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BenLEXus

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  • Lexus Model
    sc400

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  1. Just recently purchased my dream car and now i'm selling it. I had to buy and experience this car BEFORE my child comes into the world. Its pearl green with tan interior. Seats in front are in need of replacement leather. Comes with new authentic sheepskin seat covers for both front seats. car has 198*** miles and i'm still driving it daily. Just had timing belt, water pump, tensioner, accessory belt, brake fluid flush, transmission filter replaced and flushed. I have records for all that $1300+ repairs. I had the local toyota dealership do the work. Also was told by previous owner the front kyb shocks were recently replaced and new strut mounts. Rears look old though. Front brake rotors are newer and pads are good. Rears are good but not newer like the fronts. Also has newer radiator and coolant reservoir. I also replaced the trunk struts. Has a k&n filter. HID 5000k low-beam lighting upgrade(best money spent). Decent kuhmo H rated tires, not stock size but i did this for better ride and fuel mileage. Car has seen as well as 23mpg and as low as 18mpg between fills. Car has traction control and the nakamitchi with sub and non-fuctional 12disc changer. Has an XM receiver with fm transmitter. Waiting on my rebuilt gauges from Lextech lighting. Went with super white 16 back lighting and green needles. Also opted to have the climate done in all green. LCD on climate is like everyone elses and only visable at the right angle. Car just got a new windshield due to my clumsy demeanor. The bad: Motor mounts could use replacing, vibrates slightly with OD off @ 30mph and gear selects from park are harder than i think they could be. Antenna is functional but does not collapse and the power to the motor for it has been disconnected. Paint could use a buffing due to water spots. The hood has a lot of chips and the clearcoat is probably on the way out, but you can't tell till you take a good long look. Clearcoat on lip of rear bumper is faded. 1-2 dings smaller than a pea. Drivers seat has the typical rip on the door side bolster. Real lame thing is ever since i put full synthetic in it the rear crank seal leaks. Leaks a half dollar sized spot with fresh oil and after 2000 miles on the oil it doesn't leak? I doubt its that serious but you wouldn't know if i didn't tell you so now you are aware. Passenger side tail light has moisture inside but functions 100%. Drivers side headlight could use polishing but is only slightly faded. Trick lcd rear view mirror has a slight bleed but only in the hot weather. If i discover anything else i'll post it up. I've got a couple months before my child is born, so i'm in no hurry. I love to drive this car and would be happy to deliver to a serious buyer with a deposit anywhere within 8 hours of Medford, Oregon(southern Oregon). Well, 8hrs in this car can get you good and far, so lets say 650 miles. She is made for touring, freeway or back roads its an absolute joy. Glad i had the pleasure to own such a brilliant machine, but its not at all practical for a baby taxi. I just bought a 1963 Nova Wagon project and it would be nice to sell my Lexus soon enough to fund my restoration on the family ride. Please feel free to PM me with any ?'s. I will not neglect to tell the next owner any and all quarks with the car as you can see from the description. The guy i bought it from neglected to tell me about the leaking water pump and worn timing belt and i think that sucks, so i won't let that happen to you. I can take lots more pics. $4500 OBO. Got some some cash, throw a # out there, i can only say yes or no. email me @ BenLEXus@live.com
  2. Did you try to just disconnect battery for a while and let everything sit. My wheel would not go back in after i wrestled my gauges out. After i changed the battery it worked!
