My new $250 SC400!
10-06-13, 12:17 PM
#1
My new $250 SC400!
Whats up fella's. I'm not new to the forum, just the SC forum. I have a 93 LS400 that I have been working on for a awhile. The LS is now a DD and the SC will be my play toy.
I just picked up a 92 SC400 for $250. The motor seems to run pretty good. A fellow lexus owner bought it for body parts for his SC. He took the bumpers, doors, and fenders. He bought the car from a guy who said it had a bad trans. My buddy never tried to put it in gear, he just took his parts that he needed and let it sit.
So anyway, I got it to my house yesturday and put a battery in it and started it up. Checked the trans to see if it would go into any gear. It did, so I put it into drive and drove it around the neighborhood once. Came back and went to reverse into the driveway..... no reverse. Tried Drive again and NO drive this time. We pushed it into the driveway and let it sit for a little while. Started it back up and it goes into gear again.
The fluid level is way too high even when cold. I'm going to drain and refill to the proper level. Any other ideas? Maybe a bad solenoid?
My future plans for this car are to do a 5spd swap, and a single turbo setup on the v8. I was gathering parts to do this stuff on my LS but I think I'll keep it as is and just DD it.
Here's some pics. She's prett rough, but the body is straight and it runs.
I just picked up a 92 SC400 for $250. The motor seems to run pretty good. A fellow lexus owner bought it for body parts for his SC. He took the bumpers, doors, and fenders. He bought the car from a guy who said it had a bad trans. My buddy never tried to put it in gear, he just took his parts that he needed and let it sit.
So anyway, I got it to my house yesturday and put a battery in it and started it up. Checked the trans to see if it would go into any gear. It did, so I put it into drive and drove it around the neighborhood once. Came back and went to reverse into the driveway..... no reverse. Tried Drive again and NO drive this time. We pushed it into the driveway and let it sit for a little while. Started it back up and it goes into gear again.
The fluid level is way too high even when cold. I'm going to drain and refill to the proper level. Any other ideas? Maybe a bad solenoid?
My future plans for this car are to do a 5spd swap, and a single turbo setup on the v8. I was gathering parts to do this stuff on my LS but I think I'll keep it as is and just DD it.
Here's some pics. She's prett rough, but the body is straight and it runs.
10-06-13, 12:44 PM
#3
The A/C even works, lol. I think I want this car just bare bones though. I'm going to pull the carpet and back seat. Getting rid of those heavy as crap front seats too. I want to make it as light as possible. First thing first is to get the trans sorted out. I refuse to re-build the auto. Im either going to ge the auto working myself or swap it out. Its getting a 5spd either way, but if the auto works I will take my time and save up for a r154 instead of the w58.
10-06-13, 01:11 PM
#4
I just picked one up for $500 , same year and same color.
Whats the mileage on yours?
Tranny fluid level on mine was also way too high, I think a lot of people don't know that the tranny fluid needs to be checked with the engine running.
My tranny started to act up a bit until I drained it , and refilled to the proper level with Toyota type 4 , runs great now, although kicks into gear a little harder then my 93.
What exactly are your plans going to be?
Whats the mileage on yours?
Tranny fluid level on mine was also way too high, I think a lot of people don't know that the tranny fluid needs to be checked with the engine running.
My tranny started to act up a bit until I drained it , and refilled to the proper level with Toyota type 4 , runs great now, although kicks into gear a little harder then my 93.
What exactly are your plans going to be?
10-06-13, 01:51 PM
#5
10-06-13, 08:19 PM
#7
I just picked one up for $500 , same year and same color.
Whats the mileage on yours?
Tranny fluid level on mine was also way too high, I think a lot of people don't know that the tranny fluid needs to be checked with the engine running.
My tranny started to act up a bit until I drained it , and refilled to the proper level with Toyota type 4 , runs great now, although kicks into gear a little harder then my 93.
What exactly are your plans going to be?
Whats the mileage on yours?
Tranny fluid level on mine was also way too high, I think a lot of people don't know that the tranny fluid needs to be checked with the engine running.
My tranny started to act up a bit until I drained it , and refilled to the proper level with Toyota type 4 , runs great now, although kicks into gear a little harder then my 93.
What exactly are your plans going to be?
