Instrument cluster clock/climate control

[logic]

Does anyone know where to get a good used or rebuilt clock/climate control for 92' LS 400? The LCD display turning black seems to be a very common problem. I have checked with many auto-wreckers, they either don't have any left or are in the same condition (turning black). I had heard there were some retired Air Force personnel in California that rebuilt them.

PS: Given the number of problems, one might think that Lexus would step in and do a recall or sell rebuilt units, $800+ for a new one is a bit steep. thanks, bob

You can try ebay or you can go to www.lexls.com for a tutorial and where to buy the LCD screen on how to fix it yourself. I did and it works great.

[ramnozack]

Does anyone know where to get a good used or rebuilt clock/climate control for 92' LS 400? The LCD display turning black seems to be a very common problem. I have checked with many auto-wreckers, they either don't have any left or are in the same condition (turning black). I had heard there were some retired Air Force personnel in California that rebuilt them.

PS: Given the number of problems, one might think that Lexus would step in and do a recall or sell rebuilt units, $800+ for a new one is a bit steep. thanks, bob

You can try ebay or you can go to www.lexls.com for a tutorial and where to buy the LCD screen on how to fix it yourself. I did and it works great.

there is a company called BBA reman. out of mass. and they have done a great job for 175.00 and a lifetime warranty.http://cgi.ebay.com/Lexus-LS400-LS-400-Instrument-Cluster-Repair-Service_W0QQitemZ230378839039QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessori

es?hash=item35a3a61bff

[soup1]

Count me in on this. I bought the car in 2001 with the climate controlled display washed out. I saw it come through only a couple times when the car's interior was above 120 degrees. Also replacing the stereo, I had to configure and rub some plastic to match the black.

My questions are: What is the ect power button? And... What's a good replacement for the sunburned gear shift leather? I "want" a driver's side door handle. Still works but it's broken somewhere. Why does my Trac button not work and it turns on whenever it wants?

[Amskeptic]

I am very happy.

Soldered in a new A/C-Clock display from Lextreme for $160.00 and he threw in five light bulbs, which allowed me to sneak one in for the emergency flasher switch, looks great . . .

. . . which made me want to tackle the tach/fuel needles that were only half-lit. Took the cluster out:

The '92 connectors are not really that bad, a small screwdriver depressing the tab and a sharp little bunt backwards popped them right out with no damage:

Here is a needle, you can see the black plastic tube surround has cracked and is starting to peel off:

There is no need to go tearing the IC boards or power supply off, a good thing. You will want to take the surround off so you can have better access to the needles:

In the foreground of the above shot you will see the fearsome supply of repair needs.

1) a jewelers screwdriver like to tighten the hinges on your reading glasses

2) a tube of rear window defogger repair paint (little thing too)

3) a little tube of SuperGlue®

4) a spare can of Duplicolor *Engine LowGloss Black (*heat resistant)

5) a little paint brush and solvent to clean the brush

A) Put a dab of Superglue on the tip of the jewelers screwdriver and lightly slip it between the flourescent tube and the peeled plastic. Do a little delicate slide along the tube if the plastic has delaminated. Do not allow the Superglue to land on the outside surface of the plastic, get it in between the plastic and the flourescent tube only.

B) oh so very delicately, hold the edge of the tube (needle) and lightly bring the plastic into contact with the tube. Please do not glue your fat finger to the needle. Slide your finger along the plastic a bit and if it appears that you have not glued it to the tube, press the plastic against the tube. "Back-support" the tube any time you apply any force to it. A light pinch between two fingers did it for me, you have to hold it for about 30-60 seconds per breach. Clean the screwdriver with solvent after each application. Do every location that you see a crack in the plastic or a delamination. I had a total of eight cracks and one long delaminate. Be patient. I got two quarters + half time of the Giants and the Eagles in. (Giants lost 45-38)

C) Clean the screwdriver, shake the tiny bottle of "Rear Window Defogger Repair Paint" and apply a little dab of this brown fast-drying paint *across each crack*. Stay away from the illumination strip of the flourescent tube. Also stay away from the gauge background. Please. Apply several light stripes of this too-damn-fast-drying paint. Keep it smooth, it may want to clot. Allow to dry.

