Has any one done anything to quiet the door chime? I don't want to shut it off completely, just lower the volume. I have done it on two other cars by just covering the "speaker" with tape. The hard part is finding the darned thing - usually part of a printed circuit board and buried in the dashboard.

 

Door chime? I had to think about what that sounds like on the LS430 since I almost never hear it due to SmartAccess. I think the only time I hear it is if I start the car before fastening my seatbelt. (Of course, I haven't driven my LS in nearly 2 weeks due to the arrival of winter roads.)

 

Reach under the driver side dash of the LS, should be a **** that you can turn... if you turn it and hear a click, IIRC that turns off all the sound, turn it the other way the volume is louder



edit:My apologies, I read the question wrong.

 

That **** quiets the beep that you hear outside the car, when you arm/disarm the alarm system. The **** does not change the volume of the chimes inside the car.

 

Similar to caddyowner's reply, I was scratching my head when I saw the title of this post lol. I absolutely adore smartaccess. One of my favorite features of the car, and I have a laundry list of things I love about my LS. It is just awesome to never have to take my keys out of my pocket! Me personally, I like not drawing attention when locking my car, so I have the beep completely off.

 

Now I'm scratching my head. If I'm washing the car, how can I listen to the radio without the key in the ignition?

 

The ignition can be left in the first position so your radio still works. How would you listen to the radio while washing your car though?? I'm assuming you would have windows up...

 

I wash my car. Then open the doors and dry it off, vacuum etc. I like to hear the radio with the doors open, but I don't like to hear the infernal ding ding ding.

 

Ah gotcha! I don't think there's anything you can do about it. Every car I've experienced will make a noise if you open the door when the ignition is in any position other than off. Not sure but maybe try closing the driver's door and the chiming will stop? I don't recall if it still beeps with just passenger doors open

 

Yeah you just can't leave the driver's door open if you want to listen to the radio. You can have the other three doors open and it won't chime. Just turn the "key" to the accessory position (with keys still in your pocket while
being in the car) and you're good to go. I don't think there is anything you can do to stop the chime if the driver's door is open, however.

 

Sorry to dig up an old thread but today I got rid of the annoying door open chime on my recently acquired 01 LS430 (Australian RHD) so I thought I'd share if any one is interested. I've done this before many times on other Toyotas I've owned of the same or newer vintage. The door chime piezo buzzer is located on the main PCB of the instrument cluster so involves removing the entire cluster and getting access the main PCB where the buzzer is soldered too. No need to remove it, simply put a small self tapping screw into the buzzer tiny hole and it will become silent. It's a little more involved that I've done n the past but the job can be done with a Phillips screwdriver and suitable small and short self tapping screw.

If anyone is interested I'll do another post with some pics and disassembly details. I forgot to takes pics today when it was out but the cluster comes out so easily and apart quickly, once you've done it a few times.

Out of interest, the main reason I had the cluster out was to investigate the problem as to why my check engine light doesn't come on with ignition on. I've only had this car for a few weeks and noticed the light was not showing up on the gauge with all the other lights at start-up. Turns out, Australian spec cars don't have this check light - I should have read the owner's manual first . I was thinking the LED had failed on the display PCB or something. The specific 'check engine light' wiring is certainly there from the cluster back to the ECU and it works as it should with ignition on, (I tested this directly on the engine ECU wiring with a test light with ignition on) but the physical light (LED) is not present on our cars. Weird. I guess if there is an issue the display will show an alarm/fault.