VIPking

iTrader: (2)

Hello I am new to this forum. I tried searching the treads but I could not find a problem like mine. So I bought a 1993 ls400 yesterday from my brothers friend for $500...I know that's cheap right well the car is in great shape it has 170k miles on it. He sold it to me so cheap because he said the tranny wasn't shifting. Ok so when I start moving from a stop and put the pedal down hard the car kinda bogs and the rpms jump between 1k and 4k then it starts to move slowly. It shifts from first to second fine but really slow like it will shift below 3k rpm. But then from 2nd to 3rd at about 4k rpm the car starts to lose power the rpm guage starts to jump from 2k to 4k. I then have to let go of the gas and then give it gas again for the gear to change. I have to the same thing in order to change from 3rd to 4th and so on. Can someone please help!!!! Thanks in advace

JimsGX

The first thing to check is what type of fluid is in the transmission. You need to run Toyota Type T-IV fuid ONLY. Pull out the transmission dipstick and see what color the fluid is. It should be a clear reddish pink fluid. If it has any other fluid other than Toyota, it can cause all kinds of problems. Maybe your brothers friend can shed some light on what type of fluid is in the car.

If it isn't T-IV, you'll need to flush all the fluid out and start from scratch.

VIPking

iTrader: (2)

ok I checked the trans dip stick and it looks like a brown/red. I haven't talked to my brothers friend yet but I'll find out soon. Thank you. Btw having the wrong/old trans fluid would cause the car to feel like this? Could it also maybe have something to do with the throtle body?

Kansas

Let's not forget one of the most common causes of completely wacky transmission shifting on a gen 1 LS400 -- broken wires in wiring loom at the driver side trunk hinge. You might as well unwrap the wires and check for broken or cracked wires and splice in short lengths of wires to join any wires that are cracked or broken.

When the wires in the left trunk hinge of the 90 LS I used to have broke, I thought the transmission was trashed -- amazed that the fix was so simple.

If you search the LS400 section of this forum for the word "hinge", you'll find a bunch of threads about this problem.

VIPking

iTrader: (2)

Ok thanks Kansas. I'll remove the tape first thing tomorrow and check to see if I have any torn wires. I'll update after I check. Thanks.

VIPking

iTrader: (2)

Figured ot what my problem was. Turns out I had a clogged catylitic converter.

j three

So is your problem solved, or is it yet to be completed? Let us know how it turned out.

VIPking

iTrader: (2)

Yes problem solved I had a bad MAF sensor witch was causing it to send too much fuel, that made the car run rich and melted both my catylitic converters. That's why it wouldn't shift cause I didn't have enough power getting through. I'm lucky I didn't blow a head. Thanks for all the help I got. Car feels strong

j three

Thats great to hear! You scored for 500 bucks. Do you have any plans to mod the car at all, or is it just a beater? If you do plan to mod you sure saved some money on the base car! LOL!

VIPking

iTrader: (2)

I'm getting my exhaust done tomorrow I'm getting an H pide made for it, also getting dual tip muffler elements for the rear. Gonna get some springs that give me a 2" drop then some nice wheels for now but to answer your question I'm gonna go all out the guy I got it from changed a lot of things on the car before he gave up on it so it's in great shape