jtanoyo1

Hey guys,

I tried the search button but could not find what I was looking for. I drive a Toyota Aristo V300VE. It comes with some minor mods: piggyback ecu (unknown, from previous owner), HKS SSBOV, Apex'i AVC-R, HKS super megaflow intake and TRD exhaust and Clifford Matrix 3 alarm.

Anyway, I was installing a turbo timer the other day and it was at night so I left the dome light on for quite a few hours and sure enough, the next day the battery was drained and went dead. I had to go out of town the same day so I figured, screw it, I will fix that when I came back in 2 days.

So, I was back and tried to jump-start the car in the morning and the car starts up just fine. I thought i'd let it idle for a few minutes while the battery recharges itself. However, after maybe about 3-5 minutes, the battery dead error light turns on on my dash and the car chugs and dies. So I thought, oh this battery is bust. I called up a service where a guy would come over and take your old battery away and installed a new one for you. I had to go to work immediately so I had someone wait and watch over while the guy came over to do the battery swap.

Anyway, I was at work and my friend called me and told me the battery was swapped and the car was running fine for a while before it mysteriously stalled by itself. I rushed over home as quick as possible and sure enough, he was right.

The car would start, idled at 600 rpm for 5 seconds, then stalls immediately. Sometimes, it would start, then idled at 600, 500, 400, chug chug chug, 200, stalls. The worst time would be when I started it up and it died just as quickly (turns on, 600 rpm, dies). Also, if it managed to idle for that 5 seconds, I would press on the gas pedal hoping to get the rpm up but the car won't respond at all and dies almost immediately.

I eliminated the alarm ignition kill system because the Clifford tech came over and checked it out and bypassed the alarm system completely and the car still won't idle. It just keeps stalling. I also resetted the ECU several times (even leaving the battery off overnight). I checked the EFI fuse and it was fine. Radio, a/c, lights, all work fine in the "on" position.

Car has 17,000km (13,000 miles or thereabout), recently switched to full-synthetic mobil 1 15w-50 right before turbo timer install.

Any help would be very very appreciated.

AlphaJZS

iTrader: (2)

I dont know if this information will help any but I had the same problem while installing my SRT intake and it was just something simple as the Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF) being positioned wrong.....the engine would turn over then die immediately....also sometimes it would idle for a bit then shut off again... since you have a lot of electronics tapped in, i dont know if the MAF would be the prob...but its a worth a shot to check it and make sure everything is cool....good luck

jtanoyo1

Yeah Panda, I read about your problem and it sounded oddly similar to mine. However, I honestly don't think that's the problem because noone was ANYWHERE near the intake at any given time during the battery removal and install. However, to give the benefit of the doubt, I went over and took out my MAF anywhere just in case there was engine blowby (where oil mist came back up and out of the intake during high boost and cake up/dirty up the MAF).

No luck. MY hks intake and elbow look spotless. So that's not the problem. I hope it's nothing serious like throttle position sensor, or idle air controller. A lot of supra owners seem to experience these problems too.....grrr.....

Tomorrow I am gonna have the car towed to this specialist shop that works on Supras. At least my car cranks and turns over just fine. It just won't keep idle and won't respond to my pressing the gas pedal.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

Ummm....I don't think its the battery...since its brand new. Im thinking its the new synthetic oil....15W-50 may be the wrong consistency. In my opinion.....15W-50 is too thick (in weight and viscosity)...thus, the engine is having a harder time turning....esp now that its winter.

15W-50 is ok with high mileage cars.....but with only 13K miles....I'd say stick with the manufacturer recommended consistency.

Guyz....correct me if I'm wrong here, but is the proper oil for the GS (Aristo) is 5W-30? I know of some ppl with use 0W-30 or 5W-30 (thinner) in the winter....then switch back to 10W-30 for the summer.

As for the turbo timer...I would un-install this for now and see if it starts up like normal.

Pete

kvoman

Could there be a vacuum hose loose somewhere? During the installation process of your turbo timer, could someone knocked that hose out by mistake?

BTW - what is a Turbo Timer?

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

What did you have to touch to install the Turbo timer? I'd personally be suspect of what you changed to put that in given the sequence of events you described.

jtanoyo1

Well, I installed the turbo timer myself. I cannot trust anyone to touch my car, especially on such a minor install like this. It wasn't the turbo timer, it wasn't any loose vacuum hose either, no one was anywhere near ANY vacuum hose.

As for the 15W-50 oil that I am using, it's recommended by Mobil-1 for high power turbocharged cars, precisely because of its thickness. It doesn't break apart as easily under high pressure/heat like the other thinner oil (0w-30,5w-30, etc). A lot of supra owners in the US are using that oil too to very very good results. So that rules out the oil.

And if you are worried that it might be too thick for my weather (you said something about winter), I live in the tropics, not the US. Our weather rarely changes to below 85F and usually is pretty stable at right around 90F-95F. Winter, what's winter??

Anyway, we ruled out electronics, battery, turbo timer, hoses and fuses (i checked and rechecked)and oil. What did that leave us with?

FUEL!!!!

I was looking at my fuel level and it was "oddly" stuck at 1/4 tank even before my car died. The car was left idling for a long time before it died and technically there was no reason that it should be stuck at 1/4 tank. There HAD to be some movement.

So out went the back seat, out went the fuel pump (which was a huge PITA to remove), and guess what??? I could see the silvery shine of the bottom of my fuel tank!!!! My car was completely out of gas! There wasn't even a drop of fuel left in the tank!!!! I went to the gas tank and bought 20L of fuel and came back to my car and filled it up and the car started right up! But my fuel level on the dash still said I had 1/4 tank left.

Anyway, I drove the car around and went to the gas station and filled her all the way to full. When i tried to start the car again, the fuel level now read EMPTY and the gas light turned on yellow! And of course, my car had to stall again in the middle of the gas station!! I was frantic. Had the folks there push my car to to the corner, took 1/2 hour to calm my nerves down and tried VERY HARD not to beat the crap out of my car.

Then after 1/2 hour, I turned the ignition back on and voila! the fuel tank read FULL. My car started up just fine and I managed to drive home safely. Now I am scared to drive the sucker. A plug-in with the toyota diagnostic tool said my o2 sensor is nearing the end of its live (got a fluctuation reading of 0.0v - 0.8v). 0.0v is big no-no and is usually the main culprit of low and rough idling problem which is what I have. My rpm reads 500rpm on a good day and goes as low as 400rpm on bad humid days.

Well that's my story folks! Kinda embarrassed about it, but hey, all of us had to go through it once some time.....

sung35

Have you check the fuel pump?

jtanoyo1

Sung, if you didn't read my response above, my car is already fixed and you are right on the money about fuel.