luckyone

MY rx300 which is a 2000 has been "missing" or "cutting out" for the last couple of months.... I took it to a garage and they hooked it up to a computer and the guy came out and told me I got "bad gas". Well there is one station in town that EVERYBODY is having trouble w/ so he said run it all out and put better gas in....I did that and ran some crap he gave me through it FIC , and have been running premium gas in ever since......however, it's back to chugging out again.....any ideas on what this could be? ...so I can be a little more educated before I take it to another garage. Thanks in advance =)

Lexmex

Hmmm, could be several things, but what do you mean buy cutting out and missing? Where is your idle when you are at a dead stop, 750 or so?

luckyone

It honestly feels like the gas isn't going through...like I'm taking my foot off the gas when I'm not....I'll have to check the idle not sure on that one...I really do not know enough about this vehicle to be driving it...but right now it's my only car =( I did pop it through an auto parts store and they hooked it up to their machine and it said it could be a bunch of different fuel related things I was just trying to see if I could get it narrowed down (if anyone was having the same problem) before I take it back to the garage. Because like I said I don't know enough and they seem to see me coming and screw me every time......

Lexmex

When you said hooked it up, did they stick a cable inside your RX or in the engine bay. The reason I say this, is that even if you don't have a check engine light on your dash, there still may be what we call OBDII codes in the system that would be invaluable to know and an AutoZone can usually read the codes for you for free, and we do discuss theme here in the forum.

The accelerator actually is to allow air into the engine, so offhand IACV valve is a possibility

luckyone

Thanks I did go to Autozone and that's where they told me it could be one of about fifty things my check engine light is on and keeps going on and off. The closest Lexus dealer is an hour away and I don't want to make trip, with it acting goofy if I can find someone local to look at it..the "town" mechanic is the one who hooked it up in a bay and took it for a ride then came to the "bad gas" conclusion =(

Lexmex

Did you try our trick of pulling the battery cables off for a few seconds, putting them back on, and then restarting.

From what it sounds like after thinking about this, it seems more air flow related. Those code numbers would be invaluable to have, i.e. PXXXX, from the ones Autozone was reading.

dfish

When does the engine cut out?
At startup ?
At low RPMs?
Does it cut out you when accelerate or at idle?

WHen my Idle air control valve got siezed up my engine would cut out at startup, low RPMS, Idling. Never when accelerating.

Sometimes it would be fine sometimes it would cut out. After awhile it would cut out completely.

luckyone

It's usually during steady gas flow ie. highway or upon acceleration....sorry lexmex I'm looking for the papers from autozone...I'll post as soon as I find the paper...it's probably in the car which someone borrowed for the day...when they return I'll post the codes Thanks =)

Lexmex

On a side note, the best way short of a lab test of the gas itself, to determine bad gas is though a gas analyzer test like the one I show when I do test after installing a cat or spark plug, just like emissions tests.

Lexmex

What you might want to do in the mean time, and it woudn't take too much time is to examine your MAF sensor.

Square piece just after your airbox (sorry, mine is gone...permanently ), but it is this piece I have circled held in by two screws. If you remove it, then you will see what I am going to show you in the next post.

Lexmex

This red diode can sometimes get covered with crud and that would be the tip off. This and two small wires that are embedded inside the two entrances you will see on the long part of the MAF help measure air flow. If it gets dirty it can affect performance. Air temperature and speed of the air flow both are integral parts to this. It can be cleaned off with electrical contacts cleaner, though I also used keyboard cleaner.

luckyone

thank you so much !! I was just reading some of your other posts about the MAF sensor ,as you must've been typing this one....my brother (airplane mech) is coming down help me ....the only thing I can do myself is change the oil...you got it.. I'm a girl!.....your info is invaluable to me right now =) thanks!

Lexmex

There may be a few other things in the future we might suggest, but we'll take everything one step at a time.

YoshRX300

I actually cleaned my MAF sensor today after reading this just for the hell of it. It was covered in some greasy content. And WOW what a difference it made. It feels like it runs smother and better gas milage. Awesome! TY Lexmex for this usefull info on cleaning the MAF sensor.

Lexmex

You're welcome.

I also mentioned a few posts above about the other part that needs to be cleaned and these are two small threads as shown below. It doesn't get as dirty as the red diode.

Incidentally, in my case that red diode is dark one side every week I clean it since I don't run an air filter.