sc_toy

Update: The guy I took it to turned out to be good and compitent. He rebuilt it this afternoon for $150 (including R&R) CDN, said that it was oily and that was the main problem. Also said the last guy that rebuilt it didn't put the rubber seal on one end. So I've had the PS seal kit at home for a while, I'm going to rebuild my pump next weekend to keep it from happening again. He also tested my battery and said it was good (even though it was low on water the other night), so maybe I can hold off on a new one for now. Anyway he really came through for me so I'm going to start giving him business from my work. If anyone in the Hamilton/Toronto area is interested I'll forward you his name/number. Cheers, Aaron

I'll trade you!!! LOL A 300 would be cheaper on insurance for me, and there's more room in the engine bay for turbos. Also easier to slide a W58 in behind it. Though nothing beats that 1UZ-FE sound... Aaron

Wow where'd they find 30 hp??? They must have really bumped the timing up, and leaned out the mixture or something to get a 10+ % HP increase with a chip. Does anybody have back to back dynos before and after the ECU upgrade I'd like to see HP curves and a/f ratio curves. Thanks, Aaron p.s. For the exhaust, the rear mufflers are fine, they are a straight through design so I wouldn't bother changing them. I'd just get a true dual custom mid pipe made with H or X pipe where the 3rd cat used to be. I'm probably going to keep the stock front cats, and the stock resonators and mufflers, just loose the 3rd Cat and restrictive Y pipe.

Thanks. Yeah I called around. Lexus wants $966 CDN for a new alternator. That's funny. The Camry alt is $300 and it's not much smaller. Anyway because the car was so far from my house, and I don't have any tools at work. I found a guy that'll R&R it and rebuild, rebrush it for $200 CDN. I told him to check all the connections first. I hate leaving my car with a mechanic, this is the first time in about 4 years that I've used a mechanic for anything. That's why I invest in tools. Oh well.... we'll see. Cheers, Aaron

Hey all, I've got a slightly intermittent problem I need to diagnose. The battery light will come on, and when I check the voltage it's down in the 11.5 range. This happened last night but then magically the voltage went up and the light went out. Was getting 13.9V after that. So last night I pulled both connections off, and wire brushed everything and clamped them down good. Also the water was down about 1.5-2.0" so I added water to the battery. Was fine this morning until about half way into work. Light came on, and I put the voltmeter on it when I got to work and again it was sitting at around 11.5V. Now it's 2:00 and I just tried it and again the same thing. When I shut the car off the sitting voltage climbs up to about 12.5V. I may buy an optima yellow top and try it out, but the fact that it was intermittent makes me suspect either wiring or the alt. Though I haven't got the usual lights that go on when the alt goes. I'll try a new battery and then maybe a couple new ground cables but I was hoping for a little insight if anyone has gone through the same thing. Thanks in advance, Aaron

There's only one way to get 50 hp for $1000. Nitrous Oxide. Aaron

Click the link below to my Cardomain site.... '92 Black SC400, with 17" GS400 rims. I personally really like the combo, and I wouldn't put any bigger rim on the SC400. Aaron

Thanks a lot! There's still more work to do on it. The pics on page 2 are how it sits now. The seats are just a vinyl recover job, I guess the previous owner wanted them that way. I'll eventually get new tan leather to change it back, unless I get custom leather covers made that look like that, we'll see. The dash had a vinyl stick on woodgrain kit. Looked good from far but the fit and finish weren't up to lexus standards so I ripped it off. Also it looks like the steering wheels original leather wrap worn out because they took that off and installed a woodgrain thing. Again I'll eventually get a new proper leather wrap. Same thing with the shifter, unless I get a 5 speed in there, in which case I'd like a black boot and black leather wrapped knob. Thanks again for the compliment! I think the rims do half the job of making hte car look good. Aaron

Simple. When you stopped at the light you applied enough brake pressure to hold the car at 500 or so RPM that it idles. When you turned the A/C on the idle-up circuit increased the idle several hundred RPM, which puts more torque to the wheels, and the pressure you were holding the brakes at wasn't enough. The SC400 is just a torquey bugger. :) Aaron p.s. If you want to see how a '92 Black on Tan SC looks with '98 GS400 17" rims and no rear wing, click the link below to my cardomain page. The best pics are on page 2....

