Its been freezing in new jersey , we keep getting hit with those snow storm and they have been so unkind to my poor Lexus ... At cold start my navigation screen will get all crazy and then turn white , I would have to turn my ignition key on and off for more than 10 times to get it working with colors again , sometimes I would run the heater for a lil while to get the car a lil warm then I would pull over somewhere to turn the ignition key off to get the screen back on , sometimes it works and sometimes it won't ... SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE ... those units cost a lot and not easy to find , I would appreciate a fix ...

 

anything with an LCD screen (phone, watch, etc) will react this way to extreme cold temps. with the current storms you guys are experiencing, it is normal to have a slow and blank screen. PLUS, these are the first generation LCDs, which are the most sensitive to low/high temps.

 

Would this damage the LCD screen on the long run tho ? I've been having this car for 3yrs so far and this winter season is the only season the screen went cold on me ... whats my options with dealing with this ? Even when the car turns hot I tried to turn the screen off and on but it won't do it , i would have to turn the ignition key off and turn it back on to get the screen functioning (sometimes anyways) , what does the ignition start up has to do with the screen ? maybe that's a full restart? , for some reason I feel like its more than the cold thats hurting the screen ...

 

ah i understand. unfortunately, these screens are also prone to failure due to being first generation. most folks here simply revert to standard HVAC controls and basic headunit.

 

It's so cold the washer fluid freezes as soon as it sprays. I know it does not help your issues but it's a fairly easy swap if you decide to go that route and there are plenty stock units in the junkyards.

 

There would be different causes that make your screen crazy. One of them is the characteristic of the LCD itself as timmy has mentioned.

The LCD contains the liquid and it freezes when too cold causing all white or all black screen depending on the design how the crystal inside is polarized. Most of auto manufactures use LCDs that have a good capability of wide temperature range. But as they aged, some chemical reaction inside makes the range smaller.

There are also other reasons that make the screen crazy when cold. The LCD drive circuit may not work well enough when cold because of the frozen or about to freeze electrolyte in the electrolytic capacitors or the semiconductors themselves due to the less active electrons inside when aged or about to worn out.

You need to distinguish the cause of the problem. Or simply replace the whole unit buying a new one or a working used one.

Is it possible for you to show me how crazy the screen is taking the pictures? A video is the best. Just photos would be OK too but I need at least 3 of them to judge seeing the initial craziness, then some better situation and the one nearly at the end of the craziness. I also need the time scale and the temperature.

 

How can I revert to standard HVAC Controls and to Basic headunit? can i also swap the Navi Options along with CD Changer to Other Navi after market radios? I'm asking cause my navigation screen had went blank white and I think it had its time ...

 

He means to just find a car that did not come with Nav where the HVAC controls are separate from the radio. remove your nav unit and swap in the other unit. If you go aftermarket you can't use the factory unit.

 

Here is some images I couldn't upload a video my bad ... Update: Screen went blank white from start up , it doe not flicker with colors anymore , I'm guessing this thing went bad ...

 

Now when you say factory unit are we talking about the CD changer and navi? I could live without those but what about HVAC ?

 

The cd changer is located above the glove box in non nav cars so I don't know how you would go about getting one of those but here is a pic of the HU and HVAC controls.

 

Ok I get it now , so basically I would have to swap to a non navigation head unit or I could Just locate a replacement in junk yards which is rare to find these , and even more rare to find em working good ... FMl I know navi screen was a bad choice ... Does my head Unit have a reset button or a way to reset it ... I tried to take out the battery for 5min that did not work ..

 

I doubt there is a way to reset it and if its bad I would just replace the whole thing.

 

Yea I took the whole thing out and it wouldn't work so my next thing is to hit the junk yard and find me a head unit without navigation and do the swab so I could gain control over my HVAC and then smack a double din in ... That's my only choice I guess ..

 

Check Ebay for the headunit or the HVAC controls. Craigslist might not be a bad idea either. Good luck.