Hey guys, finally got around to picking up a 400. Found it on craiglist for 2000, and decided to jump on it. The car is a 92 sc400 with 200,000 on it. The car looked good in the pictures, and the guy said the only problem it had was a dent on the fender. I go down to look at it and right off the bat find a bunch more exterior problems, as well as the interior having all kinds of things wrong. However after the test drive the car felt very strong and everything felt great. I got him down to 1800 and drove her home that night(last night). The car drove home perfectly, it is a dream on the freeway but after getting off the freeway I could hear and feel something was up with what I thought was first gear, but it didn't feel too bad and I just brushed in off.


Fast forward today. The car was NOT smogged, and I had to do it myself(Luckily it passed)and what I thought was a first gear whine turns out to be something in the engine. Below is a video of the sound
http://youtu.be/Eh4FGLBfQCY

Picture of the car and some of its ghettoness.








Some questions I have for you guys:
-Thoughts on wtf this noise is? It ONLY makes it when i rev it just a tiny bit.
-Where can I get all these interior parts that are missing for cheap?
-Is the only way to fix the gauge needles is to replace them(Not going to pay $100 for some needles)

Thanks guys!

 

First welcome to CL!!!!

There are some things I would fix first, and the number one thing is the drive seat belt. It looks frayed. The other things that I can see in the pictures is the passenger side door handle, common problem, easy fix. Other thing is the tranny sounds like its on the way out. Maybe solenoids, one of four or all of them. Easy fix. Might want to change the tranny, or convert to a manual down the road. The needles are easy fix, remove them, and send them to Lextech, I think cheaper than $100, you mentioned. Fix the cable for the hood, by placing it back on the latch properly, unless the latch itself is broken, again easy fix.

I see 4 gauge wire, where is that going and for what? I would check the car over very well and check everything out, brakes, struts, tie rods, ball joints, rack and pinion. The reason I say that is that the porevious owner appeared to have just drove the car and nothing more.No offense to that person, but pointing out some things I would check first. Do all the maintencance first, then once running and shifting smooth, then move on to the other little things like a bfi, better exhaust, motor swap, etc. Choice is yours and GL with your project. Everything about these cars can be found on here, someone knows the answer, I assure you.


Again welcome to the SC family !!!!

 

Just saw the hood shocks gone, where are they??? Also check the door popping, and the trunk shocks still work.

Just listened to the video, sounds like the timing belt is hitting one of the distributor covers or timing belt cover. Its hard to tell in the video. Tho if this was possible it would do it all the time, just a thought.

 

Thank you very much!

Yea the previous owner did not take very good care of the car, and sadly the car looks much better in pictures than it does in real life . The hood has the 2jz vac diagram on it so it was replaced at one point, and I am not 100% sure but I dont think that is a 92 front bumper is it? It looks to me like the hood flew up on the freeway and bent the rear corners and broke the hood struts(They are gone). The trunk struts are great. The wiring is for an amp and will be all taken out when I get some time.


There are 2 92 sc300s in a picknpull near me so I will go and have a hay day with them.


Some more questions I have:
-I replaced the wiper fuse and the electric steering wheel started to work again, however it only goes in and out and will not go down, any ideas?
-There is a hole to the right of the radio which I thought was a cup holder. What is it?
-Is the manual for these cars available anywhere online?

 

Yep that's a 92 front bumper

 

Welcome and good luck...If the last owner took poor care of it you may be in for an expen$ive lesson on why not to buy a rough sc. Dont worry I made the same mistake, but a little over a year later I love the car still. Stick with it and youll love it too. keep us updated

 

Well I am sure that when all is said and done it would have been cheaper to have just bought a nice SC.. However once I replace all parts I will know that they are in good working order and will last a while.

 

Agreed I am in the same boat. It is well worth it to learn your vehicle inside and out. By the way, nice car.

 

Welcome to CL and congrats on the SC

 

Was able to sell some extra parts I had laying around this weekend so I now have some play money

 

Andrew, Check out the classifieds for some of those interior parts that need replaced. There are a few members on here that are parting out full cars and have a ton of the odd and random parts for sale for good prices.

Let me know if you need help with anything.

-Cam

 

1st gear wine is usally from a bad trans mount which is super easy to replace and cost 60.00.

 

Looks like you are missing a lower cup holder, I am selling one in the classifieds section.

 

welcome to CL. id love to get that for $1800.

 

hey welcome and congrats on the project car.. since youll need to be buying parts and if you wanna buy lexus parts make sure to sign up over at sewell youll get a discount since you are now a member of CL..