Hello Ladies and Gents,

I'm having issues with getting my car started and would really appreciate some help or knowledge if anyone has dealt with this type of issue before. Story is I live up in Toronto so I dont winter drive my car and leave it parked during the winter months. With spring here I decided to start getting the car prepared so I can start driving it again. I tried to start the car but the battery was completely drained, hooked it up to a charger and it had less than 9v since I hadnt moved it or started it in a while. I left the charger on the car over night and the battery fully charged up. Tried starting the car with a full battery but car wouldnt crank at all, everything on the car works from the lights, dash, horn, brakes, etc. I figured the battery may be holding charge but didnt have enough juice to start the car. Went out and bought a new battery which also has full charge but still no crank. Ive checked all the fuses, relays and main fuse link and everything checks good. I pulled my starter relay and jumped the starter and car tried to crank but it feels as if something is holding it back. The problem seemed to be more electrical than mechanical so I called in a lock smith to make sure the fobs were still registered. Lock smith came and key fobs were both still registered to ecu but one of my fobs wont detect for some reason. We ran a scan on the car and got an error code B2288 which is related to a steering lock issue. Ive googled the hell out of that code but its not getting me anywhere. I also noticed that my security light now does not disengage even when my ignition is on and car is in ACC. Again everything works, even when I press the brake the ignition light goes from amber to green but nothing. Has anyone experienced anything like this before ? Is it possible for a dead battery to cause these issues? Everything on the car was great before this battery issue and I even sparked it up once or twice in the winter without any issues. Im stuck now and the way the car is parked in my garage it would be a real pain in the *** to have it towed out for a diagnoses. The steering wheel is locked and wont budge. Im hoping someone can give me some guidance.

 

Start with this:

INITIALIZATION
In vehicles equipped with the push-button start function, the starting function may not be operational after recharging or while jump-starting a discharged battery. This condition is most likely to occur if battery voltage drops below 9 V. The following procedure has been developed to address this condition.

1. INITIALIZATION PROCEDURE

(a) Confirm that the D/C CUT fuse is installed. If the D/C CUT fuse is not installed, install it at this time.

(b) Move the shift lever to P.

(c) Turn the engine switch off.

(d) Open the driver's door to start an initialization process between the steering lock ECU and the engine room junction block.

(e) Depress the brake pedal.

(f) Press the engine start switch.

 

Follow up with a Battery Tender for those periods when you have the car parked for more than a week. Also - keep the key more than 5 meters way from the car when in long term storage to allow the car to go into long term sleep mode. If the key is present, this will not happen and the battery will drain faster than if the car goes into long term sleep.

 

I tried the initialization process a few days ago and it didnt help. fuse is good also. also tried to jump pin 4 to pin 13 on obd2 in order to get the steering ecu to handshake that process also did nothing for me. Any ideas as to how i can get the security system to shut off? I feel as if it is the reason the car wont crank and steering wont release. I did try the basic immobilizer resets of opening the door with actual key and turning from lock to unlock 3-4 times, holding key on open mode for 30 seconds and also double unlock on the key fob which used to work with the older lexus cars but nothing will shut the light off from blinking. I also have an IS350 and as soon as I push ignition switch it unlocks steering wheel and security light goes away

 

You're not going to fix this without Techstream to talk to the ECUs. Do you have access to Techstream?

 

The biggest horror story I’ve seen on this platform was from something similar. Stored with no tender and he couldn’t start the car. He took it to a dealer, and after trying everything, they just started throwing new ECUs at it until it started. I’m not saying that’s the case here. He never actually figured out what was wrong, so I can’t help.

Since I read that, I’ve always been scared to let my battery die in storage.

 

No unfortunately I don't have techstream. I was looking on amazon and found some chinese versions of Techstream that come with a OBD cable also but not sure how well they work. I was looking to see if there would be a mobile tech that can come down but i cant find one anywhere

 

From all indications, letting the voltage drop below 9v is a disaster. You'd be better off just disconnecting the battery instead. At the center of all this is the power source control ECU. This is where I would start if I were shot gunning this. I'd also at the very least buy a 2 day subscription to TIS to help troubleshoot.

 

How is that any different (not sarcastic)?

 

The power source ECU won't be drawing too much current from a low voltage supply. If you disconnect it entirely, there's nothing attempting to work with a voltage insufficient to make the unit work. Power draw is constant, so when voltage drops, current goes up until either the device fails, or a power management system disconnects the power source. Sounds like Lexus didn't build in a robust protection against low voltage. It needs something similar to the BMS in the Antigravity batteries. If it sees 9.5v or less, cut off the power supply entirely until it is restored to at least 9.5v.

 

You need to make a friend at an independent or a Lexus dealership. Even with Techstream, you're looking at replacing some expensive units because something got cooked by an overcurrent condition.

 

So to dumb it down for me, it’s the high current situations that could potentially damage the power source ECU, or other things? It is not the car being without power all together?

If that’s the case, a battery kill switch or a tender should be considered a necessity for any stored 2IS model.

 

This thread makes a really strong argument for a battery like the Antigravity battery with the restart feature. This could not happen with their battery, it disconnects at 9.5v, and as Jwconeil said, Lexus threw ECUs at the car to get it fixed and I guarantee you this is far more costly than $600 for an AG battery.

 

I actually saw that thread and I was hoping that wouldn't be the case for me since my car does actually go into ACC mode and it is still showing that the keys are programmed to the main ECU. I was thinking it may be a wiring harness issue that connects the steering lock to ecu which would probably be my best case scenario. Ive pulled my drivers side lower dash but cant seem to track down the harness or ecu. I need to take the steering wheel column cover off but cant because the steering wheel is locked and i cant turn it to take the screws off. Steering wheel most prob needs to come off to gain access. Unless theres another way ?

Im really hoping techstream can just solve my issue with some programing. I find it crazy that a drained battery could cause so much damage and expenses.

 

It is a little absurd. My battery died so badly my doors couldn’t unlock this winter. It was an accident. I got lucky and it fired with a new battery.