D) After it is dry, your needles may look like a dalmation. So, get out the "Low-Gloss" black engine enamel and spray a little shot into the cap. Get your paint brush out and dab black paint over the brown paint. Stick on another coat up both sides of the needle and across the tip, but stay away from the white stripe of flourescent tube.

E) Wash the odometer glass while you are here. Wash the smoked glass cover too with just your hands and dishwashing liquid and do not allow it to hit the kitchen faucet or anything else. Dry. Blow off any lint and only touch the sides. Spot clean the gauge background with a damp paper towel, be delicate. Blow all lint off of everything.

F) Reassemble and stick back into the dash. Cost less than $10.00 and three lazy hours. Voila! Happy!

ColinInAustinTX:

[jeremiah]

I got my rebuilt climate control unit from ebay yesterday. Seller name is "jje02"

$145 + $15 (S&H) + $100 (core deposit) to get a rebuilt unit. You get your $100 back after you ship back your old one. Fast shipping and he provides you with good instructions on how to take your old unit off. Next project: replace leather on steering wheel and shift knob.

[jeremiah]

Where can I get instructions on how to remove the heat control panel?

[sebastor]

Hi guys. Just wanted to share my weekend project i did with famous lcd replacement. Pardon the dust and tape. Bought this car recently and getting it great condition as we speak. If anyone needs help in this area let me know ;)

[fsuguy]

Hi guys. Just wanted to share my weekend project i did with famous lcd replacement. Pardon the dust and tape. Bought this car recently and getting it great condition as we speak. If anyone needs help in this area let me know ;)

sebastor,

Nice pictures! I am planning to do the same to my '92, so these pictures will be very helpful. Can you post where you obtained the LCD replacement from, how it compares with the display on the radio (matching color, fonts, etc.) and cost? Also, any info regarding the leds you have in the pic would also be much appreciated, and any problems with soldering the million or so pins :)

Thx

Mike

[sebastor]

sebastor,

Nice pictures! I am planning to do the same to my '92, so these pictures will be very helpful. Can you post where you obtained the LCD replacement from, how it compares with the display on the radio (matching color, fonts, etc.) and cost? Also, any info regarding the leds you have in the pic would also be much appreciated, and any problems with soldering the million or so pins :)

Thx

Mike

@fsuguy. Hi Mike. I have local source by where i live. It's made from way better glass that will outlive most of our cars. The numbers and letters are crisp and nice font as you can see. I like it.

Led bulbs also got from him. As for soldering it's little bit of precise, patient work. I have been soldering for over 10 yrs so i would say my skills are great. Use to soldier actually much smaller circuit boards. A lot of guys will actually reuse the board solder which is a mistake as that solder is oxidized, dirty and does not contain rosin anymore which leads to cold joints that will not conduct electricity and worst might separate from board. I take old solder off, apply flux to clean surface and reapply solder with 40% rosin core which guarantees hot good joints. After i'm done i clean rosin off the board with toothbrush which is dipped in alcohol to take rosin off the board. Rosin is slightly acidic but cleans board off of oxidized particles and also guarantees hot joints as solder sticks to rosin like magnet. If anyone is interested i can complete the entire job with parts for $175 ...if anyone is interested. If you choose to do it yourself Mike good luck. :-) It feels so much better to have this replaced. My next project is broken antenna and also wanna clean seats & condition seats.

[frd889]

Has anyone actually had the display replaced? What are results. I too would do the job myself if there was a source for the LCD display.

Anyone?? :?

Ours was replaced before we bought it and it is black again

[JER_RAD]

Does anyone know where to get a good used or rebuilt clock/climate control for 92' LS 400? The LCD display turning black seems to be a very common problem. I have checked with many auto-wreckers, they either don't have any left or are in the same condition (turning black). I had heard there were some retired Air Force personnel in California that rebuilt them.

