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All my crazy Lexus issues SOLVED!! (ECU-leaking capacitor)

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Old 07-08-14, 01:28 PM
  #886  
RugbyDad
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I don't even have any of these issues besides the weird shifting, however my first instinct is a bad tranny mount. Nevertheless just wanted to say that I bought the capacitors regardless and will have them installed at some point in the future. More than anything, I just want a smooth experience with my new wife ("girlfriend" is now my "mistress").

Also wanted to thank all the incredibly knowledgeable members at CL. **** is GREAT!
Old 07-09-14, 12:59 AM
  #887  
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I finally received some of my caps and started installing them into the ECU last weekend. I'm still awaiting the 47uf caps but after installing all the others I plugged the ECU into the car for testing (I couldn't wait). She started on the second turn of the key and I must say that she is running beautifully. I took her for a spin. No more stalling when I brake. She holds idle steady and smooth. I have yet to clean the IAC valve. She accelerates better and you can actually feel the difference in acceleration and shifts between normal driving and sport (ECT setting).

The second photo shows one capacitor in place so far. I cut the old capacitors off (carefully!!!) and left as much of their pins intact as possible. I then just soldered the new caps to the leftover pins.
Attached Thumbnails All my crazy Lexus issues SOLVED!! (ECU-leaking capacitor)-img-20140629-01876.jpg   All my crazy Lexus issues SOLVED!! (ECU-leaking capacitor)-img-20140629-01875.jpg  
Old 07-10-14, 01:54 PM
  #888  
Drutort
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I know this is off topic, but other 2001+ year models what kind of capacitors do they have? do they have the Polymer capacitors that are the best at esr levels? and have pretty good life?

Also does anyone know if the lexus is300 have the generic caps? (even though its LS thread)
Old 07-13-14, 08:31 AM
  #889  
mjkwee
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I am a newbie to the club. I have been reading this thread because My 1992 LS400 has stalled 2-3 times over several months during a hot day. The car won't rev up even if I step on the gas. After letting it rest over night the car runs fine. I feel it is an electronic component deteriorating. I also had problems with my A/c a few years ago. I replaced the compressor the first time. It worked for about 2 years then it won't cool the car and my mechanic said it is the compressor again. So i had the A/c disabled because I do not drive long distances and i did not want to spend for another compressor. My mechanic could not find the problem with the stalling twice and just ask me to run the car until I get the same problem. When The car stalls and i step on the gas it feels like my carburetor is flooding and stutters. That is how it feels.

I decided to make the Capacitor switch. I am disabled driver and my LS400 has adaptive equipment. I purchased a '92 ECU on eBay and decided to make the change on this unit in case i mess up the job or as The eBay seller indicated I may have to reflash or reprogram the ECU and can't reprogram.

Can anyone help me with what this required to reprogram?

Is this for the Key reprogramming, and what do I have to do?

Swapping the ECU, do you also have to re-program for the Key?

I found a friend who repairs Arcade boards to help swap out the capacitors. I thought I can use a spare ECU since my car drives well when it works and switching cars requires installing new adaptive equipment for my disability that can cost more money. Any ideas and help will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Michael

Last edited by mjkwee; 07-13-14 at 08:35 AM.
Old 07-13-14, 05:55 PM
  #890  
wtzuoLS400
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I replaced all my caps with the 1's on the first page. All the old 1's were in perfect condition. no leaking, bloating, anything. My question now is, how long do i have to drive it before I notice any difference. I have used 1/2 a tank all highway and so far all i have noticed is it shifts better, my traction control light is off, and my check engine light is off. It still idles really low, and has no acceleration. Please Help.
Old 07-13-14, 10:03 PM
  #891  
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Originally Posted by mjkwee
I decided to make the Capacitor switch. I am disabled driver and my LS400 has adaptive equipment. I purchased a '92 ECU on eBay and decided to make the change on this unit in case i mess up the job or as The eBay seller indicated I may have to reflash or reprogram the ECU and can't reprogram.

Can anyone help me with what this required to reprogram?

Is this for the Key reprogramming, and what do I have to do?

Swapping the ECU, do you also have to re-program for the Key?

I found a friend who repairs Arcade boards to help swap out the capacitors. I thought I can use a spare ECU since my car drives well when it works and switching cars requires installing new adaptive equipment for my disability that can cost more money. Any ideas and help will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Michael
Welcome to Club Lexus.

The first gen as far as I am aware does not need to have any programming. Should be plug and go. Those symptoms are common among the ECU's with failing capacitors but other issues may be present as well. Fixing the ECU will get you started and then you can read any stored codes that may be present following.


