Micah

I just had mine partially resprayed, but it was damaged. The paint is tricoat so it involves 3 layers: White base coat, Pearl Coat, and then Clear (this is for diamond pearl white color). The whole car can be recleared. They would have to sand the existing clear and then respray the whole car. Obviously they would want to touchup any dings or scrapes which would involve some blending. If you only want it to shine though, it can be recleared if your base coat is good. They repainted both bumpers and both rear quarter panels then melted the new clear to the old clear with a special chemical. All in all after body work it cost me 1500 dollars (and this was with my cousin painting the car and a collision specialist taking out the dents). BTW, there are different grades of clearcoat, so you could pay a lot for a clear coat job or not. My clearcoat was 225 dollars a gallon if I remember correctly. This was the shop's price and they have a mixing station they can make any color with. May be more for non-bulk purchase. It was dupont something. My cousin said it would outlast the car, though.

Is there a way to fool the head unit into thinking that there is a cd changer attached? I have searched the forum to no avail, but I know it is possible. I had the pac aux box in a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix and it would fool the radio into thinking the ipod was a cd changer. Could I just jumper two of the wires for the cd changer to make it switch to that mode? My car had a cd changer originally, but doesn't now. It is missing. my car is a 96 lexus sc400. If this isn't possible, I may just find a cd changer and cut the leads for the low level input and tap in that way, but the head unit will not switch to cd without a changer attached and I have trouble spending over 100 dollars on a new cd changer I won't even use. I don't even really care if it is controlled by the head unit, as long as I can use the cd changer low level inputs for the ipod. I don't want to go the fm modulator route b/c the sound quality is less than perfect. I was using a tape adapter, but the tape deck recently fizzled on me. Please help if anyone has any info as I'm about to go mad with the sound feeder fm input method. It sounds like garbage. Thanks!! Here's a link to the schematics of the cd changer input. http://www.intellexual.net/faq/lexusstereo.swfThe only thing I know is that C1 and C6 are for the right channel and C2 and C7 are left channel. I can pick up a mini jack at radio shack and wire it into these wires, but I still don't know how to make the radio switch to these inputs. thanks again.

I just put new rims and tires on my car. I increased to 17" chrome rims with 245/17/r45 tires which maintains pretty much the stock diameter within reasonable error so my speedometer isn't off too much at all. The ride wasn't really affected. I didn't notice any difference in ride. Maybe a little better handling, haven't really tested that out much.

Not something I want to do again. It did seem though that the filter was probably original as the gaskets were very hard where it mates to the transmission. The pan didn't have a lot of metal shavings in it, but I could tell it hadn't been changed in a while. I wasn't prepared for the mess. I didn't realize more would come out after dropping the filter, and the dip stick was a bit of a pain as well with my limited space underneath and all. I should have taken it to the transmission shop to have it done probably, but at least its done. Its getting repainted right now, so it is in the shop yet again. Not the cars fault, though. Previous owner must have gone off-roading in it. big dent in rear quarter panel and bumper. That should set me back another 1500 smackers, but it will look like brand new afterwards.

Sounds good, I just don't know why the toyota place told me that my transmission fluid still looked good. They said it didn't need changing. Loosing confidence in my local toyota dealership. They used to be good. I found a lube shop that will do a system flush and put toyota type IV into it. I'll probably take it there as they use the right fluid and only charge 110 dollars. The dealership charges 5 dollars a quart for the stuff. If I were to do 15 refills thats about 30 quarts at 5 dollars each quart, so 150 dollars. I'm going to chance their machine. If it burns up, oh well. I figure it needs a new transmission anyways.

Thanks! I teach high school and the person over the automotive department said it smelled burned. I'm going to get it changed next time I can get to the Toyota place. I think it is starting to shift a little better now with the lucas transmission fix additive. I'll probably start looking for a good low milage used transmission. Thanks for the reply!