PS: Given the number of problems, one might think that Lexus would step in and do a recall or sell rebuilt units, $800+ for a new one is a bit steep. thanks, bob

I bought my first Lexus (1994 LS400) in pristine condition other than the gauges being completely blacked out. Refusing to pay the $1400 to Lexus or go through 25 gauge clusters from a junkyard before finding one that worked, I took mine apart. It took me three times and a weeks time but I finally figured out how to rebuild it so it works. I have been doing them on the side ever since. I live in Florida, and if you are interested we can work something out. Email me at JER_RAD@yahoo.com and this offer goes to anyone.

Good luck.

[JER_RAD]

Does anyone know where to get a good used or rebuilt clock/climate control for 92' LS 400? The LCD display turning black seems to be a very common problem. I have checked with many auto-wreckers, they either don't have any left or are in the same condition (turning black). I had heard there were some retired Air Force personnel in California that rebuilt them.

PS: Given the number of problems, one might think that Lexus would step in and do a recall or sell rebuilt units, $800+ for a new one is a bit steep. thanks, bob

I bought my first Lexus (1994 LS400) in pristine condition other than the gauges being completely blacked out. Refusing to pay the $1400 to Lexus or go through 25 gauge clusters from a junkyard before finding one that worked, I took mine apart. It took me three times and a weeks time but I finally figured out how to rebuild it so it works. I have been doing them on the side ever since. I live in Florida, and if you are interested we can work something out. Email me at JER_RAD@yahoo.com and this offer goes to anyone.

Good luck.

[Spike Razzor]

Hey guys, I recently bought another 91 LS400 after selling my old one to someone who plans to fix it up. I was surprised, my new LS is in close to mind condition and you can tell its well taken car of since everything works. The only issue I'm having is this random light comes on when it feels like, its located right across from the engine check light and I'm not exactly sure what it means. I've Googled it a dozen times and and no one has any information it, so I drew it in MS Paint in case anyone knows what it means and how to get ride of it.

[davidb77380]

Hey guys, I recently bought another 91 LS400 after selling my old one to someone who plans to fix it up. I was surprised, my new LS is in close to mind condition and you can tell its well taken car of since everything works. The only issue I'm having is this random light comes on when it feels like, its located right across from the engine check light and I'm not exactly sure what it means. I've Googled it a dozen times and and no one has any information it, so I drew it in MS Paint in case anyone knows what it means and how to get ride of it.

That's the icon for a burned out tail light. If it's not the bulb, check the wiring harness where it enters the trunk area (drivers side near the trunk hinge).

[karlkh]

I had 1992 LS400 the air conditioner display did the same thing (turned Black) after 4/5 years. I sold the car and bought a 1999 ls400, now the radio display is missing some of the diplay (LIKE FM looks like FII missing part of the M) I can't believe they can't make a display that lasts. For your info I found a web site where you could download a shop manual by year It use to cost $10.00 for 10 hours of time to download I download everything needed for my 1992, how to take the console apart, there were no screws but you had to pry up at exact places. replace brakes , replace starter , replace timming belt,and any other thing I thought I might need,

(techinfo_toyota@equiptmentsolutions.com) I hope they are still on line cause it saved me 3,000 or 4,000 bucks. also on the lcd displays there waa a site with photos on exactly how to do lots of stuff on a LS400 (http://www.lexls.com/climateLCDscreen.html) Hope this is some help

[Rice4eveR]

REVISED*For people with some technical knowledge only* Do this at your own risk!*

Hi... My name is Rice. I wasn't gonna pay 1200 bux to get my 93 ls400 Lexus cluster to stop flickering and my gas gauge working again! Here is my permanent fix. It cost me $3 or $4 bucks! If this thread is helpful to you then show your support by going to my website and downloading my music! its totally free! www.Rice4eveR.com

Here is my cluster. I just took it out and I'am ready to get to work! The whole job took me 12-15 mins but I was a technician for like 15 years so please take your time!

Back of the cluster. take the white plastic cover off. It is held together with 10 or so screws!

