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I'm having issues with the instrument cluster fuse that keeps blowing. I replace the fuse and everything will work for about 2 or 3 seconds then out it goes. I've sent the cluster out to be looked at and was told it was fine. The fuse that blows is the number 7 gauge fuse 10 amp. I've tried putting in a 15 amp but it still blows. It seems obvious to me that there is a short somewhere but I'm not sure exactly where to start. Since it doesn't blow immediately am I looking for a bad electronic component verse a dead short in the wiring?
I'd sure appreciate any thoughts you might have.
check with http://www.lexls.com/ and see if he can help you, OR get some friends together and loosen your battery connection, have one /or you, hold it on (make contact) wrap the fuse in foil and have your friends look at the car while you put the fuse in and look for SMOKE and MOVE the batt cable and fix what is wrong.. I dont recommend this but if you cant afford professional help.... well, look for another answer.. and do a write up on this problem JUST JOKING...
ps when this fuse blows, what other/all accessories are not working?? if you have a manual it might tell you what all it control's
...
that would be my starting point
Does the fuse blow when the instrument panel is removed? If you have not done that test, I'd start there.
BTW, at least on my '91, the car is completely functional with the instrument panel removed (other than the obvious lack of gauges, etc.).
Find the circuit diagram and try to figure out what failure (either internal or external to the instrument panel, depending on the results of the previous test) could cause it to blow.
Does the fuse blow when the instrument panel is removed? If you have not done that test, I'd start there.
BTW, at least on my '91, the car is completely functional with the instrument panel removed (other than the obvious lack of gauges, etc.).
Find the circuit diagram and try to figure out what failure (either internal or external to the instrument panel, depending on the results of the previous test) could cause it to blow.
Thanks, Yep I pulled the instrument cluster out again today, put in a fresh fuse and ran it for about 10 minutes and the fuse was still good so I'm going to have a talk with the folks that went through the cluster on Monday and see what they might have missed.
I thought I'd do an update in case down the road someone has issues that are similar. I sent my instrument cluster and climate control to Tanin Auto Electronix for the service. I picked them mostly because they are a sponsor here. Before shipping the Cluster and Climate Control I called them. They had told me that normal is 1 to 2 days turn around but since the LS Cluster is more complicated it can "take a little longer". I figured it would be a week but they wouldn't confirm. I sent it UPS and it arrived (according to UPS tracking) on Wednesday. I called on Friday afternoon to see when I might expect a estimate. I was told then they hadn't received it. After explaining that UPS said it was there and who signed for it, the came back and told me it would be logged in that afternoon and they would look at it in a couple weeks. Couple weeks was much longer than I was expecting and this car isn't a restore project its a daily driver. After another call back I was told that I could request "same day service" for an additional $50.00. I opted for that service which proved to be not quite same day service but I think I got the estimate the following week on Tues or Weds. I know they were done with both pieces by Thursday as I approved the estimate right away. Being anxious to get the car back together and having the weekend off I opted to ship both parts back next day delivery.
On Friday as expected the box arrived and I discovered they didn't ship the Climate Control unit. I called and they admitted that they had forgotten about it and remembered the conversation where I confirmed the shipment of both pieces. Long story but I ended up paying another $50.00 for Saturday shipping.
Put both pieces back in the car and the climate control works perfectly but the instrument was still blowing fuses. Called Tanin and their response was there was nothing they would do until I took the car to a "licensed Lexus Mechanic". I'm in northern Michigan and there isn't a licensed Lexus Mechanic but I did run it to a shop I've used for other things. He looked for any breaks and did a couple test but felt much like I did the short was still in the cluster.
I returned the cluster back to Tanin and after about another week I got a call saying they really could not do anything more for me. We went over everything and why I thought the cluster still had a short. That's when they admitted to me they had no real way of testing the electronics in a LS cluster. REALLY?????? They say they replaced a board but they were just guessing at that point. They returned it to me and again it's blowing fuses. Last and final call to them they said they agreed it would appear that the short is in the cluster based on all the test but there was nothing more they could do.
Its now been a month of going back and forth, I've spent several hundred dollars in repairs and shipping and really all I have to show for it is a working climate control. I have since been in contact with Jim Walker and he feels quite confident that he can diagnose and repair the electronics in the cluster however he is on an extended vacation so I'll have to wait until his return.
In hindsight I cannot recommend Tanin for any cluster repair and if you suspect any type of electronic fault then CERTAINLY avoid sending to them.
Unfortunately some of your assumptions are incorrect. The cluster was fully tested and in 100% working order (twice). We test and rebuild hundreds of these clusters and do in fact know how to test them. There is plenty of positive feedback on this forum stating the same. There isn't much we can do when we don't have your vehicle to diagnose.
The second time your cluster was sent it again was testing perfectly fine. The cluster was powered on overnight without any excessive draw or fuse blowing symptoms. When the cluster works perfectly on our bench and fails when installed in the vehicle the problem is clearly not the cluster. Also, we replaced the main high voltage power board and secondary circuit board the second time, essentially giving you a new and completely different cluster the second time around. Despite the cluster testing fine each time we went out of our way to provide you with these free parts as a good will gesture.
The initial problem that you told us when you sent the cluster the first time was "lighting has gone out". When we received the cluster the first time we explained to you that the cluster was working perfectly fine and you would continue to have the same problems when installing the cluster. You refused to accept our diagnosis.
When you find a capable mechanic, please update us on what is blowing your fuse. Better yet, we would appreciate you modifying your feedback once you realize the problem is not related to the instrument cluster. We suggest installing another used cluster and you will find that you have the same problems. We are a small business and cannot afford inappropriate and untrue negative feedback when we bent over backwards to help you and send you a working cluster..
