How To Remove Car Phone?

[robbie63]

I just got a 1999 LS400 and want to remove the car phone, what do I need to do to safely remove it?

[1990LS400]

I just got a 1999 LS400 and want to remove the car phone, what do I need to do to safely remove it?

First of all, do not cut any wires!

You didn't say which of the two phones your car has -- don't know if deinstallation is the same for both the portable and fixed phone systems.

To remove the handset cradle, pry out the plastic insert out of the upper console tray. Unscrew/unbolt the handset cradle components from the insert. The insert will snap back into place. One person covered up the holes that are left in the insert by cutting up and gluing a black mouse pad to the insert.

Remove the vents you see when the arm rest is up and unplug the handset cable and, if used, the antenna cable. I think the antenna cable is used only for the portable phone but I'm not certain. The other end of the antenna cable is in the trunk and is probably connected to phone ECU. The other coax cable in the trunk leads to the phone antenna imprinted on the back window.

Remove the right side of the trunk floor and unplug the connectors from the phone ECU. Plug the two large connectors together after you unplug them from the phone ECU. If you want to tuck the phone connectors out of the way, there should be a plastic bracket on the bottom of the housing the tool kit slides into -- you have to remove the right side trunk trim to get to it. It's not going to hurt to leave the phone ECU in place but you might as well remove it and get rid of the weight -- chuck it into the trash ... it's an analog system and useless.

Leaving the steering wheel phone command module in place won't hurt anything but it is easily removed by removing the screw or screws and unplugging the one little connector. I don't know if a plastic blank is still available as a separate part to cover the hole in the steering wheel hub that will be left.

By the way, if you want to install a modern (e.g. Bluetooth) phone kit, there is an audio system mute pin (center front pin) in the six pin connector you will see on the driver side under the arm rest air vent. There is also a mute pin on one of the large connectors in the trunk. The phone antenna imprinted on the rear window works well for a GSM phone (ATT/T-Mobile) but I don't know if it would work for CDMA (Spring/Verizon).

Let us know how it goes.

[robbie63]

I just got a 1999 LS400 and want to remove the car phone, what do I need to do to safely remove it?

First of all, do not cut any wires!

You didn't say which of the two phones your car has -- don't know if deinstallation is the same for both the portable and fixed phone systems.

To remove the handset cradle, pry out the plastic insert out of the upper console tray. Unscrew/unbolt the handset cradle components from the insert. The insert will snap back into place. One person covered up the holes that are left in the insert by cutting up and gluing a black mouse pad to the insert.

Remove the vents you see when the arm rest is up and unplug the handset cable and, if used, the antenna cable. I think the antenna cable is used only for the portable phone but I'm not certain. The other end of the antenna cable is in the trunk and is probably connected to phone ECU. The other coax cable in the trunk leads to the phone antenna imprinted on the back window.

Remove the right side of the trunk floor and unplug the connectors from the phone ECU. Plug the two large connectors together after you unplug them from the phone ECU. If you want to tuck the phone connectors out of the way, there should be a plastic bracket on the bottom of the housing the tool kit slides into -- you have to remove the right side trunk trim to get to it. It's not going to hurt to leave the phone ECU in place but you might as well remove it and get rid of the weight -- chuck it into the trash ... it's an analog system and useless.

Leaving the steering wheel phone command module in place won't hurt anything but it is easily removed by removing the screw or screws and unplugging the one little connector. I don't know if a plastic blank is still available as a separate part to cover the hole in the steering wheel hub that will be left.

By the way, if you want to install a modern (e.g. Bluetooth) phone kit, there is an audio system mute pin (center front pin) in the six pin connector you will see on the driver side under the arm rest air vent. There is also a mute pin on one of the large connectors in the trunk. The phone antenna imprinted on the rear window works well for a GSM phone (ATT/T-Mobile) but I don't know if it would work for CDMA (Spring/Verizon).

Let us know how it goes.