Parking sensors on LS430 2005

[jenkiadr]

I’ve had an intermittent problem with the front right parking sensor on my Lexus LS 430 for the past couple of years. In winter time it’s not a problem at all (it doesn’t happen) but as soon as the temperature gets above 13C, it comes on randomly at low speed. The same is now happening with one of the centre parking sensors. All of the parking sensors at the front have some paint peeling off.

I took it to Lexus Reading a while ago and their solution was to replace all of the front sensors and charge me £1800 in the process! They said they couldn’t tell whether it was and electrical issue or as a result of the paint peeling on the sensors.

i’ve had the car two years now and reckon I’ll keep it for at least the next four. Hence it makes sense to invest in getting this sorted, but without feeling I’m getting fleeced. Does anyone have any ideas how or who might be best placed to help? I’m good at sourcing parts, but rubbish at fitting them! Our local garage suggested taking it to a body shop as the sensors will need painting. There are also any number of in-car audio places who work with parking sensors, although I do want to keep Lexus OEM ones if at all possible.

Any suggestions and advice gratefully received!

[jenkiadr]

Just in case my original post was a unclear, I didn’t get the work done at Lexus Reading – the quote of £1800 was far beyond what I was prepared to pay. I’m looking for a solution that is as close to factory standard as possible but for a far cheaper price.

Many thanks.

[Phil xxkr]

4 hours ago, jenkiadr said:

I’ve had an intermittent problem with the front right parking sensor on my Lexus LS 430 for the past couple of years. In winter time it’s not a problem at all (it doesn’t happen) but as soon as the temperature gets above 13C, it comes on randomly at low speed. The same is now happening with one of the centre parking sensors. All of the parking sensors at the front have some paint peeling off.

I took it to Lexus Reading a while ago and their solution was to replace all of the front sensors and charge me £1800 in the process! They said they couldn’t tell whether it was and electrical issue or as a result of the paint peeling on the sensors.

i’ve had the car two years now and reckon I’ll keep it for at least the next four. Hence it makes sense to invest in getting this sorted, but without feeling I’m getting fleeced. Does anyone have any ideas how or who might be best placed to help? I’m good at sourcing parts, but rubbish at fitting them! Our local garage suggested taking it to a body shop as the sensors will need painting. There are also any number of in-car audio places who work with parking sensors, although I do want to keep Lexus OEM ones if at all possible.

Any suggestions and advice gratefully received!

Is your need to maintain your original spec or a practical one I.e. assistance with parking? If its the latter, on my Jaguar XKR I fitted a number plate surround incorporating twin sensors from a firm in Leeds. They come in black but I had mine painted to look less obvious. That was 3 years ago and they have been perfect. 

[Malc]

isn't it totally bonkers when the cost of replacing parking sensors is nigh on the value of the car

oh for the old fashioned and timeless simplicity of relying on eyes and mirrors to park eh ! 

Malc

like on mine

[Phil xxkr]

15 minutes ago, Malc said:

isn't it totally bonkers when the cost of replacing parking sensors is nigh on the value of the car

oh for the old fashioned and timeless simplicity of relying on eyes and mirrors to park eh ! 

Malc

like on mine

Reminds me of the old Jewish joke, "I want to die peacefully and quietly  like my father, unlike his passengers, screaming🤭

[cruisermark]

HI 

This is a common problem - do a search for lexus ls430 parking sensors on eBay - there a plenty of choices and then find a good bodyshop who can remove the bumper and replace them - this will be a walk in the park for a body shop - once the bumper is off you turn the sensors 90 degrees and it comes out.

Since the sensors are so cheap I would replace all of them wholst the bumper is off.

hope this helps

[LenT]

As Mark has just posted, this is a common problem.  This is a possible solution that you haven’t mentioned,  but of course you may have already tried.

Namely, spray the sensor with WD-40. If you have a can with the spray tube to really focus the jet, then so much the better.

If the problem isn’t caused by damage to the sensor, or an electrical fault, then it may be due to water- often introduced during car washes,  This does sometimes produce this kind of intermittent fault.

Anyway, it’s just about the cheapest and simplest possible fix - so nothing to lose!

[jenkiadr]

16 hours ago, cruisermark said:

HI 

This is a common problem - do a search for lexus ls430 parking sensors on ebay - there a plenty of choices and then find a good bodyshop who can remove the bumper and replace them - this will be a walk in the park for a body shop - once the bumper is off you turn the sensors 90 degrees and it comes out.

Since the sensors are so cheap I would replace all of them wholst the bumper is off.

hope this helps

Thank you Mark.

[jenkiadr]

15 hours ago, LenT said:

As Mark has just posted, this is a common problem.  This is a possible solution that you haven’t mentioned,  but of course you may have already tried.

Namely, spray the sensor with WD-40. If you have a can with the spray tube to really focus the jet, then so much the better.

If the problem isn’t caused by damage to the sensor, or an electrical fault, then it may be due to water- often introduced during car washes,  This does sometimes produce this kind of intermittent fault.

Anyway, it’s just about the cheapest and simplest possible fix - so nothing to lose!

Thank you Len - I'll give it a go. Actually the middle one started playing up just after the car was washed!

