brandon green

It could easily be something simple...or something complex. Start with simple....check the altenator. If it has gotten wet (which i don't see easily happening), it could be shorting out. Thus causing a decrease in voltage which will cause the SC to sputter and die, loosing power and idle. Check to see if the water pump is leaking. If so, it will drip onto the alternator and kill it. My car, a 1992 SC400 with 160,000 miles, did the same thing. I just figured it out. Remember...start simple.

I bought my 1992 SC400 in January as a work car for $950, 90 miles per day round trip. It had 145,000 miles when I got it, always averages 23.7-24.3 mpg and that is with leadfooterus disease. I have had it at 145 mph many times and still had plenty of power left. Sure is fun during the drag race after work even if I get outran in the short run I catch and pass everyone in a mile or so. It is amazing being a 1992 that everything still works, power sunroof, power tilt/telescope, power seats. This car has been amazing to own and I will buy another when we need a newer vehicle.

Problem just started, live in western kansas so we don't get much rain might and might not be part of problem. It was raining Tuesday morning went to work and about 30 miles into drive it started sputtering really bad but if you floored it, it would pull out and seem to run good, but then at constant speed start sputtering again. After work still raining with wet roads, about 15 miles into drive and after a few city miles it started sputtering, pulled over to make sure gas cap was venting and no suction on tank. Same as before if you floored it, it ran good but sputtered at constant speed. Pulled into town and it died 3 times on side streets. Had it idling and opened hood to hope to see sparks from shorting wire but nothing and it died again. I haven't looked at it yet, I will this weekend. The check engine light has flashed on and off ever since I have owned it intermittently. I plan on taking it out this weekend in dry weather to see if it still acts up. Seems like mpg has went south also. I am sure it has the original plugs/wires/fuel filter in it. It just seems more like a maf sensor or something of that nature to me. I hope I can get a picture posted, I'm kinda proud of my cheap badass car.

I have been pulling wrenches profesionally since 1992, how long does it take to install new waterpump and timing belt?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. THANKS Josh

You hit it right on the head! As soon as the water pump starts leaking again, the alternator goes out. The engine starts sputtering, loosing power, and dies. I believe that if the alternator fails to provide proper voltage then the system can no longer function properly. Hence....all the problems. WD-40 wakes it back up everytime. One question though.....should I only replace the water pump....or also the alternator.

Well wrong war but same idea.

Here's a few uses for it.

wd_40_2042538679.pdf

I've been having crazy problems with my 1992 SC400 that I purchased for 580.00 bucks with 160,000 mls. The problems began with a leaking water pump. Neglecting to replace that caused the engine to overheat and every since....the idle was real bad. Continuous leaking then caused the alternator to go out. So....basically...I was ready to scrap the project. I assumed the head gasket was blown and I needed a new engine. So I sprayed some WD-40 all over the engine and especially where I believed the alternator to be. 2 hours later....the engine fired right up, the idle was smooth, power was restored, and the alternator regained its charging abilities. I love this stuff! I've been given another chance. So I will be replacing the water pump asap. YYEESSSS!!!!!

Thank you so much for your help. People like you make this website what it is. I will be taking on the challenge soon. I just drove the Lexus up the street and around the corner and it died at the enter section. The battery went bloop!.....the alternator is shot. My wife brought my other car up to me and I attempted to jump the lexus. But when I let off the gas...it died over and over again. Tow truck?....we'll see soon. I'll give it another shot in about and hour. Also....there's a light odorless smoke the emits from around the engine....kinda out of the black plastic attatchments on the front and side of the engine. So much stuff to fix....it seems.

I found the link for you... www.lexls.com/tutorials/engine/timingbelt.html

That sounds very promising. The previous entry discouraged me into wanting to get rid of it. The body is in great shape. No rust. It drove decent for awhile. Just that constant drip and battery problem. Once I cleaned the engine compartment out, the altenator acted a little bit better. But I was a little confused as to what the drip actually was. It being red and all...I thought it was transmission fluid. I realized it was coolant after I changed the transmission fluid and oil change and ran outa choices in fluid color. I realized it was outa coolant when it overheated. Every since then, the idle has been terrible. And now when it starts...as soon as it gets warm the idle is so low it dies out. So I'm hoping that it needs new plugs, a water pump, and all the accessories that goes along with that change. I can start there I guess. I want to do it myself...but I'm still trying to figure out where the plugs are on this thing. Anymore opinions I would love. Thanks in advance.

You know what? 160,000 miles is not a lot of miles for the 400,i still think theres plenty of hope....just check the body for rust,if theres minimal,just try to spend less money on parts,dont get the parts from stealership...Exept the head gasket,thats important.

