JMT

Hey guys I dont post much...my wifes gs never give us issues but I have some ? on another ride I would like to buy.

93 LS400, 275k, 650 bucks. Heres the thoughts of the mechanic whos owns it: When the car screwed up, it started running very rough (skipping), and and the exact same time, the transmission quit shifting (felt like it went into limp mode).There's no communication between the car and my scan tool. All this leads me to believe it either has a broke wire somewhere, or the computer is bad.

My thoughts are w/ no communication to the computer that the ecu probably is bad. Can it be anything else? This is the only reason I would suspect ecu since it wont talk to the scanner.

Is the car worth buying w/ 275k on the clock? I know that this engine was darn near bulletproof. He said maint. was kept up except for suspension which needs new bushings...what do yall think? Thanks -Josh

Playdrv4me

What is the history of this car? Personally I would rather know from the beginning Ive got to just replace a motor than be working on assumptions formed by the little bit of information some mechanic gave me. If you cant even communicate with the car via the scan tool, and the car has an obviously working power source and no blown fuses (the ALDL connector on my lade has the cigarette lighter on the same fuse and it blows frequently), then I would suspect electrical problems on top of the engine and trans.

This car sounds suspiciously like a flood car to me, I would stay miles away. Still if you want to pursue it, you should go in with the expectation of replacing at least one major part, be it engine or transmission, and have access to a salvage vehicle to get those parts from.

Seems like a headache to me.

etex

Flood car might very well be the answer, but could a broken timing belt account for the initial stated symptoms? Just a thought ....

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

no, car wont run at all w/o broken timing belt.

JMT

He sent me an email this afternoon saying 550 is what he would take for it. Now in my thinking worst case scenario I could part it out and make my $ back. Body is clean, interior is fair (normal wear and tear). It was his fiances parents car then his fiances.

To elaborate a little more he said the car ran rough back 50 miles to his shop. He let it sit at his shop for a couple weeks then it wouldnt start anymore. They bought a new car.

I would say no to timing belt, probably electrical but what parts tend to go bad that would create this symptom. Ive seen cars that will hardly run w/ corroded battery connections, is this one of those cars? Personally I would think a bad ecu would just not run, not run rough then not at all. It almost sounds like a voltage problem to me. Wouldnt you have to have a certain amount of voltage to shift the trans and to retrieve codes also?

Thanks for anymore input -Josh

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

good idea, just remember that the mods prolly wont let you part it out on CL, unless u talk to htem first...prolly not since ur buying the car just to part it out.

jasonm

iTrader: (5)

Parting it out on Ebay would be good. I see a lot of parts for sale there and sometimes people in bfe have to bid high because they can't find it locally.

Playdrv4me

If you have the space and the time, parting it out might very well be a good idea. I know my friend bought leather seats for his 94 Honda Accord along time ago and the seller threw in window switches and a whole bunch of other little stuff for free due to some hassle. He sold the window switch module alone on ebay for 150.00 I think.

19psi

could be as simple as a bad ground somewhere. check the power and ground to the ecu.