92 - Car is running horrible after taking out of storage
03-16-24, 12:33 PM
#16
Rookie
Thread Starter
Ok so you said you stored it outside but had the proper amount of fuel stabilizer. Assuming it ran perfectly fine when you stored it, there are 2 factors that are related directly to outside storage over winters that might be a factor here. Assuming you have not developed a mechanical or electrical issue like bad caps in the ecu, a dying fuel pump ecu, or a semi clogged fuel filter.
No matter how hard you try to prevent it, rodents will find ways of getting past covers. They don't normally chew our wiring which is a good thing, but what they can do is try to build nests in spots in the engine bay, like around the EVAP stuff, in the intake box, or under the intake manifold on 1UZ motors (or in the spark plug valley on 2JZs). When they do this, they will bite thru wires that are near their nests. So you need to take a good look thru the runners of your IM and see if there's junk under there. I think its more common for animals on UZ motors to bite thru the knock sensor wiring and sometimes the fuel injector wires.
The second issue is moisture. The cover does a great job of shielding the paint but the moisture of freeze-thaw cycles and extreme cold to above freezing days will cause moisture to stick to EVERYTHING under the car and in the engine bay. I hate this because when I store my IS300 outside during harsh winters I have to start my car on the warm days to burn off all the moisture that forms in the engine bay. That crap was surface rusting my engine bay bolts and my ceramic coated exhaust manifold. The surface rust is mostly an eyesore but this moisture will cause corrosion on exposed copper and the grounds, and if this corrosion is excessive it will throw sensors out of wack. So go over your wiring harness and look at all the grounds in your car and see if you can clean them up. You might want to buy a can of electronic cleaner to spray the grounds down after you remove them. After removing them, put them back. If a bolt is severely rusted, replace it with a new one. Every new bolt you put in will decrease the resistance of the wiring harness and that means your sensors will be more accurate and the ecu will be able to adjust accordingly.
No matter how hard you try to prevent it, rodents will find ways of getting past covers. They don't normally chew our wiring which is a good thing, but what they can do is try to build nests in spots in the engine bay, like around the EVAP stuff, in the intake box, or under the intake manifold on 1UZ motors (or in the spark plug valley on 2JZs). When they do this, they will bite thru wires that are near their nests. So you need to take a good look thru the runners of your IM and see if there's junk under there. I think its more common for animals on UZ motors to bite thru the knock sensor wiring and sometimes the fuel injector wires.
The second issue is moisture. The cover does a great job of shielding the paint but the moisture of freeze-thaw cycles and extreme cold to above freezing days will cause moisture to stick to EVERYTHING under the car and in the engine bay. I hate this because when I store my IS300 outside during harsh winters I have to start my car on the warm days to burn off all the moisture that forms in the engine bay. That crap was surface rusting my engine bay bolts and my ceramic coated exhaust manifold. The surface rust is mostly an eyesore but this moisture will cause corrosion on exposed copper and the grounds, and if this corrosion is excessive it will throw sensors out of wack. So go over your wiring harness and look at all the grounds in your car and see if you can clean them up. You might want to buy a can of electronic cleaner to spray the grounds down after you remove them. After removing them, put them back. If a bolt is severely rusted, replace it with a new one. Every new bolt you put in will decrease the resistance of the wiring harness and that means your sensors will be more accurate and the ecu will be able to adjust accordingly.
Last edited by ToeNee; 03-16-24 at 04:36 PM.
03-16-24, 07:51 PM
#17
No a compression test is a waste of time. Your car did not lose compression being parked. The only way you can lose compression is if you damaged the rings and the only way that happens is if foreign objects got into the cylinders or you have severe detonation due to fuel starvation. If you were running pig rich it would take longer than just a few drives to damage the rings, you'd have to be driving pig rich for like 5000 miles to get that sort of damage.
If plugs look ok then they are likely all ok.
Do take a look at your caps and rotors. Look to see if there is any corrosion. Any corrosion that formed on the rotors would block spark.
