LEXIE Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 1993 SC400, 60K MILES -- Best car I have ever owned in my 68 yrs of existence except for my 65 Mustang 289 of which I am the orig owner..98K actual miles, pony interior, factory air, etc. My dilema: I love my Lexus but my wife has a hard time driving it mainly parking and driving at nite...poor low beam lighting. I just had an a/c problem which I corrected myself--replaced the POA valve-- and now I have an apparent leak in my power steering system. I think it is the high pressure hose because I see fluid at the junction just where the line has the crimped fitting at the exit of the p/s pump. I priced both the pump and hose for a repair job that I really do not want to tackle and was astonished to find the hose price just as high as the pump cost.. incidently Spartan Motors out of Lansing Mi has the best prices I have been able to find...for ex: p/s pump $358 vs $509 at a supplier in Texas. So, with me looking at a potential $1000 repair bill I can just feel the wrath my other half is going to inflict on me with much pressure to trade my beloved prize in for some piece of crap that will not even come close to the quality of Lexus. Do most of you guys out there agree with me that this is a great machine? I know guys with Mercedes and BMW's that constantly b'tch about having them in the shop all the time and I can honestly say I bought my Lexus based on its great rep re low maintenance and until these recent probs, I can't complain one bit. My total expenditures for the last 11 years which includes all oil changes, trans fluid, air filters, new tires, POA valve replacement, etc, is only $2250. I also have the much discussed problems with a fogged-up headlight and a couple of dim lights on the dash but these are not what I consider major issues. I guess I am looking for some positive feedback as to keeping the car vs looking for something new which I doubt would be as good...even the current Lexus GS series would not compare. Any comments would be appreciated. New Member, Lexie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich21 Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 make sure its not the hose. when my pump was leaking i thought it was the hose along with the pump. i cleaned all the fluid off of the hoses and the pump with a parts cleaner. i kept an eye on it and saw that it was just the pump. i bought a remanufactored pump and its been fine ever since. makae sure you get that taked cared soon cause the fluid can fry your alternator. i went through two in a month cause i counldnt find the problem until i saw it was the pump. just make sure its the pump cause fluid could just run down and it would look like its the hose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lextech Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 1993 SC400, 60K MILES -- Best car I have ever owned in my 68 yrsof existence except for my 65 Mustang 289 of which I am the orig owner..98K actual miles, pony interior, factory air, etc. My dilema: I love my Lexus but my wife has a hard time driving it mainly parking and driving at nite...poor low beam lighting. I just had an a/c problem which I corrected myself--replaced the POA valve-- and now I have an apparent leak in my power steering system. I think it is the high pressure hose because I see fluid at the junction just where the line has the crimped fitting at the exit of the p/s pump. I priced both the pump and hose for a repair job that I really do not want to tackle and was astonished to find the hose price just as high as the pump cost.. incidently Spartan Motors out of Lansing Mi has the best prices I have been able to find...for ex: p/s pump $358 vs $509 at a supplier in Texas. So, with me looking at a potential $1000 repair bill I can just feel the wrath my other half is going to inflict on me with much pressure to trade my beloved prize in for some piece of crap that will not even come close to the quality of Lexus. Do most of you guys out there agree with me that this is a great machine? I know guys with Mercedes and BMW's that constantly b'tch about having them in the shop all the time and I can honestly say I bought my Lexus based on its great rep re low maintenance and until these recent probs, I can't complain one bit. My total expenditures for the last 11 years which includes all oil changes, trans fluid, air filters, new tires, POA valve replacement, etc, is only $2250. I also have the much discussed problems with a fogged-up headlight and a couple of dim lights on the dash but these are not what I consider major issues. I guess I am looking for some positive feedback as to keeping the car vs looking for something new which I doubt would be as good...even the current Lexus GS series would not compare. Any comments would be appreciated. New Member, Lexie This is truely a great car. I just sold my 1992 SC400 with 276k miles. I didn't even have to advertise, is was very easy to sell. The high side power steering hose on this car is pretty expensive, but your can take the hose off of the car and look up a hose company in the phone book and take yours to them, the can replace the rubber section of your hose for a fraction of the cost of a dealer. The power steering pumps on these cars are bad about leaking, but you can go to your dealer and buy a power steering pump reseal kit. So much cheaper that a complete pump. This is all that 99% of the cars need. Also if you go to your local parts house, your can buy a plastic polish used for lenses, and it will work wonders on your headlights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEXIE Posted March 16, 2004 Author Share Posted March 16, 2004 1993 SC400, 60K MILES -- Best car I have ever owned in my 68 yrsof existence except for my 65 Mustang 289 of which I am the orig owner..98K actual miles, pony interior, factory air, etc. My dilema: I love my Lexus but my wife has a hard time driving it mainly parking and driving at nite...poor low beam lighting. I just had an a/c problem which I corrected myself--replaced the POA valve-- and now I have an apparent leak in my power steering system. I think it is the high pressure hose because I see fluid at the junction just where the line has the crimped fitting at the exit of the p/s pump. I priced both the pump and hose for a repair job that I really do not want to tackle and was astonished to find the hose price just as high as the pump cost.. incidently Spartan Motors out of Lansing Mi has the best prices I have been able to find...for ex: p/s pump $358 vs $509 at a supplier in Texas. So, with me looking at a potential $1000 repair bill I can just feel the wrath my other half is going to inflict on me with much pressure to trade my beloved prize in for some piece of crap that will not even come close to the quality of Lexus. Do most of you guys out there agree with me that this is a great machine? I know guys with Mercedes