Hey everyone, this is actually my first post here and it has to do with both the navigation screen replacement as well as the melting dash replacement. This was done on a 2008 IS350.

The wife comes home and says to me "My GPS isn't responding to my touch anymore..."

I search around and find this DIY on Club Lexus, and think to myself...I hope this isn't the problem. Well, I ended up taking the GPS out and trying the circuit writer pen...no luck. Ordered a new screen and replaced it no problem. It fired up immediately and worked out of the box. I did notice however, that the screen had a slight yellow "tint" to it...and that maybe the screen images aren't as "crisp" as they could be. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Also, when taking out the dash, please be careful with the AC Vents. I did this on a hot South Carolina day, and the dash was already soft to begin with. As I pulled it out, the dash literally crumbled in front of me with little effort. Needless to say I was extremely upset (and so was the wife).

I ended up finding the melting dash thread on that issue and called out local dealership that was already away of the dash replacement TSB. Unfortunately, they denied my claim to replace because it "looked as if someone tried to get into the dash by force"...well...they were right =)

At any rate, I called Lexus corporate and they issued us a $450 credit, and Lexus of Greenville, SC offered to front the cost of the dash for us as a courtesy. I thought that was very generous. We ended up having them replace it no problem and the car actually smells new again. All this because of a bad GPS screen...

In case you were wondering, the labor they quoted was 10 hrs (but he lowered it to 8 to replace the dash). I think this was still a little high for a dash replacement. It should be more like 4.5 hrs. In the end we bit the bullet and had to pay about $550 (Lexus paying 450, dealership paying for part 650, and then us covering the rest).

Thanks to everyone in the thread who contributed, it made the DIY that much easier.

 

I followed this DIY and it worked perfectly! But now for some reason the phone buttons on the steering wheel no longer work. Also there is no telephone option in the info menu. But when I start the car nav screen says bluetooth not connected. I've taken the nav back out and checked all the connections in the back. All looks good but there isn't anything plugged into the dark blue plug. Is there supposed to be something plugged in there? Im hoping to not have to take the whole unit apart to check the plugs internally. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!!

 

I have a question. I've owned my 2011 for about 1 year and 3 months and it only froze on me once about 2 weeks ago. How often does it freeze for you guys? Not sure if I should have the dealer look at it.

 

i believe if you don't have ML the blue part is empty. I might be wrong. I worked on a few ISs who had no ML and the blue plug was empty. The ones I worked with had to ML. Mine does have ML and it had a plug i believe.

Also in that case make sure to unplug your battery first. then take out the navi again (i know... its a pain to remove out especially the air climate control on the top....) and unhook everything. Then unhook everything back on checking you didnt mix up the plugs. I think 2 plugs have the same connection socket. make sure and double check and after u put everything back on and at least unplugged everything once to reset everything, plug it all in, plug the battery back in and check.

IF problem still occurs it may be a fuse... other than that thats as far as i can help

 

Little update,

I Fk'ed it up.....noob

I just ordered the new ebay screen.

Mine had the brake with-in and under the glass right at the ribbon cable so I had to chip some away.

Well I almost had it then the whole screen cracked. FKkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk....

noob I am.......

 

hey guys!

I worked with 5 navigations so far for IS350s and IS250s from years 07-09 from what I have seen... I feel like a pro now after working it a couple times and especially the ones with the virgin navi's that have never been taken out before.

Some stats from my experience:
07 IS350 non ML- Fixed! --Black exterior/ black interior--
06 IS250 non ML- not fixed --Black exterior/tan interior-- Still in the works... (after proper connection and perfectly etching the glass, still no luck... it may not be the screen anymore..)
08 IS350 non ML- Fixed! --Black exterior/ black interior--
09 IS250 non ML- Fixed! -- Black exterior/black interior--
and mine:
07 IS350 ML- Fixed! --silver exterior/silver interior--

What I can tell you guys is that all of the IS's I have worked with had symptoms of parking outside in the hot sun for too long and then.... no response from the navi...
So PLEASE park your cars in shades, under trees, under porches, inside the garage and etc!

And for some reason the navi targets majority of black ISs so far that I have seen. So please be careful!

I am located in 91011 area in Cali and can definitely help you guys if you guys need to. Some of the CL members can vouch for me . I do this for free to help out other local CL members!