Look over the entire wire harness like I said.
And you might want to try the fuel pump ecu bypass test to see if that makes a difference.
Likewise, you should probably open up your ecu and look to see if any caps burst.
If plugs look ok then they are likely all ok.
Do take a look at your caps and rotors. Look to see if there is any corrosion. Any corrosion that formed on the rotors would block spark.
Look over the entire wire harness like I said.
And you might want to try the fuel pump ecu bypass test to see if that makes a difference.
Likewise, you should probably open up your ecu and look to see if any caps burst.
03-17-24, 10:31 AM
#18
Rookie
Thread Starter
No a compression test is a waste of time. Your car did not lose compression being parked. The only way you can lose compression is if you damaged the rings and the only way that happens is if foreign objects got into the cylinders or you have severe detonation due to fuel starvation. If you were running pig rich it would take longer than just a few drives to damage the rings, you'd have to be driving pig rich for like 5000 miles to get that sort of damage.
If plugs look ok then they are likely all ok.
Do take a look at your caps and rotors. Look to see if there is any corrosion. Any corrosion that formed on the rotors would block spark.
Look over the entire wire harness like I said.
And you might want to try the fuel pump ecu bypass test to see if that makes a difference.
Likewise, you should probably open up your ecu and look to see if any caps burst.
If plugs look ok then they are likely all ok.
Do take a look at your caps and rotors. Look to see if there is any corrosion. Any corrosion that formed on the rotors would block spark.
Look over the entire wire harness like I said.
And you might want to try the fuel pump ecu bypass test to see if that makes a difference.
Likewise, you should probably open up your ecu and look to see if any caps burst.
03-18-24, 11:59 AM
#19
Well before you do the bypass, jump the wires in the connector in the engine bay. That is the test procedure for the fuelpump ecu. If the problems go away when the connectors are jumped, then you know there's a problem with the FP ecu and you need to do the bypass.
There are different ways of actually bypassing the ecu, but generally speaking yes it is as easy as it looks as long as you use the correct gauge wires. I would encourage you to look on youtube, FB, and on here to see the various ways people have bypassed the FP ecu *if* that is the source of your problems
There are different ways of actually bypassing the ecu, but generally speaking yes it is as easy as it looks as long as you use the correct gauge wires. I would encourage you to look on youtube, FB, and on here to see the various ways people have bypassed the FP ecu *if* that is the source of your problems
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ToeNee (03-18-24)
03-19-24, 04:14 PM
#20
Rookie
Thread Starter
Well before you do the bypass, jump the wires in the connector in the engine bay. That is the test procedure for the fuelpump ecu. If the problems go away when the connectors are jumped, then you know there's a problem with the FP ecu and you need to do the bypass.
There are different ways of actually bypassing the ecu, but generally speaking yes it is as easy as it looks as long as you use the correct gauge wires. I would encourage you to look on youtube, FB, and on here to see the various ways people have bypassed the FP ecu *if* that is the source of your problems
There are different ways of actually bypassing the ecu, but generally speaking yes it is as easy as it looks as long as you use the correct gauge wires. I would encourage you to look on youtube, FB, and on here to see the various ways people have bypassed the FP ecu *if* that is the source of your problems
running out of options. Tonight I'm going to sweep over everything again see if I can pinpoint any weird noises.
03-19-24, 08:37 PM
#21
Let the car warm up to operating temperature turn off the car and unplug one coil pack then start the car if it runs that will let you know that the one coil pack still connected is good then do the same for the other one. If both are good proceed to the MAF/Air meter sensor ...unplug it and see if it runs better.
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ToeNee (03-20-24)
03-21-24, 05:45 PM
#22
Rookie
Thread Starter
Let the car warm up to operating temperature turn off the car and unplug one coil pack then start the car if it runs that will let you know that the one coil pack still connected is good then do the same for the other one. If both are good proceed to the MAF/Air meter sensor ...unplug it and see if it runs better.
