So now I'm a Lexus owner. And it wasn't even my idea.
My girlfriend's father has had this black 1990 LS400. He was driving home from work one day when the car died. He had it towed home, and the next day I came over with my tools, meter, etc. Naturally, the car started right away for me. I let it warm up, drove it around the neighborhood, no problems. A visual inspection didn't turn up anything either.
A couple of days later, my probably-future-father-in-law got in it to go to work, and... it wouldn't start. He ran the battery down trying.
Frustrated, he put an ad in the local paper. Only one guy came out to look at it, and he offered $200. He was politely (or so I'm told) asked to leave. I think it was then that my girlfriend's parents decided to give the car to me, to see if I could fix it and get some use out if it.
Like I needed another car, as my girlfriend says. I currently have a 1996 Jaguar XJ6, a 1994 Mazda Miata (the track day car) and a 1963 Chevrolet Corvair. If I was in the market for anything, it would be for a Triumph Bonneville T-100. But that's another story.
I've put a new battery in the LS, and -as before- it started and seems to be running fine. Maybe it just likes me better. The "check engine" light is on, and so is the traction control light. Can Autozone (or some reasonable facsimile) read the engine light? I have a code reader, but it's only for '96-and-later OBDII cars.
Other than driving it until it acts up again, I don't have any plans for this car. If I flew for business, I'd use it as an "airport car". But I'm pretty good at making the young shmucks in the office fly instead. Maybe I can use it for when my girlfriend wants to go downtown for dinner or clubbing. Or I could always trade it for a T-100... Right now, I've got a whopping $400 in it (went ahead and fixed the A/C after I got it running).
A quick survey of just a few of my car buddies brought different theories as to why it stopped running before:
Friend A: Ignition control module.
Friend B: Fuel pump.
Friend C: Ignition switch.
Anybody have any other theories to offer?
I'll take some pictures tomorrow afternoon and post them.
