drseth

Hi,

I got a suggestion from a moderator to have my questions about the car in a Build Thread, so here it is:

I bought a 1995 Diamond White SC400 with 66K miles. From the history I can see I am the 3rd owner from a Lease vehicle, with the 2nd owner having had the car for a month or so. I had to wait a couple of weeks for the title to come through. The car is pretty basic, as far as SC400s go, without TRAC or sunroof, having a Pioneer 12 disc CD changer.

The remote windows do not work, have an ECU to swap out

Passenger window inoperative. Swapped regulator, didn't fix. Traced to broken wire in driver door hinge area. spliced in wire. FIXED

Subwoofer buzzing- Bought EBAY subwoofer out of wrecked car, still buzzed. Found a 1 channel amp that is 1 ohm, so will swap out with factory subwoofer amp and hope for the best.

Trunk Struts Replaced- FIXED

Car had vibration, especially the first 3 miles or so, had tires rebalanced, did not fix. Ordered transmission mount, thinking the original one may be the problem. Will replace once the car is on lift again. Will do a transmission filter/2 quart fluid change on transmission at same time.

Driver side low beam headlight has moisture. Need to reseal.

Car has been getting 22 mpg mostly highway driving. Not happy about it, but it is what it is. Compared with 1960's cars getting 8 mpg, I guess I need to be more realistic.

Car gets looks wherever I go. For a 22 year old car, I think it is a future classic. I have read some articles where they concur.

gerrb

iTrader: (34)

Mileage at 22mpg is good for an SC400 . Usually it will be lower than that with these old cars.

Based on my experience ,people on this forum love seeing pictures of the OP's car . They tend to post on a thread with pictures . Just my $0.02 .

It will be also good to document or say what exactly you have done already on the problems you are still encountering so people know how to give you advices.

LexIS007

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on the purchase! I too recently picked up a 1995 SC....and your absolutely right with these cars being future classics.

To Gerry's point, alot of forum members (not only Club Lexus members) usually start getting involved in a thread when there are pictures of the car or project. This way, folks can comment and give advice on things that come to mind from their own personal experience when they see something in a picture.

How is the cars body condition?...any rust?...bad paint?...etc... You mentioned 22mpg on a 4.0l V8 from the 90's!?!?!?! There are new cars with 3.5l V6's now getting worse gas mileage....so 22mpg on a 95' 4.0l V8 is fantastic!...if that's truly what the car is averaging.

What are your goals with the car?...motor swap?...V8 turbo build?...etc...

Again, congrats and keep the community updated.

drseth

Thanks for the reply. My plan is to fix the electrical issues:

Passenger Window inoperative (broken wire in driver side door harness. Patched in a replacement wire and spliced it in,)

Trunk struts replaced

Power mirrors not working (have replacement ECU, but am having trouble unplugging one if the connectors due to my physical limitations.)

Subwoofer buzzing at 1/3 or greater volume.( Used subwoofer didn't fix, ordered a Kicker amp to replace, but found blown capacitor on factory amp circuit board. Going to Radio Shack to get parts to fix.)

Noticed some vibration that seems to come and go. Picked up a transmission mount, will install along with a transmission fluid filter/ATF while car is on the lift. Have rebalanced tires, no change.

I made the mistake of assuming that certain parts were bad, and when replaced, problem persisted. I replaced a working window regulator, bought a subwoofer to replace a good one. Finding a wiring diagram and trouble shoot the problem would have save me time and money. Guess I could resell the good parts. Notice the black mark close to blown capacitor.
Circuit board out.
This is blown capacitor.


My plan is to keep car in stock condition and drive it. The car is a Florida car from Sarasota, no rust, a little wear on driver seat, mainly some paint flecked off on left bolster from getting in and out. Car was garage kept, and besides some spider web cracking on bumpers, there is a small parking lot dent that may be pulled out with suction cups

.

drseth

My side mirrors are now working, thanks to a new EBay ECU. This fix took 20 minutes tops, and didn't require the center console to be removed.

My son in law, being more limber and stronger, was able to change it. Make sure safety glasses are worn, as there is insulation nearby that is crumbly when touched. He used some safety glasses with built-in LED lights, which are great for working in tight spaces.

1. Unplug the connectors from the ECU, and loosen the lower bolt. Once removed, twist the ECU to pull bracket from anchor. cut upper bracket that is attached to inaccessible upper bolt with some tin snips.

2. Get new ECU, remove upper bracket, place opposite side bracket tab in anchor slot, tighten lower bolt, and reconnect connectors.

3. Done.

drseth

Since fixing the subwoofer amp, I decided to list the subwoofer I had bought, thinking my stock subwoofer was blown. I got a question from a guy who had bought 2 replacement subwoofers and wanted to make sure my subwoofer wasn't blown. I shared my experience with the subwoofer amp, so I pointed him in that direction. About a week ago I got a message that another subwoofer amp fixed it. I guess he will be selling some speakers, too.

An update: I purchased a transmission mount in hopes of fixing intermittent driveline vibration, and had it installed, along with a transmission filter and fresh fluid. The shop only charged me $75 to do both jobs, which looked easy if one had a lift and other equipment. He also checked the motor mounts, using a pry bar, and they were still tight. He did notice some hairline cracking of the flex disc (guibo), but wanted me to drive it some first.

The car rides fantastic, with none of the driveline vibration I had experienced. I have had the transmission mount in the trunk for almost 6 weeks, and was on the fence whether to replace it, since some days the vibration was absent. I wanted to do a transmission filter and fluid change, since the car now has 69K miles on it, and the fluid was a brownish color, but no burnt smell. I guess it was the original 1994 transmission fluid from the factory.

Changing the mount definitely fixed the vibration issue. Wish now I had done it earlier.

drseth

Hi,

My 70K mile 1995 SC400 is white with a gold package, and dealer installed wheels. Can any of you tell me the brand of wheel?

The center cap is plastic and has pitted and discolored some. I would like replacements, but dont know where to start.

Aron9000

I'd say take them to a person who refinishes wheels and see what they have to say. I know Gold BBS wheels were a dealer installed accessory on some years of this car. But I was thinking they had a bit of lip, or dish on them, unlike yours.

Also, what do these look like with the center caps off??? WIth the right lug nuts(ie not those ones with the hollow ends) they might look pretty dope.

drseth

Interested in updating headlights to the new style, with DRL. Are any brands any better than any other? Andy decent quality? Or, should I just use stock housing and update bulbs to LEDs?

FatBrian81

iTrader: (2)

The only aftermarket light is very tuner looking and pretty cheaply made. They also have clear lenses so they don't look very good with the stock high beams so you'll need those too. On the totally opposite end of the spectrum are the lights done by Organized Garage Status. They can refit the stock lights with modern projectors and really do just about anything, your imagination and budget seem to be the only limiting factors.