Aggie

Roughly how many miles might I reasonably expect to get on my '93 SC400 transmission? It is regularly serviced and used as a daily driver. I am at 135,000 miles now.

I thought I had transmission problems with my 92 SC400 with 165,000. My mechanic (who is very good) who only works on top of the line foreign cars told me that he had never seen any problems with this transmission. Turned out to be a brake locking problem.

Lately, I've been really interested in building an SC, but it's an old car and is somewhat rare. There's tons of autos, but I just really want a MANUAL. I'd love to find one in white or black, auto that isn't a problem, but 5 speed is another story. What kind of advice do you guys have for obtaining a well-kept 5 speed?

I had a 92 SC 300 5 speed several years ago. I believe Lexus only built several hundred. Anyway, I loved it!

Later I sold it because I needed a 4 door Lexus and we still had our 92 SC400 that we purchased new which by the way still runs and looks new.

Edit: I apologize for the lengthy post, but this is a very strange problem that I have logged in complete detail which may be helpful for others who have the same issue. (Hours of Google and forum searches have shown it's a common problem for older SCs).

About a week and a half ago my oil pressure light started coming on intermittently. This has usually been happening for me right around the time I need to get an oil change and then the light stays off for about another 3,000 miles or so. Anyway, I'm not even sure this is worth mentioning because my real problem is this:

A week ago I decided to check the oil before a quick 100 mile trip. I stopped at a gas station, checked the oil and it was a little low so I added a half a quart. I don't know if this is worth mentioning but I didn't have a funnel at the time, and I was very tired, very wired and I did get about a capfull or so of excess oil around the oil filler cap which proceeded to work its way down onto the engine's surface. Some of it seeped into the black plastic strip that covers the 1UZ's plugs and wires on that cylinder bank. I know from previous experience that liquids don't really leave that area too fast because the area above a spark plug is kind of like a well that, after washing your engine bay (don't do it) or spilling a little oil, will tend to sit there.

Anyways, I'm digressing here. After adding a half a quart, I get in the car, try to start it, and it won't start. The engine cranks over great but will absolutely not fire. I get on the phone with a towing company for about 20 minutes, then after I get off I try the car again and it starts up. Thinking that maybe the problem had fixed itself I went on my way. I notice that the oil pressure light is off and has not come back since (even till now).

Most of the night went without incident. I made the trip up, parked my car in front of a friend's house for a couple of hours. We left and went to meet up with some other people in another part of town, about a 15 minute drive. After staying over there for an hour, it was time to come home. At 3AM, with everyone on location already passed out, I get in the car, try to start it and it won't start. Same as before. Cranks over but doesn't fire. I try to catch some Zzz's out back by the pool to prepare to deal with it in the morning. It's now 6AM. Sleeping out back by a pool on a summer night in Florida, on cheap outdoor furniture really isn't fun at all. I start feeling more compassion towards homeless people.

Tired, wired, and needing to be in at work in a little under 5 hours with a 1 hour ride back home, I get in aaand.. what the hell, the SC fires right up. I drive for 5 minutes and stop to fill up before getting on the highway. No problems starting up the car again to get home.

I researched the issue and while I did find several references to plugs, cables, and so on, the one problem that seemed to really fit the bill was the fuel pump ECU. After doing some basic things first like checking the air filter and fuses, unplugging and replugging cables and checking vaccum hoses and so on, and still seeing the same problem (starts fine while cold / cool, will not start while warm / hot) I decided to get a fuel pump ECU. I found one on eBay from a salvage company for 90 bucks, got it shipped for the crappiest shipping ever and it just came in about 4 hours ago.

So I switch it out, real easy job, took only 10 minutes.... start the car, it starts up. I smell gas while backing out of the driveway. Okay, no big deal, the engine is running rich because it needs to warm up. So far so good. I take it out for a drive, gentle at first and getting a little more aggressive as the car warms up. My goal is obviously to make sure that this really did fix the problem and to see whether or not, after driving it for a while, I can start it up again while the engine's hot. I notice that the engine is actually smoother now, or maybe I'm just imagining it? Shifts feel smoother and quicker than I remember, or maybe it was not driving my car for 5 days (and driving a loaner Saturn with no power anything, even steering, that made me have a newfound appreciation for my SC). Either way, I start having a good feeling about it, till, inevitably, I take it back home after a 15 minute drive. I have a Viper alarm on the SC that has been on there since I got it 3 years ago, and it has remote start. While the key is in the ignition, I can hit a button on the remote to keep the engine running even if I take the key out. So I do exactly that, just to let the car cool down while running instead of shutting it off abruptly. I get out of the car and sit in my garage looking at it as it's parked in the driveway, and I notice that there is faint white smoke coming out of the bottom of the car along the passenger side. I'm not sure if it was wafting backwards from the engine bay and out the side, or wafting forwards from the exhaust pipe and out the side.. but either way I kill the engine and let it sit for a few minutes. The smell isn't straight gas but it definitely has a hint of gasoline in it.

I try to start the car, and it's the same issue. Cranks but won't fire.

During the run with the new fuel pump ECU I had no idle issues, no jerking, no power loss, no ignition timing, or any other performance issues. There are no diagnostic lights indicating a problem. The oil pressure light doesn't come on. I am due for an oil change but since I don't feel safe getting under the car while it's on jackstands and I really don't want to chance being stuck at a Jiffy Lube for 6 hours, I wanted to know if there was something else I could check for from here before attempting the obvious. Given what I've experienced, do you think this is an electrical/electronic issue or a mechanical issue? Could something like a simple oil filter / fuel filter change fix the SC400 not starting up while the engine is hot?

I had the same situation. I called a good friend who is a former Lexus Dealership Service Manager who now has his own Lexus repair business. He suggested that my injectors may be clogged and should add injector cleaner to the fuel.

That's all it needed!