New Sc400 Owner...but A Few Problems I've Noticed

[acenase]

Hey everybody, I just bought me a '93 SC400 with 150K miles and had a few questions....

Whenever I step on my brakes with a little pressure, the steering wheel shakes. Is this normal?

How much am I looking at to replace the Climate Control cluster and the Speedometer Gauge needle light?

When I step on the gas lightly around 20 MPH I hear this "clunk" sound coming from the back, then as I lightly remove my foot off the gas I hear that sound again. What could this be?

My leather near the driver's window is peeling and can't fold back in. Where is recommended to go to get this fix? Does Lexus offer this sill replacement or can a normal shop fix this? How much should I expect to pay for this?

Is there any way I can find out the Service Maintenece History? I want to see when this vehicle has been serviced. It has 150,000 miles on it and I want to know if the 140,000 mile service has been done, if not, I would need to get it serviced immediately.

The middle console is very flimsy, I'm guessing the springs are shot. Has anybody replaced this before? It's hard to explain, but everytime my elbow rests on it, it makes a noise that it's loose.

I've stalled on 3 numerous occasions. First time it happened I made a right turn and when I applied on the brake I noticed the battery light on the dash was on so I had to turn the key off and re-start the car. Second time it happened I made a fast left turn and I noticed the steering wheel was very hard to turn (no power steering) because I stalled. Then the third time, I had it in reverse and I stepped on the brake because I had to talk to someone and as I started to reverse I stalled! Had to put it in park, re-start the car. What causes this?? I noticed when I'm at a stop, my idle is like 200 RPM?? Is this normal?

After driving for a few miles and I turn my car off, as I'm exiting I hear this very loud rattling noise coming from underneath. It goes away after a minute or two, but what is this noise and is this normal??

Thanks for any help in advance! I love this car and I guess I'm just being anal with some stuff but I'd like to fix these problems and the car would be perfect.

[lexus082]

Here it goes...

As far as the steering wheel shaking, I would check the condition of the front rotors and if they need to be machined or replaced. (It's not normal) If you climate control screen is blacked out in some spots its usually available on ebay used but then you don't really know how long its gonna last? A new one is about $500. The speedo assembly is around $600 which will replace the rpm gauge and the mph gauge. If your fuel or temp needle is starting to fail then that about $100.00 for each needle. Or you have the option of having it re-built by http://www.lextech.org/ for alot less. As far as the "clunking" with the mileage you have it could be related to the transmission mount failing. That was the case with my car I had the clunking and similiar symptoms. Online lexus parts dealers usually sell the transmission mount (aka Rear Engine Mount) for about $50.00. Not sure if an upholestry shop could fix it, but thats on my list of things to fix and I believe a new one from the dealer is over $300.00 You can find out if the service history by giving a lexus dealer your VIN and they should have the lexus service history. The reason why your center console lid has a lot of play in it when the lid is shut it because there are several small rubber bumpers that are supposed to be there that have broken off. Those rubber "bumpers" are available at the dealer. I also had to replace mine. If your battery light I would check to see if your power steering pump is leaking b/c the pump is mounted right above the alternator and it is a very common problem with every sc400. As far as the car stalling if the check engine light is on find out what the code is and go from there. If the noise underneath your car is something like "ticking" its the catalytic converters which is normal. You can visually check a lot of the stuff yourself to estimate how well it was cared for, like how dirty the air filter is, transmission fluid is it red or dirty, poor gas mileage, etc. It should not idle at 200 rpms. When my car was "acting up" like yours with the low idle speed my check engine light and my TRAC light came on and it usually felt like it was going to stall out when the engine was warm and I was sitting at a red light. As it turned out it was the Mass Air Flow Sensor. They can become dirty or they just fail. I bought mine on ebay (used) and saved about $1200 by not getting the part from the dealer. You can find discounted oem lexus parts at www.newlexusparts.com or www.luxurymods.com. They are both excellent sources for parts and can save you quite a bit of money compared to the average dealership. Someone else like to take a turn :)

Hey everybody, I just bought me a '93 SC400 with 150K miles and had a few questions....

