Frozen Navigation Screen Fix DIY
09-01-12, 04:53 PM
#137
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Just got finished repairing mine and got it put back in and YES!!!! It works PERFECT! Thanks to Vroomin for the help through text.
All I did was used a small flathead to scrape away the coating on the ribbon. Then used the circuitwriter pen and made some perfect lays with it, careful not to put too much to run. couple hours dry between 3 coats. Checked with my meter and now ALL were getting signals! This is a GREAT DIY!!!!
All I did was used a small flathead to scrape away the coating on the ribbon. Then used the circuitwriter pen and made some perfect lays with it, careful not to put too much to run. couple hours dry between 3 coats. Checked with my meter and now ALL were getting signals! This is a GREAT DIY!!!!
09-04-12, 04:11 PM
#138
Lexus Test Driver
FYI - I just hit 100k on my 2008 car, so it's obviously out of warranty. My touchscreen failed, I called Lexus @ (800) 25-LEXUS and complained about how common this issue was and I was not thrilled to have to pay $3500 to have it fixed. About a week later they called and offered to replace the part for free, all I had to pay was the labor ($130). Worth a shot guys, LEXUS has always been a very stand up company for me in the past. They may not always do this type of stuff for everyone, but it's worth calling and asking at least IMO.
09-04-12, 04:26 PM
#139
FlyAudio does lag, but it's very random. You may experience lagging while Changing volume, changing menus or screens, changing mp3 tracks, and etc.
Please visit the following thread about FlyAudio and read about its various problems:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...250-350-a.html
09-04-12, 05:16 PM
#140
FYI - I just hit 100k on my 2008 car, so it's obviously out of warranty. My touchscreen failed, I called Lexus @ (800) 25-LEXUS and complained about how common this issue was and I was not thrilled to have to pay $3500 to have it fixed. About a week later they called and offered to replace the part for free, all I had to pay was the labor ($130). Worth a shot guys, LEXUS has always been a very stand up company for me in the past. They may not always do this type of stuff for everyone, but it's worth calling and asking at least IMO.
09-08-12, 05:29 PM
#141
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Found screen on eBay from Japanese sellers, very good feedback. http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEXUS-IS200-...r#ht_707wt_952
09-09-12, 02:17 AM
#142
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I got fed up with dealing with electronic problems, navigation problems, and rattle problems. Therefore I ended up selling my 07 is350. I bought a navigation touch screen from Equipmentfinder.com and paid $320. When I tried to install the screen the upper right side of the corner cracked little bit as you can see the on the pictures. However, it still works perfectly fine and once you put the screen on you won't be able to see the crack as it is on the corners. If your in need of a replacement screen and don't mind the small crack that has no effect on functionality, I'm selling the screen for $200 OBO. Please text me at 818-923-3374 if your interested.
Thanks and good luck with your touch screen problems. Lexus definitely screwed up on this one. It absolutely drove me nuts.
Thanks and good luck with your touch screen problems. Lexus definitely screwed up on this one. It absolutely drove me nuts.
09-19-12, 12:09 PM
#143
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I had to register and post my own experience and investigation and tips for a successful repair. I feel the pain, when my wife told me a month ago her nav screen was not working I was thinking,” great here goes $2000-$3000”. Research, research, research- Found all this discussion about crappy failure of Lexus (Toshiba) display panels. Lexus dealer here in SW Houston contacted Lexus service and got me a $500 credit and the repair would be $3500, $3k after credit. I was livid. My wife’s 2008 IS350 (Graphite!) had about 100k when the screen went out early August- and we take very good care of it.
First I would like to thank all the people who have posted their experience especially the jlangford fix on Lexus owners club. His guide was the first concise and complete guide I know of.