What a mess. i had that fluid in my hair, clothes, and everywhere in my garage. Next time it will be taken to the shop! I just was wondering if anyone else's toyota or lexus dealerships state that the filter need not be changed. I always thought it to be a good idea to change them. I did and the pan looked fairly clean (a few very fine particles and a little trash stuck to some magnets, but not much. Fluid felt a bit gritty. I'd like to get a whole system flush. I put the Lucas Transmission Additive into the mixture and it calmed 3rd gear down a little bit and smoothed out the other gears some too, but 3rd still clunks into gear at about mid throttle. My old fluid is very dark. I put some in a jar to show and tell. Does it look normal? Next I need to try an get some Daizen bushings next week after payday. I'd like to try and put them on. Are they difficult to do? Also, does the rear knuckle have replacable bearings??

What is a knuckle? I was looking on oelexusparts.com and saw that. The picture shown looks like about where I feel the play in the wheel. What does the knuckle do? Here's the website I was looking at. It shows the exploded view of the rear suspension components. The part in question is number 2. http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...amp;catalogid=1

I don't hear any noise while driving. Just if I shake the wheel itself. I shake the car side to side. I apply force perpendicular to the tire/wheel itself. I'm going to have the toyota place change the fluid hopefully tomorrow. Thanks!

Hi, I am having 2 seperate issues. I tried shaking the rear of the car and could hear the rear drivers side thumping as I shook the car. Was thinking that this might be causing my rear drifting problem. It doesn't move a lot, but I can feel and hear it when I shake it. (I can hear it even if I shake the front and am not standing near the wheel). I was thinking the it might be those bushings someone on here said it might be, but I jacked the rear of the car up and the bushing seem fine when I shake it. It seems to be moving around the inner part of the hub where the cv joint connects to the wheel. I can feel play there. Is that my bushings or bearing or what? The other problem is my speedometer. As I have said in the past in some prior threads, I am having shifting issues and think it may be connected somehow to my speedometer issue. I started driving today and noticed that my speed was zero. The car seemed to shift fine at that point, but wasn't getting down on it. All of the sudden, it jumped from 0 to like 35 immediately. I thought I noticed this a couple of times before at very low speeds, but never to this degree. What could cause this and could it cause my car to shift hard? Is there something I can fix/replace/clean easily? BTW, Love the forum! Finding loads of useful info just by reading and searching old threads.

There should also be one next to the compressor (a low port). Its on the drivers side and easier to get to. I would not bother with converting unless you plan on replacing the drier as well. If you mix the 134 oil with the r12 oil it will react and form a corrosive agent. I have heard they make a conversion oil that converts the r12 oil to r134, but I wouldn't use it. They make an r12 substitute that will probably work better for you. You can find it on ebay.

Mine makes a similar sound as well, like a rattling under the shifter. Mine also vibrates b/w 1k and 1.8k. I have been told the vibrating is the motor mounts, don't think they can make the rattling though. Mine mostly comes when I slightly let off the accelerator. when I'm coasting b/w 10 and 35 mph, mine will also make like a clicking sound. Almost sounds like gears meshing together with no lubrication. I'm guessing its the drive shaft support bearings on mine? Don't know though.

first open the trunk and remove the liner that covers the rear of the trunk (it comes off by removing the plastic screw off hold downs). Then, you will see 4 nuts at the rear of the tail light inside the trunk. Unbolt these (Can't remember, but I think they were either 8 or 10mm). You can then remove the taillight assembly. You remove the bulbs by twisting counterclockwise (if I remember correctly) and pull the socket out. Should be obvious after this point. I would probably replace all the lights if it were me so I didn't have to do this for a while again. (2 stop lights, 1 reverse light, 1 blinker, 3 parking lamps)

Looked like a color off a newer sc400 (probably 97 to 2000?). The wheels look like the factory chrome ones off a newer sc400 of these year models.

You only turn O/D off if you are towing something or the transmission is doing a lot of shifting b/w drive and overdrive (3 and 4). 3rd gear is with the switch off, 4th with it on. You would get worse milage with o/d off.

Thats what i wanted to know. Thanks!

can the 96 model 4 speed auto transmission be swapped with the newer 5 speed transmission? I know it can be done on fords, but curious about Lexus. It is a v8 4.0. I have some hard shifting problems and was concerned about it. If I have to replace it, I would rather upgrade it if possible.