and BMW's that constantly b'tch about having them in the shop all the time and I can honestly say I bought my Lexus based on its great rep re low maintenance and until these recent probs, I can't complain one bit. My total expenditures for the last 11 years which includes all oil changes, trans fluid, air filters, new tires, POA valve replacement, etc, is only $2250. I also have the much discussed problems with a fogged-up headlight and a couple of dim lights on the dash but these are not what I consider major issues. I guess I am looking for some positive feedback as to keeping the car vs looking for something new which I doubt would be as good...even the current Lexus GS series would not compare. Any comments would be appreciated. New Member, Lexie rich21 and lextech --Thank you for your replys. rich21, it occurred to me that it could be the pump leaking down the hose and the fluid is just collecting at the place where the hose fitting is. I have wiped it several times but can't seem to detect if it is leaking there or at the pump. Maybe if I secure something above the fitting to absorb the fluid, I might be able to determine if it is coming from the pump, which I suspect it is. I even had my wife turn the steering wheel while I observed the fitting but it is only after a few miles of driving before it shows up. lextech, can you install the reseal kit by just removing the pulley or do you have to completely remove the pump..i.e. is it a shaft seal?? Wirh regards to the seal kit, I'm supprised Lexus gives you a cheap way out rather than having to buy the whole unit. When my POA (pilot operated actuator or sometimes called back pressure controller) valve blew on my a/c system, it was just a simple rubber diaphram that had failed but you had no option other than buying a whole new unit. Fortunately I found a new oem unit for $185 vs the $450 the local Lexus dealership wanted. I wasn't clear on the fogged lens...it is condensate inside and I read a forum post describing how to remedy this which seems pretty long and drawn out but beats the $700+ ea for a new unit. Thx again guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sightdev Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 I guess the earlier SC and LS had the PS leaks. Friend who is an original owner of ’90 LS just had the work done but later found the problem to be the high-pressure hose and not the PS pump. I remember other forum members mentioning about the high-pressure hose being the culprit. Try changing the hose first and work your way to the other parts. Lexus like other luxury cars, parts are expensive. MB parts are worst because they don’t license the part vendors to make after market parts. The dealer handles even the used parts so the price is enormously high and limited in availability. MB call it quality control but I call it RUBISH. Domestics or foreign models are all about same in reliability. Only difference is the quality of assembly IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joedoc Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 keep the SC. it sounds like you just have normal wear items. the cost of these repairs is well below the cost of a new car. assuming that your SC is paid off, these repair costs would only equal 2 or 3 monthly payments on the new car. i won't attempt to give marital advice, however many men have found that it is impossible to make women happy, so you might as well have a car you like. just my 2 cents worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEXIE Posted March 17, 2004 Author Share Posted March 17, 2004 joedoc--- thats exactly what I keep telling my wife that a few bucks maintenance cost is nothing compared to going new. And, as I said in an earlier post, my absolute total expenditures on this car since I bought it in late '92 is $2250 for all maint items including a new set of tires. Except for some minor crack lines on the front seat leather, my interior is spotless and looks just like I drove it out of the showroom. Dont you just love the elegant look of a black car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich21 Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 im thinking its just the pump because i thought the tsame thing your thinking. which is that it looks like from the hose. i cleaned the pump and hoses off with brake parts cleaner. always checked it after i would drive it. gave it 3 days and i saw it was the pump. i bought an oem remanufactured pump at advance auto parts. think it was like 250 then there was 75 dollar core cost. put the new pump in and haven't had a problem since. Lexie, really check. dont want to have to put out any money that you dont have too. im thinking it just the pump. keep us posted and let us know if it was the pump or a hose. i think its the pump. don't let it go to long cause it could fry your alternator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dro Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 joedoc--- thats exactly what I keep telling my wife that a few bucksmaintenance cost is nothing compared to going new. And, as I said in an earlier post, my absolute total expenditures on this car since I bought it in late '92 is $2250 for all maint items including a new set of tires. Except for some minor crack lines on the front seat leather, my interior is spotless and looks just like I drove it out of the showroom. Dont you just love the elegant look of a black car. To fix your seats you can go to your local dealer and ask them if they have a leather repair vendor. These are guys that go to dealerships and repair the cigerette burns, rips and cracked leather and other stuff that happens to interiors. It's very cost effective and they can make your leather look brand new. I just had it done a month ago and it should cost about $250. I had both front seats and the steering wheel done. It looks like I just spent a mint on new leather. The most important thing to check into is that they are not simply using a laquer (or similar) paint on your seat as this will just make things worse. The guy I used is a friend I've known for about 10 years and he has told me about the "laquer" guys. As a side note, the new sc's are state-of-the-art auto's but in my opinion the older body style is just plain (I hate to use the word) "sexy". At the gas station the other day I had this young hottie (20?) yell out her window "nice car daddy". Kinda weird but whatever floats her boat. ;) Today, at the stereo shop, I had this kid (probably around 17-19 yo) drooling over my car as he had his acura being worked on. My car is completely stock (yet detailed to the hilt). He probably had visions of putting a picnic-table sized wing on the trunk lid. :o Hey, if the kid's are trippin' on the car they must have done something right in the style department at Lexus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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