GS430SE
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Vsc Warning Light Came On & I Know What Did It! (2004 Gs)
GS430SE replied to GS430SE's topic in Engine & Transmission
Thanks. When I had taken the car to the dealer and was told that the EMS indicator meant that one of the "gas" sensors was malfunctioning, I clarified with service staff that they meant O2 sensor. They want about £250 to change a sensor, which seems absurdly high. What, if anything am I probably losing in performance / fuel consumption if the computer isn't being fed data from one of the O2 sensors? -
Vsc Warning Light Came On & I Know What Did It! (2004 Gs)
GS430SE replied to GS430SE's topic in Engine & Transmission
Much appreciated, TeesLS460. N.E. London, near Enfield, but I'm often westbound on the N.Circ (A406). :-) I actually managed to clear this spurious indication by leaving the -ve terminal of the battery disconnected for 30 minutes (trust it won't return). I do, however, have the engine management warning light on, and have had it on for several years. When I took it to Lexus, they cancelled it, but said it was probably due to one of the "gas sensors" (?! - I am quoting verbatim) having failed - i.e., typical, a sensor problem. They offered me the money back on their diagnosis provided I bought a new sensor from them (@£250, if I recall rightly). I didn't bother. Any views, please? Thanks again. -
A few days ago the wife returned the 2004 GS430 to the driveway with hardly any fuel in the tank (for her "reasons", one should ask a shrink, not a mechanic). I thought I could make it to the nearest petrol station, but I was wrong - ran out of petrol half way. It glided to a halt slightly further from the curb than I'd have liked. Attempts to start the engine again sputtered into nothingness - it had probably been running on vapour for the last few seconds. So I put it into neutral and gently (was going to be gently, as I was alone and the car is heavy) pushed it for a couple of yards. Nothing eventful at all. Having bought some fuel and brought it back, restarted the car. As usual when switching on the ignition, a lot of warning lights are illuminated, and in a second or two they all go off. This is what happened... ... but then 3-4 seconds later the amber "VSC (Vehicle Stability Control) and VSC OFF warning lights came on on the dashboard display, and stayed on. Now it does this every time I start the car. Pressing the VSC OFF button (near the ECT/Snow controls) changes nothing; switching the engine on and off does nothing. The "VSC" light means a problem with the VSC; "VSC OFF" means you have switched it off. As I understand from Googling, I understand this combination is nothing much to worry about (as long as the "OFF" light is also there) but I'd still like to get rid of them. It is obviously caused by my manually pushing the car. Wasn't there a few seconds before, is there from the first time I switched on after doing it. I may try disconnecting the battery, waiting for a while and then reconnecting the battery - yes? Or could it be some fuse blown (why triggered by me trying to start the engine without petrol in it, I can't guess)? (I know the masterplan is for me to visit a Lexus dealer who will charge me £100 for "resetting" the indicator - no thanks!) Help!
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Just an update to let everyone know, I purchased a reconditioned replacement amplifier and everything worked perfectly, and still does a year later. :)
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I have a 2004 GS430 (2nd generation; Mark Levinson audio system with integrated Gen01 Satnav). What is the best way to play MP3 music through my system, without appreciable loss of quality (which I'd suffer if I used a cassette adapter, even a Sony one)? Connecting to the FM aerial in the rear of the car? Or dismount the head unit from the dash (I've managed it once and guess I could manage it again) and wire in something? I'd prefer a controller/adapter which will allow me to directly plug in a USB stick (pen drive) containing MP3 files, rather than have to use an ipod or similar. The added ability to plug in an ipod, Android or iphone would, however, be a plus. Recommendations needed, please!
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Yes, The Swede. But - it might not work tomorrow.... :eerrrmm: Remember, there was really no "reason" at all for my amp to fail, as it apparently has done. Now I am more confident that it is the amp, after all, as I am informed it is common for the voice navigation commands to continue to work (as in, to be audible) even when the other audio outputs do not work. Apparently, very different circuitry is used (perhaps, because of volume for the navigation sound is controlled very differently from that of all other sound output). Why do they make all this so complex?
