Ruda'

New to the Club and this my first post to the forum and forgive my spelling. I have a 1993 LS400! I've have read some of the postings about fixes for problems with the instrument clusters. Mine is doing the same as others listed. My plan is to have my machanic remove and replace the cluster. But I'm looking into which person/shop/garage to make the repair to the cluster it self. I'm leaning toward DASH Electronics & Speedometer. I've seen other names on this board besides DASH such as Jim Walker and Mr. Wizard. Can any one give me and up to date comment on some one that fixes these insturment clusters? I'm ready to get this thing repaired, I have no idea how much gas is in my car and I like that feelinig less and less each day!

Thanks!

Ruda'

kpgray

Hi Ruda',
Personally, I'd explore options through Lexus. I ended up getting Lexus to pay for the bulk of the repairs.
Yes, they initally gave me grief about my car being over 10 years old ('94 LS400), but I pointed out to them that my car had approx. 67K miles and this problem was [U]very well [/U] documented. Lexus (corporate) made an offer to pay a substantial amount of the repairs through my local dealer. One bonus about going through Lexus is that you have recourse in the future.
I seriously considered Jim Walker (who seems like a real good guy with expertise in this matter), but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of pulling the cluster out, being without a car for 3 - 7 days, and having to reinstall the cluster. However, if Lexus hadn't subsidized the bill I would have gone this route.
Best of luck to you. I know what a major pain this is!

Ruda'

Thanks much Kgray,

Can you give me info on where to start with Lexus (local dealer, regional office, corporate, etc)?

Thanks Ruda'

kpgray

Hi Ruda',

I can't remember exactly who I contacted first, but I believe I went to lexus.com and emailed Lexus through the 'contact us' link. I would start there first.

Hope that helps & good luck.
kpg

Ruda'

After researching info I found on this site I had my instrument cluster repaired by Dash Electronics & Speedometers. It was a little pricey but I felt like they repaired more then any one else I found during my research. I paid $362.00 for the whole job including shipping. A co-worker and I did the removing and installing of the cluster, it was easy. I used how-to steps I found on this site. As for the AC/HEAT control, I found a kit on EBay that was designed to repair it. The kit was amazing! I was not an EBay person and not sure if I am after buying the kit. The bidding started at $20.00 and I won at $112.50 plus $10.00 shipping. So for $122.50 I got the kit. I had a local auto electronic enhancement shop (auto stereo shop) do the removing, installing the kit and re-installing the dash unit. It comes with instructions and I must say my guy did not need the instructions. He said it was too easy. The kit also came with seven light bulbs which he used to replace all the bulbs in the dash unit. Some of my push buttons did not light up. His labor was $75.00. My total cost for both projects was $559.50, which I think was well worth it. My friends say the dash/interior looks brand new, especially at night. Plus when I first got the car I had the stereo replaced with an Alpine deck using a factory made frame kit. So I will also say it does look good even if it did cost me $560. I highly recommend both of the sources for services and parts. Okay I know better but the car seems to ride better!

Pianofxr

Just another post to say that the Jim Walker service is awesome, fast and VERY reasonable.
With round trip overnights, TOTAL $258.80, and smooth removal and reinstall instructions, I can't say enough. Reccomend highly!

1993 LS400

elenz

I have a very similar problem with my 92, my lights do seem a little bit dimmer than usual in the cold....but I haven't had them not come on yet. My problem is that the speedometer simply doesn't work in the cold. When the weather is warmer it works quickly and accurately....then also with the fuel gauge, it seems to take it a while to "make up its mind" on how much fuel the car actually has when its cold outside...it will sit on empty for a while until its driven a mile or so, then it will go up to a little over half tank...then drop back to almost empty....its really strange. Once it gets down to about a quarter tank, it usually stays on empty all of the time. I just go by how many miles I clock and when the orange light comes on....I don't care so much about the fuel gauge, just the speedometer problem, I really need a fix for that! Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

gwapito

Hi elenz i'm working on the lexus dealer there is a exchange program on the cluster ask your dealer about this program... thank you!!!!

vinegaroon

I have had these same problems with my instrument cluster in the past. If you have the
know-how to take the cluster out, you will see the damnest mass of electronics you ever
saw back there. Thank God I found a guy through this website named Jim Walker who
has experimented enough to be able to repair those boards. He was able to fix all my
problems, but at the time, he had not come up with a fix for the tach and speedo not
coming to life immediately. That was two years ago, so he might have figured it out by
now. Contact him at jimlwalker@sbcglobal.net. He is honest and a great guy to do
business with. By the way, Lexus has no fix for those damn boards; they only know how
to sell you new ones, and unless you are really an electrical genius, I don't think you can
possibly do it yourself.

vinegaroon

Hey everyone, I just discovered someone who can fix all problems with our instrument clusters.
Check our www.mrwizard.com. Can't imagine why I didn't try this sooner. Go to Google, type in lexus instrumentation repair, and his site is the first one on the list. This looks like the best
source for repair yet found. A Houston area used car dealer uses him and told me about him.
Hooray!

koolaidman

and i know witch board is bad.. circuit board 1 in the cluster. its common on this vehicle

vinegaroon

There is help for you. I have two sources for you who can repair problems with your cluster.I can tell from your message what your problem is, but go to www.mrwizard.com and check him out. It seems that he can fix any problem and even guarantees it. The other source is jimlwalker@sbcglobal.net. Jim can fix all electrical problems except the speedo and tach. He replaces those, but that costs big money. Try Mr. Wizard first. He is recommended by a car
dealer in Houston.

qball_ky

A thousand thanks to akamath and LamSV.

I purchased a 1994 LS400 with a known dark cluster. I got a good deal on the car and was planning to send the cluster in for repair ($150-$350) depending on the needle situation. I've had possession of the car for 4 days, and the panel and needles are all dark, except P,R,N. In the 4 days I observed the needles flicker once at startup, other wise dark, dark, dark. Based on the posts from akamath and LamSV, I figured it was worth a try to change the capacitors and see what happened. My plan was to convince myself it would not work so I would feel better paying more to have it done right.

For expediency I went to Radio Shack to buy the capacitors to replace C212(10uf) and C214(47uf), total cost $2.18.

Well to my surprise and pleasure, it worked. Backlight is fine, needles are fine, and the radio backlight is fine (it also was dark before).

Now, I expect the low quality Radio Shack parts to fail, at which time I will replace with higher quality ceramic capacitors from an electronic supply house, and tack them to the board with a dab of hot glue, to absorb road vibration.

Easy work, removed, repaired, and back in within 2 hours, even with time for a beer.

DID I SAY THANK YOU?

KilaWombat

iTrader: (1)

do u have directions with photos of how to replace the bad capacitors?

nadi971

the backlighting is out and never flickered just stop working. my needles and gauges are fine and work perfect.i have a cluster out of a 91 thats works great but doesent have the same plugs. is there parts out of this cluster i can use to fix my 93?