dicer

The security system will disable the starter, if that is what your talking about.
The car ultimately is not the problem, we told you how to figure it out. Or the mechanic. Did you ever have them or you do the things I had mentioned?

So back to square one. Does it now run? If not check for spark. Got spark check for fuel delivery. Is the timing belt good. Did they try a known good ECU? Maybe do Yamae's ripple test. No start is much easier to figure out than something that happens every week or so then runs like no problems for another week.

LS400BOY

No i didnt i assumed they did all the checks since they had it for like 2 months,all it does is crank,had no time to track down a good known ecu due to work

LS400BOY

Im going to call them this morning and ask ,if they check for ignition signals from cam and crank sensors and check to see if timing belt good.and tell them theres no immobilizer in the key for the 92 models

LS400BOY

He said he checked everything that can be checked and he said needs the chip changed in the key

dicer

The problem is, you said your wifes car is a 92 LS400 is that correct?
If that is so, then you have the wrong outfit checking out the car. If they can't even get the most simple of simple things correct then how in blue blazes can they get the more complicated stuff sorted out?????
There is zero, nada, none ABSOLUTLY NO "CHIP" In a key for that year of LS400, Now if you have the original style master key it has a radio chip to send a signal when you PUSH the little button to remotely unlock or lock the doors. There is no communication required from a key to start the engine, it is just a normal old key that turns the switch.


With a no start condition, and the starter is turning the engine, for anyone claiming to be in the automotive repair business they should have had it running in a few hours or so, or at least know what is the problem. It sounds like they have no clue. And what ever you have paid them was a total waste, it would have been cheaper to take it to the dealer.

LS400BOY

Yea its pissing me off,the first shop was midas,they couldnt find nothing and they did not charge me nothing and suggested me to the current shop thats called TIMS FOREIGN CAR SERVICE and swears theres a immobilizer in the key and needs a new chip in keup for y,they charging me $93 for diagnosis on it, i dont have the master key nomore it was lost about a year ago and just got the basic key now, i was trying to avoid taking it the the dealer because i know ita going to be crazzy $$$ to fix it.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

This should be such an easy diagnosis as Dicer suggested. Your wasting time and money with that shop. The dealer or ANY competent mechanic should be able to figure it out. The dealer usually charges $125 to diagnose the issue then try to sell you on lots of extra BS.

dicer

The only place the dealer will get you is a replacement part. And of course you have to pay a towing fee if its not running. What you need to do is figure out how much you would spend to fix it, and tell them this is the max amount I can spend on this car. I would think 500 would be your max. If the car is not too high mileage and is in good cosmetic shape, its way more worth fixing than buying someone else's headaches. Problem is you already spent money on bad shop and other wasted money things. To you and all that don't have the aptitude to trouble shoot, it is cheaper to go to the dealer at least to trouble shoot it. Have that agreement up front.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Yes plz don't let them fix anything without your approval $$$$$.

LS400BOY

Last time i took my car there i had to spend 1500 unexpectedly,and another time they said i had to buy there brake pads because it was a one of a kind and only lexus has them and i got them threw autozone lts so hard to trust what they say,but seems like they always find something else wrong with your car ontop of whats really wrong with it,

dicer

Yeah but that is true with all shops. Too bad there isn't a sharp club member near you that could give it a go.
Maybe talk Yamae into taking a nice vacation to there. Are there any community colleges near by? Some times they can help out, I sure wouldn't take a real nice car there though. I would try to get my money back from that shop that didn't deliver and says you need a new chipped key. If they keep saying we did the diagnostic, just tell em if you don't give the money back you will take them to small claims court and they will also get to pay extra for your attorney and lost wages. Because you will win on the fact that there is no such key for that year LS400.
And make sure they know about the bad advertising this all brings on them too.

LS400BOY

Ok i another phone call just this morning saying he got good news the car is fixed?! He said they reprogramed the car and fixed the key? Lol just sounds crazzy but for $283 its fixed i hope,i told them to drive it around town to make sure it dont cut off and the same problem

Yamae

Several people were kindly suggesting ideas and methods to find and fix the problem. As I read those posts in the past including mine, some were a bit strange or not enough to fix your car. Sorry to say but you also seemed to be not quite familiar to modern ECU controlled cars to diagnose. In addition to those, the shops you requested to fix were not quite good at fixing a 92 LS400.

The above statement in your first post sounds like an inhibit mode to me. It is a mode more serious than the limp home mode. The limp home mode limits the engine to run up to 2000rpm and you can still run. On the other hand the inhibit mode forces to stop the engine to avoid the engine to be damaged. It often starts up but quits soon or it sometimes does not start up.

When the ECU detects a certain serious condition which is considered dangerous to keep running the engine, it disables the circuit opening relay to supply +B to the fuel pump. Thus the engine has no idea to keep running.

What are those conditions? There are 4 below. When one or more of these are detected, the ECU stops the fuel supply opening the circuit opening relay.
1, No signal from the MAF for more than 3 seconds.
2, No signal from the crank position sensor for more than 5 seconds.
3, No signal from the cam position sensor for more than 5 seconds.
4, No IGF signal from the igniter for more than 3 seconds although the IGT signal is sent.

I'd check these using an oscilloscope. Without it, it would be not easy to check well and quickly.

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

Plz stay away from that shop.

LS400BOY

Well i just picked up the car seemed like its driving good from shop to the house,he told me it was the power wire going to the ecu it was loose,does that make sense guys?