Adrian

[BigBoomer]

You can get the sensors for about £6 each from a variety of sources (eBay, amazon, etc.), although since Brex**** that price seems to have more than doubled.
If you want them colour matched, then you'll have to paint them to match if you can't find your colour online.
You can buy White, Black, Gold, or Silver. I bought Black sensors and they look OK on my dark blue 430.

Getting the bumper off is fiddly, especially the bits under the wheel arches.
Once the bumper is off, replacing each sensor is easy.
If you have small hands you can access the outer 2 sensors without removing the bumper.

Be aware that the rear bumper sensors come in 2 different shapes and you need the correct ones.
The front sensors are all the same and are the same as the rear centre sensors.

Rear centre (x2) - 89341-50020-**, 89341-50040-**, or 89341-50050-**
Rear outer (x2) - 89341-50011-**

Front  (x6) - 89341-50020-**, 89341-50040-**, or 89341-50050-**

** is the 2 digit colour code if you want them colour matched.

[jenkiadr]

My car is exactly the same colour scheme as yours and really appreciate the advice and part numbers.

[Lexus212]

On 4/12/2021 at 11:54 AM, BigBoomer said:

You can get the sensors for about £6 each from a variety of sources (eBay, Amazon, etc.), although since Brex**** that price seems to have more than doubled.
If you want them colour matched, then you'll have to paint them to match if you can't find your colour online.
You can buy White, Black, Gold, or Silver. I bought Black sensors and they look OK on my dark blue 430.

Getting the bumper off is fiddly, especially the bits under the wheel arches.
Once the bumper is off, replacing each sensor is easy.
If you have small hands you can access the outer 2 sensors without removing the bumper.

Be aware that the rear bumper sensors come in 2 different shapes and you need the correct ones.
The front sensors are all the same and are the same as the rear centre sensors.

Rear centre (x2) - 89341-50020-**, 89341-50040-**, or 89341-50050-**
Rear outer (x2) - 89341-50011-**

Front  (x6) - 89341-50020-**, 89341-50040-**, or 89341-50050-**

** is the 2 digit colour code if you want them colour matched.

This is amazing and as close as I've come to finding the right part numbers I need to replace the front sensors on my LS430. Can you clarify the above point:

"Be aware that the rear bumper sensors come in 2 different shapes and you need the correct ones.
The front sensors are all the same and are the same as the rear centre sensors."

When I phoned Lexus recently for replacement (I actually think I need to replace ALL my FRONT sensors now) they mentioned that the corner ones were different to the centre ones?

Looking at the car there are what I would say 4 'centre' sensors and 2 'outer' ones? What is the difference in the centre sensor part numbers you've listed above (if any) and does that mean on my LS430 I'd need 4 of any of those and two of the outer ones (if they're the same as the rears) or just six centres?

I hope that makes sense, the constant beeping on the dash is driving my crazy in my car when I slow down.

Kind regards.

[jonthetourist]

Do you not have the button to switch off the sensors?

[BigBoomer]

12 hours ago, Lexus212 said:

This is amazing and as close as I've come to finding the right part numbers I need to replace the front sensors on my LS430. Can you clarify the above point:

"Be aware that the rear bumper sensors come in 2 different shapes and you need the correct ones.
The front sensors are all the same and are the same as the rear centre sensors."

When I phoned Lexus recently for replacement (I actually think I need to replace ALL my FRONT sensors now) they mentioned that the corner ones were different to the centre ones?

Looking at the car there are what I would say 4 'centre' sensors and 2 'outer' ones? What is the difference in the centre sensor part numbers you've listed above (if any) and does that mean on my LS430 I'd need 4 of any of those and two of the outer ones (if they're the same as the rears) or just six centres?

I hope that makes sense, the constant beeping on the dash is driving my crazy in my car when I slow down.

Kind regards.

Hi Will,
I just found this parts fiche online. https://lexus-europe.epc-data.com/ls430/
The sensors are shown here https://lexus-europe.epc-data.com/ls430/ucf30r/5110/electric/8417/
It shows that the outer 2 on each side are the 89341-50011-** and the centre 2 are 89341-50020-** or 89341-50050-**.
That is for my early 2004 model. Later 2004-2006 show only the 89341-50050-** for the centre 2.

For the 2000-2003 model the centre ones are the same numbers but the outer ones are 89341-50010-** or 89341-50011-**

This is the 89341-50011

This is the 89341-50050


As Jon pointed out, you can disable the sensors/beeper with a switch just to the right of your steering wheel.

[Lexus212]

Thanks all for the replies, this is super useful. I've gone ahead and ordered the following (for anyone else in the same situation):

Outer (x2): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224500760767

Centre (x4): https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403409375898

Thanks for helping to decode all the various part numbers because relying on eBay sellers accuracy in their descriptions was making me nervous. I've decided to replace all the front ones because one side is definitely finished and the other periodically complains.

Is there any special advice when it comes to painting these, I have a really good coach works guy I use that will fit and paint for me?

Re: switching off or deactivating the sensors - it's true on longer journeys I tend to switch them off, but as well all know the LS430 is quite a boat and not having them on makes me nervous I might forget to enable them when parking up. When I bought the car the rear corner had some battle scars presumably because the previous owner had switched off the beeping sensors and forgot to turn them back on again.

I am mildly tempted to retrofit a camera, but I want to do all the preventative mechanical maintenance first before I start to add improvements.

Thanks again all for the help. Will post back once the sensors are fitted, hopefully the new ones will last another 20 years...