Ok much to my dismay many minor problems have been occuring with my 1994 sc300 which are breaking my bank. The car does have 130k miles on it so i cant be too bitter; however here is a list of current problems:

1. The tilt on my steering wheel is broken in that it will go in and out but it is stuck in the up position. If i try to move it down it makes about a 2 second grinding noise and will not move an inch. Obvisouly this motor is burnt out, and my question is Can i buy a new one anywhere? Rougly how much would one cost? Does anyone know how to remove the top of the steering wheel column inorder to actually see what is going on in there?

2. The carpet on the drivers side floor is getting soaking wet. Everytime i get in the car my floormat and the carpet under the mat are completely wet. I cannot tell if the water is dripping from somewhere or coming up from underneath (i think this is the case). Anyway the wat and the 90 degree florida weather are not mixing and making a terrible smell in the car. I need to know if anyone has any good ideas as to the source of this water, as well as the method to pull up the acutal carpet underneath the floormat.

3. The part that acutally connects to the battery terminal on my car is broken. (the part with the circular hole) I know i can just attach a new one to the positive wire, but where would i go about getting one of these online?


Thanks for any help anyone can offer. I appreciate being able to post on here and get help rather than paying a mechanic $70 to tell me the same things.

Tommym

 

I have the tilt mechanism, can sell for 150 shipped if you need it.

 

Tommym:

The tilt mechanism sounds burned out. Cannot be repaired. You can buy a new one from Dealer- expensive!! There are actually 2 motors in there, the tilt motor and the telescoping motor. One is approx $500, the other is approx $700. I suggest you look for a used one if money is a concern. Only problem, no guarantee how long used one will work.

As far as your leak, you should be able to trace that with some investigative work on your part. If not, spend $75 with Lexus and have them look for it. Then you can decide what to do. I would make this a priority, as mold and mildew grow very quicly in Florida, and will make you very ill, over time. Plus, if the carpet gets too damaged, a new carpet is approx $800 from the dealer.

The battery cable is an easy thing to replace. You can go to most any auto parts store and get a good one if you do not want to drop the bucks on the stock OEM part.

These cars are magnificent machines, a real work of art. But, they will require maintenance and repair with age and mileage. Think about it though, you are driving a car that was approx $63,000 new, it is still that car- just a bit older, but in my opinion, a far better car than most of the new cars for $35,000 and below. Lexus is a top-of-the-line luxury automobile. They are expensive to maintain, but well worth it!!

As far as spending the $70, sometimes it's better to do that, especially if you are not to mechanically inclined. If you live in Central Florida, PM me. I will recommend an excellent mechanic that is a fraction of the Lexus dealer. He is the only person that touches my SC other than me and the Lexus dealer.

ALIGA: YOU NEED TO CLEAR OUT YOUR MESSAGES, AS I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO PM YOU FOR 2 WEEKS, AND YOUR BOX IS FULL.

Thanks,

Altstadt

 

thanks for all the info man, i really appreciate it. Ill try to pull up the carpet and figure the source of the leak tomorrow.

BTW: Aliga plz email me at "hiimblack@aol.com" We can speak about the tilt mechanism. As stated your PMS are full

 

i will email you, not sure why the pms are full, I only have 5 messages.

 

Set the Box to any date and clear out the deleted PMs and Sent Pms.

 

1.) your motor can't be burnt up if it is attempting to move and is grinding. Broken gear, you'll still have to replace the unit.

2.) on the passenger side it can be the climate condensor, but on the driver side it is most likely the windshield seal broken, but could be the door rubber.

3.) Get a new spade at ace hardware or go to an auto specialty store like autozone and find the replacement.

 

Aliga:

This is the message after attempting to send you a PM:

This user's mailbox is currently full, and cannot be sent any messages until it is cleaned out. An email has been sent notifying the user of this. Please try your request at a later time.

Altstadt

 

Check behind the door trim. There is a big clear plastic cover that seals it, with a little square tab at the bottom. Apparently sometimes the square tab pops the wrong way and lets water leak in. I would pull the trim off, and dust the area with talcum powder, then see if you see any runs in it. If so, you found what is wrong.

 

OK, i went and tried to pull apart as much of the interior as i could and determined that the leak is coming from up above. Water is coming through the part where the trim (same trim the oh **** handle is on) is meeting the dash board. It is then dripping down onto the carpet. I cannot figure out how to get the ohg **** handle or the visor off so i cannot take of the entire side trim molding or the cloth covering the roof to actually determine where the water is coming from. I dont want to pull anything to hard in fear or breaking anything, so if you could please advise me on how to remove these items without damaging them it would be a big help. Also if anyone can make an educated guess as to the source of this water that would help too. Thanks

Tom

 

*Reply to Fred Smith

What door trim are you talking about? The black trim on the outside or the hard plastic trim on the inside?

 

The handle bar removal is pretty simple it pops off. First push the handle flat and try to push the top off. Then once the top part is off, push the lower piece off.

You will then see two screws, which need to be removed, and then you can pry off the trim. Once you pull the trim you should see a hose.

 

ok thanks so much everyone for all your help, I finally found the leak. Something i did not think i was going to be able to do. It is coming from the black rubber weather stripping on the top of the windshield. I can pour water on that part of the roof and actually watch it drip inside the car. It had nothing to do with that hose, it was just getting the carpet material on the roof so satured it was dripping down onto the carpet.

My next question is where would I go to have this fixed? can i buy new weather stripping and glue it in there myself? Is there some sort of leak proof glue i can buy and seal that bad boy up without having to bring hte car in somewhere? Also I just had my windshield replaced...could the problem be that the guy who put it on did not seal up the gap correctly (although i think it was leaking before he ever touched it)

Anyway, thanks for getting me this far into the repair; hopefully with a little more help and knowledge i will be able to get this thing fixed on my own for little to no monetary cost. Its a learning experience anyway.


Btw: Gali, i will reply to your mail tonight i am almost positive i will purchase this item from you...i just need a few more details.

thanks all

Tom

 

I think it is related to your windsheild repair, take it back and show them the leak.

 

just incase anyone has the same tilt steering problem that i had, just search posts by member "c_irie" This guy has a detailed pictured post on how to fix this problem. All that was wrong was a small gear had slippled out of place. I am a car repair moron and was able to pop this gear back in place in about 2 mins, thus saving myself $750 for a dealer tilt mechanism, and $150 for a used one. Thanks for the offer Gali but i dont think ill be needing that part.

Now all i need is info on how to put new windshield sealer on and im money baby.

Tommym