Bonz2012

Hello,
Please help.

The stereo in our 2006 Rx400H was not working correctly. There was no sound (Would come on sporadically) but full power, all buttons worked, blue tooth worked. I checked the forums and all pointed to a bad amp. I located it and in the process of removing to send to refurbish shop, I reconnected the cables and decided to try turning the car on to see if the problem was related to a bad connection... As I turned the car on, the stereo worked for a second, then died, along with the navigation and the engine. Now I have a car that wont start, no power to the navigation system, the stereo and one headlight not working. Rather odd. I checked over 20 fuses that I think are related to what might be the problem and tomorrow I will check them all but so far, all seem to be working.
Any thoughts or guidance as to what I can do next, aside from taking the car to a Lexus dealer?

LEXRX04

I would check with your main fuses/relays....but I honestly don't see how your amp would cause all of this to happen.

maseace

Make sure your 12V battery is fully charged. Many have reported strange electrical issues when the factory battery gets to about 4 years old or more, and loses its charge. It's worth a shot to replace it now (Costco has a good battery for about $65).

Bonz2012

I reinserted all the fuses and the car now works.
I'll check on the battery. thanks.

lsrx

Bonz2012,

Ours had the same symptom - 2006 RX400h Mark Levinson. Afterwards it got worse and drained down the 12-volt battery twice. (For that we bought a maintenance charger to get the battery charged from time to time.) Eventually it started making noise and crackling so we had to remove the amplifier's fuse.

At this moment, I'm still searching for information about where the amplifier is located in the vehicle. How's your amplifier doing now?

lsrx

maseace

The amp is in the back under the tray for the jack/tools, near the navigation DVD drive.

lsrx

maseace,

Thanks for tip. Close! It turns out the ML amplifier is not under the tool tray, but located between the tool tray and the rear seat. The tricky part is it's under a metal cover. So it's not possible to access it from the space under the tool tray without removing the metal cover (bolted to the floor).

After some improvising I managed to access the ML from behind the rear seat. Still needed to remove some a half dozen plastic bolts and one metal bolt. The amplifier is held by four screws. It's also held firm by a notch on one end.

Time for me to contact service shop. I've seen some people mention United Radio (at a rate of $325). Today I also found one quoting $299 <http://xemodex.com/technologyimproved/lexus-amplifier-repair-and-return>. Wondering if you or someone heard about it or used their services?

lsrx