LS400 Steering column adjustment

[lsnut]

I've been looking out for a replacement upper column for our 2000 LS400 for a while as I thought that ours had suffered the failure of the adjustment motors.   Today I was moving the car so I could blow all the leaves away and,  for some reason decided to try the switch and give the wheel a little manual help at the same time. 

Well,  it moved through the whole of the range of adjustment.   In and out has been lacking for a couple of years now.   Up and down is a little notchy but works,.   I'm now wondering if the column just needs some lubrication.   Has anyone else had this issue and,  if so,  where would you do the lubricating?

I would be grateful for any assistance with this please.   Thanks. 

[bigjap]

there has been some old posts regarding this,you should be able to access these,,there are a couple of toothed wheels you can lubricate,pretty sure there were pictures of them on old posts,try a search

 

[lex - eleven]

I have a 2000 ls430 and I too have had a problem with the adjustable steering over the last few days. The in/out worked ok but had no movement with the up/down which was annoying as the steering wheel was quite low hindering me seeing the dash and too close to my legs. I read up on how to fix the ls400 but the ls430 is different . I have been trawling the web and have just come back indoors having followed a "how to" link on Google. I now have the wheel at a nice comfortable position that suits me and am armed with the knowledge how to sort both cars. sweet!

[steve2006]

My 1999 LS is doing the same with no tilt or telescope, ECU power supplies all check out so looks like another stripdown.

[MLW]

Mine is ok up and down, but nothing in/out. What are you chaps doing that fixes this problem?

[The-Acre]

10 hours ago, MLW said:

Mine is ok up and down, but nothing in/out. What are you chaps doing that fixes this problem?

On the LS430 the only two options are to manually put it in a comfortable position or replace the motor.  I'd like to have an old motor just to see if there is any way of taking it apart and doing a repair.  After all, it was put together in the first place so it must come apart.

[ambermarine]

Phil

The idea in principle is tempting but in reality difficult ,most of the motors that are used in the Lexus are sealed for life units and are non repairable,  the drives  are bonded to shafts which are part of the core windings .The  motors are induction powered (brushless) and mounted in non-replacable bushings.

Ultimately there are no spare parts marketed and interchanging parts from other motors would be possible but difficult as the cases and bushings are press assembled.

 

 

[MLW]

That is very interesting, but, can one crank it around safety to put it into a 'comfortable' position?

If so, how? Is there an knee airbag risk?

[The-Acre]

11 hours ago, MLW said:

That is very interesting, but, can one crank it around safety to put it into a 'comfortable' position?

If so, how? Is there an knee airbag risk?

There is a post that appeared recently showing how to do this but you would have to search for it.  I don't think you need to worry about the knee air bag. Is yours a facelift model?  The pre facelift doesn't have the knee airbag but either way it won't be a problem.

A little edit. After just driving mine to work I would ignore what i said about the airbag. I'm not sure where it's located as mine doesn't have one, although I can't imagine it's in the steering column housing, but obviously you need to be sure.

[lex - eleven]

What do you know...just replaced my Battery with a new boshe one and it's not only cured my "up and down" steering adjustment problem but the radio comes on straight away with no more of that problem where it only works intermittently. wonderful!

[39buss]

This shows a 2001 LS430.  The LS400's use a different motor and set up.  I posted these a while ago to show how to manually adjust the in and out movement. Remove the trim under the steering column area and adjust to suit using a 10mm open end spanner on the square at the bottom of the threaded part.    That's a spanner!!!....no diagnosic equipment needed.  hooray. I think I may still have the motor which I opened up to satisfy my curiosity which just baffled me on how it works. Hope this helps.

 

 

[MLW]

Great pictures. How easy is it to get the steering column shroud off. I could not see any screws/fixings etc? 

[The-Acre]

1 hour ago, MLW said:

Great pictures. How easy is it to get the steering column shroud off. I could not see any screws/fixings etc? 

The screws are hidden by the steering wheel, if you turn it you'll find them, one each side.

[39buss]

I don't have the 430 now so cant have a look for you but I think The-Acre is right.  There are 2 screws are in the back of the steering wheel (is there one under neath sunken in the shroud?) and you need to turn the wheel to access them and the shroud unclips with a bit of persuasion