iLexusSC400

Thanks man I appreciate the reply. What do you mean by a ground strap?

Alright y'all my beloved '92 Lexus SC400 is having a bit of a problem and I need some help! Its left me stranded once every week for the past two weeks (almost a full week in-between each time). It started at Pizza Hut, I took my mom there on a Wednesday night to dine in, the Lexus has been running just fine, well after about an hour we get done eating, payed, and walked to the Lexus, and went to crank it, it was spinning and turning over and everything BUT wouldn't crank up. I called my brother to come and get us, it took him almost an hour and in the mean time I tried once or twice every 10 minutes and just kept spinning and turning over but no fire. Finally after almost an hour my brother got to Pizza Hut, as he was getting out of his truck I went to try to start the Lexus so he could hear what it was doing, and..... it cranked right over like nothing was wrong with it. Well I had a quarter of a tank of gas so I took it down the street and filled the gas all the way (premium of course), and got it home just fine! Well almost a week later, the next Tuesday to be exact, I went to McDonald's for breakfast, I was in there for about 20-30 minutes (keep in mind the week before I was in Pizza Hut for an hour and waited on my brother for another hour before the car cranked like nothing was wrong with it), went to the Lexus.... and it was just spinning and turning over and over with plenty of juice, but no fire, wouldn't crank. Got my mom to pick me up, I went home and called one of my mechanics and told him what it was doing. About 2 hours later I was about to call a tow truck, but then thought about it and instead I had my mom take me back to McDonald's (keep in mine I said two hours later) and the sucker cranked right up like nothing was ever wrong. Took it to my mechanic and he had it for a week and a half trying to get it to do it to him, he started it in many different time intervals and he couldn't replicate the problem. I picked it up three days ago, this past Tuesday, and finally took it out for a good spin earlier tonight (Friday) after giving it a good wash as the past three days i've just been periodically cranking it and letting it run and shutting it off and going back out just to try to replicate the problem like my mechanic, and after riding it for a little while earlier, it just starts right up and purrs like a kitten. Can anyone help me with this problem has any SC400 owners experienced this? Thanks everyone, any advice is greatly appreciated!

Any help here guys? I read in another old topic on this forum (ill pull it up later and link to it) about a similar problem and it said that it is in fact power steering fluid that is burning out of the tail pipes as the "idle air control valve" is bad, can anyone confirm this to my problem above?

Man this is an old topic but it almost matches my problem. I see NO leaks what so ever but i have this same burning smell but its also smoking (white, smells like gas) out of my exhaust pipes as well; it only does that though when i got fluid, and then later the power steering resevior is bone dry and i got no smoke but also my power steering stops working. This is a swaped pump just 2 days ago, my old one wasnt working at all and it was one of those that leaked on top of the altey as i replaced that when i first got the car. So if im not leaking then where is my fluid going?.... is that what im burning out of my pipes cause it only does that when i have fluid. Someone give me some pointers here please! Thank you!!!

Any ideas guys!!!

Alright guys i need some help here last night i was driving through a neiborhood and my car went into too low of an idle and just shut off, i cranked it back up and it just died again, finally i put some peddle to it and it reved and from there i got it home and it hasnt done it again, now what i have noticed is that the car, since ive had it, has always gone too low of an idle and i knew it wasnt normal, but now its actually done something. Can anyone help me determine what the the problem may be. Idle positioning sensor, or maybe even a problem in my fuel delivery system? It couldnt be a timing issue right? The car is suppose to be non-interference so if it shut off due to the timing belt i wouldn't of been able to get it to crank back up, right? Any help would be much appreciated guys, thank you!!!

Mine has problems starting in the morning when the car is cold, someone told me it could be the cold start valve/ignitor and im wonder what is the "IACV?" Could that be my problem? I dont even know what the abrieviations stand for. Also im havin problems with my windows going up after i roll em down, could that be the motor or a relay or something? Just a lil while ago i went outside to crank it so i could attempt to roll the windows up and it took awhile to start (on cold as i mentioned above), but this time it "jumped," then it started, that wouldnt be the timing jumping or blowin the head gasket would it? Im also looking for a hose diagram as i have two hoses (the skinny ones that are on top of the motor by this intake) that arent connected and its been like that since i got the car (2 months ago) and im wondering if its for the fuel mixing or vacuum and if that could be the problem for my cold starts and maybe the "jumping," which really has me concerned right now so if anyone could help me id apprciate it, thanx all!

The 92 - 94 Is a NON-Interference engine..I think only the 95 - 97 are Interference engines..if he was told the 92 is..then he is flat down right lying...!!!! I thought it was '98 and up that were interfering as thats when VVT-i was made onto the 4.0L V8's? We really do need to get this clarified as i had a similar topic for my '92 SC400 as the mechanic at my local lexus dealership said that the '92 is "Definitly an interference motor," but everyone on here says that it wasnt till VVT-i was added ('98 and up) that the engine became interference. Someone please clarify this once and for all!!!

I too have a couple questions concering the stereo system in my '92 Lexus SC400. The factory stereo, when turned on, has lost a lot of its output, meaning that i have to turn the volume knob all the way loud and you can barely here the audio. Its done this a couple times since ive had the car (2 months) and it would work later just fine. Now its become permanent, for 2 days straight now and ive tried everything. Shut the car off and crank it back on. My antenna works fine as far as i can tell. ive even takin the volume knob off too to make sure it was in line right. It cant be the speakers going out as when i turn it all the way up although you can barely hear it, i toggle with the balance and fade and get up close to each one and they all work and it would also be too much of a coincedence for all 4 to go out at the sametime anyway. Im not too worried about the factory as i bought a double din in dash dvd player to replace it BUT im concerned that this might not be a problem with the factory deck but maybe something behind the dash, any help guys it would be much appreciated! Another quick question, do i need a wiring harness to install my aftermarket deck, if so where can i find one at as best buy and circuit city couldnt get a dash kit for it (which is why i went with the double din aftermarket) so im thinking they cant get the harness either or is it even needed? If it is someone please show me where i can get it at once again my model is a '92 SC400! Thanx all!!!

$5,000 for a '96 in great condition is a hell of a good deal. I paid $2,000 for my '92 and the people even got a new battery and alternator for me all i had to do was get a master cylinder, needs a power steering pump too but im fine without it for now ill prolly get it in the next couple of weeks. Ill tell you though since i got this car man my nice '91 mustang and '88 bmw m3 just look at it, lol, i love it!!!

What do you mean? Do you know the answer? Everyone on here says the earlier v8's without VVT-i are non-interference (meaning that the car just shuts down and nothing internally messes up) but it the later model v8's with VVT-i that are interference (meaning if it snaps your screwed). Its the mechanic at the Lexus dealership that worried me as he said they defenitly are interference but he also really didnt give it any thought kind of like i could of asked about any toyota and he would of said the same for all of them. Please answer what you think or what you know!

When you say "hyper blinking" you mean constently or just when you turn your turn signal on?

interference means that if the timing belt snaps while you are driving it will ruin your valves and youll need an engine rebuild (long explination short) while non-interference means that when the timing belt snaps it just shuts the car off and once you get the timing belt fixed, everything is fine, nothing ruinned and no rebuild needed.

So you argee that its non-interfering???

Thanx y'all the guy at the dealership was just "o yea all of them are for sure."