The best feeling is when you see the members be so happy after suffering 1-2 years of no touch screen get fixed

Wish I could help you if you were nearby Would be an honor to check out your car :P

 

FYI, my car is silver, garaged and only sees the daylight about 3 hours a week. It might of been me hitting a curb going 50 that knocked something lose. And black cars soak in the sunlight unlike white or silver cars that reflect it, so you're on to something there.

 

hmm yeah never heard of an impact making the disconnection between the glass and wire but that can be possible... as for the IS i worked with that wasn't able to be fixed even though it had a perfect connection on all 4 lines, i remember he had a repainted bumper and hood from a body shop... maybe some sort of impact might have caused it.

symptoms: after fixing it and putting in car and reconnecting battery, the navi touch screen works for about 20 seconds, and then it completely dies on us again. it keeps working for a bit and then dies on it after every restart. not sure why. it may be a different component this time.

 

Daki3241 - the nav screen on my '08 black is250 just froze today. I live in 91107. Can you help?

 

omg! another black is250! dang black cars are attracting all the heat! Yeah dude I PMed you! check your inbox!

 

DaKi3241just fixed mine today! Connect with him if you need this done.

My screen went out last Sunday and luckily he was available. It took a few attempts (making sure the circuit writer was dry and some etching of the glass) but in the end it works!

 

thanks! it was fun working with you!

 

This DIY is fantastic.

I performed this fix this weekend on our 2006 IS350 and it worked to perfection. We're at 46.5 k miles on our '06 when our touch screen gave out.

I'll add the following tips.

1) Getting the vents out in Step 7) was one of the hard parts. The 4 tabs fold down and should stick in the "down" position with a gentle push. After the tabs, the vents are held in pretty tight with friction. I've circled the side tabs where I used a screwdriver to pry out.



2) For step 8) I put an old T-shirt where the ashtray would be to catch any screws and bolts, to prevent them from rolling down where the sun doesn't shine. As stated in the original post, you'll need 10mm and 8mm hexagonal sockets. The more common sockets in the U.S. are measured in fractional inches and won't work because we fail at measurement.

3) "El Cheapo" multi-meter from Fry's, it cost $4.99 and works like a charm.


4) Luckily, I did not have to etch the glass to fix the connection. There's no way one can etch that glass with an exacto knife. I'd say use a dremel if it came to that. I think the circuit writer works by capillary action, it bleeds between and under the glass to make contact.

5) I let the silver circuit writer ink dry for several hours. However, it wasn't conductive at that point. So I used a hair dryer set on low and heated it for about 10 minutes. The ink turns whiter and it's less glossy when it's dry.

6) The big navigation / stereo unit is heavy enough to be uncomfortable to hold and unplug cables from. So get a buddy to help, unless you've got NBA sized hands. Use a soft towel to put under it to prevent damage to your car and to prevent damage to the unit while you work on it on your bench.

7) Put a towel on your leather seats to prevent damage.
Avoid doing lazy bonehead things like putting the screws and tools on your seats. Don't put tools in your back jeans pockets and plop down on the seats, etc.

 

Welp, looks like a good time to do the nav hack while it's out. Mine took a sheit today while it was at the dealer! They reset the maintenance counter after changing the oil and parked my car. When I picked it up the touch screen would not respond. This should be a TSB or something from Lexus.

 

My 07 IS250's NAV went frozen a while back. I parked my car outside at a friends house over a hot weekend and when I came back my screen suddenly didn't want to agree with me anymore. I could manage to live without Map capabilities, but it was extremely frustrating not to be able to adjust my climate settings. I found this awesome DIY fix and although it is really well written with great photo's, for someone like me who is completely in the dark about anything car/electronic related I was still lost and the whole project seemed too daunting. Im a dude and ashamed to say I just learned how to replace the spare tire myself.

I reached out to DaKi3241 and he was able to help me out. My 07 IS250's NAV went frozen at about 80k miles (I currently have almost 90k) and my car was one of the 5 below with Black on black color scheme. Although I don't know anything about cars, I definitely agree that the heat from a black car with black interior had a contributing factor to my NAV issue. I took my car to DaKi3241 last weekend and he was able to do the fix in about 2 hours. One week later and everything is still working great! I'm extremely happy and very thankful to DaKi3241 for his time and effort. If you're in So Cal and in need of the fix, reach out to him. He definitely has more experience now after working on 5 different NAV's so it's worth a shot before surrending your soul to the devil.. I mean dealer.

BTW, does anyone know of a good Lexus mechanic to perform a 90k service in the So Cal area? How much would I expect to pay for a regular 90k service? Please private message me. Thanks!