So the car we got for my son (he did pay half) had a busticated audio system. He said it wasn't a big deal at first but when given the choice between window tint or car audio fix as a Christmas present, he chose the fix.The car has the upgraded Nakamichi system which has an amplifier (4 x 40 plus 1 x 100 @4ohm) and a CD changer. There appear to be tweeters in the sail panels, midrange in the doors, coax in the rear doors and a subwoofer. The problem was that when the system was turned on, there was popping and hissing that was not affected by volume or source. I checked fuses and connections and they were all OK. I had to resort to sending the HU and amp off to a far away repair place. I chose this place because he published a lot of tutorials on the particular system that were a great help in removing the components. He confirmed the HU was fine but the amp power section was defective. He did not want to repair the amp because he did not have a schematic of that circuit. I only paid for shipping on that one.
I located another repair shop that was much closer, within driving distance. This guy, John at Factory Radio Service & Repair (www.factoryradioservice.com), was great. I took the HU and amp in on a Saturday. He had it diagnosed, fixed and added an aux input (at my request) by the following Tuesday. I picked it up the following Friday and put her back together. Viola, I was greeted with loud, tunes with no noise. AM, the CD changer and the aux input all work perfectly. I did some tweaking of the available controls, bumping the midrange and bass while limiting the treble. The cassette input has not been checked. I still need to figure out the FM issues and the retractable antenna for a complete fix, but those can wait.
Here are pics of the stuff.
The nicely integrated HU and whats behind it. Kudos to Lexus for making the removal such an easy process.
Cover for the CD changer and amp that was a bitch to remove. The trim panels were stiff and interlocking, something that wasn't obvious at first. Replacement was little easier, thanks to being able to climb into the large trunk.
The changer and amp rack. Its a nice piece, it even has padding between attach points and the body.
The source of all the fuss. Its very compact. You can see from the guts what went wrong. It looks like mini marshmallows had melted. I did not open up the repair unit since he applied a warranty sticker I did not want to break.
All buttoned up.