sparky3

I had a minor annoyance with my 04 car; whenever I put the car back in park from drive, the back doors would not unlock. Since it was a hassle grabbing for the key to get my son out of the back seat, I scheduled a service appointment with the dealer to adjust the setting.

So, took the car in, they charged me $25, fixed the settting, and washed my car for me. Everything's great, right? Drive away and about 5 minutes later the AFS light begins flashing. WTF? Took it right back to the dealer and test drove it with him, and the problem repeats itself.

Now, I recently had the car painted and there's a tad bit of overspray you can see with the hood opened (I haven't had time to detail under the hood yet). My wife stayed at the dealer as I had to go back to work - they told her that they thought the car may have been in a front end collision (which it hadn't - it just had some rock chips on the hood when I bought it) AND that for them to test it the charge would be around $250.
Also they stated that both front headlights might be replaced.

My wife explained to them about the repaint recently, and they stated I'd need to reschedule the appointment to get the car looked at.

Can any of you possibly think of anything they might've done to cause the AFS light to flash? I wish there'd have been a Bible present so I could've sworn on it that I've never seen it flash before.

This car's been a jinx so far in the 4 months I've had it.

sparky3

To top it off, I can't just do a search for "AFS" on here due to the 3 characters being too short for a search query.

SuperUAE

I have same problem!!!

Anybody can help us.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Does it blink when you first start the car? or after 20seconds? does it blink with or without the headlights on?

If only with the headlights, does it blink when you go up or down a slop, or just when you turn on the headlights?

That could help determine which system might be faulty. Also, do your headlights turn, as you do like before?

Could be due to the air suspension sensor, or a number of different items. Let us know when it blinks.

to search with only 3 characters, use the (*). after the word.

SuperUAE

Thank You GRAND_LS_4 for reply.
it blink after 20seconds from start the car without the headlights on also the the headlights not go up and down after the AFS light come.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

I've had the problem before. Check the sensors at the front wheels. Make sure all the connections are okay. Sometimes the bolt is overtightened by a misinfromed mechanic, and that causes the inside bolt to stop moving, rendering the AFS feature useless.

Have you guys had any work dont latley in that area? I had this problem when I was adjusting my Air suspension sensors.

Agool habibi super UAE... do you have air suspension? as if im not mistaken, middle eastern LS's come without it.

sparky3

Well, the problem went away until a couple of days ago, now it's doing it again.
It blinks with or without the headlights being on, and 20 seconds after the car starts. The AFS system works great though, no problems. I don't have the Ultra on my car.

Any ideas?

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

SO AFS is working correctly despite the lighting going off? I remember the AFS light goes off for more then one reason, i just cant recall where i read the other possibilities. I usually saved important documents and posts like that... i will check my hard drive at home when I get back, and let you know if i find anything. (on vacation currently.)

sparky3

The light was off all week last week. Now it's back on again.

I know that Lexus is going to have me pay $200 for a diagnostic (or more) and then $400 for a sensor. Thing is, I could care less about AFS - to me it's just a gimmic. I don't live on the coast of California (i.e. not driving on winding, curvy roads) and generally only drive on straight, boring highways at night.

So, here's my thoughts:

1. Can I pull a fuse out somewhere and eliminate the light from flashing?

or

2. I'm thinking about removing the instrument cluster and either pulling out the light or putting something to block it.

Anyone have the cluster out of this car?

sparky3

Based on this thread:

http://sr1.clublexus.com/forums/show...hlight=cluster

I'm just going to remove the AFS bulb out of the cluster. I might take some pictures if I get a chance. It's embarrassing to have people in the back seat ask what the hell the flashing AFS light is on the dash.

sparky3

So, I took out the instrument panel tonight. It's really easy and straightforward. Two phillips head thumbscrews at the top of the panel come off first. The cover that reads "smart key" is held in by gravity. There's a wiring harness behind it as well as the right side of the wheel for the odometer reset. 4 phillips screws hold in the cluster itself; I'd recommend getting the bottom two very loose and extracting them with a magnet / fisher type device, if not you'll drop one and it'll wind up in the steering column somewhere.

Of course I unplugged the battery ground before I disconnected the cluster's wiring harness. If you tilt it sideways it comes out easier.
Once it's out, the cluster itself is very straightforward to take apart and very well soldered (I just mean the solder joints are high quality; you won't need a soldering gun for anything here). You will have to remove the front and quite a bit of the rear white plastic covering so the front plastic portion with the gauges will come off. Do not try to pull off any of the gauge arms; it's all part of the same plastic piece. There's 6 screws on the back holding on the white covering, and you'll have to remove probably another 9 screws to get it all the way apart. You will need to remove the 4 larger screws that hold on a PCD board with a small transformer and a few capacitors on it.

There is no "bulb" for these lights; more like a diode or LED that lights up. I put some black tape hidden on the interior and guess what?

NOW WHEN I START THE CAR the AFS LIGHT IS GONE, GONE GONE BABY! About 3 times a month this would flash for 20 minutes driving yours truly crazy. It was pitch black outside and not even a HINT of amber "AFS OFF" came on when I started the car.

Good riddance. On a final note of irony, I test drove it around the block to make sure all the gauges work. There's some twists and turns in my neighborhood, and the AFS system was working perfectly, just like always.

I saved easily a hassle + 600 bucks here. Sensor schmensor.

darchard

My 04 LS is running great but I have one issue. When it rains the "AFS Off" light flashes. Once it gets dry it stops. I'm assuming that it has to do with damp wiring but I thought I would ask for the Lexus community's help.
Thanks David

jayclapp

The manual says that if the AFS has a system failure, the indicator light in the instrument cluster will flash. Pg 56

curiousB

Try this fix.


http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums...0&#entry356824

darchard

Thanks Curious and Jay!