ejthomp

1997 LS400 with 205k. The car has been sitting since last Friday(9 days now). It has run perfectly for years. Always starts right up. Until today.... Car cranks normally but shows no sign of firing. Battery is just a couple months old and again, it cranks over perfectly.

Shifted to neutral and back to park. No change.

Seems like I'm not getting spark.

How should I go about troubleshooting from here? No codes....

ejthomp

Squirting starting fluid in the intake and it wants to run.

Fuel pump?

brybo86

Raining recently is Washington? Check condition of spark plug wires/distributor caps.
Do you hear the fuel pump run when key it turned to the on position before actually starting?

MIL/check engine lights on?

ejthomp

Raining a lot.....

With the steering wheel moving, door chime...can't hear anything.

No CELs

ejthomp

Verified that fuel pump relay is operating. I can hear it switch. I can not hear the fuel pump.

I disconnected the battery for a few minutes and tried again. No luck.

Other ideas?

Could this be the dreaded ECU capacitors? I'll probably change those just as a matter of course.

I haven't had symptoms of a fuel pump failure so that has me scratching my head. Does it suddenly go out just from sitting? Last week my daughter had driven it home 300 miles without issue.

dicer

I have cars that sit longer and haven't had too many issues. Check the fuses, unplug and check continuity and reinstall them. Before removing a fuel pump verify power to it. And just hearing a relay doesn't mean the switch side is doing its thing either, you need a good wire diagram for that year car.

ejthomp

I'm not finding any fuel pump fuses. Any way to check power to fuel pump without removing back seat?

ejthomp

You guys will love this....

I was using the valet key!!!!!!

Car starts and runs fine......

sndlight

But my valet key runs my car?
Just doesn't open the trunk or glovebox.

ejthomp

So what key is this? This key unlocks the doors, but won't start the car?

I think I remember the previous owner talking about not being able to make any more smart keys for this car. Something like Lexus only allows programming for three per car...and a couple have been lost. We've only got two keys that start the car and only one with a remote to unlock the doors.

Anyway.....wrong key.

CELSI0R

This is the one thing I both like and don't like about newer cars. What you have with your 1997 LS are immobilizer keys. If I recall correctly, 1997 was the first model year to have the immobilizer units installed. Each key has a special transponder chip in it that matches your immobilizer ecu, allowing you to start the car.

What this means is, the extra key that you have is only good for opening locks, etc, but not good for starting the car unless it is programmed.

I don't know too much about programming these keys, as I have a 1991 model, but I believe there are ways that you can, if it has a transponder chip. If it's an aftermarket duplicate key without the transponder chip inside, you may be out of luck with that particular key.

Here is a video that does a decent job explaining the system:

Legender

Well, glad it was an easy fix and did not require any heavy lifting.
Could have been worse...nah, it's a Lexus.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

yeah you had a valet key or even a regular key that was not programmed to the ignition. a valet key should start the car, how else would the drivers park it ?! glad it was a simple fix.

Stereorob

these cars really don't like to sit even for a week when they have a lot of miles. my 95 ive had as my DD for the last 3 years with 196 on the clock. in the entire time ive had it, she never sat more that two days. well she sat for 4 days and was hard to start and ran like total crap for about 5 minutes after driving. whenever I let her sit for more than 3 days this always happens but runs perfect the rest of the time. guess its just an old car being cranky. idk.