The Lexus LX470 and 1998-2007 Toyota Land Cruiser have a somewhat unique windshield trim that can cause serious issues if not installed correctly after a windshield replacement. The trim requires rivets be drilled out for proper removal. Some installers, due to the challenges of reinstalling the rivets so close to the windshield, opt for self-tapping screws to secure the trim at the end of the job.
While there is little leak risk properly using screws to secure the trim there is a massive leak risk if the remaining rivet holes aren’t sealed. Here’s a photo of the trim with the rivet spots (hidden by the trim cover) roughly circled:
LX470 Windshield Rivet leaks
If these aren’t sealed sprayed water (like that from a high pressure car wash) is pushed behind the trim piece, runs into the car, down the dash and pools in components. Nonsensical fault codes are usually the first symptoms with wire harness, computer and junction connector carnage as the cause.
Our most recent LX470 with this issue wouldn’t start and the VSC was having fits. After checking for water leaks with the A-pillar trim removed the tech noted water running inside the vehicle on the passenger side. This was directly above the passenger’s junction block.
Here’s the passenger side junction block of that LX470 split open, corrosion circled:
LX470 corroded junction block
And the other side of the same junction block:
LX470 Corroded Junction Block
The corrosion was shorting multiplex communication, voltage reference and signal circuits all over the place. The fuses were corroded as well several relays attached to the back of the junction block. It was a messy mess.
The vehicle had irreparable corrosion on the dash harness, in-dash harness, engine surround harness, both driver’s and passenger’s junction blocks, the tilt/telescope computer, and the right side floor harness. Here’s the engine surround harness to illustrate the scope of the repair:
LX470 Engine Surround Harness
The above requires partial removal of the height control system, moving the VSC/brake actuator forward, A/C removal, etc. This is on top of the entire dash and crash bar (with A/C system) being removed. It is a massively invasive repair.
This problem is one of the few issues that will bring a LX470/Land Cruiser to its knees. To help prevent this CARspec has only one windshield installer we use on these trucks – call us if you are in Minnesota for a referral.
