I posted a couple of technical questions and received NO answers so I assume this is not he place to post technical questions. Where is the place to post this!?

" I am having a couple of unrelated problems and maybe non-problems.

1) When my cell phone connects to the car by blue tooth and a call is connected there is terrible oscillation between the phones speaker/microphone and the cars speaker/microphone. Is that something that can be eliminated??

2) At low speed such as parking, if the wheel is turned all the way to the stop it seems to get semi locked to that position. I can bring it back with a slight pressure so its not really "locked" ,but it wont come back without using pressure on the wheel. Once off the stop it is just fine. Is this normal? "

 

This is the correct place to post maybe the right ppl with the correct knowledge of your issue have not logged in to answer your question yet.

 

1) What do you mean by oscillation? p.s: I understand the definition perfectly fine but what do you see happening that you are trying to define with the word use?

2) Could be a number of issues - from bad rack to bad ball joints. Disconnect the tie rods and turn wheel end to end - allowing for the fact that you have disconnected your tie rods. If the binding continues - then it's the rack. If not, then it is the in the tie rods or other suspension components therein.

 

1) If you mean there's a delay when speaking that is somewhat normal. My 2005 does that. My 2001 has no BT

2) Both my LS's don't have any problems with the wheel feeling tight when you turn lock to lock.

 

1) Sorry, I am an EE and thought it was properly defined, but maybe not to a person without an engineering background. Oscillation = Feedback that blanks all communication. Loud hum or squeal.Like you hear when a microphone in an auditorium is too close to a speaker. Its is obviously coming from the fact that the phone and car speaker OR the car microphone and the phone speaker are interacting. But I would have thought the engineers at Lexus would have thought about that and figured out a "fix"

2) Thanks for the trouble shooting routine, I will try it and see if I can identify the area. Bad anything seems unlikely, however, as the car has only 53K on the clock. But it could be not wear but defective part. But I assume from your response that it is NOT normal to have a slight hesitation to return to center from the "Lock" point.??

 

Yeah, feedback is not something I've experienced. You could lower the attenuation (volume for our non EE friends) for the speaker and see if that lessens the Oscillation...

 

Good idea. I will try that on the phone. I need the volume on the car speaker.

 

Never had a feedback occurrence in my 04UL.

 

I tried turning the volume down on the phone and it seemed to help, but today I tried it with a FULL battery charge and the feedback was back. It seems that if the phone is fully charged there is feedback, but if it is not fully charged, no problem. Seems like maybe the bluetooth transmitter is too strong on a fresh battery?? Weird??

 

I've never experienced the phenomenon you're describing and I'd find it hard to believe the problem was associated with the cellphone's battery charge.

Perhaps you could pair a different phone to the car and see if it behaves properly or exhibits same problem?

I'm impressed you're wanting to use the bluetooth built into the car. Actually-----not really. I used it all the time the first year or so when I bought it, in 2009. It sounds great from my perspective, and also from the other person's perspective, when the LS isn't in motion....but when I'm driving anywhere 35+mph, the caller always complains, "am I on speakerphone??!!"

I have migrated to using my cellphone illegally while driving the LS, and holding the phone up to my head, and never use the bluetooth in the LS anymore, unless I plan on being parked and having an extended conversation. Even then, the audio only comes from the drivers side door speaker, and it doesn't seem to be quite the hi-fidelity I'm looking for.

Now my 2012 F150? Totally different story. Bluetooth is incredible, person's voice coming out of ALL the stereo speakers is incredible, and best of all, nobody complains about how I sound. I know we're comparing naval oranges to tangerines, but thought I'd throw that in there. Similar to the NAV, the bluetooth isn't the greatest.

See what happens if you pair another phone to the LS.

 

BT connect isn't very reliable. Even if phone is paired, sometimes picks up the call, maybe not. Same phone setting. The one speaker connect is a little weird. Like someone's hidden in the corner. I've never had any problem w/ steering wheel lock. Consistent smooth operation. Changed the PS fluid (Dexron) and it seems to be slightly easier to turn.

 

Jim,

Out of curiosity, is your phone plugged in and charging when you get the feedback? If so, try unplugging.

When we use a BT adapter that carries over the radio we've found it much noisier when the connected phone is charging

 

regarding #2...this is normal....meaning if the wheel is locked all the way to one side and you accelerate from a stop, the wheel tends to stay in that position. You have to apply slight pressure on the wheel to get it off the lock position, where it will then trend back to the normal straight ahead. Not sure why this is but am guessing it has something to do with steering and wheel geometry at those extreme angles. Both my LSs had this trait....I wouldn't worry about it at all.