  3. Grand touring car indeed, one of the best! Thats what im gonna do. Sell the 1992(breaks my heart after only 2 months of ownership) and get an old $1000 accord until i can afford a 1998(vvti) or better sc400, or any sc300 for a twin turbo swap. Rather have the near 300hp v8 but i'll wait it out and see what comes my way. On a lighter note, i got my true HID kit with ballasts and all. Got the 5000k bulbs with the kit. Really is plug and play. Cost me $55 with shipping on ebay and i parked my sc400 next to my fiends with silverstars (which cost more) and the hids win hands down. I love parking head-in at business' with big windows out front so i can see how sweet it looks. I can drive faster at night too because i have more distance. Only did the low-beams but low and high are on when you flip the highs, so i can see for miles. HIGHLY recommended for looks and safety. Anyone find OEM front motor mounts anywhere at a reasonable price? I've ordered from Partsgeek.com, partswarehouse.com, and they took my money and then refunded a few days later stated the products are out of stock. WTF? Anybody order and actually get them? Don't want to splurge for polyurethane since i'm gonna sell the car in the next few months. Anybody want a recently serviced 1992 w/190k? As far as cost of exhaust systems, headers are gonna run $700ish from s&s headers, and axle-back kits are in the $400-700 range but i would imagine you could get something custom on the cat-back section for around the same price and get some better performance. Keeping stock system and changing headers would probably see better gains than just doing cat-back considering the stock manifolds are horrible for even flow and the stock cat-back section is good to 400+hp(same as sc300 TT). If you just want noise then new mufflers is probably all you need, maybe a custom test pipe in place of center cat(cutting and welding required). And be careful with higher mileage engines and full synthetic. I didn't have a slightly leaking rear crank seal before i did a full synthetic oil change. Fresh oil dripped a lot, now 2 months old and drips a little(yes i have topped off). Its a bummer, may be unrelated to synthetic, but just a heads up.
  4. New mufflers would be the cheapest way to go. A lot of people cut out the center cat and use a bigger center pipe as well. I like this setup with full length headers, new cats, x-pipe, and new mufflers. True dual exhaust. I personally think the aftermarket projectors look horrible on the car. Try to find some pics on the car before you buy, in the daytime they look bad but just my opinion. I bought some 5000k cheapy ebay lights and they look and work good for the $8 they cost. I'm waiting on a HID kit and i'll keep you posted as to whether it was worth it or not. Aftermarket only $55 another ebay special.
  5. I think i may have come off so negative because i was dissapointed when i started doing the math on modifying my on sc400. I did not mean to start throwing negatives out there, and i apologize for coming off like that. Plenty of people make there sc400's REAL fast and have the time and resources to do so. Mod on and please share any +'s and -'s you have experienced in the meantime. One thing you find is that if cash is the issue you can always figure a cheaper way to get your project going if you search around enough and spend some time on r&d. I have been trying to find some after market motor mounts for some time now that don't cost $300+(Megans) so just today i found a post froma guy with an sc300 who made his motor mounts from raw polyurethane rods purchased from home depot for around $20. Sounds like my next budget mod B)
  6. I really don't want to pay $300 for megan mounts. Anybody know a GOOD place to get oem front motor mounts? I tried Autopartswarehouse.com and was charged and then refunded a few days later with no notice or explanation. I then contacted Partsgeek.com and was called by a real person who assured me at least 2 were in stock. I made my order and within 15 minutes received an email explaining the part is not in stock and i would be refunded. WTF! I don't want to pay dealership $100+ each but is that my only other choice? Any comments or local dealerships that are not scam artists would be greatly appreciated.
  7. My car was acting up due to overfill. On the other hand my car was EXTREMELY overfilled all the way up filler tube. I've been told it won't hurt it but if you go to a quick lube they will stick a tube in your filler and suck some out and typically won't charge. At least i never get charged. Maybe that helps?
  8. . Someone "car knowledgable" would not keep grinding a vehicle down the road with smoke coming from under the hood. Thats cold dude. We've all been there when we are too embarrassed to stop and think we just might make it. Poor decision, but i think he know that already. It's just cold.
  9. well i can try to give some insight. When i had my water pump/timing done i had to take it back several times for them to "burp" the system. You may have air in the lines thats not allowing coolant to flow through heater core as my car had similar symptoms. Another downside to my car overheating before i had the pump done was that the main seal(rear crank seal) developed a leak from expanding and contracting along with high heat. Do you have a fluid leak? It will start small and depending how you drive it can get worse over a short period of time. I hope thats not it, because its a lot of time to replace a $20 seal. http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/transmission/removal.html follow the link for ls400(very similar) main seal replacement.
