Mark Levinson Amp - Fan Replacement (2011 LX570)

[Acrad]

Thread resurrection... appreciate this thread

I've got the same issue in my '12 GX 460 w/ML. At first I thought it was fuel pump but then realized it was amp fan. Not easy to access

I am going to have to pull my 3rd row seats before I pull the rear side panel off. On 460 amp is above the driver side rear wheel well.

 

[1world1love]

Man. I am so glad I found this thread. I got back from a long road trip and woke up to go wash the truck this morning and had a loud whirring sound coming from under the driver seat. It was hard to pinpoint and I was wracking my brain trying to think what could be located in that area. My first thought was AHC related but it didn’t make sense.

I never considered anything interior because I couldn’t hear it in ACC mode. Only with the truck running. I just went out and put it in ACC mode and moved the seat forward and got down close and sure enough, it was faint but definite the same sound. I put my hand in and stopped the fans and it stopped. Bingo!

Interestingly, it stopped after about 20 minutes of driving. I’m also nit sure why it is much louder when the truck is running. Maybe it has a low power mode?

One question I have is whether there is an easy way to cut power to the amp while I wait for a chance to fix it? I would like to not burn up my amp if I can help it.

@grinchy - any suggestions?

 

[grinchy]

Man. I am so glad I found this thread. I got back from a long road trip and woke up to go wash the truck this morning and had a loud whirring sound coming from under the driver seat. It was hard to pinpoint and I was wracking my brain trying to think what could be located in that area. My first thought was AHC related but it didn’t make sense.

I never considered anything interior because I couldn’t hear it in ACC mode. Only with the truck running. I just went out and put it in ACC mode and moved the seat forward and got down close and sure enough, it was faint but definite the same sound. I put my hand in and stopped the fans and it stopped. Bingo!

Interestingly, it stopped after about 20 minutes of driving. I’m also nit sure why it is much louder when the truck is running. Maybe it has a low power mode?

One question I have is whether there is an easy way to cut power to the amp while I wait for a chance to fix it? I would like to not burn up my amp if I can help it.

@grinchy - any suggestions?

I don’t think the amp is in danger, there are two fans down there side by side on the end of the amp.

If you want to , You can cut the power by pulling an amp fuse I think.

If you do pull the seat put some protection on the steering wheel so you don’t mar the leather, it’s a rub out and in.

 

[Grumvee]

Hi folks —

I was having a droning sound coming from my fan, so decided to replace both.

I purchased the exact replacement parts manufactured by YS (though had to do the notching and connector rewiring work described above).

Unfortunately the new fans are making MORE noise than the old ones. They seem to be running at a HIGH speed, and are surging (as you can hear in the video linked below).

Any ideas? Super frustrating as you can imagine.

Thx.

New video · Sunday, May 21, 2023 ð¬

Tap to view!

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[grinchy]

Hi folks —

I was having a droning sound coming from my fan, so decided to replace both.

I purchased the exact replacement parts manufactured by YS (though had to do the notching and connector rewiring work described above).

Unfortunately the new fans are making MORE noise than the old ones. They seem to be running at a HIGH speed, and are surging (as you can hear in the video linked below).

Any ideas? Super frustrating as you can imagine.

Thx.

New video · Sunday, May 21, 2023 ð¬

Tap to view!

photos.app.goo.gl

You can certainly stick a resistor inline to slow them down. Not sure what's going on with the oscillating. Unfortunately amps have lots of electric components in them (I'm thinking mosfets and capacitors specifically), that can fail or degrade over time.

 

[Grumvee]

My saga continues.

I’ve been dealing with noise coming from the amp (unless I’m sitting at a stoplight, I don’t really hear it).

But now the sound from the speakers is starting to get buzzy. Certain ones more than others (I cycled around the speakers using fade/balance). It’s not terrible, but it’s not great.

I think it’s time to send the amp in for a refurbishing.

Any recommendations on who does such repairs, and approximate price?

Thx Mud!

Grumvee

 

[Brueckner05]

Hey everyone not to hi jack this thread but I've got a 2011 LX and my radio/USB/BT (doesn't matter which one) will skip every minute or so. Did any of you have a similar issue? I'm wondering if the fans aren't keep the AMP cool and its getting over heated and shorting out. Any ideas??

Thanks

 

[trudd]

My saga continues.

I’ve been dealing with noise coming from the amp (unless I’m sitting at a stoplight, I don’t really hear it).

But now the sound from the speakers is starting to get buzzy. Certain ones more than others (I cycled around the speakers using fade/balance). It’s not terrible, but it’s not great.

I think it’s time to send the amp in for a refurbishing.

Any recommendations on who does such repairs, and approximate price?

Thx Mud!