Originally Posted by wtzuoLS400
I replaced all my caps with the 1's on the first page. All the old 1's were in perfect condition. no leaking, bloating, anything. My question now is, how long do i have to drive it before I notice any difference. I have used 1/2 a tank all highway and so far all i have noticed is it shifts better, my traction control light is off, and my check engine light is off. It still idles really low, and has no acceleration. Please Help.
Have you read the threads on the ECT coolant temp sensor? Here's one and two more in the UC2X FAQ:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-in-1-fix.html
Old 07-14-14, 05:17 AM
  #892  
mjkwee
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RA40, thanks for the reply. I expect to receive my caps this Tuesday from Digikey. If all goes well with the replacement ECU and the new caps, i will have the original ECU done too. I wanted to make sure I have one working first before switching completely. If the eBay one does not work, at least I have the original one that is working. I am not worried about the caps change but not knowing the condition of the eBay unit. The unit looks very clean in case my original one has bad traces.

If all goes well, I will have my A/C enabled again in case that too might be due to the caps too. I am keeping my fingers cross. It would be good to have the A/C running again to be comfortable and to keep the inside temp cooler for those caps to operate closer to the middle range of the operating temperature of -40 to 105deg. Today, i roll down all my windows to cool the inside temp too. I read somewhere temp can go as high as 120 deg inside fully closed windows when you park under the Sun for extended periods. That is 5 deg higher than the operating temp of these caps. Being fully enclosed the ECU must probably get hot to cooking temps inside the enclosure.

RA40 good advice with having my mechanic do another read after the swap. The recent incident, he said the error code had to do with the throttle being stuck but he could not find the problem and he decided to reset the codes in case I ran into the same problem. Are the diagnostic codes stored elsewhere than the ECU. What test equipment do you recommend for reading and scanning the diagnostic codes?

The other issue I have is my oil indicator LED lamp comes on and off intermittently, and whenever I have my mechanic check on it, he said not to worry. The first incident he topped the oil after an oil change and the LED lamp when away until several miles later. Can this be also the same caps problem or can it be caused by my shop using a non Original replacement oil filter part? I ordered some Toyota oil filters for my next oil change. I regularly change oil every 3,000 miles. A cheap maintenance measure.

I will update on my progress. Thank you again.

Last edited by mjkwee; 07-14-14 at 05:51 AM.
Old 07-14-14, 08:21 AM
  #893  
Yamae
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You don't need to worry about the temperature margin, mjkwee. You are just mixing the good old American standard Fahrenheit and the world standard Celsius. I feel sorry that you Americans need to understand two different units in many different categories. Fahrenheit, Celsius, mile, meter, gallon, l, pound, g and many others are all there.

On the other hand, you need to worry about the intermittent indication of the oil lamp. You'd better to find the root cause. If It's an oil filter issue, change it ASAP otherwise your engine might be damaged and your ECU with new capacitors might be in a vain.
Old 07-14-14, 09:12 AM
  #894  
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mjkwee, this thread may be relevant:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-replaced.html
Old 07-16-14, 12:33 AM
  #895  
mjkwee
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Originally Posted by Yamae
You don't need to worry about the temperature margin, mjkwee. You are just mixing the good old American standard Fahrenheit and the world standard Celsius. I feel sorry that you Americans need to understand two different units in many different categories. Fahrenheit, Celsius, mile, meter, gallon, l, pound, g and many others are all there.

On the other hand, you need to worry about the intermittent indication of the oil lamp. You'd better to find the root cause. If It's an oil filter issue, change it ASAP otherwise your engine might be damaged and your ECU with new capacitors might be in a vain.
Yamae, Thank you for the temp margin advice.I feel the same way too on the oil lamp indicator now I have found the Club forum. I bought original Toyota oil filters last week and they are inexpensive to replace my oil filter. As soon as I get my ECU caps done I will have my mechanic replace the oil filter with the original part. I just had my oil changed last week too. My mechanic is a Toyota specialist and I maybe assuming they only use Toyota parts for your regular oil or air filter maintenance. I will inquire rather than assume they use Toyota parts.

RA40, Thanks again for the link. I also read thru the other link you forwarded on tune up and will consider replacing the coolant sensor too. It appears to be an easily accessible part. I think my over 20+ year old car with 185,000 miles deserves much needed tune up attention. I have been researching for original parts. This coolant sensor appears to be used in many Toyota make and model.

