lexus sc430 convertible top rocker switch replacement
04-30-23, 07:10 AM
#1
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lexus sc430 convertible top rocker switch replacement
My Rocker switch is loose. How do I tighten it, repair it or replace it? If possible, email me direct alan.stillman@gmail.com
lexus sc430 convertible top rocker switch replacement
lexus sc430 convertible top rocker switch replacement
04-30-23, 09:38 AM
#2
Alan, when I read your message on the Lexus SC430 forum, my first thought was to go to the YouTube video that Tanin Auto put together. I watched the video and then took a quick look at the comment section. I saw that you had already seen the video and posed your question in the comment section. So, you were way ahead of me.
I have not worked on this control. Based on the photo above and my review of the video, if your rocker switch is loose, I would assume it has come loose from the mounting bracket. Just based on the photo, it appears that the rocker switch is held in place, at the top, by the two white tabs. I am assuming it is also held in place at the bottom in a similar fashion. The plastics in these cars are getting old and brittle. Every time you touch the switch, you are stressing the mounts, and perhaps the plastic mounting bracket eventually failed.
Maybe someone in the forum can just give you the exact answer, but it appears you may have to strip the control to the point where you can get to the switch mounting point and make some type of repair (glue, tape, etc.). You can buy the entire control on eBay, but they are several hundred dollars and I believe that you will need to be sure the control is the right one for your vehicle (based on the year of the vehicle).
Striping that control down looks difficult. Tanin gives pretty good step-by-step procedures, but.... I don't know if I would try it.
Let everyone in the forum know how you made the fix. I'm sure someone either has or will have a similar issue. Good luck.
I have not worked on this control. Based on the photo above and my review of the video, if your rocker switch is loose, I would assume it has come loose from the mounting bracket. Just based on the photo, it appears that the rocker switch is held in place, at the top, by the two white tabs. I am assuming it is also held in place at the bottom in a similar fashion. The plastics in these cars are getting old and brittle. Every time you touch the switch, you are stressing the mounts, and perhaps the plastic mounting bracket eventually failed.
Maybe someone in the forum can just give you the exact answer, but it appears you may have to strip the control to the point where you can get to the switch mounting point and make some type of repair (glue, tape, etc.). You can buy the entire control on eBay, but they are several hundred dollars and I believe that you will need to be sure the control is the right one for your vehicle (based on the year of the vehicle).
Striping that control down looks difficult. Tanin gives pretty good step-by-step procedures, but.... I don't know if I would try it.
Let everyone in the forum know how you made the fix. I'm sure someone either has or will have a similar issue. Good luck.
05-02-23, 09:07 AM
#3
Cinc04 is right, the only way to "tighten" it up is to replace the whole panel assembly with a lower mileage one. I have 3 of them myself (unrelated to the switch) and all of them are loose. I've often thought it would be a cool project to CAD model up all the plastics in this housing so people can swap the electronics over, but I've not gotten around to it yet. Honestly if it's working I'd just live with it. If you try and take apart your panel you will cause more damage I can assure you the plasics are no longer flexible.
05-05-23, 01:56 PM
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Alan, when I read your message on the Lexus SC430 forum, my first thought was to go to the YouTube video that Tanin Auto put together. I watched the video and then took a quick look at the comment section. I saw that you had already seen the video and posed your question in the comment section. So, you were way ahead of me.
I have not worked on this control. Based on the photo above and my review of the video, if your rocker switch is loose, I would assume it has come loose from the mounting bracket. Just based on the photo, it appears that the rocker switch is held in place, at the top, by the two white tabs. I am assuming it is also held in place at the bottom in a similar fashion. The plastics in these cars are getting old and brittle. Every time you touch the switch, you are stressing the mounts, and perhaps the plastic mounting bracket eventually failed.
Maybe someone in the forum can just give you the exact answer, but it appears you may have to strip the control to the point where you can get to the switch mounting point and make some type of repair (glue, tape, etc.). You can buy the entire control on eBay, but they are several hundred dollars and I believe that you will need to be sure the control is the right one for your vehicle (based on the year of the vehicle).
