Teal Sc400

Just a tip to posters totrider & drseth advise your young adult/kids about rear wheel drive. Caution in speed, especially in wet conditions. Always check/make sure tire tread depths are sufficient. IMO keep the Sc for yourself, until they're a little older/mature. ​​​​​

- V -

iTrader: (1)

+1 Agreed. My younger brother is in the process of getting a car and he really wants to get my 95SC300 that i am putting up for sale, but as a fist time driver i dont want him driving a rear wheel drive car with no traction control in Florida rains.

Maserati

iTrader: (1)

I wanted an 95 400 origanlly since thats what i was around in the beginning.Since i was going to buy my car damaged i saw there was a 99 & 2000 400 that was in okay shape, but the 99 had all the things that wanted. Nak radio, heated seats, heated mirrors VVTI 1UZ Tan interior, just awesome. i also bought my car salvage and repaired it thread here https://www.clublexus.com/forums/bui...e-restore.html. 99 is super rare is and is worth the fight to find. the power and the feel is immense from the prior models.
This was also my first RWD car and im Florida. so as long as you respect the car you wont be sliding around

Bloozpower

I am only echoing what others have said. The 2000 SC400 is the car to get. There were only 324 made.

I bought one on a whim because my BMW 335 was not reliable enough to drive on long road trips. The BMW is now gone and the Lexus is my go to even though I had only planned on owning it for a couple months as a road trip car.

I am now a UZ engine apostle and am going to try and drive this car into the ground. Starting at 50k miles I have a long way to go.

drseth

Thanks for your reply. A 1999-2000 SC400 is as rare as hen's teeth, especially one that isn't ragged out.

I picked up a 1995 SC400 with 67K miles, with a few issues that have been frustrating to troubleshoot and fix. Passenger window would not go down, replaced regulator/motor, and had to lower glass to attach. Went up fine, down, no go. Have a switch on order, hope it works. If not, must have broken wire, but can't find schematic. Any suggestions?

Subwoofer sounds blown, EBay replacement came​, and it sounded blown also. Had audio speaker rebuilder check out, said speaker ok, something near sub rattling, but checked, and sub buzzed and popped while in my hands. No one sells replacements that work, so stumped at the moment. Not wanting to spend a fortune on new head unit. Replaced rear 4 inch speakers with Kenwood Coaxial speakers and unplugged sub. Has any of you ditched the sub and just changed out the 4 inch speakers for a couple of 6.5 inch co-axes? Can the bass crossover be bypassed?

Finally, the remote windows don't work. Got an EBay ECU, but hope it is in the switch, because with 3 fused discs in my neck, replacing ECU looks like something I cannot do.

I did replace the trunk struts, and that was an easy fix. The others, I assumed it would be a matter of changing out parts.

I have noticed the car has been averaging around 22 mpg. Is that normal for a 1992-1995 SC400? My mom drives a 1997 LS400 and she gets better than that. I know that version got better mpg, with the VVTi being best on gas.

- V -

iTrader: (1)

I think 22 mpg is fine. I get about that on my 99 and close to 27 on the highway.

My 95 SC300 had that noise from the sub as well. I always thought the speaker was shot but i had to replace the headunit at one point and it seemed to have fixed the issue. I replaced with another oem 95 headunit i got from someone on here. Might be worth investigating. the one in mine was the pioneer version.

To my knowledge the 95 SC came with the singe button key, you may want to double check that the one you have came with the 3 button version.

drseth

You are right about the key on the 1995 having one button. What did the newer versions do with the 3 button key?

I considered maybe the subwoofer amp was causing the buzzing, but maybe it could be the head unit. I really don't want to throw parts at it.

Bloozpower

Are you city driving this or are you all highway? I just did a long road trip in my 2000 and got about 27 MPG on flat roads going between 70-90 the whole time. But this is the 5 speed VVTI.

Good luck with the repairs. I am about to do a couple upgrades with mine, but man is this a nice reliable ride. I can't believe I put up with my tempermental BMW for so long.

- V -

iTrader: (1)

My 99SC4 has the standard lock/unlock/trunk setup but my 95SC3 had just a key with a single button on the rim to lock/unlock. If yours came with the same single button setup then a 3 button remote would not be able to transmit certain signals to the receiver thats on the car unless it was replaced with another unit as well and i dont know if thats possible. That could be why some functions on your key might not be working though.

As for the subwoofer, you could run a new cable from the headunit directly to the woofer and check if the noise persists. If it stops then you know its a wiring issue, if it doesnt then its either the headunit or the woofer.

Ramblerman

My 96 sc400 only has 2 buttons on the fob lock/unlock. The unlock for the trunk is located left lower side of the dash, which was locked and I had to use a thread on here to unlock it as the key wouldn't. It now works fine but I won't push the lock button on it again. Do you have the nakamichi premium sound system in your car? It is possible that one of the circuits in the amp is going and needs repaired. The amp is located under the disc player in the right wheel qtr pnl. The drain tube for the gas door also is located there and can allow moisture and water to get in there which can effect or even blow the amp. Make sure it is dry and clean. I relocated my amp up into the trunk to avoid this problem.

drseth

Thanks for your kind reply. I connected a 6x9 Coaxial speaker to sub input, and it buzzed at 1/3 volume, so looks like head unit, sub amp, crossover, or amp are going. New head units aren't that much more than a used SC400 Pioneer. Does anyone know how to determine which component is bad without having to buy replacement parts?

I found the schematic of the window, and used my tester to jump the harness. I discovered that the red/blue striped wire had broken where the driver door hinges. Well, I learned how to replace a window regulator and remove the window cards, but I have thrown parts instead of troubleshooting first. I ran a new wire from door through the rubber shroud and tied it to inside the kick panel.

Only 2 more things to fix: stereo and power mirrors. Any easy way to change out power window ecu?

drseth

I had a 1987 635csi and really never had any mechanical issue except things that normally require replacement, like water pump, alternator, brakes, and exhaust. Looks like the newer cars are so computerized with so many servos and complex electronics, it has me keeping the older cars I own.

The mpg was mainly highway, running 55-80 mph, so I was a little disappointed. A little better than a 1989 750iL I used to own, but not by much. I guess the VVTi and 5 speed automatic helps a lot.

Bloozpower

I have love the 635, but I had one of the new 335 with the turbo and wastegate and HPFP problems. So it had to go.

Good luck getting better MPG in your 95. Maybe an oil change and a seafoam could help? Mine has an aftermarket exhaust and CAI, so that could help with MPG, but I have always heard it doesn't make a big enough different to matter.

drseth

I am into a tank of Techron added. I want to check the throttle body, but I broke off the plastic nipple that runs to the IAC at the power steering pump. I plugged the hose on both ends, and wrapped some electrical tape where the nipple broke. I tried superglueing it, but didn't hold.

I loosened all of the clamps, removed the 10mm bolt towards the back, but everything was so stiff, it didn't want to loosen. I didn't remove the air filter housing, but other cars I have had didn't require removing. Any tricks to getting the intake hoses off to access the throttle body?

Bloozpower

I think you have surpassed anything that I have done to my car. Good luck with it!