Dashboard noise / loud fans

[Hangie]

Hi,

As it is a quite common issue I just wanted everybody know how to deal with it.

So in short if you got an GS MK IV with few years/hours on, you might notice strange noise coming from a radio area. It is a sign that fans bearings are wearing out and making that typical sound. You will hear it regardless if radio/AC is on or off. When you shutdown the car it will last for few more seconds. As bearings got MTBF time in hours it means the longer car was ON the higher chance they will fail - it is not related to milage or age itself.

So in my case with Mark Levinson audio and Nanoe there are 5 fans in total in that area! 3 for audio unit plus 2 extra below for Nanoe bit. If you got warranty Lexus will replace whole audio unit (± £2000). If you don't have it as I, you would need to deal with it by yourself. Good news whole radio is very very very well designed and can be put apart (no rivets, or funny screws).

Last rainy weekend I've make a decision to go for it and result is brilliant - car is dead quiet again! It took me a little bit longer as 2 fans were faulty after all (I was prepared for one) and I needed to order one extra one in different size.

If anyone is interested in some more details please feel free to ask. Eventually if you got that problem and don't feel tech savvy enough I could do it for you for a small fee 😉

At the end here is the photo of how does the unit looks like inside (you can see both fans which were faulty in my case):

 

 

 

[Vlady]

Hi Krzysztof, this is a good thread, thanks for leaving this here. I do not have any problem like that but it is useful to know that it might appear and how to deal with it.

 

Thanks

[Farqui]

Well done, it's good to know that such issues/niggles/annoyances can be resolved with a little motivation 

[Hangie]

22 hours ago, Farqui said:

Well done, it's good to know that such issues/niggles/annoyances can be resolved with a little motivation 

Most of the cars right now don't have enough hours on them to develop that fault but in few years time it is going to be pretty standard issue I bet.

So far, most of complains are coming from the US where cars get to be used more intensive than here.