SCFriend

My friend with a 1997 SC400 (and no internet access!) had a slight problem with his driver's door hinge mechanism a few months back...it seemed to be "sticking" a bit, affecting the "swing out" part of the door opening movement....the dealer here told him to keep everything lubed with lithium grease and he'd be OK. Fast forward a few months and the other day he noticed the door was actually sticking as it made a loud noise upon opening it....closer inspection revealed the leading edge of the door skin had actually crunched up against the trailing edge of the fender sheet metal in the door jamb, scraping off some paint from the door edge :eek:

A quick trip to the local bodyshop in his town - they told him it looks like the hinge mechanism needs new bushings to properly support the door.

Is there such a thing from the dealer as a hinge bushing kit, or is he looking at having to replace the entire hinge mechanism? Also is this a common issue on the SC400? I'll be calling the local dealer here tomorrow to hear their story but figured I better brace myself for the worst!

SupraCoup3

I had the wind catch the door just right, and bend the hinge -- it cost $400 to get it replaced @ the dealership. You might be in this price range.

lex400sc

The cheapest solution is to go to a salvage/junk yard and find an SC parts cars to take the bushings from. It'll probably cost you less than $100USD and it'll work like new. I've never heard of this problem before though. It's likely the result of a forceful impact to the door while it was open.

SCFriend

D'oh! So here in Canada that's gonna hurt even worse I'd say! At least the dealer here gives me a good discount on my MR2 parts but they don't seem too willing with Lexus gear! Must have something to do with being the ONLY Lexus dealer in about 700 miles!!!

I'd be interested in hearing if others have had this problem occur over time from normal use/wear&tear....the car hasn't had any misfortunes or mishaps that the owner is aware of (he bought it three years ago).

SCFriend

Dealer here wants $474+tax (CDN) for the hinge assembly...I think my friend will be giving TAP Recyclers a call!

wolfy187

i had the same problem. the dealer just replaced my hinge. mind you i have a 92 and i replaced my hinge in 99

Longo charged me close to 450

Arthur

Ryan

I have a similar problem. It is not very noticable, but when I open the door a certain way it will slightly scrape - exactly as described in the first post. Most of the time it is okay. The hinge looks complicated so I am a little concerned about trying to fix it myself - but then again $450 is a lot to spend!

Keep this thread going - maybe someone here can figure out a fix and help us with it.

Fantius

The wind caught my door also. I was pissed. I knew it messed it up when I heard the noise it made (the bending-metal sound). As I used the door after that, there was panel rubbing and paint chipping. Somehow, I fixed it by hand by prying the door panel so it didn't rub. A little touch-up paint, and you can't notice it. It was over a year ago, so I don't remember exactly how I fixed it. I know the hinge is not right, so now I always hold it when I open the door, instead of just giving it a shove and letting go.

SCFriend

Hmmm so this is not an unheard-of problem apparently....the thing that's a bit different with my friend's door problem is that it appears the bushings have worn out or let go in the hinge mechanism (based on the body shop that checked it out when he noticed the paint damage), as opposed to the door getting torqued by the wind or anything else unusual and messing up the hinge alignment. Seems a bit odd that a 1997 model car would have worn out door bushings this early in its life (only about 60k miles/100,000kms on it now).

Red93sc400

No, it is not an unheard of problem at all. The SC series is known to have eight somewhat common problematic weak spots, they being...

1) Door hinge issues as you describe
2) Torque Converter lock up rumble (@40 MPH)
3) Fogging headlamps and tail lamp fixtures
4) Breaking exterior door handles
5) Musty mildew odor from air conditioner in summer
6) Poor AM radio reception (static / electrical noise)
7) LCD panel leakage or darkening (temp control unit)
8) Gauge needle faulting (speed, tach, gas, temp)

Some of these issues were rectified as time went on.
Others are still with us. There even may be others but these are the most commonly observed as per my Lexus service consultant.

Lex Luthor

Art, also pwr steering pump/alternator, control arm bushings, water pump, and heater control valve. The center a/c vents have also been known to crack.

Lex Luthor

Oh, and the special 4-link hinge assemblies in the SC are designed to move the entire door away from you laterally, they are trick, and yes they have had occasional problems, but 60K miles is way premature for bushing wear, something must have happened, he may not even have been aware of it at the time.

SCFriend

Thanks folks....I'm wondering if scrap yard parts would be a good idea here or not....chances are any scrap parts he can get will be at least as old as his and probably older (here in Canada I believe 1997 was the final year for the SC400 and something like less than a hundred from that model year were ever sold), thus more likely to have been exposed to the same sort of "tweaking" from a door movement or actual wear in the mechanism from age...hmmmm....

rboorgu

What's the story with the control arm bushings. How do you know if they are gone and how do you replace them.

Raj

Ryan

Just wanted to bring this post back from the dead. My body shop said they would replace the bushings for me if I could find a replacement. Lexus only sells the hinge. Anyone here find a substitute bushing that worked?

Thanks,
Ryan