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DIY on changing servo motors

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Old Sep 17, 2009 | 11:45 AM
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Originally Posted by EN_VY
Didnt want to start a new thread, So I'll post here. I am getting a noise from behind my stereo. It sounds like if a cell phone was stuck somewhere and vibrating. It will do it randomly. Its deffinetly NOT coming out of the glovebox. I took out the ac vents and can feel some vibrating there. Could this be a faulty servo? Or is it something else?
yes its a faulty servo.

Originally Posted by ElitistK
it's a faulty servo motor. you can take the actual electric motor out and re-adjust the arm and then calibrate it again to see if it works, or replace the electric motor inside, or replacement the entire servo assembly.

don't try to force the arm into another position with the electric motor inside; you will snap the gears inside.
since i experimented with most of those ideas i find it was just easier to replace the whole thing. just wish someone made a better version of it. seriously why does no other model besides the gs/rx model seem to have this problem?

Originally Posted by RacingLuxury
Thanks for the great write up man! This I hope will solve my cricket noise problems! And just FYI, some Toyota dealerships can get Lexus parts for a lot cheaper then what Lexus will charge... I will do this DIY asap.
welcome. and i know...but since there is NO similar toyota model of our car ALL the toyota dealers i called didnt have this part. trust me i tried lol

Originally Posted by EN_VY
I havent been using my ac?? So whats the deal?? Ill try and figure it out, its really annoying
you dont have to be using it. if its stuck,frozen its gonna make the same noise. sometimes mine did it just on start up. no air on or anything
Old Oct 6, 2009 | 01:42 PM
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Wasup guys i have the same problem with all all servos but my other problem is the heater that blows for the rear seats how do you change that one?
Old Oct 7, 2009 | 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by GSRSRT
Wasup guys i have the same problem with all all servos but my other problem is the heater that blows for the rear seats how do you change that one?
um....the heater for the back? its the same heater for the front. if you ever take your center console off you'll see air vent tubing running under there that comes from behind the dash coming off the a/c box. so what exactly is the problem your having?
Old Oct 25, 2009 | 07:03 PM
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Brian,

Great DIY, I started it this weekend and got far enough to see which of my servos are bad (turns out to be the driver's side and the cooling servo, but not the mode servo). I ordered all three anyway, and will get back to this after the parts come in.

A couple of comments and questions so far (please don't take these as criticism, just as a suggestion for clarification):

1) Steps 1-2 and 3-4 should be reversed, as you have to drop the access panel before you can get to the two 10mm screws of the glove box.

2) Step 8 - on my car at least, I had three nuts holding the CD player in place, not two. Both of the nuts shown in Step 8 had to be removed.

Now, for the question:

1) How did you get to the one screw on the cooling servo that is hidden behind the AC line? Did you pry on the line a bit, or had some other trick?

BTW, I ordered all three of mine online from Lexus of Pembroke Pines, which came to about $385 including shipping. That's an average of less than $130 per servo, delivered, which I think is a pretty hard price to beat.

Leon
Old Oct 25, 2009 | 07:59 PM
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Originally Posted by lyonkster
Brian,

Great DIY, I started it this weekend and got far enough to see which of my servos are bad (turns out to be the driver's side and the cooling servo, but not the mode servo). I ordered all three anyway, and will get back to this after the parts come in.

A couple of comments and questions so far (please don't take these as criticism, just as a suggestion for clarification):

1) Steps 1-2 and 3-4 should be reversed, as you have to drop the access panel before you can get to the two 10mm screws of the glove box.

2) Step 8 - on my car at least, I had three nuts holding the CD player in place, not two. Both of the nuts shown in Step 8 had to be removed.

Now, for the question:

1) How did you get to the one screw on the cooling servo that is hidden behind the AC line? Did you pry on the line a bit, or had some other trick?

BTW, I ordered all three of mine online from Lexus of Pembroke Pines, which came to about $385 including shipping. That's an average of less than $130 per servo, delivered, which I think is a pretty hard price to beat.

