I swear sometimes the perils of owning a 15 year old vehicle. If its not one thing its another. Now i have another electrical gremlin. First its my headlights not wanting to turn off by double clicking the door lock button which i still have not figured out. now it seems as if i have a short in the contact switch for the interior lights that just started the other day what i dont know is if i have to pull the entire switch and wire harness out or just the switch and how hard is it to replace this? I knoiw there is a short because my interior lights stopped coming on when opening the drivers door and when i would wiggle the contact switch the lights would go on and off. what am i looking at here in terms of replacing this and is the part going to cost me a arm and a leg? tia

 

Had this problem in my Land Cruiser. I believe all Toyotas have the same idea... one bolt under a rubber plug on the door switch, pull it out, unplug single wire, reverse to install new switch. Wiggling the switch to determine it's the switch and not something else is a relief. I had that problem and a chafed wire that I spent months tracking down in the land cruiser. These door switches simply go bad with age. Will reply with part number in a minute.

edit: https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts/lexus-switch-courtesy-lamp~84231-60070.html. About $20

 

The dome light switch connects the light to ground. Real basic stuff. What you have is a case of corrosion that is preventing a good connection to ground. Chances are that if you take the screw out that holds the door switch on and screw it right back in, you will have cleaned up the corrosion and the problem will be gone.

 

i will check on the corrosion thing before bothering to get a new switch. thx dennis.

on another note any idea why my headlights wont turn off when i double tap the lock button on the key fob? i know trying to figure that out could take who knows how long but i thought maybe u might have something for me to check like replacing the entire headlight/turn signal stalk

 

You got that right!

I'm at almost 160k and it's work to keep on top of every little thing.
Never owned a car this old with this many miles but I save a fortune in depreciation and I keep my car as cherry as posible.

And I like the car too!
Rather have a GX moel tho, but they want stupid money for high mileage beaters so hopefully prices back to reality soon, but maybe this is new reality. lol
Low mileage and good condition, prices ridiculous...

 

yea i love my rx too despite the perils of a older vehicle and im at almost 186000

 

I don't know what the headlight problem could be. These cars have so many different modules interact with each. Ultimately the body control module does this, but it has to receive the signal from the keyfob receiver module and send the command to the headlight control module via the canbus. So any of these things could be the culprit. To me, you need TechStream to figure this out. But since I don't know, don't rely on anything I say.

 

darn; ok thanks dennis; yea i had a feeling it could be one of those modules since even these older rxs have so many different mini computers that are inter connected to one another. thing is i just dont want tp have to seek out a electrical specialist as there is one in this area that does nothing but vehicle electrical systems but i dont have the money to shell out to pay what could be a arm and a leg.

 

My grandma had a GX470 with like 9,000 miles on that she sold 8 years ago. She bought a 2014 Ford Escape. Absolute tragedy. Hopefully the gas money saving was worth it...

 

Can a slowly failing bcm cause a vehicle to be harder to start? I ask because it seems like all sorts of gremlins are starting to appear in my vehicle: 1. auto headlights wont turn off after double tapping the lock button on the key fob 2. the auto lights even after a minute of waiting for them to turn off wont shut off and finally 3. sometimes it seems like my rx is harder to start; like sometimes it will take up to 30 seconds for it to kick over. Ideas? tia.

ps I really dont want to have to spend in the hundreds to first get a new bcm and then to have to get it programmed by a dealer if i can avoid it

 

When I changed my dashboard junction block, I ended up changing the body control module also as it is part of the junction block assembly. My car is a 2007 and the donor car was a 2008 or 9. I have not had any problems from having a BCM from a different year. I did have the service engine light on, but it reset using the normal method.

If you want, I'll send you the BCM printed circuit board from the complete junction block I took out of my car. However, there are 2 cautions. My car was assembled in Canada and the complete junction block assemblies are different for Japan and Canada cars, so if the VIN on your car starts with a 2, you can use it, Other caution is that the junction block is different for whether you have heated seats or not. My car does not have heated seats. I think the difference is a jumper in the actual junction block section, not a BCM difference.

back side of junction block, BCM under this cover


back cover removed showing the BCM printed circuit board


BCM removed from the junction block. it just pulls off.

 

The BCM could also be a possible cause of your headlight problem.

 

A ecm, wouldn't cause a ''having the starter to rotate the engine a few additional turns''. fuel or spark. Turn the key to on for a few seconds before engaging the starter as that'll tell you the fuel pressure has bleed down. IIRC you replaced your plugs awhile ago. How 'bout the coils? Does your vvti rattle on start up?

 

thats what im thinking; so if i replace the bcm it will have to be reprogrammed wouldnt it? also i highly doubt that the board from your rx would work as mine is a japan built version as the vin starts w j

 

whats the easiest way to get the bcm out and will a replacement require programming? tia