Grumvee

@Grumvee any update on your saga?

I have the surging/whirring noise at startup that seems to be related to cold weather. I found this thread here about noises from the nav unit, but I'm starting to think it's my amp:

2013 LC200 (American) whirring noise behind the dash on cold start

Anyone have any updates on solutions to this problem? Just encountered it on a drive back from the mountains, about 2 hours into my drive home at around 50 degrees outside the noise started. I had head it previously on cold starts but never happening during a normal drive. May end up pulling the...

forum.ih8mud.com

My noise sounds like the fans in your video. Thing is, I haven't replaced my fans in the amp yet.

Would like to know if/how your situation resolved before I start poking around down there.

 

[Grumvee]

@trudd - Unfortunately no resolution for me.

The fans still make loud sounds, and some of my speakers don't sound great.

I'm just dealing with it because I don't like the alternative: buying a new amp, or sending it in for an expensive refurbishment. That would likely (?) fix the issue, but I don't know for sure.

Best of luck! Please let me know if you figure yours out.

 

[grinchy]

@trudd - Unfortunately no resolution for me.

The fans still make loud sounds, and some of my speakers don't sound great.

I'm just dealing with it because I don't like the alternative: buying a new amp, or sending it in for an expensive refurbishment. That would likely (?) fix the issue, but I don't know for sure.

Best of luck! Please let me know if you figure yours out.

A new dsp, a few amps and a subwoofer would definitely solve the problem. With a CarPlay screen on that dash, I don’t even power on my stock HU any longer unless I want the radio or cd player.

 

[timsmsu]

I also just finished replacing the fans. Similar to @Jeff Elliott, I purchased fans from Amazon and needed to do a few alterations. I thought I would put a few pictures hoping to be helpful for the next person.

1. I found removing the seat was fairly easy. The worst part being lifting the seat out of the car. It did allow me to clean up a bit as it was a bit dirty from the PO. I also removed the sill plates from the front and rear doors as well as the B pillar plastic molding, and the seat belt at the bottom. It was more work to take everything out but there was no struggle with the amp, connectors, and it made sliding the amp under the carpet easy. Below is a picture of the amp in place on top of the carpet showing where to find the three 10mm screws (in red) to remove the amp.
View attachment 2720420

2. The replacement fans were purchased from Amazon. they were the right size, but needed some modifications to fit. I drilled the corners down about 4 mm, leaving 7 mm of plastic on the corners to match the existing fans. I also reused the connectors from the existing fans because the new fans had a different one. Below are pictures of the existing fans, my mods to the new fans, and finally the new fans in place.
View attachment 2720422
Original fans in the amplifier. One was making noise so I decided to replace both.
View attachment 2720428
Notice the corners on the existing fans (in green). The overall thickness is about 10.2 and the thickness in the corners is 7 mm. For the new fans, all 4 corners (red and yellow) need to be modified even though there are only 2 mounting screws per fan (red).

View attachment 2720438
The new fan is on the left and the existing fan on the right. Other than the corners, they fit well.

View attachment 2720439
I used a 19/64 drill bit, set the depth on the mini drill press and drilled down, leaving about 7 mm of plastic on the corners, then cleaned up the left over plastic with a utility knife (knife work not shown in the picture).

Well just finished the install. Unfortunately it was not plug and play. As with others here, the corners of the fans had to be notched down and the connectors were not the same. I ended up reusing the old connectors and attaching them to the new fans.

I also elected to pull remove the door sill cover and pull up the carpet in order to gain easier access to the amp bolts and for removing the amp through the side.

View attachment 2772173
View attachment 2772174

Hello!! This thread has been incredibly helpful! That said, I am stuck on how to remove that floor center vent cover so I can get under the carpet? I tried forever and finally gave in to quitting for the night and getting a beer!

 

[Vasiliy]

Hello!! This thread has been incredibly helpful! That said, I am stuck on how to remove that floor center vent cover so I can get under the carpet? I tried forever and finally gave in to quitting for the night and getting a beer!

Under drive seat? As I know there is screws that need to be removed first

 

[grinchy]

Hello!! This thread has been incredibly helpful! That said, I am stuck on how to remove that floor center vent cover so I can get under the carpet? I tried forever and finally gave in to quitting for the night and getting a beer!

I just cut a larger slot using the existing carpet slot. Is that not an option?

Behind the vent will be the ductwork, so not sure how much you can gain?

 

[timsmsu]

Under drive seat? As I know there is screws that need to be removed first

View attachment 3614444

View attachment 3614445

thank you so much! mine had plates that would not come out to reveal the screws. there was no notch to lift the covers off.

 

[trudd]

I've had the fans for a few weeks and finally made the swap yesterday.