Whenever I step on my brakes with a little pressure, the steering wheel shakes. Is this normal?

How much am I looking at to replace the Climate Control cluster and the Speedometer Gauge needle light?

When I step on the gas lightly around 20 MPH I hear this "clunk" sound coming from the back, then as I lightly remove my foot off the gas I hear that sound again. What could this be?

My leather near the driver's window is peeling and can't fold back in. Where is recommended to go to get this fix? Does Lexus offer this sill replacement or can a normal shop fix this? How much should I expect to pay for this?

Is there any way I can find out the Service Maintenece History? I want to see when this vehicle has been serviced. It has 150,000 miles on it and I want to know if the 140,000 mile service has been done, if not, I would need to get it serviced immediately.

The middle console is very flimsy, I'm guessing the springs are shot. Has anybody replaced this before? It's hard to explain, but everytime my elbow rests on it, it makes a noise that it's loose.

I've stalled on 3 numerous occasions. First time it happened I made a right turn and when I applied on the brake I noticed the battery light on the dash was on so I had to turn the key off and re-start the car. Second time it happened I made a fast left turn and I noticed the steering wheel was very hard to turn (no power steering) because I stalled. Then the third time, I had it in reverse and I stepped on the brake because I had to talk to someone and as I started to reverse I stalled! Had to put it in park, re-start the car. What causes this?? I noticed when I'm at a stop, my idle is like 200 RPM?? Is this normal?

After driving for a few miles and I turn my car off, as I'm exiting I hear this very loud rattling noise coming from underneath. It goes away after a minute or two, but what is this noise and is this normal??

Thanks for any help in advance! I love this car and I guess I'm just being anal with some stuff but I'd like to fix these problems and the car would be perfect.

[acenase]

Thanks for that info, it helps a lot. My Intake was changed out with an Injen and I checked the MAF and everything seems to be plugged in correctly. Sometimes my idle is at 200 (When I first start it up) but after Revving it and heating it up it idles about 600. Is it possible to "adjust" the Idle by turning the dial near the throttle body?

I'm thinking of doing some of the servicing myself like changing the Oil and Oil Filter and Transmission Flush, I'm thinking of using Mobil 1 5w30, Mobil 1 Oil Filter and Type T-IV Auto Transmission Fluid. but as for the rest I think I'm going to have a mechanic check it out and see if things like the Transmission Mount really needs to be replaced.

[lexus082]

Thanks for that info, it helps a lot. My Intake was changed out with an Injen and I checked the MAF and everything seems to be plugged in correctly. Sometimes my idle is at 200 (When I first start it up) but after Revving it and heating it up it idles about 600. Is it possible to "adjust" the Idle by turning the dial near the throttle body?

I'm thinking of doing some of the servicing myself like changing the Oil and Oil Filter and Transmission Flush, I'm thinking of using Mobil 1 5w30, Mobil 1 Oil Filter and Type T-IV Auto Transmission Fluid. but as for the rest I think I'm going to have a mechanic check it out and see if things like the Transmission Mount really needs to be replaced.

The transmission mount is almost a given. I can almost assure you that it needs to be replaced if you have 140,000 miles. Also often when a car was serviced with "dino" oil and then serviced with synthetic, oil leaks are more common. Also, with the transmission mount it is very easy to replace. If you can change your own oil then you can replace the mount. When I took out my old transmission mount it was about 1/2" to an 1" shorter than the new mount. And thats what also eliminated the awful "clunking sound" coming from the rear. So if you replace the $50.00 mount which is probably worn and you still have the clunking noise you can eliminate it being caused by a worn transmission mount. I would also have to advise you research the transmission flush results here on the forums. Sometimes it can do more harm than good v.s. frequent drain and fills. Rather than take the chance of it doing more harm than good, I decided to drain and re-fill then transmission several times and wouldn't have to worry about any damage being done caused by the flush. Only trying to help, good luck with your new car!