bclexus

@Mives - What in particular is the 'damp (sic) [damper] membrane kit plus sealant' in reference to - and how exactly was it used to solve the problem?

Mives

Only one side is stuck - that's why I said my problem is the exact same.
And yes - this car has like 9 servos, lovely.. I never touch the buttons except fan speed up&down & off button as well haha.


I was referring to the damp membrane similar to what you see in soundproofing mods. They used that and sealed it off with transparent silicone sealant.
Here's a picture after the damp membrane kit has been applied, and the damp membrane kit i was referring to (not really sure of the actual name, the workshop told me that's the name but it's secondhand information for me so take it with a grain of salt)

mdony72

Yeah Don't Fully Seal The Air Inlet Damper , Just correct the positioning of Air Recirculation Valves/doors , maybe simply use a ruler , or something to push back the stuck-ed one , an Audio Specialist might now how to open the gloves compartment. watch this video :

bclexus

Seems like a wacky jackleg way to get some preferred air temperature or airflow that might very-well cause damage to a damper door's hinge or a servo's internal parts, which doesn't solve anything.

Manually forcing stuck or non-moving temperature-airflow blend doors - or permanently locking/sealing damper blend doors into a position - could very likely cause damage that would be difficult to access or to repair.

If a damper blend door's hinge or the servo connection arm pivot point for the door is broken, I do not think it will be possible to replace it or to fix it. All these selective parts or fairly fragile to begin with...

mdony72

The Reason I Created this Thread initially is to have opinions if it harmfull to force close the doors , and FINALLY I decided to have the doors forcefully locked to Air Recirculation. that SOLVE the problem without having to change the motors. Here in the city traffic, we don't need fresh air.

The Car Care Nut Video explain in details how this HVAC mechanism work. If other motor servo doing other thing broke down to, just buy the whole assembly as the dealer suggested, because changing partially doesn't work , you need to strip down interior (the whole dash ) for every motorservo you need to replace

bclexus

If I understand your perspective based on The Car Care Nut's advice, that if more than just one servo motor fails it's necessary for the car's interior to be stripped down, including removing the whole dash - and it's recommended to just buy and replace the whole HVAC assembly because replacing individual servos isn't going to fix the problem...

If that was the purpose of The Car Care Nut making the video you posted, that's downright scary.

If nothing else, it turns people away from owning a Lexus. I'm appalled!

mdony72

There Are 11 Damper Servos. Unless you can do it your self stripping the dash and re-install it, then it make sense you only replace the one that is broken, each servo cost 80-100 usd
Well if onespending the whole weekends dedicated to it , it's his hobby ? if not they need to pay someone else

bclexus

Did you have your car's servos initialized using Techstream? Was your air conditioner's amplifier reprogrammed? If not, why not?

► https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...88921-9999.pdf

mdony72

I remembered I tried that initialization step with my techstream, I forgot the steps , but i remembered i followed the instructin on the service manual,
and the mechanic at toyota must have done it too. and I could not make it go away : it's permanent,
in the beginning when i first encountered this problem I only got B1442, that s the air inlet motor damper.
but last time i checked there are more codes : 48,49 and 55 too. A few times i experienced the air stop blowing to my face. but it problem dissapear when i restart the car

I haven't presented the buletin update to the guy at lexus dealer as I have stopped using their service, but mives did (checked his posts )
The pdf you showed me is for USA Market, and though my GS is the latest generation but it's 2012 not 2013 production.
If someday It fails again and air stop blowing, I'd have no other options but come to them, and persuade them to try follow the procedures first

bclexus

I'm not sure how to interpret your comment that you have stopped using the Lexus dealer's service. I hope you haven't rejected the Lexus dealer at a time when you might need them the most.

I don't think there is any difference in a 2012 build vs a 2013 build 4GS, nor a model destined to Southeast Asia where your car was most likely delivered.

Do you have any knowledge why restarting the car suddenly provided airflow to your face again?

You may want to delve into how the air conditioner amplifier (among other similar 'signaling' electronic control units) work when power is interrupted and then activated/restored. Here's a hint - the air conditioner amplifier assembly needs to be either reprogrammed or replaced.

mdony72

Well, this thread is getting and long and long , m beginning to enjoy commenting
I have nothing against Lexus Dealers, the staffs and technicsians are friendly and helpfull and the place is luxurious. I just stopped doing regular maintenance there (why?? check my previous post) . But If I need some heavy works, especially for parts only available on lexus model, I will come back to the dealer for sure, example if I decided to change the whole assembly completely and couldn't find better altervatives.
And I just called them today and forward the pdf, they still come up with the same answer 2 years ago, Re-Initialization and reset, and if the codes do not disapear, they would suggest replace the whole assembly or at least replacing all the servo motors. no mention reprogramming the ac amplifier assembly. But I'd try to find if someone familiar with that, yeah I shoud try that

