Electrical

Raymond310 · March 16, 2012

my lexus es300 is having electrical problems... the car turn on and stays on, but nothing electrical is working, dashboard windows sunroof radio etc. i changed the battery and the alternator and problems remains.. i also made sure all the fuses under the hood were in good condition... what should i look at next? help please!

mshaw · March 16, 2012

Raymond:

You've quite the pickle there. It's rather impossible to have 'nothing' electrical working if the car starts and runs, but I understand that what you're saying comes from frustration. I believe I can help isolate your issue using schematics, but we need to isolate, in particular, the items that are non-operational.

You say the dash does not work - are we talking illumination, particular gauges, what?

The windows - all of them? Do the power locks work?

The radio - I guess that is self-explanatory...

Do you have interior lights (dome lights, etc)?

Does your security system/remote entry work?

It will start and run, but can you shift the vehicle out of park and drive it? Does the trans shift normally?

I'll be honest, I try to get on here at least once daily, but I sometimes I miss a day. I know you are prob in need of an answer or direction asap, but I just wanted to let you know. My first thought is a body control module issue, esp if you have lock issues, too. It could be a power or ground problem, a data circuit issue, or somehow the programming got dumped (which is fairly unlikely). My other thought is harness ground or harness damage created by rodents - see a lot of that sort of thing from folks who live near wooded areas. Mice love the wiring and harness materials for nest lining. But let's cover more of what you do/don't have and go from there - it will at least give you a more defined area to look.

Raymond310 · March 17, 2012

: mshaw.

thanks for the responding.... i found out that the problem i had was i wasnt getting a good ground connection... no lights used to work, nothing electrical... no windows, no radio, no dashboard lights, nothing electrical.. it was weird, but i got it done.. thanks!!