dash lights

[david in germany]

on my bosses ES 300 the speedo needle flickers like crazy and sometimes even goes out half ways after the car running for about 2 minutes. is there any way to fix this? is it a common problem?
Thanks all!
David

[joshthorsc]

I'm not sure if it's a common problem on the es300's, but it is a common problem on the ls400's and sc300/400's. You can either take the car to the dealer where they'll rip you off, or you can do it yourself, which will save you hundreds!! I'm sure how to change them, because I haven't change the dashlights myself.

[Toysrme]

It a common problem on all Toyota/lexus displays of that era.

O.L.T. a supermod and gold member on ClubLexus.com is able to do them. He's a nice trustworthy guy also. He started a small side company for doing Lexus/Toyota gauges, radios and climate control. He's able to do a boatload of awsome colors also! many of them simply look stunning. For roughly the cost of the dealer replacing one needle he can do the entire cluster whatever you want.

http://www.lextech.org/

Join www.clublexus.com and shoot him a PM.

Here is one of the long ass 986 threads he has on his lights.

[wambus]

can someone inform me as to what the problem is that requires repair here. My friend has an LS 400 with the random guages and the flickering needles. I would like to know what is wrong with the car....

[LChineze]

the random flickering is mostly due to one of the two things...1) the speedometer needle became loose from some traumatic force since the needles themselves are sensitive, which is why when people change the gauge faces, they are warned not to disturb the needle or 2) your speedometer calibration is off which i suspect is the real reason.

there are two ways you can correct this problem. 1) you can bring the car to a shop and have them calibrate it which is pretty expensive or 2) find an undamaged instrument cluster and install it. however, if you do swap out the entire cluster, make sure you find one thats the same model as the one you have. the good thing is that if you are going to swap it out yourself, you can change the light bulbs behind the cluster to a different color setup.

the best piece of advice i can give is to bring it to a mechanic so they can tell you exactly what the problem is.