Full Throttle Behavior

[moving2]

I was cruising along around 15mph in my '94 LS400 when I decided to "see what she could do" and floored it. The engine revved up and, to my horror, right when I expected the transmission to shift, the engine hit close to redline and it sounded like a rev-limiter kicked in and I felt a loss in power until I let off the accelerator. All maintenance is up to date on engine and trans, with the exception of an EGR CEL I will be fixing shortly. Any ideas here? This cannot be normal behavior, can it?

[VBdenny]

Carbon buildup. Unless you routinely take it to redline, this happens. Often on the Interstates when you see someone floor it, you'll see a cloud of exhaust as the engine heads for the red zone. I guess sometimes cars can't believe you want them to swing the needle all the way.

[Peter2000]

Did you scan for any error codes?

I will suggest to check your PPS (pedal position sensor).

[billydpowell]

due to my advanced age, my speed limit is about 80 when it is very clear..... so I just pull mine down to 2nd and run it up to 5000 or so for a little bit.... but to answer his question NO that is not common, at 15mph, a full floor board results in a takeoff like it is going to fly..

[VBdenny]

As Billy correctly pointed out, no, not normal at all. I have no issues flooring most cars however with the LS 400 you can only expect to hold it for less than 10 seconds unless you have diplomatic immunity or a badge. The car should go to redline and shift, the repeat. Almost sounds like it didn't shift?