Desperate Ls 400 Owner....please Help

[tlewis]

I have a 1992 ls 400 with about 160,000 miles on it. Have had the same problems as other owners in this forum with the ps, alternator etc. Car was running fine yesterday, went out to start it this morning and it was running rough, white smoke, strong exhaust smell and cats glowed red after running for awhile. We know it may be that the cats need replacing but we can't see both of them going at the same time,that quickly. I have been reading post after post on everything about cats, rough running of the car etc I have seen the seafoam thing and we are not sure if we should try that first. We also have a question about the egr valve that I can't find anything about anywhere. Maybe somebody out there can help me. On the egr valve at the bottom there is a hose that attaches to a hard line that goes into the top of the motor, when we pull that hose off there is antifreeze in that line and if you start the car with that hose unhooked antifreeze shoots out. Is this suppossed to happen or are we in big trouble here. Can somebody please help me, I love my car and don't want my husband to torch it....please help I need all the advise I can get.

Sorry Sk wasn't thinking, I forgot too many things on the brain!

[Bali26]

Hi its probably something simple. Why do you think your egr is bad? White smoke might be PS fluid leaking into intake (very common ) Actually sounds like your coil is gone bad and its the unburnt fuel smell and smoke you can see. Check all ignition system. Pull diagnostic codes. Check here www.lexls.com...

[bigste]

From what you say I'd be sure that the valve under the PAS pump is goosed. Your symptoms are exactly right. There should be no fluid in that pipe you looked at and the result is the white smoke you have.

[tlewis]

Thanks for answering me....what do you mean by the PAS pump are you refering to the power steering pump? We replaced that a couple of months ago and after we replaced it we were still losing fluid but it wasn't leaking. We searched these forums again and found something about the power steering control valve or power steering vacuum switch. Someone on here said they took the switch out and replaced it with a bolt bypassing it so we tried that and it has worked until now. Not sure if that is what caused this problem.or not. We are still troubleshooting or trying to anyway. Thanks for your info and if you have any other suggestions keep them coming.

[SKperformance]

Glowing red , it is running rich,

both red means it is happening to both side where the firing sequence is off.

For it to happen to both sides make sure you have spark.

It has nothing to do with the cats they are reacting to the rich fuel mixture.

[TexasLexus94]

My usual comment. Check your wiring, especially the drivers side coil and wire. When my coil wire loosened, the cats got hotter than one of Roger Clemens' girlfriends. White smoke and all the other stuff. Best of luck.

[AKEgerer]

You mention the hose below the egr.... is it the actual hose TO THE EGR? If so, my understanding is that the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) comes from the exhaust manifold, and back into the intake manifold. This is so that some leftover unburned gas that leaves the engine gets recirculated back into the engine for secondary burning. If there is a head gasket leak, then the antifreeze would be leaking into the cylinder and out the exhaust, and poss. into the EGR (depending on which cylinder is leaking). When water (i.e.,antifreeze) gets into the cylinder, it vaporizes; this is one reason that white smoke comes out the exhaust pipe. It would also cause the car to run very, very rough. I had this happen to my 280Z, and there as a LOT of white smoke, and very rough idle. I hope that you don't have a gasket leak, but it's not too hard to fix...but not terribly easy either, but a mechanic friend should be able to do it for you for a good price. I hope this helps, and perhaps someone else can correct me or give alternative repair/diagnostic info.

Avery

[AKEgerer]

(ADDENDUM by Avery....prev. post)

I forgot to add:

If my post makes sense and is possibly pertinent to your situation, then follow the tube that has the "EGR antifreeze leak" all the way back to see where it attaches to the engine/exhaust manifold. (I haven't looked at my LS, and don't know the schematics by heart). But if the EGR tube goes back to a cylinder or engine side (left vs. right), then take out the specific spark plug (or entire side of 4 plugs). A head gasket leak will leave you with a wet spark plug rather than a dry, clean plug. I can look at my car if this is an option for you.

Avery

[AKEgerer]

(still another.....indirectly related)

Be careful about your catalytics glowing red for too long. If the exhaust fumes are too rich (as mentioned in an early reply) and gets burned in the catalytic converters, the actual catalyst on the meshwork inside the cat. converters can actually burn up and become eradicated, leaving you with a see-through converter. Naturally, without the catalyst and meshwork, the car will fail a smog test.

Avery

(I'm actually looking for periodic power loss when the engine is cold...and I keep coming back to your thread; thus my many replies ;0)

[tlewis]

Some of you responded to any earlier post from me,skperformance...etc. I had a question about rough running veh, glowing red cats well after I wrote we started hearing a noice in the rear cat converter. A mechanic that we know but who doesn't work on lexus said it sounded like a bad cat. So we took the car to a muffler shop and they said they could fix the problem but they also seemed to be having a hard time using the diagnostic machine on the vehicle. Because we are from Fl where there is no inspection stickers my husband opted to just have them hollowed out (not sure if that is the right term) or bypassed. They told us the converters had collappsed and in trying to find out why they said we need a map sensor and a computer. They said the car is running all right now except it is a little sluggish taking off but once up to speed it is fine. Did we make a big mistake going to this guy? We live in Fl but are in NC (and it looks like we will be here a while house in Fl was burned in the arsonist wildfires in Palm Bay....we have great luck) and we didn't have a local mechanic . Most shops we talked to acted like the lexus was some forein space ship and "only dealers work on them there cars". Please offer me some advise and if I do need a map sensor (is that even right?) and a computer where can I get them and how expensive will this be. Should I get another opinion from another shop ? Thanks in advance for all your help I don't know what I'd do without this forum since we have such a strange vehicle LOL

Next day: We picked up the car from the muffler shop, here is what they said... cats had collapsed so they cleaned them out, no emmision test in florida. The car has more power than it did, still sluggish from take off but it is running so rich that I could smell it from another vehicle following behind. They are telling us we need a map sensor (that is what the shop wrote) they showed us where it is and it is near the breather. He said that when you unplug that sensor the car should "go wild" and it's not. He also said we need a new computer because there was no communication with it. Does any of this sound right? Looking on line in the forums and lexls, I saw 2 different sensors a MAF and a MAP. Can anyone advise on which this would be and if I need one what is the best and cheapest place to buy one? I think this is it for my beloved Lexus, as I said earlier our house burnt in Florida thanks to a firebug and we now have to rent a car to go back and see how bad it is because my lexus isn't running. My husband has about reached his limit but I still love my ride! We are going to take it to the Toyota dealer (no Lexus dealer in Wilmington,nc) to have it checked before we do anything else. A good lexus mechanic is hard to find! Please let me know what you think.

Edited May 15, 2008 by tlewis