Andrewsreef

This is definately coolant. However my local mechanic can find nothing wrong. He pressure tested the system and all is well. He says no problem with the head gasket which was my main concern. Not sure how the coolant seeped out but it did. It seems to be intermittent which is odd also. I am getting ready to take the truck and family on a long trip down south so I am concerned about it. Thanks Andrew

My 1997 LX450 seems to have another one of it's constant, unusual problems. This time I am getting a small amout of anti-freese coolant on the passanger's side of the motor way in the back near where the tranny hooks to the motor. I must be leaking from the back and dripping down to the bottom of what looks like the block. It is a small leak I can see with a flashlight and drips on the stabalizer bar under the truck. Any idea what could be the problem? Thanks Andrew

Mine has been doing this also even after a complete tune up and 93 octane gas. I also had an injector/throttle body cleaning and used several fuel additives to remove deposits. Nothing worked for me. I finally had to !Removed! the timing back to 1.5 BTC (factory setting is 3 BTC). That seems to have done the trick. Thanks Andrew

I did have an oil leak at the valve cover. I had that fixed. I to thought that was were the oil was going. However, it must be burning it as I have no leaks that I can find. The engine is very clean inside. The oil looks like new after 4k on it and I do not appear to have any sludge at all. I just had a tune up with throttle body cleaning so I doubt it needs that again. It surprises me that this thing would burn the oil. I switched my 1998 Toyota Seainna van to Mobil 1 and it has 4k on it and is still totaly full. These engines must not be as "tight" as some of the newer ones. My friend has a 944 Porsche that had the same problem. He had to switch back to conventional oil. I may try Castrol Syntec as I heard it was a little better about not burning. Thanks Andrew

Not sure why this is happening but my 1997 LX450 with just at 72K on it goes through about a quart of mobil 1 10W30 every 1000 miles or so. It may be even using a little more than this. I am not sure where it is going but the engine must be burning it at some point. Anyone else having this problem? If I can not figure out why I am going to switch to good old Castrol and see if it goes back to normal. Thanks Andrew

Thi, I have heard that carbon buildup can be a problem but no idea why I would have it after the cleaning and tune up. I ran some Amoco 93 in it this week and the knocking is better but not completely gone. I have to jump on the gas pretty hard to get it to ping though and it only does it a few times before and after it shifts. I am going to do some research on the timing for these things and see how much total advance they are supposed to get. Not sure what controls it but I assume it is the computer. I may take in to a new place I heard about that does a lot of work on Landcruisers locally. I will let you know what I find out. Thanks again. Andrew

Thi, thanks for responding. Do they sell gas with a higher octane than 93? I was think of switching brands and see if that helps. All the plugs and wires were replaced trying to fix my misfire problem from the bad wire harness. Not much left to replace on this thing. Thanks Andrew

Not sure on the valve clatter but I beleive that would be noticable at idle. The spark knock or pre-ignition clatter is different sounding to me. It is very high pitched almost matelic sounding. It can be hard to hear over the engine. The exhaust can make a similar sound also but I really beleive mine is "pinging" just a little before and after it shifts in the higher RPMs. Thanks Andrew

I do have the timing set to the factory specs. Not advanced. This was done during my tune-up and I have checked it again to be sure. THe knock sensor was replaced due to my check engine light coming on and off for a code #3025. This relates to a short in the knock sensor or harnes. I am the guy who had the strainge problem with the wire harness but that was fixed and the erratic behavior from the truck is all fixed now. I replaced the knock sensor as it is the #2 thing to check when you have the code 3025 problem according to my manual. Thanks, do you run regular gas or 93? Does yours knock at all when you jump down on the gas? Again, I really have an ear for this stuff. THanks Andrew

Hi all, I just replaced the knock sensor on my LX450 after having intermittent problems with my check engine light and code#3025. Even after replacing this, I am still having a little bit of knocking I notice when I give it gas pretty hard just before and after the transmission shifts. This does not seem normal at all to me and the noise drives me nuts (I have an ear for this kind of stuff). Any sugustions? My timing is set to the factory specs of 3BTC and I just had a tune up and injector cleaning/throttle body done. Anyone else notice this? I am starting to wonder if the quality of the gas has changed lately because it has not done this since I got the timing corrected with my tuneup. thank again. Andrew

You are correct. It drives much better in Power mode. I bet the transmission will last longer in this mode. It has to be less wear and tear on it. Thanks for the tip. Andrew

Happy New Year everyone!!!! I want to know if any of your LX450s do this. When going under 15MPH like in a parking lot or driving in a neighborhood and not stoping but coasting (letting off the gas like to brake or turn), when I start to accelerate again, my transmission acts like it does not know what gear to be in. It will feel almost like it is in neutral and then shift into second and drive fine. Again this happens under 15MPH so almost at a stop. It does this very consistantly and may be normal but I have never noticed it before in other cars. No evidence of tranny slipping from a stand still under normal accelaration. Just checking as I have become a little parinoid with this truck. Thanks again Andrew

