Is a loud engine normal for an SC300?
 

I have no idea what are this belongs in so I decided to just post it here.

I'm not sure if this is normal on the SC or not, but the engine seems rather loud for a Lex. When I go from a stop it revs fairly loud and the RPMS go up normally but it takes 2.5 RPM for the car to start to move and it shifts around 3 RPM.....is that normal for a SC300.

A good indicator would be when you use the word engine in the title. ;)

I'm assuming an automatic since you said "it shifts". GTE in your forum name, but sounds like the car is stock...so I'm assuming 2JZGE

No, I don't think it's normal. Shifting from first at 3000RPM might be, but 2500 to get it to move is high. Some slippage somewhere in the drivetrain. Torque converter or transmission itself. A little more detail might yield some better advice.

Is this level ground?
Is it exhaust noise, from under the console or from the engine bay?
Stock exhaust?
Is the power delivery normal after you get moving?

Slappy

Yes its an auto (GE), It happens no matter what kind of ground I'm on level or not. Everything is stock and it just sounds like the engine is reving high and faster than normal. While driving it shifts around 2500 from gear to gear, but sometimes it shifts hard from 2nd to 3rd and when it does the RPM's are around 3.5 and sometime 4.

Now the other issue is no matter what speed I'm at I get what sounds like a rattling/grinding from either the tranny or possibly the differential..........I'm really not sure. It does not get worse when the RPM's go up or down................its just there and I'm really not sure where its coming from.

What's the mileage on that car?
Sounds like you have a transmission problem. A used auto tranny can be had a for a few hundred bux. The classified section had a few listed and still available.
First things ,first. I would check the transmission fluid and see if that's low. If it's really old or looks dirty, I would flush that out and put new fluid in. If that doesn't fix the problem, a transmission swap may be needed.
From your description it sounds like it's the transmission, not an engine problem.

For comparison, when I go easy on the gas, car shifts at 2k rpm, occasionally 2.5. 3rd to 4th gear shift is delayed unless i let off the gas slightly past 40mph and it will shift smoothly into 4th.
When you say, loud engine noise, when stopped, but in Drive, I'm not sure what you're referring to. Is the engine rpm high, i.e. higher than 800rpm? Loud engine noise can have many iterations. Please elaborate.

It has 172k, when I say loud engine I mean it sounds more like a truck than it does a car. THe only way I can describe it is if you are standing outside the car when it drives by and the driver is pressing the gas it sounds like a Ford F150. Alot of engine noise....not like a pinging or anything but just over all loud revving mostly..

It idles at 700-800 RPM and is quiet, but the minute you step on the gas the engine revs louder than normal.

Now the rattling/grinding you can here the minute the car goes into gear, no matter what gear you go into and it is audible from inside and outside of the car.

The fluid looks normal, but I was thinking flushing it anyways the only reason I have not done it yet is because to my understanding if the tranny is slipping flushing can cause more problems.

I'm having a ***** of a time finding a A340E tranny locally

Maybe an exhaust leak. I had one on my 96 SC and even though it was the size of a dime it made my car sound like a tank. Same thing happened with my dad's 99 LS.

sounds like you have TRANNY issues....

This is just a wild guess, but i think that you should check your clutch fan and plastic shroud that surronds it, that can be the culprit to your noise...

zerosix

1999 SC300 seems to be louder than normal
 

LS430Coy... if your 2JZ-GE sounds like a "tornado" or "hurricane" when you rev it you may have a nearly seized mechanical fan clutch assembly that is locked at or near 1:1 engine-to-fan rotation at all RPMs. With the engine off, attempt to spin the main engine fan with your fingers. It if spins freely-- no issue. If it stops as soon as you take your fingers away or doesn't budge at all-- time to replace it with a new OEM or Aisin unit.

As far as loudness in general, the 2JZ series is a generally smooth engine being an inline six but it does have a satisfying growl. Even with the non-turbo versions it is technically a performance engine. Remember that this is an engine design that was first sold in 1988 (Japanese market cars first with the first generation 1JZ-GTE/GE series) and even modern trucks that we are used to today have had tremendous improvement in smoothness and NVH compared to what trucks used to be in the early 1990's when the SC300/Soarer and GS300/Aristo were first sold to the public. Still a very smooth engine by modern standards and mostly quiet with a stock exhaust system when cruising along or accelerating slowly but you should be hearing it a bit when you get on it.

I regularly compare the sound/feel of my SC300 to a 1999 LS400 with the 1UZ-FE VVT-i 4.0L V8 and even that car can be "loud" or a bit loud when you get on it. But it is geared differently than the SC300 and it has its stock exhaust system. If accelerating and cruising moderately any of the 1UZ-FE engines in a stock car are going to be a bit more quiet.

If something does seem to be off with your 1999 SC300 and the loudness increases in proportion to revs the very first thing I would check is the mechanical fan clutch assembly.

This was great detailed reply
 

Sorry for the incomplete thread