Leon
what's the cooling servo? i thought there were just the driver side servo, passenger side servo, the mode servo and the outside/inside air recirculation servo...
Old Oct 26, 2009 | 07:29 AM
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Originally Posted by gsCrazy
what's the cooling servo? i thought there were just the driver side servo, passenger side servo, the mode servo and the outside/inside air recirculation servo...
I was trying to stay consistent with Brian's terminology. The "cooling servo" is the temp servo on the passenger side, part number 87106-30341. It's shown as Item 22 in post 7 of this thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...part-pics.html
Old Oct 26, 2009 | 08:11 AM
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Originally Posted by lyonkster
Brian,

Great DIY, I started it this weekend and got far enough to see which of my servos are bad (turns out to be the driver's side and the cooling servo, but not the mode servo). I ordered all three anyway, and will get back to this after the parts come in.

A couple of comments and questions so far (please don't take these as criticism, just as a suggestion for clarification):

1) Steps 1-2 and 3-4 should be reversed, as you have to drop the access panel before you can get to the two 10mm screws of the glove box.

2) Step 8 - on my car at least, I had three nuts holding the CD player in place, not two. Both of the nuts shown in Step 8 had to be removed.

Now, for the question:

1) How did you get to the one screw on the cooling servo that is hidden behind the AC line? Did you pry on the line a bit, or had some other trick?

BTW, I ordered all three of mine online from Lexus of Pembroke Pines, which came to about $385 including shipping. That's an average of less than $130 per servo, delivered, which I think is a pretty hard price to beat.

Leon
well leon, its nice that you ACTUALLY used this DIY. i mean that as in, only someone actually using it would notice i mis-sorted steps 1-4. funny i never even noticed. i have now corrected them, ty. as far as step 8, mine just had the 2 i needed to remove

no, i didnt pry on the line, DO NOT DO THAT. if u puncture that line u gonna be pulling the dash out. i got a short stubby type screwdriver to do this one and i agree it is a pain in the *** to take out or to even put back lol.

i would have replaced all 3 also, def IMHO the smartest idea. nice price, did they give you a discount when you ordered as my local place wanted ALMOST 175 a servo for them


Originally Posted by gsCrazy
what's the cooling servo? i thought there were just the driver side servo, passenger side servo, the mode servo and the outside/inside air recirculation servo...
that's right, that's all there is. but so people didn't message me going....i need the one that cools, i replaced some of the terminology to accommodate some people who read this


Originally Posted by lyonkster
I was trying to stay consistent with Brian's terminology. The "cooling servo" is the temp servo on the passenger side, part number 87106-30341. It's shown as Item 22 in post 7 of this thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...part-pics.html
i used the term cooling servo to let people know what the temp servo was doing so as people wouldnt get confused

funny i have NEVER seen that thread. the early pioneers lol
Old Oct 26, 2009 | 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by sakataj
well leon, its nice that you ACTUALLY used this DIY.
You bet, and your DIY thread helped me gain the courage to do it .

i mean that as in, only someone actually using it would notice i mis-sorted steps 1-4
You got it. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't find the two screws you mentioned in step 1, then I realized I had to pull the access cover off first, which was not till step 3 .

i got a short stubby type screwdriver to do this one and i agree it is a pain in the *** to take out or to even put back lol.
Great, I can't wait .

i would have replaced all 3 also, def IMHO the smartest idea. nice price, did they give you a discount when you ordered
No, that's their regular price. I scoured the net for about two hours looking for these servos and the timing belt stuff, and these guys came out to be the lowest by far for both.
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Old Oct 26, 2009 | 12:39 PM
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all my servos are messed up i here notices coming from all of them i went to the website but couldn't find them can anyone send me a link also this is off the subject but my oil pan is leaking there oil all over how do i fix this and where do i buy the parts thanks
Old Oct 26, 2009 | 09:22 PM
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Originally Posted by lyonkster
You bet, and your DIY thread helped me gain the courage to do it .



You got it. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't find the two screws you mentioned in step 1, then I realized I had to pull the access cover off first, which was not till step 3 .



Great, I can't wait .



No, that's their regular price. I scoured the net for about two hours looking for these servos and the timing belt stuff, and these guys came out to be the lowest by far for both.
good, im glad. that is why i made it after all. i was shocked when going through people's complaints thats NO1 had made one yet for such a widespread problem for us.

lol...i dunno the write up was long, i guess i got confused lol

try ANY HVAC supply house for a stubby screwdriver. that make some good ones, if you have a Johnstone Supply in town i can give you the exact part # to the one i used (i borrowed it off our shelf)

thats a good price.

