Emc209i

Hi,

We recently purchased an early model 2004 LS430, I'll be taking delivery of the car in a few days. I've been reviewing the dealer's (blurry) photos, and noticed a non symmetrical cutaway in the left lower portion of the front grill. This piqued my interest, so I figured I just needed to find another LS on the net with the same cutaway, a clearer picture, and I could inductively figure out what I was looking at - laser cruise sensor, pre-collision radar, etc.

I did not expect it would be this hard, but after searching over several hundred photo's via google, I found another car with the same bumper and cutaway. [yellow arrow]



I also managed to find a picture of the earlier LS430 with the older bumper which appears to have a similar if not the same sensor (car belongs to member 'Speedemon').



Is anyone familiar with this sensor?

I'm thinking it must be this guy.

Just curious.

Thanks!

SJLS430

Yes, that is called Dynamic Radar Cruise Control.

AlexusAnja

So what did you buy? A CL or UL?

Gene01

HI, EMC209i.
Congratulations on your purchase.
What you are describing in NOT the radar sensor for DRCC, it is the laser sensor for DLCC.
CL and UL cars (only) came standard with DLCC (Dynamic Laser Cruise Control).
If the Pre-Collision System option was installed, DLCC was replaced by DRCC. (R for Radar).
The radar sensor is recognized by a plastic shield surounding the Lexus "L" logo in the middle of the grille.
For pictures, please see post #84 in this thread: How to tell if LS430 is equpped with Ultra Luxury Package?
Apologies, I still haven't figured out how to reference another thread with a hyperlink.
Hope this helps.

Emc209i

Thanks! I figured as much.

The car is equipped with the Custom Luxury package. We were avoiding the UL package, because we frankly don't want to deal with the air suspension. Flying into Kansas City Thursday.

In before someone says that switching to the conventional suspension on the UL is easy, it isn't.

Edit:

Gene I just saw your post. It was my understanding that the sensors were moved to behind the Lexus emblem late into 2004, to reduce the risk of damage to the sensor, which was high when mounted low. The plastic piece was supposed to be a shield for the lens as I understood it, rather than a receiver.

I'll link the thread you're referencing for ease:
How to tell if LS430 is equpped with Ultra Luxury Package?

I am still a bit lost though. How can so many Lexus' be equipped with laser cruise technology, and then so VERY few (before the late '04 update) sport the large receiver in the lower portion of the grill. I really can't emphasize enough how hard it is to find an LS that dons this lower trim sensor. It has to be pre-collision related, otherwise I would expect to see it in greater frequency.

Anyone have a link to an online parts catalog with exploded diagrams of part numbers and the assembly? I wish I had ALLDATA right now.

SJLS430

I thought only the ultra had the DLCC?

jayclapp

The very early production LS430s came with the laser sensor. My car was produced in Dec 2003 and has the laser sensor. The radar and accompanying pre-collison came later in 2004. Don't know the exact timeframe.

P.S. I absolutely love my laser cruise control.

Gene01

Emc209i:
The sensors are actually very different technologies, but both send input to the Cruise Control unit.
Laser uses light to reflect from the back of the car in front of you, and DRCC uses millimeter-wave radar.
One advantage is that the radar is not fooled by sunlight when driving towards the sun low on the horizon.
You are correct that the plastic shield is in place to protect the radar antenna box (located about 6" behind it).
The owner's manual explains this in some detail. The bumper-mounted sensor is DLCC and is not present on CL or UL cars with PCS (unless the bumper was replaced by the wrong part number). I don't know the percentage of LS430s that were CL or UL, or how many of them had PCS. That would be interesting.
I do not believe that there was ever an option to mount a receiver in the lower part of the grill. The DRCC plastic shield is approximately in the middle of it. Perhaps the original author meant the lower part of the bumper.
Hey, what magic spell did you cast to get the link? Very cool trick.

SJLS430:
Neither DLCC nor DRCC was available on non-CL/UL cars. Available options were (with 2005 prices):
LP $5935 = Custom Luxury
LQ $8185 = Custom Luxury with Pre-collision system
UL $11320 = Ultra Luxury
UN $13570 = Ultra Luxury with PCS
Options LP and UL included DLCC.
Hope that un-confuses things a bit :-)

caddyowner

In 04-06, laser adaptive cruise control was standard on CL & UL trim levels. The radar adaptive cruise control / PCS was optional on both the CL & UL.

V8_Fan

The "plastic" shield on the radar cruise control is not just plastic. It is a radome, the same thing you find on the nose of fighter planes and missiles. The material is designed so the RF signals emitted from and received by the radar, which are in a specific frequency band, can pass through. Otherwise, if you make it out of any piece of plastic, the material will attenuate the signal too much, causing the radar to be disfunctional.

jayclapp

This is just a little off the subject, but here it is. My car has the laser system and the other day while cruising on the bypass the cruise control suddenly shut down with a message of "clean screen" . It was a clear day and I had just cleaned the car and was somewhat baffled and feared that I had a failure. Ironic, in that my 5-year extended Lexus Preminum warranty had just expired last week. Any attempt to set the cruise was refused with the same message. I kept trying it occasionally but with no luck. Finally after about 10 miles it allowed me to set the cruise.

When I got to my destination, I found that a leaf had logged itself in the screen area. But it was now moved over to the side and that allowed the cruise to function.

I was relieved to find that this is a very smart system and there was no failure. I use it all the time and couldn't live without it now.

warminwisc

I am still amazed at the technology and standard features these cars had back in 2004.

AlexusAnja

Yes, many times a leaf causes this. Snow or rain does too.

Emc209i

Yes, not just that one bit, but all of the information has been great in sorting out what's what -- The cutaway is for laser cruise control, and the pre-collision system was not offered until later in 2004, and is identified by the radome over the Lexus emblem (thanks Jim). :got it:

I tried using the laser cruise control several times during my 1000 mile trip home. It had no problem acquiring the vehicle ahead of me and setting the speed accordingly, but whenever the vehicle slowed down, the cruise control would cut off completely and the warning would sound instead of simply slowing down. Cruise was also incremented in 5mph steps while the laser was on. These two things were enough to annoy me enough to turn off the laser and use the standard cruise control - which I am very impressed with! Electronic throttle control allows a great deal more refinement than the traditional cable controlled throttle and cruise systems of the past.

I washed the car and the sensor, hopefully that sorts the laser, I need to go for a short test drive.

Gene, I used a very basic hyperlink for phpBB forums. Here's a great guide to the basic stuff. Under "Creating Links".

Really enjoying the car. Here's some pictures from the trip.

jayclapp

The laser cruise should not turn off while at cruise speed just because someone slowed down in front of you. It should slow down and then keep your preset distance following that car. If it speeds up, your car should also increase speed until your preset limit is reached. If you brake, the cruise will drop off and you will have to use "resume" to reset the system to it's previous setting. If someone cuts you off at cruise speed the alarm will sound and brake. In this case, I believe the laser cruise will shut down and you will have to reset. You can even use the resume after you have come to a stop and then resume after you have accelerated and reach 25mph.

I use my laser cruise all the time on the by-pass and even surface streets. I am so used to it that I found that I can't even use the normal cruise because I don't want to react to cars that are in front of me.