Hey everybody!

Just bought a 2001 LS430 and it's pretty sweet thus far. It's done a fair few km (218,000km / 135,000miles) and been used as a family car so there's a wee bit of wear and tear - nothing too major. Only thing I'd really like to tackle is this:



Warped dash, and an angry sea.

The top pf the dash is coming away a bit, where it meets to top of the centre stack (or satnav module on them fancy-schmancy models). Not sure if it's warped from heat (don't know about this since the car is in New Zealand and it doesn't get especially hot) or maybe a trim clip or something has come loose.

Anyone come across this before? Is it tricky to fix? Just to make things interesting, assume untrained circus monkey levels of mechanical expertise on my part.

Any help appreciated, cheers

 

I'd take apart the clock/vents area and see if this could be fixed yourself. There's several threads detailing how to take out the dash stuff but basically you start at the bottom panel near the shifter and work your way up, use your finger tips to pull out the bottom panel then each panel above is retained by a few screws. You may then be able to re-secure the dash pad.

 

Haven't seen that issue before. The center stack and trim pieces are relatively easy to remove on the LS430. Should not be to hard to get a look underneath and see what might be causing the problem above the center stack.

 

Seen this before in some areas, where the dash faces extreme hot and extreme cold temperatures. I've never seen a fix for it though.

I also don't think taking it apart will do you any good. It seems that this rubbery dashboard material just took a new shape and it is very hard re-shape.

Try it out and let us know. GL.

 

I almost wonder if someone accidentally did that with a tool when they were removing the center section to do some work back there?

The only DIY action I could think of is maybe getting a heat gun and seeing if you could shape it back down, but it's obviously risky that you could make it worse.

I'd probably find a good upholstery shop and see what they could do about it first.

 

I agree ... the dash is heat-molded at the factory. You could take it all apart, but if you do, you need a procedure to try and form it back to the correct shape. The only way it might be able to be re-shaped is to get it pliable with deep heat (not just on the surface) but without ruining the vinyl surface. Vinyl padded dashes are not easy for the DIYer. I'd get some expert opinions from trim shops before taking it all apart. If you were in a warmer climate, you could park it with the sun on the dash heating it up, but only you would know how many days of hot sun you get in New Zealand.

 

Mine is doing the same thing, just not as bad... Might be because my steering wheel in on the correct side....

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll have a poke around in there first, if it is just warped might see if it's worth getting an upholsterer to look at it.

Guessing it would be a big job to replace the whole top pad? There's one wrecking up north with the same trim as mine

 

Yes, such is the curse of us right-hookers. Of course, it DOES mean we can import pretty much any post 2005 japanese car we want, so....

 

Technically, OP is on the right side