I am a systems engineer (formerly in the aerospace industry) and can say with some confidence that this is definitely a problem Lexus should address and repair as a manufacturer defect. As many people have speculated, I agree absolutely, it is a heat & vibration problem or more accurately thermal cycling and vibration. It is not necessarily a hot thing although that can make the temp swings larger and more “painful” for the unit, particularly, softening the adhesive bond that attaches the ribbon cable to the display. The main factors to focus on are the magnitude of the temperature swing and the vibration.
First the thermal cycling issue-
There is a physics and engineering materials concept called thermal expansion. Most of us know the basics about this from high school science. People with engineering degrees will know a little more. The problem in this case is exposed when several different types of materials are sandwiched together each with their own coefficient of thermal expansion which causes the materials to expand and contract at different rates as temperature changes, this will eventually cause mechanical failure if the components are not properly selected to cooperate with each other for the environment they will be operating in. On a hot day the different materials could experience a temperature change of 50-60 degrees, for example going from a 70 degree garage to a 130 degree parking lot in Phoenix, Vegas or west Texas could easily generate this large temperature swing. This (+) temp differential causes expansion which generates mechanical forces on the solder and adhesive joints in the touch panel sandwich because they expand at different rates. Over a long period of time this repeated cycling can eventually cause the failure of those connections. This is why it is better to simply repair all of the connections on your unit even if they are not all faulty yet. However if your unit is not yet failed, I would not recommend doing this as you can possibly damage a healthy unit!
Second the vibe issue-
The vibe issue in this case simply exacerbates the mechanical stresses on the adhesive and solder joint in the sandwich where the ribbon cable attaches to the screen. On a hot day the adhesive coating on the ribbon is very highly likely to be softer and more inclined to failure which will necessarily put a greater physical load onto the solder joint of the ribbon cable attachment.
When I repaired mine I operated on the assumption that all of the solder joints on the ribbon leads were failed simply because the faulty design of the Toshiba panel - either Lexus spec’d it badly to Toshiba or it is just a bad design from Toshiba, I have no way to tell which without Lexus internal doc’s which I see no way of getting without suing them. Either way it is definitely a Lexus quality problem as their failure rate should be <10 per million and after reading all the online accounts of this problem it is likely orders of magnitude higher (100s or 1000s per million)meaning they are WAY out of spec- by 10x to 100x.
I used a 3x magnifying work light and had my display panel on an inclined surface for a work station with the ribbon connector at the bottom for ease of working on it. I washed my hands well to help prevent contaminating the surfaces with oils from my hands. I used a razor blade to carefully scrape away the conformal coating adhesive and the ribbon coating over each of the traces where the ribbon meets the edge of the glass sandwich of the panel making sure to scrape against the edge of the thin top glass layer to ensure there would be exposed path to the traces under the glass.
I did not etch or chip away any of the glass to expose the traces in the panel sandwich. This may vary by case depending where the solder joint actually fails, but I was a little nervous about trying to chip away the glass so I did not do it.
I carefully cleaned the exposed traces on the ribbon with a microfiber cloth to remove any debris and oil etc. to ensure best possible contact for the circuit writer pen. If you think the ribbon traces are still dirty you can use a microfiber cloth with a tiny bit of rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol to further clean the surface.
Next I rotated my display around 180 degrees so the ribbon connector was on the “top” of my inclined work surface, that way the display is leaning allowing the circuit writer fluid to run downhill into the panel. Doing this facilitates our friend gravity to help “pull” the circuit writer into the tiny crevasses between the edge of the glass, the circuit traces under the glass and the edge of the exposed contacts on the ribbon connector.
Then I used a 60W desk lamp to help cure the circuit writer ink for ~4 hours, then I waited another 3-4 hours and I used another product called circuit sealer (made by the same company and also available at Frys or other electronic hobby stores for ~$15). The circuit sealer is an insulating conformal coating to cover and protect the newly minted repairs done with the circuit writer. It will prevent shorts by insulating the circuit and also help hold the ribbon in place reducing mechanical loads on the repaired circuit connection. Again I used a ~60W desk lamp to cure the coating for about ~3 hours. I then left the display to rest for about another ~12 hours overnight to ensure a full cure of the polymer coating.
