Shaffer

Did you mean to say one " can't " or " can " tell by the screws if it has been replaced? It really suprised me that they are all working fine, including the "LCD". There are however, some illumination lights not working on the climate controls. The green bulbs illuminate, but a few of the lights that are to illuminate the air mode and fan speeds (all except high) do not work. I have heard this is common too, but not enough of a problem for me to remove that part of the panel. It has some working and I have already gotten use to where the buttons are. This musy be a common Toyota early 90s problem, as the climate control dial lights on my old 93' Camry LE would not illuminate either.

If I could just figure out the "airbag" light problem- I will be OK. It was too cold this evening to check it. It had dropped into the 30s, with gusty northwest winds. Also, the power steering leak at the hose has me concerned.

I seem to have a lot of questions as well, as I am trying to get my car in perfect conditions. The things I am complaining about with my car, would probably not bother most folks.

Thanks again for the offer of the help.

spxChrome

The bulbs can be replaced easily and are very cheap to replace. What I was referring to was the LCD display of the AC/Clock. Is it blacked out?

Shaffer

No, that "LCD" still works perfectly, with no blackening. At least for now.......

Shaffer

I cannot even find the fuse for the airbag. The covers on both fuse boxes (underhood and under dash) do not show "airbag" anywhere. I guess I will have to check the owners manual or just go ahead and take it to the dealer to have it checked. Someone said they just check the wires for the airbag system and sensors for that 10 year inspection.

Shaffer

I have made an appointment to take it to the dealer on Thursday. He (service counter guy) called me back after I called to see how much $$ to check it. He had talked to his service manager and he said it could just simply need to be "activated", he said it could be other things, as well as a bad bulb. They are going to charge $30.00 to check it- which I think is a very fair price to find out for sure what it is- instead of removing and replacing this and that and still not have it repaired. I will post what I find out, as it seems to be a rare problem. Most complaints are of a airbag light that stays illuminated, rather than one that will not illuminate. Thanks again for all of the replies.

Shaffer

Well tomorrow is the day I take the car to the Lexus dealership and have the airbag checked. If it is just the bulb- I will get them to just go ahead and replace it and get them to check the bulb to the "door open" bulb- while it is out. Hopefully it will just simply need a "reset" of some sort. I will post the results tomorrow- incase someone else has this problem.

Shaffer

Well, I am glad to report that my airbag light works again. I was at the Lexus dealer for almost two hours and just shortly returned. It turned out that the previous owner decided that they did not want a airbag to operate, so they had it disconnected and had the bulb removed. The tech discovered that it had been disconnected at the steering column. Reconnected and still no airbag light. Then they proceded to check the bulb only to find it had been completely removed. Tech installed a new bulb after reconnecting airbag and all is fine. Service counter lady said that the tech checked the system (sensors, etc) and all is fine. As mentioned, they charged $30.00 to check it. They charged $1.50 for the bulb. With tax- the total was only $34.50- which I thought was very fair.

I also got her to run me a service report- which showed that the A/C was tested a few months before I bought it. Evaporator clogged - approx- $1000 parts, $300 labor repair. Was not repaired.

Thanks again for all of the replies and advice.