Shift Gear 94 LS400

[vinnie.varma]

I spilled coffee on my 94 LS400 shift gear console last week. Cleaned it and sprayed some WD 40. It shifted fine for couple of days. It does not shift smoothly any more from Park to R, N, D etc.need help in fixing this problem. My wife refuses to drive the car. Thanks in advance for any suggestion.

Vinnie

[1990LS400]

WD40 is one of the worst substances you could have used.  It's a solvent and not a lubricant and can really gum up the works when it dries.  WD40 stains badly too.  I doubt that it is acceptable to squirt any substance into the shift lever assembly.  I suggest that you pull the wood trim panel off the center console and try to determine what's going on.

I should remember how to remove the large console wood panel from a gen 1 LS400 since I did it many times on the 1990 LS400 I drove from new to 2003.  I can't remember if it's necessary to remove the drink holder assembly or the ashtray before jerking out the wood panel.  I don't think it is - not certain.  Grab the wood panel ahead of the gear shift lever with your finger tips and pull upward.  There are two clips at the front on the underside of the panel that will pop out of slots in the console structure.  Then slide the wood panel forward and upward so that the clips on the underside of the panel at the back slide out of their slots.  I actually have a gen 1 LS400 console wood panel in my garage that was damaged when my 90 LS400 was rear ended hard enough to crack the clear coat on the panel.

I don't know if removing the wood panel will allow you to see anything.  The only shifter I've disassembled was on a Toyota Camry and that was not at all fun.