Originally Posted by GSRSRT
all my servos are messed up i here notices coming from all of them i went to the website but couldn't find them can anyone send me a link also this is off the subject but my oil pan is leaking there oil all over how do i fix this and where do i buy the parts thanks
i have held my tongue with you so far but your ridiculous man, IT IS listed in the 1st paragraph of THIS DIY where to buy them, what each one does, how much they cost, and i even posted a link for them. had you bothered to read it instead of just responding to it you would have know this.

as far as your oil pan....depends.find out where its leaking from and deal with it from there
Old Oct 27, 2009 | 07:50 AM
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Originally Posted by sakataj
try ANY HVAC supply house for a stubby screwdriver. that make some good ones, if you have a Johnstone Supply in town i can give you the exact part # to the one i used (i borrowed it off our shelf)
I managed to get to the screw last night. I actually could not use the short stubby screwdriver, as the handle was too fat, and got wedged between the AC pipe and the blower unit. So I had better luck a short narrow screwdriver, just a bit bigger than a jeweler's screwdriver.

On a similar topic, has anyone actually figured out what makes the servos noisy? The reason I ask is that after pulling the servo out, the engineer in me wanted to figure out why it was making the clicking noise. I opened up the servo and saw that the gears were all misaligned, with the big gear barely touching the driving gear. It had a lot of axial slop, so I put in a small washer (about 0.015" thick), put it back together, added four #6 screws to hold th ebody together, and the clicking stopped. So now I wonder if this is a real fix or a bandaid. It doesn't matter too much, as my order of three new servos is in the mail, but I just wonder if anyone has had any luck fixing these servos (and had longterm success)? It would sure be cheaper than the $120 per servo...
Old Oct 27, 2009 | 11:38 AM
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Originally Posted by lyonkster
I managed to get to the screw last night. I actually could not use the short stubby screwdriver, as the handle was too fat, and got wedged between the AC pipe and the blower unit. So I had better luck a short narrow screwdriver, just a bit bigger than a jeweler's screwdriver.

On a similar topic, has anyone actually figured out what makes the servos noisy? The reason I ask is that after pulling the servo out, the engineer in me wanted to figure out why it was making the clicking noise. I opened up the servo and saw that the gears were all misaligned, with the big gear barely touching the driving gear. It had a lot of axial slop, so I put in a small washer (about 0.015" thick), put it back together, added four #6 screws to hold th ebody together, and the clicking stopped. So now I wonder if this is a real fix or a bandaid. It doesn't matter too much, as my order of three new servos is in the mail, but I just wonder if anyone has had any luck fixing these servos (and had longterm success)? It would sure be cheaper than the $120 per servo...
cool glad u got the screw out.

i think this is what causes them to go out is the gears jumping off but if people let them grind so long they wear the teeth down and then they are fubared. i have heard you can regrease them and i did try but i never reinstalled it after i regreased it
Old Oct 27, 2009 | 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by sakataj
i think this is what causes them to go out is the gears jumping off but if people let them grind so long they wear the teeth down and then they are fubared. i have heard you can regrease them and i did try but i never reinstalled it after i regreased it
Yup, that's sort of what I am thinking. I think that the spacer I added basically pushed the gear into a fresh contact zone that has not been ground away (yet!). But the rest of the gear is already worn, so it won't be long before the small new contact area gets worn away too. With all the work required to get to the servos, I'll just plunk in the new ones and try to sleep well at night .
Old Oct 28, 2009 | 09:31 AM
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Originally Posted by lyonkster
Yup, that's sort of what I am thinking. I think that the spacer I added basically pushed the gear into a fresh contact zone that has not been ground away (yet!). But the rest of the gear is already worn, so it won't be long before the small new contact area gets worn away too. With all the work required to get to the servos, I'll just plunk in the new ones and try to sleep well at night .
yeah for all the time/energy required to patch them i was like **** it and i bought new ones! lol let me know how yours goes.
Old Oct 28, 2009 | 09:35 AM
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I wonder, given the crappy track record of these servos (they started clicking after about 5-6 years), if there is anything I should/could do to the new ones to increase their longevity, such as add grease or whatever. Of course I don't know if I'll keep the car another 6 years, but it sure would be nice to know that I'll never have to change these servos again. Maybe I'll tear apart the old ones and try to figure out what the failure mode was, and see if I can prevent it in the future.



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