Stallionst

Hello Lexus Brotherhood!

Firstly, sorry for any ground that has already been covered here. I have scoured the forums but need opinions on a specific case. To make a long story even longer. I have posted a dialogue between myself and a "Lexus Mechanic" below as I have been troubleshooting the problem the last two days. I'm hoping that the final opinion is wrong but have to say that the dealership did say timing cover was "leaking heavily" but after that I had a mechanic look at it and say the leak was not major enough to cause problems and to just monitor it. (I never saw any fluids on the ground)

Me: Car won't start. Hot battery. Starter tested. After "Check VSC" light came on, ran diagnostics and codes read Camshaft position sensor malfunction. Will this cause the car to not even turn over?


Mechanic: Are there any other codes in the system besides camshaft sensor?

This will not prevent the engine from turning over, so there is something else going on here.

What work has been done to this car recently?

Thanks!



Me: Hi,

No work has been done on the car since I purchased it used two years ago. It has 132K on odometer. I came home for lunch yesterday and leaving the car wouldn't start back up. The systems check indicates normal, press brakes and it makes a whining sound as if starter is engaging but the engine won't turn over, then the indicator flashes check VSC. I pulled the starter and bench tested is at the parts store and its operational. I've tried the gas cap trick and a few other things from researching the forums.


Mechanic: take the oil cap off while someone is inside the car. look at the cam shaft and have someone try to start it. does the camshaft move?


Me: Took the battery to parts store. They said it only had 45% and was bad so I put a new one on. Still having the same issues. No parts can be seen moving when the oil cap is off.


Mechanic: If no parts can be see moving, and it sounds like its spinning really fast, that means you have a timing chain that has came apart, generally b.c. of a timing chain tensioner. The timing chain keeps the camshafts and crankshaft all in sync, so when you start the car the crankshaft is spinning but not the cam shafts, the engine computer sees that difference and sets the code.

The only way to determine the root cause of this failure and what exactly happened is to remove the engine, and remove the front cover to see whats going on. I attached a diagram of what it SHOULD look like and also as a visual to my explanation as to what happened. I really hate to be the one to tell you that bad news that its not a simple fix.

ESh

Bull****.
Your car doesn't crank (the battery/starter are good)?
You should check the fuses but not the regular ones. Under the hood you have two big fuses (fuse link):



This one is the problem. It is located under the hood, in the same box that you can fund other fuses.




To remove the fuse you have to take the fuse box apart. It is held by two 10 mm bolts.

If you have any problem finding them I will take some pictures for you.

Stallionst

Thanks for your help. I've got the main fuse box out put can't seem to remove the blue fuse link. The two white wires going into the ends of the fuse are what is stopping me. Is there a certain way this fuse is to be removed?

Stallionst

Got the fuse out. A lot trickier than just pulling it out. The ALT140A side was broken/burned out. My only hope is that I did not break it from using too much force from pulling on it (as you can see in the pictures) I did re-install the fuse and was given the same indicator light so this is either the problem or it is something bigger. Now I play the waiting game for two days for the part to get in.

oldgrump

To state the obvious, and as the mechanic that you've been talking to has told you.........if the starter is rotating the crankshaft but the camshaft sprocket that is visible through the oil filler port (you have to look under the baffle, so don't be fooled) is not rotating, then the engine will require a major repair. The other indicator is if the cranking speed is abnormally high as you state, this is because there is little or no compression because there is no operation of the valves. Or, you can just pull a front bank spark plug and you'll find out quickly if that cylinder has got compression or not. The other issue is that with a lot of engines (not sure specifically about the 2GR-FE) when the timing is lost between the crank and the camshaft/s one or more pistons come up and "smack" one or more open valves resulting in those valves being damaged.

ESh

Now I'm losted.
When you press the start/stop button, does it crank/turn over?

Stallionst

Steering wheel drops down and engine start button turns green but when I hit the start button the engine does not not turn over. We hear what seems to be a whining noise for a few seconds, which is what I assumed to be the starter attempting to engage.

chuyrobles

Don't assume. Have someone look at the crank to see if it turns when you try to start the car. If it doesn't you may be looking at a faulty starter/solenoid or damaged flywheel. If it does turn and the camshaft doesn't, as mentioned above, you may be looking at a busted timing chain.

ESh

First you have to fix the fuse link.