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Interesting peasodos - I would have never expected to be the cause (or a "potential cause"). Definitely keep us posted.
~ Im2bz2p345
Glad to report I was able to successfully reassemble the unit, reinstalled, and everything works. Best part no more clicking fan noise. I have the hybrid so in EV mode with the AC off literally this clicking was the only thing I could hear. Now it's dead silent.
You have to be very careful during disassembly and reassemble. There are about 30 nuts, ribbon cables, metal plates, and various other parts. I took pictures during disassembly to help reassemble it. It took about 5-6 hours being very careful.
I had a problem recently which happened in cold weather prior and lasting a minute to as long as 5 minutes at startup (first time of day only) depending on the degree of the cold. Was coming from the Navigation, Radio and AC Control areas. It was not clicking but instead buzzing. Had the car in 3 times, fortunately they had it overnight and they heard it in the morning. But not long enough to diagnose. My pretty woman heard it and suggested it was the CD/DVD player. I tried the next morning and playing a CD, couldn't recreate. Took it in the 3rd time, and they replaced the stereo. Haven't had a problem since.
Strange they said it appeared to be damaged and not defective. I've never played the CD except once when first getting the car new. Fortunately they covered it under warranty, but I think they were trying to go down the road of saying I damaged it. I said, what do you mean damaged, you mean you sold me a new car that was damaged?
Different sound then what you are saying but maybe focus on the radio.
I had a problem recently which happened in cold weather prior and lasting a minute to as long as 5 minutes at startup (first time of day only) depending on the degree of the cold. Was coming from the Navigation, Radio and AC Control areas. It was not clicking but instead buzzing. Had the car in 3 times, fortunately they had it overnight and they heard it in the morning. But not long enough to diagnose. My pretty woman heard it and suggested it was the CD/DVD player. I tried the next morning and playing a CD, couldn't recreate. Took it in the 3rd time, and they replaced the stereo. Haven't had a problem since.
Strange they said it appeared to be damaged and not defective. I've never played the CD except once when first getting the car new. Fortunately they covered it under warranty, but I think they were trying to go down the road of saying I damaged it. I said, what do you mean damaged, you mean you sold me a new car that was damaged?
Different sound then what you are saying but maybe focus on the radio.
Yeah that sounds like a totally different problem. My sound was constant, whenever the car is on. Most noticeable when my car is in all electric mode. I removed the factory stereo, started the car, and the sound was gone. Then I disassembled the unit/removed the fans, ran external power to each of the fans, and replicated the sound with the one fan. Replaced the defective fan, reassembled, and problem solved.
For the sake of this thread & your suggested fix peasodos, can you specify what time of fan you used for replacement and where you purchased it from?
I notice exactly what dougm213 described with my vehicle. I hear a slight buzzing noise on my 2013 GSh, but it ONLY happens when the car is cold. Of course, since I have a hybrid, I notice "small" things like this even more.
Being in TX, this fortunately doesn't happen often unless I leave my vehicle parked outside during a cold night. As the car warms up, the noise goes away.
I'm thinking that I will just have to leave my car at the dealership if the temperature is every supposed to drop, which being April & heading toward the summer, probably won't happen for a long while.
For the sake of this thread & your suggested fix peasodos, can you specify what time of fan you used for replacement and where you purchased it from?
I notice exactly what dougm213 described with my vehicle. I hear a slight buzzing noise on my 2013 GSh, but it ONLY happens when the car is cold. Of course, since I have a hybrid, I notice "small" things like this even more.
Being in TX, this fortunately doesn't happen often unless I leave my vehicle parked outside during a cold night. As the car warms up, the noise goes away.
I'm thinking that I will just have to leave my car at the dealership if the temperature is every supposed to drop, which being in April & heading toward the summer, probably won't happen for a long while.
~ Im2bz2p345
I replaced the fan with a same exact size one 40mm x 40mm x 10mm. I cut the 2 pin connector harness from the original fan and wired it to the new fan. I also had to zip tie the fan into it's mount because the screws on the original fan were not long enough to go through the new fan(screw holes were different)
The most delicate part of dissembling the factory stereo are the ribbon cables. They use a latch system to hold in place, making sure not to damage the cable. Also take pictures during the process to make reassembly easy.
It seems like a daunting task, but if you take your time and are careful, it's really not that bad.
Have u tried tightening the rearview mirror? Or readjust it and see if the noise is gone. I've noticed that the rearview mirror screw is a bit loose from the factory.
Next time u hear the noise, put ur hand on the rearview mirror and see if it stops cause sometimes the mirror can make a ticking noise that seems like coming from somewhere else.
Hi Peasodos, nice work! My 2013 GS350 is doing the same thing, it makes this grinding sound even when the engine is not turned on but only the radio is in use. Do you have a step-by-step instruction on how to remove dash and the stereo unit? Or can point us to a YouTube video? Thanks!
Originally Posted by peasodos
Glad to report I was able to successfully reassemble the unit, reinstalled, and everything works. Best part no more clicking fan noise. I have the hybrid so in EV mode with the AC off literally this clicking was the only thing I could hear. Now it's dead silent.
You have to be very careful during disassembly and reassemble. There are about 30 nuts, ribbon cables, metal plates, and various other parts. I took pictures during disassembly to help reassemble it. It took about 5-6 hours being very careful.
Hi Peasodos, nice work! My 2013 GS350 is doing the same thing, it makes this grinding sound even when the engine is not turned on but only the radio is in use. Do you have a step-by-step instruction on how to remove dash and the stereo unit? Or can point us to a YouTube video? Thanks!
Thanks Peasodos! It seems very easy to remove the head unit. Also do you have instructions on how to disassemble the unit to expose/access/replace the fan?
Thanks Peasodos! It seems very easy to remove the head unit. Also do you have instructions on how to disassemble the unit to expose/access/replace the fan?
There are no instruction on that, just be very careful and take pictures so you know how to reassemble it. I think there was a tamper sticker ion it too, not something Lexus wants you to disassemble.
Well... at this point, there's nothing to lose, Lexus cannot stop me any more.
Originally Posted by peasodos
There are no instruction on that, just be very careful and take pictures so you know how to reassemble it. I think there was a tamper sticker ion it too, not something Lexus wants you to disassemble.
I've had a similar noise coming from my vehicle's CD player area. I had brought this up to my dealership twice, but they were unable to replicate it - the conditions have to be just right for this to occur (i.e. needs to be cold outside, car needs to sit outside, needs to be a cold start of the vehicle [before vehicle warms up], etc). Being that I'm in TX and my vehicle is mainly garaged, this doesn't happen often. I did recently get this to reoccur and brought to my local dealership. I specified exactly what needs to happen for this problem to show up (i.e. I told them to leave my car outside instead of their inside of their service garage) and they were able to reproduce this problem. My vehicle has only at 36K miles, but since it's been over a year since my warranty expired (model year 2013 GS450h), they could not authorize for a repair under warranty. They wanted to charge $2K+ to replace the entire head unit; no thanks.
I will try to attempt this fix when I have more time to access the stereo unit and disassemble it.
If you are one of the unfortunate individual to experience this noise when it's cold outside (or some people get it when it's warm), then PLEASE call Lexus Corporate at 1-800-255-3987 or e-mail them a support ticket (https://www.lexus.com/contact). Make sure to reference Lexus Corporate Case# 1901112018 - I opened this case up recently with them to make sure they document that this problem is NOT just isolated to one or two individuals, but in fact a problem with their supplied units.
04-06-17, 01:13 PM
