For the past few days i've been having a couple of weird things happen off and on throughout a single trip:

1. Occasional, sometimes constant beep from audio system.
2. Volume change on its own along with that beep.
3. No horn
4. Cant operate most steering buttons but get only a beep noise when i press them.
5. cant switch from nav to audio screen when hitting the button.

At night when these odd occurrences are happening, there are no steering wheel button lights. When everything is normal, the lights are back on also.
I just got the car back from the dealer after having 02 sensor work done and after they did a routine check they said my battery and terminals are bad. Car still starts fine every morning tho but if i sit and listen to the radio for more than 15-20 mins, i cant start the car.

Question! Will a bad battery give these symptoms and still be able to start the car most of the time? Is there something else goin on? Maybe a steering wheel connector/harness loose? For the record, i have a 05 LS430 with 160k miles.

 

Once the car is started and running, the car should continue to run from the alternator without the battery.

This isn't to say that you may not need a new battery however.

 

Yeah i can see that but from what i have been reading, batteries that are on its last leg are know to give the car ghost-like symptoms.

 

It can, but it's really unlikely. It almost sounds like to me you have some bad ground connections going on or maybe an intermittent alternator?

Usually if a battery is weak and dying, it comes through when you're trying to start a car since that takes such a large load. It will just barely turn over. If a battery starts a car up fine, it's hard for me to think it would have issues with something that uses very little current like a dash light.

Do you have a voltmeter? A really cheap one will work fine. Do some tests like on the battery itself, it should read around 12.5 volts with the engine and all accessories off. Around 14 plus volts with the car running. If either of these are off, I would suspect either the battery or alternator.

 

Update:

After poking around it seems like a bad connection. When sitting still, when I turn the wheel I can see the buttons light up and go off as rotate it. Sometimes they're on when centered, sometimes off. It seemslike whenthe problem is happening, it affects some buttons on the dash also. Not sure what connector controls this or if it's another problem.

 

Perhaps the clock spring? This is especially suspect if things change as you turn the steering wheel.

 

Sounds like one or more of the connectors inside your steering wheel is/are loose or possibly nicked and shorted to ground. You will need to detach the air bag/horn button assembly to look inside. Here are the steps to follow:
1. Disconnect negative battery cable
2. Use a taped screwdriver to remove steering wheel switch covers. There's one on each side at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions.
3. Use a torx T30, loosen the 2 torx screws (one on each side behind the switch covers you've just removed) and pull out the air bag/horn button assembly.
4. Inspect connectors to all the steering wheel switches on both sides and the horn wires. Also look for nicked or pinched wires with exposed copper that may come into contact with body chassis.

 

I will try this today. Hopefully its just a loose connector and not a clock spring problem. Thanks!

 

It's possible that you have a bad clock spring, but let's start with the easy stuff first. Besides, there's not much you can do in terms of repair with the clock spring, and replacement part will run you around $350. But if it turns out that the clock spring is the culprit, here's a link to visit...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...t-working.html

...And here are the procedures to replace the clock spring...

 

Thanks again! Although the problem seems to have stopped malfunctioning all of a sudden. It was really bad last week but the last couple of days, it only happen maybe twice. I'm sure it will return at some point so i may as well start looking for culprits and solutions now.

 

Well i pulled the horn/air bag cover off to check over the visible connections and everything looks ok on that front. It's more than likely the clock spring thats giving me the trouble and its getting worse. Will look up prices soon to go ahead and take care of it. Its really annoying not having my steering wheel buttons working and hearing that beep every time i make a turn. Also not being able to use the horn if need be is dangerous.