Picked up a black on black '95 SC400 on Friday. Several questions that are kinda newb, but I'm unfamiliar with the 400 series and they're starting to concern me.

1) There's this spaceship-sounding noise that emits from the passenger side of the engine compartment when I accelerate at low RPMs, which gets higher/louder as I accelerate and only occurs when I'm in Drive. I can't hear it when it's idling. I've gotten used to it but it's starting to bug me, and I can't really describe it. Searched to no avail.

2) There have been several instances when I'm driving and turn off the climate control, and the car would shut off by itself once I arrive to a stop/low RPMs at a stop light or stop sign. Maybe it's time to go for an Optima battery? It is equipped with HIDs for the low beams and fogs.

3) The red 'BRAKE' light on the dash randomly illuminates, sometimes when I apply the brakes, other times when I'm just accelerating or coasting. There doesn't seem to be an issue with the brake system. Could it be a faulty sensor? Owner's manual doesn't shed any light on this, and a search on the forum suggests it's low on brake fluid, and I have no idea where the brake fluid reservoir is (actually I haven't tried to look as there is only one strut holding up the 500-lb. hood and I don't want it to fall on my head).

I'm living in the dorms at college and have no access to any tools to try to diagnose there problems myself. Closest Lexus stealership is an 45 minutes away, and I have yet to find a trustworthy independent Lexus shop. Thanks for your input, I'm really excited about this car.

 

1- it's the intake.

2- Lolz, no hid's don't draw that many amps and your battery has not too much of anything to do with your voltage while your car is running. You can take it completely out of the car if you like and drive into the sunset (though stupid since it will stand a chance of screwing the regulator up). You need to do nothing but simply look at what you said to know the answer. The A/C system has an idle regulator on it that keeps your RPM's up. If it is faulty the car can stall turning the A/C system on or off. Search on the idle control for the climate system.

3- It's usually low fluid, it can be a bad sensor, it's been known to be from the E-brake handle not being all the way down or the wire in the console that senses it is down is not making good contact. Though many dispute that the brake sensors on this car are capable of telling you that your pads are low, twice in 7 years when that light starts flashing on and off two weeks later my pads were scraping the rotors. Coinkidink?

 

Only suggestions I'd have is low fluid, and spaceship noise is normal? My old '95 sc4 randomly turned off when i pulled to a stop 3 times while i owned it, i didnt do anything about it lol..
Sorry couldnt be much more help.

 

My SC4 used to have a irregular idle. Changed the spark plugs and spark plug wires and it made the car idle much better. Add some brake fluid and you should be set.

 

So should I worry about it or should I replace the intake? I lack knowledge in the mechanical field of cars.

 

Ha no, that's jsut the sound they make when sucking in huge amounts of air... LOL

It is a V8

 

All of the symptoms above are very common to the SC400. OLT already explained 1 and 3. Number 2 could be the bad ECU or the TPS and it's not related to the battery at all. A mechanic can adjust the RPM just slightly higher for normal driving, so when the A/C is turned off, the RPM is still above the engine running point.

 

All the above opinions sound pretty good. Wanna still come over tomorrow to check it out?

 

Yeah, I'll give you a call sometime in the morning.

Thanks for the input guys.