Jump to content

96 LS400 Sputtering and Dying


Yakuzacracker

Recommended Posts

Hello everyone, I made an account here in the hopes that someone could help me diagnose the strange issues that I've been experiencing with my 96 LS. About a month ago my car was running perfectly then one night I started it up and it sputtered, the rpms were not stable and were very low, and it would rev down to 0rpm after 5-10 seconds before dying. I tried to start the car again and it did the same thing, or it would try to start but not turn over. I got the car towed back home and did some research. I saw that people have experienced similar issues and I immediately thought it could be a dead ECU. I contacted lscowboyls and he walked me through getting the ECU out, I sent it off to him and he refurbished it. I installed the refurbished ECU and the car ran great for 3 days and then I parked it, turned it off,  then when I came out and tried to start it again I experienced the same issued I did before. I got it towed to an independent mechanic who is experienced with my car and they are stumped. It's been with them for almost a week. I suspect that it's a dead fuel pump, but my mechanic is not so sure. The only other thing that I can think of is that I brought my LS into a local Lexus dealership for a free oil change and I wasn't experiencing any of these issues before that. I looked under my oil cap and there's a dry brown sludge, so that might be something worth investigating. If anyone thinks they know what it could be or what I should do please let me know! Thanks in advance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites


I don't think the oil change or the sludge would be responsible for the engine cutting out.

However, I would look for fault codes and also carry out grass roots diagnostics (checking battery terminals and battery condition and then carrying on through the car one step at a time).

It's laborious but does throw up interesting faults that would otherwise go undetected.

Check also the fuel quality and drain/refill if suspect

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the response Trevor!

Yeah the sludge has nothing to do with the problems I'm experiencing. The car was with my mechanic for almost a week and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, but my battery died. They replaced the battery, which was old anyway, and I picked the car up and it ran fine for about 5 days, until today. I was driving on the highway and I completely lost power, I tried to floor it and the car didn't respond. The revs began to flutter up and down and the car was shaking like it was a misfire. I was able to pull over in the breakdown lane and the revs were jumping between 500 and 1000 while the car was shaking. After a little while the car died and would not start. When I would turn the key the car would try and fire and I have power, but the motor will not turn over. It was pretty scary, it's never died when I have been driving before, up until now I've only experienced this issue when the car was stationary. 

Edit: Also when the car died the check engine late came on, when I tried to start it again and it wouldn't turn over, there was no check engine light. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...

Forums


News


Membership


  • Unread Content
  • Members Gallery