geekhou05

Hello fellow CLer's

I'm having two issues with my wheel.

1. The tilt function no longer works. I can telescope the wheel in or out without any problems. However I cannot tilt it, nor does it auto tilt during the key insert/removal phase. The wheel is in a good level position.
2. I had to get another key from the stealership (last one got crushed)! Now my wheel does not telescope (tilt does not work as in question 1) when inserting the key. After the car starts, I manually telescope it out and it goes back in when the key is removed.

Does anyone have any insights??

THX - GeekHouston

KILLERGS4

"stealership" funny... i would tell the dealership whats going on w/ the new key.

DanozLS430

iTrader: (1)

There is a small motor in there that's needs to be replaced. I just changed mines out last week as my steering could not be self programed to go down all the way unless I keep clicking the down button after a few stops of the motor. The mechanic said it was probably caused by freezing weather which normally screws up this motor and causes it to lock or tighten on the up and down movement. My car came from a cold weather place to Hawaii and I lived with this minor problem until last week. The mechanic said the cars memory will cause the motor to shut off if the steering can't be lowered any more after it reaches a stuck point to prevent burn out.

My mobile Lexus mechanic changed out the motor within 30-45 minutes and now the steering up, down, in, out and user programming works flawlessly. He even did this all at my dads house in his garage and also gave me a great price to replace it.

geekhou05

Thanks.

I'll be in contact with my local Toyota dealer and will post results.

DanozLS430

iTrader: (1)

Try asking for an estimate on the cost of parts and repair before with commit with the dealer. They charge an arm and a leg for parts and labor. You may want to shop around for a good mobile lexus mechanic or shop who can fix the problem for less. I was charged only $110 with new motor installed and house call, but gave the guy $125 since he gave me such a great deal on the parts and labor.

DanozLS430....

rjanezic57

DanozLS430, thanks...which year is yours?

GeekHou05, which year is yours? I have a 2002 LS 430 Ultra (love this car). Just had tilt issues. Partially fixed, as the E clip was jammed, but not completely repaired...need to investigate further. If your LS is earlier model year, look in the SC forum as someone has done a nice job of showing how to repair. Let me know if you need more info.

Thanks

Rick
First time poster, 4th Lexus now, love these cars (95 ES, 95 LS, 00 LS, now 02 LS Ultra)

duncan73

Use the 'search' engine on the bar and put in "steering column noise" This will provide a whole host of information about your steering wheel problems. There is also a link to TSIB ST001-04 which covers the problem from '98 thru '04 which gives diagrams and repair times.
I can't remember which line item had the link, so browse thru them.
I had mine serviced at Bay Ridge Lexus in Brooklyn. It only required lubrication but, required dropping a panel and lowering the steering column shaft. It was helpful to have the TSIB handy to understand what was required to repair the problem. Ran about a hundred bucks and took 45 minutes in labor.
Good Luck!