Nilism

I just wanted to hop on the tail end of this thread and see if you guys have any advice to the following problem.

I am on a 14 and 7 work schedule, so I am gone for two weeks and then back for one week. During that time my 2nd Gen 2012 IS 350 dies or gets very close to dying. I try to make sure I drive it a bunch on my days off and often throw a charger on it when I get back the first day.

I have had the dealer look at it for parasictic draw and they have reported that the vehicle is normal at ~ 60 mA. That seems a touch high but they are claiming that is normal for this vehicle. The Service manager said there were 29 computers on board, all of which might draw a watt or two in low power mode, so I guess that adds up in my mind. I would like to ask you guys, the tech and such, what your experience for sleepy time draw should be on a late model 2nd gen IS.

As per the discussion with the service manager specifically. He admitted there was a problem with the IS's and my usage-case but there was very little he could do for me. I was offered a new battery, as there may have been damage from the repeated drains, and he'll install an on-board trickle charge for the cost of the part. I have read through this thread and honestly I am inclined to agree with the service manager in that there is little he can actually do from his point of view. This seems to be a bigger issue that Lexus Corporate and it's engineers need to work on. Since it's a 2nd gen and the problems with the 3rd gen seem to eclipse the issues I am having I don't think there will ever be a solution provided for my car beyond what I am getting offered now, at the low level.

For a bit of background on the car- The battery was replaced 1 year ago with these same issues. The new battery rectified for a short while until it just got drained down and weakened from repeated abuse. The current batter does test as good but will be replaced anyway on warranty. The car is 4 years old this month and has 37000 Km (23000 miles) on it. The first two years of the car's life seemed to be flawless.

BTW, if anyone wants to Buy a fully loaded IS 350 with 23000 miles on it black on white just let me know. haha

Thanks for any advice guys and gals.

Dark9t316

Wow, very low mileage for a 2012! My 2 cents is that your 2nd gen IS issue may be completely different from the 3rd gen, which is mainly only happening to 2014 model. With that said there are lots of computers which may have sporatic and abnormal power draw that is not easily detectable. In your case, it will be very difficult to nail down whether you are dealing with power drain because your car is left unused 2 weeks at a time, which in any car might drain out battery and damage the battery cells over time. Believe me, push comes to shove, the dealer will use your habit against you to deny of any issue, so be careful.

A2BLexus

So, the last time I had this issue in April 2015, I took it to the dealership and they weren't able to find the problem and so they replaced my battery and I was on my way. Fast forward to yesterday, go to start my car for work and "click click click". The car was in the garage, tow truck driver insisted on boosting it to get it out of the garage. (even though he could have disengaged the tranny manually)

This will be my 3rd time of taking my car in for the same problem. I don't have confidence this dealer will do anything different but for the sake of continuity, I took it there once more. I had a chat with the assistant service manager and asked if they have been replacing the gateway ECU to solve this issue and he said "never heard of it". My warranty expires Sept 2016 so if they don't change it, I think I will have to take it up with corporate Lexus to get them to. I didn't buy a car that would leave me stranded.

unowned

Magnussen Lexus in Fremont replaced my battery and then held my car overnight and verified the battery drain the following morning from the gateway ECU. Got a replacement gateway ECU and I got to pickup my car the next day. so far so good!

Planeview

Update. my IS 250 2014 died again for the fourth time in three years. This time after less than 24 hrs in the garage. had new battery put in after third time less than a year ago.
Car towed to dealer this time without jumping. Dealer agree it is gateway ECU (with my note from this message board) and replaced it. hopefully this is it. Tired of worrying about car starting every morning.

TorontoR

Went back a couple of weeks ago, hadn't driven the car as I was out on vacation for 5 days. Came back battery dead. This time dealer replaced the Gateway ECU. I haven't left the car off for longer than a day so haven't seen if it will die again.

Mrg02d

Ive got the extended warranty, hope it covers this.

Ive had my car die twice now.

-Matt

doodlebug

It looks like I fall into this "before" production category, but I haven't had any issues. Just thinking forward, it looks like the part costs $130 (no big deal) but I wonder what labor would be if this occurred after warranty expiration. Hmmmm.....

Sybaritic

Thanks for posting this, what a great public service!

I just got my early-production 2014 3IS, and from the service history, it's needed 2 batteries over the past 3 years (very un-Lexus like), one that was most recently done in March. If I were to present this bulletin and show the history of 2 batteries to the dealers, do you guys think they'd voluntarily replace the Computer, or will they only do it if the car is towed in from a no-start?

ClubLUser

iTrader: (1)

2014 IS350 F sport 1 (Canadian)
Battery was completely dead today, no lights were on and had to get a jump.
My car is not equipped with BSM or parking sensors, so i'm unsure if I still have that module.
Will have to do a parasitic amperage check... No idea on vehicle history so ill have to check that too.

ClubLUser

iTrader: (1)

Just did a draw test: 50mA after sitting for 5 mins
The TSB says it should be "less than 50mA average" so not sure what to think of that.

I'm ~200 km from the nearest Lexus dealer so im not sure what my best course of action is...
My Vin isnt part of the TSB (probably 'cuz its a Canadian vehicle) but also the car is not equipped with BSM.
a bit lost right now haha

Sasnuke

The TSB is for North American market, so the VIN range includes Canadian and American vehicles.
Your VIN is not included because you do not have BSM...mine was not either because I have a Series II, which also does not have BSM.

How did you check the draw?
If you disconnected the battery and placed the digital volt meter in series with the terminal, then the reading would not be accurate.
The volt meter needs to be placed on the cable terminal and battery post at the same time, and then the cable removed with the meter maintaining the connection between the two.

ClubLUser

iTrader: (1)

I'll try doing it without breaking the circuit tomorrow. But yes, i broke the circuit to measure the amperage... i assumed if i waited for things to settle (computer going back to sleep) i would have a good reading. Now i'm not really sure if it's going to be better or worse.

Sasnuke

It should be better. Once the connection was broken, and then the volt meter completed the circuit, everything on the car basically fired up again for the first time, so the amperage draw would have been high.
You have to be so careful not to break the connection, even a second pair of hands would be a good idea.
You basically need to have the meter connected to the cable terminal, and while lifting it, being sure not to break contact, then attach the meter to the battery post under the terminal until you can finally pull the cable terminal off.
Do that after about 5 minutes and the reading should be low.

dojoman

iTrader: (5)

Dealer replaced my ECU even though they said battery draw was normal but I do fall into right VIN. New ECU part# is even newer than the one in TSB. Updated ECU is 89100-30221.