Climate Control Is Dead - '97 Ls400

[ford212.809]

I have a friend with a '97 LS400 and all of a sudden the controls on the climate control dash panel do not function. Any of the buttons that are pushed = nothing. All of the lights and backlights work properly. We have checked all the fuses that apply - I think. Any ideas / suggestions?

[blake918]

That happened to me one time, and a new fuse cured the problem. I was about ready to pull off the road and cry because it was in the heat of summer when all of the sudden the climate control goes blank. The climate control in my '95 is linked to the cigarette lighter fuse; I replaced the fuse, and I was back in business.

The root of my problem was the cigarette lighter, it came loose and would blow the fuse if you touched it. I tightened the lighter, replaced the fuse, and it has been fine since.

[ford212.809]

That happened to me one time, and a new fuse cured the problem. I was about ready to pull off the road and cry because it was in the heat of summer when all of the sudden the climate control goes blank. The climate control in my '95 is linked to the cigarette lighter fuse; I replaced the fuse, and I was back in business.

The root of my problem was the cigarette lighter, it came loose and would blow the fuse if you touched it. I tightened the lighter, replaced the fuse, and it has been fine since.

Blake, You ARE the man. My buddy's climate control problem is repaired. He found the CORRECT fuse, replaced it and he is back in business. He thanks you and the local Lexus dealer does not like you. Many Thanks from Tennessee. ;)

[perks2]

Hi, I am new to the form. I have a 1993 LS400, bought it wrecked took me about a year to get it on the road. I just love the way it drives the ride is so smooth. My climate control is dead also. It won't do anything. It was working fine and all of the sudden the fan quit and so did the lights on the dash for the climate control no air cool or hot. This happened about a month ago. The lighter hasn't worked for most of the 4 months, I have been driving the car. I was in the process of getting a cabin air filter,when the ac quit. The old filter must of come with the car. It is dried up and looks like brown concrete. Now the compressor motor baring is roaring. I have a few other things wrong with the car, could anyone help me on this problem. I live in Missouri at Lake of the Ozarks and it is about a 2hr. drive to a lexus dealer, to the south.

1hr north to a Tyo dealer. Today I took it to someone local for the roar. I will call him tomorrow and tell him to check the fuse. My husband had checked under the drivers dash for a circut braker. He said there wasn't one. But on the form I read one fellow said it could be that.

If anyone knows anything else to check. please tell me.

Thank you for this form, it is very informative.

Perks2

[lexusnutt]

Blake, you are right on about the cig lighter being the cause.

I just got the car a week prior and was ready to go for a summer night drive. Mine happened when I tried to plug in my cell phone charger into the outlet. Everything went blank. I also looked for a fuse, but everything was OK. I pushed in the ashtray and lo and behold, it worked! Like the trunk wire, I think the cig lighter wire is too short and wears after multiple pushes on the ashtray. I haven't pushed it since and it's never happened again. I want to fix it, but I don't know how to remove the lighter. Anyone know how to do this?

Cheers!

[blake918]

Blake, You ARE the man. My buddy's climate control problem is repaired. He found the CORRECT fuse, replaced it and he is back in business. He thanks you and the local Lexus dealer does not like you. Many Thanks from Tennessee. ;)

That's great news! Isn't it nice when the problem is from something simple like a fuse! :D I keep a pack of those fuses in my trunk after I went through this.....I can do without a lot of things, but my air conditioner most certainly is not one of them!!!

Blake, you are right on about the cig lighter being the cause.

I just got the car a week prior and was ready to go for a summer night drive. Mine happened when I tried to plug in my cell phone charger into the outlet. Everything went blank. I also looked for a fuse, but everything was OK. I pushed in the ashtray and lo and behold, it worked! Like the trunk wire, I think the cig lighter wire is too short and wears after multiple pushes on the ashtray. I haven't pushed it since and it's never happened again. I want to fix it, but I don't know how to remove the lighter. Anyone know how to do this?

I wonder if the wire isn't tangled or cut up on something because I don't have any issues with the length of that wire in my car. The part that was loose on my ash tray was the cigarette lighter itself. After I retightened the lighter, it has been fine.

Getting to the lighter is somewhat tricky. Popping the wood trim out from around the console is easy, as is removing the ashtry assembly from the wood trim. I'd love to know how they assemble these things because when I took mine apart two springs that came flying out (like one of those fake jars of peanuts with the springs in them. LOL) never would go back in properly--it's not the end of the world, the ashtray door doesn't spring open like it's supposed to, but it doesn't bother me since I have my sat radio mounted right there. Once you start taking everything apart it's pretty self explanitory. ;)

[mercydawn49]

Hello everyone!! My bf n I currently have a 2000 LS400. And we are having a huge dilemma, out control panel to the heating and air stopped working and he tried everything he knew to do to try n gt it back up n running but it only !Removed! him off even more n w his bad temper he threw the control panel n it shattered smh 👎🤦 solo noowww.....it's the end of April and it's getting hot 🔥 and I can deal w it being cold bc I can bundle up but I can't handle the heat bc I can only take off so many clothes n still be showing some kinda respect, ykwim 🤭😂🤣 I know it's not the smartest thing to do but for the time being he had the heater straight wired to the cigarette lighter....we thought about doin the same just until.we got the money to gt it fixed properly, but doing the same thing to the ac wire but we can't figure out how to turn the temperature from hot to cold!! I know u most likely wouldn't recommend this at all but we gotta do what we gotta do for the time being!! Do yk how we can turn the temperature down w out the control panel working ? Plz, can u help us? 

[Lexus Owners Club]

Unfortunately, the system won't function without the control panel.

Best idea would be to find a secondhand panel and it should then start working fine