1990LS400

Paul, can you tell that I'm having a mostly "all play and no work" day? We'll be in Waukee on July 3 as usual for the annual family fireworks extravaganza!

I'm thinking that silicone would be a safe bet. It will be interesting to see what you find - might be damage from a collision that was not repaired due to it being hidden by the bumper cover like the situation I had on the off-lease 2000 LS400 I bought in 2003.

After more of my brain cells started firing, I remembered that the setting is "AUTO SCREEN CHANGE " instead of "SWITCH"

I don't know if your RX has reverse gear mirror tilt-down on the driver side. On some older models, only the passenger side mirror tilted down. For example, the 1998 LS didn't have driver side tilt-down but it was added for the 1999 model year. There does not appear to be multiple versions of the exterior mirrors for the 2006 RX330 based on the information on www.toyodiy.com If there were multiple versions, they would be in the parts list. I don't think you will find an "exploded parts diagram" for the mirrors because replacement parts are available only for the mirror glass and maybe the motor assemblies. These mirrors are very simple inside and are less complex than those on newer Lexus vehicles with mirror turn signals, puddle lights, etc. I don't know if the mirror housing is bolted or riveted to the body-colored part that attaches to the door but you might be able to see after you pop out the mirror glass. And I don't have specific instructions for removing the mirror glass on your RX but you can probably fake your way through it. The repair manual for my last LS said to use a small shop towel to pop out the glass. I used a very thin screwdriver to depress the four prongs that held the mirror glasses in place on our 2012 Prius and the glasses popped out easily. After releasing each prong, I ran the mirror glass to a different angle so that I could release the next prong, etc. I suggest that you tilt the mirror glass all the way down and look behind it to see if you can see any of the (probably four) prongs that hold it in place. I think I used my borescope to look behind the mirror glasses of our Prius - one of the coolest tools I have.

Look in Settings for an option saying something like AUTO SCREEN SWITCH and set it to Off.

If it's anything like my Sienna it's relatively easy to remove the rear bumper cover but it's easier if you have help. There might be how-to videos on YouTube. If not, the videos for the Sienna might suffice since the Sienna is, IMO, just a bigger RX.

Here is my guess: It sounds like the mechanical cable running from the inside lock/unlock lever could be damaged. If you let the door panel dangle by the cable when you removed the door panel, that might have bent the wire that runs through the cable housing. I've never disconnected the mechanical cables from door panels and have either tied the door panels to the door with string or propped them up so that the door panels would not fall to the ground and stress the cables. Maybe remove the door panel again and see if the wire is bent where it enters the housing or if the cable housing is bent/kinked somewhere. You might be able to straighten it with you fingers but you might need to replace the cable. I last noticed this potential issue when installing turn signal mirror covers on our 2012 Prius v a couple of years ago. It never fails to amuse me how all vehicles made by Toyota - from the least expensive Scion to the most expensive Lexus LS600hL - share the same basic component designs although I guess that makes sense.

Can the water be seen entering the interior by someone sitting in the cargo area while someone else pours water on the exterior? Did you say that you had removed the relevant rear interior trim? If so, I would think that someone could see exactly where the water is entering. Or maybe try the paper strip test I mentioned previously. That involves cutting a number of 11" by 1" strips of paper (typing/printer paper works well), closing the hatch on the strips of paper and then pulling the strips out to see if there is friction between the rear door and the gasket at all points around the door. Something else that can cause leaks around the rear door is when cargo causes the rear door or door hinge to bend even slightly when the rear hatch door is shut - particularly a problem with rear hatch doors that have electric power closers. Does the rear hatch door fit evenly around the door frame - flush with the body? Surely you will figure this out.

A competent body shop can pull the underlying structure of the car back into perfect alignment. The rear hit to my LS400 was worse (repair cost over $10K in 1999) and the car looked great and drove like new after the repair and on the day I sold it in 2003. I doubt if it would help nail the guy who hit your car even if you had his bumper cover. It might be different if someone had been injured. I had the right side trim of a car that side-swiped my new brand new Volvo in 1978 (and pushed my Volvo into a parked car) and the police told me that they could not use it as evidence even though they tracked the guy down from the license plate number that another driver/witness wrote down and gave me. Of course, the car that the license plate was on was the same year, make and model of car that the trim pieces were for. Even though the police said it was pointless, they still dragged the guy into court just so he would have to pay for a lawyer. The guy had over 20 traffic violations and they wanted to make it as painful for him as possible. Dang, I've had a lot of practice at this. It's just something to get fixed and there is no point in expending energy on angry.