  10. Thats fine, don't listen to me. Throw a couple turbos on that bad boy and blow the tranny out. WTF, its only money right. I wasn't saying don't mod your SC, i was just warning a new owner of what he's getting into. Go fast is not cheap with these cars. If you want cheap go honda like spddemon3652 said. I've got an old beat !Removed! civic that looks like crap, sounds like crap, rides like crap and pulls 13 second 1/4 runs all day long and the whole project cost under $3000 with me doing all the swap work and fabrication. Also have a 900hp (had 1200hp on dyno, then changed cams and lowered supercharger boost to 7lbs)71' chevelle thats got over $25k in the engine that will light em' up going 100 on the freeway at half throttle(never been able to go full, need 4-link). The SC auto transmission leeches about 30% or more of your power. So theoretically the best mod to start with would be 6-speed supra manual and supra lsd differential with 4.27 gears, as you would see increases in Whp right away, and have better control over powerband. Do what you want, but with 200k miles if you start modding somethings gonna break and it ain't cool when its the only reasonable vehicle you have to drive. Maybe i'll sell the Chevelle this year and get going on the SC <_< Good luck.
  11. I very interested in hooking up an ipod to my 1992 SC300. What was involved in your installation? Thanks! BUMP. I use xm with built in fm modulator and quality is lack-luster. Would like to know if anyone has figured out the wiring for direct line in or what options there may be. Would also like to know if anyone has gotten any newer equipment cd changers to plug and play, or splice and at least work with head unit controls or even a remote just for the changer. Thanks for any info. P.S. i would just change out the head unit but thats opening up a whole new can of worms and i don't feel confident in any local stereo shops doing so as the high-end stereo shops just don't exsist in my sleepy town.
  12. Are you sure its the heater control valve? Same thing my car was doing when the water pump i had installed a few days earlier failed. Its usually the seal between the engine and the output for the pump fails, requiring a new pump and timing belt while your in there. Cost me almost $900 at local toyota dealership(idiots Lithia toyota, medford oregon). I know for sure thats what it is especially if its coming from the rear engine area. Don't drive it! I did because toyota wouldn't tow it and now i have to change the main seal because it leaks due to heat expansion. Good luck, i recommend bitting the weenie and doing it yourself as the shops overcharge and put sub-par parts on the cars at incredible mark-ups.
  13. Like i said in my post. "UNICHIP", google it dawg. Seams to work wonders for 5.7l big boy toyota blocks, like 40hp+ wonders!
  14. Are you sure its not the valve train tick? I also thought i had a problem when i first bought my car but have laid it to rest as a few of these sc's i've seen have noisy valves. I'm not sure how you could check for an exhaust leak. I guess start the car and stick your head in the engine compartment and rev the dogs**t out of it a couple times. If it gets louder with more throttle its the exhaust, if it gets drowned out by the engine itself its probably the valves. Hope this helps. Dang these forums are dead.
  15. I would like to thank the both of you for your advice. I wished i had seen this post when i had the transmission in my 92' 400 w/190k flushed at my local toyota dealership. If it wasn't bad enough that they overfilled it by over a quart(coming out filler when warmed up)they also did a S**t job by what i could tell when i dropped the pan and cleaned it and replaced the filter. My car had only been driven 1k miles since flush and my fluid was not reddish at all. Very gritty and my magnets were very gritty as well. I went with the flush because i was told the filter was not replaceable(per lithia toyota in Medford, OR) and i was getting a little slip and a vibration at around 30mph in town. Also knocked you a bit when selecting gears from park. They said "oh yeah, we will flush it and you'll be back in business." Yea F'ing right! The overfill was making driving nearly disgusting. I was slipping and hard shifting and taking a long time to go between gears. Had to go back 3 more times and shove the dipstick in the service managers face to get him to admit they hadn't checked it like i was told twice and they put it on the rack and still left too much fluid in. Long story short, i agree with the dropping of the pan and cleaning it and changing the filter and using new fluid and repeating the drain every month or so until the fluid is newer than it was. I used dexron/mercon III and i think it works better than toyota type IV(toyota dealership refilled with this) but like i said i also changed the filter so that might be my bias. Also a side note to those who aren't mechanics are even mechanically inclined, my hard shifting when in park and selecting drive or reverse was not corrected by this. Albeit, my shifts are smoother and driving is more enjoyable. I later pulled my transmission mount(lexus calls this rear motor mount?) and checked it and it was still intact. My vibration must be due to motor mounts which i will pull this weekend and check before i order as they will cost nearly $200 to replace myself. Hope this helps someone and please read this post if you have a shudder or vibration, could save lots of time/money. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=30681
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