Desperate Lexus Owner Again

[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.

[Blake_batonrouge]

Maybe you should take it to the dealer before you go any further with shops that are not knowledgeable of the lexus. I took my VW Passat to an indy.....biggest mistake of my life. After the indy visit I had to trade the car in with 68k on it because of all the problems I was having.

[SKperformance]

always keep the same thread so the repair process can be followed.

[92ls forhundo]

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.

seek out nc211, as he lives in north carolina, and is as knowledgable as anyone here, and a real personable guy....

[DrJfrmLA]

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.

I can't imagine what would cause the cat to "collapse." In the past if you put leaded fuel in the car that would clog the cats, but nobody sells leaded fuel anymore. You didn't put diesel in it did you? (I'm not trying to make you look silly--it's the only thing I can think that might cause the kind of problem you are describing.) I'm with everybody else about getting the car to the dealer--you don't want a well-intentioned but ignorant indy doing more damage than good. All the emissions stuff that feeds to the ECM reads exhaust system data, and I'm pretty sure hollowing out the cats is not a solution for anything. The dealer will take your first-born probably, but you may do fatal damage if you let one of the stars of "Deliverance" work on your car.

[tlewis]

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.

Skperformance...Sorry about the thread thing didn't think first,type later

DrJfrmla...No we didn't put diesel in although 2 days before all this started we got gas at a station we never used before,but it's a very busy place. As far as

the cats, we heard a noise coming from one of them that sounded like pieces of metal rattling around. I have been looking through just about

every thread on this forum for ideas. If the throttle body was clogged up would that cause this kind of problem? It will be a week or so before we

can do anything because we have to see if we still have a house, there's a good shop there in fl but the lexus will have to stay in nc. Appreciate all

the help

[Lexusfreak]

Keep us posted what the Toyota dealers says tlewis.....very sorry to hear about your home. :(