Neil E

Rust underneath, neglected but very few miles in the last 10 years. 

On 1/19/2023 at 10:04 PM, Lexiguy said:

Hi Graham

Good to hear from you, and a happy new year! 

Ah water ingress, it still makes me cringe despite it being many years since I was in the motortrade. They can be very difficult to find their entry place and sometimes even harder to fix them!

My water ingress is in the ns of the boot lid aperture below the rear screen. I have thought it was cured more than once but when we have a severe rain storm it seems to start again.

I will cure it one day which will stop me having to check her nervously after rain. We get plenty down here too!

Good luck and keep us informed. I am considering returning to Tony Banks Exhausts to have my single chrome tailpipes replaced with double ones each side. It would look a beast then!

Regards, Anthony

 

Thoughts chaps, or chapesses if we have any on here!

The body-shop did a very neat job on that red one.  

I'm fully in favour but your reputation will be in tatters parked next to me in the modified 'no taste' section. 🤣

59 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

I do not doubt that these people believe what they write.

That does not change the fact that a compromise is what it is. And when not needing to have tyres that can drive in negative temperatures, who would be idiot enough to buy a compromise, that on top of that is more expensive than a tyre that is perfect for living here?

By the way have been in car business many years and am sure of what I have learned. Different driving styles and different climate will not have same as best.

I have experience of using the latest Michelin Cross Climate 2 on the GS and they do work well enough in snow to cope and they still perform very well in Summer. They are a good alternative to 2 sets of tyres if you don't live on a hill farm in the Cairngorms.🙂 I read the reviews, trusted the advice and it proved to be sound.

I have V rated Hankook Winters on the RX at present, I would recommend them. Yokohama and Continental were excellent Winter tyres too. 

Going back to the original question, Summer or All season? I would say a UK RX should not have Summer only tyres as that limits its capability. I know it doesn't come equipped with diff locks but with sensible footwear, there's not much to stop the RX from making progress no matter the weather or terrain.

Hi Mark. That's very low mileage compared to most in the US. Try clublexus for more local help and expertise. Most of the knowledge on here comes from owners with right hand drive UK spec cars.

6 hours ago, Glyn Jennings said:

 

Some one will tell me why but I have never understood why base coats on cars is always white so chips and scratches stick out like a sore thumb. I  I guess it all comes down to cost,.

It does seem to chip back to white or grey mostly but black and red colour primers are available. 

12 hours ago, Lexiguy said:

Hi Neil

Thanks, I hope you had a good Christmas, I wondered if it was you on the track putting X1OUT through its paces!

Thanks Ant, just getting some practice in for the Summer meet car park.🤣

4 hours ago, b4u2 said:

I just took a nice drive out to the Lakes , got back now.

Scary driving through countryside at night, no street lights 

I find Lexus headlamps are pretty good at lighting the way ahead and narrow lanes are easier in the dark as you can see the  headlights of the oncoming vehicles when approaching bends. You do have to be careful of the odd stray sheep or pedestrian staggering home from the village pub.

Nice to have a good neighbour and friend Ant.👍

You're not alone Malc, the portrait filming caught me out too......at first.😊

Sussex is just a big flood plain at the moment. I took my SC out of hibernation and into the pouring rain for its MOT and service just before Christmas. A lowered SC is not the best vehicle for deep puddles and fords but it copes well enough in the rain. I have some winters for it but can't be bothered to swap them over. 161k miles and no advisories but it does need a little more minor cosmetic surgery so it's gone back to the garage for more paint. I really don't need it, I'm ashamed to say the SC has only done 5k miles in the last 2 years.  

17 hours ago, Norm Lippert said:

Recently decided to get my wife's SC430 back on the road and lately have had a serious problem with the VSC.

When it is on and you are driving the car will start to violently shake and make a loud noise until you turn off the VSC.

Before I spend hundreds on trouble shooting does anybody have any possible solutions that I can check myself ?

 

Thanks

That's a strange one. Are there any fault lights on?

I would suggest the first thing is to do a diagnostic check to see if there are any fault codes that point the way.

If the car doesn't shake when the stability control is not active then that suggests there's something wrong with the VSC or one of the many sensors that provide it with information. 

If you turn the VSC off, drive the car and then turn the VSC on again, does it always shake when the VSC is on? 

Does it pull to one side? 

Is it speed related? 

If you brake gently when the shaking occurs, can you feel if it is brake related and can you identify roughly where the loud noise comes from? 

To add to the replies above, I would say, do the water-pump and the tensioner + pullies at the same time, use Lexus/Toyota original parts only (I'm not sure if they still do it as a kit) the local Lexus dealer should be a safe affordable solution if they offer the fixed price servicing for older cars or use a trusted independent if you know one. 

Hi Ant, just catching up, that was quite a shock! Take it easy and let's hope these are Cat 'N' injuries and you're on the road to full recovery. It seems they have assigned the NHS master techs to the project but do keep us posted on the re-build progress.

All the best.  

13 hours ago, Glyn Jennings said:

I remember enjoying reading Steve's and your build threads on Lexusworld. It's a shame that's all gone as it was such a good resource

Thanks Glyn. Steve was posting on clublexus before LW existed. I followed and took inspiration from his pioneering SC430 mods. I still had 2 Soarers when he was leading the way with the SC. When I met him for the first time at Bluewater I was like a starstruck autograph-hunting fan. 🤣

On the subject of the pillarless look with the rear quarter windows down, as stylish as it may appear, it always focuses my mind on just how important it is to keep the car the right way up.

