Paul Cook

Hey Dave. Glad your back and hope the trip went well. Yea, I might have another issue because I find it hard to believe that when the top was stuck while packed in the trunk that just lifting it and letting it drop back down made it work again was caused by the motor. Even though that was the only code ever called out. But hey, we can hope right? Paul

OK. Update time. Yea. 10 days ago, my top finally died. So sad. But, since I had the B2502 DTC Code to go by, I pulled the tire kit in the trunk and the center plastic to access the "Sliding Roof Control ECU. I removed plug S-20 and used my digital multimeter to check continuity across pins 2 and 6 to verify the health of the motor and cable to/from the ECU. Now a good reading would have been about 1 ohm. I had as expected something much higher. I think it was in the 40-50 thousand ohm range. I found a replacement motor on ebay for $60.00 and installed it yesterday. Im back up and running normally. Took her out for a nice wash after. She looks so nice. Yes. Theres alot of details missing. How did I do this, how did I do that. Whats important to note here is that the hardest part was just figuring out how to get to the motor. Once I had verified the scanner diagnostic was good with the meter, and once I figured out how to get to the motor, it took me about an hour and a half to finish the whole repair. It really wasnt that bad. I have definitely learned a heck of a lot about our top from this. I have had some really great people give me the information to figure this out. Having a scanner that could diagnose the top was the most important first step though. As I wrote in a different post, "Why you should own a personal code reader" I wouldn't have known where to start without it. Have a great day everyone. Paul

I guess I should add what I consider the greatest advantage of synthetic oil is that it does allow you to stretch your oil change interval. I have always used 5000 miles as the minimum oil change interval versus 3000 miles for dino. Blends are that kind of in between. But if the miles get away from you and you aren't a stickler about your oil change intervals, then synthetic gives you a little breathing room until you have time to get it changed. Just my humble opinion of course. LOL. Paul.

Ahh the great motor oil debate. Nothing starts a good fight between motor heads than talking about motor oil. In my humble opinion, there is no best because the type of motor oil you should use for your vehicle but the one that is spelled on in the owners manual. The only major contributing factor being the type of driving you do which changes the interval that you change your oil. There is nothing wrong with either the dino or synthetic types as long as you change it at the suggested interval. And even the cheapest Walmart brand of synthetic oil will exceed the manufacters recommendation of oil type. Of course, if you overheat your motor, immediate change is recommended regardless of the type of oil you use. Now oil filters can be a factor because not all oil filters are made the same. YouTube has some really good videos by people who cut open new and used filters to show the quality of material in each filter. You should check some out and make your own determination. But here's a bit of advice. If you haven't used synthetic oil for basically the life of your vehicle and just used dyno oil, the synthetic WILL clean out all the crud and sludge and its just about a guarantee that you will soon start to develop oil leaks. Just saying. Have a great day everyone. Paul

Well. Its hard to say from that pic. And between the tie-wraps and clamps I see in the picture, I would say you have your work cut out for you. I have a 97 LS400 so what I can tell you is that there should be a sticker on the inside of the hood that shows the routing of the vacuum lines. I'm assuming that you are back up and running normally but are concerned with someone's decidedly shoddy work. It looks like there was either a hose attached and was disconnected and the port blocked off, or there was a rubber plug there that was lost and a little redneck engineering came into play. No check engine light? No running rough or hesitation during acceleration? I would take time to just crawl around on top and under to see if you find a hose not hooked to anything. Let us know what you find out. Paul

Outstanding! So glad you found it. Problems like that one can just about cause you to buy a new car! LOL. Thanks for lettings us know what you found. Paul

Very nice. How did you find that disconnected sensor? Hope it was you and it was free. 😁 Paul

