Neil E

Yes it's nice to have a little extra power on tap....not that it's ever enough. Perhaps it will encourage me to clean mine and take a picture. It appears the SC250 also has the advantage of usable rear seats the 430 is barely a 2+2.

That does look very smart indeed. I think that's the same colour combination as my SC but yours looks so much cleaner and I am very jealous of the leather steering wheel with paddle shift.

Ah yes good thought. You could try functions such as the fader, treble, bass, etc to see if the link between the head unit and amplifier is working. I assume you have checked the fuses. Sorry, I can't help much as I replaced my head unit with an Alpine but I am aware that the ML amps do suffer with this type of failure.

Yes, it's probably the ML amp. Why not start a new thread and show us your new SC?

Mine has one on each side at the high part of the boot channel on both sides of the car. A plastic piece of trim collects the water and it drains by a tube in the centre of the bottom of each of the trim pieces. Others on Club Lexus have posted about water in the boot so it's probably worth checking with fellow owners in the US too.

Also check that the drain tubes and the trims they attach to on both sides are located correctly.

Look forward to seeing the results. It didn't take long to create the gauges in the last picture, I must get around to creating some more but other projects on the SC have taken priority.

Not sure if I am permitted to link to another resource but search google images and you can find the source of a very clear tutorial for removal and servicing of a Lexus SC430 door mirror with a complete strip down of it.

Dash Command is quite good fun. It can display a number of standard graphic screens or you can design your own set of gauges to compliment your car's instrumentation.

You're too kind Piers and after all the thousands of posts I've read on the merits of each if ever a one liner could sum up the difference, that was it. I drive a 'slightly' modified SC and an RX SEL these days. They are both great in their own way but in my book if you haven't owned a properly sorted Soarer you haven't yet entered the Lexus Toyota inner circle. They were way ahead of their time and the rest of the elite pack. I had the non emv UZZ31 on air too and it was really quick, smooth and comfortable. More stable than my SC430 at autobahn speeds. My 2,5 was the GTT with TEMS I don't want to think about how much I spent modifying and maintaining them. I always wanted to have a go at a 4 litre TT but the cost and pain would be eye watering. A few pics for old times sake including a rare one of the Pearl white supercharged 5.0 V8 cabriolet.

Oh my which is the best engine has been debated to death and then some. Unfortunately the Soarer enthusiasts are rarely found on here. Yes they use coil packs and they have been known to fail but it's a 20 minute task on the V8. There's so much knowledge on these cars that anything can be investigated and resolved in no time at all. The 1UZFE V8 is one of the best and most reliable engines in the world, the 1JZ 2.5 TT is a little quicker, slightly more fun but the V8 has more toys. The later single turbo 2.5 VVTI is perhaps the most desirable now and so commands a premium. I personally would avoid the slow and least popular 3 litres unless you have grand plans to build a big single turbo monster. Most of the real expertise can be found in a few different UK Lexus / Soarer clubs and also where the SC400 / SC300 is most talked about on the other side of the Atlantic. Not forgetting a healthy following down under. In the past I owned a V8 Ltd and a 2.5 TT at the same time because they are quite different and a sensible GS430 for when 4 doors were required. The V8 Soarer was my favourite. Both were heavily modified in different ways but still retained their Soarer identity. A stock Soarer can provide a nice starting point but most of the well cared for Soarers have been modified to some degree. Avoid those set up for drifting and perhaps those that have fallen into the test pilot mitts of folk without the funds to maintain them properly. Search Soarer SC400 images or faults and you will very quickly pick up all of the links you need. If you are looking for a nice Soarer try the Lexusman as he frequently acquires good examples from club members so the car's history is often well known and documented in the archives.

Looks very nice. That's similar in design to the Megan set up. Other UK exhaust builders suggest that method and some don't use a rear mounted silencer. If only we could find one to build some quality headers that wouldn't break the bank.

Hi Wil Welcome, It would seem the motors that unlatch the top from the front screen assembly aren't operating or aren't moving far enough to disengage one or both latches. So my first thoughts are that it could be the latches or their unlocking actuators are stuck or that a sensor permitting their action in the opening sequence has failed. I did a quick search in the usual fashion and could only find one vaguely similar instance but no solution followed. Will dig a little more and let you know if I find anything. A few questions for starters. Did the roof work when you bought the car? Is the battery fully charged and the car running when you operate the roof? When the roof doesn't open, it should produce an error code. Has a diagnostic test actually been done on it by Lexus or with a proper scan-tool whilst the roof was in operation? (Info I've read suggests the codes aren't 'stored' so needs to be read whilst the roof is attempting to open.) Did the dealer attempt to reset the roof ECU by disconnecting the battery? (that would be my first move) Does the roof open/close switch flash red when the roof stops in its cycle? And finally if when the roof opening stalls and doesn't unlatch if you operate the button to close it momentarily and then try to open it again, does that free the latches at all? (It did in the other case I've read)

You need both sides to come together in a centre resonator or a cross pipe but after that separate boxes on each side will work fine. Not too many boy racers can afford a V8. Don't worry, tell the exhaust builders how you want it to sound and if they are experts they should be able to give you the level of V8 roar desired. Deleting just the rear box and having a small silencer each side would probably work quite well. Some delete the 3rd cat, some just have 1 silencer on each side and some just have the pipes going through a centre rear box like mine. In the US they use PPE headers and make some genuine power gains. They are now available for RHD cars too but they aren't cheap. There's lots of info on the internet about custom exhausts for our cars.