This has all been done before with Luxlink and other modules. The info should be on the US site.

Steve (Wil44) has done the switched rear quarter window mod to his car and produced an excellent 'how to' write up for it but alas the detail is no longer available. 

4 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Toyota ECUs of that age are not easy to remap in the way you can with a BMW. This won't achieve anything in an SC430.

There is a small group of specialists who collaborate on repairs, enhancements and conversions for UZ related projects (All4swap(RU), Phoenix (UK), CartuneCo (NZ) and Quantum-Auto (USA) and it seems they (LED by Yuri in Russia) have cracked the ECU and with other mods, offer various services and upgrades for UZ owners. Phoenix Engine Management in Shepton Mallet are primarily wiring specialists but they offer the remap via their contacts.  

I agree, I can't see how there would be any significant gains without other mods but for those of us with a few physical mods it might actually be beneficial. Without any measured evidence, I suspect that the improvements seen by owners of non-modified cars is mostly the reduced throttle lag included in the map offered but I could be wrong. 

Stewart, the 300 hp is likely to be the earlier quoted US power figure. They also reduced it to 290 bhp and 285 bhp and 282 bhp. the 2006 6-speed model is quoted at 279 bhp, I don't know if there were any subtle differences in the 3UZ over the years but I believe the difference in quoted power is everything to do with by what means and standards it was measured over time.

Hi Stewart, a throttle controller eliminates or reduces the throttle lag, it makes a significant difference to how the car feels, how it pulls away and upshifts but doesn't increase power. What did Tunit claim their product actually did to improve performance? Similar to All4swap but without re-mapping the ecu? Alter fuel/air ratio map to improve torque/bhp, change shift points, increase rev limit, etc?  

As discussed on the other forum, I doubt there are any real gains to be made without some physical engine changes. Cams, forced/improved induction or exhaust. If you are convinced performance has been improved, why not prove it to the doubters?🙂

The ISF rear anti-roll bar is what you need for the SC430. 

On 10/26/2022 at 12:01 AM, hondansxr said:

anyone know if this can be done as the 200/300 is my fav lexus wheel ? cheers

It fits the older SC300/400 Soarer. Examining the clock spring pin-out would be the first place to start. I looked into converting it to the IS250 paddle shift wheel but bailed out in the end. 

I don't like the slippery wooden wheel so opted for the custom version Ant describes above. 

It may not be a lot of help but there's a few pics of the steering wheel here in the short version of the build thread

11 hours ago, Lexiguy said:

Who would have known?...hurray!, that problem is sorted...well done Joshua (master technician)!!!!!

Anthony

Common knowledge for those of us with sets of Winter tyres 🤣 

1 hour ago, RevPhilip said:

Thanks Antony. I can find out what I need from on line manuals, but it would be nice to have a real paper one.

So….my first question is…what are the two brown lines in the middle of the front windscreen for? They go from top to bottom of the screen. 

It's a radio aerial, the car has two for improved reception.

Yes Ken it's the ultra rare GS460. If I could just find time to reverse the previous owner's visible exhaust antics it would be a perfect Q car. The car park at Kylesku Bridge is a well used spot......better weather different Lex. 

On 10/17/2022 at 12:52 PM, Ken Timbers said:

We've had almost nothing but sunshine for weeks in SE London—I've been hoping to see some rain to give my garden a chance of surviving! With a hosepipe ban making car washing a tedious chore and most car wash facilities closed, I'd also welcome a few deluges, mostly at night, of course. But isn't that typical of British weather—there's always someone with something to grumble about.

Similar weather in Sussex but after a long search - eventually found a free car wash. The SC is hibernating.

14.5 mpg is a pretty impressive average Ant, I don't think I've ever managed to get mine as low as that. 👍

On 10/13/2022 at 7:32 AM, Lexiguy said:

Besides the engine it was such an advanced car when it was introduced.

Thinking of how complex, efficient and reliable the hardtop is. Then the ML unit and changer, how it can display the album and track names which was way ahead of its time. At that time, the rest of the fantastic things it had could only be found in a top of the range, executive vehicle from a prestige manufacturer.

 

I'm going to disagree a little with some of this as I think Lexus put so much effort into the hard top folding roof they compromised on the tech, the ride/handling characteristics and the fit and finish of the SC430. The earlier V8 UZZ31 Soarer was pitched a level above the SC430. How many more might they have sold with a bit more testing, market research followed by a few styling tweaks?     

On a different platform (dis) there was a register of sorts with an approximate location pin for each owner. 

You do the SC430s and I'll volunteer to do the GS460s.😊

It would probably be easier to start a campaign (starting with FB) to get all SC owners to register with LOC and then the important info is captured in one place without any GDPR issues.

12 hours ago, Lexiguy said:

That would not be a problem Neil, we could open the visit to Meltham, near Holmfirth for any other SC's and their owners!

It will probably be in about 3 weeks but date currently undecided.

Ant 🐜 

Take care Ant. A few years back I arranged to meet one other SC owner to chew the fat and compare notes on SC430 audio upgrades. It spiralled out of control into a car park meet of no less than a magnificent seven SC430.  

12 hours ago, Lexiguy said:

Ok make, Wattsapp me and we can sort a day. Ant 🐜 

There should be extra club credit for a workshop mini-meet. It will require pics of course.🙂