Denny, I think you have proven that you are smarter than a machine. :whistles: Not that I ever doubted. I've never found navigation devices, whether portable or in-dash, to be able to find the best routes over long distances. Even when they have traffic receivers all they can do is (maybe) route you around current traffic problems - they don't know about and are not able to forecast daily traffic trends. My take is that navigation devices are best used for finding nearby addresses and POI's. Even when they don't take you the fastest way, they usually get you to your destination. We live about five miles from Garmin's headquarters but our Garmin GPS devices didn't know about our neighborhood until about five years ago even though it has been here since about 1981. And my then up-to-date Magellan portable nav I used to use once tried to take me over a Missouri River bridge that had been removed many years earlier. Are you reviewing the route choices instead of just pressing the "Go" button? There are usually several choices. Maybe you should practice using your nav even when you don't need it. Assuming you have Enform, play with Bing search and sending destinations from it. My main use of navigation devices and systems has become to provide me with my estimated time of arrival. I think the days of proprietary in-dash nav systems with their own maps are numbered - very numbered. What we will have are cell phone navigation applications replicated on in-dash screens.

Who knows. Maybe it's rain water or condensation. The fuel system on the LS400 was revised for the 2000 model year. The tank capacity was 22.5 gallons previously and dropped to 21.9 gallons for the 2000 model year. It's still a decent capacity and easy to go 400 miles between refueling. It never got less than 25 mpg on 70 mph road trips in the 10+ years I had my 2000 LS but I drove it gently and used the cruise control more than most people. In no or light wind conditions on fairly level Midwest highways, it averaged between 26.9 and 27.1 mpg like clockwork.

Yep, that is the direction Toyota has gone with most if not all of its vehicles of all brands and in all price levels. The speaker grills are now an integral part of door panels and not separately replaceable.

I never had a problem quickly filling the gas tank of the 2000 LS400 I sold last year. Google something like "how to clean out a clogged gas tank vent tube" and you should find suggestions and videos.

If it is the same gasket on both taillights then you could do a test by swapping the gaskets from side to side and see if you can move the leak to the right side or still leaks on the left side but not on the right side. I suspect that it is not a taillight gasket problem since taillight gaskets are not being subjected to frequent compression/decompression like a door or trunk lid gasket is. I wonder if there has been collision damage to the taillight area and if the metal body work is deformed and not allowing the taillight gasket to seal. You might be able to see if this is the case by inserting a length of fishing line or dental floss between the gasket and bodywork and between the taillight module and the gasket and then reinstall the gasket and taillight. Work the fishing line or floss around the gasket to see if there is resistance at all points - might indicate if there are small gaps. If this was a door or trunk lid gasket I would use one inch wide strips of decently strong paper to verify that the gasket is making adequate contact (i.e. resistance when the paper strip is pulled but without tearing the paper) but I doubt if paper strips would work to do a test on your taillight. The paper strip testing method may sound silly but it was documented in the shop manual for the last Mercedes I owned. If all else fails, maybe apply a healthy bead of clear silicon caulk on both sides of the taillight gasket.

It is a different part # for the right taillight gasket - not reversible. I found the left side gasket online for as little as $12 not including shipping. I'm getting the part numbers from www.toyodiy.com but you have to register to see the diagrams.

I think it is part # 81552-0E010 Google it and see if it looks like what you need. Worse water leak I've ever had in a car was caused by an improperly installed driver side taillight gasket on a Honda Accord.

It happens with all these mirrors including on the 2000 LS400 I owned from 2003 until last year. It's pretty easy to install replacement mirror glass modules but the replacements are pricy. Be sure you buy the right ones if you replace them - I've seen replacements on ebay that were not for US models but looked the same from the mirror side.

