Hi to all fellow Lexus owners.

I'm not sure how my post ended in a completely different thread, I'm sorry.

Re-posting. I'd appreciate some help on a couple of oddball questions. Mine is MY 21 and we bought it used. I've "struggled" with the CarPlay being in the armrest location and I find that to be very unintuitive and annoying. So I bought a Car2Play wireless adapter (not endorsing, simply sharing). I drop my phone in the slit in front of the cup holder (charging port up), use a charging cable for power from the front USB ports and wirelessly stream CP. Now, since this is a black ext and black interior it gets hot inside and the CarPlay wireless adapter also gets very hot. So hot that it starts crashing, stuttering, etc. Annoying. So, I've had it with the wireless adapter and wanted to start using the wired version.
1. Has anyone swapped the locations of the armrest CarPlay USBs+Aux (see image below) with the ones under the dash in the middle? Does anyone know if the wiring harness from the front USBs can be extended to the underarm location? I presume I can run back the underarm USB and Aux harness to the under dash location. I do not see a problem with that (other than disassembly, parting the cables, coiling them, re-strapping/re-insulating, etc.), I did it on my old Subaru w/o any problems. The extension of front to underarm box, however, worries me. I guess I can always... not use the underarm USBs.
2. Resolved - I was looking in wrong section altogether. Part number is 589210E080. Question two, unrelated. My underarm cover keeps opening up when I go a bit sideway over a bump (like those laying a bit diagonally on the road) or even at the slightest touch. I thought it was "normal" till I noticed that one of the small plastic tabs, that the armrest cover pins lock into, is missing. See image. I tried finding the part number (if it exist as a part number) but I could not, I only found the front console box as a part. Does anyone know if Lexus sells these or has a "stuff that goes missing all the time" parts catalog ? I really don't want to spend $150-$250 for a second hand console box when this part costs "less than a $1" probably. Any thoughts? Your help is much appreciated!

The small plastic tabs that the armrest cover pins lock into.

 

I too wish Lexus would have placed the Carplay USB port up front and not in the center console.

 

On a slight sidebar: every review I've read for wireless adapters has comments on how hot they get during use. Moving yours out of the center console might help but you may still have the overheating issue with your adapter.

 

I don't have an answer to your port-move question, but do have a couple of thoughts on getting your wireless device to work more reliably. I use an AAwireless device for my Google phone and would not like going back to a wired connection.

First, if your wireless carplay device supports it, you might try configuring it to use 2.4ghz instead of 5ghz Wi-Fi to connect to the RX. That might be enough to get it to run cooler. Another thing to try would be using a longer USB cable so the wireless carplay device could be down under or beside the passenger seat. Hiding a black cable in a black interior shouldn't be too hard. Beneath the seat will get decent air flow and will be the coolest place in the vehicle when parked.

Good luck

 

Thanks. I'm not sure what you are referring to, though. The device does not establish WiFi connection with the RX. It broadcasts a network I connect to with my iPhone and the rest flows over the wired connection between it and the RX. I'll have to check if it works over 5Ghz vs 2.4Ghz. As far as putting it under the seat, good point, though I always prefer my electronics to be out of small children's feet of destruction and to avoid "Oh, what's this cable/button do?" scenarios.


Thanks, I keep it there to power cycle it in case it fails to work, which happens more often that I'd like to mention. I presume I can do it from the underarm end, too. When I pop open the console I'll make a determination. I'm dying to find out what connector is used with this plug.


the USB connector

 

I did not intend to imply Wi-Fi connection directly to the RX. The AAwireless device I use broadcasts a Wi-Fi network to which my Google phone connects, and the phone connects via Bluetooth to the device, as well. I assume, but do not know, that carplay devices work the same way.

It's possible you simply have a bad adapter, too. I had a Motorola adapter that worked ok for a year, then died. The AAwireless has been working well for 18 months. I'd rather buy a new adapter every so often than go back to a wired connection...