lexslexus

Almost 2 years ago, I was introduced to the world of Lexus when my brother bought a stunning black on black '95 SC 400 with 220,000 miles for his first car. Ever since then, this car has been a mystery.

It needed some work (timing belt, brakes, bad gas mileage, dent, seats weren't in the best shape) but was perfectly reliable for the first few months. After that, it took on a mind of it's own.

The check engine light came on one day and stayed on but he paid it no mind. Soon, the engine would stall intermittently but only when it was 90 something degrees outside. Then, stalling became a regular occurrence. He got it checked out and a mechanic told him he only needed a new battery. After the new battery, no problems for the next month or two.

Out of nowhere, he had intermittent no starts for about a month. Tried to take it to a few different oil change type of shops and a few Japanese specialist shops but none could figure it out because they only had scanning tools for vehicles '96 or newer. Shortly, his car would only start once in a blue moon.

When it did, you'd never know what was going to happen. Some days it would run for only 1-2 mins and then some days it would run until you shut off the engine. Sometimes it would crank but not turn over and some days it wouldn't crank at all. Sometimes you'd get thick black or white smoke too and awful fumes but sometimes nothing out of the norm.

Almost a year after purchase, he gave up on trying to get it fixed and sold it to a flipper. Since then, I've seen his car for sale on Craigslist 3 times and in the ads, it seems like the sellers are trying to hide the problem(s).

So, what do you all think is the culprit here? It's always puzzled me, especially with the reputation of reliability. I've thought that maybe it was the timing belt (Lexus told him he needed a new one badly) or the ECU. He was told it could be anything from needing a new alternator to an entirely new engine but overall no one could really figure out what was going on.

- V -

iTrader: (1)

The battery replacement 'fix' together with the stalling issue seems like the alternator is going bad. The check engine light could be checked on an OBD1 system using a paperclip ( you can look up a tutorial on how to do this) The no starting thing could just be the started. With 220k miles, if its never been replaced i wouldnt put it past it being bad. Saying that it could crank and not turn over could be ignintion issue or fuel pump not delivering fuel. ECU could also have been the issue but i wouldnt know how to check that short of just replacing it. There are ALOT of possible issues and a proper shop should have been able to diagnose them. Im no mechanic and just from this post those are some of the things i would have looked at. Guess well never know unless you decide to buy it back lol

BlackIRON

Most likely an ECU issue, my money would be on a leaky capacitor as i have seen so many problems with stalling, cranking but not starting, turning on for 2 mins but the next time it stays on for an entire day as well as intermittent engine issues such as running perfectly fine to going into somewhat of a limp mode and after resetting the EFI fuse driving fine for two miles. As i said all of these symptoms were in two sc300's i have owned one being a 94 and the other being a 96. and just like Vteruni said, i guess we will never know what the answer really was. Unless you buy it back and turn it into a reliable daily!

ThomasGS4

iTrader: (19)

Leaning towards leaky ECU capacitors as well.

Duck05

ECU for sure should be repaired/rebuilt if nothing else then eliminate all the symptoms a failing ECU can cause..... Below is your best vendor for that item..... (if you decide to go after that car...)

https://www.taninautoelectronix.com/...ecu_repair.htm

LoudonMan

Try the fuel pump. Mine did the same to me last year in the 100 degree heat. They only time I cussed the car. Thank goodness for roadside assistance, they put it on a rollback and put my baby right in my shop. The starter gave me fits, too. But It was a great time to remove the intake and clean it.

RXRodger

iTrader: (2)

Find somebody with a gen 1 400 and swap ecu's to see if it changes. Or just buy another one and swap it, you can pick them up for less than $100 usually. Then you can send yours off to get rebuilt if it hasn't been, kill 2 birds one stone. If it is not ECU, then it's back to a ground issue, sensor, fuel pressure regulator, pump, and a lot more possibilities.

lexslexus

Thanks for the input everyone. Wish my brother would have come on here and asked this same question awhile back. I had thought about buying his car back before I bought my LS 400 but now I'd rather hold out for one in better shape and fewer miles like this beauty I saw today.