It is not well documented in the Owners Manual but information like this is displayed in English on the screen in the instrument cluster. Your LS460 does not have the warning light that Dennys mentioned - that was on older versions of the LS.

I suggest that you contact a pro that specializes in repairing damage to leather and vinyl in vehicle interiors. The indie Lexus repair shop I've used for many years has a guy who comes in to make repairs like this while vehicles are in for service.

My recommendation is to install the final 2013 map update for the gen 2/3 nav and call it a day. Our 2012 Prius still has the 2011 map update and our 2014 Sienna the 2013 map update and both still do a decent job finding addresses and businesses. Even in much later Toyota/Lexus nav generations, map detail is provided only for medium and large cities. When addresses or businesses are not found in our nav systems, we sometimes use the navigation apps on our cell phones. Or ... if a specific address cannot be found, we can often navigate to an address near it. It's been a lot of years since I've seen a forum thread about replacing a gen 2/3 nav with a gen 4 nav system. Toyota/Lexus is now at generation 8 with its nav systems so updating to a gen 4 system won't get you very close to current technology. An inexpensive portable Garmin GPS will provide far better navigation and map detail than a Toyota/Lexus gen 4 system and also provide excellent voice controlled Bluetooth hands free phone. And you get four free map updates per year with a Garmin. The 2000 LS400 I sold last year didn't have the pathetic gen 1 Lexus nav system and I mounted a Garmin GPS just to the right of the head unit on a Pro.Fit Legend bracket on which I installed a Garmin compatible Pro.Fit "Bravo ball" (see attached photo) and "softwired" it into the car's accessory circuit so that it turned on/off with the ignition switch. Pro.Fit still has brackets that fit the LS430: http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/lexus.htm

That sounds like an ominous question - was your engine low on oil? Since there is no longer a separate oil pressure / low oil warning light, my assumption is that the "master warning light" will flash, the warning buzzer will sound and an appropriate message will be displayed in the instrument cluster's "Multi-information display". It would be nice if all possible warning and information displays would be documented in the owners manuals but that hasn't been the case. It often easier to search owners manuals in the owners section of www.lexus.com The section that discusses warning messages is at http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM50C39U/pdf/sec_05_02.pdf

I've always used the blunt end of a wooden hammer handle to pop out the wheel centers of Toyota and Lexus vehicles and I've never broken one. The tabs are probably getting broken when the wheel centers are put back in since they have to be removed to spin balance a wheel. Tire monkeys are often the least skilled of anybody at repair shops, tire stores and dealerships. Yes, I've always had to remove a wheel in order to pop out a wheel center.

Denny, it may not be as bad as it looks ... appears to be a glancing blow that may not have "racked" the underlying unibody structure. I would be curious to know if the left rear door still opens and shuts freely. If it does then that is an indication that the damage does not involve the underlying structure. If the door does not open/shut freely, the back window will likely have to come out while the body is pulled back into place in order to avoid cracking the glass. I had a VW Rabbit hit and severely damaged while parked in 1976. The driver of the car that hit my Rabbit was so drunk that he could not walk ... he tried to crawl away and hide in some bushes. I was talking to my girl friend (now wife) on the phone while looking out the appartment window at my car when the crash occurred at around 9:00 AM on a Saturday morning. It was surreal. I should get a prize for having cars hit while parked or while I have been stopped in traffic. At least the last crash happened while I was stopped at a traffic light in front of the Lexus dealer's body shop - very convenient.

It's just a "flesh wound". You won't know it ever happened after a competent body shop repairs it. I had worse when a car hit my first Lexus LS in 1999 while I was stopped in traffic. I drove that car another four years and then a friend drove it an additional seven or eight years.

There are plenty of photos of this problem - especially on the IS300 and ISX50 - that can be found by searching for phrases like "Lexus melting dashboard": https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Lexus+melting+dashboard The dashboard becomes very sticky to the touch and literally oozes fluid. I'm a little surprised that Toyota has finally admitted that the problem exists and is going to supposedly fix dashboards back to the 2006 model year ISX50. Whether they fix the dashboards on the earlier IS300 is another matter.