Ken Timbers

I'm not yet sure what the implications are of not having this radar component. I think it's only the security system that's affected. According to the technician who reported it, the radar has nothing to do with cruise control and is there to provide an alarm signal if an intruder is detected. I'm not going to get my knickers in a twist over that.

Perfect! I now know what to say to the installer when I take the car in next week! Thank you very much, Glyn—what a great forum this is!

Glyn, I don't know enough about the wiring set up for the sc430mods harness to be able to talk about it with Bromley Audio. I don't know whether the reason for their using the old camera was simply to save the effort of installing Calvin's camera, or due to any doubt about how to connect up the power to the harness. If it's just a matter of installing the new camera, that's a straightforward sort of job, but if it's knowing where to plug the camera and the power lead into the harness, that's perhaps not so obvious. You've told me that the power lead plugs into the harness, but can you tell me where that plug goes? There seem to be several junction boxes in the set—is one of them obviously a power box? And where does the camera lead plug in? I don't know whether you can identify any of the locations on the attached photo, but I'd be grateful for any advice!

I've booked the car in with Bromley Audio for a thorough re-examination of the reversing camera installation, but they're so busy that it will have to wait until 7th October. I'll update when the work has been done. Thank you for all the support—it's been very helpful. !

Hi Glyn, That's a very smart suggestion. It would ensure that the installer could quickly see whether he had been at fault in avoiding the use of Calvin's camera and it would help in any discussions on who is paying for putting the matter right!

I found I had this problem when my car went back this week to Lexus to try to resolve a problem with the alarm system malfunctioning. The garage has put a lot of effort into finding a solution so far and I'm not going to complain about that aspect of their work. However, the search for the source of the problem showed that the radar component has completely failed and would need to be replaced if it's to function. However, the experienced technician doing the work told me that it's no longer available. I'm hoping that it doesn't turn out to be the source of the alarm malfunction!

Very many thanks, Glyn. There's a lot of useful ideas in that commentary and I'll pass it on to Lexus and Bromley Audio verbatim. I'm still awaiting a response to the photos of the set up that I sent to Calvin at sc430mods, but there's a significant time difference between London and Washington State on the West Coast, where it's barely midday as I write! I'll let you know how this goes when I get an update from the coal face.

Glyn, I've had a problem with the alarm system and the horn going off randomly, and Lexus (Sidcup) have put in a lot of effort to try to solve the problem. At the moment it seems to have narrowed down to the fitting of the reversing system. I hadn't noticed that, as soon as the engine is switched on, the reversing lights are activated. They're dimmed, and only fully lit up when the car is put into reverse gear, but of course they shouldn't be lighting up at all! Lexus has now tried disconnecting the reversing system (the equipment I bought from sc430mods) and the reversing lights then work normally. I have messaged sc430mods to tell him of this problem and asking for advice. Can you check whether you have this same problem with your reversing lights?

I received three keys when I bought my car. Two were of the black variety and one grey, which is a 'valet' key that won't open locked items (upper console box, glove box and boot). The two black keys seem to be identical in operation. One has a numbered tag attached—I gathered I would have to produce that number if I wanted a new key.

Hi Glyn, Does that mean you have a system in which you have lines that move as you turn the steering wheel? My lines don't move with the steering.

I took the car into Lexus (Sidcup) this morning (8 Sep) and collected it after lunch. I didn't get a chance to talk to the technician who did the work, so I can only report what I was told by the Service Dept team. The fault is thought to have been caused by a failure of the radar component, presumably part of the cruise control mechanisms. Apparently the radar component is no longer available, so could not be replaced. When I said it was important to me that the problem with the alarm system would not return, I was told that had been their aim, but it meant that the alarm system itself would be immobilised. I accepted that. So that's where it stands at the moment—and for Anthony's information, they reconnected the horn! There was no charge for any of this work. I wonder whether that radar component is available in the US? I will do some research over the weekend, but if anyone has any knowledge of this, I'd be glad to hear.

Having removed the relevant fuse, I thought there could be no further sound from the horn. Certainly the horn wouldn't work by pressing the button on the steering wheel. I set off this evening to get some petrol and was stunned to hear the horns blaring every few yards, worse than before! There seems to be a system that can by-pass the fuse box, presumably part of the immobiliser? I decided enough was enough and tried to pull out the connecting wires. They wouldn't move—probably haven't moved in 15 years—so I snipped them. I've got an appointment at Lexus on Thursday.

The auto electrician did look at the inside of the fusebox lid and then went to his computer to look for information from elsewhere (service manual, I think). Perhaps there's a list showing what's there, but not identifying the role of each fuse? I didn't see the inside of the lid myself, but I can't believe he would have made an effort to look on the internet if the information had been readily available. I'll take a look, presently—if there's a list with all the necessary info inside the box, I'll report it.

I’ll pass on the combined comments to the Lexus service department when I take the car in. They may have a technician who has some experience of this model, but it could help a less knowledgeable chap to source the problem. Meanwhile, does anyone know where to find a key to the fuse layout? There isn’t one in the driver’s handbook or the fuse box, so I won’t be any the wiser if I have another problem involving fuses!