The following morning I was very gentle with the ribbon when reassembling the display panel into the control assembly in order to prevent possibly damaging the repairs I had just made. Upon reassembly of everything that morning everything was functional. I went through ALL of the different settings to ensure all worked.
Please note: This was the second time I did the repair. The first time the week prior I was inpatient. I was successful initially, but soon not everything worked and after 3 days it completely failed again. The first time I repaired it I did not use all of the techniques and cautions I have listed above. I reinstalled hours after the repair and did not wait for a full cure of the circuit writer and conformal coating and I believe this made the connection weak and suspect to the vibe problem. Patience and attention to detail is definitely a beneficial trait for this repair- wait for the circuit writer to cure, use a lamp to help cure it if you have one. Definitely tilt the display up to assist the circuit writer penetration into the solder joint.
So far after ~1 week of use it is still 100% functional. Good luck!
First I would like to thank all the people who have posted their experience especially the jlangford fix on Lexus owners club. His guide was the first concise and complete guide I know of.
I am a systems engineer (formerly in the aerospace industry) and can say with some confidence that this is definitely a problem Lexus should address and repair as a manufacturer defect. As many people have speculated, I agree absolutely, it is a heat & vibration problem or more accurately thermal cycling and vibration. It is not necessarily a hot thing although that can make the temp swings larger and more “painful” for the unit, particularly, softening the adhesive bond that attaches the ribbon cable to the display. The main factors to focus on are the magnitude of the temperature swing and the vibration.
First the thermal cycling issue-
There is a physics and engineering materials concept called thermal expansion. Most of us know the basics about this from high school science. People with engineering degrees will know a little more. The problem in this case is exposed when several different types of materials are sandwiched together each with their own coefficient of thermal expansion which causes the materials to expand and contract at different rates as temperature changes, this will eventually cause mechanical failure if the components are not properly selected to cooperate with each other for the environment they will be operating in. On a hot day the different materials could experience a temperature change of 50-60 degrees, for example going from a 70 degree garage to a 130 degree parking lot in Phoenix, Vegas or west Texas could easily generate this large temperature swing. This (+) temp differential causes expansion which generates mechanical forces on the solder and adhesive joints in the touch panel sandwich because they expand at different rates. Over a long period of time this repeated cycling can eventually cause the failure of those connections. This is why it is better to simply repair all of the connections on your unit even if they are not all faulty yet. However if your unit is not yet failed, I would not recommend doing this as you can possibly damage a healthy unit!
Second the vibe issue-
The vibe issue in this case simply exacerbates the mechanical stresses on the adhesive and solder joint in the sandwich where the ribbon cable attaches to the screen. On a hot day the adhesive coating on the ribbon is very highly likely to be softer and more inclined to failure which will necessarily put a greater physical load onto the solder joint of the ribbon cable attachment.
When I repaired mine I operated on the assumption that all of the solder joints on the ribbon leads were failed simply because the faulty design of the Toshiba panel - either Lexus spec’d it badly to Toshiba or it is just a bad design from Toshiba, I have no way to tell which without Lexus internal doc’s which I see no way of getting without suing them. Either way it is definitely a Lexus quality problem as their failure rate should be <10 per million and after reading all the online accounts of this problem it is likely orders of magnitude higher (100s or 1000s per million)meaning they are WAY out of spec- by 10x to 100x.
I used a 3x magnifying work light and had my display panel on an inclined surface for a work station with the ribbon connector at the bottom for ease of working on it. I washed my hands well to help prevent contaminating the surfaces with oils from my hands. I used a razor blade to carefully scrape away the conformal coating adhesive and the ribbon coating over each of the traces where the ribbon meets the edge of the glass sandwich of the panel making sure to scrape against the edge of the thin top glass layer to ensure there would be exposed path to the traces under the glass.
