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Liammr2

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Everything posted by Liammr2

  1. Hi Lance What doug explained to me is that the V8, ignition-wise, is effectively two four cylinder engines. Each bank has one of everything, coil, caps, ignitors etc. It happily 'runs' as a four, but can't rev out with only one bank firing. So what you need to do is to check out each ignition component for the side you aren't getting a spark for. Cheers, Liam
  2. Yeah, I'm sure they aren't straight pipes :-). I looked long and hard to get ones that cheap. Indeed, too much back pressure, and the cat gets very hot - they saw that when fixing the ignition problem. I would have started with the back O2 sensors as you say except that I am getting a garage to do the work - so it works out less hassle and costly to have all the relevant bits swap in one go while they are under there. Cheers, Liam
  3. Hi Thanks to everyone's helpful suggestions my '96 got it's ignition issues fixed. Turned out to be a bad igniter module. Picked up the car, got less than 1/2 a mile down the road and the check engine light came on. U-turn and back she went - had to get a cap replaced. So, all the ignition issues sorted. Still has too much back pressure but they reckoned I could wait on that. Wasn't charged for the cap at all :-) - said that they should have checked better before they said done. Well, it was not to be :-(. Less than a week later and the CEL was on again - and this time it was complaining about the cats. Being somewhat broke I've been looking for parts, not at the dealer prices ($1,100 per cat!!!!!). Tonight I finally got the cats purchased and all four O2 sensors purchased. I didn't want to get any Universal ones - getting bolt in cats and plug in O2 sensors does mean that I paid more, but I'll save some on the installation. I got 2 x Eastern Catalytic converters for $120 plus shipping each, 2 x Denso 234-4169 O2 sensors (pre-cat) for $79 plus shipping each, and 2 x Denso 234-4603 O2 sensors for $105 each. I found a coupon giving 5% off from the last place, and got free shipping so they worked out at $100 and change each. I got Denso ones as AFAIK that's who makes the OEM sensors for Lexus. Ouch. It took me a while to find places that had them all that cheap so if anyone wants to know where I got them from just message me. Cheers, Liam
  4. I think they look nicer than the current rims. Cheers, Liam
  5. Looks like it might be fixed! Thank you for the pointer Elvis. It was one of the ignitors, which is also why the tach went funny. The tach gets it's signal off only one of the ignitors - and that one was dying under load. Doug says it's still under powered, and that's probably the backpressure in the exhaust system (6 psi instead of 2 psi) but he says that I am probably back to where I was when the ignitor went west. I'll drive it this afternoon and have a better idea. Cat/back pressure-wise - I'll get them swapped out, and probably get the o2 sensors done at the same time but I'll collect the parts for that and supply them to the shop. I think I can cut the cost pf parts to 1/2 of what they were able to find (which was 1/2 of the Lexus parts!). Cheers, Liam
  6. OK. Just talked to DougtheMechanic. I told him about the ignition coil issue that was mentioned,. Rather than rip off the exhaust and maybe have that not be the issue (he said there was 6psi back pressure and that was more than there should be (I think he said 6 anyway)) he pulled the O2 sensors and tested with the hole in the exhaust. He said that if it was back pressure then pulling the O2 sensors should make a noticable difference and get back some of the power. Well, it had no effect at all. So he checked out the coils and they are good. Now he is working through other things that could be the issue, starting with the MAF sensor. He also has a call out to their Tech info people to see if there is something known that he should be looking at. Any other ideas people have I'll pass them on. Cheers, Liam
  7. Sorry to update myself, but just another couple of points I remembered. There was a definite noise that happened to the car just before it started playing up - it's reasonable that the noise could have been something going bang in the exhaust somewhere. The burning smell we were getting was coming off the cats - as was smoke. So I suspect that even if there is a contributing ignition issue that the cats aren't in the best shape of their lives. Car is at approx 162k, and there is no replacement of exhaust things in the Lexus service history (Lexus serviced it up to 2004). Again, thank you for all the info - great info in this forum! Cheers, Liam
  8. Thanks for all the info! I don't know for sure about the cats - but I'll be seeing them when I pick up the car. I had the ignition all done by the same firme not long ago - so if something like a coil failed then it failed in the last 2 or 3 thou miles. I do always use premium. Cheers, Liam
  9. Johnson & Johnson Imports on Mechanical Bvld, Garner They've worked on my '96 Lexus and my wife's '99 Avalon - and we've been happy with the work to date. Place is owned and staffed by ex BMW mechanics. Cheers, Liam
  10. Yep, the exhaust was where the burning smell was. It has 2 collapsed cats :-(. So getting after market cats, and Lexus O2 sensors. That explains the not reving and burning smell. The mechanic isn't sure why the tach drops back to 0 when the engine goes over 2000rpm. But that behaviour started the same time the cats died - so I am hoping that it's just the electrics getting confused and it will behave once the cats are fixed. You don't want to know how much it is costing :-( Thanks for the pointer. Cheers, Liam