I love this forum site. Members are very helpful and generous with their time, knowledge and information. Thank you again to all members. I hope to keep my specially equipped 92 LS400 running for a few more years. Then my next project will be to fix the worn down upholstery because my car was parked outside in the sun for several years when I suffered my stroke. I never thought I will ever drive it again until the paratransit delays encouraged me to get behind the wheel again with special adaptive equipment. The body is still in great condition.

Last edited by mjkwee; 07-16-14 at 01:07 AM.
Old 07-18-14, 05:55 PM
  #896  
mjkwee
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I received my Capacitors from Digikey and from top to bottom, left hand side is made in Indonesia, Indonesia and China. The right hand side top to bottom is Japan and Malaysia.

EKZE500ELL100ME07D 10uf 50V made in Indonesia, United Chemi-con
EKZE630ELL150ME11D 15uf 63V made in Indonesia, United Chemi-con
EKZE101ELL470MJC5S 47uf 100V made in China, United Chemi-con
35ZLH100MEFC6.3X11 100uf 35V made in Japan, Rubycon America
EEU-FR1H221 220uf 50V made in Malaysia, Panasonic Electronic Component

Only one is made in Japan. I ordered the Parts as listed on page 1. The instructions specifically recommends Premium Japanese Low ESR parts. Did I order the wrong part?
Are they now manufactured outside of Japan?

LScowboyLS or Yamae, can you please confirm I have the right capacitors?

Thank you in advance.

Michael

Update 7/21/2014

I had the capacitors replaced by my neighbor Ken this morning. I am lucky that Ken is also a car enthusiast, and he repairs other electronic boards too. Being disabled I was concern as to finding a qualified person to do the capacitor swap.

Ken is more than equipped to remove and replace capacitors. I was in and out in less than 1 hour. Another Club Lexus member had his ECU worked by an arcade repair person. This reminded me of Ken who repairs Sega Arcade boards primarily and he is equipped to swap BGA surface mount ASICs too. For those who are not comfortable of swapping the capacitors and did not want to buy all the soldering items as I did, you can check ken's website at http://www.irepairsega.com/whatifix.html

Attached is a photo of the 10 capacitors that were removed from the replacement ECU. I have a 1992 LS400 and Ken replaced 10 new capacitors. Top to bottom 1x 220uf, 1x 100uf, 3x 47uf, 2x 15uf and 3x 10uf. My next step is to find another friend who can help swap the ECU units. I am disabled and I need friends who can help me with this project of swapping out the old ECU for the upgraded ECU.

BTW, my ECT coolant Temperature Sensor is on order too and should arrive the end of the week.

until next update.
Attached Thumbnails All my crazy Lexus issues SOLVED!! (ECU-leaking capacitor)-image.jpg   All my crazy Lexus issues SOLVED!! (ECU-leaking capacitor)-capacitors.jpg  

Last edited by mjkwee; 07-24-14 at 04:15 PM.
Old 07-19-14, 07:27 PM
  #897  
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Originally Posted by LScowboyLS

I found that due to it being a multi-layer board, I had to solder the caps on both sides of the board, just "get in and get out" on the soldering, these caps do not like high heat from the soldering iron for an extended time period, and keep the leads long for the same reason (maximize lead length from board to cap) - you can always fold the cap down when you are done to make it fit back inside ECU case.

I also gave the board and ECU casing a blow of gentle compressed air when I was done to ensure no clipped leads or stray solder remained, but be gentle!


This bit of information would have been extremely useful prior to completing this repair. Maybe it should be added to the instructions in the initial post.
I have to re-do a couple of caps because I am unsure of the contact points on the top side of the board. Good thing I ordered double of everything
Old 07-21-14, 08:54 PM
  #898  
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I agree with you on that IBGREEZY. I went through all the pages on here again After my new caps all burnt out.
I did change the coolant temp sensor, no change. Re ordered all the caps again. none were on back order this time. I shouldn't have to wait 3 weeks this time. If my headlights are on or I decide to run my AC, the car gets a lot worse. less power then the little it has now.Wish me luck. again.
Old 07-22-14, 05:11 AM
  #899  
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^^^^ This could be my problem also. I only soldered my caps on one side and I know there was a few instances while installed them I had to use possibly too much heat.
Old 07-22-14, 09:11 AM
  #900  
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Thank you for an amazing contribution within this thread.

I know that this thread is mostly related to 1uz's but I have an Aristo Mines ECU with the same issues. I can't seem to find anyone with posted part numbers for my ecu. The part numbers that are listed for the 9 Nichicon caps that I have are:
H9149 X 3
H9134 X 2
H9141 X 3
H9143 X 1

These part numbers don't seem to be showing up in your suppliers listed.


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