mon330

Hi guys

I bought a 2009 IS 250 from my local Lexus dealership earlier this year. Recently, the standard stereo (not Mark Levinson) has started briefly cutting out, mainly when riding over bumps and potholes in the road.

It generally comes straight back on in under a second or so, but occasionally will cut out for a few minutes before magically coming back on of its own accord. (Also, it will sometimes cut out when the car is in park, so it's not only caused by bumps).

This happens with both radio and CD, so it's not the CD player skipping.

I returned it to my Lexus dealer for them to check, but they couldn't find fault with it and told me to persevere. Annoyingly, on the day I drove the several miles to the dealership, it didn't cut out on me once, and similarly they told me it didn't when they took it out.

Problem is, my warranty expires in January so I need to get it sorted before then. I'm thinking of asking for a new amplifier. I'm no expert, but I figure it must be the amp that's faulty?

Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks

Slammer1

Sounds like a short or a bad connection. When it cuts out, does the power to the stereo go out (as if it's lost power), or are you just losing sound. If this can be isolated, I would think they could narrow it down considerably. To be honest, this could be a connection at the stereo or at the amp, or a short in the data cable between the two. Ask the service advisor if you he (or a tech) wouldn't mind riding with you, so that you can try to duplicate the problem for them. Either way, you are gonna want to get this done while it's under warranty. A stereo shop or electrical shop would likely charge a mint in labor hours to diagnose a problem such as this.

istundra

iTrader: (2)

hm... definitely check the amp connection in the trunk. it probably has to be reseated.

Checking the connections is what i'd do first....

but as to your concern, bring it up to Lexus and ask them to note this is a preexisting issue before it expired. I have never experienced this situation before but that would be my next action since at the moment, they cannot replicated it.

nastyemu

Mine does that too since last summer, though for most of the winter it didn't happen. I get it over sharp bumps but I've also had it happen on smooth road. Happened a few days ago over a bump for the first time in a while. I think it's a 'connection' issue too, but since I can just press the power button to bring it back i've never never bothered looking into it.

mon330

The sound just completely cuts out. The stereo itself still appears to have power (i.e. the CD continues to play and all the displays are still on, just no sound). I suppose the best way to describe it is like pressing a mute button.

I notice a slight trend emerging with it - on cool days it very rarely does it, but on hot days it seems much more susceptible. Here in England, cool days far outnumber hot days, lol.

Mark

TEXAS83

This happens on my ML sc430 - if i turn up the music past a certain point (not crazy loud, just loud) - the sound will cut off. if i turn the bass all the way to -5, it happens less, but if i let the bass go to even 0 or -1, it will cut out intermittently pretty frequently. definitely has power, just cuts out for 2-3 seconds. did you find a fix?

MikeFoxx

iTrader: (8)

old thread bump for the preachers of "Search First"

I have this exact problem as of yesterday. This specifically when I turn it up past 28. I do have The ML. My rear sub recently blew and I haven't removed or replaced it yet... but I plan on pulling it when I put in the JL audio setup. I'm thinking its my rear sub in this case possible causing a short. Is anyone else having or had this issue... when turning up the radio past a certain point the radio cuts off for 5 seconds and then on for a second then off for 5 and so on. If I turn it down to 24 it plays normal.

It may be the amp going... but I hope not. I know there is a way to pickup the low frequency tone that is transmitted to rule out the amp or not. Just haven't had a chance to do it since this just started on my way home last night.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^It might be the amp sensing that failed sub and putting itself into protection mode and "rebooting". Do you plan to replace the sub or just remove it since it sounds like you're upgrading the sound system (aka subs)?

MikeFoxx

iTrader: (8)

makes sense... I plan on removing it and going with this JL Audio HO110-W6v3 ported enclosure. I may just remove it this weekend since its blown and coming out any way.