bobster99

OK, I have read the 12 pages of this thread and unless I have missed something I have a different situation. I purchased a OEM ver 11.1 for my 2002 SC430. I have verified that this is not a bootleg copy.

The car is still running the Ver. 1 software. The system works fine and I have not had any issues with the original disc but when I put in the new disc I get the dreaded "no disk detected". If I put in the original disc back in the system it works just fine.

The new disc was sealed when I got it and there are not any scratches on it. The system will spin up with the new disc in it but it just won't read. Any suggestions... short of replacing the whole unit...

Harold57

Bobster,
Are you sure that you received the proper disk for your gen 2/3 system?

tfischer

All I can add is that about 2 years after the original release date, the new NAV data discs contained an update to the Operating System. A warning to not interrupt this update appeared on the screen. Once updated, the system would no longer read the Ver 1 data disc, but does read all subsequent discs. The fact that your system reads Ver 1 means that the OS has not been updated. My guess is that perhaps this is missing from the disc you have. My suggestion would be to acquire or borrow a Nav disc for the car with Ver 2 or later and put that in the car. My guess is that this will update the OS which will then read your new disc.
Of course, I could be wrong, and you might get stuck with an updated OS which will then not read either your Ver 1 disc or you new disc. Still, that's what I would try. I bet your dealer has or has access to a version 3 or 4 disc from time to time.

chrisv78

I hope this is not repeating previous solutions since I have not read the entire thread, but there are a couple of potential solutions. One is to upgrade your car to a Gen4 system. It is plug and play, and you get much better graphics. I did this last year and have been very pleased. They are usually available on eBay, and take 45 minutes to install. That being said, I still have the perfectly good Gen2/3 unit that came new with the car if you are thinking about replacing the disk unit. At least I think it is the original as I bought the car from the original owner. PM me for details if interested.

bobster99

Yeah, after getting 2 bootleg discs from Ebay, 1 was clearly a fake and the second was close enough that I almost thought it was real I purchased a genuine OEM with packaging.

I haven't tried to mess with this since I posted this and I will give it one more chance but likely I will either go with a gen 4 or just live with the outdated version till it dies completely

daleown

I just ordered a 2013 Nav DVD Update for my 2004 SC430 from the Lexus Dealer in Valencia, CA. $169 plus tax, but they said that is only the West Coast Update DVD, and if I also want the East Coast Update DVD, I'd have to order that one at another $169 plus tax. Does this sound correct to others that have updated their 2004 SC 430 DVD?

mrblister

The only difference between east and west dvd versions are the POI [ Points of Interest ] If you are on the west coast you want to be able to search for POI that are on the west coast restaurants gas stations hotels entertainment etc. The mapping software is the same for both versions. That said if you were on the east coast and driving to the west coast the mapping software would be able to plot and navigate you to any where in the USA. The only issue if you are running the east coast version is that when you get to California or any west coast state you will not be able to search for local POI.

daleown

Thank you very much for the quick response! Your information makes me feel much better about buying the DVD Update from the Dealer. This will be my first Nav Update, since the Original 2004 DVD is in the car right now, so I am looking forward seeing all the updated Streets and POI's on the new DVD.
Thanks again!

ancdmd

Discovered this thread and hoped I could fix my Gen 3 unit that's given me an error screen for the last several years. At first inspection with the unit powered, the laser light illuminated and the laser assembly was intermittently moving back and forth a bit, but seemed like it was either confused or stuck on something. It would pause and then move again, repeatedly. I took the drive apart and found the drive screw for the laser was stiff, I lubed it and it turned much easier. Unfortunately this didn't fix the unit. It's never been able to eject the disc, so I removed the circuit board from the DVD drive and was able to manipulate the gears to eject the disc manually. I made sure everything was mobile and not binding anywhere and reassembled it but still the same disc error and inability to eject. I even hooked up power from batteries directly to the motor and it works fine in both directions. I disassembled the drive and reassembled it two more times and still no luck. Now the laser moves a few times and shuts off without coming back on. I give up!

colincazza

First I really need to thank all the ClubLexus members who have contributed to this thread. Armed with this knowledge and with a little persistence I was able to get my RX300 NAV up and running tonight. Along the way I learned a few things that may help anyone who tackles this.

