slam_w2k

All my windows and sunroof were opened by itself two days ago. My car was in the garage. The key fob was in the pant packet, but I am not sure if I have hit the key fob by accident or not.

JFNash

I'm not sure if that is relevant here, but occasionally the doors get unlocked a few seconds after I lock them.

I wonder if what causing your windows and moonroofs to open by themselves is causing my doors to unlock after I lock them. Because if you press the door unlock key on the key fob, the doors will get unlocked. And if you keep pressing it for a couple seconds, the windows and moonroof will open.

Weird.

cmasten

I have actually done this a few times and even set off the panic alarm twice. If the FOB is facing out of my pant pocket and I lean up against a desk for example it will press the keys and if its the unlock key it opens up the windows and sunroof, very strange at first, but the second time I did it, it was clear I had to be careful with the FOB as the keys are really close to the surface of the device and easy to activate.

RGSW

I have experienced the random windows/sunroof opening in the garage twice. I also found the trunk lid open a couple of times without my command. I made a leather cover for my "fob". I have not experienced open windows/sun roof in about six months since using the "Leather" carrying case for the key fob. There are no openings in the leather cover as with the Lexus provided/available cover.

jmcraney

It is possible that the source of your problem is in your car’s electronics or that a signal source that did not originate from one of your remote keys caused this event, but the possibilities of one of those being the cause are so remote that they should not be considered.

There are three reasonable possibilities to consider and all of them would be caused by a signal from one of your remote keys.

The first thing that you should consider is that someone, other than yourself, operated one of your remote keys, perhaps intending to communicate with another car or maybe playing a joke on you – this would be an intentional operation. I think you can discount that up front but it must be considered. Another type of intentional operation that could cause this sort of thing would be misapplication of the buttons on the remote such as pressing the “Unlock” when you intended to press the “Lock” and then holding it down for an extended period – not very likely and a warning buzzer alerts you that the windows-going-down/sunroof-opening operation is in progress. There are lots of things like this that could happen.

The second thing that you should consider is that some sort of pressure was applied to one of the remotes sufficient to cause the event – this would be an unintentional operation. The action required to cause the event that you described, windows down and sunroof open, requires an extended operation, several seconds, of the “Unlock” button on the remote. Most unintentional operations of the remotes are caused by momentary pressure events such as running into objects while the remote is in your pocket. It is possible to unintentionally operate the remote sufficiently to cause the windows-down/sunroof-open event however most of the unintentional operations result in locks and unlocks because they are too short to cause anything else.

The third possibility, and the most likely reason for the mysterious events described in this thread, are spontaneous transmissions from one of the remote keys. One cause of spontaneous transmissions would be crystalline growth on the electronic circuitry in the remote key. The growth of crystals on electronics is a known, but not well understood phenomena because the forms are so varied. A couple of examples of this are dendrite growth and metal whiskers. Some of the reasons for these growths are manufacturing problems, exposure to the elements, exposure to chemicals. Because of the size and portability of the remote keys they are vulnerable to exposure to all manner of things, such as dips in the ocean, swimming pool, washing machine and exposure to perspiration at the racket ball court etc. Just because they work fine after a trip through the washer is no indication that they will continue to be trouble free.

Here are a couple of links to help you understand about dendrites and whiskers:

http://www.residues.com/picture_library.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisker_(metallurgy)

So what can you do if you suspect spontaneous transmissions from your remote keys? Not much short of replacing them and that is a major expense. One thing that you could do would be to remove the circuit board from the plastic housing and inspect it with a magnifying glass or microscope to see if there is any exposure residue that might lead you to believe that it has been swimming or something like that.

If you think that disabling one of the remote keys would be useful to your investigation you could remove the battery or you could wrap it in several layers of aluminum foil.

