Red93sc400

My Lexus Dealer quoted me a price of $85 for each coil, there are two. It would take him 5 days to get them as they are not a class A or B inventory item (read they are not in high demand at all). I called Carson Toyota out in California and he wanted $94 each plus shipping so once again my local Lexus dealer was cheaper.

This morning I picked up two distributor caps and two rotors and 5 cans of Lexus/Toyota Break Fluid as I need to flush the system when I do the brake rotor upgrade this spring.

The Brake Fluid was $4.68 each
The Rotors were $10.26 each
and
The Distributor Caps were $14.00 each

I ordered a can of Lexus Trannie Fluid. He had none to spare for me but hoped he would have some in within the week. He again cautioned me that the SC400 REQUIRES the special Lexus transmission fluid.

Also ordered a new set of Magnecore 7MM ignition wires to go along with the above. After talking to Magnecor tech support on the phone they kinda pushed me away from the 8.5mm wires as they said that looming the thicker 8.5mm wires under the covers is not an easy task. They assured me that the lengths and fitment are perfect and exact. They seemed to have an online set of FAQs for the SC400 as the tech was soon pointing out information to me that only a person with intimate knowledge of he SC400 would have had.

I have run Magnecore wires on my other sports cars with great satisfaction, and even though no one here seems to be running them on their SC's, I will be the guinea pig as it were. I am hoping that with a complete change out of my ignition system to new parts that some of my AM radio noise will abate or at least lessen up a bit. Plus old RED is going on 10 years of age and these parts do not last forever. I can keep the old parts for spares 8-).

I ordered the Ignition wires from the good guys down in Florida, www.cyberauto.com They have done good by me and their service, packing and attention to detail is to be rewarded by more business from me. The price for the Magnecore 7mm ignition wire set is just about $220 when shipping is added. These will attach to new Denso Iridium IK20 plugs.

Also on the upside recently, the owner and head mechanic of the Mobil service station here in town is the proud owner of a used 1993 SC400 too! He ran out to me one day when I was at the Duncan Donunts across the street from him. He has been doing all the work on his own SC now for 8 months and has a pretty good understanding of the vehicle. I think I may bring the car to him for the Spring brake upgrade and take digital photos of the operation and post it here. His lifts will be a great benefit to me and maybe I can trade him my old rotors as they are originals, and do not pulse so they are perfect and seem to have not been turned down ever according to the service records. It could be a nice match and one I am hoping will be rewarding.

Oh ya, he wanted to know what I was using for wax on old RED, of course I said, "WAX? NO NO NO, I use ZAINO!"
He had heard of it so that is a good sign IMHO.

The Ikon

Now you are another serious SC owner..... Sounds like you are getting that coupe ready to run another decade...

Don't we have an expensive affair with our cars?:eek:

Lex Luthor

Art, I was going to order the Magnecor 7.5's, a couple of guys warned me not to. If it turns out that the lengths are all perfect, i'll be annoyed at having just payed $142 for the oe wires, Magnecor makes a great product. I haven't installed the wires yet, got the old ones out, but one of the new leads was bad, they had to give me another set, didn't get a chance to put them in yet. Definitely let me know how the Magnecors work out.
- Jon

Lex Luthor

Oh, and the caps/rotors were a bit of a pain, the bottom covers for the distributors have little rubber seals that like to pop out as you're trying to re-install, other than that it's easy as pie. I'm at a point where i'm considering halting the mods on the SC4 in favor of a turbo SC3 project, somebody better get to a track and post some decent 1UZ times! Mean it!

Red93sc400

Jon:
I will let you know how it turns out for sure. You may want to share with the others here the extensive "normal maintenance" that you have done recently to your SC. If I recall you changed fuel filters and lines, plugs, wires, caps, rotors.... did I leave anything out? How is it running now BTW, AND did you get the gas smell off your clothes?

