Center Sun Visor

1990LS400 · November 27, 2011

Starting in the last week, the center sun visor will no longer stay in the up/closed position. I can't tell if there was originally a spring that held it up, friction from some missing fitting or something else. I even surmised that the rectangular "bump" in the panel above the visor might have had a magnet above it that held the visor in the up/closed position - but I find no trace of anything magnetic in the panel or metal inside the center sun visor. Whatever held the visor in the up position did it with enough force that the rectangular bump in the panel made an impression in the cloth of the visor.

Would one (or more) of you fine gentlemen (or ladies) look at your center sun visor and see if you can identify what holds in the UP/closed position?

And has anyone removed one of these things - either on purpose or by accident? I'm guessing it is held in place by friction fittings like much of the interior trim. I can't see any screws in the diagram at www.toyodiy.com

Attached is a photo with an arrow pointing to the mystery "bump" and the diagram from www.toyodiy.com

Thanks!

billydpowell · November 27, 2011

Jim I cant answer your question, but I can tell you how an old texan would "fix" it, just get a small piece of velcro, and stick 'em on, you can pull it down and push it back up..... I try not to let this good info get out... shhhhh.

1990LS400 · November 27, 2011

Jim I cant answer your question, but I can tell you how an old texan would "fix" it, just get a small piece of velcro, and stick 'em on, you can pull it down and push it back up..... I try not to let this good info get out... shhhhh.

Thanks, Billy. Gread minds think alike - velcro was the first thing I thought of but I will spend the $68.38 Sewell wants for a new center visor if I can't figure out how to fix mine.

Can you tell what keeps your sun visor in the up position? I would have thought I would remember since I've flipped these little visors up and down hundreds of times over 22 years. I don't remember there being any resistance when I pulled the center visor down but I do seem to remember that they sort of snapped up into the recess in the roof - it's one of those things I just took for granted and didn't pay any attention to.

landar · November 27, 2011

Jim, I just checked the center visor on my LS430. Granted they are different models but the visor is very similar. Anyway, my visor, which BTW, I rarely if ever use, seems to be a friction fit with perhaps a hint of spring at the top. But if it is a spring, it is extremely weak. Not like it snaps with any authority.

As I was looking at the little ball going into the mirror assembly, it occurred to me that maybe you could 'gum' up the works, so to speak. To add the friction needed to keep it in place and make the ball/socket work hard. Like squirt(or work) a very small amount of rubberized silicone compound (or equiv calk) into the ball socket. That would set and add friction maybe but not lock it into place as it does not dry rock hard. Or maybe a well chewed piece of your favorite Wrigley's? :whistles: :lol:

1990LS400 · November 27, 2011

Or maybe a well chewed piece of your favorite Wrigley's? :whistles:

Thanks, Randy. I'll consider trying your other fixes - not the Wrigley's - if I don't find a way to fix it so that it at least seems to work properly. I don't mind spending the $70 for a new one if I can't fix it. Very little has gone wrong with this car but I may be singing a different tune if we keep it to the planned 200,000 miles.

landar · November 28, 2011

If you don't mind the $70, a new unit is probably the way to go. Of course if you plan to do that yourself, you can look at the old unit first once off the car and decide if a 'bandaid' would work(growing up in the midwest, we had other names for it :lol: ). Depending upon what you find, you just need to add friction. I believe the ball/socket just loosened up. Maybe it would even be possible to squeeze the socket with a pair of pliers to increase the fit interference. Maybe even a clamp or rubber band around the inside assembly. On the other hand, $70 is not too bad. Bad. But not toooooo bad. ;)

1990LS400 · December 4, 2011

Here is an almost zero cost way to fix a center visor that won't stay in its up/closed position.

Remove the center visor with a plastic trim removal tool - it's held in place by friction like much of the interior trim. Pry at the rear edge of the visor base to pull it down. Do not pry at the front or on the sides near the front of the visor base since it has tabs at the front that insert into the headliner and act as hinges as it is swings up into place when restalling it.

The visor is held in the UP position by a metal plate which is attached to the hard plastic base with three plastic rivets. The metal plate acts as a spring. When the visor is rotated upward to its closed position, the spring/plate contacts the flat side of the plastic rod to which the visor is attached causing the visor to snap upward. It's a little hard to explain and impossible to photograph but it will be obvious if remove the center visor.

What caused the visor to not stay in its up/closed position was that front plastic rivet holding the metal plate to the hard plastic visor base had failed and was no longer holding the metal plate firmly against the visor base. The flat side of the plastic rod no longer pressed firmly against the metal plate to hold the visor up ... it's a "cam action".

To fix, I first removed the remains of the failed plastic rivet. I then drilled a small hole through the center of the visor base where the failed plastic rivet had been.

Miraculously, I quickly found a screw, washer and nut in my gazillion hardware piece collection without making a trip to the hardware store.

It might look better if I had used a screw with a black head but, as obsessive as I am, I think this might do. The little silver bolt head cannot be seen from the driver or passenger seats without trying.