Loss Of Power

[playaike]

:cries: my ls400 has a sudden loss of power and my cats are getting red hot on both sides i changed the wires plugs and coils still no change it starts on the dime every time so its not the timimg im also getting sum rattling noise from under my lexus took to muffler shop guy tells me its not the convertors i really dnt agree it seems to be sputterting out of the tail pipe not sure wat to do can some one please help me

:cries: :cries: :cries: :cries:

[landar]

Did you install new distributor caps and rotors while in there?

[playaike]

no i didnt .. reason why i didnt its not a misfire it runs and start perfect ... im i stiil missing sumthing ????

[landar]

Ok. So it does not run rough at all? Just a loss of power and red cats?

[playaike]

engine shakes a little

but it idles fine

[playaike]

engine shakes a little

but it idles fine

WOW ! !! !

BUT NOW MY CATS ARE ONLY GETTING RED HOT ON ONE SIDE AND THATS THE PASSANGER SIDE

[landar]

Pull the main wire off of the coils one at a time. If disconnecting makes a difference in running, then that coil is good. If it does not make a difference(still shakes the same) then the coil is bad...or at least something in the ignition chain on that side is bad.

In order for a cat to glow that red is because of unspent fuel in the system and the no. one culprit is usually a coil. Could be an ignitor or bad rotor/cap too but less likely.

[playaike]

i had replace the coil on the driver side with a new one and i took the old coil from the driver side and switched it with the other one and nothing changed is this another way to see if coils are bad ..... ...

but i will also try wat u mentioned

[landar]

So the plot thickens. Your orig. post said that you had replaced coils and I thought you meant both were replaced with new. You probably took a bad coil from the left side(drivers) and moved it to the right side(passenger). What did you do with the old passenger side coil? It might still be good. Then again, you might want to just get another new one just as a precaution since aging coils are so likely to go out.

On another note, I found an interesting video showing how to check for basic ignition. I do not think you need to go to this test yet, but it is worth watching

[playaike]

i still have the passenger side coil both the driver and passenger coils seem to be in good working condition

[playaike]

Pull the main wire off of the coils one at a time. If disconnecting makes a difference in running, then that coil is good. If it does not make a difference(still shakes the same) then the coil is bad...or at least something in the ignition chain on that side is bad.

In order for a cat to glow that red is because of unspent fuel in the system and the no. one culprit is usually a coil. Could be an ignitor or bad rotor/cap too but less likely.

This morning i tried wat u suggested i pulled off the main wires of the coils the driver side nothing change but the passenger side the engine shut down , but the coil on the passenger side is the new one that i replaced

[landar]

Pull the main wire off of the coils one at a time. If disconnecting makes a difference in running, then that coil is good. If it does not make a difference(still shakes the same) then the coil is bad...or at least something in the ignition chain on that side is bad.

In order for a cat to glow that red is because of unspent fuel in the system and the no. one culprit is usually a coil. Could be an ignitor or bad rotor/cap too but less likely.

This morning i tried wat u suggested i pulled off the main wires of the coils the driver side nothing change but the passenger side the engine shut down , but the coil on the passenger side is the new one that i replaced

The driver side coil is bad, the passenger is good. Pull the driver coil out, mark it as bad and try one of your old coils in there. Then repeat the test of pulling the main wire and see if the swapped-in coil works. You could even pull the passenger coil and put it in the driver side to see if the that makes the condition switch sides. If so, then the driver coil truly is bad. If not, then something else in the ignition chain is bad (like an ignitor, distrib, wire, etc).

[playaike]

Pull the main wire off of the coils one at a time. If disconnecting makes a difference in running, then that coil is good. If it does not make a difference(still shakes the same) then the coil is bad...or at least something in the ignition chain on that side is bad.

In order for a cat to glow that red is because of unspent fuel in the system and the no. one culprit is usually a coil. Could be an ignitor or bad rotor/cap too but less likely.

