jtbel

Hello, the car was starting and running fine, until the check engine light came on while driving. it started to run rough and made a pinging sound upon acceleration. It was turned off, then when turned back on, it made sort of a clunk sound on start up. Took it to read the code, and they said it was the camshaft sensor bank 1. I forgot to get the exact code number. Anyway, I found a cam sensor testing procedure that I think applies to my car. It says: Resistance (Cold): 835 - 1,400 ohms. Both right and left tested around 1,040. I tested the connectors that were coming out of the 2 black covers on the front of the engine (bottom half of the covers). Afterward, I go to start the car, and again it makes a clunking noise upon start up, but now it shuts off after a few seconds. I'm not exactly sure if I correctly tested the cam sensors, or if I had the right sensor connections. I don't have a repair manual. Does this sound like it is one of the camshaft sensors? Thanks for any help.

I just finished putting an HID conversion kit in my truck (bi-xenon). Works great! I picked them up on Ebay for around $60. I went with the 5000's, only because they are brighter. The higher you go in temperature, the more color you get, but you start to lose brightness. I would assume you would have to do high's and low's separate because they are two different bulbs.

If any of the spark plug wires develops a crack or break of some kind, and is touching or very close to any part of the chassis (metal), it will spark at that location. I believe I heard that you can check for arcing at night, when it is dark. I had this happen to me. One of the wires got separated from the rest and was arcing. The car had a slight miss. I don't believe the wire was cut, I just repositioned it and it stopped. Good luck.

My driver side door lock actuator gave out shortly after I had bought the car (used). I tried removing it at one point in time to possibly find an inexpensive new or used replacement, but learned that it is sort of "caged" in the door, and at the time decided it was not worth it to try and take it out. My friend works at a tint store that installs tint, alarms, stereos, etc. They also install universal door lock motors (usually in a vehicle that did not come with power door locks), anyway he installed one for me and it works great! He did'nt charge me anything because the motors cost just a few dollars and the rest is all labor. The tint on the front drivers side was also coming off, so I had him re-tint the whole car. He did charge me for that, but I was able to remove the old tint by myself fairly easy. So, basically if someone needs an actuator replaced, try going to a tint and alarm shop and have them install a universal door lock motor. It should be cheap because it is mainly just labor (removing door panel, finding 2 wires, installing new motor). Hope this helps someone.

I really can't diagnose electrical problems concerning dash lights and whatnot, but when my headlights started to work only intermittently, I found it to be the plug or connector that the bulbs connect to. The wires had power, but the connector did'nt. I guess the heat gets to them after a long time. You can find the connectors on ebay for like $20.

I replace the pads on my '97 when they need it. I don't have the procedure fresh in my mind, but really don't remember having to disconnect any lines to replace the pads.

Partstrain.com has them for around $35 plus shipping. The local Autozone has them for $72.

I replaced the tranny mount the other day. It was idling just fine, but it would sort of lurch forward when put in drive or backwards when put in reverse. I have'nt driven the car yet because my wife drives it, so I don't know yet if there is any kind of difference. Anyway, for such a low price (something like $30 or $40) for the mount, I think it is well worth having it done. Doing it yourself is soooo easy! Took just a few minutes. I just rolled the car on some plastic ramps, jacked up the rear of the tranny ever so slightly with a wood block on the pan (just to hold the weight), unbolted the crossmember, unbolted the mount. The old mount had separated (I'm guessing from when I jacked up the tranny slightly), and the rubber was very soft and had a bend in the middle of the two rubber parts. In other words, it definitely needed to be replaced.

I don't think there will be a problem if you wait a few days. On the rotors, unless there are some deep scrapes or they are really not very smooth, I would'nt worry about the rotors too much. If the rotors are getting pretty bad, you will feel a bit of a wobble when coming to a stop. I was looking at a coupon the other day that talked about replacing brake pads and then scraping the rotors for free. Something to look into.

Where could I get the mount for around that price?

My '97 LS400 idles high in the mornings or whenever the motor is cold. I really, really don't like moving the car before the idle goes down because there is a bigger clunk sound when putting it into gear when the idle is still high. I think it is made worse because my driveway has a tilt, downward away from the house. The way I get around this is with a remote starter. When we're almost ready to leave, we'll start the car. It has a 15 minute time limit, so if I take longer than that it will shut off. If it does, it is warm on the restart. I'll probably be looking into getting the tranny mounts soon.

I also have a '97 LS400. I think it is a good idea to disconnect the battery every now and then to reset the computer. But, to replace the driver's side headlamp bulb, it is not necessary. If I recall correctly, there is a black plastic cover that just snaps off, then some kind of metal clamp needs to be opened to release the bulb. (I forgot, you might have a black plastic cover that covers the gap between the battery and the front, it is not bolted down). For the passenger side, you would have to remove the long air gatherer thingy (1-10mm bolt), and remove half the air filter container (1-10mm bolt, and undo clamp) to get easy access. Good luck.

(The car is much quieter now. However, the check engine light illuminated a few days after this "repair" so now I need to find out what that's about). This will take care of the cel. http://www.3si.org/forum/f1/resistor-mod-h...gh-pics-382054/

I just replaced my starter a couple months back on my 1997 LS400. Before you remove anything, take a picture of the engine, so that you will know where things go in case you forget. Taking off the throttle body is easy. Taking off the upper chamber is easy. I only unplugged the injector connections, I did not remove the injectors or the rails. Removing the lower chamber is fairly easy. Where it gets more difficult is removing the rear water bypass (bridge). Also, getting to the 2 bolts for the starter. Be sure to check the lower egr pipe for cracks. Use new gaskets so that you don't have to do it twice. I had to do mine twice because the wire connection on top of the thick wire loom over the rear bridge had come loose and was making the idle surge (I did'nt find the problem until after I finished the 2nd time), but the 2nd time was a breeze. Good luck!

