AFdave2985

Hello all, I recently had an issue with my smart key E.C.U. and felt it would be good information to have on the forum. Sorry in advance for the long read.

I bought my 06' IS 350 in January 2013 with 61,000 miles on it. The previous owner stated that the 60,000 miles maintenance had not been done, and that it was a big one. He offered to pay for it if I took it to a local mechanic he had been getting this car and other cars serviced at. I agreed and the mechanic did a good job and I had no problems at all.

Several months later, I did a year tour in South Korea and returned in Mar 2014. My car had sat undriven during that time, so the battery went bad. I swapped it out and noticed that certain things weren't working correctly. IE; the windows needed to be reprogrammed for the driver side control panel to operate the other windows. I also noticed that the keyless entry system was not working correctly. The car would lock/unlock by pressing the buttons on the FOB, but would not work by walking up and putting my hand on the handle. The car would make a long steady tone, and then nothing would happen. Not a big deal, only a minor inconvenience.

Since my car had set up so long, and I was about to make a drive across country to Florida, I took it back to the same mechanic who had done the 60,000 mile service. I asked him to change the oil, and just inspect the car to make sure it was safe for the drive. As I was walking out, I remembered the entry control problem and asked if he could reprogram it. He said it was no problem.

I got a call from him later in the afternoon, and told me that he had gotten a friend who was a locksmith to come by and reprogram the system. He said that during the reprogramming, the E.C.U. quit responding. The car no longer recognized the key FOB and nothing would power on. He stated that he thought it was the smart key E.C.U. He said he could order it and have it the next day and replace it. The part was $900. At this point I was really frustrated, and didn't trust his call on the problem, since he had no equipment to troubleshoot with. I felt like I was getting hustled. (Like on "The Mask" when the shady mechanic tells Jim Carey he needs a new transmission when he brought it in for an oil change) I told him to get it towed to the Lexus dealership.

Lexus spent a week troubleshooting the problem and finally came to the conclusion it was the smart key E.C.U. They swapped it and the car worked. The total cost came to $1500 dollars for the repair. Luckily, I had purchased an extended warranty when i bought the car, so it was fully covered and I didn't have any money come out of my pocket. I also didn't pay for the oil change or the tow fee.

In the end, I'm not sure what caused the problem. Did it originate from the battery issue? Or did the locksmith use the wrong software, or perform the reprogramming incorrectly and fry the ECU? The dealership said that they had never seen this happen before and weren't sure.

Have any of you ever heard of this happening? Hope I could provide some good information in case this problem happens to someone in the future.

jonathanz

iTrader: (2)

Well, it happened to my 2006 G35 coupe before, I left my car in parking lot during the entire winter and indeed battery was dead, after replacement my keys no longer can start the car, i had to tow the car to a shop and they had to call lock-smith and RE-program my keys! it's very odd that happen but seem like if car been sitting for some time might has issues as well.

Kd0t

iTrader: (17)

Happened to me before as well. Battery went dead on my IS350 and when I would go and unlock the car via the door handle, the door would unlock but the car's alarm would go off.. However, it was a quieter version of the alarm.