Auston71

Hey guys I'm new to Lexus, got an 06 IS350 about two months ago. Great car and haven't had any problems til today. I was driving back from the store and the radio sound turned off, but nav screen was still on. Then the battery light came on, then lost power steering, then all lights other than check engine light came one (abs, brake, airbag, battery, check vac, etc). I got it home just a block away with the transmission hesitating and then shifting hard, and the a/c shut off. The car was still running fine but no electronics were working. I pulled the battery out and it was hot and swollen. Took it to get tested and they couldn't test it so I just bought a new one. Got home and dropped the new battery in and it started up fine, no lights on. Turned the a/c on and the rpms lowered so fast I thought it was going to die. Then when you step on the accelerator it would act like its gonna die and then rev up. I'm getting it towed to the dealer tomorrow to check it out but didn't know if anyone else had this problem. I have read many threads and can't find one were the had the check vsc but not the check engine light like mine, most threads they have both lights which I do not have. Any help/ideas is much appreciated! Thanks guys

Bichon

This definitely sounds like a bad alternator to me.

Auston71

I thought so too, I had an alternator go out on my Ram and same thing happened so I'm hoping that's it. Guess we will find out tomorrow!

firelikeiy

Autozone will test the alternator if you bring it in to them. A little labor on your part but by the time you get a tow and everything else it will take the same amount of time. It'll probably save you a few hundred dollars. I'm guessing its just the voltage regulator. They are like $20. Toyota alternators usually last 250K miles.

Auston71

Oh really? Well luckily I have roadside assistance so the tow is free. And my dad is a mechanic so no paying for labor on my end. Really I just gotta pay for parts so I am hoping whatever it is, it's not too pricey. The car has 130k miles so it may be time for an alternator? Like I said, new to Lexus. I've only ever had Dodge products so this is my first import car so not really sure what I'm dealing with lol. Thanks for the replies guys!

ColdFusion

iTrader: (2)

The symptoms you're having are extremely similar to when my alternator died (06, 109k). It took about 3-4 hours for a swap and everything's been good since.

JustBrosy

Yep my alternator died as well with most of those symptoms you stated above I also replaced the dead one with a denso alternator and so far so good its been about 15k miles since. It was fairly cheap as well about $200 or less.

whitebeast

iTrader: (5)

time to get new alternator. It's about 2 hrs job due to limited room.

Auston71

Very cool, thanks for the help guys. I really hope that's all it is. I will let you know what I find out!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Like others, I had VERY similar symptoms to yours and my issue ended up being the alternator too. $160 at AutoZone with a lifetime warranty.

Auston71

Oh really? Well awesome! My dad looked at it and said it is the alternator and is replacing it now so in a few hours hopefully will drive it around and make sure that's all it was! Thanks!

Auston71

Picked my car up and new alternator seemed to do the trick! Everything seems to be running and working fine so we will see! Thanks again to all of you!

Bichon

That's good news, glad she's back on the road. Should have given your old man a hand though. Always good to learn how to wrench on your own car.

Auston71

Oh yeah I agree, but I had to work so I couldn't be there. I usually help with stuff and I have two race cars that we race on the weekends that I work on.

cruzinZ

Sounds like you need to get ahold of an alternator and have your mechanic (father) replace it for you. Taking the car down to the dealer seems to be a waste of time & money. Even if you have free towing the dealer most likely isn't going to diagnose the car for free.

A little word of caution for everyone else reading this. If your battery is going dead replace it. A dead battery will put more strain on an alternator and can cause it to prematurely fail. If this happens you will be replacing the battery and alternator. If you catch it in time you can greatly increase the service life of the alternator. One tail-tail sign of a battery going out is slow cranking at startup.