Here is what I was looking at:
https://walbrofuelpumps.com/lexus-sc...-cyl-4-0l.html
https://www.highflowfuel.com/quantum...400-1992-2000/
https://www.highflowfuel.com/quantum...400-1992-2000/
Last edited by ToeNee; 03-21-24 at 05:49 PM.
03-22-24, 11:20 AM
#23
Don't focus too much on the fuel pump its been sitting in stabilized fuel the whole time. fuel pumps don't go bad sitting unused in a full fuel tank. check free stuff first before throwing parts. You should be able to hear the fuel pump easily with the 12v mod with the key in the on position.
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ToeNee (03-22-24)
03-22-24, 01:05 PM
#24
Pit Crew
From personal experience, in-tank pumps found on fuel injected cars don't really go out like this. Any time I worked on a car with a fuel pump ready to die, it would run cold and after a good bit of driving the pump would just stop completely and would need to sit for a while before it started working again. Not to say it hasn't happened to you, but my SC300 sat for two years or so before it was sold to me, and the pump is perfectly fine.
If you really wish to know you can get yourself a fuel pressure tester and check for pressure at the rail(s), or you can try unhooking the line, putting the line end in a big enough bottle and seeing if it runs consistently.
If the car has a power issue on the entire rev band you are not looking at an IACV issue, though of course it never hurts to clean it anyway. In such cases the car would have a poor idle but would be capable of stretching its legs fine when giving it gas or putting a load on it.
You said the car ran totally fine before being stored but now barely runs. I'd look for rodent damage, and check for spark next. Have you pulled plug wires out and seen what cylinders cause an audible change in how the engine runs?
If you really wish to know you can get yourself a fuel pressure tester and check for pressure at the rail(s), or you can try unhooking the line, putting the line end in a big enough bottle and seeing if it runs consistently.
If the car has a power issue on the entire rev band you are not looking at an IACV issue, though of course it never hurts to clean it anyway. In such cases the car would have a poor idle but would be capable of stretching its legs fine when giving it gas or putting a load on it.
You said the car ran totally fine before being stored but now barely runs. I'd look for rodent damage, and check for spark next. Have you pulled plug wires out and seen what cylinders cause an audible change in how the engine runs?
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ToeNee (03-22-24)
03-22-24, 06:55 PM
#25
Rookie
Thread Starter
From personal experience, in-tank pumps found on fuel injected cars don't really go out like this. Any time I worked on a car with a fuel pump ready to die, it would run cold and after a good bit of driving the pump would just stop completely and would need to sit for a while before it started working again. Not to say it hasn't happened to you, but my SC300 sat for two years or so before it was sold to me, and the pump is perfectly fine.
If you really wish to know you can get yourself a fuel pressure tester and check for pressure at the rail(s), or you can try unhooking the line, putting the line end in a big enough bottle and seeing if it runs consistently.
If the car has a power issue on the entire rev band you are not looking at an IACV issue, though of course it never hurts to clean it anyway. In such cases the car would have a poor idle but would be capable of stretching its legs fine when giving it gas or putting a load on it.
You said the car ran totally fine before being stored but now barely runs. I'd look for rodent damage, and check for spark next. Have you pulled plug wires out and seen what cylinders cause an audible change in how the engine runs?
If you really wish to know you can get yourself a fuel pressure tester and check for pressure at the rail(s), or you can try unhooking the line, putting the line end in a big enough bottle and seeing if it runs consistently.
If the car has a power issue on the entire rev band you are not looking at an IACV issue, though of course it never hurts to clean it anyway. In such cases the car would have a poor idle but would be capable of stretching its legs fine when giving it gas or putting a load on it.
You said the car ran totally fine before being stored but now barely runs. I'd look for rodent damage, and check for spark next. Have you pulled plug wires out and seen what cylinders cause an audible change in how the engine runs?
Last edited by ToeNee; 03-22-24 at 06:59 PM.
