Electrical Short?

[Merit]

On three seperate days when the weather has been very cold, my 99 RX300 clock resets itself to 1:00. Nothing else changes, just the clock. Is this a short somewhere, a bad fuse? I've checked the battery and it still shows a positive charge and, like I said, the only thing that changes is the clock time.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mike

[Lexmexico]

Mike,

Had the same problem when I first bought my 99 RX used. Car had been idle for a long time (at auction). It kept happening so often that I just replaced the battery. That did the trick. Lexus knew about this problem, so they replaced it under warranty.

It might also affect your set seat positions.

[salimshah]

Before cranking the engine, just move the key to "run" position. See if the clock resets? Then start and check the clock again.

The battery may have enough juice, but when you crank the engine the voltage may be dropping far enough to reset the clock. This is the firt symptom of battery getting weak. In my case the engine would turn over enough to catch ignition but it quickly became worse in a day two.

Salim

[Lexmexico]

Salim,

One thing that can happen with all batteries is developing a memory. This especially happens with cell phone batteries getting charged too often. At some point this can wear down the battery. Lexus made this statement when getting my battery changed under warranty.

Note, tires can get the same way if they sit too long in one position, thus leading to a warp.

[ederny]

salam is right! Definitely replace the nbattery. Had the same problem. Especially when the battery is cold, the voltage will drop low on cranking a cold engine, just enough to have the clock think it is disconnected and resets.

I actually like this "feature" and will immeadeatly get a new battery when I next see 1:00 on the display = Time to Replace!