boogieman

I did a test years ago on my '94 , Champaign and tan, vs a dark teal green with teal leather interior Grand Marquis. The Lexus, lighter colors, was 25* cooler inside on a hot Texas day. Both had tinted windows. No more dark colors for me. They look great but not for me.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

New battery and alternator in January. Terminals clean and tight, no corrosion at all. Going to pull and have the battery checked, again.

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?

A competent upholstery shop can replace whatever needs replacing in matching material. I have had this done on several of my vehicles. There was a phone in both my '93 and my '95. Not a big deal to remove them. I had no problems with either of mine.

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.

Most major auto supply's will read the codes for free for you if you don't have a scanner.

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."

I got mine on-line. About $50 best I recall. Rockauto is a good place to start looking.

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.

Thanks Randall. Being a 47 year survivor of the construction industry, I always left electrical issues to the experts. I know, different animal, but equally baffling to the uninitiated none-the-less. I can understand how one problem can initiate another and the dominoes begin to cascade. I really don't want to part with my LS unless there are continuing issues. I like the car and enjoy driving it. Like any other piece of equipment, when it takes more than it is worth dealing with it, it is time to go. I hope I haven't reached that point yet. I suppose this might not rear it's ugly head again but possibilities abound. In a quick side note, this is our 2nd LS. First was a '93 that we enjoyed until I was broadsided at 40 mph by a '78 Ford 3/4 ton pickup right between the drivers side doors. I was spun around and did a header, nose first, centered between the headlights, into a large tree. Air bags deployed, lost consciousness, woke to EMT cutting me out of the wreckage. I walked to the ambulance. The car was totaled. I am sold on Lexus safety. That's why we have this one. I'm located in Dallas in the Republic of Texas. I have a friend in South Bend, home of the Avanti. You know Mike? (Sorry bout that, I couldn't resist)

Outstanding write-up about the capacitors, Craig. Reading the text, I see all my issues listed therein. How difficult are those to obtain? Is there someone who does this regularly? Great info to have. I mean, Who knew? Thanks again.

No I hadn't considered that. Not at all electrically knowledgeable. No idea which one or even what it might look like. This all may be moot at this point. Mechanic called to say they were closing and the car was parked out front. "By the way, thought you would like to know the CEL is off and no indicators lit-up on the dash. Seems to be working right now." Got there, started right up. Slipped into reverse easily. Into drive easily. No indicator lamps lit. Drove it home with no incident. Parked. Turned off. Restarted it. Went into reverse with no problem. Repeated several more times. No problems. No lights. Now what do I do? Wait until it crashes again? Sell it while it is working? Is this a one time gremlin, an anomaly, or an omen of impending disaster? Frustrating..

Bad news all around. The check engine light and codes therein reveal multiple issues that cant be cleared. Among those are Intermittent crank signal, wiring harness malfunctions, transmission shut down (limp mode), erratic signals to and from the main computer, ignition shut down, and possible other related unknowns. At an unknown cost to further diagnose, plus possible component costs, including possibly a main control board, labor costs, etc, , looks like this is my next "used to own" vehicle. The local market is around $2500 for a well used one. With the problems this one has, hardly worth much more than scrap value. Had I the space and time I would part it out but I don't. Electrical gremlins have claimed another very good car. Too hard to track down, too expensive to repair or replace. Appreciate all the help but must decide what to do now.

Waiting on my mechanic to call, probably later though. I've owned over 300 cars and never had a problem like this. Troubling and frustrating at best. So while I'm waiting on him, it's time to get my '79 Avanti out.