Lex Luthor

OK, just did the plug wires today and got to road test it. Feels about the same down low, but I do feel a wee bit more up top perhaps. Then again, the car was running flawlessly before I did the tune up, and has never had a part changed, but I felt it was time. I didn't expect a gain, it is a tune up after all, I just wanted peace of mind and perhaps five more hp, which i'm sure I got, and it's nice and smooth, as it should be. The 1UZ really is very silky. I did new Lexus caps, rotors, PCV valve, coolant fill gasket, spark plug wire set, and fuel filter with new hardware(yes, I changed the entire fuel lines from the tank to the rail, wanted brand new fittings after I had a bit of a hard time removing the fuel filter, not a fun job, the lines are installed from the factory before the front suspension is installed, so you can imagine...), motor flush, M1 tri-synthetic 5W30 motor oil, M1 synthetic 75W90 gear lubricant, M1 high-efficiency oil filter, cooling system flush, and fill with Dex-Cool and distilled water, Denso Iridium IK20 spark plugs @.044, Chevron Techron, clean throttle body bore and butterflies, clean and check coil terminals and add dielectric grease, scan diagnostic link, top off fan fluid (Dexron-Mercon II) and brake fluid, and inspect all hoses and vacuum lines. Next i'll be ordering up a K&N panel filter and I will construct a Peter Scott BFI intake. When I finally get around to doing the torque converter, i'll replace all of the fluid with Toyota Type T-IV and clean the metal mesh trans filter, plus i'll order magnetic drain plugs for the engine and trans. I may also do a shift kit and aux trans cooler at this time. Lastly, a TRD 1.3bar rad cap and a bottle of Red Line's Water Wetter will be added and i'll backflush the injectors with the pressurized 3M kit. Yes, this is the Lexus of tune-ups. This work was all pretty straightforward, feel free to ask me if you have any questions, or Peter Scott 'UZZ32' can help you, he's knowledgeable and methodical, a great combo for making horsepower. When i'm done with the service, i'll either dive into performance mods or start looking at SC3's.................

joelchicago

Lex,

I just got done doing 90% of what you are doing / have done. Feels GOOD when it's done, eh??! I love how smooth and quiet it is now that it's pretty much done!! Costly, but when it's done, you're good for a long time....

VQT

Ikon or anyone,

Ever change the windshield yet? How much does it cost? I don't think we can get aftermarket Lexus parts at all
I wonder how much the newer SC400 windshield water replellent cost

The Ikon

WHEW, I betcha your car thanks you for the attention you gave it! Guys, you may want to bleed ALL the brake fluid out and replace with some synthetic. That's what I did, it makes a big difference over the old fluid.

This is a maintenance based thread to encourage ALL SC owners to take car of their Lexus. As a Lexus luxury sports coupe FIRST... I guess it less important to MAINTAIN the coupe as it IS to try and make it a "sports car" that is not maintained...:eek: I LOVE FAST CARS!!! As you guys are aware, but if you search the thread. You will find most guys are talking about going fast(I'm included) verses keeping a classic alive(running right NOT just being a Lexus in name only)...

I betcha next week or so someone is going to ask a question about tune-ups or full service on the SC... It ALWAYS happens this way... If I GO CRAZY, please try and contain me!!! Have ComputerWiz or MyLexSC300 to delete my response to it .......

***VQT and Manaray I know how you feel now...

SC3 members have any special maintenance techniques... Parts, numbers, sources or tune-up advice?

Lex Luthor

Joel, did you source all your parts locally? I got a chance to button everything up last night, glad it's done. Today, I removed the intake 'shnazola' and i'll be running to S-K Speed over the weekend to order the K&N panel, then it's time to start cuttin' airbox.

joelchicago

Yeah, I get a discount from a local dealer since I bought my car from the delivery manager (his personal car, private transaction). He hooked me up (nice!).

I actually ordered my MAF adapter from ImportToys today! I have a blitz filter at home to attach that I previously used on another car. Can't wait for a little more OOMPF. I thought about hacking the airbox, but I'll sell this car to buy another one sooner than later, so I want transferrable parts for sale time.

The Ikon

So you are going to attemp the BFI set up that UZZ "John" has on his Soarer? I think it is probably the best way to go if you do not have a sealed cold air box and intake pipe... Before I made my intake pipe I got a lil hesitation with the cone filter/maf alone at take off only(if I hit it hard)... Post some pics in a seperate thread once you make it...

Joel, make sure you make a heat shield or cold air box...

lex400sc

Am I mistaken or is our car already fitted with cold air intake? The airbox has a duct leading to behind the right headlight, which is also in front of the radiator. I don't see how hot air would trail to this area, especially when the car is in motion. Is there anything to this or am I really confused?

Also I've been thinking about putting in a 3 or 4-inch rubber tube in place of that thin plastic duct, but I heard that you can't when you have HID ballasts because they are much deeper.

Jayson

What does that cost to have done?

Jayson

DIrEctQL

Not sure about any coils or anything, but my car dynoed over stock when all I had is the Denso Iridiums and K&N cone filter. The maintnance you all mentions is pretty general I would say.

I have to say one thing. Both SCs have sucky breaks. Mine are warped and this spring I will be getting Supra TT breaks. Can't wait! The current warped breaks make all kinds of noise and my streeting wheel is shaking at around 70 mph. My car is running very well and infact you would be supprised how the engine sounds when accelerating. Very nice and clean sound.