Exhaustgases

First check for codes.

It sold over 9,000, there were no details of options no picture layouts. This should be a good lesson to people that want to ruin and modify these cars. SEE keep it nice and it will sell for big bucks.

So here is my plan when time permits. I will plug in a used ISC valve when the engine is cold, and watch what it does as is warms up. If it does not close all the way, I will test it on a known good car and see what it does. I would think it should close and if it doesn't then it becomes a vacuum leak of sorts. Magda has a similar problem that cropped up after she did a bunch of work and cleaned the valve. Maybe it was not reassembled correct and became the problem. Its either the valve or it is not being operated correctly by the ecu. If it was an egr problem then it should show up when cold I think.

So did you send it to TANIN ? And when you send it you tell them what doesn't work. As it can not be fixed if they don't know its broken. Who did you send it to?

Notice how this site is still goofing up as noted by the goofy line through all my typing in the above post. I'm just glad it didn't switch to small font like it does sometimes. Hello website people

The book says that after the engine stops the ecu continues to power the ISC valve to full open, so it must power it till it sees a voltage drop or an increase in current.

With the body damage, I would agree its not worth the time to fix. The mechanical stuff is easy to fix, you can never have a good factory paint job again. And to do an equivalent paint job would be way costly.

Book calls it ISC valve, and it has nothing to do with adding or taking away fuel. It by passes the throttle body airflow. And after the coolant temp is at 158 degrees F the valve is turned off. The ecu controls the fuel by pulse width, as well as the ISC motor. I'll have to study what all controls hot idle. When mine dies it will start right back up, and run with some throttle in it like about 1500 or so plus rpms. And yeah maybe if the ISC valve is leaking air then it would hunt like a vacuum leak, since it would be leaning it, and the ecu would be trying to add fuel to compensate.

Yeah that is a not so good thing about these cars. They can be worked out very slowly, when I did one some years back it took me about an hour per bolt. The right way to do it is to lower the back end down some, the trans mount in the rear and use a long extension. Yeah all they needed to do is 2 more inches away from that firewall, and have that wire loom some other place. Oh and when I put the starter bolts back in it took me about a minute or so per bolt. Special trick. If you decide to tackle it I'll let you know the trick. What year is the car and what condition body and paint etc? Yeah I know you added a few dents after the starter attempt.

I have this same problem on a 1990, ECT was a guess of mine too. I also had a air meter code and did have a dirty airfilter. I have not spent much time on it yet. I think the normal idle when cold rules out the IAC. I did a visual check of the caps in the ecu and they looked okay, I know that doesn't mean much. I do plan on doing an oscope to check it better, and wanted to see what the O2 sensors are doing as well. Please keep this updated and if you figure it out let us know. Mine runs for about 10 minutes or so I am guessing, before it then acts up, is that what yours does?

Dot 3 and Dot 4 is a classification for BRAKE FLUID. DO NOT USE BRAKE FLUID IN THE POWER STEERING. If you did use brake fluid then you need to replace or completely take them apart to clean, the power steering pump and the rack assembly. And replace all the hoses too. The cap for the power steering pump will say what to use in the power steering. In the older LS400's the cap says to use Dexron automatic transmission fluid. I am not sure what the cap and the owners manual says to use in a 1998. If you did use brake fluid tell the mechanic you did. Brake fluid will totally pollute the power steering system, it will ruin the seals and hoses, and will remove the paint from your car if you get any on it. Never ever use brake fluid in anything except the brake system, and that is why it is called Brake fluid.

Thank you for taking the time to figure it out, I may need it. I would like to know how the controller in the car knows what position the valve is in, I don't think there are any limit switches are there? Does it cycle from stop to stop? And knows by what terminals where used to stop at say full open and see the current rise? I haven't played with stepper motors at all.

The main problem is if there is ever a paint product to reapply, but I guess a lot of waxes have some silicon in them too.

