No codes at all, but I will check them again tomorrow to see if something popped up.

The key we are using is the only key we have and the one that was used to drive the car to my house.

 

I highly recommend using only the real Toyota parts in the ignition area, such as caps, rotors, coils, wires (NGK or NipponDenso afternarket are considered Toyota OEM on wires) especially in a case where there is an arcing problem.

You get all of that replaced correctly with the good stuff and there will be no arcing.

PD may be on to something concerning the key, but that still doesn't explain arcing off the coil.

 

The car is barely worth the cost of those parts (heck, it's barely worth the cost of the cheap auto store parts) and I am not fully convinced that the arcing is the actual problem with the car.

The car will probably end up at the scrapper if this doesn't get resolved shortly, the car is for sure not worth taking to a Lexus mechanic...

 

heck, a 97 with 350k is just getting broken in good!

how is the paint & interior, was it garage-kept or out in the sun/rain for most of it's life?



no need to do that, there is more knowledge right here at CL than at the dealership! (I should know, I was a Lexus dealership mechanic!)

 

Almost every body panel has damage on it of some sort (mostly just scrapes, small dents, nothing major). It was driven by an older gentleman that seems to bump it into hard things a lot. There is also noticeable rust on the rear quarter panels that is starting to cause the paint to bubble. The interior is good, but has it problems from previous owners drilling holes or taping things to it that left some ugly marks on the center console.

That is always my concern about dealerships. My thought was that they would have the full scanning software for the computer so they can "see" what it is thinking. For my most of my GM vehicles I have software that will basically display every parameter that the ECM is seeing, which makes it much easier to troubleshoot problems like this. The basic pids in ODBII will show some of that, but you really needed the full list of extended pids to get much of anything useful. At this point the PCM doesn't even seem to think there is anything wrong with the car judging by the fact it throws no codes.

I am obviously extremely frustrated with this car but I do REALLY appreciate the advice and patience you and others have shown with helping me. I really don't want to give up on it as it seems to really be a nice overall car that should last my dad for years being his commute is about 6 miles round trip.

Thanks,
Douglas

 

not saying that this is the problem with your car, but when my LS400 wouldn't start, and it made no sense and was confounding me for months, the problem ended up being the ECU caps

if you are good at soldering or know someone who is, the parts you need are about $10 total!

 

Unfortunately I suck to soldering and don't know anyone anymore who is good at it. My understanding that 1997 is a one year only ECU, which makes life more difficult in find a "cheap" replacement to see if that fixes the issue before sending the ECU off to be repaired.

How obvious is it when the caps are bad? Can I test them with a voltmeter? I am very comfortable removing the ECU and opening it up, just not the soldering part...

 

the caps are sometimes quite obviously leaking and sometimes not, and yet can still be bad.

post some pics, yamae and I will give you a professional opinion

caps cannot be tested without removing them from the circuit board, and at that point, you have already done most of the replacement job!

 

My 1993 ls400 with 279000 miles was running great very reliable. One day it just died while I was driving, I drifted to the shoulder and it wouldn't turn over like it was out of gas. After a few minutes it started and I drove it to my mechanic (had to keep foot on the gas and brake to keep it from turning off). Once I got to the mechanic the car actually was running normally. Drove home and the next day it died again and restarted 2 times Finally I had it towed to the shop and the diagnosis begins. To make a long story short after checking all of the usual suspects. It turned out to be a bad fuel relay pump [B]fuse [/B],

 

My 1993 ls400 with 279000 miles was running great very reliable. One day it just died while I was driving, I drifted to the shoulder and it wouldn't turn over like it was out of gas. After a few minutes it started and I drove it to my mechanic (had to keep foot on the gas and brake to keep it from turning off). Once I got to the mechanic the car actually was running normally. Drove home and the next day it died again and restarted 2 times Finally I had it towed to the shop and the diagnosis begins. To make a long story short after checking all of the usual suspects. It turned out to be a bad fuel relay pump fuse

 

Hi,
So I was so frustrated with the car I gave up and it has been sitting. I want to get to my lift again so I started working on the car. I cleaned off all the rust on the coil mount and off of the coil, bolted it down with the one good bolt I had left (seriously, Phillip head screws to hold the coil down!?) and now it is no longer arching to the other plug wires. However, it still does not start. I took a video of it not starting.


It almost seems like it is "backfiring" a little as it tries to start.

Any idea as to the location of the fuel pump relay fuse? I've been looking for blown fuses and have found nothing.

Also, where is the valve for testing the fuel pressure? I assume there is one....

Thanks,
Douglas

 

it's not backfiring

there is not a valve per say for testing fuel pressure, it is a banjo-bolt and you will need a special fuel pressure tester that has these unique Toyota fittings, such as this one

take the ECU out and take some high resolution photos of it, and I will look at it, or else you can try Yamae's ripple test

 

spray a little,and I mean a very little, starting fluid into the throttle body..see if it starts

 

It doesn't. Sounds exactly the same.

I am going to hopefully pull the ECM today, the weather is nasty and it is only half in the garage. The thing is such a tank that my wife and I couldn't push it the rest of the way in.

 

if it doesn't start at least briefly with the starting fluid, then it is likely not a fuel issue

have you pulled all 8 plugs to see if they are wet with fuel or not after a cranking attempt? (the reason to pull all 8 - one at a time - is to look for patterns, some wet and some dry)

have you checked the fuel pressure with a tester like this one

have you disconnected each plug wire and rested it on the engine (one at a time) and verified a spark jump (best to do this at night)

if you have wet plugs and a spark jump at each plug, then the issue is likely either ECU, one of the cam sensors, the crank sensor, wiring for one of those sensors, or jumped timing belt