Striping that control down looks difficult. Tanin gives pretty good step-by-step procedures, but.... I don't know if I would try it.
Let everyone in the forum know how you made the fix. I'm sure someone either has or will have a similar issue. Good luck.
Attachment 485251
I have not worked on this control. Based on the photo above and my review of the video, if your rocker switch is loose, I would assume it has come loose from the mounting bracket. Just based on the photo, it appears that the rocker switch is held in place, at the top, by the two white tabs. I am assuming it is also held in place at the bottom in a similar fashion. The plastics in these cars are getting old and brittle. Every time you touch the switch, you are stressing the mounts, and perhaps the plastic mounting bracket eventually failed.
Maybe someone in the forum can just give you the exact answer, but it appears you may have to strip the control to the point where you can get to the switch mounting point and make some type of repair (glue, tape, etc.). You can buy the entire control on eBay, but they are several hundred dollars and I believe that you will need to be sure the control is the right one for your vehicle (based on the year of the vehicle).
Striping that control down looks difficult. Tanin gives pretty good step-by-step procedures, but.... I don't know if I would try it.
Let everyone in the forum know how you made the fix. I'm sure someone either has or will have a similar issue. Good luck.
Attachment 485251
You mentioned I could get the whole unit on eBay for a few hundred. I assume that is a used vs. rebuilt?
Thank you for your help
05-05-23, 02:49 PM
#6
Alan, that AC control is easily removed with a plastic trim tool. Just carefully go around the control to pry it out. I have done that before. Once you pull it out, you disconnect 3 electrical connectors on the back of the unit. I had to check the connectors to be sure they were seated properly. Just reverse to reinstall. Very easy.
A company or individual with experience in electronics could probably do the disassembly of the control fairly easily. I think there is a good chance that the switch mounting either broke or the switch became dislodged. You would need to get to the switch mounting to do the repair. I don't believe it would be feasible to make a new switch.
Any unit from eBay would be used. You always run the risk of getting one that has problems and I think the control is vehicle-year-specific.
I can understand your desire to have the switch work properly. Here is what I would do. I see there is a unit on eBay for $199. It clearly states that it is for parts only. I would buy that, review that Tanin video and then see if I could do the disassembly. If successful, you might be able to swap the part from the eBay unit to your unit. You would "go to school" on the eBay unit. Is it worth $199 to have a switch that wasn't loose?
A company or individual with experience in electronics could probably do the disassembly of the control fairly easily. I think there is a good chance that the switch mounting either broke or the switch became dislodged. You would need to get to the switch mounting to do the repair. I don't believe it would be feasible to make a new switch.
Any unit from eBay would be used. You always run the risk of getting one that has problems and I think the control is vehicle-year-specific.
I can understand your desire to have the switch work properly. Here is what I would do. I see there is a unit on eBay for $199. It clearly states that it is for parts only. I would buy that, review that Tanin video and then see if I could do the disassembly. If successful, you might be able to swap the part from the eBay unit to your unit. You would "go to school" on the eBay unit. Is it worth $199 to have a switch that wasn't loose?
05-06-23, 02:40 AM
#7
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Alan, that AC control is easily removed with a plastic trim tool. Just carefully go around the control to pry it out. I have done that before. Once you pull it out, you disconnect 3 electrical connectors on the back of the unit. I had to check the connectors to be sure they were seated properly. Just reverse to reinstall. Very easy.
A company or individual with experience in electronics could probably do the disassembly of the control fairly easily. I think there is a good chance that the switch mounting either broke or the switch became dislodged. You would need to get to the switch mounting to do the repair. I don't believe it would be feasible to make a new switch.
Any unit from eBay would be used. You always run the risk of getting one that has problems and I think the control is vehicle-year-specific.
I can understand your desire to have the switch work properly. Here is what I would do. I see there is a unit on eBay for $199. It clearly states that it is for parts only. I would buy that, review that Tanin video and then see if I could do the disassembly. If successful, you might be able to swap the part from the eBay unit to your unit. You would "go to school" on the eBay unit. Is it worth $199 to have a switch that wasn't loose?
