Undercover, Safety Pad Removal

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06-28-15, 01:03 PM

cmcombs

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Undercover, Safety Pad Removal

Greetings. New to this forum. We have owned our 97 LS400 since new and about 4 years ago placed it in storage due to significant oil leakage, making my concrete spotty and ugly. Years ago I performed the washer repair for the tilt steering and it worked great. I recently took the carout of storage, and paid to have the crank shaft seals, cam shaft seals, oil pan and valve cover gaskets replaced. My goal is to make this my daily driver. After I got the car back from the repair shop, the tilt/tele functions and the side mirror controls weren’t functioning. For about a week, I drove around with the steering wheel at the full up position. I was beginning to think I was driving a bus. I pulled the blue gear out and handcranked the steering wheel down (counter clockwise) to a comfortable driving position with intentions of getting to it later.

Here’s my problem, with the steering wheel in the down position, it’s nearly impossible to get the column cover reinstalled. It looks like if I can remove the two lower panels, I should be able to reinstall the cover. My question is: has anyone pulled these panels? They’re called the Undercover (lower) and the Safety Pad, above it. It has the trunk and gas door release. I removed two screws from the undercover but seems to be anchored with clips. I don’t want to force it and break something.

Any advice in removing these two panels will be much appreciated.

Charlie