Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Luckily, the LCD screens are in good shape. I looked at some threads on here about replacing the light bulbs, but I think they were for the previous generation.

Does anyone know the bulbs that I need? I think it would be a good idea to replace all of them at once.

And is there a good guide anywhere on removing the radio? I don't want to accidentally break something in the process. What trims pieces need to come off, which way to pull, etc..

Here is how it looks at the moment, kind of annoying when you're trying to adjust something.

polatok

should be along the same lines as this. i cant imagine the bulbs too far behind the lcd itself so when you have the lcd out, should be able to see the bulb as well.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...radio-lcd.html

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Thanks so much for that thread, I just read through it and it's exactly what I wanted.

I also found a working PDF file for the Stock Stereo Removal. The one in the Sticky wasn't working.
http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/Adobe/LX-51-92-p2.pdf

I'll use this thread for the actual bulbs.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...t-problem.html

According to that thread, the A/C requires 4 brown bulbs. Now does anyone know how many I need for the radio portion?

RxG300

The headunit is a complete B***h when it comes to the lighting design. The LCD has 2 bulbs behind the screen in one piece, so you have to replace the screen to replace the bulbs. The buttons themselves have these tiny incandescent bulbs soldered to the board and I have no idea how anyone has been able to fix them, or where you'd go about getting proper bulbs. Maybe someone soldered tiny SMD LED's? The A/C backlights are easy to do, Im about to swap mine out to white LEDs i have left over from when I did the climate control in my GS.

There are NO twist lock, replaceable bulbs in the radio headunit! Its all soldered to the big main board. I know cuz i pulled mine all apart to clean out the change some delightful little child had shoved into my cassette deck >.<

polatok

hey did you get a chance to do this yet? My friend is about to pick up another one today, and the same problem exists on that one. LCD itself is fine but seems like all the bulbs behind it are gone, so its completely dark. Since I'll prolly have to do it anyways, wondering if the bulbs matched up to the ones you found. RxG300 seems to contradict your/mine thinking on this, and just for ease of changing it, i'd like us to be right!

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

So I received the replacement light bulbs today. Turns out that you can't replace the radio lights - they are soldered onto the motherboard and are of a different kind. There are twelve of them and they are about one third the size of the A/C lights. I fixed the A/C lights by replacing all four brown bulbs. Unfortunately, my radio LCD didn't light up when I reconnected everything. I took it apart again and will try it out in a few minutes. Wish me luck!

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I guess my LCD light was just on the way out (it seems like only one of the bulbs used to work) and this process of taking it apart and putting it back together must have completely killed it off. After 3 tries, it still wouldn't light up.

The actual readout still works, it's just the backlight is not operational.

Here is how it looks now. SMH.



On the plus side, the A/C part is very bright. And since I mostly listen to my iPod, I will rarely need to see the radio display.

And here is what I was talking about previously.

The touchpad membrane behind the radio controls with individual light bulbs for every button.


And for size comparison: A/C light bulb vs the radio bulbs.


I understand that Lexus don't sell these parts separately, and I will need to get myself a spare radio unit.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^ you can find them cheap on ebay... seen quite a few go for <50$ shipped [black face, with working bulbs]

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I must have completely missed RxG300's post about the head unit - would have saved me a lot of frustration, have I seen it in time.

I've tried looking for the radio on eBay but it's a mixed bag. Some are $300, as a complete unit, others are cheaper but you don't know if the lights still work.

What i'm thinking of doing is swapping the internals, so that I get to keep my original radio. This way it doesn't matter if it has wood trim or not.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I was browsing eBay for some radios and found a good source. I was told to check the part number in order to make sure that everything will work, since radios that look alike might not function the same way. Well my part number is 86120-33061 (black face), I found one for $122. But there is also one with wood trim (part #: 86120-33320), and it's cheaper.




Now do you guys think that I will be able to swap out the parts from the wood-trimmed radio onto my black-faced one without any issues? Or should I just buy a black-faced radio and swap out the whole unit? Because it will void the 30-day warranty if I take it apart.

p.s.: I found the perfect radio-removal tool



It works wonderfully for removing the vents and the bottom trim. Just make sure that it's plastic, has a very thin edge, and slightly bent.

polatok

hm, thats interesting! i thought the wood ones were for the 2es only and all 3es radios were the black face ones, guess not! The black one looks wider on top and narrower on the bottom, where the wood one seems rectangular with the middle bulging a litle bit, but that could b just the face, while the board is the same size. All the buttons seems to be in the right place, but I dunno, you always find a surprize when you open them. I'd say err on the side of caution and go for a unit that works to begin with rather than reverse engineering. seems like abt a $30 difference, which prolly will save you a decent amount of hassle, if it was even possible.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

The shape is actually exactly the same. Aside from the trim, the only other difference I noticed is the placement of the "Compact DISC" logo.

Oh and there is another thing I just spotted. My radio doesn't have a blue plug on the back, like the wood-trimmed radios do.



vs. mine




...okay I guess I need the black one

EEngineer

i always thought those bulbs comes off, cuz a buddy of mine redid all his dash bulbs into LEDs.
just need a pair of very small plyers and gently yank them out.

RxG300

That wood one is actually from a Coach edition, and ONLY a Coach edition (maybe Platinum's too)

mdbrown

Okay, the black face one is not from an ES. If you look at the A/C panel it's a dual zone climate control which is something the ES did not have until very late, say 2003 or later. The wood panel radio is stock in all ES in 2000-2001. Without verifying it I would guess the black panel radio is from an LS400. The wood panel radio is from a 2000-2001 ES300. It's a Pioneer and should be identical to the one you have internally but apparently the connectors changed in 2000.