I did not etch or chip away any of the glass to expose the traces in the panel sandwich. This may vary by case depending where the solder joint actually fails, but I was a little nervous about trying to chip away the glass so I did not do it.
I carefully cleaned the exposed traces on the ribbon with a microfiber cloth to remove any debris and oil etc. to ensure best possible contact for the circuit writer pen. If you think the ribbon traces are still dirty you can use a microfiber cloth with a tiny bit of rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol to further clean the surface.
Next I rotated my display around 180 degrees so the ribbon connector was on the “top” of my inclined work surface, that way the display is leaning allowing the circuit writer fluid to run downhill into the panel. Doing this facilitates our friend gravity to help “pull” the circuit writer into the tiny crevasses between the edge of the glass, the circuit traces under the glass and the edge of the exposed contacts on the ribbon connector.
Then I used a 60W desk lamp to help cure the circuit writer ink for ~4 hours, then I waited another 3-4 hours and I used another product called circuit sealer (made by the same company and also available at Frys or other electronic hobby stores for ~$15). The circuit sealer is an insulating conformal coating to cover and protect the newly minted repairs done with the circuit writer. It will prevent shorts by insulating the circuit and also help hold the ribbon in place reducing mechanical loads on the repaired circuit connection. Again I used a ~60W desk lamp to cure the coating for about ~3 hours. I then left the display to rest for about another ~12 hours overnight to ensure a full cure of the polymer coating.
The following morning I was very gentle with the ribbon when reassembling the display panel into the control assembly in order to prevent possibly damaging the repairs I had just made. Upon reassembly of everything that morning everything was functional. I went through ALL of the different settings to ensure all worked.
Please note: This was the second time I did the repair. The first time the week prior I was inpatient. I was successful initially, but soon not everything worked and after 3 days it completely failed again. The first time I repaired it I did not use all of the techniques and cautions I have listed above. I reinstalled hours after the repair and did not wait for a full cure of the circuit writer and conformal coating and I believe this made the connection weak and suspect to the vibe problem. Patience and attention to detail is definitely a beneficial trait for this repair- wait for the circuit writer to cure, use a lamp to help cure it if you have one. Definitely tilt the display up to assist the circuit writer penetration into the solder joint.
So far after ~1 week of use it is still 100% functional. Good luck!
09-21-12, 11:22 PM
#145
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After half a year without nav and my DIY inability, I dealt with the fact that I’d probably have to by a new navigation when it came time to sell. Luckily, I found this thread and DaKi3241’s willingness to help out a fellow CL member.
When I reached out to DaKi, he got back to me the next day and we set up a time and place right away. A nice guy and knowledgable for sure, he takes you through each step of the repair. A guy who’s now worked on 10+ 2IS’s, I felt no need to worry about his work and surely in under 2 hours the repair was finished. The enjoyment you’ll get from having a fully-functional navigation screen again is something not many get to have! DaKi already knows, but I’d like to reiterate my thanks to him for his time and kindness.. and for letting me drive his car! Wow, do I wish I had a 350!
If anyone is ever in need of a navigation repair in SoCal, he’s the man for the job! Thanks again DaKi!
When I reached out to DaKi, he got back to me the next day and we set up a time and place right away. A nice guy and knowledgable for sure, he takes you through each step of the repair. A guy who’s now worked on 10+ 2IS’s, I felt no need to worry about his work and surely in under 2 hours the repair was finished. The enjoyment you’ll get from having a fully-functional navigation screen again is something not many get to have! DaKi already knows, but I’d like to reiterate my thanks to him for his time and kindness.. and for letting me drive his car! Wow, do I wish I had a 350!
If anyone is ever in need of a navigation repair in SoCal, he’s the man for the job! Thanks again DaKi!
Ive worked on my 14th car now and again guys.... Still the black interior and black exterior is the main common ones I have faced! If people still need help let me know!
