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While I can’t speak for others, and I’ve been away for a few years, I’m ready to send my unit in AND buy a spare LCD panel as long term insurance. I also agree.. if you build it, they will come. I’ve also exchanged an email with “Katie” in your office regarding my LCD panel. However, I believe there was some confusion about it. I sent a new email today.
She isn't with us anymore. It's extremely difficult to find employees "dedicated to the cause" who find passion in what we do. Send any correspondence to taninautocontact@gmail.com to ensure the right people see it.
There's two issues that have come up pretty often on here about the above mentioned LCD. One is the missing lines. Two is the deterioration of the anti-glare coating. So actually your solution fits both of those problems. You have a great reputation on this forum. I don't see you having a problem selling 25 to 50 units on here. One other selling feature that was mentioned above, was if you offered different colored backlight. That could also be a huge selling point for those who are just looking for a change in appearance.
Changing the back light color wouldn't be a problem either. We could do an "add on" color change option to the LCD replacement. Our next steps will be to see how involved and how much time it takes us to disassemble the unit and actually replace the screen and lighting.
Here is a photo of a NON NAVAGATION SC430. As you can see the LCD panel has
the same form factor in the air conditioning control sub panel w/NAV. The obvious difference, no buttons controlling the NAV screen and door
otherwise it appears to be identical.
This is a great option and even though I do not have any issues at this time with my unit, I feel confidence if a repair option is available. Furthermore, if an option to change the buttons LED color (green to white for me) sign me up! With that said, I think $50 for panel alone, and up to $100 total (including install and shipping back to owner) is right on par. Hope to see this prospect come to fruition. Thank you for all the hard work!
Now only one request Tanin, please find a way to increase LED illumination on the instrument cluster! Please and thank you!
+1 Gotta agree on the Combination Meter illumination for 02-05 models. ESPECIALLY when the top is down in our convertible’s. In 06-10, Lexus changed the meter to a translucent backlit panel and illuminated needles. Would be interesting to see if Tanin could come up with a modification to fix this issue. I’ve looked into upgrading to a 06 meter but the wiring harness is completely different which ended that potential solution.
Can someone who has an 06 or greater speedometer answer a question?
1. Is your speedometer backlit without the headlight be turned on? That is, is it clearly readable with the top down.
Here’s my issue, which I’ll admit could be age related. My 02 speedometer is reflective, not backlit and difficult to read in sunlight. More specifically, when the top is down, which is most of the time, making the gauge is very difficult to see, let alone read. This is NOT a problem at night as the reflective lighting is sufficient. I believe Lexus corrected/improved this condition with a new backlit speedometer (combination meter) in the 06 and greater models. Unfortunately, the 06 version is not backwards compatible without serious modifications.
I dont know if the Tanin repair/modification takes the daylight, top down, into account.
thank you for the response but from our conversation through PM a few months ago I thought you indicated that replacing the LEDs in the cluster would not "brighten" the display. Maybe I was confused. I have a 2002 and if I send you my speedometer, would you be able to replace the current leds (none are burned out) with brighter leds? Or would your replacements have the same brightness as OEM? If I recall correctly the 2006+ had some type of "quantum illumination" cluster or something gimmicky like that. Would your LED swap give it that 2006+ brightness?
Can someone who has an 06 or greater speedometer answer a question?
1. Is your speedometer backlit without the headlight be turned on? That is, is it clearly readable with the top down.
Here’s my issue, which I’ll admit could be age related. My 02 speedometer is reflective, not backlit and difficult to read in sunlight. More specifically, when the top is down, which is most of the time, making the gauge is very difficult to see, let alone read. This is NOT a problem at night as the reflective lighting is sufficient. I believe Lexus corrected/improved this condition with a new backlit speedometer (combination meter) in the 06 and greater models. Unfortunately, the 06 version is not backwards compatible without serious modifications.
I dont know if the Tanin repair/modification takes the daylight, top down, into account.
as far as I remember our 08 is backlit during daylight and it’s brightness is adjustable via the dash brightness control
thank you for the response but from our conversation through PM a few months ago I thought you indicated that replacing the LEDs in the cluster would not "brighten" the display. Maybe I was confused. I have a 2002 and if I send you my speedometer, would you be able to replace the current leds (none are burned out) with brighter leds? Or would your replacements have the same brightness as OEM? If I recall correctly the 2006+ had some type of "quantum illumination" cluster or something gimmicky like that. Would your LED swap give it that 2006+ brightness?
Not sure who you spoke to. Several people manage this forum. We've never worked with an 06+ so we can't compare them. All we can say is that there is a visible increase in brightness after our repair.
Increasing the overall brightness and readability on the 01-05 speedometer clusters would be a very desirable mod. The majority of SC430s that were sold are 01-05s and all of them are afflicted with the very dim hard to read speedometer clusters. If Tanin had a before and after picture of an led restore on a 01-05 SC430 speedo cluster it could generate significant business.
01-23-18, 06:36 PM