I have a reader that belongs to my son. It and the car are OBDII. Plugged it in and half of the read-out is illegible. Got it to my mechanic to check out. Can't get to it today though. He tells me the CEL might cause the TC to flash but not be specific to that function. I'll know tomorrow. Also wondered if the cruise control being activated but not set could have some bearing on the problem. Reluctantly allowed our daughter to borrow the car a few weeks ago. Wonder if she tried to use the cruise ? I tried pushing the button but see no differentiation in the switch between off and on. forgot to check the instrument panel for that light. Intermittent issue or not, a car that I can't count on is my next "used to have one" car. The search function here was helpful in narrowing down the possibilities. Big help. Might need to touch base again with my transmission guy too. Appreciate all the help and advice. At least I got it out of the driveway and to my mechanic. I'll report back when I know something. Might be able to help the next guy with a similar, or the same, problem.

What might be involved with the Traction Control Off indicator? Potentially expensive is my guess. Great cars to own but costly to repair.

Now I'm dumbfounded. Tried starting the car again. Started right up as usual. Idles at 1100 rpm. Shifting into reverse , no issue at all. Turned the key off and tried again. Repeated 10 more times. Only once did it ping then die when starting in park then shifting to reverse. Started in neutral. Shifted to drive. No issues. Repeated several times. Started it in neutral and shifted into reverse. No issue at all. Engine idled down to app 700 rpm. Repeated all the above at least 10 more times. No issue at all in any combination of starting gear, or trans gear selection. Shifting up, shifting down, starting in park, starting in neutral, only once did the issue reappear during the 20 or so restarts.. Checked the trans fluid, nice clear red, no smell, looks great. Engine oil at the full mark. Do see the " check engine" light flashing and the "Traction Control Off" indicator blinking. This is new. Haven't see it before. Any connection? The trans was serviced in '08 at 98,000 when the timing belt was changed. Car only has 115,000 miles now. I am the second owner. Open to suggestions.

Hadn't thought of that. Interesting. I will try that shortly and report back.

One added matter is the timing belt was replaced at 98,000 miles just before I got the car in 2008. Plus when using the cruise control the engine dies when coming to a stop. So I quit using it. Dealership quoted me $1,500 to replace that particular ECU. No other issues to report.

When first starting up everything is normal. Cold start-up idles at app 1100 - 1200 rpm. Engine revs just fine. No stumble, hesitation, everything perfectly normal, nothing different from the last 7 years of driving it. No codes indicated. The trans engages somewhat abruptly when shifting to reverse due to elevated idle rpm just as it has always done. As soon as the trans engages the ping occurs and the engine dies instantly, no stutter, no hesitation, it dies right that second. No way to check a forward gear as the shifter HAS to go through reverse to get to a forward gear. Engine dies before getting out of reverse. If not for the factory semi-gated shift detent type housing on the console I might could get into a forward drive position. The shifter plate requires a hesitation stop in reverse before moving the shift handle towards the driver to go through neutral to drive. The car is parked on my slightly sloped drive, front end elevated, so checking fluid level us inaccurate. A couple of months back when I checked all the fluid levels, as I often do, everything checked normal. The underside of the car is still clean and dry. Not one single indication of any component leaking any fluid. This past January while changing the alternator I had my mechanic double check everything under the car. He reported seeing nothing of even the slightest concern. I've been going to these guys since 1980 and have been extremely pleased with their competence and professionalism. They say there is nothing obvious, I believe them. My trans guy has been a family friend since the late 1960's. He went to school with my brother. He says he has no idea what the problem is from a transmission perspective. He too has been doing what trans work I need since 1980, too. I an very comfortable with standard shift transmissions. Except for the clangy pinging noise the situation is very much like dumping the clutch too quickly. Since I drive the car less than 5,000/year, could there be something related to lack of usage? I find that hard to accept but there it is. As I stated, these cars are selling around here in the $2,500 range. Mine slightly higher due to condition and low mileage. Last fall I was offered $3,600 but turned it down. Hindsight being what it is, perhaps I should have sold it then. I am retired and have to live on a fixed income. Spending upwards of over half of what the car is worth seems foolish to me. It is a 20 year old used car, albeit a very nice one. Economics say don't spend a exorbitant amount on repairs. Thus my efforts to try to pin-down the problem to try to determine the app. repair costs. Appreciate everyone's help greatly.