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The Swede Nothing at all dumb about your questions, Sandy. 1. On the 2004 GS430, if one wants the Navigation system, one MUST get the Mark Levinson sound system as well. It is called the "NAVIGATION PACKAGE", and it is an option, even though it is listed in the GS430 brochure under "Standard Specification and Features" (I kid you not). The reverse, however, is not true. On the "SPORT PACKAGE" you get the ML system but not the satnav. 2) Yes, I noted the ASL soft-button had disappeared, as did the the green level settings for base/treble and fade/balance. This is, I presume, because the head unit senses the amp is not there or not functioning. Someone else complaining about losing sound also mentioned the ASL disappearing. Note that sounds are still produced from the navigation system (if I switch them on), Since "86280-0W210" and "86280-0W032" apparently only differ in that the navigation "voice" is routed to a different door speaker (right & left, respectively) according to whether the vehicle is RHD ("-0W210") or LHD ("-0W032"), the fact that the navigation voice still works does puzzle me. I don't want to replace the amplifier - and then find it was not the amplifier at fault after all....
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dave1 - Yes. tonyricha - Thanks, but it won't help me. Different generation of Satnav system too. I've done several updates over the years (and currently have a 2010 navigation DVD in situ) and what my car needs is different from what the 2006 model needs. TigerFish already gave the weblink which will confirm that.
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OK, the battery reset did not fix the problem, as suspected. :( Free but was worth trying. A further complication. The part number on my ML amp is 86280-0W210 (I physically checked it, where it sits under the Navigation ECU in the boot), while the one that seems to be all over the internet is 86280-0W032 (and which I am probably able to source). From Google Images, the two appear identical, including the sockets. There are also -0W031's and -0W030's, which I guess may be earlier versions of the -0W032. But my (presumed failed) amp's part number isn't in that sequence at all. They both sit in the same place in the right of the boot. Lexus Parts Department (local UK dealer) tell me the two have exactly the same price and description in their system, and that they may well be identical (the 0W032 showing as available only from Japan) - but they can't confirm it. Google research confirms that the 86280-0W032 is fitted to left-hand drive vehicles and the 86280-0W210 to right-hand ones, like mine. Any suggestions as to how I determine whether the 0W032 will work for me, please?
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Thanks, Ian. Yes, perhaps there are some electronics in the pre-shrunk wire sleeve and/or socket (hard to tell which it is). Actually, I've found an even more (apparently) suitable Beat-sonic model for my needs, the NKV-02, which is "only" $150: http://www.beatsonicusa.com/beatsonic-nvk-02.html It handles just the Navigation bypass, not the DVD-playing. If you look at the picture I supplied of the Beatsonic NT0202 above, the wires on the right side of it comprise the NKV-02 (the ones on the left relate to DVD override). Now trying to get it in the UK is the next issue.
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You betcha it rattles a lot of cages! I discovered the fault (to me, it is a fault - the fact that it is intentional makes it an even worse fault!) a couple days after buying my GS430.... I was all cooing over Lexus excellence in pretty much every department - and then I found the motion lock. At first, I couldn't believe it. Like, how stoooooopid could they possibly be? Trying to be this smart. So, if trying to be smart, why not go the whole hog? There's a weight detector in the front passenger seat (used, presumably, so as to know when to set the "passenger seatbelt not fitted" warning light flashing. So, if they can tell if there's a front seat passenger, why not override the navigation motion lock when there is? What's next? Refuse to let the ignition work if a BMW sales brochure is found in the cockpit? Letting lawyers run the company results in a first-ever global loss for Toyota. Toyota's shareholders should be finding out who the people responsible for these asinine, customer-abusing decisions are made by, and fire them forthwith, cancelling all their pensions and preferably suing them for all they've got. And then handing them over to the yakuza for a bit of mild recreation. Still, this isn't the place to let fly about this. I just want to fix the problem! ;)
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The Motion Lock has already cost me more than £150 in missed deadlines/appointments; I'm forever rushing, it seems. Check out: http://www.lexusoverride.com if you aren't aware how much angst this has caused (it's the same site as www.lexusisnotmymother.com ) But doesn't the Beatsonic look - from the packaging - very much like just a switch?
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Thanks, Tigerfish, for that - I was pretty sure that's what you were driving at. :) Before I order the amp, I will make certain the part number of what I'm looking at under the Navigation ECU is identical to what I'm buying. But before that I wil try out the 5 minutes disconnect the negative from the battery first thing tomorrow morning (thanks, messi!). While I consider it v.unlikely to fix this problem... stranger things have been known to man!