A more remote possibility would be that the remote-key electronic circuitry is unstable and produces spontaneous transmissions at some low voltage that occurs near the end of the battery life. The best way to mitigate that possible risk is to promptly change the battery when you get the low battery warning on you dash display and to routinely change the battery after it has been in service two years even if you don’t use it because these devices, unlike remotes from the past, are depleting the battery even when they are not in use. If you have a remote key that you seldom use, you should disable it by removing the battery or wrapping the remote key in foil.

jmcraney

I am wondering if the odd occurrence that you are experiencing is the feature that re-locks the doors if they are unlocked with the remote and a door is not opened within about 1 minute.

It works sort of like this. Let's say you walk up to your locked car and you unlock the doors with the remote key by momentarily pressing the unlock button. Before you can open a door someone comes up and engages you in a conversation. While you are standing there you see the lights flash, the lock chime sounds and you hear the locks operate. This is the normal re-lock feature that has been around for a long time. When you first encounter this you have the sensation that your car is haunted.

Greg2012

I experienced a similar problem. The first time I was at the office and someone told me the windows and sunroof were open. I thought maybe i did something. The next time my car was at home in the garage, and when i got up in the morning, the windows and sunroof were open again. This time i know the FOB was sitting on a table, not in a pocket. Also had the speed dials cleared earlier in the evening before that happened. I just came out to my car and all the speed dials were gone (the ones i programmed manually into the car system). I took my car to Lexus today to see what the issue is.

My car is a 2012 RX350

Helmar

I'd be interested in their findings....

My dealer disabled the ability to open the windows from my fob, and it hasn't happened again, although I'm not convinced that it had anything to do with the fob...........

HBH

Ramblemutt

This happened to me today.....I was out walking my dogs and when I returned to the car to go home, I noted that all windows and moon roof were open. Unfortunately, it snowed last night, and much of the 4 inches of snow on the roof was now on my front seats and console. Easily possible that I inadvertently put some sort of pressure on the FOB in my pocket. I was concerned because I have had trouble with my passenger side window going back up. I did go right back up this time, tho. The moon roof, however, would not stay closed. I'm guessing this is because there was a little snow buildup on the rim, and the sensor was not allowing the moonroof to close, sensing an obstruction. I guided it closed by hand finally, and it stayed, but I have not tried it since, so not sure it's going to work right when it dries.
Not sure anything for anyone to comment on here, just passing along info. Disabling the feature to open all windows sounds like a good move to me. Can't recall when I've ever wanted to put down all windows at once.

Lextrician

Word to the wise is to not lay down with the keys in your pockets. Happens all the time but its bevause if my keys being in my pocket.

whitebird

She has an IS250 (her second IS) and it has started lowering the windows and opening the moon roof all by itself. This is not really a problem when it it in the garage except for the surprise and wonderment if this could happen when out somewhere.

This weekend she is visiting the grandchildren and must park outside when there. Torrential rains and they were away from the house. She got back to discover the windows down and the moonroof open and the interior saturated. That she can remember, there is no way to open the windows and moonroof with the remote fob.

This is a real problem. Does anyone know if Lexus has a recall issued for this problem or anything similar to that?

Shahryar

I traded in my '08 IS 350 almost a year ago, but before I traded it in, I was able to get Lexus Corporate to give me a few hundred dollars in Lexus Service credit. I'm still using this Lexus Service credit now with my parent's '06 Lexus IS. After the dealer made the FOB unable to control windows, the windows never went down again.

Valley101

If your fob has the leather case around it that Lexus makes, it decreases the chance of brushing up against the buttons. That small piece of leather can make a difference. I have owned three different lexus models and have not experienced this problem. Just a thought.! My dealer gives them to you when you purchase the cars or you can buy them for around $10 each.

sydtoosic

lol... i'm with Nos on this one. i'm always sure i'm missing a few dollars.

scottbrock

So glad to see these posts!

Tonight, when my wife and I headed to dinner, we went to the garage and got into our RX350 which has been parked in our garage where we left it Wednesday afternoon.

To our puzzlement, all of the windows were down at least most of the way and the moon roof was open and inch or so. I was genuinely starting to worry if I have been sleepwalking until deciding moments ago to come in and google this.