  11. Yes, and yes. Not misfiring, just won't rev.
  12. Oh, forgot to say - no check engine light. Cheers, Liam
  13. Bad things happened yesterday :-( Started the car (96 ls400) and it was happily running at approx 1200 rpm - which is where it idles until warm. Was just sitting idling waiting for the missus to put on her seat belt. Heard a noise in the engine, and some burning smell. Now the car runs, but won't rev over approx 2000rpm. If I do anthing other than feather the throttle then the tach needle will drop to 0 rpm and the engine will bog down - but doesn't stop. Any ideas what I might be in for? Not a good time for it to break - someone sideswiped off the drivers door mirror when we were in NJ at xmas - and that is $560 just for the part :-( Cheers, Liam
  14. So, drive 10 hours in the '96 LS400 to visitfriends and family. At the last stop of the evening park in a street. Come out and someone had clipped the driver's side mirror with there mirror and smashed it totally :-(. Time to call the insurance agent and see how much this is going to hurt the budget. *And* we have the 10 hour drive home to look forward to with no mirror.
  15. My '96 doesn't have one, nor does my wife's Avalon - so I am figuring on rectifying the omission with a Scanguage II in each car (unless I can find something nicer :-)). I kinda found the trip computer in the '98 I drove somewhat garish - but was a short drive at twilight.
  16. We were driving down an unknown, un-lit country road at the speed limit (45) when the road took a sudden and ever tightening turn. I've been in cars that become a real handful when that happens - about 25 would have been a comfortable speed to take the corner for the passengers in the back. The LS just kept turning tighter as I pulled the wheel around and never felt for a moment like it was in any discomfort with what it was being asked to do. It's very nice to have a car that is happy going faster than I want to drive :-). Cheers, Liam
  17. Hi Filled the car for the 2nd time since we got it last week. The low warning light came on at 388 miles, I filled it at 388.9 miles. It took just a squeak under 18 gallons - so that works out at 21.6 miles to the gallon. Not the 30 miles to the gallon I was getting in my '89 supercharged MR2 over the same commute, but as good as we get from our 4 cyl Saturn Vue. Pretty darned impressive for 4.0 litres and over 3600 lbs and 155k miles old!! Commute is around 40 miles each way, roads between 35 and 65 mph speed limits, with the traffic moving at anywhere from stopped on I-40 to 75+mph. I guess 14 or so traffic lights. Cheers, Liam
  18. Hi We've just got a 1996 Lexus LS400 with about 155K miles. There is Johnson Lexus about 45 mins north of us (north Raleigh/Wake Forest) but I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation of a place to get the car serviced that is nearer to us. We are kinda in the the middle of a triangle bounded by Garner to the north, Fuquay-Varina to the West and Clayton to the East. As we are also picking up a 1999 Toyota Avalon this week to replace another car it would be nice if there was a place that could do both cars. We moved down here from NJ recently (shortly after finding a mechanic that could actually work on MR2s - sadly he won't move here), so don't even know to start looking. Thank you Cheers, Liam
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