'95 Ls 400

[boogieman]

Ridiculous isn't it? No, not a dealer, just an avid hobbyist.

Never being able to own or care for more than 1 or 2 at a time,

and wanting so many different cars, the turn-over rate is high.

That and my wife drew the line at no more than 2 toys at a time.

I have slowed down lately. Have had my '95 T100 since '98.

This LS since '08.

In the shop, the toy box, now is my '35 Plymouth street rod and the '79 Avanti.

My current LS was bought new in Houston, spent its life here in the Dallas area.

Serviced at local Lexus dealers. All documented. No rust anywhere.

I had the alternator replaced in January. Might that be the cause of the possible errant power supply issues?

It is fully warranted and can be replaced at no cost if need be.

Interesting story about chance meetings.

In '92 I went to the NSRA street rod nationals in OKC. 12,000 cars, 200,000 people.

Talking to a guy from Wisconsin telling him I was from the Dallas area. He asked me if I knew "Mike" too.

There were over 220,000 people in my community at the time. Turns out that "Mike" lived only 6 blocks over from me,

and I did know him! Even borrowed an engine hoist from him once.

One never knows.

[landar]

As far as the alternator replacement in January...it is a possibility that it is bad. But no way to know w/o checking the ripple voltage. And it could exasperate already compromised capacitors in your electronics units. In simple English, the microprocessors and associated circuits that run many of the functions of your car, do not 'like' unstable voltages. They tend to misbehave and do not run the code they were meant to run. Perhaps resetting to some 'limp' mode. You have a main 'ECU' (Engine Control Unit) but also many other 'ECU's' (Electronic Control Units). I know, confusing but it is what it is. Poor naming conventions.

If I were you, I would probably start by removing the main Engine Control Unit and cleaning the connectors (you can buy contact cleaner at an auto store to spray on the pins). Work that around a bit(i.e.: mate and unmate the connectors to scuff the pins a bit). In 20 yrs, you would not believe the oxidation that occurs around pin connections. Its actually amazing to me that more problems do not occur after that age.

You could also check the 'ripple' voltage of the alternator to see if it is excessive but you will need a good meter or, better yet, an oscilloscope. Probably out of most hobbyist range of expertise. Another thing you could do that is really simple is to remove the serpentine belt. That will disable the accessories including the alternator and then you can see how the car operates. Of course, you will not be able to run the vehicle with lights or other electrical loads for long because it is not recharging the battery. But its a simple, cheap test. It could still be your ECU capacitors being the culprit but it might provide clues.

[boogieman]

Started the car last night just to check status. No problems, no issues, no errant readings.

Going back to my mechanic to see if they can check the alternator, or change it out for me based on

information gleaned here.

As we say here in the south, "Thanks ya'll."

[sha4000]

Come back and let us know what you find out.

[boogieman]

Checked with my mechanic this morning. Car started and ran great all weekend. I asked about the alternator

swap-out potential. He offered that they did check for a ripple current surge and all is within specs.

He did offer the observance of 20 year old cars and on-going electrical issues, especially centered in the main computer.

Just as mechanical components wear over time from repeated use, so too do electrical components.

They switch off and on millions of times. Connections degrade from usage. Heat, humidity, currents, surges, low batteries,

alternator fluctuations, jump starting the car, jump starting other cars, etc., all play a part in electrical gremlins.

Makes perfect sense to me.

As of right now all is good with my LS. Thinking now might be the best time to part with it before being struck again.

Chances are very high they will strike again. Once a "break-over" point is reached there is no going back without

incurring possible major expense.

[Exhaustgases]

Do Yamae's ecu test found on clublexus.

[landar]

Yep. Things do wear out. Now may be time to 'dump' it. Caveat Emptor!

[boogieman]

I have been busy so the car has sat for the last few weeks. Tried starting it this morning.

Electrical completely dead. Battery charger on it for 3 hours and still no sign of taking a charge.

I did get it started but its running very rich, throttle response very slow, labored, and sluggish.

Upon letting off the gas it dies immediately. Tried again , same response.

Waited a hour, same thing again. Rich, sluggish, then dies.

No indicator lights on the dash.

Should have let it go two weeks ago when it was working.

This sound like possibly the main ECU, too?

[VBdenny]

Read through all the threads and never saw BATTERY mentioned. I do know from experiences at Logan airport that the LS400's need a LOT of juice to run correctly. Even corroded terminals or connections can cause intermittent nightmare problems. Of course I have also found even new batteries can be bad. I would seriously consider this before all that other technical stuff. Just saying.

[boogieman]

New battery and alternator in January. Terminals clean and tight, no corrosion at all.

Going to pull and have the battery checked, again.

[boogieman]

The throttle response, or lack there-of, indicates something much more serious than the battery.

When running there are no trouble light indicators.

Battery voltage reads 13.8v.

[VBdenny]

Since you have juice and all, kind of leaves fuel. I had a Chevy that did that which turned out to be clogged throttle body. Of that was when I was using only el cheapo gasoline. Never had the problem since switching to Top Tier.

[boogieman]

Never used anything but premium grade fuel. No throttle issues before this last start-up attempt.

[VBdenny]

Almost sound like you bought a BMW badged as a Lexus.

[boogieman]

The car has been trouble free until recently. Got it in 2008 so 7 years of good luck. Now this.

[landar]

Keep in mind, Boogieman, that it is most probably something fairly simple. It is easy to think the worst but usually it is not all that bad.

When you mentioned that you finally got it started and it was misbehaving, I thought maybe it was due to the computer needing to 'relearn' calibration settings since it had been sitting dead for a while. So, you might run it longer to see if it will straighten out.

A simple test you could do is to get a can of starter fluid and remove the ducting up to the throttle body. Start it up and when it misbehaves (won't rev, etc), spritz some fluid into the throttle body and see if it begins to respond(will need a 'helper). If so, you may have a simple fuel delivery issue (like the pump). Otherwise, it might be something in the electrical area. But think 'simple' for now. It usually is. I would not throw in the towel just yet.

[boogieman]

Reading yesterday about rebuilt ECU's. Anyone use one of these? Worth the cost?

Do they actually work as advertised? Good deals or money thrown down a black hole?

Any one supplier/vender better than the others?

I hate to scrap the car but am quickly approaching that point.

[sha4000]

The best course would be to buy the caps and either do it yourself or have a qualified person do it for you. There is a big thread over on the other forum in the LS section.

[boogieman]

Do you know of a "qualified person" to do such work?

Someone on the forum perhaps? Someone proficient and reliable?

Someone versed in this delicate procedure?

I don't know anyone even remotely related to this kind of work.

[sha4000]

I don't know anyone personally but I'm guessing anyone that repairs computer boars should be up to the task. Lots of ppl ask this same question in that thread.