My god you've got an almost $100,000 car (CDN).... buy it the gas it REQUIRES. FWIW, the SC430 just won the JD P&A award for best initial quality with 44 problems per 100 cars. Industry average is 119... Aaron

For me it's a no brainer, assuming both are in identical condition I'd get the '92. There aren't a huge amount of upgrades to the '95, and you're getting lower mileage for less money. Good luck either way, Aaron

That light is also the low fluid level indicator, check the fluid level first before you do anything else. HTH, Aaron

I've had good luck rebuilding several Toyota starter solenoids simply by cleaning and shimming the contacts and the copper ring. A couple times I've shimmed the contacts towards the centre, and then filed them flat to make a nice contact patch. Every Toyota starter I've rebuilt has outlasted the car.... :)

And that's why I want a W58 mated to my 1UZ-FE. My best time with full interior +90 lb sub box was a 15.420 @ 91 mph. With the sub out, passenger seat out, and rear seat bottom and back out I got a 15.230 @ 93 mph or so. I'm sure that with a nice trans instead of the slushbox the V8 SC would be capable of a 14.999 stock.... Anyway nice times, sounds like you can launch well as your 60 foot times were almost identical to mine. I love going to the track it's !Removed! addictive! I usually plan on around 5 runs and end up doing 10 or 15. Aaron

Turning O/D off and power mode won't do anything to your 0-60 times. All the O/D button does is allows the trans to use 4th gear, and the power button just changes how much throttle position it requires for the trans to change down a gear. At WOT it makes no difference. Now on my best two 1/4 mile times (one with full stereo, the other with stereo removed and some seats removed).... if you graph the data and interpolate from it, it looks like I was getting about 7.5 seconds 0-60 or so. 1/4 mile is a better measure of a cars power anyway, and I got 15.420 and 15.230 respectively. Cheers, Aaron

Call a broker, we can't tell you anything even remotely close as insurance varies massively between zip codes, type on insurance, etc. FWIW, I'm 23, have 7 or 8 tickets (don't even start with that) and nothing else on my record. I've got $1,000,000 liability and colision and comprehensive. My deductible is $1,000, and my premium for the year is just over $10,000 CDN. Yeah.... 10k Yeah.... it sucks, you think I learned my lesson? I dunno, I'm nore disgruntled at the system than anything. No one has any proof that I'm a risk, just statistical proof that due to my speeding tickets I *MAY* be a risk. Of course if the shoe were on the other foot people might understand what it's like to pay more for insurance than I do on rent. I'm seriously considering getting a winter beater so I can run just liability. Anyway, sorry to jack the post, but we can't answer your question. Get the VIN#, call around, get some quotes. And for godsake don't crash the poor lexus, I dunno if it's a good idea to get one as a first car but that's just me... I had a $1500 1982 toyota Celica for my first car, coolest car I ever owned :D Aaron

Okay check my last post for tires, as for the rims, I'd buy a set of steelies to put them on. Steel rims shouldn't cost more than about $200 for the set of 4, and it will save all the tire swapping. Most tire places I know of charge around $10 tire to mount, dismount, and balance. So thats $20 a season for each tire. If you get steel rims you can just take them off and swap your summers on when the weather gets nice, and they'll be ready and waiting for next winter. The other thing is it's very easy to damage rims and tires when mounting and dismounting them. I would want my aluminum rims touched as little as possible by machines, just when a new set of summers go on. Hope this helps, Aaron

Now I've got a '92 SC400 not an LS, but this might still apply here. I went to the strip with my sub in the trunk. My sub weighs 90 pounds (I measured it). I ran a 15.420 and my 60 foot time was 2.268... Then I removed the sub, and 115 pounds of other stuff (pass seat, rear seat, floor mats, trim panels). I ran a best of 15.230 but my 60 foot time was STILL 2.268 even though I ran a faster ET. This was in the dry even after scrubbing the tires in the burnout box. So anything I gained by removing the weight, I lost in traction for the first 60 feet. Anyway more important than weight are tires, as previously mentioned. I would try to find Nokia Hakkapeliita's if you can. If not try Yokohama Guardex... spend money on your tires, they may save your !Removed!. :) Aaron

