BlueSC400

hi, i posted this in the maintenance forum here at clublexus but someone told me i might get better luck finding help here..

well.. the last month or so, i've been having problems with my sc400. sometimes, when i drive and stop at like a stop light, the engine just dies on me. the engine has died 3 times so far. sometimes, the engine also gets very sluggish. if i stop at a light, my regular idle of 800rpm will drop down to 500rpm when i am in drive. so if i gas it again, it might take a split second and then the car kinda jerks but starts running again (sluggishly). i'll have to stop the car and restart it in order for it to run normally. the idle on my car when it's parked is also pretty high (1200rpm).

i originally thought all this had something to do with my fuel pump or fuel filter so i had the fuel filter changed. that same day though, my engine died it's 3rd time.

i'm planning on bringing it to the dealership sometime soon but i was wondering if anyone else had these problems or know what is causing these problems. any help would be appreciated.

Taka

it happened to me before, I changed to new battery. It was dead battery. but lately I have similar problem again. Since I cleaned up battery terminal and tighten it up, it hasn't happened.
Your case might be other problem but if you haven't, check the battery area before bring it to the dealer. It might be battery cable.

The Ikon

It could be a bad injector, bad wires, plugs, rotors/caps, sensors, etc.. I as VQT had a problem with a bad battery cable... It left me confused for a few days...

As VQT puts it... We all need Lexus workshop manuals! I must get me one as much as I like to do my own work... Oh, yeah... I have the great CL for a lot of my advice/info!!!

Blue, when was the last time you had a major service? How many miles on the car now?

The Ikon

matt7184

Id try to run some Chevron Techron fuel system cleaner to see if it helps with the injectors (its $5).

Your idle can be adjusted by adjusting the nuts that hold the throttle cable onto the little piece of metal connected to throttle body.

Flirtatous

Hi Ikon,

I agree we all need workshop manuals. Infact, I also need an Owner's manual.

Do you know how can I get one ?

Flirtatous

London Bill

Blue:

I spent a lot of time trying to find an intermittent fault, engine cutting out, sometimes hard to re-start when hot, misfire, turned out to be the fuel pump ECU - a very common fault on older SC's.

Francis K

don't have a SC4 but maybe I can help.....

My car stalled out and would sputter and backfire, changed plugs and had the 30k service done and all was well....

then about a month later I lost a great deal of performance and it was stalling out again, my cats and O2 sensor had to be replaced (all under warranty)

lexi feels much mcuh better now!

VQT

Call 800-908-6968 ask for Steve Ganz or Gordon. Check for price on how much to mail you. Last I know was $125 US for two volume & ~$30 for the electrical manual.
There are CD version for the manual also. Check the post on Mechanical section of this forum.

Taka

$125 for two books for me, it took a month to get it but I dont regret. It's my lexus bible now.

BlueSC400

hey.. thanks for the feedback everyone. went to the dealer today though (santa monica, ca) and they said that i had a bad idle air controller. if anyone has similar problems as i do, i guess you should look into too that. gonna get it fixed somewhere else besides the dealership though. it's too expensive there (~$850 with labor... they said $650 for the replacement part alone). will post again after it's fixed...