landar

Hopefully it is something fairly simple like the level sensor in the back getting stuck in a 'low' position. Or perhaps a wire or connector to the sensor is bad/unhooked?

Are you sure the level is ok? Mine will do that same thing if even a 1/2 qt low. Add a 1/2 qt as a test and see if it helps. It won't hurt even if it is full and you can always drain it back out.

When you say it "does nothing", do you perhaps hear a single 'click'? If your battery or terminals were bad, you would usually hear a burst of clicks and not just one. You should do as Steve says and check the battery thoroughly and clean the terminals but if it is a single click at times, when you turn the key, your starter solenoid contacts are most likely near the end of life. The slow turning is also a classic symptom of high resistance contacts. Unfortunately, It is quite labor intensive to repair the starter. How many miles are on the car and has the starter ever been replaced?

I never checked mine but will try the old-fashioned way of measure. Will let you know of my findings (it will take several weeks).

That fact is very troubling, IMO. I would want to know how and perhaps, why the previous owner would modify the wiring harness. If the ECU is not getting the proper signal due to errant wiring, I would not expect it to allow spark. Does the ECU throw any codes at all?

You are thinking this thru really well and I like your train of thought. You are exactly right about putting the bolt back on. How in the world are you going to torque it back to 181 ft-lb? I want to warn you that most air impact wrenches will not do the job. They exaggerate the torque in my opinion. Then there is a matter of your compressor. Does it have the ummph to drive the impact wrench? I have a Porter Cable "pancake" compressor that is good for 5.1 CFM @90PSI. That was enough to operate the 1000 ft-lb impact wrench. I tried other impact wrenches such as an Ingersol-Rand rated at 500 ft-lb and the crank bolt just laughed at it. The nature of the impact wrench is a burst of short, strong pulses. These pulse tend to quickly twist the bolt and leave the crankshaft pretty much in the same position. Oh, the crank may start to "walk" a little but you can stop and reposition without a problem. Having said all of this, if you do not have a good compressor, nor a good air impact wrench and you do not want to shell out the money, then you can go with the holding tool or the allen key in the flywheel method. The allen key is not a big deal. Just make sure you use a large allen key and wedge it in securely. If you want an excuse to buy some new tools, this is your chance. ^_^ Here is a link to the holding tool. The tool bolts to the crank and then you use a socket wrench in the square hole (1/2"?) to hold it. http://www.denlorsto...ley_holder.html

Well, first of all, welcome Richard. It sounds like you have really been thinking this through, which is good. Its not a trivial job but neither is it terribly difficult. You just need to take your time, be careful and hit all of the steps, in order. And you will be so rewarded with confidence (and save $$) when it is done. So lets get started with your questions. No need to remove the spark plugs that I know of. It would help to eleviate compression resistance when rotating the crankshaft but not really necessary. I did not remove them. When it comes to the crank bolt, I would recommend buying the holding tool OR buying an impact wrench beefy enough to zip off that bolt. But if you do not have an air compressor, then that is not much of an option. Since doing mine, I have purchased a 1000 lb-ft air impact wrench at Harbor Freight for $90 which easily will undo the bolt. So, I would now use that method. With the holding tool, you can wedge the handle of the tool against the frame or floor and then use both arms (which you correctly deduce that you will need...it is not that easy) to break the bolt free. On the subject of the 50 degree crank position...this is just to help with the "snap-roll" that you are likely to get when you rotate the cams when trying to wrestle the belt into the proper position. With the crank at approx. 50 degrees ATDC (After Top Dead Center), you are least likely to damage a valve should a cam(s) decide to take a sudden turn (snap). They may do this because they are spring loaded with the valve springs. But the 50 degree position decreases the likelihood of any damage to a valve. You want to get the crank close to 50 (not 4 or 10) but it is not critical. You will want to use the markings on the new belt to help you position the belt onto the crank and cam teeth. This will be the most difficult challenge you face. It is not always easy to get it just right. You may have to try a few times and thats ok. It is not ok to be off by even one tooth. It has to be dead nuts on. Not hard to do just takes a few tries. And yes, you can use a socket to manhandle the cam sprockets into place. I did. It takes a 19mm if I recall. Once the belt is on, you want to make sure the cam timing marks on pointing to the marks on the block as well as the crank being at TDC. In the end, THAT is the only thing that matters. Then just rotate the crank by hand 2 to 4 revolutions making sure that the marks still align evey 2 revs. Do not pay any attention to the belt markings after rotating, they wont line up anymore. If you notice a stiff resistance, it could be compression. If the valve(s) were to hit a piston, you wont be able to rotate the crank unless you put a ridiculous amount of torque on the crank and before then, I think you would figure something is wrong. But IF the cams and crank marks align to begin with, your chances of that happening are NIL. You should really crank only clockwise but it would not hurt to go back CCW if you have a need. In general, you do not have to jack the front end but it helps, at first, in draining the coolant. You really want to drain the coolant at the radiator and the two drain !Removed! in the block or else you will have a mess to clean up on the floor when you pull the pump. But once that is done, you want the car as low and level as possible when working from the top. At least I do. Finally, when you reinstall the new timing belt, clean things up and keep your hands clean to ensure that the new belt does not get contaminated. If you were to accidentally drop the new belt into, say, a puddle of antifreeze (not that will happen ;-) you can throw that belt out and start anew. Just be careful and you will be fine. And take your time. Do this when you have a few days of downtime. Carefully bag all of the bolts and parts. Take pictures along the way. Any questions, just ask. I admire your willingness to tackle this job!

