Exia

Well, first off, this would be the first Lexus I have every owned.. But I am thinking about trading my sports bike for 2 Lexus IS300's..

1 is a 2001 and the 2nd one is a 2002.. But here is my problem..

The 01 runs but runs rough, owner says the O2 sensor is bad it has 3 busted windows all driver and also the rear window is shattered.. 117k miles..

He went and bought the 2002 as a parts car 176k miles, the owner he bought it from, says it was getting hot, they said it didn't hit redline, they shut it off and parked it.. They sent it to a shop and had the thermostat replaced, and the person that has it now said they also replaced a gasket, he is unsure of what gasket.. But they got the car back, and it started to get hot again, so again they parked it, and now the car will not start, it acts like it wants to but don't.

So any idea's what it could be? and would I be hurting myself if I did do the trade ?

2GSKaizen

iTrader: (1)

If you want to turn both of these into project cars I guess you might be ok. If you are trying to daily drive either of these, I think you might want to look for an IS in a little better shape. Also depends on how mechanically inclined you are. If I had to pick 1, I would consider the 01 that runs rough. Probably between a Mass Airflow Sensor, and 02 sensor, or a combo of both. Could also be a vacuum leak. That one shouldn't be to big of a headache to get running. That 02 that is overheating might turn into a nightmare. Could be something simple like a radiator, but could be a major job like a head gasket which is going to cost big bucks if you have to take it to a shop.

Exia

This was my thinking as well, he bought the 2002 and what he was going to do was just yank the motor out of the 01 and swap it since it run's and drives. The 02 has the better body on it by far.

2GSKaizen

iTrader: (1)

How much are you planning on getting for your bike? If you spend the time to look, you can find an IS300 for around the $7,000 mark with decent miles that has a great service history. You just have to be patient. Don't jump into something you are not prepared to deal with.

Exia

I wasn't selling it I was trading it straight up for the 2 cars

bacon22

iTrader: (1)

u have a working bike that has no issues and ur goin to trade it for 2 cars that are about to fall apart? i would say stay with the bike or find a better deal to trade unless u have good walking shoes and ur looking for a big project. jus IMO

Chadley6mt

iTrader: (1)

Id say Keep the bike and look for a better IS300. these cars are not all that easy to deal with.

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

Sounds like both are pretty beat I'd pass unless your mechanically inclined and don't mind taking up a huge project

Exia

Well I didn't catch the rest of these post's, so I did the trade..



Well I have worked on 2j's before, but nothing to the point like this,which is why I am trying to pick everyone's brain and give me a little insight.. the white car the 2001 I now understand why it don't run right at all, the entire exhaust was gutted, no muffler, cats. nothing. So should be somewhat a simple fix, of course those are the famous last words of anyone who works on a vehicle..

The 02 now, thats a different story, first off I was wrong about the mileage, it only has 86,000 orginal miles. not 176k.... Checked a few things, oil is fine, anti-freeze levels are so so. new battery installed. Secruity light goes out, nothing out of the ordinary. upon starting it, it will crank and it will attempt to start, you can prime the fuel pump, about 2 times, and she want's to fire straight off the bat, once you try to put some throttle to it, it stop's

So here is my check list...

Check, fuel pressure at the rail, which can anyone tell me what the normal PSI is for this.
Compression test. ( What's the norm for this )
check the plug's and wire's and possibly the the injectors
Fuse's and Relay's


DTC's came up 0,,

So Any suggestion?

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Fuel pressure should be 45 psi, give or take

compression should be 170 at the very low end, ideally around 200-210

Just a quick FYI, swapping motors between the two isn't as easy as one may think - the entire wiring harnesses have to be changed as there was a difference in computers, 01's are different than the 02-05 models...

Exia

Visual Aid.

You can hear the car, and also the pump.

Exia

OK just a follow up, I did some more research and found a video on YouTube with someone with some what the same symptoms, the owner replaced the alternator.. After that never had a issue, so I am going to pull off the alternator and take it in for a bench test..

This kinda make sense due to what it does I am using my Mazda as a booster and the longer I keep the Lexus on the jumpers without cranking it the quicker it tries to fire, so hopefully I didn't get to burned on this deal.