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Graham

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Everything posted by Graham

  1. Post some pictures and we can help... otherwise it is very difficult to diagnose an issue in a post! :)
  2. These are two excellent reasons to replace the ball joints now. Do not delay in replacing worn ball joints, I've seen a car spin out on the highway (3 cars in front of me) at 80mph after the wheel folded under the car. Not pretty.
  3. Hi guys, I have the dreaded rust-around-the-emblem on my trunk. Also down by the lip. The rust is local to the trunk; I've tried repairing this with body filler (that has fiber-glass, not just bondo). I took it to the body shop, the guy said he wouldn't touch it because the repair would be unsuccessful. Sure enough despite my best efforts, the repair rotted through around the bondo during the winter. I have repaired cars with body filler before so I am familiar with the basics. So, the trunk lid gets uglier and uglier, but the rest of the car is corrosion free. Does anyone either have: a) experience ordering / located a replacement trunk lid? B) successfully patching this type of problem? Thanks in advance, -Graham
  4. One more link... the complete DIY projector cleaning/refinishing (cheapest and quickest way to get back your visibility)... http://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-400-300...efinishing.html Remember, halogen light output will drop 50% long before the light actually "goes out." Winter's coming, it's a good time to replace things.
  5. Over at club lexus they have an HID conversion from the Acura TSX: http://clublexus.com/forums/lighting/18590...projectors.html Here's a writeup of what to think about and what can go wrong... http://faqlight.carpassion.info/retro-vs-oem.htm And here's a table of other conversions, gives some insight to what can go wrong as well. http://faqlight.carpassion.info/car-tested-retro.htm I can't find the lexus forum link that talked about BMW retrofit lenses... but the Acura TSX retrofit seemed to work above. Good luck and keep us posted if you retrofit!
  6. I had great experience with the 3m headlight cleaning kit. The lights question is tricky. The projectors are set up for regular halogens and you should not use them with xenon-ballast retrofit. There's a website that describes changing the projector lenses from a BMW to fix this. I stuck with halogens and found the regular sylvannia oems Are the best overall. Silverstars ultras and PIAAs die after 6 mos. The yellow light offers better visibility than the carshow ice blues this is covered on that BMW enthusiast site I mentioned (on the iPod so can't paste in the bookmark)
  7. Thanks this helped me too...
  8. 1a) jack up rear of car + chock front wheels 1b) seriously, chock the front wheels 2a) remove rear wheel 2b) put car in neutral, e-brake off 3) in the rear disc-drum there are a few 8mm access holes 4) turn one to the 6-o'clock position 5) you can now see the e-brake adjustment gear with a flashlight 6) use a screwdriver to adjust the e-brake gear until the disc-drum doesn't want to spin easily 7) repeat for other wheel Car has to be held stopped by the e-brake up to 1300 RPM Good luck -Graham
  9. You're in for a job on this one. Search the forums for the service manual for the SC400. The how-to is in the service manual... hope you have air tools. Good luck, -Graham
  10. Hi tmh, I had the idle problem as well, fixed that by adjusting the Throttle Position Sensor. The SC has two butterfly valves on the intake, one is throttle (to turn her on), the other is TRAC (to shut you down). You can search the forums for the PDF of the service manual, which has "how to adjust it" with a volt-meter, etc. However it can be done if you loosen the screws (3mm) and turn ever-so-slightly, test, adjust, rinse + repeat, etc. I would recommend taking off all that stuff and cleaning up the intake body as well. As for the AC- eh that's not a good sign. Can't help you there. good luck, -Graham 94SC400 / 280k miles
  11. Hey nick. Welcome. Please search the forums for your questions, they've been answered before. Want to go fast out of the box? Well the VVTI SC's are the fastest, which are the >97's. These are as fast as a 911 on the track (google it, don't take my word for it). Other mods: -Summer tires like pole-position S3's to hug the road -New Coil-overs to keep them there -Dragon torque converter (search the forums) and a payment plan with your mechanic, because the swap is $$$$ -Bolt-on superchargers are available for "only" about $10k (google this, search for lextreme and lextech) -If your SC is over 150k miles, you'll need new engine mounts, transmission mount, and driveshaft couplings for this power Enjoy the ride... -Graham PS Be safe... racing is for track day, not the street.
