zibby07

(please ignore the typo in the title)

I have been looking around at Sc430's for nearly 3 months now and have seen a lot of helpful information on this forum and from members on here.

My search is for a 2002 priced around $17 with the timing belt and water pump already replaced. I personally don't mind high mileage as long as all of the maintenance is up to par.

My big question is how can I tell without taking apart a car I go look at, whether the tire pressure monitor sensors have been disabled? I saw the sticky on how to disable it so it’s quite likely a lot of the vehicles in the 2002 range could have the sensors disabled.

Also is it fairly straight forward for a mechanic to verify whether the timing belt has been replaced?

Lastly in an effort to avoid creating a lot of threads, what do you guys think of the gap between the front bumper and hood of the picture I attached. It looks to me that the gap is rather large and perhaps the SC has been in an accident.

Hopefully you'll be hearing a lot more from me.

Thanks.

EJC

I guess the TPMS can be checked 2 ways. 1- The dealer can check to see if it is functioning. 2- You can check. If I recall the connection is made behind the ashtray. A search of this site should be able to find it.

You're right the hood looks funny. ask the owner, CarMax, look for tape marks, over-spray etc. I had an '03 that we didn't realize had a hood repaint until we spotted some tape marks they missed on clean up. LOOK CAREFULLY.

jimmer!

before I bought my '04, I required a CarFax, which was provided to me.

TooCoolSC

It's not always reliable, but if the timing belt was replaced at a Lexus dealership, it will show up in the service history, and that history should be supplied to you.

If you're wanting to see if the TPMS works, let some air out of one of the tires.

Relative to the number of SC 430's that are out there, and the number of people who read this forum, I wouldn't think it would be likely that the TPMS has been disabled. I would think it would be more likely that it hasn't been.

zibby07

Yeah I saw the sticky on disabling the TPMS and it would be too much of a hassle to open up the center console of every SC430 I test drive.

For letting out the air how low of a PSI does the TPMS trigger at? Is there a special technique to trigger it?

Thanks!

TooCoolSC

I've never done this, but I believe I've read that the TPMS light comes on around 27 or 28 PSI.

igorxx

I checked mine today. All four tires. Let some air out until the light comes on then pump them back up. The light will come on and start flashing. When you put the air back in it will go out.