98 Rear Seat Armrest Cupholder Is Stuck!

[woodwillie]

Hello,

I'm brand new to the club, and am very excited to be here. (Just inherited a 98 LS400 from my wife, as she moves on up the Lexus chain.)

Well, the armrest comes down fine, but the cupholder sliding thing is stuck in there.

The dealership says I need a new armrest.

I tried sliding a spatula in there to see if I could get anything to release.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Willie

[rvgraham]

Hello,

I'm brand new to the club, and am very excited to be here. (Just inherited a 98 LS400 from my wife, as she moves on up the Lexus chain.)

Well, the armrest comes down fine, but the cupholder sliding thing is stuck in there.

The dealership says I need a new armrest.

I tried sliding a spatula in there to see if I could get anything to release.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Willie

Mine did that for a while. I kept tapping at it until the shock finally got it to open. Then I cleaned syrupy dry soda deposits off it and repeated the process until it worked smoothly again.

If you can't get it to open at all this may not help you. But try repeated hard taps with your finger tips or even a small rubber hammer to see if you can shock it into opening.

Bob

[woodwillie]

Hello,

I'm brand new to the club, and am very excited to be here. (Just inherited a 98 LS400 from my wife, as she moves on up the Lexus chain.)

Well, the armrest comes down fine, but the cupholder sliding thing is stuck in there.

The dealership says I need a new armrest.

I tried sliding a spatula in there to see if I could get anything to release.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Willie

Mine did that for a while. I kept tapping at it until the shock finally got it to open. Then I cleaned syrupy dry soda deposits off it and repeated the process until it worked smoothly again.

If you can't get it to open at all this may not help you. But try repeated hard taps with your finger tips or even a small rubber hammer to see if you can shock it into opening.

Bob

Thanks Bob, I will!

[UCF3]

Is it solid as a rock or does it move a little?

Tapping is the best solution if it moves a little.

[cardona6569]

Try researching the post further because the issue has been dealt before look for older post when you do so in this forum. I remember reading about it, but cannot say for certain what the solutions were besides the tapping. CPR

Hello,

I'm brand new to the club, and am very excited to be here. (Just inherited a 98 LS400 from my wife, as she moves on up the Lexus chain.)

Well, the armrest comes down fine, but the cupholder sliding thing is stuck in there.

The dealership says I need a new armrest.

I tried sliding a spatula in there to see if I could get anything to release.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Willie

[SKperformance]

Steam as well as short bursts of wd 40 or silicone spray

[scottelble]

Hello,

I'm brand new to the club, and am very excited to be here. (Just inherited a 98 LS400 from my wife, as she moves on up the Lexus chain.)

Well, the armrest comes down fine, but the cupholder sliding thing is stuck in there.

The dealership says I need a new armrest.

I tried sliding a spatula in there to see if I could get anything to release.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,

Willie

Mine did that for a while. I kept tapping at it until the shock finally got it to open. Then I cleaned syrupy dry soda deposits off it and repeated the process until it worked smoothly again.

If you can't get it to open at all this may not help you. But try repeated hard taps with your finger tips or even a small rubber hammer to see if you can shock it into opening.

Bob

THere is something about tapping that seems to work. My old GS cupholder by the shifter did the same...More than likely there IS some soda or gunk in there and had time to set. They can be stuborn ,but with alittle pursuation it will come open:)

[LScott400]

Try researching the post further because the issue has been dealt before look for older post when you do so in this forum. I remember reading about it, but cannot say for certain what the solutions were besides the tapping. CPR

Perhaps This is it?