But as far as mods. First I want to get it back together and atleast have it looking like an SC. lol. Then the first real mod will be a 5spd swap, thats why if the auto is a loss I'm not really worried about it. Then I'm going to build a single turbo setup for it. I've already collected a few parts for the turbo stuff.
1JZPWRD - I will be needing a few parts. Mostly small stuff for now, but I'm broke at the moment so its going to have to wait a few weeks. I'm taking my LS to the Orlando meet in two weeks. Should be alot of fun. Thats where all my extra funds are going at the moment.
Here's my LS:
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10-07-13, 12:58 PM
#9
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Thats my plan for now just a drain and refill. Hopefully it will get the auto working right again. It shifts fine until it warms up and then you have nothing.....
But as far as mods. First I want to get it back together and atleast have it looking like an SC. lol. Then the first real mod will be a 5spd swap, thats why if the auto is a loss I'm not really worried about it. Then I'm going to build a single turbo setup for it. I've already collected a few parts for the turbo stuff.
1JZPWRD - I will be needing a few parts. Mostly small stuff for now, but I'm broke at the moment so its going to have to wait a few weeks. I'm taking my LS to the Orlando meet in two weeks. Should be alot of fun. Thats where all my extra funds are going at the moment.
Here's my LS:
But as far as mods. First I want to get it back together and atleast have it looking like an SC. lol. Then the first real mod will be a 5spd swap, thats why if the auto is a loss I'm not really worried about it. Then I'm going to build a single turbo setup for it. I've already collected a few parts for the turbo stuff.
1JZPWRD - I will be needing a few parts. Mostly small stuff for now, but I'm broke at the moment so its going to have to wait a few weeks. I'm taking my LS to the Orlando meet in two weeks. Should be alot of fun. Thats where all my extra funds are going at the moment.
Here's my LS:
10-07-13, 01:49 PM
#10
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nice score! I wish I could find one that cheap running no matter the condition and what a price! its worth the parts alone. im droolin like it was mint lol glad it found a good home. 
a guy just bought a SC4 for his son's first car for $300 and it's coming along nicely. where are you guys finding these dreamslist.org? lol
hope you get the tranny worked out this could steal of a deal,,, it has M/T swap written all over it for me.
a guy just bought a SC4 for his son's first car for $300 and it's coming along nicely. where are you guys finding these dreamslist.org? lol
hope you get the tranny worked out this could steal of a deal,,, it has M/T swap written all over it for me.
10-07-13, 02:52 PM
#11
SCstone - I saw his thread too! His car is much cleaner than mine, but I'm a happy camper. I'm not really concerned with this auto in the SC. I'm currently saving up for the trans swap right now. A friend of mine is giving me his w58 out of his RHD supra, but I still might try and find a R154. I know the W58 will be fine with the stock v8 but not after its boosted. I'm sure it would hold up ok if I babied it, but I don't know how to do that.
10-07-13, 10:38 PM
#12
Got the doors on tonight after work. These are just temp, so I can keep it outside if I need to. I think in the next few weeks I'm going to find a good parts car at the salvage yard and take the whole front end for parts. The doors and fenders that I currently have a garbage.
10-08-13, 04:11 AM
#13
Lexus Champion
yes, definitely drain and fill transmission with genuine T-IV, but also, here are two more likely scenarios that may fix it easily:
● a known problem where aftermarket transmission filters will fall into pan and fluid no longer picks up correctly - fix is using a genuine Toyota filter
● keep in mind that '92 SC400 is the single most common Lexus model for failing ECU capacitors - and one of the symptoms is the car not shifting right and other transmission issues
● a known problem where aftermarket transmission filters will fall into pan and fluid no longer picks up correctly - fix is using a genuine Toyota filter
● keep in mind that '92 SC400 is the single most common Lexus model for failing ECU capacitors - and one of the symptoms is the car not shifting right and other transmission issues
10-08-13, 10:54 AM
#15
Doors, tail lights, and rear bumper are on.
Also the trans is making a whining sound when in park or neutral, but not in gear. Fluid level is good. Sometimes I can get it to go into gear but it takes forever. I cant wait to pull that pan off and see whats going on. Hopefully the new filter will fix it. I have to stop by lexus and get some more fluid.
Also the trans is making a whining sound when in park or neutral, but not in gear. Fluid level is good. Sometimes I can get it to go into gear but it takes forever. I cant wait to pull that pan off and see whats going on. Hopefully the new filter will fix it. I have to stop by lexus and get some more fluid.