Hello everyone

Recently I finally aquired my own SC 400, and it's been like a dream come true. I love this thing. It's not without issues, but I knew what I was getting into to a degree.

The other day I took it into my local Lexus service center for a general inspection to get as much info about it that they can give me. They told me what I already expected, I'm leaking almost every fluid and everything rubber needs replaced, but thankfully everything works mechanically just fine. (Tangent; they felt so bad because everything is discontinued, and all the techs were my age, 30s, so no one had much if any experience working on the SC. Ended up not charging me for the inspection.)

For my inaugural post, my biggest questions are;

Does anyone have experience buying an Engine Seal and gasket set for the 1UZ? Were there any issues with fit or leaking afterwards?

Are the Z30 Concepts bushings the go-to to replace the old ones?

Is there a site that offers reliable parts like seals? If rockauto is the best we have, that's fine by me.

Is there anything I should absolutely avoid at all costs? (Amazon/ebay kits?)

Thank you for your help.

Hopefully this is okay to post here. Wasn't sure if it belongs in Performance and Maintenance as I'm mostly asking for reviews and experience.

 

Howdy and welcome

For bushings I plan on going with Superpro from FIGS ENGINEERING, Superpro has a lifetime warranty on most of their products minus ball joints, trailing arms and end links. They seem to be priced better than the Strongflex from z30 as well. All of the SCs I've owned benefitted greatly from Steering rack bushings, night and day difference. May be able to find them cheaper than FIGS has them as well. (Black fridays coming up!!! start your shopping list now)

I recently was linked to the site https://www.amayama.com/en - this is for finding OEM parts from Japan. You may actually save some money buying all your seals/gaskets at one time from them + shipping VS buying it all in USA.

I wouldn't say avoid them at all cost but the off-the-shelf aftermarket light housings for our cars are pretty bad quality. Headlights and taillight housings both definitely don't hold up to OEM.

I've never owned a 400 but I see people reporting problems with their mass airflow sensor commonly. Depending on the year of your car, 400s can have a MAF that uses some laser light, when people clean it with MAF cleaner it messes with the laser and will give you tons of headaches.

You posted in the right place, welcome to ClubLexus

 

Thank you for such a warm welcome ninetwo,

Those Strongflex bushings seemed pricey, but I figured it was just going to be the cost for such an older model vehicle. But knowing FIGS has something available too is wonderful news. I knew FIGS had control arms that I was interested in in the future. While I don't feel anything odd about steering, I think I will look into the rack bushing first out of curiosity for what that difference feels like.

I think I've read about amayama while researching, but I never considered that it might be cheaper to order from Japan directly. Makes plenty of sense however, I suppose I have plenty to look into from them.

My problem with aftermarket light fixtures is I just don't like the design. But it seems difficult to find clean affordable oem ones that don't have that spiderweb cracking on the lens. My current taillights are experiencing condensation, so it's something I'll need to address eventually.

I've done a lot of reading, but I haven't read that about the MAF. The difficulty of all the information on this site is that it is hard to know what is still relevant or what may be a new issue. A lot of stores, links, or tutorials from the past are closed, dead, or deleted these days.

Thanks again

 

Congrats on the purchase man i am on my 4th SC400 not many cars better overall i kept going back lol. You can get most of the items from Rockauto you will need to research which brands are unreliable in order to choose correctly. Majority of the hoses you can just get from your local parts store you would have to match the fluid type with the hose. Ebay kits are fine but again you will have to go to the description and see what brands they are offering in the kits usually its good mixed with trash brands. As for upper and lower oil pans toyota uses there own gasket making/adhesive i believe they may have a actual gasket you can buy now. as for seals Felpro,victor reinz and mahle and oem are what i stick to for seals and gaskets. Rockauto is where i go first if the price seems steep on there then i check ebay.

Hope that helps

 

Thank you for the advice SexCoupe. The thing that worries me about those complete kits is exactly as you discribe. It seems like a great value and very convenient (https://www.ebay.com/itm/281739355579 or https://www.ebay.com/itm/370802120778), but I just don't know exactly what I'm getting. Perhaps it is best to tackle things one seal at a time, thankfully I am not in any rush.

 

The FIGS arms are very nice. Expensive.

Symptoms of bad rack bushings are a dead zone in the steering from 10 to 2 o'clock

I put some of the Supra style aftermarket lights on one of my cars this year, its been outside with them for 4 or 5 months and they haven't taken in any condensation. They were $108 shipped when I bought them earlier in the year, they came with harnesses. It took 4 separate shipments to receive an undamaged set. IDK why but the Amazon seller kept sending them without asking me to return them... When I finally got an undamaged set I was pretty happy with them. I personally like 95-96 tails the most.

