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Sluggo

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  • Lexus Model
    SC400

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  1. If you have no compression in one bank of cylinders (odd cylinders are on one side, evens are on the other) it's indeed possible that the camshaft is improperly synchronized to the crankshaft. The crankshaft and the camshaft have to work in perfect synchronization so that the valves open and close when they are supposed to. The thing that keeps them synchronized is the timing belt. The timing belt is cogged and engages on a gear on the end of the cam and crank shafts. If the belt "slips" one tooth on the gear it's enough to lose all compression. If it slips several teeth you can damage your engine, as the piston and valve try to occupy the same space at the same time. I don't think he's taking you for a ride. If the guy that did the original work did not set the tensioners correctly, the belt could easily have slipped. Count your blessings that it didn't slip more - the damage you can do to an engine with a misadjusted timing belt is truly awesome.
  2. Ask your mechanic what he meant when he said the pump was okay. He may have been testing the pressure and bearings and thought nothing of the leak. I'd hate to think he could miss something like that, but you never know. The leak is often at the connection to the high-pressure hose, and replacing the hose can sometimes fix the problem without having to buy a new pump. Luck, mate.
  3. "Rumbling" sounds like you might have some misfiring plugs or other ignition problems. Check your plugs, rotors, and coil/plug wires.
  4. The bottom roller is passive - it's not driven by a motor. If a CD gets pulled in it gets pulled in by the top roller and the bottom roller just freewheels. If your bottom roller is not turning then you've got a stuck roller or it's so worn that there's no "pinch" (they're called pinch rollers).
  5. I lost my alternator to a leaky PS pump. You don't want to let that go too long - the fluid can short out the alternator. Short-term you can just cover the alternator with something until you get the pump fixed.
  6. About your 12-disk changer ... I posted here some time ago a procedure for cleaning the rollers on the 12-disk changer that solved the problems I was getting. It's not a guarantee that you are having the same problem, but it's worth a try, I suppose. Just search on my name/ My symptoms were a display that would read "ERROR" or "OPEN", and the disk would sometimes be stuck half-in and half-out of the magazine. Luck, Sluggo
  7. Auto parts stores sell the replacement struts for about $25 each. I used Meguiar's #17 plastic polish on the lenses and they look as good as new.
  8. Take a look at the hoses on your power steering pump (or is it the ABS pump?). In any case, one of those two may be dripping onto your alternator. This happened to my 92 SC400 and eventually shorted out the stator in the alternator. This problem is not uncommon in these cars. Cleaning and re-crimping the battery cables may also work if they are corroded near the battery.
  9. Hi - I had my transmission mounts replaced at the dealer and it wasn't too expensive. Symptoms were a consistent vibration and associated noise that showed up when decelerating down from 30-20 mph. Haven't done the engine mounts yet, though they probably need it at 135k miles. sluggo
  10. I was able to get my 12-disc changer working again by thoroughly cleaning the pinch rollers and treating them with Vinylex (like Armor-All, but safer for rubber). I was getting error messages as well, turns out the rollers were too dried up to grip the CD well enough to pull it in and push it back out. sluggo
  11. Aye, very certain that the rears (and the door speakers, for that matter) are 4" units, as I replaced mine a few months back. The rear deck cutouts are large enough to accomodate up to 5.25" drivers easily and maybe 6.25" units - depends on the frame of the 6" and you may have to drill some new screw holes. It'll probably sound like the very best boom box you've ever heard. Good high end and midrange, with as much bass as it's possible to get from a 4" cone. The subwoofer already has it's own amp - it doesn't use the amp module that's under the CD changer. The sub amp is mounted on the rear deck near the sub. If your head unit has a seperate sub out or a full-range line out, you would connect that to the sub amp's input. If it only has powered outputs, take it to an installer shop and they can hook you up. sluggo
  12. I would not try to connect the head unit to the amp directly. The head unit uses bridged outputs and the amp expects inputs with a common ground. An installation shop can wire it up that way, if you want, but it'll likely be noisier and may have reliability issues unless they put in some additional parts. Personally, I would use the head unit to drive the speakers directly. This page shows the amp output pins - your head unit could be wired to the amp harness to simplify matters some. http://www.intellexual.net/faq/lexusstereo.swf You will have very little bass without the sub. The midrange speakers are 4" cones and simply can't make much bass below 100 Hz. BTW, a MOSFET is a Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. It's like a regular transistor but safer for high temperature applications, so head units and amps use them a lot. sluggo
  13. That's a problem I found when I was looking for the source of a different problem: mildew smell on the driver's side (LHD) seatbelt. Somehow, water gets inside the rear body panel on that side and collects in the lowest spot in the car. I'm not sure how it gets in or why it only gets in on the driver's side, but I put a small bead of clear RTV along the plastic rear window trim and it seemed to get a lot better. The water may also be coming in around the sunroof seal, but I won't be sure until rainy season starts again here :) I fixed the mildew smell by blocking the water from dripping onto the belt. Duct tape uber alles. sluggo
  14. There are some problems which seem to pop up pretty often. The most common include: - power steering hose drips onto alternator, shorting it out - transmission mounts - coolant overflow tank cracks - condensation inside the headlamps - AC / heater display going dark - gauge lights flickering / dead - water under rear seat causing some temporary electrical problems with stereo - CD changer woes on early models - steering wheel leather deteriorating This is actually all the problems I could think of. Of these, only the first two or three are something that even requires fixing. The rest are in the cosmetic/annoying category. IMHO, this is a damn short list for a 13 year old design. People moan (maybe rightfully so) over the price of Lexus parts and the labor charges at dealers, but when you look at the number of times you actually have to BUY parts/labor (in my case, once in 6 years), I can't think of a cheaper car to own. sluggo
  15. My '92 400 has 135k miles and needs: - new rear seat headrest leather - new AC panel display - new overflow tank - valve adjustment - new steering wheel leather ... plus all the stuff I'd like to do to dress it up. I'm hanging onto mine because the drivetrain on these cars is pretty much bulletproof and will run forever. It started out as garage queen and has become a daily driver that's also fun to drive. Washed and waxed, it looks no more than 2 years old. What you do with it is entirely based on your needs and wants, but the SC seems to be a very reliable car, and I would say keeping one past 100k miles is as cheap or cheaper than keeping almost any other car past 100k miles. sluggo
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