boB_2006_GS300

My mirrors started acting up shortly after the warranty ended. The mirrors tilt down when going in reverse, and are supposed to return to where they were when in drive. My mirrors return usually too high to see out of. This is a BIG safety issue as you are seeing sky when there might be a car next to you. Fiddling with the L/R rocker switch, I think you can defeat the mirrors going down, but it's a hassle and you loose the help it gives when backing and parking.

I have a 2006 Lexus that has factory wheels that were chrome exchanged after I bought the car. A few months ago my low tire pressure light came on. My front left tire was about 5 LB low. After adding air, continued to happening about every 2 weeks. I assumed a slow leak from a nail or something. The local tire store didn't find a leak, but said there is some oxidation on the rim surface where the tire meets. He said they see this all the time and that it probably only looses air when I am driving. He put a brush tool on his power tool and removed the oxidation. It's been several months and the problem is gone.

I would start by pulling the head unit and unplugging each connector and reconnecting them one at a time. Several people here reported having erratic conditions after installing an iPod adaptor (especially in cold weather). It seems a slightly loose connector can cause problems. There is a sticky thread called DVD Bypass in this forum that shows how to pull the head unit out. I'm not suggesting to do the modifications, just to use the removal instructions. It's worth a try and free. :)

don't know. I had pinched a wire when I was installing an iPod adaptor that blew a fuse. there are fuse panels in the kick area on both sides of the car. while looking for the fuse I blew, I pulled them one at a time to look at them. turns out the ECU fuse was next to an empty fuse slot. I replaced it to that one by mistake. the dealer figured it out, but basically being in the wrong spot is the same as no power or a bad fuse. my car started, but ran poorly and shifting was like what you have.

two things I would check are that your ECU fuse is good and that your battery is good and strong. I inadvertenly pulled the fuse (while looking for another blown fuse) and replaced the ECU fuse in a spot that I though it came from, but returned it one spot off as there was an unused fuse space. The car had all of the same transmission symptons you are seeing. Seemed like the battery was not strong enough for the solenoids in the transmission. I thought I had a bad battery and replaced it. Still had trouble, thought the new battery was bad too. Don't know all for sure, but Lexus found the fuse that was in the wrong slot very fast and the car shifted perfectly since (about 4 years). Bottom line, check that the ECU fuse is OK and has power.

has anyone installed an iPod adapter to the wiring harness? years ago I had issues like you on cold damp mornings. I reseated the connectors and no problem since. the sticky note at the top of this forum for DVD bypass shows how to pull the head unit. there's only a few connectors that you can pull and reset. might be a cheap fix?

make sure you have a good battery as the transmission shifts electronically. also make sure all of your fuses are good.

I also have a 2006 GS300 and just replaced the battery. I had to cycle each window at the door, not from the drivers switch. Go all the way down and all the way up a few times, and the drivers switch should work then too. good luck!

Hi, I have a 2006 GS300 with Mark Levenson Audio and Nav. I listen to my music LOUD and after 76000 miles, it is finally giving me trouble. It started 2 nights ago. I was listening to it and it cut out the sound. This is happening with any source (CD, FM, etc). I turned down the volume, and it came back on. If I turned it up, it cut out again. The volume goes from 0 to 62, but now anything above 30-31 will cause the audio to cut out. I tried the stereo last 2 days and same thing. Also tried with the car parked and just have the power in the ACC position (push the start button once without my foot off the brake). In that mode, the stereo plays, but without the subwoofer. Still has the same problem. At levels up to 30 or so, the music still sounds great and no distortion or pops and clicks. Anyone have any ideas as to if you think it is the head, amp, or a speaker? Any ideas as where to proceed to check things out? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

I have a 2006 and remember reading that the computer in the car "learns" some of the driver habits for shifting and such. You can try disconnecting the battery for a half hour or so to reset the computer and maybe it will learn your type of driving. If you do, the one touch window switch might not work until you retrain it with a couple of manual up/down cycles. It's worth a try?

I have a different model Lexus (which plays DVDs). I think the parking break has to be on and the shifter in park.

do you have any dash board lights that indicate a problem like "VSC" or similar? I shorted a wire a long time ago reinstalling the radio after adding on an iPod adapter. it seemed like I had a dead battery and I had it replaced. still had problems of the car stalling and quitting. I had the VSC light. I looked at each fuse and didn't find the problem, but I must have returned one to a an empty holder position, and I caused more problems. I got it to the local dealer and they found the problem in about 10 minutes. it seems like it would be either the battery or alternator, but the computer can also cause problems, so keep an open mind. it shouldn't take a Lexus dealer to check for the first 2 choices, but if it's not the battery or alternator, check the fuses and be careful if you remove one next to an empty slot so that you return it to the correct one. if you still have a problems and have error lights on the dash, tell your repairman. good luck!

me too. 2006 gs300. sounds like big sub-woofers going out of control. luckily I don't need to drive with the windows down too much. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

click on this link: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=24442 It describes how to remove the nav/radio unit. you are not going to cut wires as described, but the removal instructions show how to get to the back of the radio. Most iPod adapters plug in-between an existing connector and the plug that was connected to it, and then there is a cable to the iPod. I used a old stake knife I heated over the kitchen stove to cut/melt a notch in the globe box and ran the iPod cable through it. easy to do yourself. use large towels to set radio on after removal to avoid scratching your car.

