Ls400 1997 Dashboard

[TWINE]

Hi all, I am a newbie here and on Friday got myself a late 1997 LS400.

I purchased it knowing it had some faults and am happy and competent to carry out the work myself. The previous owner had disabled controls fitted and to do this the manufacturer of this kit had disconnected all of the steering column adjustment, that's all been stripped apart now and I quickly worked out with my multimeter what they did with the wiring and it's now fully operational :-) so 1st job off the list, aerial mast sourced from eBay and fitted 2nd job done ......... Now to third on the list ....... The common sticking Tachometer fault, mine doesn't move at all even when you "tap" the top of the dash but it comes to life on FULL throttle only. So I have checked all of the guides I can find online about removing the cluster but the bezel in front of the clocks on my car doesn't have the screws going up into the dash at the top? Has anyone got any tips for removing this before I end up potentially destroying this part if I get it wrong.

[Rupert Dubreaux]

Hi Ben and welcome to the LS forum . In case you have not already figured out how to remove the cluster ,first you need to get the steering column fully extended and in the lowest position this helps as the cluster is quite a tight fit .Then disconnect the Battery not only to avoid accidental short circuits but also to prevent the dreaded airbag warning permanently lit up .I am not 100% certain this happens on the Mk3 but having had it on my Mk2 and the pain in the rear it causes getting it reset I wouldn't take any chances .

There are no visible screws as you have discovered , the lower bezel that has the dimmer and trip/reset buttons is removed by firmly pulling it straight towards you ,it is held by two of those springy clips that Toyota are so fond of ,the clips are roughly under the reset/trip and security lettering if you need to use a bit of gentle leverage . There is a plug at each end to remove then once the bezel is off you will see the two screws that hold the cluster . Once they are out you can ease it forward off of the little lugs that hold the top in . Then the fun part begins ,removing the plugs from the back of the cluster ,yours may come out easy mine were a pain ,fat arthritic fingers dont help though ,the main problem is there is not much room to work at easing them off . But with a bit of luck and perseverance you should be fine .

Good luck with your repairs ,the more I play around with mine the more I love these cars.

[Bluesman]

Hi Ben and welcome to the most prestiious car club in the world. Cant help with your problem but as you have already experienced we are a friendly bunch and some of us who have an encyclopedic knowledge of these great cars. Mike

[TWINE]

Hi Mike, yes have found this forum very helpful so far and am enjoying doing all of the little jobs. Bonnet struts turned up today from SGS so I have just fitted them and got the aircon re-gassed at lunchtime so that's 4 and 5 ticked off the list.

Thanks Rupert will give that a go, just didn't want to force anything if there was a fixing that I had overlooked.

Picked up some ATF today to do a power steering flush at the weekend as the steering gets heavy on tick over once warmed up and the stuff in there looks pretty grubby so will give that a go and clean out the mesh filters at the same time.

I need to find a workshop manual for this, will keep my eyes peeled but if anyone spots one please give me a shout.

[Graham Gardner]

Having recently bought a 1997 mk4 myself, it seems that they all have the same little problems, all I've fixed, so far, are the bonnets struts, although there's a set of pads and discs waiting to be fixed laying in the garage.

The air con needs re gassing and a couple of other silly things, other than that, they are great cars

[TWINE]

Hi Graham, rear discs and pads are on the list of jobs to do they were supplied with the car as new parts to fit so will get them on at the weekend when I take it into my workshop to do the steering fluid flush. The only reason I got it re-gassed today is I was out collecting some bits for work and passed a place that was £29.95 so as there was a KFC next door I popped in for lunch and left it with the garage whilst I was experiencing the high level of quality customer service that only a global company paying minimum wage can offer.

[steve2006]

If you can't get the needle to work I have one known good one from a 1997 I scrapped, PM your address and pay the postage and it's yours :)

Nearly forgot, Welcome to the LOC.

[The-Acre]

Hi Ben, welcome to the LOC!

[TWINE]

Hi Steve, thanks for that I will try the fix tomorrow and if I don't get any joy I will give you a shout :-)