09-28-12, 11:39 AM
#147
another success story here in fixing the lexus navi DIY style. thanks to all the information here. for two years i had to listen to my music without bass and use the a/c in auto mode!
took out the old screen and tested with multimeter and found all the digitizer to be completely dead. there was no resistance between the pins. ordered a screen from the ebay seller Audio_Navi_Part and it arrived in two business days! talk about express shipping! it looked exactly the same as the factory part, same part number and manufacturer - Toshiba. swapped it in and SHE LIVES!
now for the questions and i'm just throwing these ideas out here. upon observing the old screen, what is stopping someone from ordering a 7" (4 wire) digitizer (~$20 USD), scrapping the old one off the lexus lcd and applying a new one? this is what i'm talking about: http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Wire-Resis...item35bfc4380c i'm saving my old screen because the LCD portion still works fine just not the touch part. but someone should try this out, since the ebay digitizer is only $20. might be worth a shot before shelling out for a $300 screen.
took out the old screen and tested with multimeter and found all the digitizer to be completely dead. there was no resistance between the pins. ordered a screen from the ebay seller Audio_Navi_Part and it arrived in two business days! talk about express shipping! it looked exactly the same as the factory part, same part number and manufacturer - Toshiba. swapped it in and SHE LIVES!
now for the questions and i'm just throwing these ideas out here. upon observing the old screen, what is stopping someone from ordering a 7" (4 wire) digitizer (~$20 USD), scrapping the old one off the lexus lcd and applying a new one? this is what i'm talking about: http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Wire-Resis...item35bfc4380c i'm saving my old screen because the LCD portion still works fine just not the touch part. but someone should try this out, since the ebay digitizer is only $20. might be worth a shot before shelling out for a $300 screen.
10-01-12, 02:18 PM
#148
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I NEED SOME HELP PLEASE!!! I ordered a replacement screen from China, $300.00, installed it and got a White backlit screen. I pulled it out and attempted it again, didnt work. I have now put the original screen back in and i still have a White Backlit screen.
Before attempting this i was stuck on the warning screen. The backup camera worked.... just wouldnt respond to touch.
If anyone has any thoughts or comments i would greatly appreciate. I am sick over this because we love the car but this is a huge issue. Thanks again.
Before attempting this i was stuck on the warning screen. The backup camera worked.... just wouldnt respond to touch.
If anyone has any thoughts or comments i would greatly appreciate. I am sick over this because we love the car but this is a huge issue. Thanks again.
10-02-12, 06:20 PM
#149
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I've done it 2 times now. I'd add to the post to suggest to do all connections the first time.
First time I did it, I repaired 1 connection and it lasted 2 weeks in the Texas heat. An electronics tech at work told me to do all 4 of the connections if one was bad the entire soldering/bonding on all the connections is suspect.
Second time - I did all 4, has worked 1-2 years so far, just started acting up again tonight.
This is about one of my all time favorite fixes from someone, lot of respect for the first guy who went in and figured it out. Sure wish someone would figure out how to pay $20 for a new digitizer though !
Thanks again for the fix !
First time I did it, I repaired 1 connection and it lasted 2 weeks in the Texas heat. An electronics tech at work told me to do all 4 of the connections if one was bad the entire soldering/bonding on all the connections is suspect.
Second time - I did all 4, has worked 1-2 years so far, just started acting up again tonight.
This is about one of my all time favorite fixes from someone, lot of respect for the first guy who went in and figured it out. Sure wish someone would figure out how to pay $20 for a new digitizer though !
Thanks again for the fix !
10-06-12, 01:17 PM
#150
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Update on the digitizer only option - I messaged a couple vendors who were selling the LCD and Digitizer on eBay asking if they would sell the touchscreen digitizer separately and one of them came back with an offer to sell the digitizer separately for $59 including shipping. Here is a link to their vendor page. Think I'm going to give it a try.
http://myworld.ebay.com/topelectroni...:X:RTQ:US:1181
http://myworld.ebay.com/topelectroni...:X:RTQ:US:1181