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ToeNee (03-23-24)
03-23-24, 09:07 AM
#27
Rookie
Thread Starter
Sounds good. I'll look at what you mentioned today and tomorrow and update you with pictures
03-23-24, 09:31 AM
#28
Pit Crew
Hey, Ive yet to run into any rodent damage. I looked at I think everything for any rodent hiding a nest and couldnt see anything. Ive checked the spark plugs when cleaning my IACV and they had a little mosture on them and the spark plugs also on the outside had a little bit of built up water and mosture. I was sure that the spark plugs were going to be shot but they looked pretty normal to me. It sounds like the driver side 1st cylender is causing the most noise. (top right if youre standing in front of the car) The only thing I'm confused about is I have no check engine and if the spark was weak or if I had a major misfire wouldnt it throw a code? When I uncovered my car and poped the hood it was very damp on the inside because of the humidity. Could that cause any major damage? The car ran perfect before yes but now like the videos show it's struggling to stay over 50 RPM and has no power. I think just to be sure for rodents I need to get it on a lift.
You mentioned moisture and water built up in the spark plug, do you mean in the spark plug well or the tip of the plug? If the tip of the plug is wet this means there is fuel being injected into the cylinder but the plug isn't firing. Which plugs have shown this condition? Also note that this in particular is not usually a problem with the spark plug itself but instead either the coil pack or ignitor that fires that specific plug.
If there is moisture pooled at the bottom of the spark plug wells this also needs to be corrected as it too can prevent the plug from firing. Was there any corrosion on the spark plugs?
Lastly, signs of rodents are pretty obvious. You'll see feces, acorn husks, fur and tiny paw prints. If you've got none of those there's a low likelihood of rodents getting in your engine and even lower likelihood they went to town on your wiring. They prefer the insides of cars more frequently anyway.
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ToeNee (03-23-24)
03-24-24, 09:58 AM
#29
Rookie
Thread Starter
CEL's are hit or miss from personal experience. Sometimes the ECU never sees the conditions needed to even run it's self tests in order to throw CEL's, and this is usually the case with misfires. In any case if you had an active misfire you would see a constant flashing CEL, and a constantly illuminated CEL means there is a code stored. A lot of the OBD1 codes are electronics issues codes that throw when something is unplugged or fails in a specific manner, save for the air-fuel rich or lean codes. So there's a good chance the car will run like trash but you'll never see a CEL so long as the ECU determines that all the electronics are plugged in and believes they are functioning properly. if the CEL isn't illuminated, for the time being either the ECU seems to think all of it's signals are OK OR it just hasn't had enough time to figure it out yet.
You mentioned moisture and water built up in the spark plug, do you mean in the spark plug well or the tip of the plug? If the tip of the plug is wet this means there is fuel being injected into the cylinder but the plug isn't firing. Which plugs have shown this condition? Also note that this in particular is not usually a problem with the spark plug itself but instead either the coil pack or ignitor that fires that specific plug.
If there is moisture pooled at the bottom of the spark plug wells this also needs to be corrected as it too can prevent the plug from firing. Was there any corrosion on the spark plugs?
Lastly, signs of rodents are pretty obvious. You'll see feces, acorn husks, fur and tiny paw prints. If you've got none of those there's a low likelihood of rodents getting in your engine and even lower likelihood they went to town on your wiring. They prefer the insides of cars more frequently anyway.
You mentioned moisture and water built up in the spark plug, do you mean in the spark plug well or the tip of the plug? If the tip of the plug is wet this means there is fuel being injected into the cylinder but the plug isn't firing. Which plugs have shown this condition? Also note that this in particular is not usually a problem with the spark plug itself but instead either the coil pack or ignitor that fires that specific plug.
If there is moisture pooled at the bottom of the spark plug wells this also needs to be corrected as it too can prevent the plug from firing. Was there any corrosion on the spark plugs?
Lastly, signs of rodents are pretty obvious. You'll see feces, acorn husks, fur and tiny paw prints. If you've got none of those there's a low likelihood of rodents getting in your engine and even lower likelihood they went to town on your wiring. They prefer the insides of cars more frequently anyway.