If you do all the work your self it will be a lot cheaper,kinda like 70% off :D

Ok...I bought this car for $580.00. A 1992 Lexus SC400 with 160,000 miles. Here are the problems...a leaking water pump. Then it overheats. No indications of blown gasket (milky or foamy oil). Once it overheated, it started idling crazy rough. It idles smooth when cold, then it goes rough once warm. Now, the battery is dying after one day of sitting. I just tried to jump it like usual (even though it has a new battery, it dies within a few days) and with the batteries attatched, it won't start. Well it won't hold an idle. It just dies. HELP!

Actually.....with ll the rewiring that I did....it worked perfect. I installed the cd player and a dvd player underneath. I used a cd slot holder to fill the 1 inch gap in between the players. It looks sweet. I also painted the center console silver snce the players are silver. Very original.

Your head unit MIGHT be the problem.

I was in the process of hard wiring my old Sony into my car. It wouldn't work. I bought the remote, a new tail, and it still wouldnt work.

One day it magically started working. But I have since upgraded to a Pioneer touch screen monitor.

Ok...I solved it!!! I ended up viewing the wiring schematic of the entire stereo system. What I did was find the cable in the truck (output plug from the factory amp) that consisted of the speaker wires to all speakers minus the subwoofer. The subwoofer wires are located in a different plug, also an output plug in trunk. I traced a wire harness that will be useless with factory amp removed. I soldered the speaker wires in a color code order that I came up with. This allowed me to use existing wires to run speaker wires to front, rather than running all new wires. Therefore, once completed, I have full access to all speakers from the stereo compartment and am now able to hook up a aftermarket radio. I also used this method to run ACC, Ground, Remote and Power wires. It worked perfect. Yeah baby!!!

Ok....it was the fuse in the hood. That is....the power line now works. But the ground wire and remaining speaker wires did nothing. The wire harness is crap. So unless I figure out the proper speaker wires at the factory plug, I am forced to run new wires from the spekers themselves. Can anyone tell me which wires are the speaker wires in detail? Please?

You shouldnt need a manual for the fuse box. There is a sticker on the inside cover that tells you what is what. I usually just get a flashlight out and shine them through all the fuses to see if anything else is blown while I am in there.

Good luck on your setup. Post pics when you are done because I am thinking about doing this as well. Also, where did you get your install kit? I would like to see how it looks.

I don't believe you! Hahahaha! Just kidding. Now that's what I'm talking about! A real answer. Thank you for a legitimate answer. I wish it would work. It would be a stress reliever, but I guess I have to either find proper lcd, send it off to get fixed, or just deal with an ugly display. As much quality that went into these cars.....little stuff like this *BLEEP*es me off. But it's all good. It's still a lexus. Thanks again.

While the physical dimensions and construction are very similar, the differences are within the panel.

LCD panels work because of PREDETERMINED areas that can be activated with an electrical charge.

Turn the charge on, the crystals change alignment and the segment appears. Release the charge and the segment disappears.

The segments in the panel are different. The HVAC panel has the segments that show you which direction the air is moving.

The radio does not, hence they are different panels. It is not like a computer screen LCD panel that can be infinitely configured.

It is more like a calculator display.

Tom

Don't mean any dissrespect, but how do you know that for sure. From the outside, they look alike. I almost have the HVAC taken apart. I already broke down the radio. I'll see soon rather right or wrong.

No. The HVAC and radio LCD panels are different.

Tom

Ok....it was the fuse in the hood. That is....the power line now works. But the ground wire and remaining speaker wires did nothing. The wire harness is crap. So unless I figure out the proper speaker wires at the factory plug, I am forced to run new wires from the spekers themselves. Can anyone tell me which wires are the speaker wires in detail? Please?

You shouldnt need a manual for the fuse box. There is a sticker on the inside cover that tells you what is what. I usually just get a flashlight out and shine them through all the fuses to see if anything else is blown while I am in there.

Good luck on your setup. Post pics when you are done because I am thinking about doing this as well. Also, where did you get your install kit? I would like to see how it looks.

That's some good info. I will definetly look into that contact info. But still...are the lcd's from the radio unit interchangeable with the climte control? Are they the sme lcd unit? I recall a website that explained how to replace the blacked-out lcd with a brand new one. It only involved taking the unit apart, desoldering and resoldering. And it seemed to work just fine. Only my display is messed up. Its funny...but when its blazing hot outside, the "black" goes away. As soon as it cools though....its back. Before I finish my restoration of the interior....I need this fixed.

