2001 LS430 electrical system issues
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: CA
Electrical problems with LS 430.
Thanks for all the guidances. I found no sign of water damage anywhere in the trunk, under the hood or inside the car! I was not able to trouble shoot the problem, neither did my trusting mechanic who has been working on this car for years!
Took it to the Lexus dealer and after 3 days, they still have not found the root cause. I am getting worried that they will come up with a list of several expensive parts that they suggest needs to be replaced in order to solve the problem!
I will certainly keep you all posted and meanwhile, would love to hear any other suggestions you may have.
Hamid
Took it to the Lexus dealer and after 3 days, they still have not found the root cause. I am getting worried that they will come up with a list of several expensive parts that they suggest needs to be replaced in order to solve the problem!
I will certainly keep you all posted and meanwhile, would love to hear any other suggestions you may have.
Hamid
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 885
Likes: 5
From: Ohio
What a disappointment 
I too had electrical problems, but it was from a leak that went through my tail lights down into the GPS DVD Player and radio antennae area on the right side.
The expense prompted me to move away from the car at a loss and into my current car, and it only had 60K miles!
I too had electrical problems, but it was from a leak that went through my tail lights down into the GPS DVD Player and radio antennae area on the right side.The expense prompted me to move away from the car at a loss and into my current car, and it only had 60K miles!
With the multiple "issues" like that, do an ecu swap to see if the problems go away...electrical gremlins will have you cha$ing your tail. You can also open up the ecu to see if there are swollen capacitors or burnt components. A lot of people (LS400 peeps) fix them on their own...or just borrow a friends or buy cheap at a junk yard.
would leave the batter disconnected over-night (leave a dome light on as well to completely drain the system) first...then go the ecu route.
It couldve gotten wet and drained before you noticed
I think anyone who owns an LS430 should double up on the taillights gaskets. They alll seem to leak eventually. Mine were bad when I bought the car...@ a great deal because the Navigation and factory amp didnt come on. I sealed the taillights, replaced the stereo the following week and now I love the car
would leave the batter disconnected over-night (leave a dome light on as well to completely drain the system) first...then go the ecu route.
It couldve gotten wet and drained before you noticed
I think anyone who owns an LS430 should double up on the taillights gaskets. They alll seem to leak eventually. Mine were bad when I bought the car...@ a great deal because the Navigation and factory amp didnt come on. I sealed the taillights, replaced the stereo the following week and now I love the car
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 885
Likes: 5
From: Ohio
I think anyone who owns an LS430 should double up on the taillights gaskets. They alll seem to leak eventually. Mine were bad when I bought the car...@ a great deal because the Navigation and factory amp didnt come on. I sealed the taillights, replaced the stereo the following week and now I love the car
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: CA
All; thanks for the feedback and suggested solutions. After 4 days of trouble shooting, one of dealer's senior technicians, using process of elemination and disconnecting one module at a time, was able to narrow the problem to a faulty "rain sensor module". Removing the rain sensor from the windsheild solved the problem (except the rain sensor iteself, of course). The unit costs $350 plus another $300 for labor. For $650, I decided to turn on / off the wiper manually!
I, too, have had my share of replacing the tail lights! It seems that I should consider the sealing route!
I, too, have had my share of replacing the tail lights! It seems that I should consider the sealing route!
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: na
All; thanks for the feedback and suggested solutions. After 4 days of trouble shooting, one of dealer's senior technicians, using process of elemination and disconnecting one module at a time, was able to narrow the problem to a faulty "rain sensor module". Removing the rain sensor from the windsheild solved the problem (except the rain sensor iteself, of course). The unit costs $350 plus another $300 for labor. For $650, I decided to turn on / off the wiper manually!
I, too, have had my share of replacing the tail lights! It seems that I should consider the sealing route!
I, too, have had my share of replacing the tail lights! It seems that I should consider the sealing route!
Thanks very much for posting this, i had your problems and several others. This morning disconnected the rain sensor module myself and everything is back to normal. Save me a small fortune as my local Lexus dealer is less than helpful until its £150 an hour...Brilliant post
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