Fred J

It's been a year or two since I posted this problem under a different username (I forgot my old one).

My '92 LS has an intermittent issue where after it is has been driven a while, the engine conks out on me. It acts like it's not getting enough gas. It will always re-start, but it runs rough and then wants to die again. I can prevent this by putting it in neutral and revving it and then putting it back into drive while it's revved up, but this is obviously hard on the transmission. The engine will not let me rev it while in drive, but it will in neutral, which is why I have to do it that way. In drive, it just conks out. This also only seems to occur at slow speeds. At highway speed, it runs fine. But once I slow down, that's when the trouble starts.

I have asked my local mechanic about it, and he says he can't diagnose it without it happening to him. Another shop which specializes in Lexus and Toyota told me the same thing, and they said they looked at the EGR valve and it appeared OK, so I'm not inclined to spend a fortune to replace it if we're not even certain that's the culprit. Even Lexus told me they couldn't diagnose without it happening to them. No one is going to ever experience it unless they drive it a lot. So basically I can't get it diagnosed.

I have noticed one pattern that may be a clue. When I drive it with a full rank of gas, this does not happen. If I drive 100 miles with the tank full at the beginning, and then try to drive home without filling it up, it will always act up. But if I refill the tank at my 100 mile destination before returning home, it does not conk out. So this seems like a clue that it's a gas supply thing. As long as the tank doesn't get down to near half full, I have never experienced this. But I notice it always happens when there's a lower level of gas.

Anybody have any ideas? I'm not mechanically inclined and would really like to have this corrected, but I'm not going to spend a fortune on guesswork.

Thanks!

Fred J

vaughn37

im having the same problem... mine did it Friday after driving on the interstate for 83 miles at 80 mph..... it has done it about 4 times in 2 years..

Fred J

Interesting! I'm glad someone else is seeing this. Though yours is far less frequent than mine. I am virtually guaranteed to experience it if I don't keep the tank full.

Fred J

vaughn37

could be the fuel pump. I think i will replace mine..for 100 bucks it would be worth it as the original one is old.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

given that you live in VA it could be that your gas tank has a load of sediment and other crap in it and needs to be drained/rinsed (with spirits, not water obv).

if that's the case generally you'll have these symptoms more often when there's less fuel in the car.

deanshark

There's 2 things that come to my mind that you could check. (someone can agree or disagree with me) I've heard, on other vehicles, the charcoal canister hose gets clogged or something that causes this. But I would think it would do it at any level in the fuel tank. The other, I know I've seen this in this forum, the gas cap gasket being bad effects the pressure in the fuel tank which will make it feel like it's running out of gas. It's cheap and should be changed regularly anyway. http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/maint...capgasket.html

Fred J

As far as the gas cap gasket being bad, help me here. If the gasket is new, I would expect it to be tight, right? If it's old, I would expect it to be allowing air through it, right?

Now, if it's new, and air is not going through it, I would expect a vacuum to build up inside the tank as the fuel level drops, thus making it impossible for the fuel to flow freely into the fuel line. If it's old, there would be no vacuum, and fuel should freely flow.

Given that I am having a problem with (seemingly) poor fuel flow, I would think a new gasket would have just the opposite of the desired effect. I admittedly don't know about these things.

I can say that every time I unscrew the gas cap, I get a very powerful rush of air which tells me I do have a vacuum and the gasket is good. I can also say that when I have been experiencing my issues described above, I have actually gotten out of the car, unscrewed the cap and screwed it back on, and it made no difference.

As for the fuel pump, how could it be that? It runs fine with a full tank of gas.

Thanks to all for your input thus far.

Fred J

vaughn37

well i don't know for sure...but your gas cools your pump.. the lower your gas tank gets the hotter the fuel gets so in turn its not good on the pump... maybe it makes it act up

I haven't had the stall problem in the winter

Fred J

I have experienced the stalling in all seasons, so I don't think it's a fuel temperature thing.

Also, I just called AutoZone and Advance Auto, and neither sells the gas cap gasket - they have the entire cap only. I suppose I will be forced to go to the dealer, which I despise. I haven't taken my car there in years, following a multi-thousand dollar A/C repair which followed two prior A/C repairs, and they didn't stand behind their work, saying only that it was out of warranty. I am now on my 4th AC compressor. On a Lexus, those ought to last more than a couple years! My 1988 Toyota is still on its original!

Maddening.

Fred J

vaughn37

read this I found on the web fred i think this is whats wrong with mine

If your car is equipped with an automatic transmission the torque converter can cause the engine to stall. The fluid coupler known as the torque converter is constructed with clutch shoes that lock up to connect the engine at cruising speeds. If the torque converter malfunctions it can cause the clutch shoes not to release. This will cause the engine to stall at idle because the torque converter will not release, forcing the engine to stall. This condition will usually start to occur after long a drive on the freeway and get worse from there. If your car shutters as it is coming to a stop and then stalls you could have this problem. If you are coming to a stop and you think this is your problem try putting the car into neutral gear and see if it still stalls. If the engine does not stall when in neutral the torque converter has failed and needs replacing

steve2006

Filler cap gasket is available separately 77316-16010 around $17.00 from Lexus dealers.

Fred J

Very interesting! Where did you find that?

But still, I don't understand why it doesn't act up on a full tank. That tells me it's not the torque converter.

Fred J

vaughn37

did a search for torque converter failure....I can feel my clutch not releasing

here the place i found it.lots of info for engine stalling

http://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-stalls

deanshark

Fred, I guess you didn't read the link I posted.
"If you have a lot of pressure when you remove your gas cap you probably need to replace the gasket. It's a special gasket that has a groove in it, probably to allow for some air to escape."
There isn't supposed to be alot of pressure in your tank, that's why the gasket has a groove in it to let air out. I know after I changed my gasket I don't have the pressure anymore and the cap doesn't blow out of my hand when I take it off. Not sure if this is what it was but, my car doesn't have the tiny buck it used to at about 20 MPH when I have a quarter tank. The gasket is cheap enough, and you do need a new one anyway b/c you said you have the major pressure build up, which you're not supposed to have. So what if you have to get it at the dealer, they're the only place that has it.

Fred J

Yeh, I did read the link, but I guess it doesn't make sense to me. Wouldn't a newer gasket have a tighter seal, and therefore CREATE a vacuum? Whereas, an older one, you would think, would be more brittle and porous, and prone to allowing air through?

Clearly based on the article I do need a new gasket. I just HATE paying Lexus $17 for a tiny part that's worth about $1. I despise my dealer. And if AutoZone and Advance Auto can sell me a new cap, presumably it would have a gasket in it, right? I bet they sell the cap with the gasket for less than Lexus sells the gasket alone.

Fred J