BlueJ

1992 Lexus SC400 with just under a 100k on it

BlueJ

Bought it with "Mechanical Damage", and I think it's a misfire because it's got no power and idles very jittery. Strangely no check engine light though...

Other problem, Brake and traction control light are on despite the hand brake not being engaged...

jwynn

Nice ride. Did you get a steal on it?

Duck05

Wow.... Great find.... Interior looks in great shape for a '92 (looking at the pictures). The steering wheel can be wrapped or replaced.

The mechanical challenges may be large but you will have to discover those and fix as you go.... Looking forward to your progress pics.....

dogwisper

iTrader: (3)

Beautiful find may be an easy fix. Use the search button to check how to test the coils a very common issue and inexpensive fix. . I can walk you through it if you have problems by pm'ing me.

BlueJ

Thanks! And I paid 675 for at an auction and hundred bucks for a tow from Illinois, with Clear Title

BlueJ

Thanks! And in terms of the Steering Wheel, I'll probably end up going with a 03 RX300 Wheel Probably end up painting it if I can't find a matching or similar color.


Thanks I'll definitely look into that, don't plan on working on it until the weather warms up a little though, Any tips for a OBD1 Scanner though? This is my first pre-96 car

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Nice score!! low miles and an early year those are my favorite 400's.

obd1 you do not need a scanner.
If your check engine light is on then there are codes stored.
to read the codes you take a paper clip and jump Te1 and e1 in the diagnostics connector (engine bay) and then the check engine light will start blinking out codes.
It will blink out the first digit, then a pause, then it blinks out the second digit.
IF there is more than one code it will have a really long pause after the second digit, and blink out another set of digits at you.
at the end it will have an even longer pause, and then it will start over again with the first code.

If you do the check and the check engine light wasn't on, it will just blink at a steady rate meaning no codes.

also sometimes people tend to remove the check engine light bulb as a "bubba" fix to hide that the car has issues.
when you first put the key to the on position, you should see the check engine light come on for 1-2 seconds and then go away, this is to show that the bulb is operational.
So if you put the key in and you never see the check engine light come on at all, not even for a split second, someone has removed the bulb or its gone bad.

That being said I can pretty much guess from what you said that one of your 2 coilpacks has failed. Its very very very common, causes the car to run on 4 cylinders and have a weird idle.
It happens to every sc400 at least a couple times in its lifetime, so start there. there are procedures for checking which coil it is in the maintenance part of the forum.
Pretty much you disconnect the plug wire coming off the coils one at a time (not while its running unless you like getting shocked), if you disconnect one and nothing changes (Starts up and runs the same as before) then that is the bad coil... if you disconnect one and it wont start or run anymore then that was the good one you just unplugged. Then replace the bad one.

I would also give the rotors a look over especially if both coils are found to be working. on these cars, working coils, good rotors, good plugs, and good plug wires go a long way.

good luck and enjoy that 400!!

BlueJ

Thanks and Love the advice!! And by rotors do you mean brake rotors?

BlueJ

And anyone know what this is?
Behind the strut tower and next to the brake master cylinder

Ramblerman

By good rotors he means the ones in your distributors, you have have 2 of them. The thing in your pic is the abs pump.

Lettut

92-97 Lexus SC400 Anti Lock Brake Traction ABS Pressure Pump 47980-24010

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

yeah rotors in the distributors, follow the plug leads up to the top corners of the motor and under the black plastic covers there will be hidden distributor on each side, they both have caps and rotors.
I have seen where the rotor had practically fallen apart and not giving spark properly anymore... its much less common than the coil going bad, but still something I would do as a tune up its not expensive.

the canister thing you have pictured is on all cars with traction control. the ones without trac control don't have that canister.
like my 95 manual didn't have trac control (no manual sc300's have trac control) and did not have that canister...
several other automatic SC's I owned all pretty much had trac control and that canister was present, not sure if its tied into the brake system it could be.

BlueJ

The info helps a ton!! Much appreciated!!