Hey guys I think I finally fixed my NAV system with error messages.. I disconnected the unit from the trunk. I took a can of compressed air and shot it in the unit. I even sprayed all the connections in the back of the unit. All seems well so far. Works as it should!



02' Ls430

64k

 

What messages were you getting? I occasionally get a "Cannot read DVD, Check to see if scratched or dirty" or something like that message.

 

Before upgrading my Nav player from Gen 2 to Gen 4, I used compressed air inside the Nav player in an attempt to clean the surface of the laser lens. It worked temporarily. Then I tried a lens cleaner disc - a CD with tiny "strings" attached that spins and cleans the laser lens. Again, a short-term solution. When that failed, I took the Nav player apart and cleaned the lens of the digital laser directly with a cotton swab and isopropyl alcohol. That worked too, albeit temporarily. Ultimately, none of those "fixes" were permanent. The problem is inside the laser lens that "reads" the digital data on the Navigation DVD. The laser lens has to focus on the spinning Nav DVD. The reflective quality of the Nav disc is important. For example, if you use a pirated (copied, non-OEM) Nav disc, the laser lens may have to work harder to read the data. This causes wear and tear on the laser lens.

The laser is a semiconductor diode that produces a small but coherent, focused light on the digital disc. The diode is a sand grain in size. The laser lens does simply wear out. With the location of the Nav player in the trunk passenger side wheel well, it is exposed to harsh weather conditions - extreme cold, heat and moisture, all of which contribute to its ultimate demise. For this reason, later model Toyotas with spinning disc Nav unit players located the disc player under the front seat (ex. Prius) or in the dash (ex. Sienna). Now, spinning DVD Nav players are a thing of the past. Navigation in recent model years is provided by USB memory stick - no moving parts.

 

That was the message I kept getting

 

Thanks. I'll give it a try.