redbaron

iTrader: (2)

i remember reading about a post somewhere which said someone here knew how to fix a broken cup holder.

as many here know, there are two tabs on the sliding mechanism of the cupholder which break, and that causes the cupholder to spring forward out of its housing and toward the gear shifter.

if anybody knows, please post here.

thanks
bryan

LB Lex

Here's what I could find:

He didn't post the fix, so maybe he should be contacted. Here's the thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight=cupholder

The other threads state that the only way to repair it is to buy a new cupholder. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight=cupholder

redbaron

iTrader: (2)

thanks eric
i pm the guy who stated he knew how to fix the problem. i will let others know how this turns out.

later
bryan

alexamparo

Hey guys.......damn I haven't been on the forum all summer (working 75+ hours a week) Somehow still had the funnest summer of my life (Maybe it's because 35 hours of the 75 I worked a week were at a Night Club....sooo much fun) anyways you guys wanna know how to fix the cupholder...........well, REDBARON PMed me so I took out the armrest and I realized I can't get the cupholder chassis to come out of the armrest (which is what we're trying to acquire here!!)...... The process may seem a little primitive but trust me it works....I've now done this three times, remember this is my second GS and I did it to my uncles neighbor's 94 GS300....unfortunately the two times I did it on my car I didn't yet have a digicam and the time I did it for the neighbor guy I was in New York and just kind of did it the day I met him and he struck a conversation with me cause we had the same car ( he said oh wow your cupholders not broken.....they almost always break you must not use it alot) and then I told him I fixed it and he said how and I told him to go get some JB weld and some paper clips and we';ll take care of it.....POINT IS neither time did I have a cam to take pix for the fellas at CL.....soooooo I did a little illustrated write up on how to do it. Keep in mind I'll be doing this off the top of my head and the last time I did this was like 5 months ago so don't go crazy if I didn't include every detail on the cupholder in my illustration or if that hump you see on the back part of the cupholder in the drawing is really on the other side of the cupholder (it has the vital parts showing though)......Anyways yeah I mentioned you'll need some JB weld adn some heavy duty paper clips.......so first you gotta take apart the armrest (actually first take it out of the car to make things easier -if you can't figure out how to take out the armrest and how to open it then maybe you are not mechanically inclined enough to do this and you might jsut break something) .......................once it is open take out a metal cover thats in there and take out the cupholder chassis.....you should also find the broken things in there....NOW-if you look at the illustration you'll see what it is were trying to do-BASICALLy the object is to bend the paper clips into a shape that will allow the cupholder assembly to slide into the armrest initially but not slide out when you depress it and it reaches it's stop. The original design does this by using some plastic tabs (as seen in figure 1.2) but we'll be doing this using the paper clips......The odd shape of the paper clip is so it wraps around a small pillar which that metal plate I talked about screws into (I dont remember wheter these pillars are onthe bottom side or the top side but that is irrelivant all you need to know is that the paper clips go around them as shown in the picture) the little beak you see on the end of the paper clip in the illustration is actually a hook if you could see it from the side (that is what holds it from sliding out of the armrest...duh!) it should only protrude about as much as the old plastic ones did (about 1/8th of an inch) keep in mind that the more you can have it stick out the stronger it will be but if you stick it out too much it will not go into the armrest initially to begin with so you gotta find that happy medium.....I bent my clips with some needlenose pliers to have a nice tight hook at the end. after this is all done you can wrap them around the pillar and fill in the area around the plastic pillar with JB Weld be very generous but make sure not to get it anywhere you dont want. Let it set over night (if you've never used JB weld before you'll be freakin amazed at how strong the stuff is....I once heard it has a tension point higher than metal and I used it this summer to fix a small hairline crack in a boat engine...POINT IS....it should have no problem holding a cupholder in place!!!!) the next day stick the cupholder back into the armrest and it should work........the JBweld stuff is pretty strong so if you mess up the first time I don't think you can do it again so be extra careful the first time. The only things I think you can mess up on are 1. to make paper clips uneven in length which will cause one to hit the stop first and probably make it wobbly (I dont know it hasnt happened to me but i'm sure if you atleast get one to hold it should be enough) or 2. in the worst scenario that you made the clip too small or big ( in which case I think you could just bend it up or down accordingly SO I don't think there is really any way to ruin it indefinetly....unless you get jb weld in the tracks and it is fused to the armrest )...............I hope this helps and is easy enough to follow...........I was just trying to give you the idea on how to do it and the basic process its gonna require a bit of your own enginuity to get the clip to the right shape..........hopefully one or both of your tabs (the broken plastic ones) should be in the armrest so you can use them as a guide for length and how much to make the clips protrude.........GOOD LUCK! and PM me with any questions or actually jsut post it that way if someone has the same question it will be answered.

Mischievious GS

ur diagram rox . big props for taking the time to draw that out for everyone.

jdmdaddy

HA! I felt like I was back in school there for a second. Great diagram, I'll be doing this today

redbaron

iTrader: (2)

i appreciate you post. im sure that this will help countless folks who will undoubtedly suffer similar cupholder deaths on their first gen gs300's.

i was going to do something similar, but after reading your post, i think i will just follow your instructions instead.

thanks again
bryan

alexamparo

anyone try it yet???? let me know soon as someone does it

redbaron

iTrader: (2)

alexamparo

thanks for the instructions and diagram. i did manage to fix the cupholder just as you had diagramed it out so wonderfully. but in the process of attaching the paper clip to the center console with superglue, i managed to drip it all over the coffee table(new one - of course) and proceeded to cause some highly noticeable ugly discolorations there.

but cant blame that on anybody but moi.

thanks for the assistance, im sure countless others here will benefit.

and a fyi, if you do this repair on your coffee table as i did, make sure it is sufficiently covered beforehand.

loving the new cupholder!!!!!

bryan

alexamparo

I forgot to add that part to my instructions........yeah....cover the table JB weld is irreversible...........Glad you were able to do it and it worked out. Its funny how important a small feature like a cupholder really is. Can you imagine a long trip w/o one or when you order at a drivethru.....its great to have them and you dont really realize how convenient they are til you dont have one-like was the case with youand is the case with many first gen gs300 owners

Lexus Dawg

Just had to do this myself for my 95GS, just wanted to thank you guys for providing the step by step how-to!

Xeeeeeem

HEy, i aswell have a cupholder problem!!
Those plastic tong things managed to stay on there. I superglue them and when it dried, i put it into the slot and the snapped exactly where they were broken before.

My question is, is there a certain way to put the cup holder in without having to bend those pieces so they don't snap or do you just have to slide it and get lucky?

turbogs300

First of all don't use superglue!!! Use jbweld.

Lexus Dawg

I'm not certain exactly which pieces that you're referring to but if you mean the black semi-circular "hooks" that actually hold the beverage cans, I don't think the repair detailed in this thread refers to those pieces. But I would agree with TurboGs300 that you definitely do not want to use superglue, that stuff is worthless. You definitely want to use JB Weld or some equivalent plastic epoxy. I would be sure to rough up the opposing surfaces and be kind of liberal in applying the epoxy. Most importantly, be sure to let it dry overnight. If I recall, when take the holder apart, those black claws just lift out, be careful witht the little spring things but you can epoxy them off of the main holder so that you don't get epoxy where it shouldn't go!!!!

Lexaroni

I'm so frustrated with my cup holder breaking I'm just looking to put something else in there. Anyone have any ideas on how I can change it up without getting too expensive?