A company or individual with experience in electronics could probably do the disassembly of the control fairly easily. I think there is a good chance that the switch mounting either broke or the switch became dislodged. You would need to get to the switch mounting to do the repair. I don't believe it would be feasible to make a new switch.
Any unit from eBay would be used. You always run the risk of getting one that has problems and I think the control is vehicle-year-specific.
I can understand your desire to have the switch work properly. Here is what I would do. I see there is a unit on eBay for $199. It clearly states that it is for parts only. I would buy that, review that Tanin video and then see if I could do the disassembly. If successful, you might be able to swap the part from the eBay unit to your unit. You would "go to school" on the eBay unit. Is it worth $199 to have a switch that wasn't loose?
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05-06-23, 09:38 AM
#8
Alan, here is the link for the "parts only" unit, from eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/13456044493...74c0%7Ciid%3A1
If that link doesn't work, just open eBay.com and search for "Lexus SC430 AC control".
I would hate to have you spend a lot of money and find that your unit couldn't be fixed. Before you buy anything, call around and see if you could find someone who would be willing to strip your existing AC unit down. I googled "electronic repair near me" and found a couple that would likely do that type of work. You probably have someone in your area as well. Remove the unit from the car and take it in. It is easy to remove. Have the tech take a look and you might even show the tech the video from Tanin. They would only have to watch about 5 minutes of the video. You could show it to them on your phone.
The key question is why is the switch loose. If the tech strips the unit down to get at the switch, I think you could make that determination. You might find it could be repaired in place. Or you might find that you need an undamaged switch from a donor unit. Or you might find that there isn't a fix that could be made. If that is the case, you would need to get a replacement AC control.
I hope this makes sense. The rationale is that you would take things one step at a time and not waste a lot of time and money.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/13456044493...74c0%7Ciid%3A1
If that link doesn't work, just open eBay.com and search for "Lexus SC430 AC control".
I would hate to have you spend a lot of money and find that your unit couldn't be fixed. Before you buy anything, call around and see if you could find someone who would be willing to strip your existing AC unit down. I googled "electronic repair near me" and found a couple that would likely do that type of work. You probably have someone in your area as well. Remove the unit from the car and take it in. It is easy to remove. Have the tech take a look and you might even show the tech the video from Tanin. They would only have to watch about 5 minutes of the video. You could show it to them on your phone.
The key question is why is the switch loose. If the tech strips the unit down to get at the switch, I think you could make that determination. You might find it could be repaired in place. Or you might find that you need an undamaged switch from a donor unit. Or you might find that there isn't a fix that could be made. If that is the case, you would need to get a replacement AC control.
I hope this makes sense. The rationale is that you would take things one step at a time and not waste a lot of time and money.
05-06-23, 12:37 PM
#9
The suggestions above are going to be your best bet. Find a parts unit and hope the plastic parts inside are in better condition than yours and just swap over whatever parts are needed.
Long story short is the plastic inside there becomes very brittle over time. Lexus does not sell the internal plastic bracketry separately and we would not "ruin" a complete, good climate control assembly just to sell or use the plastic piece inside to repair another unit.
We offer complete, fully rebuilt climate control assemblies.
https://www.taninautoelectronix.com/...t-55900-24260/
The climate control breaks down into two main parts, the rear portion with the plugs and circuit boards and the front assembly with the buttons and screen. Lexus sells the complete front face assembly which is what you would need to fix your problem, retail price is around $2200
Long story short is the plastic inside there becomes very brittle over time. Lexus does not sell the internal plastic bracketry separately and we would not "ruin" a complete, good climate control assembly just to sell or use the plastic piece inside to repair another unit.
We offer complete, fully rebuilt climate control assemblies.
https://www.taninautoelectronix.com/...t-55900-24260/
The climate control breaks down into two main parts, the rear portion with the plugs and circuit boards and the front assembly with the buttons and screen. Lexus sells the complete front face assembly which is what you would need to fix your problem, retail price is around $2200
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TANIN AUTO ELECTRONIX
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TANIN AUTO ELECTRONIX
262-456-4147
contact@taninauto.com
www.taninautoelectronix.com
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