ONLY Toyota Type T-IV in the 1UZ-FE's auto trans. Use anything else at your own risk. Toyota T-IV is not an equivalent to any other trans fluid (other than type T-II of course). Aaron

Does your car do this... 1) when you try it, at first it just goes "click" each time you crank the key 2) after a few clicks it catches and cranks normally and starts normally? - If so it's your starter solenoid. If your starter does nothing, turns slowly, or repeatedly clicks quickly, then it's likely the battery. As mentioned it wouldn't hurt to have the battery load tested. HTH, Aaron

Because a ~3700 lb car with 250 hp should be faster than 13 seconds 0-60. Did you know the LS400 is in the top 100 highest MPH cars list??? LOL yeah it's a funny one, for some reason they list it as a 155 mph car. Anyway, he has reason to question it, and it's better to find out what he needs to fix than drive around with a limping car. BTW, a mid 15 second car isn't fast, but its certainly not slow. The LS400 is no sloth... Aaron p.s. Some of you have never floored it!?! It's a toyota! Give her *BLEEP*!!! Serously I've always given my Toyotas a healthy dose of the right foot on a fairly regular basis, and I've got over 450,000 on a camry, over 350,000 on my SC400 now... a car is meant to be used, if you don't floor it it *may* carbon up and cause preignition which will ultimately damage the engine. Try out that little microswitch under the gas pedal! It's fun... :D

Craig, A lot of the responses here are wrong. :) Your car shouldn't deteriorate to the point that it's that slow. Our '91 LS400 will almost keep up to my '92 SC400 which ran a best time of 15.420 in stock form +sub box (90 pounds). So 0-60 on the LS should be about 7-7.5 seconds. What kind of gas are you running? 87 octane will knock, throwing the sensors and making the EFI cut back on timing and putting it into limp mode. I'd fill it up with good gas, and go out on the highway and blast the thing out. The harder you drive them the harder they pull, as the computer and trans computer will adjust to your driving style. Still, 13 seconds, there's something wrong. Any LS isn't a rocket ship but should be at a sub 16 second 1/4 mile at 88 mph or so, 1/8th mile should be about 10 seconds flat at 72 mph or so. So 13 seconds to 60 mph is WAY off. Good luck! Aaron

Mr. Curious: How do you get your 400 to rev up to 3000 rpm without braking the tires loose? You got a manual conversion on there??? 94lex..: now I don't know if you're SC300 will act the same as my 400, but I did about 15-20 passes at the strip on two different occasions within the last couple months. I tried many launches and found that leaving the trac off, and trans braking (hold the brake hard, and push the gas at the same time to bring the revs up, then mash the gas and let off the brake at the same time when you want to launch).... That worked well for me, best thing to do is go to the strip and practise, no one in here can tell you how to drive, just go out and try things and see what works for you and your car. Good luck! It's addictive! Aaron

It would help if you printed out a copy of the stock wiring diagram for the system. I doubt there is any harness that you can buy that'll convert the stock wiring into something you can wire into your amps. I didn't install limiters on the pre-outs from the Nak deck. I just put RCA ends onto the wires and ran them straight into my amps. I think the stock headunit has a 4 volt pre-out through I'm not sure. I could look at the wires on my car to tell you which colours to use, etc. I've got a 4 channel powering the speakers in the stock locations. High passed at 150 hz. And then a sub amp powering a pair of 12's, low passed at 150 hz. It sounds phenominal in there, and I've been around car stereos for years... :D Aaron

Re-read this sentence... "Best thing to do??? If you car calls for 87 use it, if your car calls for 91 use it. There is no benefit to going with higher octane, and you can severly damage some engines by using less octane." What this means is, a Lexus that says it needs 91 octane will not see a benefit in going higher than 91. No more performance that is. And you may damage the engine running a lower octane all the time. Just do what your manual tells you to do. Aaron