JtathBSC400

when I did mine I just removed all the air intake parts, and the belt, and then I was able to reach all of the bolts with a common ratchet and combination of a deep socket and short sockets, just a little feeling around and patience. I didnt have to do anything from underneath the car.

chuckit its the ps fluid..... Its down and the pump makes noise so Im doing that first and It only smokes for app. 15seconds.

I think that your all right about the $$$$. The last time it was at lexus after the tbelt install the tech said that he thought that it was the ps valve that your all talkin about. I just dont understand, why it would only do it when its cold and has been sitting around for a while, and not when the motor is warm? But it has just fine power so I think there is a good possibility that its the valve and not the valve guides or rings. If the rings were shot it would burn all the time right? and it wouldent run as smooth?

Motor runs fine has good power, kinda slow from the start but once it moves a little it goes. Feels like it misses a little but its been sitting for so long that might be that problem. Ive heard of this valve but I cant find any info on it I have alldata and its not mentioned any where in it. Do you know where I can find more info on the replacement on this part? And maby a definite part number this would make me very happy and if you lived in the area I would buy you a steak dinner if it worked!!

What Shadow said..... The hose is a small vac type hose that connects to the front of the top of the intake manifold.... Mine was doing that and I pulled the hose off and the car instantly started to miss and died. But if youve got white smoke that might be a different issue, possibly a bad head gasket.

The guy that said that it was a pita to rebuild is in the used motor sales. So it might be that hes just tryin to get me to buy one of his used motors. He told me that he has had people that havent had good luck in rebuilding the motor, unknown why. He was offering a used motor straight from Japan that is guarenteed to have less than 40K on it. He said that they have direct contacts in Japan and they only get quality motors. He said that the motor comes with a standard one year warranty, and a three year can be purchased for an additional cost. He stated that they are one of the largest companies in the contry that deal with used motors. His quote was 2183.00 for the motor and the install. I have maby put on 500 miles on the car since I bought it. Its been sitting for the duration. The only time that the motor smokes is on start ups and its bad, it looks like a train or a disel truck, not to mention how embarrissing it is to have such a nice car smoke like a mitsubishi. I dont know how well the last owner took care of the car, like I said its near spotless and looks sharp, I just am wondering if the owner only knew how to clean it and not maintain it. So the answer is I dont know how much oil its using.

Thats what I said for the record, his reply to that was that the valve covers should be removed first..... Big deal, suprise suprise a dealer ship that wants more money. I dont know what to do, should I cut my losses and sell or try to fix it? And if I do fix it I dont know who to go to.... The dealer seems to know the vehicles and they are more reputable than a sketchy mom and pop outfit. Who would you take the car to?

Lexus said that they would do a compression test after they scoped the cylinder to check for broken rings. He said that neither he or any of the techs that he talked to have ever see the rings go bad. He said that this would be the first that they can even remember doing a head machining and valve job on. The valve guides are included in the head rebuild.

I bought this car (95 SC400 112K) November of last year. I purchased the car w/112k and had it inspected by a local Lexus Dealership. A few days after I bought it I found that it was smoking (light blue smoke) after start ups. The Dealership did an oil change and I pretty sure that the broker that I bought the car from had a smoke less oil in the motor. Im at a loss with this car and I dont know if I should go forward and fix it or sell it. So far Ive had the timing belt and water pump replaced (they blew two weeks after I got the car) that was 1200.00 I paid 8k for the car and over all the car is almost spot less, clean interior, and almost dent and scratch less exterior, brand new BFGoodrich tires, and other wise drives fine. It seems that it only smokes on start ups. I had my girlfrend drive behind me and she never saw any smoke. I called around to various shops and was quoted from 2100.00 for a used motor from Japan, to 300-8k from Lexus. The motor shop that I called said that its almost impossible to rebuild the Lexus motors and most of the rebuilds are not successful. He advised to buy a new motor from Lexus or go with one of his used motors. Lexus said that a new motor would be in the range of 8k. They advised that they have never replaced a 4l yet and they are solid motors. He said that the smoke may be from "oil jelling" blocking oil galleys and passeges. He said that he wanted to have a tech remove a valve cover and look at the top of the head and oil passages and scope the inside of the cylinder out with optics. He said that they could remove and rebuild the heads and it would be approximately 3k. What should I do?