Look into the BFI mod, it is apparently a great upgrade for 400s.

I highly recommend getting into the SC facebook groups as well, if you don't have a facebook I'd make one just to join up honestly, a lot more conversation goes on there than here.

Something I recommend you to do is check all the drains in your car, check the passenger and driver quarter panel areas in the trunk. The sunroof drain is notorious for clogging, there is also a drain from the gas tank lid area down behind the main amplifier. Very common to have some water there if the car has lived outside.

Clean and condition all your weather stripping, these parts are hard to come by and you definitely want to keep them healthy.

No problem, glad to see you here! Post a picture of your car if you're up to it

 

Call Bell Lexus see if they still can get the gasket kit
https://parts.belllexusnorthscottsda...utcontact.aspx

It comes with almost every gasket in the engine. I say almost because there might be an O-ring or something missing either way it's very convenient. If NLA from Lexus I've had good luck with various brands of gasket kits, except I always use genuine crank and cam seals.

Using non OEM head bolts is setting yourself up for failure.

 

you absolutely don't need a gasket kit like that.

1 crank seal
2 cam seals
2 valve cover seals with grommets and spark plugs seals (kit)
1 oil pan gasket

The rest off the stuff included in the kits you linked aren't necessary unless you are doing a engine rebuild or you have a blown head gasket basically.

 

I second the SuperPro recommendation.

As for Z30 Concepts, I did get their aluminum splash shields as my OEM ones were cracked and falling off and I'm very happy with them.

Some Lexus dealers have their own eBay account for parts. I've gotten a few parts from Bell Lexus mentioned above through eBay (here) but yep you can call as well.

So far I haven't had an issue with discontinued parts...things like hoses and whatnot can also be fabricated. Had to do that for my power steering.

Good luck and have fun with your new SC400! I've had mine for a year and a half now and still love it just as much (if not more) as those first days of having it.

 

Ninetwo,
oh I suppose I do have a bit of a dead zone right there, I just never really thought about it until it was mentioned here. Regarding taillights, are you talking about the "euro" style i see? I don't really mind those, I suppose I'll keep them in mind as my favorite style oem seems far too expensive for me at the moment. Personally, I like the look of the 97+ with the silver trim the most.

Cold air intake is far down on my list, but on the list nonetheless. Order I'm working is Restore, Repair, cosmetic, and finally performance.

Speaking of restore, is there a go-to method for the weatherstripping and the like? I've read a lot about using something like dielectric grease, however since I've never done anything like that I'm quite nervous to mess something up. Not to mention it seems a previous owner rushed a masking job when repainting so there's a little bit of overspray in some areas.

LeX2K,
Thank you for the reference, I'll see what they have. Currently I'm looking at getting fel-pro for crank and cam seals. And honestly, since this whole thing is a learning experience for me, I'm not even sure why I would need new head bolts.

Thanks for that quick little list SexCoupe, I'm probably going to keep things simple like that and just focus on a little less at one time. That said, I think while I'm working those seals I may as well get new spark plugs, wires, distributors, and rotors while I have it all opened up. Who knows last time that was worked on.

I'll get some pictures when I am able. The vehicle is not much to look at yet, but I did buy it in Cali, so it's pretty clean for 30+years

 

I'm working on a car that has Fel-Pro valve stem seals the car pushes large amounts of blue smoke at idle. Frankly their products are garbage. But everyone seems to think they make the best stuff so I've given up trying to convince people otherwise.

 

Never had a problem with them mines is force inducted and no smoke at start up no leaks from crank or cam seals and havent had problems with any one of their seals on any other car. improper installation or a vehicle with more than one cause of a leak is usually the problem.

 

Yeah it looks like the Supra style are called "Euro" style as well. If you end up swapping to a different set of lights you'll likely have a light on the dash for a taillight being out. Each year has a corresponding taillight failure relay box in the driver side quarter panel area. These can be modified to get your light turned off. I had a light on with the Supra/Euro style on my 96.

Small amount of silicone grease, or wd-40 silicone + a sock is what I've been using on weather strips after they're clean. Its as good as it gets from what I know. You won't mess anything up just clean them good when you wash the car. With soapy water, get in all the nooks and folds and get the dirt out, dry them, then get them rehydrated with the silicone.