Hey, just wanted to say hi to everyone. Been lurking for a while and finally registered. Have a 2003 SC430 just about to hit 80,000 miles. Have always liked the body lines of the 430, have had a 97' SC400 before. I really liked the way SC400 handled and just felt better all around for spirited driving. So far I have fixed the front speakers with new surrounds, much better. Got rid of the pie dishes on the wheels, switched to the 5 spoke center cap $40 on ebay shipped (score!). Then painted them black with plasti dip, looks much better IMO. I am getting the P0430 code VSC/VSC OFF light and Check Engine light. I believe it to be a leaking gasket, Lexus dealer tried to tell me catalytic converter pulled them they look brand new no clogged cells or anything, nice try guys. Guess they don't get too many owners that are machinists/engine builders in there that will call thier BS. They also said water pump and timing belt but I think that is just regular maintenance, so I have both ready to install in the box. Another issue I am having is somewhere in the initial top opening process it gets hung up you have to hit open and close a few times back and forth then it will come open, I don't see any wear marks where it would be catching. Any ideas? And most recent is a intermittent ignition issue, key forward no crank every once in a while but usually starts on the second or third twist. Any ideas? Ignition, starter, I assume the solenoid is in the starter not a seperate piece, but other than that I don't really know where to start. Just wanted to see if anyone has had similar issues. Great site, not a bunch of pretentious people, but really nice guys (and gals) with great info and writeups. Thanks in advance, -Chris Byrne

 

Plast Dipped wheels...

 

welcome to the forum looks great

 

Black wheel looks great on this color, get some lower spring / coilover & you are all set!

 

Welcome to this forum.

Nice color, some coilovers will do the car really good. I would do the orange sidemarkers also (in Europe it is allowed to do so)

It maybe could be the VVTI controller, but I would do a search on this forum like I always do. This forum always comes with an answer :>

Hope the problems with roof will be solved, I think you should lubricate everything, because I had similar issues and after that it dissapeared.

 

Welcome to the Club.

 

With your top opening function being intermittent like that, I'd suspect a switch/sensor is going bad that is used in the process. Either JohnnyCake or Habious had a switch problem a while back that they had to fix. I'm guessing that the repeated opening attempts is cleaning a dirty switch enough to allow it to open. Just a wild guess. Unfortunately, there are several. (Do a search and I believe that a diagram is on the forum showing the various motors, sensors and switches involved in the top.)

A simple thing to check though is to make sure that your trunk lid guard/cover/shade type thing is properly set in the groove. (Sorry, I don't know what that is called.) If that is loose or not making a connection, the sensors won't allow the top to move.

Welcome to the forum and good luck. Let us know what you find out.

 

Welcome And that's a nice car you have there.

 

Thank you for the welcome guys. The top issue is definately mechanical because you can hear it trying to move it is just getting caught up somewhere. I will try and lubricate it and take it from there. The ignition issue is another thing, I twist the key forward to start it and there is nothing, no voltage drop like lights dimming, no starter click like low battery or anything. Then you twist it again and usually on the second attempt it starts right up like nothing was ever wrong. My first thought is something in the ignition switch itself, maybe something with security, a bad ground somewhere, or possibly the starter. I am probably going to get the exhaust gaskets tomorrow and try to get rid of the P0430 VSC/VSC OFF Check Engine Light which to me is the most bothersome because the lights are always illuminated on the dash. Thanks for the input, i'm off to the search function. Also I did want to do the coil-over setup and possibly new wheels and tires with a better offset to make them flush with the fenders, and I was going to plasti dip the whole car Olive Drab Green. But I just found out the wife is pregnant so I will probably be selling soon, no minivan for us but will be getting a more usable 4 door of some kind. I have a 11 second 92' Mustang, also a POS daily that I drive to school, and the SC430.