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Well...it seems only fitting after 7.5+ years, and starting this thread, that my own Amp should pack in it.
Over the last few weeks the sound has been cutting in and out with a lack of volume control to boot.
Yesterday the sound died for a consistent 30 minutes while driving, so decided to take the Amp out today.
I would note that in the last 5 weeks we've had regular rainfall, although there are not leaks in the trunk. The area around the Amp should signs of moisture residue, but no signs of actual standing water. The Amp...tada! The side with the label (in the pic) actually faces the floor of the trunk, so the Amp is really upside down in the pic. Cover with label removed...also took out the 6 bronze looking Philips that hold the circuit board in place Circuit board removed to reveal another board underneath
Upon removing the first circuit board, I noted some signs of corrosion...although small. The first board removed and flipped around to the other side. This was an AFTER cleaning pic...forgot to take one before, but the red circles is where the corrosion was...as per the next pic. You can see the blue-ish corrosion in two spots After cleaning the corrosion...unfortunately the Amp is still dead.
Firstly, by no means am I an electronic repair expert, so I'm basically doing the best I can with what I have.
The corrosion was cleaned with rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip. Even though I got a lot off, you can still see some blue-ish corrosion. Really I don't have the tools to clean this properly...and likely not the skillsets either.
Personally I think some of the corrosion may be shorting some pins together on that component labeled "473", specifically on the left side.
When I was cleaning the "473" component, a small piece of black material came off...I can't tell where it came from exactly or what it is either...but I can only assume it wasn't good...it was almost like a flake of black paint that was rectangular.
My plan of attack is going to be:
Find a replacement circuit board - for the one that has the corrosion
Find a place to fix the Amp
Find a used Amp
Sell car
Buy new Amp
If anyone out there has an electronics repair background, feel free to chime in with any suggestions.
Looking at your before and after pictures, looks like the black chip you found was actually a surface mount resistor at what’s labeled R1120.
Missing that is certainly not going to help.
Your ‘473’ component is a 47K ohm resistor network with 8 resistors.
Hopefully you kept the chip that fell off, and it has markings on it, otherwise without a schematic, it might be difficult to guess the appropriate replacement resistance value.
Looking at your before and after pictures, looks like the black chip you found was actually a surface mount resistor at what’s labeled R1120.
Missing that is certainly not going to help.
@kj07xk You know what...I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out...and I think you're absolutely correct.
The hunt for a new resistor is now on.
Your ‘473’ component is a 47K ohm resistor network with 8 resistors.
Hopefully you kept the chip that fell off, and it has markings on it, otherwise without a schematic, it might be difficult to guess the appropriate replacement resistance value.
Unfortunately the little resistor is long gone. I have some other audio units in the basement I'm going to scavenge for parts.
UPDATE: The Amp is fixed! Needless to say I'm ecstatic cause the old Amp was saved and the repair didn't really cost me anything.
First of all, big shoutout to @kj07xk for pointing out a resistor was missing. Just reinforces the point that a second set of eyes are always better.
My best guess is the corrosion ate away the solder joint(s) of the resistor, or the resistor itself, or both, and when I came along with my Q-Tip and rubbing alcohol it got swept away without any fuss.
Luckily I had a Toyota Pioneer Amp in the basement from a Venza and it had a million of those resistors on the board.
Also lucky that a buddy of mine has a soldering station and we were able to take a resistor from the Venza Pioneer Amp and solder it in place on the Lexus Panasonic Amp.
I wish I had taken pics of the after, but it was such a tedious process because the resistor is so small, we weren't even sure we got it soldered on properly.
Unfortunately he didn't have any magnifying equipment, so I ended up using the macro camera on my Samsung phone to help us see while repairing...i can't even tell you how small this resistor is...I've seen particles of dust that are bigger lol!
As was pointed out, the resistor was missing at location R1120.
It's the same resistor as found in positions R1121 and R1118...the only difference, in reference to my pics, is that R1120 is installed horizontally, whereas R1121 and R1118 are vertical (as per the pics previously posted).
