smokinwrench

Timing is correct. I done some more work this weekend. I now know 4 and 6 are both dead. I used a new spark plug wire and found I do have spark but still have dead cylinders. Compression is good on both cylinders. I have switched plugs and still dead. Plugs on those 2 holes are always black when I pull them. Mileage has went down to 13-16 mpg and always smells very gasy. A couple things I have noticed is the cel does not come on when I turn the key on, but the light is good because I see it come on once in awhile while driving. It never has logged codes, I cannot pull them up myself and I know I'm doing it correctly because it reads trans codes. I have also noticed that it seems to run decent at about 80 mph +. This tells me I am dumping tons of gas in those cylinders and it can't ignite it until it gets way up in rpms and needs that much fuel. With all of this going on I have just about decided I have lost the driver/s in the ecm that opens the injectors for those 2 cylinders and it is causing them to just dump fuel all the time at way to high of rates. Has anyone had this problem? If I can find a cheap ecu I think I will buy it, unless someone has a better idea.

Driven it over 50 miles now with it unplugged. Still running crappy, gasy smell. CEL is off I don't have traction control. As of right now I think it runs the exact same with it plugged in as unplugged.

Can I unplug the maf and see how it runs then? I have heard you can do that.

The victom is a 92 sc400. I have had problems for a while now but seem to have the dying fixed. Right now it is running very poorly she has the sniffles. At idle while working on it, it has a dead miss on 4 and 6 cylinders. Compression on both is 145 psi. Plugs were totally black when pulled. Cleaned plugs and run a couple minutes both plugs were wet. It is getting fire to plugs, both are sparking out end of wire when pulled no carbon tracks on side of plug wires, even swapped wires to check and nothing. Switched plugs and still nothing. Cylindewrs 1,3,5 spark plugs are red looking. I would say from looking at them they ahve been so hot it is unreal, cermic around electrode looks brittle. Plugs are a couple months old, I cleaned idle air valve (that fixed dying problem). It has a fairly new fuel filter. Pulled rear seat this week and checked fuel pump connections all looked good, tank and sock are perfectly clean. Guy that lookeda t it with me tonight is a very experienced auto mechanic and it has him puzzled also. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks Josh

JMO- but my engine was cutting off and sometimes when you smashed the gas it would "clear" out the engine and run fine but other times just shut off. this all happened when i first bought my car and it had a brand new fuel pump in. the problem turned out to be the fuel pump sensor or the fuel pump ECU its pretty expensive from lexus. good luck hope this helped Thanks I would never guess fuel pump since it clears up when full throttle. Anyone know what fuel psi should be? Then on the other hand does it matter if you have correct fuel psi if the ecu is not operating correctly?

I have owned this thing for about 1.5 years now and put 35,000 miles on it. Has always ran good, except when coil went out. In the last few months I have noticed it missing at times. Then I seemed to figure out that it ran better with gas from different gas stations. I will be driving along and it will just cut out. It has now gotten so bad that it wont hardly run at cruising speed but if you mash the gas it cleans up and runs good. It will also have a dead miss at times and it seems like 4 cylinders have shut off, almost like timing has retarded on it. It has even got so bad that it is dying at stop lights. It has new plugs, gapped properly, didn't help. Fuel filter is only a few months old. Last night I pulled left cover off and checked for spark all plugs are firing that I could get to from that side. And trust me it has plenty of spark. Tonight I will pull the distributor caps off and see if I have any carbon tracks. Does anyone have any ideas on this problem? I really enjoy driving this car and want it to run right.

Well I have had a coolant leak since mid summer, I knew it was the waterpump, just didn't want to fix it. Well it finally went totally out. I tore it down yesterday. Stinks that you have to tear down the entire front end to get waterpump out, took me 4 hours to pull it and clean everything up. Now what stinks is no one has parts on hand, autozone and oriellys neither have parts in warehouse have to call Monday to see how soon they can get parts. I hope I can get them soon this thing drives so much cheaper then my pickup and its 90 mile round trip to work. Plugs, wires, timing belt, waterpump, rotors and caps all original at 158,500 miles, how is that for super TUFF? The rotors have cracks from hitting the cap from so much carbon build up. It was getting 23.7-24.3 mpg can't wait to see what it gets after this. Original wires and coolant leak explains my occasional cutting out problem. I want to say THANKS to the guys that posted where the timing marks are located and the moderators for making this a great forum. If anyone needs pictures of timing marks or anything while it is tore down I can post them for ya.

I bought my 1992 SC400 in January as a work car for $950, 90 miles per day round trip. It had 145,000 miles when I got it, always averages 23.7-24.3 mpg and that is with leadfooterus disease. I have had it at 145 mph many times and still had plenty of power left. Sure is fun during the drag race after work even if I get outran in the short run I catch and pass everyone in a mile or so. It is amazing being a 1992 that everything still works, power sunroof, power tilt/telescope, power seats. This car has been amazing to own and I will buy another when we need a newer vehicle. Problem just started, live in western kansas so we don't get much rain might and might not be part of problem. It was raining Tuesday morning went to work and about 30 miles into drive it started sputtering really bad but if you floored it, it would pull out and seem to run good, but then at constant speed start sputtering again. After work still raining with wet roads, about 15 miles into drive and after a few city miles it started sputtering, pulled over to make sure gas cap was venting and no suction on tank. Same as before if you floored it, it ran good but sputtered at constant speed. Pulled into town and it died 3 times on side streets. Had it idling and opened hood to hope to see sparks from shorting wire but nothing and it died again. I haven't looked at it yet, I will this weekend. The check engine light has flashed on and off ever since I have owned it intermittently. I plan on taking it out this weekend in dry weather to see if it still acts up. Seems like mpg has went south also. I am sure it has the original plugs/wires/fuel filter in it. It just seems more like a maf sensor or something of that nature to me. I hope I can get a picture posted, I'm kinda proud of my cheap badass car. I have been pulling wrenches profesionally since 1992, how long does it take to install new waterpump and timing belt? Any help would be greatly appreciated. THANKS Josh