2004 LX 470 Body ECU question (1 Viewer)

[pitter]

Hi. I am new to the LX/LC world. I have a 2004 LX470 that I bought for a hobby car. Unfortunately, life is getting in the way and I have done little with it but use it as a SUV to haul stuff or pull a trailer occasionally.
Recently the vehicle has developed some electrical gremlins. At first, the rear window wiper would run in intermittent and refuse to turn off. Then the back up camera would not work sometimes. Sometimes it included power windows and front windshield wipers.
The other day I drove to work. I drove it on Monday and everything was great. I drove it in on Tuesday and the devil possessed it when I was almost at the office. The rear wiper started going, the speedo went crazy, the turn signals stopped working, the windows would not work, the front wipers would not work, the check engine, VSC TRAC, VSC OFF, and VGRS lights lip up. I turned around and limped home as I was afraid to turn it off. At some point ti verified that the brake lights worked.
My internet research says it might be the Body ECU which I have also seen referred to as the BCM. I found a used BCM on EBay and bought it. On Saturday, I started disassembling the front of the car to change the Body ECU. After removing the lower drivers side dash panels, I think I can see it. It looks like I have to remove the whole dash to get to the Body ECU. It also looks like I have to disassemble most of the front interior of the vehicle to do remove the dash.
I have a couple of questions for the experts. 1) Are these symptoms most likely related to the Body ECM? 2) Do I really have to remove the dash to get to it? 3) Do I really have to disassemble most of the front interior of the car to remove the dash?
Thanks in advance.

 

[pitter]

Oh yea. My interpertation of the FSM I found makes me think it is located under the drivers side dash on the far left hand side against the outter side panel. I have seen posts that say it is simple to get to and located behind the entertainment system. The FSM did not seem to show that on the 04 version.

 

[imperium]

I'd start at trying to see if you have water coming in from either the windshield or the sunroof drains. That can cause all sorts of electrical problems, which is something I'm going through as well.

Water can come into the footwell areas on the driver or passenger sides where there are a lot of fuses and wiring junctions.

 

[excessive]

^ what he said. make sure you do not have water coming from the Sunroof drains being clogged or bad windshield installation. i have never heard of an ECU going bad on one of these trucks

 

[pitter]

Since the last post, there have two different heavy, long duration rain showers in our area. After each, I have inspected the vehicle including under the dash, pulled up the carpets, looked in the driver and passenger sidewells, etc. I have found no signs of water intrusion. I opened the sunroof and observed only minor dampness about the size of a quarter around the front sunroof drain holes. Does anyone have any other thoughts?