Espiritus

I'm looking at a 1997 LS400 with 19X,000 miles. Interior and exterior in good condition. Well maintained per the current owner. It has developed a continuing high idle, 1500-2500. He took it to a garage which read the code as being a MAF issue. He paid $500 to replace the MAF but that did not correct the idle. He was going to replace the ECU but decided to sell it instead. He's asking $1800 as is. I have worked on motorcycles, but never cars. With this little bit of information, what other questions should I ask the owner to determine if I should buy it or walk away?

Scratchy

a bad vacuum leak can cause both an MAF cel and high idle

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

a high idle is usually a simple fix with a vacuum leak being one possible solution. the question i would ask is if the timing belt and water pump were replaced recently. the change interval is every 90k miles so it should have been replaced twice at its current mileage.

a timing belt job alone is a good $1000 including parts installed by a mechanic. it can be done yourself with help here depending on how good you are around a wrench.