I bought these capacitors from Frys electronics. If you don't have a Frys near you then hop your !Removed! on www.Frys.com and order them by the part numbers provided below!

The labels with prices and part numbers

Unsolder (from the top side) capacitor from c212 that is located on the small board and replace with a 10 uf (10mfd) 16 volt capacitor.

[Rice4eveR]

Do the same for c142 and c147 located on the big board! C142 is to be replaced with new capacitor 4.7 Uf 25 volt and c147 is to be replaced with 10uf 50 volt.

Super small

Bend and cut the legs into feet like the one below

Don't burn yourself with the iron!

Yeah like the pic says... I screwed up and ripped off the copper lead rushing, so I took a probe and scratched the green coating off the board so that I could have a new spot to solder

Looks great and doesn't flicker anymore, cold or hot! I hope I don't make the dudes that charge hella money on eBay mad... but ****um! half of them charge to much for the service anywaY!

click on the little album cover in the pic...!

As always I had a blast teaching you somethin' new!

Thank you for reading!

Rice Aka Rice4eveR -Bullrun season 1 team civic-

[past50]

Has anyone actually had the display replaced? What are results. I too would do the job myself if there was a source for the LCD display.

Anyone?? :?

check lextreme web site.they have good tutorials and sources.

[red68truck]

I had the same problem with my climate control and fixed it for around $40.00 including the cost of a new soldering iron! You can find the LCD display on e-bay for around $20.00 - $45.00. I thought I would try the $20.00 on since it was better than the black one I had. With a little time invested with tear down and put back together which was about 3 hours including the soldering, the new one works great. The cost and time involved was minimal compared to what shops charge. Just go to ebay and type in ls400 climate control and you will get what you are looking for. Good luck, it's well worth it.

[Woozy]

You can take this Unit out of the car yourself. Don't pay for the labour since they are charging $500 Canadian(assuming) for a reman part.

if you want me to direct you on how to do it, let me know.

Hi, I have a 91 LS 400 and I have the same problem, the climate control is going grey. If you have instructions on how to remove the unit from the car I sure would love a copy. I really want to get this fixed. Thanks

[bkls]

i have a 93'ls400 and i got my instrument cluster and climate

control fixed from a guy on ebay for $150 and only took 1 week

including shipping

[in_slow]

well unfortunately we all have the same problem i have a 1993 lexus ls400 2nd owner i am, i brought it with only 135k had the same problem with the climate control and the instrument cluster lighting took it to the lexus dealer in Alexandria Va they told me to call lexus to see about a recall because of the cost to repair it was great and Lexus America came back with my car was too old to do a recall or give any assistance on getting this problem fixed also my car was only serviced at the lexus dealer once since it was purchased from lexus by the first owner, mind you the car is in immaculate condition other than the instrument cluster and climate control it was certified by the lexus dealer in alexandria va 2 days after i purchased but lexus america would not budge at all on any assistance i am a owner of 2 other lexus cars and was pretty up set because these issues are from the manufacture defect and the consumer have to pay it is not fair we already pay a lot for the luxury automobiles and getting them broken from the assembaly lines. i think we as lexus owners we need to flood lexus of america email system until they give us satisfaction we have nothing to lose

[issinryu]

I have a 95 LS400 and have 2 questions

1) drivers side window works with master switch but no other window works with the switch I have tried a new master swith but the problem remains

2) when I turn on my lights the light on the radio does not come on is there an easy fix

[SW03ES]

i think we as lexus owners we need to flood lexus of america email system until they give us satisfaction we have nothing to lose

Your car is 20 years old. The time that the manufacturer would have been responsible for anything has LONG since passed

[CAEDES]

First post here.... Just got myself a 1994 Celsior.

All of the dash cluster had gone. Followed this thread and swapped the capacitors myself. My soldering was rubbish. I was scared it wouldn't work.

Plugged everything back in.... crossed my fingers... and it worked!

Thanks everyone!

Just need to fix my climate LCD now.... Anyone know where to get them for RHD?