Cluster, Transmission, Alternator

[TSO]

OK, weird and potentially scary incident today -

Two days ago I was driving and the battery light went on. Sure enough, things begin to slowly fail as I limped home. When the battery got too low, everything quit. I charged it for bit, then cranked it and everything fine, but battery light still on and all eventually dies, so diagnosed a bad alternator.

I get a rebuilt alternator, and limp into an NTB to have them install it for me. Thought everything works on the imp in, car dies in parking lot as expected when battery is depleted, so we push it into the bay. They ask me to puit it in "park", but of course the trnamission won't shift unless there's juice, so they bring over a portable battery booster and hook it up. Car starts right up, but no instrument cluster, radio or AC! And, no power to the transmission, or at least the transmission lock as it won't budge.

they went ahead and changed the alternator in the hopes that everything would "come around", but no luck. Still no power to the instrument cluster, AND still no juice going into the battery from the new alternator.

I broke down and took it into a reputable Lexus dealer, and he starts talking "wire block" and "Fuse Panel" and "fried cluster" before ever seeing the car. these are repairs I can't afford to do! the car purrs like a kitten after charging the battery, or when it's still on jumper cables - just not power from NEW alternator and no power to the instrument cluster.

Anyone with ideas???

[Marklouis]

OK, weird and potentially scary incident today -

Two days ago I was driving and the battery light went on. Sure enough, things begin to slowly fail as I limped home. When the battery got too low, everything quit. I charged it for bit, then cranked it and everything fine, but battery light still on and all eventually dies, so diagnosed a bad alternator.

I get a rebuilt alternator, and limp into an NTB to have them install it for me. Thought everything works on the imp in, car dies in parking lot as expected when battery is depleted, so we push it into the bay. They ask me to puit it in "park", but of course the trnamission won't shift unless there's juice, so they bring over a portable battery booster and hook it up. Car starts right up, but no instrument cluster, radio or AC! And, no power to the transmission, or at least the transmission lock as it won't budge.

they went ahead and changed the alternator in the hopes that everything would "come around", but no luck. Still no power to the instrument cluster, AND still no juice going into the battery from the new alternator.

I broke down and took it into a reputable Lexus dealer, and he starts talking "wire block" and "Fuse Panel" and "fried cluster" before ever seeing the car. these are repairs I can't afford to do! the car purrs like a kitten after charging the battery, or when it's still on jumper cables - just not power from NEW alternator and no power to the instrument cluster.

Anyone with ideas???

they must have blown one or two of the fuse blocks when they hooked up the portable jumper to knock out your instrument cluster. take off the black fuse cover right behind the battery, and look on the very left side of the fuse cluster. use a flashlight to look through the tops of the fuse blocks and see if any connections are blown...if so, these can easily be replaced at any auto store. there are 10mm bolts holding these blocks in place, make sure you remove the bolts before attempting to remove the blown fuse block.

thats as much as i can help...good luck!

[TSO]

THanks for the input!

I actually looked at the fuse blocks when it was sitting in the bay at NTB. They were kind enough to let me tinker with it while in their shop. As far as i could tell, the fuse blocks were good. COuld they be bad and still look OK?

UPDATE - The Lexus dealer called back and said that my NEW alternator was only putting out 8 volts, so he couldn't work on it. He said he would have to put in a Denso alternator that he could garauntee worked before he could even begin to diagnose the problem. At a cost of about $650 total :o

At this point, I can return the other alternator ($175). I would almost be willing to pay for the original alternator job as long as they didn't then come back and feed me a bunch of bull about the OTHER thousands of dollars of repairs they "must" do.

Any thoughts, anyone HELP!

[Bali26]

Good thing now you know it was the alternator all along.

You dont need denso alternator and you don't need the dealer. You can get a nice alternator for under $200, put it in yourself or ask the alternator place.

PS never leave your car unattended at a place you don't trust. Get receipts for everything.

[93ls400walt]

you can buy a rebuilt denso alt on-line. a few Lexus dealers offer this. Much less expensive than walking into the local dealer. I am happy with park place lexus in plano texas. I paid around $300.00. Installing is not that hard but you will need a few tools. The ls requires a high amp alt. can't recall the exact amp.

You also may find www.lexls.com helpfull

[SKperformance]

Where was the alternator tested from the battery ,its leads a scan toool , or right on the alternator.

It could be a bad ground which woudl do the same things.

I would check them before anything else