The filter I am using is small and about the same size as the K&N. The part number is 90915-YZZD3. It is made in Thiland so I was not impressed at first. This made a big difference on my truck but again, I am not sure why. Thanks Andrew

I wanted to give everyone an update. I changed to Mobil 1 and was using the K&N filter. My car, which has the rattle on start up, was really driving me nuts with the rattle. It seemed worse than before. I went by Toyota and got the factory filter (which has changed as my Toyota dealer does not sell the filter that ends in #20004 any more. I switched the filter out and added another quart of 10W-30 and Wow!! My rattle on start up is almost completely gone. I would say an 80+% improvement. Not sure what that sound is but I will not run anything but the factory filter anymore. Has anyone else noticed this kind of improvement? Happy Holidays everyone. Andrew

Dougjohn, how many miles were on your truck when you switched to Mobil 1? Are you using a Toyota brand oil filter? If not, what brand? I have heard the K&N filters are really good but I may switch back to Toyota brand to be safe. Thanks Andrew

Thi and others. I do not remember if you guys were using synthetic oil in your LX450. I decided to try Mobil 1 and a K&N oil filter to see if it makes a difference with the rattle on start up. I have heard this will help with engine life by helping to reduce ware My truck is getting ready to hit 70K. I did the oil change and did not notice any improvement in the rattle. Now that I have made the switch, a friend of mine says the synthetic oil may cause an oil leak if I have dry seals. Are you using the synthetic oil? WHat brand and did it cause any kind of oil leak? Thanks ANdrew

Rookie, the Howell in reverse is another issue but I have heard other mention the noise in the snow lately so I hope it is not another problem. The wire harness problem was causing my erratic tranny shifting and the engine misfire. THe main problems I had from day one. Andrew

Good point about calling the dealer. My mechanic did a nice job of fixing it and attached a cable to hold all the wires in the newly done harness away from the EGR pipe. He pointed out there is a place for a strap to prevent this from happening. Not sure if mine never got the strap (manufacture defect) or it somehow was removed or completely vanished. Check your trucks, if the wires are close or touching the EGR pipe, you will have problems down the road. THe wires are now several inches away from the pipe. My guess is that all of you have a strap or this would be a much more common problem. The truck sure does drive nice now. I am finally enjoying it. I still have the check engine light on for what I think is still the P0325 knock sensor I need to check out when I have some more $. I am going to invest in THI's recomended Car Chip here soon. Thanks again and happy holidays. Andrew

Thi, Rookie and others who have helped me. My on going problem that I thought was tranny related and then engine turned out to be a defective design fault on the wireing harness. If any of you are having engine misfires or tranny shifting problems, examine the wiring harness comming off the firewall where it takes a 90 Degree turn under the drivers side of the motor. The wires over time rub against the EGR pipe and eventually rub all the insulation off. You get bare wires coming off the computer and arching on the metal tube for the EGR. Not good. Anyway, I wanted to share this info with you all so no one goes through the 2 month long nightmare I have been through. I got lucky and found a guy on a land cruiser web site that had the same problem. Thanks again. Andrew

Thanks Thi. I checked out Alldata and found the part number. I found it and checked the connection. It appears to be fine. I called the dealer to see what this little bugger costs. $166 and it looks like a bolt!!! I am going to run the car by my Mechanic who owes me big time for spending big $ with him and not even noticing the problem. I hope they can check it for me so I do not waste any more $. Thanks again. Andrew

I took my LX450 back to my cousin's tranny shop and the error code from the check engine light is PO325 which according to Alldata is a #1knock sensor. This retards the timing as I understad it. If this is going out, it could be causing my "surging". My cousin is convinced the proplem I am having is not tranny related but engine. Anyone know about this sensor? Thanks Andrew

Thi, thanks for responding. I looked this chip up and am considering purchasing it. I read the info but how does it work? How do you get the info to your pc. Do you have to purchase the separate cable? I am wondering if this might be a little better than just a OBCII scan tool. Nobody can figure out what is really wrong with my car. And all I am doing is spending lots of money for them to try. My tranny and engine are not giving codes when they test it so were are no farther along than a month ago. My check engine light did come on but it went out again before I could get it checked. Thanks for any more info you can give me on this. Andrew

Sounds good. Where can you purchase one of these? Online or locally at a part store? Thanks Andrew

THI or anyone else that owns a Scan tool, can anyone recomend a cost effective tool for testing error codes on my LX450? Also, would this tool work on other cars? My wife has a Toyota Seianna. My check engine light just came on so I want to start working on this car myself. Way to costly to repair with my long-time mechanic. Thanks Andrew

I just paid $640 out the door including tax at Tire Kingdom here in Jacksonville, FL. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Andrew