid replacement with the genuine Honda products is the lifeblood and secret to long box life. If u buy one, enjoy!

Spot on, Don, the next couple of years will see, for example, some innovative hybrid metal from the Renault/Nissan liaison hitting the world market.

Videos showcasing the technology of the recently released Toyota Plug-in Hybrid - based on the Prius SIII - available at: http://www.toyota.com/esq/articles/2010/Prius_Plgin_In_Hybrid.html#lb-1

Tinkering on these vehicles could be fun. The Prius I battery operates at 273v with nil voltage boost used, with the Prius II having a 201v battery and a system that boosts current out to 500v. The Lexus system is even hairier with a 288v battery whose current is sometimes boosted to 650v. Normal mechanical servicing is pretty similar to any car but once into the High Voltage area things become interesting with Linesman's Gloves being a necessary part of the mechanic's kit! These vehicles also present challenges to emergency service crews 'cos of the HV and the nasty chemical make-up of the battery...there is some interesting stuff on emergy response to hybrid incidents at: https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/staticcontent/en/techinfo/html/prelogin/docs/2ndprius.pdf Re battery life, the Cairns (Oz) taxi fleet have been opertaing about 30 Prius cabs and they have reoported 2 battery replacements due to some cells going low votage - 1 vehicle at about 350,000k and the other at about 500,000k - can't see the owners complaining about that sort of service record.