I have used other forums before for the types of cars that I have owned and I am always glad that there are people out there that can help with a problem. I don’t know if its just me but I am finding that there are a lot of topics that go unanswered on this sight. I’m still a member of this forum for my truck and its probably the most helpful sight that I have used check out how they are set up, http://forum.zr2.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi For this sight to become a member you have to wait about a month to have your request checked by a administrator, I think that that helps out a lot on those people who aren’t as serious about posting questions and answering to questions. It seems that there are a ton of people that just post simple questions that could be answered with a quick search, and some of these people only post a topic once, why not prevent that in the first place. Don’t get me wrong it’s just that some of the features on this sight are frustrating. I have used the search tool and it doesn’t give the type of responses that I am looking for. It might be because the majority of the people on this sight aren’t as mechanically inclined; most people that own a Lexus are not necessarily working mechanics, generally more of a professional based group of people it seems. I have found good info here but it seems that the common problems that most used Lexus owners have could be answered in up front easy to search forum, I’m still looking for a replacement climate control display I have yet to have some one give good advice on that. I know that the answers are out there but you shouldn’t have to search and search for them, that’s the whole point of a forum. The other thing that I am finding a lot is if some one does have a problem or a question they have a few answers but they never follow up on the solution to the problem, why is that? There could be a lot of people out there that have the same question that could have been answered but it wasn’t. I may be putting my foot in my mouth here but help me out. I don’t need the smart a$$ remarks trying to belittle me on this, if you have that kind of time then why not reply to one of those unanswered topics out there and help someone out, I’m not forcing you to read this so keep the negative comments to yourself. So let me know if any of these problems are solvable.

Has anyone ever had to replace there 4.0L motor? If so please answer the following. 1. How much did it cost? 2. Who replaced it? 3. How did you decide who to use? 4. Did you do any extra modifications during the rebuild to the motor?(Balance, Blue print, Port, Polish) 5. How were the results, did you notice more power? Was it worth the money? Thanks in advance!

If your interested I have some muffler bearings that will increase your cars exhaust speed just let me know if you’re interested.

I hate to say it but it might be the transmission. If you don’t get the question answered on here, and you do find the solution to the problem then it might be a good idea to take it to the Lexus dealer to have them at least diagnose the problem and fix it yourself if you know how to. Once you do find the solution please post it as to how it was fixed.

Hey SC Toy, any info on this? Did you gain or lose on this mod? I want to do the same thing to my sc but I want to make sure that I’m not going to waste my money. Please fill me in, thx!

From what I can remember, I think that the tech said the same thing. fnutz09 is right.

I spoke with a "Certified Lexus Mechanic" and he stated that in my 95 sc 400 its a non interference motor. If it went it would just stop and wont restart. So, what is your source on this, I searched all data and I couldn’t find anything stating that the motor is an interference motor?

Read this....... http://www.carstereohelp.com/repairDoItYou...usRepairVol.htm It shows one of the most common problems and how to locate and fix it. Try the small things before you spend the big bucks. Just because the speakers aren’t working doesn’t necessarily mean that the amp is bad, check the connections first. And if the car has the car phone, disconnect it and see if that solves your problem.

No, the 4.0L is a non-interference motor you wont slap any valves. What will happen is the motor will just come to a stop and you wont be able to get it running again. If you have it replaced you might as well replace all the parts inside the timing belt cover, such as the water pump, belt tensioner, and the oil seals that are in there. This could prevent you from having to pay the same labor twice if there is another problem down the road. I have been looking in to this on my 95 sc400, Lexus wants 1100 to replace everything inside the cover.

