LS430Lexus

My '02 UL has about 150k and runs great. Recently, I had the chance to drive a relatives '03 with 65k. It seemed to have a bit more pep and slightly better acceleration. I have never replaced any sensors and it has been a while since the throttle body has been cleaned. Any ideas or suggestions?

Jks24

Your motor has almost 100,000 more miles of wear and tear so its gonna feel "slower" than a car who's motor has just been broken in. Also just do plugs, wires, air filter basic tune up maybe that will help.

911LE

Try cleaning your mass air sensor. They make an aerosol spray. And our cars don't have "wires" as suggested above.

rkw77080

Sometimes the difference can simply be the different type of gasoline used. My sister borrowed my car once and returned it with a full tank of the low octane gasoline - I could definitely notice the sluggishness.

Are you getting any DTC?

airchomper

+1 for RKW77080's comment - gas can make a big difference in these cars.

Did the engine or the transmission feel different? If you have older or dirtier fluid, your transmission might shift slower. Also, transmissions adapt to the driver. I'm gentle with the throttle and my car shifts early and doesn't really downshift. I've driven another LS430 that shifted noticeably later and was much quicker to crack off downshifts.

Was it the same trim level? The ULs weigh a bit more, I thought it was a 100 lbs or so which shouldn't be too noticeable but your butt dyno might be finely calibrated.

LS430Lexus

Mine is a UL and the other car is a ML. Both use premium gas, probably from the same gas station (Costco). Their is just a bit more pep in the other car. I seem to recall an easy to replace sensor from these forums.

Jks24

My bad man was rushing that last night meant coils instead of plugs good catch.

2KHarrier

Ok, dumb question.... What's the weight difference between the two? My 2005 is a ML, and the '01 is just a base model, it "feels" like the 01 is quicker, even with the 5 speed, and 70K more miles.

lsdude

As 911LE stated, try cleaning the mass air flow sensor and throttle body.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...-cleaning.html

rkw77080

A sticky OCV can also degrade overall engine performance...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ocv-valve.html

A another thing to try is to disconnect the negative battery cable for a few minutes and reconnect. The LS430 ECM "learns" your driving habits, and modifies the control logics accordingly. The "sluggishness" may very well be the result of is "learning".

Tom57

At 150K miles, I'd add some Marvel Mystery Oil (or similar) to the crankcase on your next oil change. It will clean all of the internals, including lifters, and the two oil control valves.

XJSFan

Try a good fuel cleaner like Redlines product and use high octane gas to possibly clean up your fuel system. These cars also seem to have more pep on cooler days and maybe the other car had much less gas in it. A full tank of gas in a car compared to a car with a quarter tank of fuel makes a big difference in acceleration... I would also think that if you use a good Synthetic oil, the engine internals/control valves should be very clean.

valex

I had sluggishness AND poor fuel economy due to a bad thermostat.

911LE

I think the easily replaceable sensor you are referring to is the coolant temperature sensor. Some people claim to notice a difference after it is replaced. It's located on the front water crossover to the left of the throttle body (when viewed from the front). This and the mass air sensor are the 2 main inputs the computer uses for fueling.

lextout

these UZ drive trains can have 5k or 200k, they will have the same power and get up regardless,It all depends on the upkeep.