I DID NOT say I fixed my problem by restarting the cars, I SAID a few times, I experience the air not blowing to my face, BUT IT (the problem) WENT AWAY after I restarted The Engine to continue my journey. , but if If I SCANNED the car to OBD Port with techstrean or other, those error codes are still present. The Problem MAY come again i dont' know WHEN, hopefully never.
in Youtube, we could find hundreds of video by lexus drivers experiencing the similar issue, and solve it by re-initializaion , there are also procedure to initialize without using techstream, I ve tried that As well

- peace -

Mives

"A few times i experienced the air stop blowing to my face"
Yes! this happened to me once (only driver's side's vents) and the code that appeared back then was 42, 48, 55. Did a scan and reset and it's working well again.
Prior to that, there was a time when the driver's side's vents were also letting out hot air (hot, not ambient) and the passengers' and back row's are letting out cold air. Scan-reset fixed it as well.

And yeah I printed the docs out and gave it to them. Both the Service Advisor and the Mechanic took a look on it, they said reprogram and cleaning both require a disassembly so they'd avoid. They said that closing off the inlet like what I have done at the other workshop is a more preferable way to reprogram and cleaning.
I didn't really want to argue or push my opinion since it was actually already working fine and I was short on time. They could only got me a schedule on a Friday and I had to spend extra time since they need to do Friday prayers in between.
In the end, I only got them to check the HVAC stuffs just as a bonus since I was going there mainly for spark plugs and brake pad.

Looking at youtube videos on car maintenance stuff (mainly originated from the U.S.). I think I'll have to inform that I don't think there is any workshop outside of Toyota dealerships (in Indonesia) that is using Techstream. Therefore, we are really relying on Toyota dealerships to do any Techstream-related stuff for us. The workshops outside Toyota network are using Launch, Autel and the likes. (at least I haven't found one that is using Techstream).
The guys at the Toyota dealership did not want to perform what I wanted them to do because there are Lexus dealership in the same region.
Lexus dealerships here, most of the visitors are chauffeurs and not the owners. This probably shapes the Indonesian Lexus' mechanics' mindset differently in comparison to other markets such as the U.S. They are less interested in the problem and more interested into getting the owners to replace a parts which they could probably fix in another way.

All in all, I just wish the HVAC system in this car isn't this complicated with so many servos involved. Otherwise, love this car! sounds great when you rev it and you can probably count by fingers how many GS are in the country - people only know LX RX and ES in here (maybe UX too now).

mdony72

yea Mives. Yesterday i called one of Service Advisor at Lexus Dealer. And he ASSURED me there has been NO recall or update program regarding. "AC AMPLIFIER ASSEMBLY REPROGRAMMING". Had It ever existed They Would Have Told all owners about it. ( maybe we need to escalate this to Lexus Japan )
You can get techstream from the internet if you want. BUT to do reprogramming i think it has to be done ONLY at a Lexus Authorized Dealership. And of course it will be CRAZY to risk it doing anywhere else.

Lately i searched youtube and found a few people fix partial motor servos without completely stripping the dash. Unfortunately there hasn't been one with Lexus GS last generation. Mostly RX, and mostly LEFT HAND DRIVE.( But i plan to dig more on this)
LEXUS has only been official in Indonesia in 2009 i guessed So most cars are relatively NEW. And most of them are crossover, so few of them are sedans. To Indy Mechanics LX are more familiar as they re almost the sama as Toyota Land Cruiser
with only 3 authorized Dealers. They d be busy doing regular maintenance on brand new owners still under Warranty. For Old BMW or Mercedes owners situation is far better as there so many Specialized mechanics and parts are plenties. With GS . I usually have to order one from ebay. Faster than if i have to wait for the dealer ordering from Japan.
it s Not every 3 months or 6 months i would encounter another GS on the Road or parking lot. s so Rare
mine is a Hybrid. Before i bought it the most thing i anticipated most is how i would maintance or replace th HV Batteries. Never crossed my mind HVAC is an issue

Mives

You can try to order from amayama too. I use them alot since they provide diagrams so it's easier to do parts-matching.
And yeah way faster than the dealership ordering it. They told me they'd give me a quote for hood stay bars and even then it's gonna take a month to order since they don't have it ready.
I ordered one from amayama, shipped from Japan in less than two weeks . Meanwhile Lexus still hasn't sent me the quote which they probably have forgotten to do so.