Our 2003 RX300 was a new-to-us present for my wife last month. Along with the NAV unit, 3 of the door locks were not working. These I have already fixed, also thanks to ClubLexus.

My first attempt to fix the NAV was the futile act of buying a new disk. I knew it was a long shot, but since the RX300 came with V2.1 disc, I felt that either way, V13.1 was a worthwhile upgrade.

Then I read enough of this thread to realize all I probably needed was a new motor (PPN13KA12C). Like many before who searched for one over the last few years, I too found it to be unubtanium (impossible to find).

But I dug a little further and found that other motors in the PPN13 series *are* still available. From what I could tell from the datasheet, I felt the PPN13PB12C has a fair chance of working. [even if not, I had a plan B]. Although still hard to find, I did find some on eBay and bought a pair.

The 'PB' motor duly arrived and I pulled out the old motor and tested it. Sure enough it was bad, usually not starting and pulling way too much current (900mA, when it should have been 40mA).

Unfortunately, after installing this new 'PB' motor, the NAV still couldn't read the disc.

So on to plan B. I cracked open the old motor and found that the armature was worn and the brushes were trashed. So I pulled the new motor apart and moved the brushes over to the old motor. It then spun up reliably at the rated 40mA current, so I felt confident I could now fix the NAV unit.

Uh-Uh. Still couldn't read the disc.

So I pulled the NAV back apart (again) and tested the motor in situ. Even at 1.5V, the read head carriage (aka Sled) ran from one end of its range to the other. So, no problem there...

Logic then told me that if the old motor was pulling too much current, the motor driver may have been fried. So I chased the circuit back to a ROHM BA6795FP 5 channel driver and sure enough, the channel driving the 'Sled' motor was no longer working.

My elation was short lived when I found that the ROHM part is also no longer available But, by this time I wasn't taking NO for an answer and eventually found a small supply of NOS and bought all 5 of them.

When they arrived my impatience overruled my better judgement and I tried to de-solder the IC at home with a soldering iron that was too hot and a technique that applied way too much heat [It's not like I don't know better!]. The damage to the circuit board took two hours under a microscope at work to repair

But FINALLY, the RX300 NAV unit is WORKING!!!!

I should point out, since the ROHM motor driver was dead when I tried the 'PB' motor it's still possible it may be a drop in replacement for the original 'KA'. This would be a better choice than rebuilding a motor with a worn armature.

If not, I think I noticed another PPN13 motor in the NAV unit driving the Loading tray (which will be virtually new). If that second motor is also a PPN13KA13C motor then the 'PB' motor will definitely be able to replace it and the recovered 'KA' motor can be moved over to the Sled.

If anyone needs one of the ROHM driver IC's to fix their NAV, then if you can tell me how you verified it is bad, I would be happy to share my small stash. Just be warned, I will not give them up if you cant prove yours is bad and adequately assure me you know how to de-solder this odd package without trashing your circuit board.

Again, a BIG thanks to all at ClubLexus!!

colincazza

Hi,

This sounds like the sled motor is at fault. That's the motor that drives the read head.

The driver chip has a thermal shutdown that would activate quickly if the sled motor takes too much current. Since the same IC drives the eject motor, this would shut down as well.

You could try disconnecting the sled motor and see if the eject starts working.

If you have the 86841-33060 unit, then if I read this thread correctly you have a different motor. I did a quick search and so far nothing.

If you really do give up, then I have a Gen2 drive (86841-47020) shipping to me that I hope to fix. With yours in exchange, perhaps we could do a deal??

-Colin

Harold57

Nice job Colincazza and welcome to the forum.

