NHTSA Complaint #10060135 — 1994 LEXUS LS400

ON COLD MORNINGS DASH CLUSTER WILL NOT LIGHT UP. AFTER A WHILE WHEN CAR WARMS UP LIGHTS WILL START TO FLICKER AND THEN WORK FOR REST OF DAY. WHEN CLUSTER DOES NOT LIGHT UP NOTHING IS VISIBLE ON DASHBOARD. APPARENTLY THIS IS COMMON ENOUGH THAT THERE ARE TWO ENGINEERS ON EBAY SELLING REPAIRS. LOOK ON EBAY UNDER LEXUS CLUSTER REPAIR.PARTIAL COPY OF AD IF YOU OWN A 1993 OR 1994 LEXUS LS400 YOU ARE PROBABLY HAVING TROUBLE WITH YOUR DASH LIGHTS OR SOON WILL HAVE. LEXUS IS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM BUT WON'T WARRANTY IT SINCE THESE CARS ARE NOW 10 YEARS OLD. THE LEXUS DEALER WILL CHARGE YOU FROM $1400 TO $2000 TO REPAIR YOUR INSTRUMENT CLUSTER LIGHTS. ACTUALLY, THEY REPLACE 2 CIRCUIT BOARDS LOCATED BEHIND THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. THEY THEN THROW YOUR OLD BOARDS AWAY, THEY DON'T REPAIR THEM. THE NEW BOARDS THAT YOU JUST PURCHASED FROM LEXUS HAVE THE SAME BUILT-IN DESIGN FLAW AS THE ORIGINALS AND ARE DOOMED TO FAIL AS WELL. I'M AN ELECTRONICS ENGINEER AND I HAVE REVERSE ENGINEERED THEIR BOARDS AND HAVE FOUND THIS DESIGN FLAW. I HAVE REPAIRED MY OWN AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS. I GUARANTEE MY WORK FOR AS LONG AS YOU OWN THE CAR.WHEN YOU FIRST START YOUR 1993 OR19 94 LS400 ESPECIALLY ON COLD MORNINGS, THE DASH LIGHTS WON'T COME ON AND THE FUEL GAUGE SHOWS EMPTY. THEN AS THE CAR WARMS UP, THE LIGHTS BEGIN TO FLICKER ON AND OFF RAPIDLY AND THE FUEL GAUGE SWINGS FROM EMPTY TO WHATEVER AMOUNT OF FUEL THAT YOU HAVE. AFTER SEVERAL MINUTES, THEY WILL FINALLY COME ON AND STAY ON FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. THE FUEL GAUGE ALSO WORKS. AS MONTHS GO BY THE PROBLEM WILL ONLY GET WORSE UNTIL THE LIGHTS WILL REFUSE TO COME ON AT ALL. THE FUEL GAUGE WON'T WORK, AND YOU CAN'T SEE THE SPEEDOMETER OR THE ODOMETER, NOT TO MENTION THE TIME AND TEMP LCD ABOVE THE RADIO! THIS IS A DANGEROUS MALFUNCTION AND OBVIOUSLY IS NOT A HAPHAZARD EVENT. IT IS COMMON ENOUGH THAT REPAIR IS BEING OFFERED ON EBAY. THIS SHOULD WARRANT AN INVESTIGATION. *AK