Lets see....I can sell my Nakamichi radio on ebay for less than 100 bucks. I don't need it. But I do need new lcd for my a/c temp control unit. A new lcd alone cost over 150 bucks. I "think" that the lcd's are interchangeable. I could save money and just swap them out. Any opinions?

The climate control units for Lexus are NOT interchangeable, per the dealer. I'm advised the 92-94 models are, the 95-97 models are, and the 98-2000 models are interchangeable. The new climate control unit will run around $1100.00 from a Lexus dealer. If you take it in, they may well have yours repaired rather than put in a new unit. A local parts manager advised me of this, and told me how to contact one of their repair sources. The repair quote was $195.00, and I used them in April with great results. Contact Sammy Wu, 8840 Forest Street, Gilroy, CA 95020 or email sammywu@sbcglobal.net. Be advised, the climate display sometimes blacks out due to a component failure in the climate control board (as with mine) rather than just the display itself. If so, the repair cost can increase by another hundred or more. Sammy's company does business on eBay, as does another company out of New Jersey that offers a lifetime warranty on their work. Check it out before you spend $150 on a used one unless you'r confident its good, and that its compatible. I was surprised how many sellers of used surplus units couldn't say for sure the exact year model, or whether it was compatible with my '95 model SC400. Could be an easy way to waste a couple hundred if you don't do the homework, and it may be safer to have yours repaired for this reason.

Lets see....I can sell my Nakamichi radio on ebay for less than 100 bucks. I don't need it. But I do need new lcd for my a/c temp control unit. A new lcd alone cost over 150 bucks. I "think" that the lcd's are interchangeable. I could save money and just swap them out. Any opinions?

I understand why you'd run all new wires. You then know what everything is and where it goes. No guess work. I feel that. Regarding the fuse possibilities....I'll check that out. I need a fuse compartment diagram. I don't have the manual to figure out which fuse is which. Bummer. I so bad want to hook up this radio.

Yes ,...I wired my new system from the ground up...serving at least one purpose, conserving the stock wiring harness, so if ever needed I can just plug to stock head unit back in, ....of course you can buy an after market "install kit" and end up wiring in some things anyway. I've seen a lot of posts about one thing or another not working properly after installing a head unit with these "install kits" ...dimmers, power antenna's, and so on ,....to tell ya the truth, the stock wiring looks a little small for a 200 watt head unit,..... I guess I'm one of those folks that believe...."If ya want something done right ya do it yourself"....no big deal

Dang....so you basically ran all new wires throughout the car? that's serious. I guess that's another option. I know I can do it no problem....except.....it's more work than I intended. Is there an easier solution though?

I put in a JVC aftermarket deck, .....2000/watt MA Audio comp. amp,.... SPL 10" 2200/W sub in a bandpass box, ....2- 6 1/4" boss rear deck speakers,...2 boss 4" door speaker and new tweeters,.. I've been reading install kits are basicly a waste of cash in most cases and rather than destroy the stock wiring harness, and deal with small gauge wires, I opted to rewire the whole system and glad I did !

Ok....I purchased the "correct" wire harness from ebay so that I can install a sony cd player. But the cd player didn't power up. The cd player isn't the problem. It definetly works fine. How does everyone else hook up new decks in these cars? Do they run jumpers off of the factory wires? Which ones?

Someone tell me if using an aftermarket amplifier is applicable to the factory nakamichi head unit. Is there an adapter of any sort?

I 'm searching for a wire harness so that I can switch out the factory nakamichi radio for an aftermarket cd player. I only see harnesses on ebay that are designed to use aftermarket radio ALONG with factory amplifier. If I use this harness, but do not use factory amplifier.....will the new radio turn on and work properly???? I know that the factory radio will not even come on without the factory amplifier. So what will happen? Is this the correct harness to use? I don't have the factory amp and would rather install an aftermarket amplifier with subs. Please help.....thanks.

amps are easy enough to find, i found one on ebay. There are cable adapters that let u plug into the factory harness, then wire in a different amp. Cant remember store name but search ebay, its there too. Crutchfield may also be of some help.

Well thank you. I hope that there does exist a harness that plugs directly into existing amplifier plug in trunk. I'm about to search ebay right now. If I had the wiring diagram for the factory amplifier harness it would be easy to make my own adapter. But dah well.

The amp is using only line out signal from the radio, it is not enough to even drive cheezy headsets.

From what I've gathered, the radio will not power up without the amplifier. I own a 1992 SC400 and the amplifier is junked (got wet) I have yet to find info on how to bypass the amp. I would love to dd my own amp to existing factory radio. If anyone finds out if this is possible, holla back. Thanks.