This morning i tried wat u suggested i pulled off the main wires of the coils the driver side nothing change but the passenger side the engine shut down , but the coil on the passenger side is the new one that i replaced

The driver side coil is bad, the passenger is good. Pull the driver coil out, mark it as bad and try one of your old coils in there. Then repeat the test of pulling the main wire and see if the swapped-in coil works. You could even pull the passenger coil and put it in the driver side to see if the that makes the condition switch sides. If so, then the driver coil truly is bad. If not, then something else in the ignition chain is bad (like an ignitor, distrib, wire, etc).

but , i just replaced the driver coil wit a new from the parts store i also move the old coil from the driver side and put it in the pasenger side to see if it was bad

[landar]

It is easy to get disoriented when replacing parts. Tell you what....just mark the drivers coil as 'L' and the passenger coil as 'R'. Then swap them. Start the car back up (if it will start) and do the wire pull test again. If the results are the same(dies when passenger wire is pulled) then you do NOT have bad coils...something else is bad. If however, the symptoms switch such that the engine dies when you pull the drivers side wire, then the coil mark 'L' is bad (which would now be on the passenger side).

You are closing in on it now. Just be methodical in all of this swapping, mark the parts and you will get to the root cause.

[playaike]

It is easy to get disoriented when replacing parts. Tell you what....just mark the drivers coil as 'L' and the passenger coil as 'R'. Then swap them. Start the car back up (if it will start) and do the wire pull test again. If the results are the same(dies when passenger wire is pulled) then you do NOT have bad coils...something else is bad. If however, the symptoms switch such that the engine dies when you pull the drivers side wire, then the coil mark 'L' is bad (which would now be on the passenger side).

You are closing in on it now. Just be methodical in all of this swapping, mark the parts and you will get to the root cause.

well today i teseted it by removing all wires on the distrubitor one by one to see if i get a spark i did not get a spark from any of the wires execpt for the one going to the coil

arent i suppose to get a spark from all plugs and wires ? ? ?

[rmax1941]

So the plot thickens. Your orig. post said that you had replaced coils and I thought you meant both were replaced with new. You probably took a bad coil from the left side(drivers) and moved it to the right side(passenger). What did you do with the old passenger side coil? It might still be good. Then again, you might want to just get another new one just as a precaution since aging coils are so likely to go out.

On another note, I found an interesting video showing how to check for basic ignition. I do not think you need to go to this test yet, but it is worth watching

TNX for the video - very interesting.

[landar]

It is easy to get disoriented when replacing parts. Tell you what....just mark the drivers coil as 'L' and the passenger coil as 'R'. Then swap them. Start the car back up (if it will start) and do the wire pull test again. If the results are the same(dies when passenger wire is pulled) then you do NOT have bad coils...something else is bad. If however, the symptoms switch such that the engine dies when you pull the drivers side wire, then the coil mark 'L' is bad (which would now be on the passenger side).

You are closing in on it now. Just be methodical in all of this swapping, mark the parts and you will get to the root cause.

well today i teseted it by removing all wires on the distrubitor one by one to see if i get a spark i did not get a spark from any of the wires execpt for the one going to the coil

arent i suppose to get a spark from all plugs and wires ? ? ?

That would suggest a bad distributor cap or rotor. Is this the distributor on the drivers side?

[playaike]

It is easy to get disoriented when replacing parts. Tell you what....just mark the drivers coil as 'L' and the passenger coil as 'R'. Then swap them. Start the car back up (if it will start) and do the wire pull test again. If the results are the same(dies when passenger wire is pulled) then you do NOT have bad coils...something else is bad. If however, the symptoms switch such that the engine dies when you pull the drivers side wire, then the coil mark 'L' is bad (which would now be on the passenger side).

You are closing in on it now. Just be methodical in all of this swapping, mark the parts and you will get to the root cause.

well today i teseted it by removing all wires on the distrubitor one by one to see if i get a spark i did not get a spark from any of the wires execpt for the one going to the coil

arent i suppose to get a spark from all plugs and wires ? ? ?

That would suggest a bad distributor cap or rotor. Is this the distributor on the drivers side?

and that is exactly wat the problem was i just finished putting it back togather a few hours ago the rotor had cracked into tiny pieces it was completly fried it even damaged the distributor i took photos so i could share

[landar]

Thats good news. I would replace distributor caps and rotors on both sides as the other side is probably worn/brittle as well. Glad you are back in business

[playaike]

wow!!! never seen this happen before