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Hello,
I have a 95 with approx. 202k miles. I brought this recently with some known issues with engine oil leak and a rough shifting transmission. (it was cheap so I thought what the heck).
I noticed that the transmission fluid was way overfilled (from the previous owner) and drained enough to level out on the dip stick. Before this, I had a rough time shifting and some cases, delay in shifting when going into drive.
After I removed some of the transmission fluid, it was shifting smoother for a couple of days then recently the drive shift doesn't catch at all and gets stuck in neutral.
I am planning on going a transmission fluid flush. I am not 100% sure yet but I am speculating the previous owner did not use ATF type T-4, so better safe than sorry.
I am also experiencing low initial throttle and some power steering leak (which I am told it's common).
From read around, it seems changing the fluid might help with the drive shift not catching but I also see a few people mentioning the ECU.
If anyone could provide any suggestions, that would be great.
Since this is my first LS and a long dream car of mine, I am enjoying learning on this forum but man it's kind of intimidating for someone who just started learning about cars in general.
I just checked while the car was facing on a decline while I ran the engine (car facing down the decline). It read on the half marker of the HOT side of the stick. so accounting for the decline, I assume it's pretty low on fluid, thus the drive gear not catching.
I am not sure if that would also make the reverse gear so rough. every time I go into reverse, it gets in the gear pretty rough and jerks the car a little.
this also happening before I took off some of the fluid due to it being overfilled.
I just checked while the car was facing on a decline while I ran the engine (car facing down the decline). It read on the half marker of the HOT side of the stick. so accounting for the decline, I assume it's pretty low on fluid, thus the drive gear not catching.
I am not sure if that would also make the reverse gear so rough. every time I go into reverse, it gets in the gear pretty rough and jerks the car a little.
this also happening before I took off some of the fluid due to it being overfilled.
Don'tAssume it's low. Get it on a flat surface and check it again. While it's running and at normal operating temperature, shift through all gears (with foot on brake, of course). Then check it, twice, just to be sure.
Update: Just to be safe, I did a transmission flush (using this method http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/trans...ransflush.html)
I was only able to flush about 8 qts bc I had 10 qts of toyota t-IV with me and leveled the dip stick on peak COLD level while idle.
After shifting through all the gears, although it was still shifting rough, it finally caught drive after couple of minutes and I was able to test drive around for a while.
I will need to check it again today once I am able to get off work.
I will look into AT strainer... first time hearing about this so I would need to learn more.
Also, I am not sure if I need to make a new thread but I am a little curious about these additional issues I am having.
1. I don't know how a good LS is supposed to run but I do feel like I need to push the gas a little more than I am used to get the car moving, which I am definitely not used to.
I am thinking maybe it's related to spark plugs or ignition coils from what I can gather from research. I've also seen few people suggest ECU issue.
2. car rattles when braking. I have 2 sets of brake rotors and pads from the previous owner (she was nice enough to include them).
If anyone has any tips on how to inspect my brakes so I can determine if it's my front or back, that would be really helpful.
Sorry if I am spamming the thread. I will start a new one for each of these issues. First time using the forums so not very accustomed to this sort of thing.
thank you!
rattles? I'm guessing you mean vibrates when braking? if it is there are a few different ways you can determine if its front or rear.
1) when it vibrates, do you feel it in the pedal only? or do you feel it in the steering wheel/both? if its pedal only, then its usually just the rear rotor is warped. if its felt through both steering and pedal, then its the fronts.
2)if you have access to a rotor runout gauge, you can use that to determine which rotors are warped based on how much runout the rotors have. low is good, high is bad.
if the brakes are worn down anyways when your checking them, then youll need to replace them anyways so no need to check.
1. I don't know how a good LS is supposed to run but I do feel like I need to push the gas a little more than I am used to get the car moving, which I am definitely not used to.
