tedsterb

So was driving on the freeway and all of a sudden my 98 GS300 started sputtering a bit, and then started losing power, and finally died on the side of the freeway. Tried to restart and it would turn over but wouldn''t start. Went and got gas, put it in and it started right up. OK, problem is, is that I still had a little less than a quarter tank of gas in there, and the fuel light didn't even come on. It's been cold here, 25 degrees or so. Would that have something to do with it? Fuel pump going bad? Pressure sensor? This has never happened before. It's also got the check engine light on for the last 6 months or so, the code is P0446, which has to do with fuel stuff.

Thanks peeps.

marshun

that little valve on the evap canister in the rear. search that code on this forum and you'll see the fix for it.

i had to do that earlier this year. for some reason this year is the year where all kinds of **** is giving up on my car. next year is gonna be awesome i hope

tedsterb

Isnt the canister hard to get to? How was ur car acting prior to replacing the valve?

kornpeef

1998 canister most likely the carbon is deteriorated to the point that small carbon pieces are flowing through the evap system. if you pull the purge line you might see little carbon pieces in them. when i get this code i replace all 3 valves because they start failing one by one. first the purge then the vacuum switching valves.

gas light not coming on. fuel sender or fuel sender circuit. u can normally get to the fuel pump under rear seat cushion. remove the pump and actuate the arm manually and see if it registers on the dash.

tedsterb

Thx. So where is the camister and valves?

kornpeef

the vsv valve at the back of the engine is the tricky one. might have to go through passenger side wheel well to get to.

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

Dont know what kind of engine you have in your GS ^^, but I've got a 2jz

OP, here are the instructions, the vsv valve is on the charcoal canister in the rear under the axle:

Here is how I did it without messing with the rear hub and rear control arms, please refer to the diagram below.
I did not take pics, it was very dirty under there and dirt was landing on my face.
Once I had the car jacked up I was done in 90 minutes...

• Jack up and properly support the passenger side rear of the car.
• Remove passenger side rear wheel.
• Remove the rear suspension brace, both sides.
• Removed the 3 nuts that hold the canister and disconnecting 3 hoses and the 2 connectors.
• Remove the charcoal canister mounting bracket, 2 bolts on the right side of the assembly.
• Remove the 6 10mm allen head bolts that hold the RH rear drive shaft to the differential. Mark the alignment of the axle to the differential.
• Carefully push the axle outward and drop it down to the side.
• Remove the rubber band type hangers that supports the exhaust pipes. this will give you enough room to move the drive shaft a few more inches out of the way.
• Remove the charcoal canister assembly. It might take you a few minutes to fit it through the opening.
• Replacing the new assembly is reverse of removal, including removing the mounting bracket on the right side of the assembly.
• Torque the drive shaft bolts to 61 ft/lbs in a cross pattern

newgsman

iTrader: (4)

I had this happen to me this past summer. Drove on the highway for several hours with a bit less than quarter tank showing on the gas gauge. The car started bucking a and then died. After a few more sputtering starts it would not start running any more. Low fuel never came on. Walked to a gas station, got some gas and started up the car. Drove to the gas station filled her up and never had the problem again. Gas light comes on whenever it get low. No idea why it happened that one time but everything seems to be fine. I had changed out the gas tank about a week earlier but I reused the old pump and sending unit. So the only thing I can think of is that the fuel sender may have gotten stuck. It obviously has corrected itself since everything has been fine for at least 10K now. BTW I used to get 0446 also, but I haven't got it for several months now. Its always been an intermittent thing for me. Over the past several years it comes and goes randomly, sometimes every few weeks, sometimes not for many months.

marshun

mine was kinda the same way. except i didnt wait several years to fix it. the part is cheap and it just takes up some time. why not change it?

newgsman

iTrader: (4)

Tried to change it once but I couldn't separate the axle shaft from the diff.
Might try again when it starts becoming annoying again. I have a scan gauge so I just reset the benign codes on the fly.

salimshah

Recently I changed the rear axle seals for SC400 .. the diffs do not look too different. I just used bolts through the flanges to push against the diff body. It worked well with the limited access ... vehicle on jack-stands.

Salim

newgsman

iTrader: (4)

Not sure I understand. Where did you thread the bolts?