  12. Welcome Please remember to tell folks the model/mileage and anything "special" about your SC. The bad news: you can probably pass with new catalytic converters, I bet yours are worn out, especially if you have a 92. But these cost $$$ so don't take my word for it. Consult your regular mechanic or a NJ licensed emissions service mechanic. Good news: Check with your state, there is probably a provision for "over certain amount for emissions and you can get a waiver" like MA and CT (which also copy CA emissions). In MA, it's something like $600. Which I believe is enough for one cat, LOL. My mother in law failed from this as well with her Ford exploder... new cats and it passed.
  13. Welcome Cale, Sounds like you have quite a problem there... must be a 'Katrina car if you have water in the ECM. A couple things come to mind that might help get you started: 1) If you do a search of the forums here, you can download the SC400 factory manual as a PDF. 2) You can set up the SC in "report error mode," search the forums for that. A single jumper wire saves needing the OBD-I scanner (not the OBD-II). 3) Maybe the injectors are being told to turn on at the wrong time by the ECM: ebay yourself a new ECM and swap it in. Might be the miracle you're looking for. 4) Or maybe there is a hardware problem, like valves/seals, etc. If gasoline is in the oil? It means gasoline is ending up on top of the heads. So how did it get here? Leaking injectors or injectors being told to fire at the wrong time, or valve/seals leaking. Then the gasoline leaks down into the oilpan from the top of the heads via the oil return ducting. What is strange is you report gasoline is in the oil, but you have 100% good compression across all 8 cylinders? If so, you need a professional shop to inspect the motor, especially the heads. It is possible that the intake valves are not seating or the seals are leaking out the gasoline mixture during the compression stroke. One of your cylinders would probably show low compression with this though. The Good News: there's no way you bent the valves / ruined the heads yet. The 92-94 have the 1st revision V8, which is not a interference engine, but this changes around 95-97 (e.g. the VVti's are interference after this). You can search the forums for this too. Good luck! -Graham 94 SC400 / 290k miles
  14. BTW I had a 1997 Chrysler Sebring and that was a disaster at 105k miles: new front end, engine work, and it blew its transmission (the cooler was fine and the correct Chrysler fluid was in). The Japanese design all their machines for 6000 machine hours (3 shifts per calendar year btw overhauls) which is 300k miles @ 55mph. By contrast, American makes are designed for 100k miles (1 shift per calendar year / 2000 machine hours). Toyota was trying to build the Lexus brand with these cars, you'll do fine driving this until you're sick of it. As for emissions/inspection, the exhaust is stainless from the factory, and the engine was rated as a PLEV in 1999 without modification (A PLEV? It's a 300HP V8!). One more thing: - Buy new windshield wiper arms for this car. I replaced these for my wife, and she can see now in the rain. - 10 year old windshield... I replaced mine, and there is much less glare from oncoming traffic at night in this low-profile car.
  15. $3000 is a very fair price for any car dude. Especially for 300HP/300ft-lbs... you're keeping up with new Audi A4's in traffic. Reliability? You can't buy a road-warrior car with this reliability until about $6k to $8k. This is the Toyota V8 with VVTI that goes into the trucks. It has the same automatic transmission for the LS400 sedan, which is bulletproof. The trick is the SC400 has a "ECT" button for sport-shift-points and turning off overdrive puts the Tach in the 3k range for performance passing. I drive a 1994, it has 280k miles, and the undercoating from the factory means there is no rust (really, seriously, there is no rust!). I get 17/23MPG driving in Mass. We had to redo the heads at 180k and a new radiator (this was about 2003 when my wife bought the car). The coil-overs were done as well. It's a very sporty car, but with Trac on, and Michellin winter tires it is always able to move along and stop fine. Depending on the climate, it would be a good idea to consider: - timing belt must be done at intervals due to interference engine - radiator may need to be replaced, they last about 10 years before getting plugged up - you can do brakes, etc yourself if you've done DIY on other cars (search the forums for the PDF service manual) - if the leather is beat up, you can get a new set from ebay for $400 (this is a very good deal if you can do it yourself) - if you want to give a Corvette Z06 a run for her money, get a dragon torque converter This is really a great car. If you wax the paint and run one of the headlight cleaner kits, people will ask you, "what kind of car is that?" Especially the guy in the Audi when he catches up. Have fun!