Lastly, here is a picture of your cluster powered on and working perfectly fine.
There is an impression here that only the instrument cluster is using the 10A instrument fuse. This is not correct. There are other modules, harnesses, and connectors that are all on the same circuit and any one of them could be contributing to the problem of the instrument cluster not working once plugged in.
Once the problem is fixed completely I will post the results.
Its not that I didn't accept your diagnoses its that your folks told me both times that A) the symptoms do seem to imply the cluster, B) You did not have the equipment to test. One of the direct questions I asked when you had it the second time was "can you test the amperage draw when you light it up"? I was told that you didn't have that capability. After I received the cluster back the second time and it still was blowing fuses I asked if I should send it to someone else for testing and was told that the symptoms do seem to imply the cluster but we (Tanin) can't test it any farther.
I do find it strange that in a private phone conversation your folks seemed to have much less confidence than you show in a public forum.
Unfortunately by the time I get this back from Jim (because he is on vacation) I will probably have the car put back in storage and I'll start my snowbird route south
Then your inquiries should have been transferred to the technicians. You were speaking with the sales people who don't know technical aspects of repairs and how to effectively explain what is or isn't happening.
You are now speaking with the owner of the company who is now aware of the situation and is playing damage control
TANNIN you guys are terrible.. you took his money and did not repair ANYTHING, plus ask him for more.. that tells me what kind of people you are..
I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND YOU TO ANYONE... you should have refunded his money after you checked it and found NOTHING wrong with it..
Pure GREED...
Have had experience here.Ahem. Don't get me started....
As for the fuse...
Does it blow when the key is NOT in ignition? (Fuse is replaced with car off)
Does it blow when key indexed to accessory (first detent position from off)
Does it blow when lights are on with key "Off"?
Unless you see somthing obvious such as corrosion tracks on connectors or circuit boards, or see abraded wiring grounding out at body panel hrough hole, then you will need a wiring diagram and multimeter to check connections.
What other components are in this fused circuit? (What does the owners manual fuse panel illuatration list)
A relay?
How about cigarette lighter? Anyone drop a coin in hole?
The cluster brightness potentiometer??
Anything repaired or taken apart before this problem.developed?
Found this thread - and thought I might post this to return to the Lexus community..
Wiring up (late at night) for Auto-Vox M1W reverse camera (no sensor in this era LS400).
Was late and did a rush job to splice reverse lighting (see photos). Was sure +ve and ground wire not touching with electrical tape - but alas was late..
Confirmed that the reverse wiring circuitry for LS400 (last shape 99) - LINKED - to instrumentation cluster circuit - ie gauge fuse 10amp. This WILL keep blowing if reverse lighting circuit has a short in it .!
Counter-intuitive as other lights circuits all work fine .!
Once fault found with (new) short on reverse lighting circuit - hurrah - no more blowing gauge fuse - 10amp.
Initially blamed the Auto-Vox camera gear as no picture when put in reverse (wireless - only come on when there is image transmitted from camera - which did not have power as per above mentioned issue with short in splice wiring).
Check your reverse light wiring and isolate short .!
And take note the reverse circuit in this era Lexus (could be other models) are linked to Instrumentation cluster fuse circuit - who knows why .! ??
Not quite million mile Lexus - ~420k km (260k+ miles).
Keep em running Lexus fans out there .!
Kind regards, Bill.
just to add / correct:
There is no separate reverse lighting circuit fuse I think - this is one the same as the instrumentation gauge circuit (10amp fuse).
Checked closely the factory fuse diagram - there is stop lights fuse, turn lights fuse (7.5amps) - but not for reverse lights - cost saving or run out of fuse location .?!
Found this thread - and thought I might post this to return to the Lexus community..
Wiring up (late at night) for Auto-Vox M1W reverse camera (no sensor in this era LS400).
Was late and did a rush job to splice reverse lighting (see photos). Was sure +ve and ground wire not touching with electrical tape - but alas was late..
Confirmed that the reverse wiring circuitry for LS400 (last shape 99) - LINKED - to instrumentation cluster circuit - ie gauge fuse 10amp. This WILL keep blowing if reverse lighting circuit has a short in it .!
Counter-intuitive as other lights circuits all work fine .!
Once fault found with (new) short on reverse lighting circuit - hurrah - no more blowing gauge fuse - 10amp.
Initially blamed the Auto-Vox camera gear as no picture when put in reverse (wireless - only come on when there is image transmitted from camera - which did not have power as per above mentioned issue with short in splice wiring).
Check your reverse light wiring and isolate short .!
And take note the reverse circuit in this era Lexus (could be other models) are linked to Instrumentation cluster fuse circuit - who knows why .! ??
just to add / correct:
There is no separate reverse lighting circuit fuse I think - this is one the same as the instrumentation gauge circuit (10amp fuse).
Checked closely the factory fuse diagram - there is stop lights fuse, turn lights fuse (7.5amps) - but not for reverse lights - cost saving or run out of fuse location .?!
Thanks for finding one of the reasons.
It would be nicer if you'd inform us that there were 13 other circuits/loads other than reverse lights under that fuse for a 99.
Those are Charging, Engine control, Shift lock, ABS, ETC/Shift indicator, Outer mirror, Tail lights circuit, Stop lights circuit, Combination meter, Illumination, Head lamp circuit, Option connector, Cruise control. Things are not always simple and easy, I always feel.
07-22-17, 04:56 AM
91 LS 400 Instrument cluster fuse keeps blowing
