Hugh Jorgan

So I get this piece of mail that says my LS430 needs to have a safety-related software upgrade done to it. Mentions something about how mine currently gives the false impression that it is working when I actually do not have a subscription. Cool- maybe that infernal device will shut up now...

So I to the LS in and asked about the recall. The service guy told me that it would no longer make any noises at me since I have not (over)paid for LL. Terrific! that is all I needed to know, and I ha them fix it right then and there. Oh yeah- it was going to take an hour. Meanwhile I had them remove a CD-RW that was stuck in my Lev. 2+ hours later, I get it back.

Now the blasted voice message is even longer and more obnoxious than before. The technicians refuse to roll out the fix saying it is "safety related". My ***... It used to say "The Lexus Link System is active", now it says "The Lexus Link System is inactive, to active this, please press the services button." How lovely- a $60,000+ car that comes with built-in advertising spam.

Anybody know what fuse to pull so I don't have to listen to that infernal contraption?

LS007

The telephone transceiver (Lexus Link) is fused in the luggage compartment junction box (trunk) left side by fuse RR ACC for accessory power and RR IG for ignition power. It gets constant battery from from fuse MPX-B2 (not in trunk). I can't be sure what else are on these fuses without much further research, so remove and test all systems.

Another option would be to bypass the telephone transceiver to the rear door speaker. This would require cutting 2 wires and splicing them in before the telephone transceiver. This way your telephone transceiver is still active for 'mayday' operations, but without sound.

Basic instructions for bypassing telephone transceiver speaker relay.
1. locate the telphone transceiver in the lower left of trunk.
2. disconect both 20 pin plugs on transciever and identify the larger and smaller connectors.
3. on the smaller 20 pin connector cut the black wire in pin 1 and yellow wire in pin 11 about 1/2" back from the connector. Tape off, insulate or put one end of a butt splice connector (so if you ever need to reconnect) on the 1/2" wire from the connector as these output wires will not be used anymore.
4. t-tap or splice the speaker wires in before the telephone transceiver, done by black wire to the black wire at pin 1 of the larger connector and yellow wire to yellow wire on pin 11 of the larger connector.
5. plug both connectors back in.

You have now bypassed the rear left speaker from the telephone transceiver.

Note: From the diagram it appears that the two 20 pin connectors would fit together if there was no telephone transceiver (lexus link) in the car. You might want to check this out with the dealer to see if this is a simple way to disconnect the telephone transceiver.

Hope this helped.

Hugh Jorgan

This may be the best idea yet, but I am on my own. The dealer techs are sooo fearful for their jobs that they are useless when it comes to giving meaningful customer service. They actually belive the LL is a piece of "safety equipment" in the same class as an airbag. Sigh.

Deep

As far as I know, if you've had the upgrade, then dealer techs can very easily disable the "to activate the system..." message. I'd recommend you call the Lexus customer service number and explain the situation. Make sure you tell them that you have had the upgrade already.

LS007

Just got off the phone with Lexus Link and found out this information.

1. The reason for reprogramming is that many Lexus customers thought they had Lexus Link services regardless of the exsisting start up message (regardless of subscription status). The new programming changes this to reflect the subscribers subscription.

2. Lexus Link service center thinks the volume could be turned down in hardware (not the + or - buttons) by the dealer after new programming is complete.

lexite

I wonder what the upgrade message would be for the ones who have subscription? Would it be something like-
"The Lexus Link System is active, thank you for renewing your subscription. We like having you our customer or we'd have to find another job. If you need any help you can leave a message and we'll get back to you".

melnick

I think the best way to get Lexus' attention is for everybody to 'push the services button' when turning on the ignition and complaining to whoever answers. If we can flood the system with 'requests' maybe we can get Lex to do something.