2009 LX570- Electrics, Control Module, Poltergeist? (1 Viewer)

[rorywg]

Hello all- I have a beautiful 2009 LX 570, just about to hit 350,000km. So far it has been a fantastic car, taking us from deep desert trips in Oman and UAE to the mountains of the French Alps. It is a phenomenal car.

I have had problems brewing for a few years. I shipped the car from Dubai to France- it went great, but I noticed that operating in very cold (sub zero) environments the stereo had a 'speaker crackle' and some of the normal electronics did not work properly- for example, the headlights would stay on after I switched the engine off, without the normal warning alarm, and some of the dashboard displays did not illuminate (for example, the cold weather warning/3deg C ...)

Now, on a very wet day in England, the fog lights have come on while the car is sitting, engine off, in my driveway. There are various permutations that allow me to switch these off, but they seem to come on spontaneously. I'm now thinking I need to pull my head out of, um, the sand and get this fixed.

My guess is that there has been an ingress of water or moisture into the ECM/BCM and this is affecting various operations. I have chatted to a few enthusiastic amateurs and they have suggested things like blocked drain vents from the sunroof, and a range of other things. Any top tips from the brain trust here? And any ideas on what to do to restore normal function?

Thanks!

Rory

 

[tbisaacs]

Definitely sounds like water intrusion. You can pull up the door sills and kick panels and see if water has been collecting on the body harness. Another place to check is under the cowl that covers the windshield wipers

 

[rorywg]

That’s great- thanks. I’ll take a look (once the rain stops)…

 

[rorywg]

So… I got a bit delayed by a ski accident and a broken vertebra. Now back in the hunt!

I’ve found my problem, but not the source of it- the fuse boxes in both the driver and passenger footwells have extensive corrosion from, I assume, condensation or water I guess. I’m still trying to find where water might be getting in… after heavy rain (I’m in the UK!) there is some damp coming down the headlining on the B pillar but I can’t see significant water accumulation. I’ll keep looking but am struggling to bend or twist my neck (see above!).

My question- I will obviously replace the corroded fuses etc. And I guess the drivers side control module and the passenger side module (which I think is the parking camera and sensor module).

Any ideas on where is best to source these for a 2009 LX 570? And any suggestions on where to look for ingress given this is where I’m seeing problems?

Thanks very much for any input.

 

[Sandroad]

If there’s dampness on the headliner and B pillar, I’d start by cleaning the sunroof drains. That’s often a source of water. Has the roof rack ever been removed or replaced? If so, the rack supports may not be sealed well. The windshield and cowling can also leak if not installed correctly, but with a damp headliner those are less likely.

Replacing the fuse boxes is hugely expensive, so your best bet is a careful cleaning inside them and installing new fuses (after fixing the water leak and drying everything out).

There are numerous threads on here of what others have done, so a few minutes searching and reading might help a lot with details.

 

[rorywg]

For general interest- and as suggested by Sandroad- we couldn't find a leak that affected the various fuse boxes or modules that I checked. The fuses were bone dry, but the fuse box on the module in the driver's footwell had clearly experienced corrosion at some point- the fuses themselves were pretty much all green and corroded and the connectors in the assembly into the module had corroded away. We cleaned them all out and I then found a very clever (well, cleverer than me) guy to solder new male pins into the connecting assembly. We are pretty much back to normal operation but still, weirdly, the horn is not working (although the alarm is now sounding properly). I assume this is the clock spring in the steering wheel so will have a look at this later...

It has been raining pretty much no stop for the last few weeks and everything is as dry inside as it should be. So whatever the historic leak was (blocked sunroof drains? One of my kids p1ssing in the wrong place??) seems to have magically fixed. I love those poltergeists.

Thanks for the advice and pointers. I am really surprised it was possible to repair rather than replace the modules. I had looked at all the fuses and modules and was dreading the cost of buying and potentially shipping to the UK replacement modules, as suggested by one mechanic I spoke with...