Yes done that in stainless steel and removed the 3rd cat too. Mine is still quiet with just a subtle low sport note. First 2 pictures show the standard exhaust. This is one way of changing it but others have used two separate back boxes and no other silencers. Also check out Craig's build thread.

Sorry, it's easy for me to say as I've removed lots of door cards in the past to change speakers or sound deaden, etc.. The guy in the video doesn't take the card off but it can easily be removed as one piece after removing all of the screws and securing clips. It's quite easy to do it when you know all of the locations of the concealed fixings. If it's like the older Soarer, the lock and door opener will have cables attached. They can be uncoupled or left in place. The card can be supported on a cardboard box or something similar while you investigate items that might be causing the rattle. Perhaps something is loose or one of the cables needs a little more foam wrapped around it. This may help.

No it shouldn't rattle at all, It should be an easy fix. The door card will probably need to be removed to find the cause. It's likely to be a missing/clip, screw or plastic popper. I haven't taken my door cards off yet as I'm still using stock speakers but the procedures to do it can easily be found. There's even a novice You Tube video.

If your road wheels were out of balance and the tracking was out, there must have been a lot of vibration on the steering wheel. I suspect the noise was there before the work was done but there's no harm in taking it back to the alignment guys and asking them to re-check it. That said, mine has always had a low pitch, suspension related, squeak, it's not very noisy, (more a slight groan than a squeak) but it's easy to become sensitive to it. I can only hear it at slow speed over humps, ramps, drop kerbs, etc or when turning very slowly on uneven surfaces. It sounds like a worn/creaky strut at the top part of the turret. It's similar to the Soarer strut noise, it was the same with the GS 430s too. I've checked my suspension and had it checked. No issues found so far. I suspect it's something to do with one or more of the bushes but they all appear to be in good order.

Very impressed you had a cassette tape to test it. If it wouldn't load, eject or connect to the CD changer it sounds like an issue between the two parts of the Fujitsu Ten head unit. Hopefully just some moisture on a contact or something similar but if later the mechanism needs investigating, it's easy enough to inspect, just be very careful with the delicate connectors.

Sorry I haven't fitted the CCD camera yet so although the rear seat has 2 subs and an amp for company, the boot remains intact at present. Research reveals the on/off switch was optional. I doubt many were fitted as it's there to be turned off for the purpose of towing a caravan or trailer. The model is a Lexus Parking Aid LPA400. The Lexus owners manual is ref AOM 000 011-0 PP/NPZ464-00420-41printed Italy 2005

I'm in the process of a little hifi install so will probably have the boot apart sometime tomorrow. I will send you a picture of the module if it's still in there but I may have discarded it when I changed the bumper. (= safely filed away in the garage where I won't find it) The later SC should have been given the proper LS parking aids including a camera. oh + radar cruise, paddle shift and electric head rests....and those extending arms that push the seat belt out when you get in. This pic was taken in the process of removing the original bumper. The sensors were neatly installed in the bumper but it didn't look like original equipment. I think there is/was a brochure/owners manual that pointed to a switch in the boot itself. I will try to find out tomorrow (later today) if I get time.

Telephones take up too much of my life already. I don't use them in the car that much as work H and S policy has prohibited it for some time but Nokia/Microsoft and iphones seemed okay. I must admit I find it quite amusing when the latest updates can't do what the old technology could. I see it all the time. A rush to release without proper testing or just a total disregard for what's gone before.

Well I used it in the new style GS430 with several handsets and the RX300 without any problems. I can't really remember using the standard Bluetooth much in the SC as I swapped the head unit for an Alpine double din and I use the connectivity from that. It can even play music via Bluetooth and I think sometime people compare 2015 connectivity options to 2004.

Resetting warning lights can be done but if there is a fault, the warning lamp should come back on. If you read up on the instances of VSC lights you will find that some code readers can actually cause them to come on. Thankfully there is a simple procedure to reset it via the OBD port I have a cheap Bluetooth reader that links with an IPad for dash command and an elm327 that works with the laptop. Unless you really want to get into OBD2 it might be best to take the car to a Lexus/Toyota main dealer and ask them to read the data for you to confirm all is well. After that the car will let you know with it's warning lights if there is any cause for concern along the way. The SC like the LS is a good strong reliable car. If everyone drove a Lexus 4.3 V8 the AA, RAC and Green Flag would collapse overnight. The OBD2 reader will give you an error code and then you need to look it up and interpret what it means or points to as the fault. Soarers were way ahead of their time with this and displayed the error codes on the dashboard. They even had a scrolling list of items that were checked immediately on start up. I'm a little disappointed that our cars didn't carry on with that theme but unless you're an expert like Colin, I'm not sure that it would be of great benefit in the middle of a long journey.

Wow that was quick and a great colour choice in my opinion. (Blue is my favourite but I was very happy with metallic grey) Yes agree with that Colin and nothing on the advisories list would concern me. The rear bumper parking sensors seem to be a common dealer fit. There were some on my original rear bumper that traced back to a cheap looking module in the boot. If memory serves, there was a separate Lexus document that referred to it and I think there is a switch in the boot to turn it off/on. I was always going to fit a camera so haven't bothered to further clutter the bumper with 4 sensors, much as I miss the excellent LS parking aids.