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Hi Steve, Thanks for responding. > is it a good idea to be able to fiddle with a Sat Nav on the move? And pray why shouldn't my frontseat passenger be able to access the SatNav? Furthermore, Lexus is not my Mother. I bought a car, not a nanny - didn't I? Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and a host of others don't treat customers for their luxury cars as if they were babies or idiots. So, why does Lexus? The mistake has probably cost Toyota many tens if not hundreds of millions of bucks already, as the webcounters on sites covering this issue (and lambasting Lexus) typically read into the hundreds of thousands or even millions of hits. When someone rear-ends me when I stop somewhere in desperation, having to input or change a destination, and I get whiplash, spinal injury or get killed, do you think that "is a good idea" instead? No, of course not. So, please, let's not get started on this one. :) I do have a wiring diagram (obtained by email after a premium rate number, "Lexus Technical Helpline" @ £1.50/minute, 0906 6610062, found via http://techdoc.lexus-europe.com). Cutting the speed sensor input wire (I tried it - please see the original post) made no difference, which makes me think that the motion lock consults, or additionally consults, GPS data to determine whether or not the car is moving. "Satisfaction Guaranteed - 30 day returns"... but how come I can't find any happy (or, for that matter, unhappy!) customers referring to this Beatsonic product either on this forum or on the competition? The website I found it on pretty strongly suggests it has been around for a while. Any views, please?
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I have a 2004 GS430 (2nd generation) fitted, as is usual, with the Generation 01 satnav system - the one that starts up with this screen: and which "features" (sic) the Motion Lock on the satnav (where I can't set/change destination and much else while the car is moving) drives me nuts. Lexus is not my Mother. I know. I tried all the cheats I could find online, tapping various parts of the screen in sequence. One did get me to an information/diagnostics screen, but there was definitely no override capability there I also tried cutting one of the wires into the centre console (forget which, now) as per forum suggestions, but that too made no difference so I spliced it back. I then gave up. Now, years later, I've checked to see what's available, and found this: This "Beatsonic nt0202" looks suspiciously like a button switch which simply cuts one of the wires in the loom at the back of the centre console. If so, it is unlikely to fix the motion lock. Is it likely to work on my GS?
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Hi again. > Are you sure the amp is below the DVD unit in the boot? Pretty sure, and that's what the car mechanic friend says the box is (right underneath the satnav ECU / DVD player). Per Google images, the box looks rather like a "86280-0W032" unit (I can't see the part number without doing a lot of unscrewing, I think), and I believe this may be the standard Mark Levinson amp for the 2001-4 GS series. What else could it be, under the DVD unit? Also, this thread: http://www.justanswe...ed-working.html which I've just found suggests the amp is located there (in the boot on what, for the USA, would be the passenger side, i.e. on the right, looking at the car from the rear). Here's an extract from the Lexus literature, issued in 2001-2, covering the 2nd generation GS: Where do you think the amplifier is?
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The car's a 2004 GS430 (as in my avatar), with the usual Mark Levinson stereo & satnav system. One morning the battery had gone flat (cause: totally unrelated to the hifi, and later solved by me), and I used a portable battery to jump-start the car. From that time on, there's been no sound from the hifi (irrespective of source - radio, CD, tape). Sound had been working perfectly, right up to the point I switched off the engine the previous night, so it is hard to escape the cause->effect linkage. The CD apparently plays, as does the tape, and the radio apparently tunes just like before. But, there's no sound at all from the speakers. When I press the Audio button on the head unit, all controls like "Bass", "Treble" and "Front/Rear--Left/Right Balance" appear greyed out on the display. These three pics show what I see: Note the greyed-out controls in the last photo. So, the computer knows that something is wrong. I've now checked and double-checked all the fuses. As the helpful Tigerfish had pointed out, these are in different locations, including the passenger side footwell. All the fuses are fine. The CD changer is in the back of the glovebox. The satnav DVD unit is in the boot, and the power amplifier is below it. Everything was original/factory-installed, not after-market. The closest I've found to this problem is this discussion: http://www.justanswe...navigation.html where the poster seems to be describing the same fault. The advice he's given is that it is probably a blown amplifier, he didn't come back to the thread so I don't know if it was resolved. Almost the same thing is found here: http://www.clublexus...with-radio.html where the reference is to the "infamous ML amp" striking again.. :( A Lexus dealer indicated the price for a new amplifier from Lexus is probably half of what my car itself is worth. They said they thought it was a faulty amp (but - stress - couldn't be certain). I can get an amplifier from the USA (via ebay) for about a quarter of its "new" price, salvage from a scrapped 2001-4 GS300/GS430 fitted with the Mark Levinson stereo. I would make sure that the part number matched up. But what if the problem wasn't the amplifier but instead something in the head unit/console? The ebay sale would have been final (i.e., no returns), of course. Should I take the chance and order a replacement amp? Some clear advice would be very gratefully accepted - thanks in advance!
