Randerso

My SC400 has 240,000 miles. In that time I have had 3 alternator failures - none of them indicated by an instrument panel indication.

I would not do a flush. A friend who has been a long time in the used car business warned that most of the transmission problems he has experinced over the years have occured after chagning the fluid on high mileage cars. The reason is that transmission fluid has allot of detergent in its additive package that desolves and breaks loose the varnish that builds up over many miles as the original additive package is used up. Much of the varnish that builds up in a high milage transmission does no serious harm. Changing the fluid can break the varnish loose plugging small passages with debris and opening up clearances that were working OK in the dirty condition. I would think a flush might be even worse.

My SC400 has 240,000 mile on it. The transmission performs as well now as when new. I always run in the "power" setting and regularly run her up through the gears at wide open throttle. I had the fluid changed at 90,000 miles per the owner's manual and had no problems, but now that it has significantly more mileage, based upon my friend's advice, I have do only small partial changes.

Polishing the lenses is not difficult. Don't be taken in by the Lexus dealer's rediculous price for the polish kit. All you need is some maskng tape, electric drill, sanding disc backing plate for the drill, two tie string polishing pads and one bottle each of plastic cleaner and plastic polish. All of the above can be bought for less than half the price of one light assembly.

If you are interested, I will post how to do it.

I have a 95 dark green Land Cruiser in Florida. It has been garaged most of the time, but has still spent plenty of time in hot sun. I have never waxed it, but I do occationally use a polymer finish called Dry Wash on it. It looks like new - including the roof. I don't even wash the roof regularly, let alone climb up there with the polymer towel.

It is my understanding that clear coat finishes don't oxidize like older paints did, hence the practice of polishing off the surface oxidation and sealing it with wax to delay repeat oxidation is not applicable.

I may be wrong on this, but it is my understanding that most paint problems on newer cars is due to acids, etc. that fall on them from the surroundings or from errors in manufacturing.

I agree that Lexus uses great paint (the finish on my 94 SC400 is also perfect), but in all manufacturing malfunctions in equipment and quality problems with materials occationally occur. I'm betting on a manufacturing defect on this one.

Sorry I can't answer your question, but I have one of my own. Why do you prefer Glass over plastic for the high beam? My 94 (in Florida) has needed polishing of the low beam lenses several times, but the high beams have never been a problem.

Well, I had the lovely power steering leak and had the alternator re-built. Everything was installed back into place. My engine use to be very quiet once it warmed up and the rpm's dropped. But now I have excessive noise from the power steering pump... Even at idle its a constant noise like werrrrrrrr... and when I accelerate it sounds like I have a turbo or supercharger. Its louder than the engine itself when accelerating?

What I think, from what I have gathered from the info on here, is that since I have now replaced the pump and there aren't any leaks the p.s system is completely sealed. Is that the pump is under more of a load since the solenoid screen wasn't cleaned up. I was not able to remove the solenoid to clean the screen. So what I think is since everything is sealed now and there's no leak in the system that all that pressure from the clogged screen is causing the p.s pump to work harder which is making that excessive noise. Because now the pressure is higher b/c the leak has been fixed and the pressure has no where to go.. Does this make sense b/c this is just a guess?

I am afraid to go to toyota b/c they will probably tell me in order to remove the solenoid and clean the screeen they will have to remove the rack to gain access to the solenoid. I bleed the system and there are no bubbles, its just that I think the pump is under a lot of pressure b/c now everything is sealed and that pressure can't leak out. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I was pretty annoyed by my belt tensioner assembly squeaking and now I have this p.s pump making noise.

I had the rack, hoses and pump replaced a couple of years ago on my 94 SC400. I also experienced the same noise. I questioned the machanic and he said it was air in the system and would eventually go away. I first thought this was a brush off - but what are you to do after you paid the bill. Long story short - he was right. Be sure the fluid is topped off properly and drive the car. Turn the radio up more than ususal for a couple of weeks and all may return to normal.

I have a 92 SC400 and the damn idiot light to fill up the coolant always comes on. It comes on guaranteed if i drive the car long enough to get the coolant fully flowing. The light means that you need to top off the coolant however my coolant is completly full and does not need any more. I have checked several times and it is always full. Any ideas on this? Bad sensor? Problem in coolant system?

I had the same problem with my 94 SC400 a couple of years ago. Replace the sensor and move on with your life.

I have a 1992 SC400 that I bought about 5 days ago. The alt died after 4 days and I swapped in a new one myself. The car ran fine and I think this is unrelated to the issue at hand.

Last night on my way home I floored the car and it began to buck. The engine would rev up to a few k then bog down. The car made it to my driveway about 1/2 mile away but was very unhappy. This morning I went out to drive my car and it started normally, back out of the driveway normally and then when I put it in drive, bogged really bad and died. I started it, it made it to the end of the street barely...revving sluggishly and wanting to die while I had my foot all the way in it. At the end of the street it died permanently. If I crank it it sometimes starts for a split second, gets to idle rpm and slowly falls down running lumpy as hell. Holds at 250 rpm for a sec then dies. Other times it won't start at all.

There is a CEL. How can I check this? Is the car obd1 or 2? I assume 1...

It has consistent spark, at leats on the driver side bank. The plugs are fuel soaked but that could be the effect of what ever is keeping it from running, not the cause. Timing belt looks normal and fully tensioned.

The problem appears to be less severe after sitting for several hours? Not sure about that but I think so.

What should happen if you unplug the air meter and start the car? Will they idle?

My 94 SC400 had similar starting and dying symptoms. A temporary fuel pressure gage installed in the fule line (engine compartment) showed a drop in fuel pressure a couple of minutes after start up. The mechanic replaced the fuel pump. This did not solve the problem. He reinstalled the old pump and replaced the fuel pump control module. Again, no joy. He finally replaced both the fuel pump and the fuel pump control module and the problem was solved.

I replaced the mast in my 94 SC400 a couple of weeks ago. In the process of determining "how to" I came across as description by someone who retrofitted an after market retractable antenna into a Lexus. The guy made it work, but with allot of difficulty. The Lexus antenna retractor has a relay assembly (black box mounted above the motor) that gets an intermittent voltage signal from the head unit. It even adjusts the hight of the mast depending on the frequency of the station. An after market unit can't deal with all this. I suspect you would be better off to get a real Lexus retractor from a junk yard than try to install a generic unit.

I have not been driving my 93 SC400 that much and noticed that I have a stale order coming from the heating ducts. The odor goes away if I turn on the AC. But as soon as I turn the AC off, the odor returns.

Is there a drain for the heating circuit that may be clogged and allowing moisture to be trapped in the duct work that would cause this odor?

There is no smell of antifreeze, so I do not think the heater core is leaking. It could be the condensation from the AC unit that is leaking into the Heater circuit.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It is important to get your AC evaporator cleaned. The odor is from mold forming on debris that collects on the evaportor. The condensate drain hose may, or may not, be clogged for this to happen. If left alone it is likely that the evaporator will develop a leak from corrosion forming under the debirs. Sometimes refrigerant oil seeping from a very small leak in the evaporator also causes the odor. Please post how the cleaning goes and what it costs you.