jeffreysw

Recently my battery went out and I had it replaced on my 1999 ES. After replacing the battery, the idle speed, when starting the car went up to about 1500 rpm, dropping to about 1000 rpm when the car was placed in gear. It would then kick back up to about 1500 rpm when taking the car out of gear. This was during a brief move of my car from the front of my house to my garage. Also, after turning the car ignition off, after parking the car in the garage, I notice a very strong gas vapor smell. This issue repeats when I move the car into the garage each morning.

Is there a way to reduce the idle speed, and is the high idle speed causing the strong vapor smell filling up my garage?

fortitude

Does the high idle continue when car reaches operating temperature?

jeffreysw

Thank you for your response.

I really have not driven it far enough to let it reach operating temperature. I plan to give it a try, and post the result on the forum.

mmatheny

It could be your ECM resetting after losing power. Drive it for a while to see if it behaves.

jeffreysw

I am confused and concerned about the high amount of gas exhaust vapors surrounding my Lexus after moving it into the garage (with the garage door still open, the vapors linger for several minutes and are very noticeable). I am wondering if it is just the high idle speed or if there is more to it.

I plan to drive it around a little and see if things get better. The strong vapors and high idle speed started occurring right after getting the new battery.

80es300

If there is a leak like vacuum hose, check engine light will come on it will throw an error code. In my case, I could smell fuel inside the car and there was an error code for leak. It turned out to be a hose leak near the charcoal canister. Like mmathey said, ECM will need to re-learn as it probably got reset. So drive for few days and also look out for check engine light

jeffreysw

The check engine light came on shortly after replacing the battery. Took the vehicle to a shop and they replaced some kind of solenoid switch in the emission system that had failed. The replaced part corrected the check engine light issue.

Drove the vehicle around last night and did notice that the idle speed did drop to normal levels, after driving awhile. However, this morning the idle speed was back up again with starting the vehicle and moving the vehicle into the garage.

I am just curious if it is normal to have such a strong gasoline exhaust vapor smell when pulling the vehicle into the garage, with the garage door open. I am wondering if it is just because of the high idle speed, or because of another issue. The vapor smell is strong, and immediately noticeable when exiting the vehicle after parking the vehicle in the garage. My much newer Honda CRV does not seem to have a vapor smell after pulling the CRV into the garage. I did notice that the vapor smell was not quite as bad when I pulled the Lexus into the garage after driving it awhile, with the idle rpm reduced.

I was hoping after getting the check engine light issue fixed that the strong vapor smell would go away, but it seems to be the same as it was before the check engine light issue was corrected.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Both are normal behaviors for these cars.

The 1500rpm cold idle is perfectly normal, especially after reseting the computer.

My car also has very strong fumes on cold starts. The issue goes away when the computer switches into Open Loop (engine is warm).

I was concerned about the fumes early on, but have learned to live with it. No idea how to fix that.

jeffreysw

Sounds like this may be a normal issue. I am thinking now that in the past I just really didn't notice the vapors that much because I would drive somewhere and then the idle speed would go down and the vapors would not be as strong. Recently, with the addition of a third vehicle, I have been moving my Lexus from the street to my garage each morning to keep it out of the sun all day while I am at work. I think the cold start and the high rpm is making me more aware of the vapors now.

I want to thank everyone who responded to my post.

Blue Moose Engineering

MrBooby might be right. Just note that there is a big difference between the smell of rich exhaust and the smell of raw gasoline vapors. Which do you think it is?

My immediate thought, reading your original post, was that there is a vacuum leak somewhere in the evap system and this is causing both your high idle and your gasoline smell. The evap system is designed to absorb raw gasoline vapor and any fault in that system could allow this vapor to escape.

You said some type of solenoid in the "emission system" was replaced. Could you be more specific about what that part was and where it is located on the vehicle? I'm not convinced that your issue is resolved yet.

WILLYumD

Just to add to this: my ES currently does the same thing. 1500 RPM and strong vapors when starting cold. (Usually it's a little bit above the 1000 mark.)

My car is a little hurt right now with it needing a new valve cover gasket (among other things) and a recent misfire. I'm sure you'd detect the misfire but do keep an eye out on your garage floor for oil.

Alexbenz

i have strong vapors coming from mine too but it's noticeable even if it's not in the garage. Worst if it's in the garage and i can smell it in the car as well. On cold start i get rpm around 2000 and it doesn't become normal when i drive but the strong gas smell is driving me crazy!!! No check engine light either

ES300NZ

when the engine is less than 85 degrees (C), the ecu will enrich the mixture as part of the warm up procedure. it's basically the EFI version of a choke.

phoshow

in for solutions! i have same issue. strong emissions smell while the car is in idle all the time..

PFB

You may have an exhaust related leak. Block the tail pipe with the back of your hand and have someone listen for escaping exhaust gases.

do it both with the engine hot and cold. Also look underneath and in the manifold area