'98 model.. When you hold steering wheel there is up & down play in the column .... What's involved in fixing this ?

 

I had this for the longest time on my car and couldn't for the life of me figure out what the problem was. I could grab my wheel at 12 and 6 and move it vertically maybe 2-3mm with a nice bit of play in the whole column. I would hear a dull thunk when doing this agressively which also was transmitted when driving. You could put your finger under the steering column on the U-Joint and feel the whole thing moving.

When I replaced my lower ball joints, this completely fixed this problem for me.

It also fixed the clunking, vagueness of the front end, excessive bodyroll and desire to tramline and follow the ruts in the road. Probably the biggest repair I did to my car which affected the drivability and tightness of the front end.

They visually were fine. Not cracked or leaking, they easily would have passed inspection. But trust me - they were completely FUBAR. Thankfully it's a pretty easy job (no major disassembly to get to them required) and the parts aren't a complete disaster. Word on the street is they are a 10 year, 100k mile part. It's common to need to replace them. Go Lexus OEM here - not one place I'd want to skimp out on.

 

Early 1998 LS400 used 1995-1997 style steering column, while late 1998 - 2000 LS400 used redesigned version.
Remove cowl covers to survey and see where tolerances/mechanical movement...
Dealer parts department can advise type by running your VIN
Lexus North American parts diagrams for each:


Late 1998 - 2000 LS400

1995 - 1997 and early 1998 LS400 steering column

 

Thank you for your reply... however i just can't imagine lower ball joints could be my problem as the play in the steering wheel occurs without turning it. just hold it and it moves up & down several mm... Its been like that for ages.. never got any worse... i feel there must be a bush or bearing right at the end of the steering column just before the shaft comes out... Looking in the workshop manual, there's the 'column upper tube sub-assy (45205J) (on the diagram Yodaone supplied)... this is right at the end of the shaft right before the steering wheel mounts.... I've found them for $60 ... My guess is it's that part as it's the last thing before the steering wheel goes on and that's where the play is... Anyway, at some stage I'll pull the covers off and see how difficult it is to change it or if that's what the problem is... it's not really an issue yet it just annoys me that it's 'sloppy'...
** Actually the last thing at the end of the shaft is 45201B (snap ring).. I have no idea what a snap ring is... maybe that's it... I'll check it out.
*** Interesting your comments on the lower ball joints... i'll keep that in mind (you never know that might just be it !)

 

I had the exact problem you're describing. Vertical play while parked in the steering column. Nothing side-to-side, vertical only. The whole column moves, like it's too long or something.

I also thought it was the column itself. I had a specialty shop look at column and they also came back with nothing but question marks and a "maybe" and "best guess" of a U-joint or some sort of bearing in the linkage. I wrote it off as something too difficult to fix.

6 months later I replaced my lower ball joints and was completely shocked. It was a total accident that it happened to also solve the steering column problem.

I have no idea how\what\why, and I am a sample size of one because there is zero information about this on the forum, but that was my experience.

The ball joints were the only thing that was replaced. Nothing else on the car was touched so I am 100% confident that change is what removed the play in the column.

Just my 2 cents, yours could be different. But from where I'm sitting it sounds like exactly what was going on with mine.

My car has a production date of May 98'

 

It was August 1998 when the design was changed. So your's is an early one.

 

Well.. lower ball joints are probably the easiest things to replace .. the car is 355,000km so wouldn't hurt... so just for the hell of it i'll change them... i'll let you know how it goes...

 

I figure I should post this here too: I documented a thread with some more information about it including an audio recording.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...g-problem.html

If you do choose to replace them - best of luck and I hope this was the problem. Do you know the last time the lower ball joints were replaced? 355k km is quite a long distance and if they're original they without question should be replaced. The car should feel a lot better

 

I replaced 1 about 5 years ago