'95 Sc400 Climate Control

[Tomj8]

I recently acquired my first Lexus - a clean '95 SC400 with a bad climate control unit. I have mechanical and soldering skills but am a little uncertain how to remove the unit, and what a repair will consist of other than the obvious replacement of the LCD. The climate display in half black and none of the HVAC controls work; no fan, no A/C, etc. Will replacing the display restore operation, or is there more to it than that? I've checked all fuses, etc, and all are OK. Love the car, but dealer prices on parts scare me to death....$1184 quoted for a new climate control unit. Any help on secrets of removing the unit from the console, acquiring a new display, etc, etc, will be greatly appreciated.

[Ted7]

Check on ebay, I saw one complete set for sale actually.

Mine was all black too, I just order a new LCD and replaced it myself (first time of my life I was soldering something).

Works great now!

[UCF3]

I never worked on mine, but it can't be hard finding replacement parts. There's a company I've used in the past; they were pretty good. You could ask them to sell you the parts perhaps.

Check the Pinned Threads created by BobsVilla. There's a link for Mikado Technologies in San Franscisco.

Also try Jim Walker @ jimlwalker@sbcglobal.net. He might be willing to sell you the parts.

[Tomj8]

I recently acquired my first Lexus - a clean '95 SC400 with a bad climate control unit. I have mechanical and soldering skills but am a little uncertain how to remove the unit, and what a repair will consist of other than the obvious replacement of the LCD. The climate display in half black and none of the HVAC controls work; no fan, no A/C, etc. Will replacing the display restore operation, or is there more to it than that? I've checked all fuses, etc, and all are OK. Love the car, but dealer prices on parts scare me to death....$1184 quoted for a new climate control unit. Any help on secrets of removing the unit from the console, acquiring a new display, etc, etc, will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the quick reply and the information. I have mechanical and soldering skills and could definitely do the repair work but I have two questions:

1) Does the display being black prevent the climate control from functioning? None of the climates control do anything.

2) I've removed four screws to remove the console trim piece but can't locate the last two near the ashtray area.

[Ted7]

I recently acquired my first Lexus - a clean '95 SC400 with a bad climate control unit. I have mechanical and soldering skills but am a little uncertain how to remove the unit, and what a repair will consist of other than the obvious replacement of the LCD. The climate display in half black and none of the HVAC controls work; no fan, no A/C, etc. Will replacing the display restore operation, or is there more to it than that? I've checked all fuses, etc, and all are OK. Love the car, but dealer prices on parts scare me to death....$1184 quoted for a new climate control unit. Any help on secrets of removing the unit from the console, acquiring a new display, etc, etc, will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the quick reply and the information. I have mechanical and soldering skills and could definitely do the repair work but I have two questions:

1) Does the display being black prevent the climate control from functioning? None of the climates control do anything.

2) I've removed four screws to remove the console trim piece but can't locate the last two near the ashtray area.

Everything you need as instructions are here http://lextreme.com/tutorial/sc_installation_guide_v2_B.pdf

Coming from this page here http://www.lextreme.com/lcdtech.html

[LLS]

Tom, since everyone wants to point you in the direction of buying something rather than answering your question I'll help. No, replacing the LCD will not do anything for functionality. There have been several instances where the climate units brain dies. If your fuses are good in the drivers kick panel behind the carpet, then find yourself a completely new unit.

Be sure to get one in the range of your year model (92-94, 95-96, 97-00). Otherwise it will not work. Some of the pin outs were changed each revision.

Good luck! :)

[Tomj8]

Tom, since everyone wants to point you in the direction of buying something rather than answering your question I'll help. No, replacing the LCD will not do anything for functionality. There have been several instances where the climate units brain dies. If your fuses are good in the drivers kick panel behind the carpet, then find yourself a completely new unit.

Be sure to get one in the range of your year model (92-94, 95-96, 97-00). Otherwise it will not work. Some of the pin outs were changed each revision.

Good luck! :)

Thanks for the direct answer to my questions - I didn't want to replace the LCD only to find the A/C still didn't work. In my case, it appears all respondents turn out to be correct; I will indeed need to replace the entire unit. Thanks to all for helping me get the info I needed to make a good decision.