No lube required (and certainly NOT WD40!). Mine make noise which may sound like they are struggling but they are a little on the flea-powered side. Its all small motors and plastic gears anyway. I would advise using the folding mirrors only when you need to...like if going thru a car wash or pulling out of the garage or tight space where they need to be tucked in. But I don't allow them to auto-fold when I remove the key. Just too much wear and tear, imo.

If the 'no start' was a series of rapid clicks then your car battery is either on the way out or there is a poor connection in the post to cable clamps. It is not unusual to have a battery only last 2-3 yrs. Have the battery checked out and clean the connectors to be sure. If the key battery were low, you probably would not be able to unlock the doors or even get a click.

In your area (Seattle) the Prius is probably a much better seller and the LS is most likely considered a pretentious gas guzzler. Your gain. The LS does not sell well in my area either. Most here (N. Indiana) consider it to be out of their grasp...too expensive to own and repair. I think it is very reasonable to own and repair and I consider them an amazing automotive bargain. Approach it cautiously, do your homework and buy(after haggling a bit) if it checks out. Remember the timing belt/water pump (which should be done every 90k miles) can cost $1k or more at a shop. Best wishes with your search.

The mileage should not be a big concern IF proper maintenance has been performed. Your job is to dig into past records, do a carfax and take it to a mechanic for another opinion. One high dollar item is the timing belt/water pump service. It *should* be on its third one. If I am reading that correctly, the price is $7995. For a 2003 LS430 that is an absolute steal, imo. Also makes me wonder why though?

The LS400 uses a "hot" wire air flow sense and not the "vane" type in the ES300, so I have corrected my previous post. It is very possible that your MAF sensors are shot but lets see if we can find an excerpt from a shop manual on how to check it. Stay tuned... Ok, I found this but it may be beyond typical equipment -> http://easyautodiagnostics.com/111/MAF-LOOK-UP/MAF-Lexus-lookup/Year-LS400.html Another question: was the engine running fine BEFORE you cleaned the MAF?

[edit] The air is a "hot" wire type where the air changes the resistance of the wire. There is also a thermal sensor to feed temperature info to the computer. Sometimes the little circuit board soldering gets messed up and disturbed by the cleaning. The MAF is very expensive from the dealer so the best bet is to buy a used one from a junkyard. I got one for my ES300 last year for $50 at the yard. Your symptoms and codes seem to imply a sensor is acting up and, at the moment, the MAF air flow and temp sensing is most suspect. If you are handy, maybe you can carefully pull the unit apart and check the condition of the connections and solder? I think there is a shop procedure to checking it. Will do a search later on.By the way, Danny, did you know that you can edit your existing post if you like?

Hmmm...it sounds like a "closed-loop" issue. With codes 24(intake temp sensor) and 25(lean mixture), I would check the MAF sensor and temp sensor in the throttle body.

Hi Danny and welcome to the club! A couple of additional questions for you which might help the members determine the root cause. Any codes showing? Does the engine run better when cold or hot or does it make any difference? Does it run ok other than the idle? Here is how to check for any codes(you should try this even if there is no check engine light) -> http://www.lexls.com...odereading.html For the canister, see this thread -> http://us.lexusowner...e__hl__canister My initial thoughts were Idle Air Control Valve or the ignition coils. The coils are infamous for getting weak with age. The IACV for gumming up. Looking forward to more info.

If I recall correctly, I have seen other posts with this issue and seems to me it was ECU related. It is cool in OK this time of year but if you purposely turn on the AC will that keep it from stalling? Seems like a load on the engine also helped. I would have to do a more thorough search. Welcome to the club! Ok, found it -> http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/topic/15699-9596-ls400-low-idle-engine-dies-and-jerking-thre/

Rather good of you to answer this RTFM question, curiousB.

How does it sense? Its magic! ^_^ And yes, if you drove into a carwash the wipers would come on. Happened to my wife and she freaked out. Fortunately all you have to do is adjust the right hand stalk up one position to turn the whole thing off. See owners manual for exciting details. Here is an interesting Youtube on the Toyota Sienna but yours work in a similar fashion ->

Wires (copper) themselves don't just get brittle although the insulation might harden. It really sounds like you have either... a nicked wire(insulation cut so that the wire shorts to ground), a cut wire or an intermittent connector pin.

It would be a shame for you to rip out or splice the original wiring only to find it makes no difference(very likely). Let's start at the beginning. What was your code and what is the basic problem? Welcome!

curiousB brings up a good point. That is, you must wait a certain amount of time for the electronics to go into its quiescent state. Do a little test and see if current draw remains at 180ma for over an hour. If so, there is most definitely a problem. I would like to know more of why you decided to check in the first place. Dead battery after just one day... one week? And is the CD changer/radio stock or aftermarket? Any 'mods' lately?

ck, you obviously have an intermittent problem and those are the hardest to diagnose. I would start your search with trying to separate the issue between fuel and spark. How do you do that? Well, when it wont start, try spraying some starter fluid into the intake snout and see if it begins to run correctly(if only briefly). Also, you might consider hooking up an OBDII scanner to your car. If you do not have one, you might borrow one or limp to an auto parts store where they will scan it for free. The scanners are fairly inexpensive nowadays. The scan is the first thing that I would do. As I read your original post, I thought about fuel delivery, such as a weak or intermittent fuel pump causing the engine to starve under load. A fuel gauge on the injector rail would rule that out. Let us know what you find.

Bovine flatulence...very common on a Lexus. You just have to sniff it out.

The first thing I would do, Matt, is to check for any codes. Could be a variety of things and may not be related to the Alt change-out. http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/intro/codereading.html Wecome!

I would think that a thief smart enough to use the nav. home button would also know to rifle thru the glove compartment and notice an envelope. If the thieves would have your address via the registration or insurance cards, the nav 'home' is effectively a moot argument.