SuperCoupe400

Hey everyone. This is my first post on Club Lexus. Just a little profile on my ride first: I've got a beautiful silver spruce metallic '93 SC400 with the very nice almond interior. Got it pre-owned in '04 with 88k on it. I love the 1st-generation tail lenses - with the orange blinker that goes all the way across the top - really gets attention + there's nothing else like it out there.

Anyway, I went to the FAQ first and did a search for this, which brought up nothing - surprisingly enough. I know there's got to be a ton of data out there on the topic because the p.s. pump is a common issue with our cars.

I've just replaced my p.s. pump, alternator & serpentine belt. I was hoping to get in there and clean two p.s. fluid filters that i've heard, from the LOC forum, can cause undue pressure on the system if left unchecked - thus causing gasket leaks in the p.s. system. But as hard as I looked, I could not locate these two metal-mesh filters. One is supposedly inside the p.s. fluid reservoir, and the other is somewhere in the p.s. rack. The reservoir is (with the exception of its cap) a closed unit with no mechanical fasteners to unloose and get inside of. And on the p.s. rack, I just couldn't find any part of it that looked like I cound get easily inside and search for a filter without potentially screwing something up with my rack&pinion.

Can somebody please help me out here and point out exactly where I should be looking to find and clean these filters?

Thanks much.

sc250tt

never heard about the powersteering unit having filters .if they do exist good luck locating them

KiPod

iTrader: (31)

Never heard of 'em on any car

T0ked

iTrader: (2)

Well, the metal mesh filters I assume you are talking about, are not user serviceable parts (well, not easily, anyway). The first metal filter is at the bottom of the reservior bottle. Stick something gently down the reservoir tank until you can't go any further. Should be about 2-3". That's the first. If nothing is there, may have been removed or puctured. The second is supposedly within the rack unit itself. I've never seen one. This is all for a SC300, but there shouldn't be a big difference in PS design between the 2 cars. You'll need to remove the reservior tank to get to the first filter. I wouldn't really bother. Fill up with some good synth fluid and call it a day.

SuperCoupe400

Well fellas, I finally got a detailed enough profile on the most important filter (the one in the steering rack). I recommend checking out this link - especially if you've got more than 100k on your car and you've had the all-too-common p.s. pump issue. From all I've read up on this filter (on other forums) cleaning it can yield noticeable results. One guy who had performed the cleaning reported that his power steering fluid leak had completely ceased afterward. And everybody says their steering got easier after having done it.

So anyway, here's the link. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums...opic=12024&hl=

Here's a picture of the filter from the solenoid that's attached to the steering rack (not mine)
http://us.lexusownersclub.com/galler...SCF0018?full=1

Hope this helps anyone else looking to do this too.

I'm not surprised some SC owners haven't heard of these filters before. I hadn't either. And beleive it or not, there are some Lexus-trained service techs who don't know about them either. I called up to my local stealership and the service guy didn't know what in the world I was talking about. All he could do was fax me a repair manual image of the steering rack and say "I don't see anything here that says filter, but you can take a look and see what you can find".

It probably won't be easy for me to get to, but I'm pretty sure it'll be worth cleaning out. Especially since, before I replaced it, my old p.s. pump had run nearly dry a few times - sending burnt fluid through the whole system and quite likely getting that filter clogged with a good bit of crap along the way.

SCV8

Wow, great link/good info, I'll be checking mine before the extra pressure thrashes everything.

b1ackhawk

Great link, can anyone tell me more specifically where this solenoid is located?

My power steering is humming pretty loud, i want to fix it before i get the notorious leak and alternator failure.

Found it, drivers side of the rack, next to the wheel well, can see it from the top of the engine compartment.