I have been thinking about your question "Is it worth it anymore?". Transaxle, struts, brakes, valve cover gasket power steering pump, brake master cylinder. All of these parts combined are probably about $3.5-4K. And if you can't do the work yourself then I would have to say "No" its not worth it. Even knowing it's cheap on insurance and you have no car payment. And even if you could buy the parts and install them all yourself saving yourself a ton of money in Labor cost, you would have to do a compression check on the engines cylinders to see how healthy the rings and valves are. And if anything happens to the tranny etc, you could just buy another used Lexus for less money with way fewer miles and probably in better condition. I like older used cars. To a point. I own a 02 Acura RSX Type-S with 266K Miles, a 97 LS400 with 264K miles and an 02 SC430. I'm head over heels in love with the SC430 even though it had 100,641 miles when I bought it back in April. It has the 3UZ-FE engine which is the follow on to the famous 1UZ and 2UZ engines from Lexus. I fully expect to get 300K miles from this package easily. And the car is just drop dead gorgeous. I got a personal loan (I couldn't get an auto loan because it had over 100,000 miles) for $8,000 or $179.00 a month and I am going through each system as necessary when some extra money finds its way like from overtime or something.. I am right now, maybe foolishly, carrying only liability insurance. If it gets hit they will total it out due to it's age most likely anyway. Car Fax has an app that allows you to see the maintenance history on the vehicle as well as the resale value etc. But I could have just driven it for 100K miles just as it was. I think it's time. Let her go. Look for another one in better shape that you can swap the tires too. Good luck. Paul

Oh man! You are a STAR! This info is GOLD. Anyone who is having top problems should download this information immediately. Good luck on your Doctors visit this week. I truely wish for the best outcome possible for you. 😁 Paul

I own an ls400 and sc430 so I have no specific information about your model specifically, but there are some additional things to check. Does changing the dual control feature have any impact? Does the heater work? Is that temp controllable? The cooling system is pretty complex. Without having specific schematics for your vehicle, I dont think I can be much help. You need to have a diagnostic scan run and hope it comes up with something that could be useful. But considering how everything is tied together here, this might be a dealer issue or at the very least, one very good mechanic. Good luck and let us know what the resolution is when you get one. Paul

Well, the SC430 didn't really change much through its production life. New taillights in 05 I think. Suspension upgrades in 03 and 04 if I remember correctly. You do have a different set of wheels than I do. I have the original ones that had the 10 bolt covers which the guys at the tire shop absolutely love. LOL. Removing 40 hex had bolts just to throw the tire on the balancing machine is what they live for. 😉 I just got mine back in April I think. Minor damage to the front and rear corners of the bumpers. Hazing of the clear coat on top and some door dings. Took it to a detail shop to see what they could do. Turns out there was a paint and body shop right across the driveway. Ended up with a new paint job and minor body work for the door dings etc. She looked great when she finally came out two months later. I live in San Diego and we have what we call May grey and June gloom. Conditions for laying down new paint were awful because of incorrect temps and humidity. I told them they better not lay down that paint until conditions were right. So, it took two months. Told them no Orange Peel. So they sanded and buffed until she was pretty much a mirror. Wow she looked gorgeous. But I had to be anal with my girl and she immediately left the paint shop to go for paint correction and ceramic coating. Thats what finally made her pop into the most beautiful car I have ever owned. She is named Topless because she is so damn sexy. She had 100641 miles when I picked her up. Now I am going through each system. Replaced all the coolant hoses a couple of weeks ago. Timing belt and serpentine belt were replaced right before I bought her. I am waiting on all the vacuum and fuel vapor lines now. Shocks and struts are my next big ticket items because even though they are not really bad yet, they are leaking and they will need to be replaced. 100K miles, of course shocks and struts go bad. Then the drivers seat leather is of course looking crappy. But I know how your wife feels. I do love this car. 😎 Paul

OK. Something new to try. Lets assume that one of the limit switches for the top closed is bad or dirty or whatever. Take a pencil and insert it in the hole on the windshield frame like in the picture, both sides and work the hell out of that limit switch by moving that pencil in and out about 50 times. If the contact is just cruddy, that "may" help it start working again. Just a shot that doesn't cost anything. Paul

Sheesh. Have them run a diagnotic scan to identify what DTC Code its throwing. This "he believes " crap is too much. Finding a good shop nowadays is almost impossible I know. But at least simple competence should be expected by the shop owners. Then come back to us and we'll see what kind of help you really need. Paul