I put mine where the owners manual was. I used an old butter knife and heated it red hot on the stove and melted a small notch in the inside of the opening. I cut a piece of Masonite to friction fit the opening and covered it with black felt. When you open the glove compartment, it looks the same, only the manual is not there.

I'm glad it worked! as far as iPod adapters go, I have a Dice and a VAIS brand. The older Vais unit allowed you to access Playlists as if they were CDs on the car stereos CD changer. It works and sounds great, but you have to have the playlists on your iPod. The Dice unit uses the car stereo as if it is a SAT radio. The Lexus has 6 presets that the Dice unit labels PLAYLIST, ARTIST, ALBUM, and TRACK, so basically you can access your complete iPod library from the car stereo without preplanning. What I don't like about the Dice unit is that the output is about half that of the VAIS unit. I added an amp and sub-woofer to my ML stereo and it sounds great and loud with the Vais! :) ...and it stands up to my usage. If you don't play your music loud, you can get the Dice unit for about $169. I think the VAIS unit is more, and I use it more because it has more output. VAIS has a new model coming out in a month or so that supposedly will allow full browsing like the Dice unit, but no word on price, features or availability yet. I have both and would recommend either with my thoughts above. http://www.diceelectronics.com/ http://www.vaistech.com/products/home.php

put your odometer on total miles (not A or B ) . turn off the ignition. press and hold the reset button next to the odometer buttons, and the WITHOUT YOUR FOOT ON THE BREAK, press the ignition button twice. You should still be holding the reset button about 20-30 seconds until you see the message on the dashboard that says Oil Maintenance Reset. good luck :)

lots of GS owners solve problems by disconnecting the negative battery terminal for 15 minutes. I would try that first. As you said bumps previously set this off. The pinned thread at the top of this forum for DVD bypass shows how to pull the stereo. It is basically simple with a phillips screw driver and a 10mm deep socket wrench. The connectors only go one way, so if you are careful, you can disconnect the cables and reconnect them. That might help. I have an aftermarket iPod adapter and had similar audio problems at one time. Cold weather would cause problems too. I since reseated the connectors and hadn't had problems in years. If you do pull the unit or disconnect the battery, some memory settings will be lost. You will have to retrain the windows up and down before they work automatically. good luck.

thanks Guy!

Guy, does this mean you can't or shouldn't get your '06 GS300 brake job done at a trusted local tire dealer?

I just had the tire pressure light on too. If you have a low tire and fix the problem, it should go out in about a mile or so. Mine did when I filled the low tire. BUT, it went on again and it turned out I have a hairline crack on the inside of my right rear rim :( I took it to a wheel dealer and they said I must have run over a pot hole in the rain. Turns out the rim also got a bit out of round, but they said they could fix it all for $135. I'm not sure how the tire pressure sensors work, but they gave me an ugly wheel and tire as a loner, and they said I should ignore the light as it did not have a sensor. With the loner wheel I do not get the light???? I get the wheel back mon or tue. hope there are no surprises!

my factory doesn't have mp3 support either. it does support SAT radio and that is the EMULATION the Dice unit uses on my system. my stereo uses the navigation screen and I see where there would have been 6 buttons for stations, it is now 6 buttons for Artist, Playlists, Albums, Tracks, etc. i *think* if your stereo supports SAT radio and you do not have the nav screen, it should still work. Go to Dice's web site and download the manual and it lists the car years and models, and what emulations can be used with your stereo.

If you don't work on it right away, at least get gas at another station on your next fill-up. It wouldn't hurt to rule out bad or contaminated gas. It happens! :(

I have a 2006 GS300 with the Mark Levenson stereo. I also wanted more bass so I put a sub-woofer box in the trunk with 2 JL-Audio 10" subs and a Polk Audio Class D subwoofer amp. I had a car stereo shop hook it up. It needed a thick power wire to the battery and a HI-Low adapter. The Hi-Low adapter clips on to the existing sub woofer wires and sends the audio to the new amp (and auto turn-on). The bass is awesome and the stereo sounds much better. If you do the same, get a good quality Hi-Low adapter as they vary. I really like my Polk amp. I had a JL-Audio amp with more power, but it ran very hot and would shut down after 45 minutes of hard use and eventually went bad all together. The class D Polk amp from Frys sounds better (to me), cranks, and barley gets warm at all. good luck.

Enable/Disable press the SCAN button 8 times (within 1-2 seconds) “Simple mode” You will hear a short beep. This feature will allow you to control the iPod™manually. [Track+], [Track-] on your Head Unit will still select the desired Track, but all other control can only be done through the iPod. Playlist and track information will not be displayed on the head unit in “Simple mode”. The unit will keep this mode in memory (even after vehicle ignition is turned OFF and back ON) until this mode is turned OFF (disabled). ************************* I did my best to cut & paste from the VAIS manual. Every time you do the above, it switches modes. Somehow you got in the simple mode, now do the above to go back to the nav screen control. Hope this helps.