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I had this problem with my 2004 GS430; batteries would keep running down in just 2-3 days of non-use. Worked out it only happened when the car alarm was on. Tested it with an ammeter and found the alarm was draining hundreds of milliamps - definitely not as it should be. Tracked it down to the siren, which is largely superfluous anyway as the horn makes enough racket by itself (OK, the bad guys can cut the horn off easier than disable the siren). Removed siren from circuit, and bingo, no more battery drainage problem at all. Lexus dealers failed to find the fault, btw... Not saying this has any relevance to your problem.
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Thank you, TigerFish! I now have more information so I'm starting a new thread, without a typo in the title (which I can't change) on the problem,
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Audio Amplifier (?) Stopped Working After A Jump Start... (sorry about the typo - the site won't let me edit it) My 2004 GS430 has the Mark Levinson stereo + satnav system. I attach a pic of the head unit. The CD changer is in the back of the glovebox. The satnav DVD reader is in the boot (I think the amp is below it). Everything was original/factory-installed, not after-market. Great audio quality... that is, until, faced with a flat battery, I had to jump-start the car (from a portable battery, not from another car). The audio power switch may have been on when I did this. From that time on, there are no sounds at all from the audio system (CD, tape, radio, all silent). The CD apparently plays, as does the tape, and the radio apparently tunes just like before. But, there's no sound at all from the speakers. When I press the Audio button on the head unit, controls like "Bass", "Treble" and "Front/Rear--Left/Right Balance" are all greyed out on the display. So, the computer knows that something is wrong. Everything else worked as before. I thought, this should be easy to fix - a fuse has blown somewhere, probably in the amp, methinks. But, I couldn't find any such fuse... Google didn't help, either. So, I took it to a Lexus dealer who kept the car for a couple of days. They couldn't figure it out, saying that the amp itself (not a fuse!) was probably "blown"... sounds bad. But then, they've got things very wrong before about the same car - e.g., an earlier, unrelated fault (which I later found, no thanks to them, was a sticky brake caliper) was missed by the same dealer, and instead I was told non-premium tyres were the cause of the sounds and vibration about which I was complaining. Help! What should I do about this Sound of Silence, please?
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My 2004 GS430 suffered from repeated battery flattening, forcing me to change the battery about twice as often as would have been expected. The alternator and charging circuitry was fine. Trial and error showed if the alarm was not set, the battery didn't drain. I tracked down the electrical fault to a siren in the alarm system. Simply taking it out of circuit (snip on the power feed to it) and the problem disappeared. The horn makes more than enough racket without the reinforcement of the siren! Hope that helps anyone else who has experienced a similar problem.
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Yes. Otherwise one could not have access to slide the door/panel along... Thanks - the first "button" you talk about is what I call the sliding door/panel. I didn't see any button behind it - but there could have been one. I'm now far from the car, but as soon as I can, I will look for any tiny button behind the sliding panel and report back. F****g Lexus!
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Thanks for all the suggestions, followed all the links. Yes, I had to reduce the pressure in the spare tyre to get it out, unscrewed the frame to get at the DVD unit. No button or recess anywhere on the unit - slid my hands over all of it. I'll get a photo done - but any more suggestions, please make them! :(
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Which "eject button"? On the dash? Can't see one. There's no button of any kind on the rear, front or side of the DVD unit itself. :(
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Done, as the first responder already suggested. DVD stays inside. I've even tried disconnecting the battery for 5 minutes and then reconnecting....
