KJG92

I bought this car yesterday as a third car (for when I want to park the Excursion) and eventually hand down to my son next year. It's a nice car. Was a gold edition but the gold grille is in the trunk and the original chrome 15 inch wheels with the gold "L" are in the garage. It has 155k on it and the interior is nice. Needs a armrest but that is not pressing. The previous owner had it 10 years and in that time put the '01 wheels on it and the H&R springs which really makes it sit nice. Real nice tint job and it has had a new a/c system, all the timing belt stuff, new rack and pump and a good bit of history to go with it. I have not checked thru it all but it may answer some questions.

It ran great on the test drive. Smooth, quiet and just felt like a well built car. On the 30 mile drive home I noticed the rpm's sitting at the first line above zero, but it was smooth. No jerking, not shaking but that was with the a/c on. Turn it off and it drops a little more and you can start to feel a vibration. I also noticed at 55 mph and only at 55 mph it surges. I do notice the rpms change but it seems like only at that spot and cruising as that speed it is only turning 900 rpms. The odd thing is the emissions are perfect, very clean and it has no CEL light on. I've been reading the forum and this morning I pulled the IAC and it was gunked up. Cleaned that and reinstalled and no difference. So I read about the pump resistor, jumped it and no difference. I read about the pump bypass, did that and nothing. So, I pulled the throttle body off and it was nasty. Very nasty. I had to scrape and soak and scrape some more. I cleaned all the ports out as they were full as well. Installed a new gasket and hooked it all up and after connecting the battery it idled up and than sat at about 600 rpm or the third line up. But, after I turned the a/c on it dropped a little and when I put it in gear it dropped down to the second line. A little better cause as warm it was sitting on the first line before. But one thing I noticed is now when the a/c is off it idles up to the line just under the 1k in neutral and drops to about 600-650 when i put the a/c on. Then in gear it goes to just above that second line and no matter if the a/c is on or off it stays consistant. I didn't get it out on the road but in the neighborhood I noticed a slight stumble from stop as well, nothing big though.

Sorry for the long post and one thing I don't know is the shaft on the IAC. Should I be able to move that in and out when it is disconnected? This one was stuck and I couldn't move it in or out even after cleaning it. Here are a couple of pics. I guess more reading is in order and the throttle position sensor would be the next thing to look at. I know that the flex pipe on the air intake is junk, the vacuum hose between the IAC and the air intake is junk (big hose) and that nipple that goes from the intake now to the air box won't stay seated. Oh, and the EGR and the ports have all been cleaned out. And it did mess with the throttle adjustment to get the rpms up but when you put it in gear the car jumps so I set it back the best I could.

AandSC

Congrats on your great looking LS! Wish I could offer advice on your issues but I don't have any experience in that area.

dicer

I like it. Is it brown or gold?

Yamae

The idle down when A/C on is often caused by the failing ECU. This happens when feed back signals from sensors are not properly processed by the ECU due to the too much noise in those. I'd simply replace electrolytic capacitors inside.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...capacitor.html

KJG92

Thanks Yamae. I've read that and it is very in depth. So much that it is not a job for me. I've pretty much come to the point that the ecm is having issues, I just ran out of time yesterday. I'll get in there this week and pull it out and check it. There is a yard near my office that has a car identical to this one. Its listed as a fresh kill so I may check it out and see how it runs. If so I may rob the hoses and the ecu from it just to see and after that I'll send mine off for proper repair. I also need a pigtail and connector for the IAC electrical plug. It crumbled in my hand removing it. Odd thing is before I fooled with it the car idled up when I turned on the ac, now it idles down. But during all that I had the battery disconnected so the ecu did reset. The car is gold up top and I'd say pewter on bottom. It was a gold edition car. Imagine the gold grille, gold emblems and the 15 in chrome wheels with the gold centers. A little blingy for me but the original owner was a old man and in Daytona Beach FL. Nice thing is it was garaged its whole life. I have the grille and wheels but they'll never go back on it.


On a side note, how do you read codes on these cars?

omarg

congrats on the clean find!

obd1 codes don't need a scanner, just a jumper wire!
http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/intro/codereading.html

dicer

Old man? Window tint, and non stock wheels?

KJG92

The original owner was the old man. I bought it from the person who did the wheels, tint and springs.

Legender

Nice find with low miles. Looks great. I'm guessing, from that part of the country, high heat with humidity that the ECU is probably due for capacitor replacement. I'd look into that first and get all your fluids changed and timing belt/water pump done if it's not already been done.

cobalt91

I wonder if one of the wires got crossed on the pig tail for the IAC when you repaired it. I don't know if it's possible for it to operate that way, just a thought.

KJG92

The main part of the connector stayed together, just the gray outer piece that snaps it onto the IAC body broke apart. It's taped now but that's no good. I'm thinking that will not be easy to find

All the fluids and belts have been done except the transmission. And I read this is easy as it has a drain plug. I don't want a flush done but would like to get all the fluid not just what's in the pan out. A member here did a good write up on that procedure.

dicer

Any sort of flush never gets all the old fluid out, its always mixing with new. I say just do the 2 quart drain at every oil change. The only real way to get all the old fluid out is to cut open the torque converter and disassemble the transmission.

KJG92

I saw a procedure on line where you removed the plastic cover from underneath the car and make a couple connections with hoses while another person pours fluid in while the car is running. I like your suggestion better. It is easy enough to address is while the car is up on ramps changing the oil. I could actually change it every 500 miles or so until I feel it is all fresh but then again that would be a waste of fluid.

I got in there and pulled the ECU out today. Only hard part was getting the liner out of the glove box without tearing it up. Sending it off tomorrow fingers crossed that one it has leaking caps and two it can be saved.

aptoslexus

I did this on my LS yesterday. You do get about 2 quarts, but I measured what I got out and put the same amount back in. Reading the dipstick is not so easy with brand new fluid. If you do this procedure, you need a long, narrow funnel that will reach your dipstick tube. Something to keep in mind before you start.

KJG92

Nothing new to report. The ecu is off getting repaired and it should be back early next week. We may roll it out and start detailing if the weather calms down some. My son has been wheel shopping so who knows, it may have new shoes after this weekend.

I've been looking around some more and have found that I really like the later LS400's. I saw a '97 on ebay in Phoenix, AZ that is really nice. I could drive one of those everyday. This car is nice but something about that black on black. But, I'd have to sell the Excursion and I really like that big ole truck.