Speedometer is no longer working

[Jblueskull]

My speedometer in my 2004 lx470 just stoped working when I turned on my car this morning. Didn’t move even on start up. Also when inserting key all of the gauges wiggle back and forth slightly. Additionally in the trip info of my nav system, it seems to still be able to track the average speed. don’t really know much about electrical. So if anyone can point me on my way of how to start working down the possible issues that would be much appreciated.

 

[frawstme]

Check the battery voltage and ground connections first if you have a multimeter. I only say that because your gauges twitch, that seems like a voltage issue

Im guessing because of that voltage or grounding issue, your speedometer isn't getting power and that's why its not working.

few things:
does your odometer gain miles when you drive?
does cruise control work?
is the car shifting normally?
unlikely but have you bottomed out your transfer case off road recently?

if you have a scan tool i would see if the car reports speed while driving too.

its likely not your actual speedo but a power issue leading to your gauge cluster or the cluster itself

edit:
since you said you don't know much about electrical, ill add that your battery should be at ~12.5v while off and 13-15v while running

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Any work done recently? Gauge cluster removed? Any rain or signs of water intrusion?

 

[Green2000LX]

Sorry to hijack thread with my experience.

I’ve had a dead speedometer for a few years now in my lx for a few years. it’s got to be a bad stepper motor or high resistance/ no continuity? I do have a code for a bad LH front wheel speed sensor. That wouldn’t cause it to stop working?
It (sometimes) works on 84° days weird.
I’m thinking about ponying up and sending to tannin :/

 

[Jblueskull]

Check the battery voltage and ground connections first if you have a multimeter. I only say that because your gauges twitch, that seems like a voltage issue

Im guessing because of that voltage or grounding issue, your speedometer isn't getting power and that's why its not working.

few things:
does your odometer gain miles when you drive?
does cruise control work?
is the car shifting normally?
unlikely but have you bottomed out your transfer case off road recently?

if you have a scan tool i would see if the car reports speed while driving too.

its likely not your actual speedo but a power issue leading to your gauge cluster or the cluster itself

edit:
since you said you don't know much about electrical, ill add that your battery should be at ~12.5v while off and 13-15v while running

Odometer gains miles.
Cruise control works.
Shifts normal.
Haven’t off roaded in over two weeks.

Battery says around 13-15 while driving and about 12.5 while off

Couple other things. On the last start up, all of the gauges took a bit to start up maybe 7-12 seconds after ignition. Also I just replaced my started last week. I did reattach the ground and just made sure. It is reattached. But is there other wiring I should be looking at or a way to test my ground?

 

[frawstme]

well thats helpful but battery voltage alone doesnt confirm that the grounds are good. Since this started after the starter work, do a voltage-drop test while cranking.. measure from the battery negative post (not the clamp) to the engine block, then from the negative post to the body. Ideally you should see less than a 0.2–0.3v range . Also inspect/clean/tighten both ends of the battery negative cables and any engine to body ground strap.

also reseat and inspect the MET, GAUGE1, GAUGE2, ACC, and ECU-B2 fuses, then check the cluster connectors if the external grounds test good. theres a chance that the wording on those is wrong, i have a imported lc so mine may be different than yours

Bc the odometer still counts miles and cruise/shifting are normal, that kind of rules out that speed sensor. The cluster is seeing vehicle speed but isn’t driving the needle. The delay before all the gauges wake indicates a internal combination meter problem like power supply, cracked solder joint, capacitor, or speedometer motor. A scan tool showing live vehicle speed would confirm that before removing the cluster

 

[Jblueskull]

Okay I’ll go ahead and test these things in the next few days. I did start looking a fuses a bit ago like MET and GAUGE 1 which were good but I’ll look at the rest soon. Also just to clarify, by negative post (not clamp), does that mean make sure I’m measuring from the actual battery post not the metal that clamps around it?

 

[frawstme]

Okay I’ll go ahead and test these things in the next few days. I did start looking a fuses a bit ago like MET and GAUGE 1 which were good but I’ll look at the rest soon. Also just to clarify, by negative post (not clamp), does that mean make sure I’m measuring from the actual battery post not the metal that clamps around it?

Yes, the actual silver/grey post and not the clamp (connector)

 

[Hokie LX]

My money is on your stepper motors. Somewhat common issue. I had this exact issue on my last LX470 for a couple years + before I sold it. Gauges twitching on startup, temp gauge dead, speedo was inaccurate by varying amounts for a while before it finally died. Back then, there was no option for replacement stepper motors for the LX since they're backlit. The LC ones are available and can be swapped in. The only option available back then was to send it off to these guys and they'll take the motors apart and rebuild the entire cluster including backlights.

2003-2007 Lexus LX470 Speedometer (Cluster Repair Service)

This service is for 2003-2007 Lexus LX470 with bad stepper motors and backlighting. Contact Tanin Auto Electronix for more instrument cluster repair services.

taninautoelectronix.com

Things may have changed now and I heard a rumor that backlit stepper motors are available on *Alibaba now but I haven't searched for them yet. I am picking up another LX this weekend so if that cluster bites the dust also then I'll be on the hunt for a solution again.

 

[Jblueskull]

Just to update I cleans my battery connections like frawstme was saying to try. Still gotta get the stuff for the voltage drop test. But weirdly after cleaning the terminals my dash fixed itself. I don’t know if it has any correlation. But after reading through the other forms on here I would find it strange if it was a stepper motor since it seems the fix for the lX is to glue the magnet back to the gear that is delaminated from. How would the magnet fix it self or reattach back to the gear? And how would one stepper motor cause all the other gauges to flutter. I’m gonna continue down the road of a greater electrical issue and keep this updated if I find anything of interest or other possible causes.

 

[frawstme]

Just to update I cleans my battery connections like frawstme was saying to try. Still gotta get the stuff for the voltage drop test. But weirdly after cleaning the terminals my dash fixed itself. I don’t know if it has any correlation. But after reading through the other forms on here I would find it strange if it was a stepper motor since it seems the fix for the lX is to glue the magnet back to the gear that is delaminated from. How would the magnet fix it self or reattach back to the gear? And how would one stepper motor cause all the other gauges to flutter. I’m gonna continue down the road of a greater electrical issue and keep this updated if I find anything of interest or other possible causes.

lol were either of the terminal connectors on the battery loose?

i'm still leaning towards a voltage issue, likely a grounding issue but if the gauge cluster is working right now than that means it's going to be intermittant, so more difficult to single out. I'd be curious if your gauges are still working after a few drives down a bumpy road.

this happening right after doing starter work is the most suspicious part honestly. Just to be safe I'd check out the wire that runs hot off the starter to make sure its fully secure, then also follow it back to (im assuming) the battery and make sure there's no damage or exposed wire.

it would be helpful if you could snap a pic of the top of your battery and wires surrounding it. My car has a different electrical set up and it's very annoying so I can't use it as a comparison to the US models