Strange random red car warning light on cluster?
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Driver School Candidate
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 8
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From: TX
Strange random red car warning light on cluster?
I have a 09 RX350 and noticed this light (just a red car, like the open door light but without any door) as seen in picture that came on randomly during driving but disappeared itself shortly. It happened about 2-3 times in the last few days. I cannot find what light is for in the owner's manual. Any ideas? Thanks.
Pole Position
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 336
Likes: 9
From: Oklahoma
Welcome to Club Lexus, startover9!
What you are seeing is a side effect of the way Lexus decided to color the door open light. For some reason, they decided it was a good idea to "paint" the outline of the car on the face of the gauge in red and just backlight it with a "regular" bulb, instead of using a colored bulb to give color (which is what they did with the rest of the indicator lights).
With electroluminescent instrument panels, they must be lit to be seen (that's why they are always on when the car is on). In order to make them viewable in the daytime, they have to recess the panel further into the dash so it is shaded. Because of this shading effect, you normally don't see the door open indicator light. However, when the conditions are right, e.g. you have direct (sun)light on the instrument panel, this red outlining becomes visible. This is normal due to the way that particular indicator light is designed.
To see this effect more clearly, with the key out of the ignition, shine a flashlight onto the instrument cluster. You will notice that you will still see this red outline of the car even when the car is off, because it is painted onto the face of the instrument cluster. Again this is normal, just a slight design flaw or cutting of corners so to speak. So what is actually happening is that when you are driving in the daytime, sometimes that part of the instrument cluster gets hit with direct sunlight, making that visible. The light itself isn't actually coming on.
If the light itself was actually coming on, it would also turn on randomly while driving at night. Because you don't have the issue of direct sunlight at night, you don't see this effect at night (unless of course you shine a light at it).
I hope this helps clear things up a little bit.
What you are seeing is a side effect of the way Lexus decided to color the door open light. For some reason, they decided it was a good idea to "paint" the outline of the car on the face of the gauge in red and just backlight it with a "regular" bulb, instead of using a colored bulb to give color (which is what they did with the rest of the indicator lights).
With electroluminescent instrument panels, they must be lit to be seen (that's why they are always on when the car is on). In order to make them viewable in the daytime, they have to recess the panel further into the dash so it is shaded. Because of this shading effect, you normally don't see the door open indicator light. However, when the conditions are right, e.g. you have direct (sun)light on the instrument panel, this red outlining becomes visible. This is normal due to the way that particular indicator light is designed.
To see this effect more clearly, with the key out of the ignition, shine a flashlight onto the instrument cluster. You will notice that you will still see this red outline of the car even when the car is off, because it is painted onto the face of the instrument cluster. Again this is normal, just a slight design flaw or cutting of corners so to speak. So what is actually happening is that when you are driving in the daytime, sometimes that part of the instrument cluster gets hit with direct sunlight, making that visible. The light itself isn't actually coming on.
If the light itself was actually coming on, it would also turn on randomly while driving at night. Because you don't have the issue of direct sunlight at night, you don't see this effect at night (unless of course you shine a light at it).
I hope this helps clear things up a little bit.
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: TX
Welcome to Club Lexus, startover9!
What you are seeing is a side effect of the way Lexus decided to color the door open light. For some reason, they decided it was a good idea to "paint" the outline of the car on the face of the gauge in red and just backlight it with a "regular" bulb, instead of using a colored bulb to give color (which is what they did with the rest of the indicator lights).
With electroluminescent instrument panels, they must be lit to be seen (that's why they are always on when the car is on). In order to make them viewable in the daytime, they have to recess the panel further into the dash so it is shaded. Because of this shading effect, you normally don't see the door open indicator light. However, when the conditions are right, e.g. you have direct (sun)light on the instrument panel, this red outlining becomes visible. This is normal due to the way that particular indicator light is designed.
To see this effect more clearly, with the key out of the ignition, shine a flashlight onto the instrument cluster. You will notice that you will still see this red outline of the car even when the car is off, because it is painted onto the face of the instrument cluster. Again this is normal, just a slight design flaw or cutting of corners so to speak. So what is actually happening is that when you are driving in the daytime, sometimes that part of the instrument cluster gets hit with direct sunlight, making that visible. The light itself isn't actually coming on.
If the light itself was actually coming on, it would also turn on randomly while driving at night. Because you don't have the issue of direct sunlight at night, you don't see this effect at night (unless of course you shine a light at it).
I hope this helps clear things up a little bit.
What you are seeing is a side effect of the way Lexus decided to color the door open light. For some reason, they decided it was a good idea to "paint" the outline of the car on the face of the gauge in red and just backlight it with a "regular" bulb, instead of using a colored bulb to give color (which is what they did with the rest of the indicator lights).
With electroluminescent instrument panels, they must be lit to be seen (that's why they are always on when the car is on). In order to make them viewable in the daytime, they have to recess the panel further into the dash so it is shaded. Because of this shading effect, you normally don't see the door open indicator light. However, when the conditions are right, e.g. you have direct (sun)light on the instrument panel, this red outlining becomes visible. This is normal due to the way that particular indicator light is designed.
To see this effect more clearly, with the key out of the ignition, shine a flashlight onto the instrument cluster. You will notice that you will still see this red outline of the car even when the car is off, because it is painted onto the face of the instrument cluster. Again this is normal, just a slight design flaw or cutting of corners so to speak. So what is actually happening is that when you are driving in the daytime, sometimes that part of the instrument cluster gets hit with direct sunlight, making that visible. The light itself isn't actually coming on.
If the light itself was actually coming on, it would also turn on randomly while driving at night. Because you don't have the issue of direct sunlight at night, you don't see this effect at night (unless of course you shine a light at it).
I hope this helps clear things up a little bit.
A really strange design!
I found a difference in quality and features from My '98 SC 300 compared to my '08 RX 350. Lexus is cutting corners to save or make more $$$. That's why they changed their ad from, "The relentless pursuit of perfection " to "The pursuit of perfection".
The SC 300 VVTi was one of the best Lexus ever made. IMO
The SC 300 VVTi was one of the best Lexus ever made. IMO
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