The auto electrician was on the ball, looked up the service manual on line to find the fuse number (which doesn't appear in the drivers' manual), recognised the fuse box under the bonnet (which I had failed to find!), and whipped out the relevant fuse. There was no sign of any malfunction, so I simply put it away in the console box ready to be replaced in due course. He tested the horn (not now working) and the lights and other functions seem to be well—all responded normally. Given that he had made the effort to attend at 8.30 pm on a Saturday, I was impressed by his performance—nice chap, too!

Hi Malc, I'd have been very tempted, but it would have been a hassle for me, too, and I decided to take an alternative, albeit expensive route. I took Herbie's advice and called out an auto electrician. I wanted peace of mind, not only for myself but for my neighbours, too—no chance of multiple alarms during the night and the ability to drive the car over the next few days without the irritation of a random beeping to annoy other motorists. I shall certainly be putting the car into Lexus (Sidcup) for a proper examination and solution of the problem, but done at an appointed time, not just when they happen to have a spare moment!

Hi Glyn, I don't recall being given options when I put in my order for this kit, but I certainly expected to have guidelines like these, so perhaps I ticked the relevant box. The lines don't appear to move, but I'll have to check. I found the image seemed very clear in guidance and I had no difficulty in using it. As for a different camera, yes, the fitting company made use of the camera they had already fitted. I know that because they didn't use the bracket that came with the package, but the camera itself looks as near as I can see identical. I'd have thought the superimposition of guidelines on the image came from the software rather than from the lens package, but that's just my guess.

I hate having to admit my lack of technical skills, but I have a problem that has defeated what few of those I have. The car horn has started to have a life of its own, suddenly blaring away when there's no one nearby to have set it off—not even an animal. Worse still, it has now started to blare when I'm driving, for no discernible reason. It toots away for anything from a couple of times to half a dozen, which is embarrassing to say the least, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I thought it should be simple enough to find the relevant fuse and pull it out, going without a horn until I can get a mechanic at Lexus to look at it, but there isn't a fuse box where the manual says it should be and there's nothing else under the bonnet that looks like one. It talks about 'kick plates' that might perhaps conceal fuses, but I can't see a kick plate in either footwell—certainly nothing that's easily removable. Lexus (Sidcup) can't help today, suggesting I take the car in and leave it with them until they can find time to look at it next week—not really very helpful. I can't leave the car like this on my drive, so I'm wondering whether I could simply cut the wires to the horns and have them reconnected when Lexus can take the car in. Does anyone have any suggestions?

As promised, herewith a photo of the satnav screen when the car is put into reverse. I apologise for the rather poor photo—I didn't realise how mucky the screen has become with fingerprints. I hope it at least shows the main feature, the guiding lines. I'm a trifle colour-blind, so I'm not sure whether you can see any red wording? There is a STOP warning as the car approaches a block of any kind—perhaps in this instance I haven't gone close enough to the garage door to bring it up. I'll take another shot next time I take the car out.

Hi Glyn, All went well today and I now have an excellent, working reversing camera. I'd have written earlier, but I haven't had time to take a photo of the screen. I'll do that in the morning and get it posted here. The thing I note is that I don't have the same graphics as you for the direction of the steering wheel. You have what appears to be a large white rectangle with quite a lot of purple graduations inside. I have only two parallel lines with text that says 'STOP' surmounting some red lines to indicate the limits. My camera lens is mounted below the number plate and in effect shows the ground vertically beneath it. I'll try to capture the view better, but I'll need to go and find somewhere with parking lines.

I took some comfort in the strength of this car's immobilising capability a few nights ago when its alarm sounded at about 4 am. The noise level of that horn was horrendous and when I got to the window it was clear that the thief had scarpered. I'd like to have seen his face when the alarm went off—when you're trying to keep quiet and you get that sort of noise at close quarters, it can't do your heart much good. I realise that he could have started by trying to break a window, but there wasn't anything exciting on display to steal, so that would have been a daft idea, making the noise in the hope that no one would notice. I felt sorry for my neighbours, but glad the car knew what to do!

I was very interested to see your report on fitting the kit, Glyn. I've got my car booked in for a fitting on Friday and I don't want to risk losing the appointment and having to wait much longer—it's a very busy firm. I'll report your findings to them—they're the sort of guys who have huge experience across the electronics field and they may know exactly what to do. I'll know the answer on Friday and will post the result.

Hi Kevin. Neither parking sensors or reversing camera, but I haven't found parking sensors much use on a number of previous, more modern Lexus cars I've owned, so I wasn't fussed about getting them installed. However, I've a slightly tricky entrance to my driveway, made more difficult by parked cars opposite and to the side, and I've found a reversing camera made all the difference. As a result I've ordered the correct kit from SC430mods.com in America, and it's being installed next Friday! There's been some recent discussion on this forum about ways to cope with tight fits in a garage—see "Garage doors". I used the dangling tennis ball option when I used my garage, but it's now full of junk and there's no space for a car!

Great number plate—probably worth more than the car to some people! That one looks more like my 07 car, but there look to be a lot of minor changes on the black one advertised. The spec isn't available (unless you're making a full enquiry, I suppose), so I couldn't check whether it has a reversing camera. It seems that few of these cars sold in the UK had them, unlike the American cars.