I am thinking maybe it's related to spark plugs or ignition coils from what I can gather from research. I've also seen few people suggest ECU issue.
i agree the pedal on my 97 needed to be pushed more than other cars i've driven to get going. to me that was a characteristic of the LS400 and never thought anything else of it - designed that way. i always had to recalibrate my foot when jumping onto another car which then felt like the throttle was too sensitive!
someone else can chime in and share their experience. 98-00 LS400s went to a fly-by-wire throttle body so i don't think the experience will be the same.
i agree the pedal on my 97 needed to be pushed more than other cars i've driven to get going. to me that was a characteristic of the LS400 and never thought anything else of it - designed that way. i always had to recalibrate my foot when jumping onto another car which then felt like the throttle was too sensitive!
someone else can chime in and share their experience. 98-00 LS400s went to a fly-by-wire throttle body so i don't think the experience will be the same.
can also agree, to an extent. i got my ls400 not long ago and from day 1 it had a cel so the car never properly ran(12v power fault). it was a bad ecu/leaky capacitors which i just recently got back from repair. before i almost felt like i had to push the pedal through the firewall to get it to accelerate or drop a gear to accelerate. otherwise it would just lumber along. after getting my ecu back, the thing accelerates way better and i dont have to press down as far or as hard to get it moving. it still has a cel but thats for a bad maf, so its still not 100%. it does help to turn on the ECT as well. I'll report back once i get the maf replaced(part arriving sunday) and hopefully no more cel.
quick update - it won't engage in drive again. tried warming up the car for a bit and no luck.
I checked the trans fluid level while on idle for couple of minutes. it was about half way through HOT.
not sure what that indicates but thinking the tranny might be too late to save...
can also agree, to an extent. i got my ls400 not long ago and from day 1 it had a cel so the car never properly ran(12v power fault). it was a bad ecu/leaky capacitors which i just recently got back from repair. before i almost felt like i had to push the pedal through the firewall to get it to accelerate or drop a gear to accelerate. otherwise it would just lumber along. after getting my ecu back, the thing accelerates way better and i dont have to press down as far or as hard to get it moving. it still has a cel but thats for a bad maf, so its still not 100%. it does help to turn on the ECT as well. I'll report back once i get the maf replaced(part arriving sunday) and hopefully no more cel.
I haven't looked into the ECU yet but I change out the spark plugs, clean the intake, changed the intake filter, changed the diff fluid, and did a tranny fluid flush (with this method) and it seemed to help with the overall ride quality and a bit of acceleration.
After the tranny fluid flush, I am now able to consistently get into gear but still have a little problem with delay getting into gear (which I am okay with for now haha).
I will definitely look into the MAF and ECU once I am able to address the rattling issue I have. I have a bit of play on my front two and back left wheels. I'm thinking it's related to wheel bearing and the tie rod. They looked pretty worn and it didn't seem like the previous owner changed them out in a while.
Let me know if MAF replacement helped with your situation. I would love to hear back.
I haven't looked into the ECU yet but I change out the spark plugs, clean the intake, changed the intake filter, changed the diff fluid, and did a tranny fluid flush (with this method) and it seemed to help with the overall ride quality and a bit of acceleration.
After the tranny fluid flush, I am now able to consistently get into gear but still have a little problem with delay getting into gear (which I am okay with for now haha).
I will definitely look into the MAF and ECU once I am able to address the rattling issue I have. I have a bit of play on my front two and back left wheels. I'm thinking it's related to wheel bearing and the tie rod. They looked pretty worn and it didn't seem like the previous owner changed them out in a while.
Let me know if MAF replacement helped with your situation. I would love to hear back.
Found out that the ecu repair was not done properly or they did not test the board fully. Still having the IAT fault and after extensive testing, ecu is not sending the 5v signal out for the IAT. Currently trying to get ahold of the repair person but also decided to get a reman ecu off ebay. If the ecu doesn't throw any codes, then I know the ecu was not repaired properly. Have to wait till Thursday before ecu comes in and tests can be done. Will update then.
quick update - it won't engage in drive again. tried warming up the car for a bit and no luck.
I checked the trans fluid level while on idle for couple of minutes. it was about half way through HOT.
not sure what that indicates but thinking the tranny might be too late to save...