I believe the egr pipe is part of the emissions system, and does not affect performance if it is blocked off. I just got done replacing the starter on my '97 LS400. I did it myself, and it is not very difficult, but if you are not that familiar with working on cars, it can be really intimidating. I did the procedure twice on mine because I had a sensor that came loose and was making the engine surge. The second time was a breeze. I ordered 2 block off plates from a guy that fabricates them ($8 bucks each). One thing you have to remember is that the plates are 2 different sizes. I found that out after the fact. Anyway, you have to remove the air intake, throttle body, upper and lower chambers, and the rear water bypass which is what the lower egr pipe is connected to. I can give you the guy's email if you want the plates.

Hello, this is no problem at all! I just had the same thing happen to my car ('97 LS400). There is a thread called Precedure/pictures to fix steering column gear. (They spelled procedure wrong) It took me about 10-15 minutes to fix. I put a little bit of grease on the gear before I put it back in. The key element here is adding the shim to bring the gear out a little to get better contact with the turning screw. Good luck!

I fixed the problem! There is a sensor of some sort that has a plug on it. It is located on the middle top part of the plastic box that covers a thick wire loom that sits over the rear water bypass or bridge. It is the one that gives you a lot of trouble when you are trying to get to the starter. I was really moving the box backward when I removed the bridge, it must have come unconnected. The car is idling great, and I am not noticing any exhaust leak.

Yes, I cleaned the throttle body, and have not touched the tps because it is still at factory specs. I sprayed some cleaner into the iacv. If I unscrew the 3 screws at the top of it, the top starts to come off, but does'nt. I can see a spring and a rod inside. Is there a way to take it apart? By the way, I'm assuming it it the part at the front of the upper chamber.

Well, I finished reinstalling the upper and lower chambers along with the throttle body. I used all new gaskets and sealant. It is still doing the surging. I really don't think it is a leak of some sort, now that it has been done twice. Also, this time when I first started it, the car did not surge at first. It started normally for a few seconds, and then started surging again. If there is no leak, what could be making the car surge? I am not getting a cel. I really need to get it fixed. Does anybody have some close up engine pics of a '97, I want to double check that I put everything back correctly. Thanks

I'm not recognizing that part. Is that a different year model? Mine is '97. I am taking off the throttle body and the chambers in an attempt to fix the coolant leak. I will be using new gaskets and high temp sealer when installing everything. The tps does'nt look like there is much to it, I don't want to take it off because it has not been disturbed. On the right side of the top chamber looks to be the egr valve ( does this need to be disconnected or anything when deleting the pipe?) On the front of the top chamber there is another valve of some sort. Which one is the iacv?

Thanks for the response! Yes, I did use new gaskets and sealant. I used a lot of water to clean the throttle body, maybe I'll look at cleaning the sensors that are on the throttle body. There is the tps and can you help me with the iacv. Maybe a picture so I could tell which is which? Thanks

What happened?

Hello, I finished installing a new starter, and I took off the lower egr pipe and added block off plates instead. I had tried to clean out the throttle body and upper and lower chambers as best I could. The car ran great before this, there was just a slight exhaust leak, probably from the egr pipe. Anyway, the car starts up just fine now, but the idle is surging back and forth from about 1200-1800 rpm. By the way, there is now a coolant leak that I have to take care of. What could be causing the surging? Did I mess something up when cleaning the throttle body? I am not getting a cel. I appreciate any help.

Thanks AzHotLS. That link was pretty cool. Was there ever a step by step done for that? I wonder how it is working out after being installed. I went to Lowes earlier and they had a similar tubing (1/2") with a black coating (24" long). It was meant for a gas line in a fireplace. What I did'nt like about it was the price ($37). It was in the water heater area. I then found another stainless steel flexible tubing (1/2", 22" long) without a coating in the grill/fireplace area next to the lawnmowers. It is a gas line for a fireplace. I kind of liked this one better because it had no coating, and it was only ($23). Both of these hoses had the 1/2" female connectors on them. Now, being that the hose is stainless steel and is meant to be in a fireplace, one would think it can stand the heat that an egr pipe receives. Am I headed in the right direction? I would'nt know how to attach the male ends on the pipe though. If I can keep the price in the $30-$40 range, I think it would be worth it. If the price starts climbing towards $50 and up, I would lean more towards getting a new egr pipe.

Well I got the bottom part of the lower egr pipe unbolted. I was then trying to figure out how to pull out the (rear coolant bridge). It came out with some wiggling after pulling the wire loom over the studs. My egr pipe was just about split in half. I'm not sure how much of that was done from trying to pull it out. I'm fairly sure there was at least a crack, because I did have an exhaust leak that had developed earlier this year. My guess would be from my driveway having a slight tilt, and when you put the car in drive before the idle comes down, there is a pronounced jerk. ( I probably have to look into doing the tranny mount next). Anyway, I'm trying to decide what to do about the egr pipe. I have'nt heard of anyone having any luck (long term) with repairing or modifying the pipe. I saw a delete kit at lextreme, but I am not familiar with the egr valve location, and it mentions something about a resistor. So, I'm kind of leaning towards just replacing the pipe. Any suggestions on what is better? And, where is the cheapest place to get a new lower egr pipe? Thanks