Fancy new website..... I'm not sure but I think the IAC motor is a stepper motor, which means it needs a digital controller to work it. So unless you have a controller you aren't going to be running it on a bench. It couldn't be a normal motor because there would be no incremental control of it. It would either be all the way on or all the way off, it would be very tricky to stop it in any other position. And since things like the AC system and the power steering idle up valve etc. are in the system the valve does have to be modulated to suit conditions. And pretty much only a steeper motor will do it.

I am constantly seeing people recommending a silicone spray lube on rubber parts. I talked to a few top body and paint people and they say you don't want the car in the same area you are spraying any kind of silicone lube. It makes if very difficult to paint and is very hard to remove, and will find its way into small crevasses and make paint blister. I'm not saying we ever what to paint an LS but if it ever needs such work done and you ever used silicone lube on weather stripping there maybe some paint problems. I think products like Quick detailer and 303 have better UV protectant and are made for plastics and rubber products. Even a rubber lube is a good option.

It could be valve cover gasket and or the rear cam hole plug, I had one of those come out one time. You can feel or use a mirror to see if it is.

I got a car awhile back with one key. That same day 3 extra keys where made for it. And if you had something like a newer Mercedes it would take a week or so to get a new key. So not good just having one key.

Keep up the good work. Your going to be the LS400 expert on this website. So how did you reach the cold start injector? What seals it in the manifold? Did you have the intake off at all? Try wiggling some of the wires and see if that affects anything.

I was going to suggest the jumper deal too. But I wouldn't know right off the place to jump it, and would need to get at the switch. And to open the door like that is very tricky.He knows his stuff. And a good price too. Alarm why didn't he disconnect the battery? And use his own 12 v source.

I would hate to break a window. Trying to get into an LS400 without the key or with a goofed up hood release are the 2 dreaded things I can imagine with these cars. Rule 1 never just have one key. The best bet is to see if the dealer can make a key quick. Wait till the battery runs out then you don't have to deal with the alarm. Maybe a month or so?

I don't know the 95's as well as the older ones, but another thing to just change because they do seem to go bad and cause a bunch of problems. Is the Engine coolant temperature sensor, they don't cost a lot and you can change it while checking the distributors. And of course don't just do it yet till the igniter test hopefully that fails on one and you find the problem. To change the temp sensor you have to deal with the spark plug wires as its under and on the passenger side.

http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/suspension/ball-joints When the time comes here is what I will do. Search for a supplier for ball joints and pick out a size that would match of come very close. Then either machine the ball joint or the arm for it to fit. I suppose they have a complete listing of various sizes some place....

On some electrical items it is not a good idea to disconnect stuff when there is power applied. Like when taking out ecu's and removing things from the dash like radio and climate control, you always want to disconnect the battery. I'm not sure about your year car, but on the older generations you can not clean the Air meter unit, any cleaning will ruin it. You need to check the items I mentioned above. Also you could do this test as well. He does the test near the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG3EZJlyjl8 The test will show if the coils are connected and working and if the ignitors are good. If both ignitors and coils pass then check distributors and caps. Also cam position sensor will be suspect. When was the timing belt done? The ecu could be an issue too, also engine mechanical. Its a process of elimination. And you mentioned maybe bad gas, could be that or water in it, you really need to rule out the gas thing too. Is that gas still in it ?

If you can find one that will match up they can be pressed out and new one pressed in. Where do you get the new bushings? If they are like the front its more of a spherical metal to metal type of joint very similar to a ball joint. If it is and rubber is used to replace it then alignment won't stay too well.

Since it is likely a 95 you have, maybe its an OBD2 you need a code reader or go to an Oreilly's or Auto zone and they can check it for you for free. This is the first step to trying to fix it. But since it is running so bad, I would look at things like the coils and distributors first. It could be as simple as a goofed up rotor or a coil that came unplugged. Maybe rent or buy the code reader, when using it the engine is not suppose to be running.