wilhunt

Bought a 1997 SC400 with 70K and complete service records. The car wandered and semed sloppy. I bought new Toyo Tires and had a 4 way align. The car now is as close to new as you can get.

I ordered trunk lifts through e-bay for $35.00 a pair. I had to use a Dremel tool to cut the ball and screw mount from the old lifts. They fit fine but had a lot of power. I would recommend try changing one side first. If you set your beeeer on the spoiler and hit the trunk opener it will launch the beer a bout 15 ft.

I ordered trunk struts on e-bay. They cost $35.00 a pair. I had to use a dremmel tool to cut the stock ball and bolt to use on the aftermarket struts. The only problem is they have so much power the trunk is hard to close with one hand. Also the trunk pops up up rather briskly. If I did it agian I would replace one at a time. I am sure the same guy hase hood struts. Lokk in e-bay motors and search for Lexus struts. I was quoted as high as $1115.00 each from a dealer.

I noticed in the picture the location of your licence plate. I made a custom bracket that droped the plate about 6". I think it looks better. My personal opinion.

I just replaced my high and low with blue halogen. I still can not figure how to get to the fog lights. I also replaced my backup lights with blue halogen. All 8 bulbs cost about $70.00 on e-bay.

I have 97 SC400. I want to replace the driving or fog ligts with blue halogen. I can not figure out how to get to bulbs. I can reach the passenger side and I get the socket out but there is no bulb, only wired going into the light fixture. The drivers side is obstructed with some tubing. I removed the splash pan under the car but still could not see how to replace the bulbs. Help!!

Make sure you have a 4 way alignment done. The rear needs aligning as much as the front. Les Schwabb charges about $60 for a 4 wheel alignment.

I have a set of drilled rotors that I ordered for a SC300 1998. I sold the car and still have them. They were used about 30 days and do not need any machining. I want 160.00 for the 4 rotors. I may be able to finagle free freight if you are not in a hurry. Otherwise freight is about 15 bucks each. They are heavy. e-mail me at wilhunt@hotmail.com if you are interested

I am a moderate driver with short spurts thinking I am Jaun Fangio. 1997 SC400 K & N, Amsoil, 32 # tire pressure. 18-20 in town with 22-25 hiway at 75 mph ave.

If you are experiencing tire wear on the rear get a 4 way alignment on both front and back. I just put a new set of Toyo's on my sc400 1997 and the alignment was only $49.00 at Les Schwab tire in Seattle. It drives like dream.

I am interested in trading silver for gold. I have replaced my front emblem with gold but in the process I had broke the tangs on the silver emblem. I have not tried the rear because I am not sure if they are taped only or tanged with tape. I do not know how to get to the LEXUS or the SC400 on the trunk. I have a gold 400 emblem but not the SC. My silver emblems are for SC400. I used nylon fish line to remove the emblems but How do you remove the spring tang clips without breaking them. wilhunt@hotmail.com. Check out my front license plate mount.

I bought a SC400 from Fl. and had it shipped to WA. We must have front plates. I made a bracket that lowered the plate and it looks OK. I will attempt to attatch the picture. You can't fight city hall and win financially.

In Washington we have to have a front plate. Check out the picture of my SC400 with the mount lowered

I thought I had posted an item about lowering my licence plate. In Wash. we have to have a front plate. I made a bracket that lowered the plate and it looks pretty good. As long as you are not doing 148 MPH in the desert it does not hinder cooling. I will attempt to atatch a picture. I tried to atatch a picture previously but was not able to figure out how to do it.

I bought theCD from Ebay for $8.00 plus ^.00 shipping. The disk contained 1500 pages in .pdf format. It included the wiring diagrams. The disk was layed out with 6 charater file names so it was impossible to find anything. I spent most of the day combinig .pdf files into one big file. About all I learned from the cd is that eveything is too complicated for mere mortals. There was not much detail on how to remove things. They simply said remove such and such. Easier daid than done. I do not know if the printed books are in more detail.