Bzowk

Hey Guys -

Just read this entire thread after looking for a way to replace my drive with a hard drive / SSD / different DVD drive. Got to the end and never saw a pinout for the drive connector

Below's my situation and what I'm trying:

After my OEM disc (version 1 or 2 - came with car) became unreadable, I obtained an ISO for 13.1. East for Gen 2/3. I put it in my GX470 Gen 2 drive and it worked, but I get unreadable disc / disc dirty / insert map DVD message within the first 60 seconds each time I turn the car on. When creating the disc, I used ImgBurn, Verbatim DVDDL media, and burned at the lowest speed possible on a really fast computer. I've now created at least x5 copies with similar results. I am a senior systems engineer so used to working with things like this. I've done a lot of research on this topic and have a few questions:

Questions
1. I attribute this issue to the DVD drive being older which doesn't work well with burnt discs. What are the chances I could do one of the following...

- Replace DVD drive with another similar but newer one. The ribbon cable in pic looks really similar to the interface on removable CD/DVD drives from older laptops. Doubt I'd be that lucky, but if anyone has the pinout for the drive interface cable, it would be a huge help!. IF I got it to ever work, I'd be happy to document everything and post.

- Replace DVD Drive components (lens? / other various parts inside drives?) with ones from a different, but similar computer DVD drive which may read better?

- Replace DVD drive with a hard drive with exact same software written to it. DVD drives & hard drives usually run off the same power and data connections (SATA \ IDE) therefore should be compatible, no read errors, plus much faster than disc

I've taken the drive out from the vehicle before to try to fix something else, but didn't look at it as closely as I wish I had.

2. Like I mentioned, I've tried many ImgBurn settings with Verbatim discs at the lowest speed which I and many others consider the best. Any other ideas for alternate methods of burning the ISO which may give better results?

If I worked for 1/4 the time I have spent on this, I could have bought a new OEM disc by now - however - it's now become somewhat of a personal challenge. Know what I mean?

Any suggestions you have or links to this sort of info would be great help. Thanks!

heathervb

I know this thread is dead but when you search "lexus nav no disk detected" on Google, it's the first result that comes up and that's how I found this post. If I had not found it, I would not have accomplished what I did today! So, I would just like to chime in and post my own experience for future Google searches.

I read the entire thread and found only one situation similar to mine. I only got the "no disk detected' message occasionally. Only sometimes the maps loaded. As time went on, the "no disk detected" message would appear more frequently until every other time I started my car, I would get the message. Additionally, all of my nav buttons were grayed out, even when I was parked, so I couldn't input a destination or select marked points, or even select home. Basically my nav became useless because I could never get directions and I could only view the maps sometimes.

As I started reading the first few pages, I figured the laser motor was no longer good, as others have experienced. I did note two posts that mentioned cleaning the rod that is put in motion by the laser motor (the rod that looks like a drill bit and it can move the laser up and down, idk how to explain it with the proper terminology).

I disassembled my gen 2 nav ECU unit and got down to the laser motor. The process was simple and I believe most people should be able to do it on their own. The first thing I noticed was that the rod connected to the laser motor had caked on gunk (carbon build up?) in every crease. Very gross. I cleaned it up really well using a Q-tip and some rubbing alcohol. I went down to AutoZone and purchased white lithium grease. I put a few dabs along the rod to sufficiently lubricate it.

My dad tested the laser motor with some homemade set up - 4 AAA batteries (6V total) connected end to end with duct tape. He then put an alligator clip on each terminal of the laser motor and the other ends on the ends of the batteries. This caused the motor work and it pushed the laser into motion, as long as the batteries were hooked up. We concluded that the motor was still good and reassembled the ECU. I connected it back to my 2001 LS430 and I was extremely happy to see the buttons were no longer grayed out and the no disk detected message was gone!

TLDR: my theory is that if your "no disk detected" sign is always there, then your motor is bad or there is another problem. If the "no disk detected" sign is there sometimes and sometimes not, or if your destination buttons are always grayed out, then the rod (looks like a drill bit) that is operated by your laser motor is likely jammed and ill lubricated like mine was, causing it to only partially work.

Hopefully this helps someone in the future!

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Great info and write up Heather! I've noticed that i do get the "Checking DVD Version" message once in every 20 starts. I'm hoping that this isn't going to be anything ominous but if it progresses, I'll def try your DIY. Thanks for getting your hands dirty and putting in work!