11 replies to this topic

[raider99]

The steering wheel telescopes in/out perfectly but the motor sounds very odd when i push button to move wheel down. it is stuck in the highest position. I went to garage and he says i need to replace the motor. He said it would be very expensive and he could try to find a used one.
It seems odd to me that the motor needs to be replaced since 'a' motor is working fine for in/out telescope. It just seems odd that the wheel would have a different motor for up/down and in/out.
Does this make sense? Any help would be great!!
PF

[jtbel]

Hello, this is no problem at all! I just had the same thing happen to my car ('97 LS400). There is a thread called Precedure/pictures to fix steering column gear. (They spelled procedure wrong) It took me about 10-15 minutes to fix. I put a little bit of grease on the gear before I put it back in. The key element here is adding the shim to bring the gear out a little to get better contact with the turning screw. Good luck!

[raider99]

amazing. i can't wait to try this. saving myself $500 or so would be huge. i guess the shim refers to simply creatively making something that will work.

[Larry W]

The steering wheel telescopes in/out perfectly but the motor sounds very odd when i push button to move wheel down. it is stuck in the highest position. I went to garage and he says i need to replace the motor. He said it would be very expensive and he could try to find a used one.
It seems odd to me that the motor needs to be replaced since 'a' motor is working fine for in/out telescope. It just seems odd that the wheel would have a different motor for up/down and in/out.
Does this make sense? Any help would be great!!
PF

I just repaired my steering wheel after 8 months in the up position (how annoying). Took my 13 year old son about 25 minutes to repair (with my overseeing). On the 94 LS (like mine) there is a hidden screen that can only be seen by turning the steering wheel to expose it. Cleaned out the pieces of the spacer and installed a "garden hose washer" behind the gear. It should last forever (hopefully) and it only cost 10 cents at the hardware store. The local Lexus dealer wanted $250 to "try" and rebuild the unit...WOW! After talking to a few LS owners this price can be as high as $500.00! Look for the tutoral in the repair section. Great pictures and EZ to do! Any day you don't have to visit the dealer is a good day! Good luck!

[Montae276]

I need to know how to get the directions to fix it from

[billydpowell]

I need to know how to get the directions to fix it from

just do like the man said... search: Precedure/pictures to fix steering column gear.

[jaswood]

The steering wheel telescopes in/out perfectly but the motor sounds very odd when i push button to move wheel down. it is stuck in the highest position. I went to garage and he says i need to replace the motor. He said it would be very expensive and he could try to find a used one.
It seems odd to me that the motor needs to be replaced since 'a' motor is working fine for in/out telescope. It just seems odd that the wheel would have a different motor for up/down and in/out.
Does this make sense? Any help would be great!!
PF

Can't say for sure about your '94 but for the '95 LS400 there was/is a TSB involving rerouting the wiring harness near a connector on the steering column. Too much sideways stress on the connections without the rerouting.

You can access the TSB via a daily subscription to techinfo.toyota.com.

[1990LS400]

Can't say for sure about your '94 but for the '95 LS400 there was/is a TSB involving rerouting the wiring harness near a connector on the steering column. Too much sideways stress on the connections without the rerouting.

Bulletin EL001-96 applies only to the 1995 LS400. From the bulletin:

"Some 1995 LS 400’s may exhibit incomplete execution of the tilt/telescopic travel cycle when the key isinserted or removed from the ignition.To aid consistent operation of this memory function, the following production change has been made:PRODUCTION EFFECTIVE:FROMCHANGE1996 Model YearTilt position sensor wire harness lengthened by 15 mm."

[landar]

There was a good thread on here a while back dealing with the tilt motor and gears. Let me see...yes, here it is(see post #26 in particular) -> http://us.lexusowner...+steering+wheel

[steve2006]

There's even a video tutorial for this

[drivernuts]

_{My problem is that the tilt works flawlessly but the telescope does not move in or out. I can't hear any noise when I push the button for the telescope. Guess I will have to get in therre to see what I can see. If anyone has any insight that might help I would like to hear it.
Thanks much!}

[Larry W]

amazing. i can't wait to try this. saving myself $500 or so would be huge. i guess the shim refers to simply creatively making something that will work.

The tutoral is very easy. I actually had my 13 yeard old son do it following the very detailed instructions. I used a hose washer (yellow) that I purchased for .10 cents at the hardware store. Really all you are doing is removing a washer that will be in pieces and using the new washer to re-align the gears. Very simple and only a few hand tools are required.