I ordered a manual on a cd from e-bay for a 1998 SC300/400. It was about 1500 pages. It cost about 15 bucks delivered. It is hard to find stuff as Lexus uses abreviated file names for the .pdf files. You almost have to scan through the whole disk. I spent a few hours joining a lot of the ,pdf files into one file. My other problem was it did not give much information as to the actual repair sequence. It gave good pictures but in most cases it just remove this or that but I tried it I could not find any way to remove it. Does anybody know if the shop printed manuals are in more details.

This is for zoom I eventualy will have a set of chrome badges from my 1997 SC400 that I will trade for gold badges but chances are the plasctic tangs will be broken. I have only removed the front one so far and put the gold on on with 3m double back tape only. It seems to be holding good. I used a monofiliment nylon fish line to remove the tape but you still have to remove the retaining clips to remove the badges.

These replys help me a lot. Only I still do not know how to get the retaining clips off the plastic pegs without breaking them or even how to reach them? :o

I have bought several gold lexus badges on e-bay for between 4 and 10 dollars. I recieved a whole set that had red trim for 10 dollars. The red came off easily with paint remover and the result was excellent. They look like new. Of the several badges I have purchased only one was metal, it was the "400". I did not get the SC. I do not know how you can tell without removing them and checking the mounting pins as the metal ones are non magnetic potmetal. How do you remove the retaining clips on the back of the emblems. You cant even get to most of them?

My first discovery was that the front badge on a 1997 SC400 is plastic and is held on with 3 tangs which are connected from the back with impossible to remove spring holders as well as double back tape. Fish line worked the best on the tape but not on the tangs. I am not sure if the trunk badges are the same. I am kind of afraid to screw around with them. I broke the tangs off removing the front badges. Anybody out there tried to remove badges from trunk of an SC400? :(

Where can you get a 1998 SC400 for 16K. Not in the Pacific Northwest. I bought a 1998 SC300 in Texas for 16.5K plus $800 shipping with 60k on it. I did not like the color so I bought a 1997 SC400 70K one owner. Dealer serviced for 19K delivered. There are none available in Seattle. I found one 1997 here for 16.5K but Carfax showed it to be an insurance total. Anyhow the SC300 drove way better than the SC400. It was smoother and quieter. The SC400 is affected by road grooves but goes like hell. Plus I like the pearl white.

We don't need no dirty stinkin badges. I just purchased a 1997 SC400 white car. I wanted to get the chrome badges changed to Gold. Dealer wanted $600.00. On car plating service wanted $300.00. I bought several different badges on e-bay for 8 to 10 dollars including freight. One set i received was perfect except it it had red trim which I succesfully removed with paint remover and they look perfect. They seem to be gold plated plastic with mounting tangs in addition to double back tape. I ordered a emblem that just had "400" It did not have "SC". I recieved the badge thtt said SC400 but it was smaller. It looks great on my tool box. Has anybody gone through this drill of trying to get badges gold plated?. Is the plastic set OEM or after market?. Should I just take my old badges off and have them gold plated?. What s the recommended tape for reinstallation?. Or should I forget the whole thing? Dave Wilson

I purchased a service manual on a CD on e-bay for $16.00 delivered. It is 1500 pages and seems to be complete. The problem is there is no index and the files are coded like old CPM files, 6 characters. I spent a day opening files and combing them so I could find stuff easier.

My main job is a Marine surveyor with emphasis on engine problems. I have a special tool that makes a perfect cut to open up a filter. Sometimes putting it in a vice and using a hacksaw can be messy. The guys are right about Fram. They are poorly constructed that I have seen some where the filter paper did not even meet so it was as usefull as an empty can. I have had good luck with Baldwin, Hastings, Amsoil and Wix. I have not cut open a Toyota but generaly the OEM are OK. The best is Caterpiller but it is hard to screw them to a lexus 1UZ-FE

Now I knw how to get the badges off. What is the best double back tape to reapply. I want to change from silver to gold. The dealer wnts $600.00. I think I can have my chrome ones 24 karat gold plated for substantialy less