I first saw one of these SC400s up close back in 1999 when i was like 19 or 20. My friend's dad had the 99 gold package with some purple pearl paint. It was always garaged and never seen rain. I hope to own a clean 93, 94 or 95 so i can work my magic on it. 😎
i have a '97 400 and i love it but finding someone to work on it is a lil hard cuz its such a unique engine and the amount of space in the engine bay is limited but i love my car excited to see where it takes me
Loved the video. By far my favorite jdm legend car. Did you know the emblems weren't supplied from toyota. The dealer would take the silver emblems and get them sent out to be coated. Bastards gatekeeping
I've owned a 1992 example since 2018. I love it to bits. That said, this car has a lot of negatives: - the 1UZ-FE motor is a leak MONSTER. OMFG, so many leaks...500ml per week, which is a downer for all the obvious reasons. The cams seals leak. The valve cover seals leak. The oil pan leaks... - I found out the hard way, that if you just ignore the leaks, and keep topping up the engine, the leaked oil runs down to the steering rack, and destroys the bushings. You WILL lose steering control of your car, eventually, and you won't realize that the cause is an oil leak. - Pray that you never need to change the starter, like I did, at 250,000 kms. The starter is in the V of the engine, underneath the intake and fuel system. Half the engine (the upper half) needs to come out, before you can even SEE the starter. This consists of about 3,789 separate parts. And then Lexus has implanted two nasty surprises for you, once you do get there. Spoiler: you're gonna be scratching your head, how to undo the mounting bolts. - Need to do the timing belt? You need to disassemble the front of the engine. It's on the same level of pain as the starter job. - Toyota and Lexus (I own and have worked on both.) under-hood plastics SUCK. Like, REALLY, AND TRULY SUCK. When I did the starter, I needed to remove the fuel injectors. The injector clips basically shattered the instant my fingers touched them. Never seen such fragile plastic. By contrast, my 1991 Civic is a year older, and all the plastics are still free from said brittleness. This is simply NOT a Honda problem like it is on Toyota/Lexus. On a Lexus, basically you must simply assume that if you need to TOUCH something plastic under the hood, it's gonna shatter, so buy spare plastics pre-emptively. - The ECU's capacitors are famous for failing. - Like you said, the dash and instrument pod lights are famous for going out. - To change out a bulb from the tail lights, you need to remove said lights. Ugh. There's no reason not to make the bulbs accessible from the trunk...but that's what they did. Wheeeee! There's more, but I think you get the idea. This car requires a LOT of TLC. But I've had this car for so many years, and have been through so many adventures with it, that I'm emotionally attached to it. I love it as I would, the family dog. And when it is functioning well, it's SOOOOOOO pleasant to drive. Oh, and I think the early models are way better looking than the later ones. Not a fan of the facelift, or the bodykit.
@@JT-zn5mg Timing belt: correct: it is right up against the engine, so everything on top of it -- between it and the radiator, including said radiator -- must come out. It's boxes and boxes of parts.
@@JT-zn5mg ECU: Lexus will not rebuild it. They will sell you a new one, if they have them in stock, which they probably won't. Expect to pay at least $2,000. There is a channel on here (Cartune Company NZ) that specializes in rebuilding 1UZ-FE ECUs, but they can only do it BEFORE the capacitors die. Alternatively, I have used Flagship 1, but it took a LOOOOOOONG time for them to fix it.
The early 1UZ-FE is superior to the older ones in many ways. 1) Like you said, the internals are way beefier. 2) They are NON-interference motors, which (to me, anyway) is WAY better. I don't have to worry that the engine will destroy itself if the timing belt breaks. When changing the timing belt, you can freely spin the cam gears and the crank, without worrying about making valves and pistons fighting with each other. 3) The cam seals cost only a few bucks. On the VVT-i motors, Toyota did away with the replaceable cam seals, and made it a cam ASSEMBLY that costs over $500 each side, to replace. A**hole design, if you ask me.
I first saw one of these SC400s up close back in 1999 when i was like 19 or 20. My friend's dad had the 99 gold package with some purple pearl paint. It was always garaged and never seen rain. I hope to own a clean 93, 94 or 95 so i can work my magic on it. 😎
Getting a SC400 in the next month or so and i couldn't be more excited
@@liamjohnson6353 we gotta keep them alive, what year?
@@JT-zn5mg A 1994 with 160,000 miles. I really be having dreams of buying it haha
How much?
Did u buy it ?
i have a '97 400 and i love it but finding someone to work on it is a lil hard cuz its such a unique engine and the amount of space in the engine bay is limited but i love my car excited to see where it takes me
Nice car....I have a 98 400...I loved the car when they were new and I love it as my weekend toy!
