A couple of nights ago my instrument panel display went black for a few seconds then the gauge needles lit up and bounced around. The display went black again then everything came back on after flickering on and off for about a minute. After I stopped to be sure this wasn't a flashback from my misspent youth, I noticed that the fuel gauge read empty but I had a full tank. When I turned the car off I had a "HEIGHT HI" light but I don't have the suspension lowering option on this car. WTF? The battery and alternator seem to be okay ... on one short trip the gas gauge was reading full, but went back to empty after I turned the ignition off and restarted. Oh, the readout for avg mpg, distance remaining, etc is not working. It lights but with no values. The car is a 2001 LS430 with 161K, all service and maintenance up to date.
Thanks for your help.
Mike

 

I had my gas gauge go out on both my 93 & 94 LS400's. As I started reading the post I thought it might have been a fuse. BUT after reading the entire post...I am completely lost as to whats going on. Maybe the gauge cluster burns out sometimes & your the unlucky chap who got F'd

I'm curious to see what other people have to say

 

was common on all my GM vehicles, but on lexus ?!
my guess it's bus error... i'd scan it using dealer scanner, maybe it's something trivial like broken bus wire somewhere.
but clusters indeed go bad on vehicles, mostly due to micro cracks in chip-boards due to road shakes etc

 

I have had an issue (that might be related) with my fuel gauge since I purchased my car. Whenver I start the car the needle bounces up and down a few times before settling after starting the car. I spoke to the service manager who understand exactly what I was talking about. He told me that it is the Voltage regulator for the instrument panel and if anything eventually the entire panel would go dark. He told me I could live with it as it more than likely would last the life of the car. Your symptons might be related to the same part. It does not require the replacement of the instrument cluster.

 

Hi I have the same exact issue right now can you please tell me what you did to fix that problem?? The scanner says b1266 which is instrument panel system bus short b+ same exact issue please help me and tell me what you did to fix it thanks.