well, as some of you may have read in another thread i posted, the previous owner snapped 2 of the studs on the drivers side exhaust manifold and instead of taking them out and replacing them, pushed the cat back on and tack welded it in place. also the input of the rack is leaking where the steering column goes in, and the rear trans seal. i ordered 6 new studs and nuts for the manifold to cat connections (didnt look at the passenger side yet. hoping its untouched but bought the studs and nuts just in case), bought the seal for the rack, and the trans. ive already had the ecu rebuilt, bought a new cluster (which i need to fix as the gas gauge doesnt work, odometer isnt working either though the speedo is. wierd), fixed the cup holder making 1 good one out of the 2 broken ones i had, replaced the shift indicator (still need a shift handle as P.O. broke it trying to take it off himself, guess he didnt realize it has 5 screws). and checked the tps wiring and found out i need a tps as well. (junkyard this weekend for that). also on the agenda is to check all the brakes (brake pad replacement light was on, now its off and brake light flashes but full of fluid and stops fine and no lights are out.) and then change whichever pads need it and buy a new set of tires. when im all done ill have over $3k into my $2300 ls400. ugh. i knew some stuff needed fixed but didnt realize the list would end up this long.

at least the front seats have been redone in leather in the last 2 months and the a/c is ice cold. still need to get the lcd for the climate control but thats not a major concern at the moment. does anyone know what would cause the brake light to flash while driving? brake fluid is full, e brake is off, and all brake and tail lights work. so im lost at what it could be. it didnt start until i changed the cluster.

 

ur sure its not the pad wear sensor light, not the usual BRAKE light?

if ur sure about that, then the float in the brake fluid reservoir may be stuck, i'd just unplug the sensor from the bottom of the reservoir.

sounds like a textbook example of why one should buy a meticulously maintained LS.

 

well by the time im done fixing things itll still be way cheaper then a mint ls. ill check the sensor when i get home, and yes im sure it isnt the pad indicator light. that was on when i first bought it but now isnt. the actual "BRAKE" light is what is flashing.

 

I paid 1900 for mine and immediately did the following...

UCA
lower ball joints
full front brakes from the brake lines out..
timing belt/wp

I'm in it about 3600 or 3700... things can bundle up fast... my advice is do the work yourself and drop the lexus only doctoring. There are many parts that can be had just as good for much less... Arnott UCA's saved me like $500, the Beck/Arnley parts which I pm'd to rock auto saved me $300-400... I did get a lexus WP and TB but did the idlers and tensioner aftermarket...

anyways good luck... they are a nice ride but I hate getting more into a car than it's worth... my LS400 has 215k miles and some rust so best case scenario I can talk someone into $3500 since it's mechanically in great shape now but if I where to get any more into it I'll start losing money...

 

well ive spent ~$30k on my 84 supra, so its not im worried about spending more then its worth. thing is i plan for this to be my daily beater and the fact im fixing more stuff then planned means less $$$ for my supras. need to finish the t56 swap and tires for the new rims and rebuilding one of the 7mgte's and need to get the hks cams fixed for the 6m im building with side draft webers for my 86 mk2. i do all the work my self. i will not allow anyone else to work on my cars. just mounting tires to rims and alignments as i dont have the tools for that. everything else i do.

 

Hate to tell you williams but if you spent 5300 into your 93 ls (3000 in repairs plus 2300 to purchase) you are already in the hole. So think of it like this. The average new car looses 3000 a year if its any consolation. Or keep it for 2 years without any more repairs and you saved 3000 compared to a new one.

My rule of thumb. If you are goint to put more than 1500 into a car with more than 120k don't buy it or drive it as is till it blows up (this is other than regular maintenance

 

that $3k into it is including the $2300 for the car. no way id buy a car that needs $3k in repairs.

 

Ok you did good

 

well, my friend pulled a tps for me from the junkyard. i tested it and it is perfect. yet i'm still having issues with bucking under acceleration. now in park, if i'm easy on the gas it will go to 6k rpm. before wouldn't go over 4k. when driving if i push the gas slow it accelerates harder then it would before but if i push too hard it bucks. it rained all day yesterday so i didn't get to check anything but i'm beginning to wonder if there is a crack in the intake pipe from the maf to the tb. anyone had experience with this? what engine code would a vacuum leak at this point give? only code i've ever gotten was tps. haven't gotten to check the codes since i changed the tps due to the rain.

also, i've had the ecu rebuilt, installed a tested and working tps and verified the continuity of wires from the tps to the ecu, so if i'm still getting a tps error code idk wtf else it could be. its really aggravating me.

 

my inital thought would be the egr system if you can slow start but can't mash on the gas... but I'm horrible at diagnosis so this is prob worse than "free advise"

 

i checked the error codes yesterday. same code 41 again, tps. i checked the tps again with my meter. it is good. so im lost now. ill try ripping the intake pipe off today and look for cracks etc... its the only other thing i can think of. though i dont hear any vacuum leaks when its running.

 

you missed one part of the diagnosis. toyota DTC-41 has 3 diagnoses: TPS Sensor Fault, TPS Circuit Fault, or ECU FAULT.

you've replaced the TPS and tested it, and are 100% sure the TPS circuit is continuous and fine, so my money's on the ECU going to crap. drop an easy hundred at a scrap yard for another one, or 200-250ish to get it refurbed.

 

no i didn't miss it. i sent the ecu to ati a couple weeks ago to be refurbished. has a lifetime warranty. still same exact issue.

 

did you try checking the TPS voltages at the ECU wiring while the motor's running?

 

not yet, but i do have 5v coming from the ecu, and the gnd also is good. if i jump a test light fro mthe vc to e2 o nthe connector with the key on it lights up. ill take the dash back apart and remove the ecu so i can get to the pins with the car running and check that i guess. idk what else it could be other then a possible vacuum leak. but that shouldnt give a tps error code. this is frustrating the crap out of me. ive never had issues like this on any of my 11 supras.