  16. (1) There's a screw/fastener on the shift lever: - set ignition to accessory (engine off / radio on) - set e-brake - select first gear - pull up on the spring-loaded sheath - the fastener is in the front (it is allen key or philips) (2) If you search for the Lexus manual in the forums you can download the PDF, and the seat is actually called out part-by-part for factory service. This is a LOT easier than trying to take the seat apart for the first time. Plus, there is a chance that you only need a snap-clip from the local hardware-store to retain that dolly-wheel on its axle. But if the axle is broken you need a new seat. There's always the option to get used seats from the salvage yard! BTW when I re-upholstered my seats, I found the front buckets are all welded together- while the butt-seat is removable, the back-rest and lower frame are all integrated and welded, probably to retain integrity in the event of a crash. Good luck!
  17. I replaced the trunk struts w/ struts from the local autoparts store and haven't had a headache for years! Dealer wanted $400 w/ labor (each!) for replacing them- meanwhile off-brand replacements are more like $40 each w/ DIY labor. I recommend bringing an old one into the store, the SC400 is not very well cross-referenced in some parts databases.
  18. From reading the link, if the hazard button is "on" and the thermal flasher relay is not sufficiently loaded by the LEDs, they will all flash quickly on all four corners.
  19. If you have the dynamic suspension you should part it out. But yeah, you are lucky to get $6000 for a 12-year old car. Sorry, but that's the truth.
  20. Thank you for your advice. You understood me wrong I'm not one of those, who splash money to left and right. If I where one of those, I wouldn't ask for an advice, now would I? :) That joke (if you could call that a joke), read somewhere, and found it funny that's all :) 1999 SC300 has a better engine and alot of other upgrades. There are some go-fast mods for the engine and the stick-shift can take boost mods, etc. I have a 1992 SC400 with 250k miles, wife bought it at 180k and has since re-done the heads. The bushings on the chassis and drive line are good... the exhaust doesn't leak, and overall it's in fine condition, so I would believe a 300k SC400 would work for a while... but yeah the fixes cost $$$.
  21. That's my thoughts thus far as well. The threads at this and some other clubs show some DIY'ers like EBC Greenstuff for the SC00/SC400. I just installed this on my SC400, should have an update after the 500 mile wear-in.
  22. For $5k you can get a bolt-on supercharger and forget all about the laggy turbo w/ wastegate setup... Bolt-on intake-manifold-style supercharger: http://www.planetsoarer.com/part3/index.htm Other updates including various turbo setups (more common) http://www.planetsoarer.com/oldupdates.htm Sorry I was thinking of this supercharger. If you surf around it is available for about $5k and doesn't require the welding of the big pig shown in the previous link. http://www.planetsoarer.com/superchargeJmRoal/JimRoal.htm
  23. For $5k you can get a bolt-on supercharger and forget all about the laggy turbo w/ wastegate setup... Bolt-on intake-manifold-style supercharger: http://www.planetsoarer.com/part3/index.htm Other updates including various turbo setups (more common) http://www.planetsoarer.com/oldupdates.htm
  24. Mine does this too. As for my memory seat, my module is plugged in (I took apart my door as well). The memory seat uses FLASH memory in the ECU. FLASH eventually wears out (so store your SD card photos somewhere safe and carry more than one with the camera!) and my 1994 SC400 is probably plum worn out.
  25. Nakamichi is a "full up" audio system- the head unit talks to the amp, the amp is set up to drive a 1 ohm subwoofer using class D. So your best bet is to find a replacement CD player and keep it stock. Or tear it apart and replace the spindle motor, those wear out after a few thousand hours. Or get everything replaced.... Good luck!
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