How do I test the cats. I was riding tonight and noticed the console was radiating a bit of heat. Enough for me and my passenger to notice it. The carpet is pretty warm as well. Is there a way to test the cats? Also, How much power should my car have? What I'm talkin about is this: Is this car capable of a burnout or what? Totally a diagnostic question. I have never driven a lower milage one so I don't know what it should be like. I do know this though. It doesn't seem to have any more power than my Grand Prix GT, but if its normal thats fine. I just want to know if my car drives pretty much normal.

Sounds good, I wet sanded mine then waxed them with 3m as well a couple of months ago. It did a pretty good job. Great job!

You think you might have accidentally gotten an ls400 rearend or something like that? I could see how they could be mistaken, but I don't know the gear ratio for all the other lexus cars that have this same engine. I wish mine had the same setup as yours, I'd probably get a few mpg better.

I'm around 2500 at 70 as well. . .96 sc400. I fill up by 1/4 tank and usually get about 250 to 275 miles on that depending on my driving (lead foot. . .usually takes about 12-13 gal). 1/2 city and 1/2 country. I usually drive around 75 or so. I love the car and the milage isn't too much of a big deal. Used to a v6 3800 in my 2002 Grand Prix GT, but this car drives so much better even for a car with twice the miles and twice the age. Actually, I bought the GP GT new and it didn't drive this good even new. I don't know about the GS400. I have a friend with a 2000 gs300 with 150000 miles and it rides a little softer than my car. My car has 209500 miles on it now. I drove it to St. Louis and Florida this summer (wouldn't even think about using the GP, my butt starts hurting in it after 3 hrs.).

Could this have something to do with it: I had my car in my garage on concrete when I jacked the rear of it up. I started her up and placed it in drive and let it idle. At first, both rear wheels started to spin, but as I let it run the drivers wheel got slower and slower until it stopped. The other wheel was still running (probably twice the speed the speedometer showed) and there was a noise and some rattling underneath (sounded like the rearend?). Maybe like gears. I can put the car in neutral and spin either tire by hand, but the opposing tire doesn't turn as some other rear wheel drive vehicles used to do. (turn one by hand the opposing should turn the opposite direction, right?) 1st question: Could this be my rearend going out? 2nd question: Could this cause the drifting problem? I checked the firmness of the wheels and there was very little play in each wheel. I could wiggle the passenger wheel very very slightly up and down, but not much at all. Alright, I just went out there and was turning the wheels and listening to it. 1st, the opposing wheel is now turning the opposite direction. 2nd, is it normal to be able to hear the gears in the rear end when turning them by hand?

Mine stopped coming on after I fixed my electrical problem in the drivers door wiring harness. Toyotas seem very sesseptible (hope that's the right spelling) to wiring problems. I had a camry once that an aftermarket alarm was making it surge every now and then when at a stop light. An electrical problem that has nothing to do with the tail light system could be affecting the sensor. I know that my alternator reads b/w 12.9 and 13 volts (according to my bel radar detector). I probably should consider checking mine too.

I have a 96 and the doors do not autolock. Maybe the newer ones? (98 and up?). The door locking is probably a wiring problem in the harness on the door. These cars seem to be plagued with electrical problems in these b/c I have seen several threads about this on this BBS.

I had that problem. Heres what I did. I didn't want to troubleshoot 10 or 12 bulbs so I went to Wal-Mart and bought the long life bulbs. I replaced every single bulb in there and also unplugged the taillight sensor near the antenna and replugged it in to kind of clean the connections if there was anything on them. I now rarely have the light come on, but I think it has something to do with the alternator or battery. I think that there is not quite enough power at night when all lights and accessories are on b/c the light doesn't activate when I turn the a/c or radio or any accessories off. Also, I only comes on when I reverse AND have the brakes pushed. I would suggest just replacing every single bulb with the sylvania brand bulbs at walmart. That is what I did and have had no trouble. BTW, I used 194s for the parking lights and whatever the computer at walmart told me to use for the stop lights.