The slow engagement is often caused by the low line pressure caused by the clogged strainer, pressure pump in the AT unit or low level of the ATF.
Your AT was temporary succeeded to engage after the ATF change. I worry that the strainer is clogged. I'd check the line pressure like this way. The pressure should be MIN 55PSI - MAX 62PSI at D while idling.
I haven't looked into the ECU yet but I change out the spark plugs, clean the intake, changed the intake filter, changed the diff fluid, and did a tranny fluid flush (with this method) and it seemed to help with the overall ride quality and a bit of acceleration.
After the tranny fluid flush, I am now able to consistently get into gear but still have a little problem with delay getting into gear (which I am okay with for now haha).
I will definitely look into the MAF and ECU once I am able to address the rattling issue I have. I have a bit of play on my front two and back left wheels. I'm thinking it's related to wheel bearing and the tie rod. They looked pretty worn and it didn't seem like the previous owner changed them out in a while.
Let me know if MAF replacement helped with your situation. I would love to hear back.
a bit of an update. reply back from the ecu repair place has been non-existent till now. so in the meantime, i procured another ecu locally and test fit it into the car. No CEL is on and the car is running smooth. Took it on a good 20-30 minute drive, also getting gas, and have had no issues. as far as acceleration now, she is a lil lazy with ECT on normal but still has good acceleration(same as before). with ECT on and going WOT, she kicks down the trans quickly and accelerates all the way to redline. It seems pretty on par for a v8 from the 90s and from what i hear from others on this forum.
The slow engagement is often caused by the low line pressure caused by the clogged strainer, pressure pump in the AT unit or low level of the ATF.
Your AT was temporary succeeded to engage after the ATF change. I worry that the strainer is clogged. I'd check the line pressure like this way. The pressure should be MIN 55PSI - MAX 62PSI at D while idling.
I will need to check on this today... I have not seen this being suggested on other threads. I will report back sometime this week.
Yesterday, I had issues with 1st gear slipping and eventually catching once I had rev'ed about 2k. took a couple of tries. I am very afraid this will ruin the tranny in the long run and I was not at a place where I can leave the car so I had no choice...
I also thought maybe I am losing pressure from a possible leak in the tranny pan? I noticed some leakage around the pan so I had ordered a new gasket and filter (might as well change since I don't know when it was last serviced).
Originally Posted by haulinrs
a bit of an update. reply back from the ecu repair place has been non-existent till now. so in the meantime, i procured another ecu locally and test fit it into the car. No CEL is on and the car is running smooth. Took it on a good 20-30 minute drive, also getting gas, and have had no issues. as far as acceleration now, she is a lil lazy with ECT on normal but still has good acceleration(same as before). with ECT on and going WOT, she kicks down the trans quickly and accelerates all the way to redline. It seems pretty on par for a v8 from the 90s and from what i hear from others on this forum.
I had changed out the capacitors in the ECU but didn't really notice any changes. I had one of the capacitors bent (not sure how this happened) and I noticed it was previously replaced with a rebuilt 96 ECU (mine is 95).
Weirdly enough, I've never had any CEL on even with my drive slipping (on first gear). Not sure if that's normal though.
I've never tried ECT on. I will try sometime this week (need to get my tie rods and engine/tranny mount replaced). I've only been trying back and forth to my friends garage to do some work on it since I live in an apartment.
I also did a compression test last week. overall I have very low compression across the board. From cylinder 1 - 8, it's showing 130, 120, 140, 110, 90, 110, 110, 130. Changed out the spark plugs for now and noticed my 8th cylinder wiring hardness was popped off the cylinder (had low idling so I assumed it was due to this). I am convinced the low compression may be the issue for my sluggish acceleration.
I am thinking of a whole engine and tranny swap (with the same 1UZ FE non-vvti). Don't want to give up on it too quick as I think I still have time left before it completely dies on me.
Hoping I can pin down the issue with my drive 1st gear not catching asap...
I will provide updates as I go this week... haha
07-19-22, 02:28 PM
NEED HELP - Shifting to Drive but not catching