If you buy the alt. from an online dealer what they will do is charge you the full amount of the alt and the "core" They will most likely send you information on were to send your old alt. to. After they receive your old alt. they will credit your credit card the thirty dollars. This is how most stores do things, but I have had companies that give the core credit up front but you have to send them the old part with in thirty days or so or they will assess the amount against your credit card.

Thanks for the post SK, I’ve been using the search tool on the forums, but that never showed up. Still wondering if 2.25 is too big for the car? Does any one have experience with this? I have been reading about sizing and some sights say that the smaller the diameter the more velocity the exhaust has and the hotter it will stay. The larger sizes allow the gasses to cool and become denser and this causes them to slow down in the pipes. The benefits for a smaller pipe are better lower end figures, and larger are better for high-end performance. Now I don’t drive around all day flooring it, usually just to get into traffic. I generally drive under 2grand and I am pretty easy on my cars.

Go to alldata online and subscribe to a $14.95 subscription and that will give you the info for the wiring schematics. From there I would trace the voltage from the ignition switch to all the way to the starter and make sure that you have all the proper voltages. Just trace the wires and find were the break is if any and test the relays for continuity.

I have read all that already. From what I have see on that sight they are using 2.5 duals and Lurkey mufflers (dynomax) and they did not say as to weather or not they gained any power. As far as a pre built setup, they only come with the mufflers and they attach at were the stock ones are already attached. I’m under the impression that there is some gains to be had if the large center section and resonators are removed and replaced with an x pipe and duals. Am I accurate in saying so? What pre-built systems are you referring to? Thanks for your time!

After I get all the small problems fixed I plan to do a dual exhaust set up on my car. I have been doing some research on this and I have some questions. My intent is to remove the third cat and do an x pipe in its location and duals to the mufflers, pretty common. Now what size piping should I use? From what I have read it seem that 2.5 is the most common. I don’t want to lose any low end, but I would like to see some gains. So, I think that I might go with 2.25 or 2.00 since I am going to duals. I live in the Denver area and supposedly there is no one here that can do mandrel bends to the pipes, I will have to use press bent pipes. If some one know of a shop that does mandrel bends in Colorado let me know. And a decent shop for exhaust work, every one here that I have used does crappy monkey !Removed! welds and bends. Second, what type of x pipe should I buy? Is if preferred to buy a pre-built one or to have the exhaust shop build one from scratch? Third, what types of mufflers sound good? I know that there is a lot to debate on this but I don’t want an obnoxious car, but I would love to have a deep mellow tone. I have familiarity with Bassani exhaust on 4.6 Cobras and Mustangs, Bassani sounds great on modular and hemi type motors, so I think it might be worth wile on a 32v 4.0L. I cant find any one who has used these mufflers, just the Dyno max and Magnaflow mufflers. Lastly will there be any gains with this set up? Or am I just killing the low end torque with an oversized exhaust. The car is a V8 and I would like it to sound like one, and new tips and mufflers would look nice too. I know that’s a lot to ask but I don’t like to jump in and just throw parts on a car. I would like some good feed back, Thanks in advance, if there are any pictures that anyone could post that be great, Thanks again.

Thats a lot of money for a display, there has to be some one out there that know some one who can sell just the display??????? Will other units from other years work, can you swap one year to a different year as long as the buttons are all the same?

What happened is I drove the car for a little while and parked it. I just picked it up from the dealer who was doing a used car inspection on it because I just bought it. I drove the car home and I needed to drive to the store a bout two hours later and I started it up and a bunch of blue smoke came out the tail pipes. It looked like it stopped after a few second, but *&*@@#:( I didnt want to see that coming from my car! I dont know how much it consumes because I just bought it and the dealer changed the oil while they had it. Will switching to a full synthetic help this problem or will it make it worse?