Hi,
Anyone experience an electrical issue with the subwoofer in the back deck of the IS250 ?
I was driving yesterday and the speakers started making a distorted whining sound...then a bad smell came from the rear window.
I would guess it's a resistor that has burned out, because I know that smell.
I don't believe this is a Mark Levinson system as there are no labels indicating....but I wanted to query anyone before the daunting task of pulling the rear seats out to access the rear deck.
I checked in the trunk and it seems like the smell can be traced to the small vent holes in the top carpet below the rear window deck.
If it is the subwoofer (or maybe the amp ?), can you still purchase these items for a 2008 ?

 

The amp is in the trunk on the passenger side rear plastic cover. Pull up that cover after removing two screws/bolts and it'll be right there. Sounds like the smell though is coming from that sub.

Yes, you can still purchase a replacement factory sub (used and new) :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/07-13-LEXUS...QAAOSwYBpeM5Qr

and...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexus-Genui...wAAOSwxmJZ1VZX

 

Thanks Gville350....I guess accessing the subwoofer is the first step to confirm....UGH, which means removing the back seats from what I can tell.

 

The seats are the easy part. That rear deck I hear is a pain.

 

so, I finally got around to pulling the back seat out and replacing the subwoofer.
When I turned the car on, there was a slight popping sound (from the sub ?), then the radio was playing normally with full bass....however, the popping sound concerned me.
When I turned the car off, the same popping sound was heard.
I turned the car back on and there was no popping sound...however, now there is no sound from the radio....just the volume level numbers.
I have in my hand the amp that I pulled out, which is my next culprit....but wondering if I may have blown the sub again ?
When I search the web about this, I've read many comments that the amp is prone to water damage because of it's location & positioning.
I had the car detailed a few months back and now wonder if they used a carpet cleaner or something that soaked the area.
Any way that I can easily test the amp for functionality ?...or is this just the next logical step for replacement ?

btw, the rear deck was not that difficult....just get a large flat head screw driver and locate the 3 plastic clip inserts (L, C & R side)....just pry them up.
putting the rear deck back in w/o removing the plastic side panels may be the challenge !

 

Before spending any money on a replacement amp, try taking a heat gun/hairdry to the underside at a low setting for a little while. If you're lucky, any moisture will evaporate leaving you with a correctly functioning amp.

Where your factory amp is installed, take a look at the plastic flap door in the fender. If it is not there or damaged in any way, I'd high;y recommend on getting that replaced so moisture cannot enter into the amp area.