I just picked up a 2000 SC400 two weeks ago. 👌🏽👌🏽💯💯 Already received multiple offers for it. Nope!
@@SCPrepNationTV nice man
Loved the video. By far my favorite jdm legend car. Did you know the emblems weren't supplied from toyota. The dealer would take the silver emblems and get them sent out to be coated. Bastards gatekeeping
I've owned a 1992 example since 2018. I love it to bits.
That said, this car has a lot of negatives:
- the 1UZ-FE motor is a leak MONSTER. OMFG, so many leaks...500ml per week, which is a downer for all the obvious reasons. The cams seals leak. The valve cover seals leak. The oil pan leaks...
- I found out the hard way, that if you just ignore the leaks, and keep topping up the engine, the leaked oil runs down to the steering rack, and destroys the bushings. You WILL lose steering control of your car, eventually, and you won't realize that the cause is an oil leak.
- Pray that you never need to change the starter, like I did, at 250,000 kms. The starter is in the V of the engine, underneath the intake and fuel system. Half the engine (the upper half) needs to come out, before you can even SEE the starter. This consists of about 3,789 separate parts. And then Lexus has implanted two nasty surprises for you, once you do get there. Spoiler: you're gonna be scratching your head, how to undo the mounting bolts.
- Need to do the timing belt? You need to disassemble the front of the engine. It's on the same level of pain as the starter job.
- Toyota and Lexus (I own and have worked on both.) under-hood plastics SUCK. Like, REALLY, AND TRULY SUCK. When I did the starter, I needed to remove the fuel injectors. The injector clips basically shattered the instant my fingers touched them. Never seen such fragile plastic. By contrast, my 1991 Civic is a year older, and all the plastics are still free from said brittleness. This is simply NOT a Honda problem like it is on Toyota/Lexus. On a Lexus, basically you must simply assume that if you need to TOUCH something plastic under the hood, it's gonna shatter, so buy spare plastics pre-emptively.
- The ECU's capacitors are famous for failing.
- Like you said, the dash and instrument pod lights are famous for going out.
- To change out a bulb from the tail lights, you need to remove said lights. Ugh. There's no reason not to make the bulbs accessible from the trunk...but that's what they did. Wheeeee!
There's more, but I think you get the idea. This car requires a LOT of TLC.
But I've had this car for so many years, and have been through so many adventures with it, that I'm emotionally attached to it. I love it as I would, the family dog. And when it is functioning well, it's SOOOOOOO pleasant to drive.
Oh, and I think the early models are way better looking than the later ones. Not a fan of the facelift, or the bodykit.
@@Maplecook tell me more about the timing belt, that’s the belt that sits inside of the belt correct, not the serpentine belt on the outside?
@@Maplecook also where would you bring the ecu to get rebuilt, Lexus? Or do they have other places you can send it out too?
@@JT-zn5mg Timing belt: correct: it is right up against the engine, so everything on top of it -- between it and the radiator, including said radiator -- must come out. It's boxes and boxes of parts.
@@JT-zn5mg ECU: Lexus will not rebuild it. They will sell you a new one, if they have them in stock, which they probably won't. Expect to pay at least $2,000.
There is a channel on here (Cartune Company NZ) that specializes in rebuilding 1UZ-FE ECUs, but they can only do it BEFORE the capacitors die. Alternatively, I have used Flagship 1, but it took a LOOOOOOONG time for them to fix it.
I had a 1967 Imperial, the door is probably as long as the 400 and was over 230 pounds!
two door or four door?
@JT-zn5mg two door, also of interest, the Imperial was the only car banned from demolition derbies nationally.
Nice. I have a 93 also
The early 1UZ-FE is superior to the older ones in many ways.
1) Like you said, the internals are way beefier.
2) They are NON-interference motors, which (to me, anyway) is WAY better. I don't have to worry that the engine will destroy itself if the timing belt breaks. When changing the timing belt, you can freely spin the cam gears and the crank, without worrying about making valves and pistons fighting with each other.
3) The cam seals cost only a few bucks. On the VVT-i motors, Toyota did away with the replaceable cam seals, and made it a cam ASSEMBLY that costs over $500 each side, to replace. A**hole design, if you ask me.
do you think this would make a good first car? i want something somewhat sporty and conferrable and reliable
@@HadennBrown yeah I’d say so, as long as you bought one that was taken cared of you should be fine.
1997 My Hot Rod
Have a 97 sc400 and a 99 sc300
South Jersey?
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