The resistor went from the silver circle above the 2 in R1120 to the cooper circle above the 1 immediately to the right.
I did a little photoshop on a pic below to illustrate what it would look like in the end.
We also reflowed resistor 473 to clean up the corrosion. It looks ok after, nothing special to report there...basically just some flux and the hot air blower applied to 473 and the corrosion dissolved. Photoshop of what the repair should look like in the end.
What is the part number for the one in your vehicle? And the faceplate ID number (it's at the bottom left of the second picture you posted...starts with the letter "P"?
What is the issue you're having with your stereo system? I understand that 5 electricians have determined it's the head unit that has failed, but just in case it could be something else.
thanks for replying bro,,,, sorry i didnt saw the message.
my face plate id( p10443).if i had to buy another one,does it have to have the same id?
the problem with mine is (ic control unit failed) and no one know how to replace it.
Quick question…since this seems to be a moisture issue for some, would having the car under coated with rustproofing be a preventative?
Not really...the cavity where the amp is located in the right rear of the trunk is right beside the side of the bumper, therefore the gap is pretty small and it would be hard to spray any undercoating effectively in the space.
At the same time I don't think it's a matter of the water getting in from the bottom, although it is possible, more so I think it's moisture collecting like how a toilet sweats when it's hot outside the bowl and the water is cold.
Sure a plugged sunroof drain could also contribute to this as another way of the water entering the area.
thanks for replying bro,,,, sorry i didnt saw the message.
my face plate id( p10443).if i had to buy another one,does it have to have the same id?
the problem with mine is (ic control unit failed) and no one know how to replace it.
Ideally you want the same faceplate ID to ensure 100% compatibility.
Faceplate ID P10443 is part number 86804-53291.
You could also try Faceplate ID P10984 which is part number 86804-53R40.
Unfortunately we don't have any kind of cross reference chart to show what alternate radios will work in what vehicles.
It's literally trial and error. If you do attempt to install the P10984 radio, let us know the result.
After doing some research, found that this company, United Radio (unable to post website as it is being blocked here) sells remanufactured amps for the IS for ~50% of the price of a new one. Looking around, they seem to have a good reputation.
Attached is also a video of one man's discovery of a"pool" of water leaking into the compartment where the amp is housed in the trunk. Water appears to be coming from the drains attached to the sunroof (guess on my part from seeing other videos of same issue). Beginning to wonder why there is not a TSB on this given how frequent the issue is surfacing. Was having my IS undercoating/rustproofing touched up today and 2 of their employees have also had their amps fried this year...but they were not the IS models.
After doing some research, found that this company, United Radio (unable to post website as it is being blocked here) sells remanufactured amps for the IS for ~50% of the price of a new one. Looking around, they seem to have a good reputation.
Attached is also a video of one man's discovery of a"pool" of water leaking into the compartment where the amp is housed in the trunk. Water appears to be coming from the drains attached to the sunroof (guess on my part from seeing other videos of same issue). Beginning to wonder why there is not a TSB on this given how frequent the issue is surfacing. Was having my IS undercoating/rustproofing touched up today and 2 of their employees have also had their amps fried this year...but they were not the IS models.
The website for United Radio is in Post #1 of this thread...I also couldn't post the link as it was being blocked for some unknown reason.
I did get a little creative so you can still see what the web address is.
Unfortunately for me being on this side of the border, by time I shipped my Amp, had them repair it, and then ship it back, the cost would be very close to just buying a new Amp locally at the dealer.
For those in the US it is certainly a more viable option.
In regards to the video, there is also a part 2 where he gets it up and running again with the Amp from United Radio (yay!).
It's worth noting that in the above video he mentions at 2:39 that the car was rear ended...which is also evident by all the white seam sealer in the area where the Amp is located.
I'm not saying that is the source of the water leak, but you don't know if it may be contributing to it.
It's also possible the sunroof drain could be plugged, in which case clearing it would be needed.
Drains can get plugged, it's just a reality that requires some minor maintenance to address.
05-16-21, 11:40 AM