Ordered the Y.S.TECH 4.5cm 12V 0.14A YW04510012LM fans from this ebay link.

• did not need to modify the connector or splice wires
• the wires were quite long, but I just tucked them in along the space in the top
• Had to dremel down the corners just like everyone else. This was probably the most laborious part.

The rest of the instructions here are very helpful. Unbolted the seat and tilted it back (did not need to remove wiring harness), unscrewed the bottom seatbelt anchor and removed the floor/seatbelt trim so I could unclip carpet for working space. Didn't need to cut the carpet, though things got tight. Pulled amp out under the carpet toward the driver door.

I powered everything up before putting the car back together, and of course one of the fans has a slight rattle sound. Luckily I can't hear it while driving.

I can't imagine this is related, so I'll probably make a separate thread for this, but this LX has blown through two OEM Subwoofers.

• The first sub was blown when I bought this LX last fall - luckily I still had my totaled '09 LX in the driveway so I just swapped them out.
• Fast forward a few months, and that replacement sub also blew.

I have another OEM sub on hand thanks to a MUD member. Is it possible that the whirring/failing Amp Fans somehow contributed to the subs blowing?

 

[grinchy]

I've had the fans for a few weeks and finally made the swap yesterday.

Ordered the Y.S.TECH 4.5cm 12V 0.14A YW04510012LM fans from this ebay link.

• did not need to modify the connector or splice wires
• the wires were quite long, but I just tucked them in along the space in the top
• Had to dremel down the corners just like everyone else. This was probably the most laborious part.

The rest of the instructions here are very helpful. Unbolted the seat and tilted it back (did not need to remove wiring harness), unscrewed the bottom seatbelt anchor and removed the floor/seatbelt trim so I could unclip carpet for working space. Didn't need to cut the carpet, though things got tight. Pulled amp out under the carpet toward the driver door.

I powered everything up before putting the car back together, and of course one of the fans has a slight rattle sound. Luckily I can't hear it while driving.

I can't imagine this is related, so I'll probably make a separate thread for this, but this LX has blown through two OEM Subwoofers.

• The first sub was blown when I bought this LX last fall - luckily I still had my totaled '09 LX in the driveway so I just swapped them out.
• Fast forward a few months, and that replacement sub also blew.

I have another OEM sub on hand thanks to a MUD member. Is it possible that the whirring/failing Amp Fans somehow contributed to the subs blowing?

Distortion blows subs, I'd suspect the amp, but not the fans.

 

[trudd]

Distortion blows subs, I'd suspect the amp, but not the fans.

Yikes.

I’m not an electrical engineer by any stretch. Sounds like I might be due for an amp refurbish before installing the third OEM sub?

 

[grinchy]

Yikes.

I’m not an electrical engineer by any stretch. Sounds like I might be due for an amp refurbish before installing the third OEM sub?

To be fair I have no proof, but there is probably a way to detect if that channel is distorting.

An aftermarket Amp and Sub would be less than the refurb price on the Amp. The ML system has a full range Low level (think RCA) Left and Right signal available at the back of the head Unit and also at the Amp.

I replaced the entire ML amp a few years ago with a DSP, 12 channels of amps, a dedicated sub amp, and a sub. If your ML amp is mostly fine, I'd just do the Sub amp and Sub, that can be like, $200 . . . or $750 with top end stuff.

There is frankly no comparison the stock sub to even a low end aftermarket. Not only more bass db, but better support all the way up to your sub xover frequency.

 

[cubaniche]

To be fair I have no proof, but there is probably a way to detect if that channel is distorting.

An aftermarket Amp and Sub would be less than the refurb price on the Amp. The ML system has a full range Low level (think RCA) Left and Right signal available at the back of the head Unit and also at the Amp.

I replaced the entire ML amp a few years ago with a DSP, 12 channels of amps, a dedicated sub amp, and a sub. If your ML amp is mostly fine, I'd just do the Sub amp and Sub, that can be like, $200 . . . or $750 with top end stuff.

There is frankly no comparison the stock sub to even a low end aftermarket. Not only more bass db, but better support all the way up to your sub xover frequency.

How do you avoid interrupting the MOST communication bus when installing an aftermarket amp and speakers? Did you also ditch the factory HU?

 

[grinchy]

How do you avoid interrupting the MOST communication bus when installing an aftermarket amp and speakers? Did you also ditch the factory HU?

The 2009-2011 Mark Levinson (Lexus) amplifier does not use MOST. It has a 5.1 digital (signal, ground), and 2 Channel low level (left/right +-) signal to the amp.
I have the factory Hu as an input to my DSP, but I very rarely use it. Mostly 100% use a CarPlay screen and phone as source via Bluetooth to my DSP.