Is my Amp dead?

[DruLS]

I've never had an issue with the the amp in my last LS430. I miss that car and I swear this other one is cursed with the amount of things going wrong with it. 

Never had any kind of issue with the stereo before, although about a week or two ago I did put in the driver's side speaker and the sub which I'd replaced the surrounds on as they'd all cracked. From there is was working great. Never really cranked it up loud other than to test, I just listened to it at normal volumes. I should add that I've yet to add my iPod kit into this car, so I've never had the head unit out or messed with any of the wiring or connectors. All I've ever done was remove the sub and one of the speakers as I've said - although the amp never seemed to have issues running without those connected so I doubt that's contributed.

I had to go abroad so on Saturday morning I parked it at the airport with the stereo working great. I got back last night so it had been sitting for less than 4 days. Car started fine but no audio from the head unit from any source. Not even any beeps from pressing on buttons on the screen or physical buttons on the head unit (which I never thought came from the amp, guess I was wrong). It was late when I got back so all I had time to do was to check the amp's 40a fuse which was fine. I also went into the diagnostic screen and got the following:

Do you guys know of anything else I can try, or check or am I definitely looking at a dead amp? I'd hate to shell out for a repair or a new one if the amp itself is fine. 

Cheers!

[BigBoomer]

Not necessarily a dead amp.
Could just be the heat causing a connection to fail.
Pull the plugs to the amp, spray the connectors with contact cleaner and push em back in again.
Often that's all it takes.
Don't forget that those connections are now 16 years old. 

[DruLS]

1 minute ago, BigBoomer said:

Not necessarily a dead amp.
Could just be the heat causing a connection to fail.
Pull the plugs to the amp, spray the connectors with contact cleaner and push em back in again.
Often that's all it takes.
Don't forget that those connections are now 16 years old. 

Thanks, I'll give that a try. It was parked on the top floor and I think the weather was pretty hot while I was away. Fingers crossed it's something as simple as that. 

If it's not, does anybody know any repairers who are in the UK? All the ones I can find are in the US. Or does anybody know what the repair involves? I can solder so if it's a case of some bad caps or something I can do that. 

[cruisermark]

I've had this problem before 

This 100% are the symptoms of amp not working - the power supply inside the amp fails  - I got mine repaired for £285

BUT

You will also have the same if you have a blown fuse i.e no power going to the amp - so check the fuses in the drivers side footwell fuse- IIRC there is one there for AMP

 

[DruLS]

20 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

I've had this problem before 

This 100% are the symptoms of amp not working - the power supply inside the amp fails  - I got mine repaired for £285

 

Where did you get your amp repaired out of interest? Just in case I need to get mine done. 

[cruisermark]

SVT services in edinburgh

https://svtservices.co.uk/

[John N]

I had the same problem on my first LS430 when it was about 14 year old. The amp just died, so I replaced it with one from a scrap yard, which cost me nearly £300. That amp was still working fine when the car was 19 year old.

I did price a new replacement from Lexus, can't remember the price exactly, about £3,000 I think, but they did offer a £1,000 discount if I returned the faulty amp! That was because the amps fitted to the early cars were known to be prone to failure. The early amps were part No. 86280-0W040 and the upgraded amps were 86280-0W041 both models are interchangeable, but the upgraded ones are more reliable.

I can't find any amps on eBay in the UK, but if you serch for 'Breaking LS430' you will find a few breakers yards with listing, just message them and ask if they have an audio amp available.

John N

[cruisermark]

the amp for the facelift is 86280 - 0W250

[DruLS]

Hi everyone, 

I spoke with a nice helpful man at SVT services. He suggested I check that it's getting power. He said it's unusual for one of these amps to fail without some warning signs or intermittent failure. Mine worked fine one day, then was completely dead next time I started the car. He advised there should be a fuse under the bonnet. I've checked and I can't see a fuse for the amp under there. I went ahead and checked every fuse. The 30amp fuse in the boot is not blown, and it's getting power. 

I checked the harness and I can't find power anywhere on it. At least the cables I was checking. I don't have a pinout so I just checked all the red wires in the loom to see if they had voltage which they did not. 

Does anybody have a pinout for the amp so I can be certain which wire it's getting power from? And are there any other fuses in the circuit other than the 30amp fuse in the boot?

[cruisermark]

Hi

Mine also went suddenly - I heard a crackle and then stopped working - otherwise no warning

Did you check fuse 3 on drivers side panel?

https://fuse-box.info/lexus/lexus-ls430-xf30-2000-2006-fuses-and-relay#Fuse_box_location

[DruLS]

I've checked all the fuses. I actually went back to the connector and found 12v on a purple wire, and some lesser voltages on others so I can only guess it's getting power properly. I just assumed the main power wire would be red. 

I opened up the amp to see if I could see anything obvious like corrosion or a blown cap but found nothing. I guess it's time to send it off for repair. 

[cruisermark]

sounds like same problem as mine - blown power supply unit within the amp