Oh man. Sorry to hear about your disability. Getting old sucks. I turn 60 in two months but am still blessed with good health and a fairly sharp mind. Im still digging deeper and deeper into these drawings. Man, talk about complicated. I have identified four ECU's now. And of course signal "x" has to be sent and received for signal "y" to execute. And prerequisite signal a, b, and c have to be there before anything can happen. But its interesting and I will nail it down. Still working on a top up/down sequence in my head before I can commit to paper. And just identifying what the signal names are is a challenge also because they're not written down anywhere. So, you definately are going to need a scanner. I do recommend the iCarSoft i905 because it has all of the test programs we need for our car. And it pays for itself the first time you use it since the dealer charges $150 bucks for a scan. This is an important subject for SC430 owners. I'll try to take this through to some kind of logical conclusion but were actually talking about engineer level work if I include troubleshooting flow charts etc. and it will not be 100% acurate of course without being able to decompile the codes in the various ECU's. But hey, anything at this point is better than what we have which is nothing. Any components, connectors etc you identify would be appreciated if you could drop a pic so we can see exactly what the manual is referencing. Especially if you remove covers. Im not going anywhere. I'll do what I can to help anytime. Paul

As an afterthought, the pictures dont do you much good without know what the picture is. So, go to any of the aftermarket Lexus Parts websites and find the parts diagrams and P/N information. That will give you a basic idea of the component name and its relative location. Good luck. Hope this helps. It should. And dont forget to come back and let us know what you find and what finally fixes the issue. Paul

Help with component location. Package Tray is the black deck lid that pops open and closed at the front of the trunk area. Took me a few minutes to figure that one out. If I had to make a guess right now, I would say that I need to look at the Limit Switches for the roof. That would be L11, L12, L13. They could very well just need to be inspected for being loose. You said the top closed on yours but the trunk stayed open. That to me indicates a Limit Switch Roof Lock L10 or Limit Switch Roof Close L8, L9. Unless you can hear the roof locks engage. It might get ugly because the connectors for those switches are located in the body somewhere and if I am reading it right in the dash. Are you afraid to take your platic covers apart in your trunk? Its not difficult. Just a pain. Now get to work and fix your wifes car! LOL. Paul

This is where I am at so far. More to follow as I get something useful. Paul

What we all need is a sequence chart. One that shows what is supposed to be happening and when. You press the top open switch and then the windows roll down, then the rear trunk lid opens, then the deck lid opens etc. I have thought about it. It would be great if Lexus wasn't so stingy with their info sometimes. But hey, we aren't really the customers they are catering to are we e? 😉 Paul

What we all need is a sequence chart. One that shows what is supposed to be happening and when. You press the top open switch and then the windows roll down, then the rear trunk lid opens, then the deck lid opens etc. I have thought about it. It would be great if Lexus wasn't so stingy with their info sometimes. But hey, we aren't really the customers they are catering to are we e? 😉 Paul

Well for an update on mine, if I literally grab the top on the front drivers side corner while it is folded inside the trunk and lift it the inch or two, then let it drop back down, it allows a switch or whatever to reset and then starts working normally again. This has worked for me several times now. I used my scanner (an iCarsoft i905) and it identified a B2502 DTC "Open in Roof Drive Motor RH Circuit. I can clear the code and turn off the key then back on for another chance so to speak for the system to operate normally. Looking at the schematics in the Electical Schematics Manual, I see that there are ten motors, three ECU's and approximately thirteen switches. But the circuit itself is fairly simple. (I know that sounds counterintuitive LOL) I have just been working on other things and haven't gotten around to identifying what the exact problem is since my work around has worked every time so far. My guess is I have a switch that is sticky and just the act of jogging the top allows it to set in its correct position. Yours could of course be something completely different but I just wanted to follow up and let you know where I am at with mine. Theres alot going on with the top. If the windows roll down the door ECU's are good, stuff like what works can help you narrow the problem down. Keep in touch. Lets see if we can work this out. Paul

https://www.troublecodes.net/p1codes/p1300/ Paul

I looked it up on the internet too. I dont know exactly what it means for your car either but it doesn't look good. The first thing I buy for my cars is a wiring manual. Partly because I have been an electronic tech for 40 years. You definitely need a good professional mechanic to help you with this one just to identify the specific components being called out with that particular DTC. Sorry. Paul

Yea. But we have the headlight washers. I took them out thinking they were part of the bumper frame. LOL. I of course found out that wasn't the case. Paul

You should also use the vacuum hose diagram located under the hood. Mine looks like the attached. Paul

Do you have an OBD-II Tester? You need to try and get a scan for any DTC's. Paul