Delphius1

So, when I bought my RX300 a couple of weeks ago, one of the things not working on it was the reversing camera. Something I now find pretty essential! Last weekend the plan was to see if my cheap £5 Chinese reversing camera could either produce a signal the sat nav unit could use, or even better replace the Lexus original. Well, I can report I've got the camera working and displaying pictures on the sat nav unit. It wasn't all smooth sailing, as the sat nav unit refused to display the signal from the reversing camera on it's own. There seems to be some feedback from the Lexus camera that lets the sat nav unit know it's connected. Without it the sat nav shows a blank screen. However, I'm not one to be beaten, so by keeping the rear PCB of the Lexus camera connected and just tapping the Chinese camera into the video line, I've now got a working reversing camera. The Chinese camera even clips into the original Lexus camera housing without modification. All I had to do was remove the guts of the old camera to make space. The Chinese camera requires 12v and the sat nav unit supplies 6v so I tapped into the 12v supply for the passenger side reversing light. That way power is only supplied when reversing. The wiring ended up like this. The yellow video wire from the old camera is cut and the new camera connected between the black and the yellow wires to the sat nav. The black, red and white wires stay connected in order to keep the sat nav displaying the video signal. As you can see the power leads off to the reversing light and the rear PCB of the original camera is still in place to provide the feedback signal. The PCB ended up wrapped in tape and tucked into the rear hatch. Once I'd proved the camera could work, I fitted it into the original housing, then the housing was screwed back onto the mounting bracket by the two screws and then bolted back in place in the hatch. It ended up looking ok: On the left is the old camera unit. It simply plugs onto the circuit board that stays connected, so I just unplugged it. Finally here's the result on the screen. It has the guide lines, but you can buy cameras without these and also with or without image mirroring. You just need to specify when ordering. This is one I already had so I wasn't fussy. The other thing to specify is it must be the American NTSC video standard to work with the sat nav, not the European PAL system. I haven't tried the fancy stuff like park assist yet as it hasn't been necessary. I'm just happy to be able to have working video. If the guide lines affect parking assist I might have to bite the bullet and fork out for a genuine camera, but we'll see. I hope this helps anyone with camera problems in future.

Looks in decent nick. How does it drive?

I bought a 2004 RX300SE Sat Nav last week. After a few days of ownership I've started rectifying some of the small issues that come with buying a car on a private sale. It has a knocking on uneven road surfaces, which I have traced to worn rear anti roll bar bushes. I've ordered a pair from eBay for a tenner. Hopefully I can get them fitted in the next few days to see how the noise is improved. Waggling the ARB shows movement and the offside bush hole is almost as big as the lip on the ARB. Today I fitted a new fuse for the Cigar lighter, restoring power to it. Finding the fuse box was a bit of a mission, but it's there under the glove box on RHD cars behind a removable plastic panel. Some contortions to get under the dashboard and a 15A low profile fuse later and power was restored. The reversing camera doesn't work, but I have a cheap Chinese NTSC camera that I'll connect in to see if it's the camera or the wiring at fault. If it's the camera, hopefully another cheaper Lexus camera will bolt to the mounting bracket because I'm getting quotes of £120 for a used RX camera, but IS cameras cost around £30. But the housings and connector look identical. I've plugged in a cheap Bluetooth OBD reader and there are no codes,which is a bonus. No other issues. All 4 tyres have a good amount of tread on them, all the other toys appear to work and there is no water ingress. I've a bunch of paperwork with it including the original sales receipt which states the original cost in 2004 was just over £35,000. Last week it cost me just £2500. Anyway, hi to everyone on the forum, I will post how I get on.

Hi, I've just bought an RX300 too. I've also got a knock going over uneven roads. I've had a waggle of various bits and on mine it looks like the knock is due to worn anti-roll-bar bushes at the rear of the car. They are quite accessible. If you get under the rear bumper you can see the roll bar running across the car held by two tubular rubber bushes. Give the bar a hefty waggle and if you feel any movement then the bushes are worn and need replacing. I've just ordered a pair from eBay . The bad news is the back end is caked in mud so I'm going to have to wire brush all the cack from the mounting brackets and bolts before I can apply some wd40 and let it soak in for a few days before I can undo the bolts and replace the bushes. Mark.

I've just just joined the forum, I've picked up an RX300 SE (already done homework about the air suspension) with some small scars but immaculate inside for £2.5K The reversing camera isn't working, but I should be able to fix that. Breakers want £120 for a used one so I'm looking at alternatives. The IS canera looks the same housing but just with a different bracket, but they're only £30 so I might just buy an IS camera and try a bracket swap. I've a £5 chinese NTSC camera I'm going to use to diagnose if it's the camera that is faulty or the wiring. I came from a Volvo V70 with over 290,000 miles on the clock so 23mpg around town is about the same as it cost me in petrol and oil for the Volvo. :-) Love the toys on the RX. Can't believe everything works apart from the camera. It even has the rear load cover. Some slight knocking underneath but having a waggle about I've found the rear ARB bushes are shot. Another job for the bank holiday weekend. From the forums I see they are hard on anti-roll-bar drop links and bushes. But they're pretty cheap from eBay. All in all not a bad old barge.